Ask anyone who’s ever fiddled with materials and you’ll see the involuntary shudder when Black is mentioned. While it enjoys status of being a must-have color among fly fishermen, getting a good permanent black will drive both professional and hobbyist to tears. … and you don’t have to do it yourself to grit your teeth, [...]

Wanting something more than what’s offered on the shelf is understandable, but bringing that vision to fruition can be hell to pay. Six months ago, after a particularly dismal showing at the local shop, I’d resolved to enter the dubbing market utilizing all those techniques and foibles learned in youth, drummed into my head by [...]

The only way I can figure it is there must be two demographics for fly fishermen;  the starry eyed fellow that approaches the counter with an eight hundred dollar rod and asks, “what else do I need?” … and the mean old penny-pinching codger poring over the fly tying materials alternately swearing and grasping his [...]

I wondered briefly whether Edwin Teller had a similar moment as they wheeled “Fat Man” and Littleboy” into the hold of the USS Indianapolis. Did he wrestle with the devastation he was about to unleash, or was he simply enamored that the theoretical had legs … … the big, atom smashing kind. I was standing [...]

With all the boutique players entering into the hook market and many discounters emerging offshore, it’s possible to run afoul of a good hook that fishes poorly. Most of us don’t consider pinching the barb much of a modification, but the design of the hook often hinges on the barb being present. Plenty of great [...]

While last week was an orgy of drips, smears, and spills, it was only half of the overall effort. Testing dyes to produce the one and twenty minute shades gave me a pile of sodden colors, but it’s not dubbing until it’s teased, torn, and turned into filament. Wet dyeing is a mixture of chance [...]

Call me a slow learner, but the aerial display of the fourth will have nothing on the fireworks tonight … I Figure 26 colors run through the same sink, tracked across identical linoleum – each with a 100% chance of a gaily colored spill outlining big hammy footprints headed toward the Man Cave … Naturally [...]

The next time someone mentions fly tying you can print the picture at left and insist that rehab is more than you can bear… I’d said, “jump in with both feet” – and meant it, until the vendor plopped another 300,000 hooks onto eBAY. Now I’m hoping you’ll save me from myself, and scoop them up [...]

The problem is our long relationship. How after a thousand posts of pure honesty steeped in total avarice, wherein I’ve revealed my lust for the illegal and exotic – and hoard vast quantities of brightly colored feathers just so I can count them each evening … … and despite the innocence of my expression and complete [...]

Looking at all those little packs of dubbing and gauging capacity were I to wad them into a single container. Nearby are the zip loc bags groaning under the stress of a couple ounces of custom dyed, blended, or curried fur … The catalog offers either the 64 ounce or the 128 ounce size, nicely uniform [...]