Sharon Margaret Muncy At Peace

Sharon Margaret Muncy (3/25/1923 to 5/6/2010)

Not the forum to highlight the passing life of your mother. But, I have a need; indulge me. Maybe it will help. Even for a brief few moments. In the future, being on the water will distract. I haven’t been on the water in almost eight months. For the past five years, my mom’s life became a repetitive series of appointments for chemo, transfusions, blood draws and lab work. On and on it went with diminishing probabilities and possibilities. Finally, in December, this dynamic, strong woman was declared to have devolved into a hospice status and we brought her into our home. I won’t go on about the mental aspects for the patient or the family in a drawn out wasting of life. It is full of so many twists and turns for all involved. Most of you know some aspect of these life altering events in your own life. No, I just want to say the toughest woman I have ever known and loved fought until the end. I will miss her spirit and strength. As my mom always said, at the most challenging of times…’kid, things are looking up’. Yes they are mom, indeed. Love you mom.

Peaceful Run (Janet Miderska)

Fly Fishing: Stillwater Dragon Fly Nymph

Stillwater Dragon Pattern by SwittersB

Pattern Pieces (SwittersB & Fly Fishing)

Fly Fishing: Nymphing Strike Indicators (Sighters)

Not sure if any vendors in U.S. selling these indicators/sighters. Interesting concept for nymphing on a fairly short line and not over weighted nymphs. Just providing the visuals.

Allegedly more sensitive than traditional floating strike indicators, these sighters-indicators are just in the water or just out and within range to detect subtle takes. The nymph(s) cannot be too heavy. Notice above that one sighter has o rings and one has just the loops.

Fly Tying: PMD~Sulphur Nymph (Split Wing Case)

PMD~Sulphur Mayfly Nymph by Josh McFadden (Hatch Hunters)

SPLIT CASE PMD~SULPHUR MAYFLY NYMPH

This is a dandy little pattern, with attention to detail in the wing case split concept. Note the pattern calls for 14/0 thread and very thin yellow foam on this little gem.

Fly Tying: Turkey Feather Fibers for Body Material

Turkey Feather (charile's fly box)

A suggestion: experiment with turkey feather fibers/barbs for a body material as a replacement for the pheasant tail fibers/barbs. The older Cate’s Turkey aptly demonstrated the material. You won’t find a suitable picture of a Cate’s Turkey online. The pattern’s body was wrapped turkey feather fibers/barbs with a partridge tail and beard (sometimes a simple, small peacock thorax). It was offered as a stillwater pattern many years ago. But, to the pattern at hand, I used two fibers/barbs cut from a turkey feather’s stem and wrapped a body on a size 14 hook. The look is equal to pheasant tail and equally or better suited for smaller hooks.

Turkey Feather Body on Wet Fly (SwittersB)

Fly Tying: Penelope’s Hope

Penelope's Hope (SwittersB)

Fly Tying: Green Copper John Nymph

Copper John (Green Wire) SwittersB

Size 14 nymph hook….Black 8/o thread….Gold bead….Brown goose biots tail….Wapsi small lime green wire abdomen….Montana Fly Company Scud Back for wingcase….Peacock herl thorax….Partridge feather for legs on sides of thorax.  A couple things to help in tying this pattern: Start the tie in point for the biots farther up the shank near the thorax to avoid the hump/bump at the traditional point near the bend; tie in the wire up the shank also, where you tied in the biot. In both instances, wrap the thread over the material down toward the bend and back up to the tie in point. For the wingcase, tie it in secure because when you pull it over the peacock and partridge thorax materials, you should put a little torque on it. Tie off secure with minimal thread wraps.

The wrapping the wire body and securing the wingcase are the two harder parts of the fly. The wire wraps ideally need to be side by side with minimal bumps underneath & the wingcase needs to be securely tied in at the back and then the front. Keep the wingcase dark colored rather than some mylar affair. Why not experiment on many colored wire bodies. Blue?

Fly Tying: Fuzz Factors

Fuzz Factor (SwittersB)

Not quite as visual as I had hoped. The pheasant tail and turkey feather fibers got a little overwhelmed by the ostrich, but the peacocks shined.

Fly Tying: Wire Body & Herl Body

A session to experiment with a David Wiltshire tie I noticed…the wire body (Wapsi small) with rib wrapped back up over body. Wrap from the front to the rear and then rib back up over wire under body. A few gaps, but it won’t matter. Sparsely dubbed thorax or a few sparse wraps of rootbeer cactus chenille. Also, he herl bodied fly is Muskrat Gray colored peacock herl by Nature’s Spirit. I had previously commented that the herls did not seem to have much in the way of ‘barbs’ but in fact it is quite fuzzy.

Fly Tying: Starling & Herl (Shadows)