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 before I do.

I had mentioned last week about the spectacular ancient Mustad iron being blown out by Har-Lee Rod of New Jersey, and just as I think things are winding down, out comes another load of some incredible old hooks – at prices you’ve never seen – nor will again.

“Both Feet” for us hardcore types was about 50,000 hooks (shown above), most were purchased at $0.99 for 500, about twenty cents per 100 hooks.

A cup of coffee costs more …

Many are kirbed or reversed and digging through all those styles revealed some outstanding gems, most of which have attributes unavailable in the current Japanese iron.

As I watch and bid, I’m surprised at the brainwashing that’s occurred. Traditional fly tying hooks without kirbed point and equipped with the familiar down eye are moving smartly, but most of the other hooks are loved only by the occasional odd duck like myself.

As the fly tying forums have asked the question many dozens of times – and most of the answers are dead wrong, indulge me …

A Kirbed or Reversed hook is merely a method to make the hook gape larger. That’s all.

Offsetting the point to the left (Kirbed) or right (Reversed) makes the distance from shank to point longer than if the point was directly below the hook. Think of a right triangle with a line dropped perpendicular from the shank to where the point should be (in non kirbed hooks), if we draw a horizontal line from that spot to where the Kirbed point is – we’ve formed a right triangle. Everyone knows the hypotenuse of a right triangle is the longest side … therefore the gape is “wider” than a traditional hook.

Outside of forgetting about that offset point and pricking yourself, tying on these “bait” hooks is unchanged.

As quite a few packages are labeled in French, it appears few shoppers are translating the labels. “Hamecons Irlandais” isn’t something exotic, it’s merely French for “Irish Hooks” – and “Hamecons Ronds” translates to “Round Hooks.”

While the obvious fly tying styles are disappearing us continental types are picking up everything ignored or … gasp … foreign, for dirt cheap.

I’ve compiled a list of some of the sweeter flavors available, but as sizes are starting to disappear it’s entirely first come first serve.

Mustad 234B, Hamecons Irlandais 234B

I’ve already burned through a couple of boxes of these gems, tying both Czech nymphs and Shad flies. I’m using the #4’s for a hook that looks like a #6 – hence it’s at least 2X short. I bend down the last quarter of the shank about 10° and it becomes a Czech nymph hook, yet has appropriate extra-strong to go with a fly that is fished amid  snags and rocks.

The hook is unforged, so if you don’t like the offset point, bend it back. It’s already twice as strong as the weak Czech wire and you’ll sacrifice nothing in reliability.

Note: It’s only safe to bend an unforged hook, forged wire is much more brittle and is weakened considerably.

The Hamecons Irlandais 267B is the same hook but with normal wire and bronze finish. It is also a Kirbed hook.

Mustad 91300 – Superb fine wire Bass Popper hook, with no takers due to the zig zag in the shank. The eBAY audience either doesn’t recognize what to do with it, or doesn’t fish Bass – and you get 500 for $0.99.

Just cut hobby foam into the right shape, slit it down the side, slide it over the shank and throw some rubber cement into the “slice” to hold everything together … add a pinch of saddle hackle and marabou, and you’re done.

Mustad 4450 – A nice Mustad 9671 or Tiemco 3769 substitute. Unforged Model Perfect bend, ring eye, looks like about a 2X long shank (although it doesn’t say as much).

I am a huge fan of ring eyed nymph hooks and despaired that my vanishing supply was all I was ever to see . Now I’m covered for the next couple of decades, including both even and odd sizes.

No physical reason for “ring-eyed versus down-eyed” – I just like ‘em.

The crowd is wise to the Mustad 9143 Dry Fly hook now – but not before I scored a couple thousand for $0.99 per thousand. Offered in the thousand-pack in size 16, and in boxes for size 18 and 20.

This is a Redditch scale hook and is much smaller than the training-wheels 94840 (Tiemco 100) standard. Recent fly tiers would call the #16 a #18 – so allow for the size difference if you’re used to Tiemco’s or any current dry fly offering.

What the crowd doesn’t know is the Hamecons-Ronds 57552 is even better than the 9143, and available in the odd sizes which will make less of a size difference than a full even number. I stocked up on the #15’s as it is a superb size for my fishing.

For a great nymph hook, look at the Mustad-Limerick 31250. It’s a 3906B lookalike with a Limerick bend, and most of the small sizes were available.

There’s not too many sizes left of the Mustad 3116A, but there are plenty of size 9 and size 2 left. This was my favorite, 2X strong, down eye, Limerick bend, short shank, equipped with needles for points. Absolutely bestial sharpness. All of my Shad flies are being swapped to this iron immediately. Good strong steelhead and salmon hook, strong enough for big Carp – and was available in all the even and odd sizes until I saw them.

For the light wire long shank dry fly, it’s Christmas. There’s a beautiful long shank, fine wire, dry fly hook in the perfect sizes for stonefly dries and big October Caddis. It’s the Mustad 32800, and there’s nothing like it on the current market.

There’s also the occasional 4x Strong or 3X Strong (Mustad 802) hook that have been unavailable for years. Those old codgers in “Rivers of a Lost Coast” have secrets – one of them was to downsize the fly in bright, clear conditions. A 20lb salmon on a contemporary #8 may be ridiculous, but those old hooks with 3X-4X strong attribute were something special.

The rest is up to your avaricious nature. I don’t cover too many subjects a second time, but these are extraordinary prices and will not happen again.

Tags: Mustad hooks, Harlee Rod, long shank, short shank, extra strong, salmon, steelhead, fly tying materials, bulk fly tying hooks, Tiemco, October Caddis, popper hooks, eBAY deals,

With little help forthcoming from you chaps, I took a chance with another double sawbuck to land Coverite Microlite, another model fabric that doubles as our favorite nymph skin.

Coverite stretches nicely unlike the prior mylar variant I tested. Reinforcing the notion that I’ve found the industry, but the exact material remains at large. Coverite Microlite is close enough to the original Magic Shrimp foil that outside of the lack of colors available, my search is over.

I took one look at the Transparent Green and had to own it.

Yank the cardboard tube out of the center, grab a pair of scissors and simply cut the end of the roll in slices. Two minutes later you’ve got a bagful of 72” strands of 1/4″ or 3/8″ wide Czech nymph material. The roll is 6 ft long, 27 inches wide, and runs about $12 retail.

With that last haul of ancient Mustad hooks, I’ve replaced the expensive foreign scud hooks with a 2X strong Mustad 234B.

It’s a Ring eye, Japanned black,  reversed point, and the extra strength is capable of handling a little bending without falling apart like standard wire hooks.

Bottom-bouncing with heavy nymphs means standard wire will be straightened (weakened) on snags – and the unforged extra strong can resist snags much better,  and I can straighten the hook back to original shape without fear of weakening it measurably.

I bend the last quarter of the shank downward to give it the familiar Czech profile.

It brings back those fond memories from the Eighties; if the right shape wasn’t available we made that too. Thirty years later we’re in the same boat only we lack even the sturdy hooks to bend and twist to our will.

Tags: czech nymphs, mustad hooks, extra strong hooks, magic shrimp foil, vinyl covering, model airplanes, Mustad 234B, reversed point, japanned black, ring eye, short shank, fly tying materials, fly tying blog

Nothing like having your living room covered in gaily colored mounds of drying fiber. I’ve often wondered whether application of an industrial vacuum wouldn’t make the job easier, just suck everything up and start tying flies out of the contents of the dust trap.

Above are the raw elements of spectral dubbing, consisting of the primary colors of the color spectrum; red, cyan (Lt. blue), and yellow – and the secondary colors – orange, purple, and green. Only the cyan and yellow are acid dyed, the rest of the colors were built using RIT dye.

I’ve added a pound of Olive on the end as a tertiary color. I’ll add it to natural colored fur blends to make Olive tints to the original color.

It’s a raw mix of of natural fur that will replace the more expensive (and hard to find) Australian Opossum. A mainstay of my custom blends, Australian Opossum is imbued with tiny curls that retain air, adds loft and resists matting. Unfortunately, our American Opossum lacks those qualities and cannot be used as a substitute.

The spectral effect is the addition of all these colors to a base dubbing in small enough amount so as not to be seen until examined closely. At arm’s length, an Olive dubbing looks Olive – until you hold the fly close and can make out the individual colored fibers contained in the mixture.

It’s one of many building blocks of the Impressionist fly tyer, how to make a fly resemble nothing specific, yet look like everything – and all at the same time. Part of that magic is style and form, part is color.

Spectral dubbing blends should follow the 90/10 rule. 90% of the fur is the color you are attempting to imbue and 10% is the brightly colored fibers that will add a bit of deceit to the final product.

Building the Chaos color

The simplest way to build a good spectral effect is build the “Chaos” color and simply add it to your base fur in the desired quantity.

Add equal amounts of each of the six primary and secondary colors, and mix it into a single color. This is the Chaos color.

Now you can grab a pack of Hareline dubbing off the vendors wall, pinch in 10% – and blend your final product.

Add a bit of opalescent sparkle or other effects if desired.

Above are equal pinches of the six colors. Because it’s a “sticky” fur due to the tiny curls, this will not blend well using an electric blender. It’ll knot itself into clumps of color rather than mix completely.

At right is the knotted mass that came out of the blender. It mixed the colors slightly, but the bulk of the mixture is still clumped color and undesirable.

Non-sticky fibers, those that are straight and lack adhesion, like rabbit – will blend easily, but a good filler candidate is rarely straight, as it’s chosen exactly for this sticky quality.

If you’re building small amounts of fur, a pair of dog grooming wire brushes are needed. Just load both brushes with plenty of fur and pull them in opposite directions numerous times until you approve the result. Larger amounts are better served by mixing them with water, fill a gallon jug about half full and cram the fur inside, shake until it’s a cohesive colored mass.

A well mixed Chaos color; equal parts red, yellow, cyan, green, purple, and orange, creates a red-brown or a “Russet Brown” shown at left.

Tuck that away in a separate bag and add to your base blends to color as needed.

Constructing the Final Blend

The amount shown at left is 10% of what I’ll build, to finish the task we’ll add that handful to 90% more of a standard olive blend.

Because I built both a spectral color and it’s a filler fiber, all I need is binder and wrapper in Olive to make my final mixture.

I loaded the Chaos color on one brush and a mixture of medium olive beaver (binder) and natural Red Fox squirrel body (guard hairs, wrapper) on the other. Just put the teeth of the combs together and yank in opposite directions enough times to mix the two. Eventually all the hair will wind up on one brush, just pull it off and reload the combs as many times as needed.

Above is a close-up of the final mix. It’s a medium olive imbued with the spectral Chaos color. The natural guard hairs are visible as are individual shafts of component color. At two feet, it’s just another olive, but up close almost any color combination is visible.

… which is the desired effect. A dominant base color and just enough of an accompaniment from the mixed primary and secondary colors to assist without overwhelming everything.

Tags: dubbing blends, bulk fly tying materials, spectral dubbing, Red Fox Squirrel, impressionism, primary and secondary color, artist’s color wheel, fly tying

I suppose it’s a “proud papa” moment, realizing that your progeny has met expectations, possibly even exceeded some … but I wouldn’t know with certainty as every time I glanced backwards my Poppa was cringing in horror …

… and Ma didn’t see fit to add the long series of mug shots – as the Police never was able to figure which was my good side.

The “Big Dawg” has finally arrived, equipped with the same adjustable screw, larger and heavier jaw, and the obligatory tungsten carbide edges that allow it to chew through the awkward and ungainly.

At left is the tip detail of both the 4.5” (left) and 5.5” (right) showing the extra jaw length and breadth.

We preserved the same sharp tip, which allows the large size to reach and cut with the same delicacy, and added the longer, heavier jaw to resist deflection, and allowing more force on the cleave without tearing up the screw hole.

The fingerhole spacing is identical to the 4.5” scissor ensuring the same amount of scissor protrudes above the hand as its smaller cousin. Interchanging the two models will not require any adjustment in the user’s grip.

Having spent the last four months testing and retesting finger placement, shaft lengths, and “dogfooding” all those really clever ideas that proved less so – I’m very much pleased by the final product.

I call these the “General Purpose” model, 5.5” inches in length and designed to be the scissor for all your flies, not merely the small or delicate. The larger blades allow for larger chunks of material to be cut in a single snip, and should plow through those awkward or large materials that cause the smaller blade to deflect.

I still wouldn’t cut bead chain with them, that’s the job of a heavy shear style scissor – not something with a refined point. Everything else is fair game.

Reminder: Owners of the original surgical stainless Sixth Finger scissor have the right to upgrade to this or the 4.5” tungsten model for $22. By itself the retail on the large size (5.5”) is a dollar more than the 4.5” variant, $28 and $29 respectively.

I’ve updated the ecommerce website to reflect the scissor’s availability, and will be mailing all 5.5” backorders starting tomorrow – after I’ve put these through the quality control process. More information on the scissors can be found in earlier posts, including Mommy’s lecture on proper scissor etiquette, don’t miss it.

Full Disclosure: I am the principal vendor for the Sixth Finger scissor and will benefit monetarily from any sale of this incredibly awesome scissor. All superlatives used to describe the male enhancing qualities and function should therefore be taken with a grain of salt.

Tags: Sixth Finger scissor, tungsten carbide inserts, Big Dawg, proud poppa, ecommerce, fly tying scissors, 5.5” sixth finger, general purpose sixth finger

There’s no such thing as a bad Olive. Us fly tiers being overly fond of the color and have two dozen shades isn’t half enough.  While puzzling my way through the RIT Forest Green – Tan – makes – Olive Conundrum, I’d figures out that it was the dye temperature I’d failed to get hot enough, and only the tan had activated.

Now I was admiring another Olive project, a lot bigger – and  I was relieved it wasn’t the unknowns of a balky dye I’d be fighting. I could reproduce the desired color in a single pass through the dye bath, and the target material was fur which is much more friendly than moisture repelling duck feathers.

This time the wrinkle is the material isn’t white, which adds a bit of preplanning when converting one of Mother Nature’s colors into something else.

I’d describe the starting color as a warm tan to a warm light brown, and the qualities of its existing color needed to be factored into our conversion to make it a warm medium Olive.

Olive is Green, Yellow, and a bit of dark Gray or Black. The original color isn’t white – so I’d have to count some of it as the dark component of Olive, and it’s a warm color – so it’ll count as yellow as well.

(From past posts, remember adding green cools the olive, adding yellow warms it, and adding more black – darkens it.)

If we took the same dye formula used on white materials, and we didn’t watch the color closely, merely exposing the material to the bath for the same length of time, we’d wind up with Olive both darker and warmer than our target color. So we’ll remove some of the yellow and some of the black in the dye mixture to compensate.

If medium Olive is 45% Green, 45% Yellow, and 10% Black – I’d compensate with dye bath comprised of 65% Green, 25% Yellow, and 5% black.

As my starting dye is not a bright green (like Kelly Green), rather it’s a Forest Green, there’ll be no need to add any black, so the final mix will be 75% Forest Green and 25% Golden Yellow (using RIT colors).

At right shows the initial rinse, most of the water bleeding off is cold Green which is expected.

Getting your Monies Worth

A single box of RIT will dye a pound of material, and simple tasks like chicken necks or a Hare’s mask will have you pouring most of your money into the sink. A couple ounces of teal feathers or saddle hackle doesn’t even scratch the coloring potential of the full RIT package, and having open dye packages laying around your garage is a known hazard. It’ll sift out of the box or get dropped onto the garage floor in dry form, and the next time the car is washed you’ll track it into the house.

As a fly tyer in the tertiary grip of the obsession, whose materials are purchased by the pound, dyeing represents a way of breathing new life into chewed up material, or making a lifetime supply of questionable colors less so.

I’ll dye the target material and take advantage of the remaining color in the pot to dye other feathers or picked-over Whiting capes – those whose  #14, #16, and #18 hackles have already been removed. I’ll use the butt end of the capes for streamers or big dry flies like Green Drakes or Golden Stones.

Having a complimentary shade of Partridge, Guinea Fowl, or that gifted Pheasant your neighbor blew daylight through – lends an extra hide or skin new life, and recoups some of the money you might have paid.

Back to Cow Flop Olive

As I’m already admiring a half pound of cow flop Olive on my carpet, I ran some teal through the dye bath, then followed that with a couple of well chewed Grizzly capes.

Those complimentary colors and dissimilar materials means I’ve got the ability to start tying flies that look cohesive due to color alone. Teal and dubbing is the Bird’s Nest, and dubbing and large Grizzly hackles gives me Green Drakes, Olive Marabou Leeches, and Wooly Buggers.

What most interesting in the picture above is the teal and Grizzly capes. The dye bath was custom built to make a tan into a warm olive, now its true color is revealed to be a cold green. It’s validation of our dye mixture, the tan bleeds through the green to make the fur a warm Olive, and the hackle and teal both started as white/black, and the dye bath builds a colder green absent the warming influence of the tan.

It’s working with Mother Nature’s colors – rather than overpowering them with dye.

… and it’s why you see so many deep dark colors in fly shops and so few pastels. Most commercial vendors use the “overpower” method of dyeing which gut-slams the original color into the background, eliminating the shade it can cast on the final product, and yields dark results.

Working in concert with the original color allows you to build some of the most valuable and sought after colors, like Bronze Blue Dun and the entire Dun family.

The unanswered question is “what am I going to do with half a pound of cow flop Olive?” – mating it with 18 miles of Olive tinsel that I inadvertently purchased is no surprise, but it’s actually a new filler I’m testing – the Poor Man’s Aussie Opossum, only cheaper.

Not to worry, I’ll send samples – once I’ve got the other eight colors dyed.

Tags: dyeing fly tying materials, Olive, colorizing fur, bulk fly tying materials, RIT dyes, teal flank, grizzly hackle, picked over neck, cow flop, fly tying obsession