Seriously………

SwittersB’s New Year’s Resolutions

Patience…Healthy eating habits…Much more two handed rod work…Seriously tying smaller flies…A week on East Lake…A healthy heart…Learning how to take better macro photographs…Mid-week excursions on the Deschutes R….Smallmouth Bass to the fly…Recapturing my yard and my gardening spirit…Conquering my deceased mom’s hoarding house (half way there)…Taking care of my 93 y/o aunt (also a hoarder)…Enjoying solitude and a mind at peace…Celebrating my blessings….blogging with continued passion.

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year indeed! Baby it’s cold outside. Do wear your hat. New possibilities. New dreams. New challenges. Make this new year different than the last. Make it more than resolutions or short term goals. Self sufficiency. Courage. Love

Fly Fishing Rod Storage (Titan Rod Vault)

Titan Rod Vault

The Titan Rod Vault is a lockable 3 rod ‘vault’ that can hold up to 10 foot long rods (broken down of course).

The rods & attached reels are affixed on the outside of the vehicle.

DEALERS

Fly Tying: Pinch Wrap

Loren Williams @ FlyGuysOutfitting offers a good tutorial on the pinch wrap. The pinch wrap counter acts the pulling or pushing of the material off the top of the hook shank to the far side of the hook; mostly caused by a loose hold of the material and the torque of the bobbin across the top. The pinch wrap is more of an up, across the top and down move.

Loren Williams Pinch Wrap (SB)

Hanging Shoes…Powerlines…Why?

‘heard tennis shoes hanging over a power line meant you could buy crack there.’

‘In some neighborhoods, shoes tied together and hanging from power lines or tree branches signify that someone has died.’

Wired Soles

‘Old running shoes hanging from trees and power lines are ‘gang signs.’

‘Throwing a pair of shoes up into a tree can also be celebratory act. For graduating seniors.’

‘The purposes for hanging shoes in trees can be negative. Stealing the shoes of younger, weaker or overweight children and throwing them up into an inaccessible location.’

‘The shoes can serve as turf-markers, indicating that an area is under the control of a particular gang.’

‘Some artists establish their own shoe trees, starting with bare trees and adding pair after pair of shoes. The goal of such actions is usually to create a living, evolving art project which other people can openly contribute to by hanging their own shoes.’

Fly Tying: Classes Now…

If your loved ones gave you a gift certificate for fly tying classes, you are set to begin one of the truly enjoyable parts of the sport. If not, then go to the nearest shops(s) and see what classes are available. Maybe you are a bit late for the January classes, but go ahead and sign up for any series of classes between now and late Spring when the classes tend to fall off. Do it! You may be the worst, the best, in the middle. Doesn’t matter. Take it as a refresher. Take it as a novice. As my original instructor, Doug Stewart, advised…’I am lighting the pilot light. The rest is up to you’. Support your local shops. If no shops nearby, check out community colleges or recreational facilities for offered classes.

Pheasant Tail, Ostrich and Ribbing (SB)