Fly Tying: Caddis With Deer Hair Wing/Elk Hair Wing

SwittersB

SwittersB

White Wolf Sanctuary (Man’s Abuse & Redemption)

A h/t from friend, Cindy Hayes Brown, at FB re the White Wolf Sanctuary near the Oregon coast. The 60 acre site allows a safe haven for about a dozen Arctic White Wolves that have been injured, abandoned or rescued from abuse by Lois Tulleners White.

The site is worth a review to check out the pictures and intent of the managers. What is not as apparent in the available info is how the animals get moved into harms way from the far North habitat by the abusers or the well intentioned.

Either way, the folks at the White Wolf Sanctuary are attempting to do their part to repair the damages. Worth a look. White Wolf Sanctuary

Fly Fishing Injuries

I don’t believe, I personally know of one fly fisher that isn’t banged up from sports injuries of old, on the water injuries and life eventually wearing down their body. As a person who has had numerous sports, work and recreational injuries and surgeries, I appreciate the impact it all has on the sport. My fly tying and fly fishing have been altered by shoulder surgeries, a permanently fused right wrist with a bar inserted with screws, diminished feelings in my finger tips, severe arthritis in the spine and all this creating gradual loss of strength over the years. This, in turn, causes further loss of strength and as Tracey Stroup remarks below, these imbalances set you up for more tweaks and twangs….eek!

“…muscular imbalances constitute 85% of the ‘over use’ injuries I see.  A muscular imbalance in the human body, simply stated, means one muscle is stronger than the antagonistic muscle.  For every muscle in the human body that performs one action there is and equal and opposite (or should be) force applied by an antagonistic muscle.  This equal ‘pull’ is what keeps joints stable; secure and in place.  Some examples would be bicep vs tricep; quadriceps vs hamstrings.  The problem arises when you have one antagonist ’stronger’ or pulling a joint from one side than it’s opposite counterpart.  The result is a joint that gets ‘pulled’ out of it’s natural position.  This displacement of the joint causes a battery of different breakdowns to occur.” Common Fly Fishing Injuries

Fly Tying: A Sunday Smörgåsbord

After tying a few years, one accumulates an assortment of flies that were cast off’s, unused, forgotten’s, neglected and just ignored. I have placed these flies in half full fly boxes in the back of some drawer or bottom of a box. Or, in a plastic zip lock bag, again shoved in a drawer. Today, I found a few gems that should be resurrected into current events. It’s not that they are that well tied, but rather that they would still catch fish.

Black Nymph (Krystal Flash Tail, Rib, Legs, Wingcase) SwittersB

Green Bead Hd. Pupa (Elk hair under wing, black ostrich thorax) Switters B

Green Bead Pupa (Front Thorax & Rear Thorax) SwittersB

Fly Tying: Starting To Tie?

Fly tying is a seemingly complex pursuit, yet at the beginning I suggest you keep it as rock bottom simple as possible. I say this because, like many pursuits in life,  you most probably will dabble and drop.

Take a class. Most classes start in the early Fall. There are usually 3-5 classes for under 100.  This will often show you if you really have an interest to continue. If so, buy a reasonable starter kit for under 100. If classes are not available at a nearby fly shop or community college then take the time to watch the countless You Tube videos and read sites, like here and from my blog roll, and get a sense of the techniques that are typically employed. Books abound re fly tying, but start with basic how to books.

I hope you would not succumb to walking into a shop or sporting goods store (sorry shops) and laying out a cool 1000.+ for a trout fishing set up with out a clue whether you will continue. I know shops love the customer of means that walks in and doesn’t blink plopping down such money. But, for the beginning fly fisher and for the beginning fly tier…start slow, buy reasonably priced gear to start and upgrade later if the passion is there. If you are so well healed that you can afford top of the line, then have at it.

Next, know thy self. In your pursuits, do you accumulate lots of stuff (me)? Or, are you more self contained and organized (not me).  Plan for this. I have to strongly urge that you keep your fly tying (and fly fishing gear) organized. In the beginning it seems easy enough. But, diverse avenues of interest can spread you out before you know it…so, plan the organization of your materials and gear.

Lastly, plan a pleasant place to tie. I have tied on bread boards, kitchen counters, cold garages, damp basements, dining room and kitchen tables. Make it pleasant and have excellent lighting and a perfect back drop to avoid eye strain. Clean up after yourself after completing each pattern. Otherwise you will create that layered look of spey fly materials on top of stillwater patterns on top of ….’”now where did I put that dubbing?”  Tie the basic patterns and master the techniques while creating worthy, productive patterns. Enjoy!

Fly Tying: Shuttlecock Buzzer (Fore & Aft CDC Wings)

Ok, bare with me, but I tied these in a hurry to demonstrate a CDC wing tied in at the eye (standard) and back at the bend. The Shuttlecock Buzzer, here, was tied on a size 16 light wire hook. The body is 8/0 black thread. First I tied in two small plumes of CDC for the wing. I wrapped a tinsel body and overwrapped/ribbed it with the black thread. I spun and dubbed a small amount of synthetic dubbing. The fly was tied off at the eye, under the CDC wing. The trick is to not catch fibers of the CDC in the half hitches as you tie off.

The above Shuttlecock Buzzer is unique with the CDC Wing first tied in at the rear at the bend. I then tied in a single strand of peacock Krystal flash, then dubbed a small thorax and then wrapped the thread body back and forth a couple of times. I finished by ribbing the Krystal Flash strand up the body and tied the thread off at the eye. This fly was also tied on a size 16 hook.

Neither pattern is that crisp, but they help show the wing to the front and the more unique wing over the bend of the hook.

Fly Tying: Lady Ga Ga Shrimp

Just a crazy creation that has sat in a box for years and never been wet. Actually, there are several in the box and only today did the appropriate name come to mind. Impaler might be good too. Come on, everyone has to tie some bizarre stuff like this.

Fly Tying: ScareCrow Bugger

A Woolly Bugger is so familiar that one almost turns away from it. In a variety of sizes and colors one could fish for most any species of freshwater fish.  So, anyway…this ScareCrow Bugger is offered as an example of leftovers from yesterday’s dinner. Remnants of an old boa for the tail, some old brown rug yarn, a brown hackle and a black bead come together nicely for a perfect piece of temptation.

Fly Tying: Red Fox Squirrel Nymph~Wet

This is an excellent all around nymph that combines the best of the nymph and wet fly. The look is similar to the Hare’s Ear Nymph in the tail and dubbed and ribbed abdomen, but then it departs by forgoing the wingcase and using a wet fly, wound/hackled wing. I probably over hackled the wing. The pattern profile can be tied with the red squirrel, hare’s ear or a synthetic dubbing. But, traditions abound in fly tying. Out of the gazillion options and combinations in fly tying, you might as well tie true to an original or close to, once in awhile.  Additional info re Whitlock’s Red Squirrel Nymph. There are further linked sites that give the tying instructions that are slightly different than how I tied mine here. Actually, I have several squirrel tails. I have had them several years and have no idea what type of squirrel they came from. I bought them at one of those bulk materials sales by a FF club fund raiser at a FFF fly tying expo. I used that for the tail on the bottom one and dubbed the rest with a hair blend (top fly’s tail is deer hair) .  So, although I say be true to the pattern, I too fudged re the Red Fox Squirrel material. The thorax is a smidgen of ice dub. If the thorax area were comprised of one sparse turn of hackle or spiky dubbing this would be a simple nymph pattern for sure.            FFIC-RFSN

Fly Tying: Steamed Over Chenille

REFRESHING CHENILLE OFF THE CARD

Speckled Midnight Fire Chenille at Edge Angling

Certainly something I have not paid much attention to. More often than not, I wrap the chenille and it is a bumpy, irregular body. I intend to palmer hackle up over the chenille body, so I think little of the material beyond color or thickness. This tip re steaming the material would work for other materials that get smooshed or compressed in storage.