Never quite satisfied by what works, and always succumbing to base instincts, artistic flair, and some esoteric material ill suited for whatever you should be tying.

I had a live sample for the #20 Blue Wing Olives, complements of the Trout Undergrounds precise photography. Modified to give me more to see, as old eyes and tiny dries are not a good match.

I needed some standard searching patterns for the traditional midday grind, simple nymphs to replace those left imbedded in brownline shrubbery; Olive AP nymphs in size 14, and some Hare’s Ear’s in size 12.

Not having to give them all away is a first, normally all the fishing pals show up at my door with their hand out. No matter how many I tie up I am left with two after the feeding frenzy.

Until all of the sewage and wastewater effluent is washed off the waders it’s best I fish alone. I figure the fish downstream will be too busy complaining to notice the hook until it’s too late.

October Caddis in case they’re needed, if not these will make a nice carp fly, heavy wire hook and ribbed with Angelina to add a dab of flash.

I tied some Elk Hair Caddis which always receive a warm welcome, and added some #18 Pale Morning Duns to give me something visible and a color change. With the odd scraps already in my fly box, it will give me added versatility, and should any prove tasty, I have a dozen or more of every pattern.

The Pale Olive Paraduns were spared my fiddling with the recipe, in large part because in my youth I had to tie 200-300 dozen of them per year. It’s quite possible I was asleep when I tied these, as were the only pattern that escaped augmentation.

I managed to repair the significant holes in my fly box for this weekends expedition, I carry so few flies that I am quite practiced at forcefeeding something to a trout. In a pinch – that’s why God made rocks. 

Domestic bliss shattered by my failure to iron shirts, but as it was for  Science, it’s a worthy martyrdom.

Angelina fibers are available in a heat fusible flavor,  insert a pinch of fibers into a paper napkin, pass an iron over them a couple times and the of fibers fuse flatly to each other, yielding a “Tyvek” style mesh cloth.

This fabric is only as strong as the volume of fibers used and the degree of their overlap. Additional experimentation is required to find the best pattern to melt; parallel fibers, cross-hatched, further testing is needed to  determine what proves strongest.

One look at the result and about 75 different uses pop into your head, so allocate some time to fiddle.

Mayfly wings was the first thing I saw – the opalescent hue looks just like a shiny spinner wing. I trimmed a set for a #18 hook and managed to secure it without too much trouble. They are light and flexible wings – they will bend in flight rather than remain rigid and “helicopter” the tippet.

The photo shows what happened after I gave it a good yank. The direction of the original fibers when fused will have to be tinkered with so they don’t tear out. A #18 hook doesn’t give much area to tie down, the wing frayed badly when abused.

The intact wing shows the effect of the fabric trimmed to a shape, I folded the material and cut both wings at the same time, leaving a narrow adjoining section to tie to the hook. That was my mistake, as the narrow “neck” between the wings did not have many fibers secured. When pulled, the wing slowly fragmented into oblivion. Visually it’s a nice wing effect, but durability requires us to test further.

My next attempt was to roll up some fabric into a cigar shape then trim to the proper length once attached – exactly as a polypropylene yarn spinner is tied. I figured more fibers would be secured in the small tie down area and the wing should hold together much better.

The result is depicted above, after I mauled them badly trying to pull them apart. The fibers separated a little bit but that was the only evidence of damage. Like all good flies the more it’s eaten – the better it looks.

The above pattern is what we used on Fall River and Hat Creek for the Trico spinner falls, when the solid black flavor didn’t yield any fish we switched to this variant – it went by many names, mostly we called it a “female Trico.”

Now I just call it “too damn small for me to see” – along with every other fly smaller than an #8.. I will debut these this weekend on the foam line just for the fun of it – assuming I get out of the Doghouse by then.

del.icio.us Tags: trico spinner, angelina fibers, mayfly spinner, Hat Creek, Fall River

What is really needed is a rehab clinic for fly tiers that have entered that hideous tertiary phase…some polite nurse behind the counter to welcome the twitching wreck of a man that brakes for road kill.

I admit nothing, and removing the taxidermy kit from the back seat would be a good first step, but like all addicts, I talk a better line than I practice.

It always starts innocent enough, driving a back road enjoying the evening and a flash of color by the center line has me applying brakes, frantic downshifting, and a drag chute. Safely off the pavement its time for a furtive glance in both directions and then check the latest offering of the Asphalt Gods.

Any real tier worth his salt can tell sex, species, approximate the decay level, cross reference it with his mental inventory, and determine value – before he locks the brakes up.

We’re sicko’s, masterless ronin, owing allegiance to nothing, other than the knowledge that steel belted radial season is open year round. The real trick is getting the game processed so’s not spend the next decade in some gladiator academy, protecting our hindquarters.

The same mantra applies when your dimwit neighbor shows up with a dripping carcass, you mentioned the “fur and feathers” thing, granted it was after the third beer, now there’s blood dripping on your doormat, it’s time to fish, not just cut bait.

Birds are easy, the skin is loosely connected to the rest of the critter, and even a dull Buck knife can quickly cape or remove the portions that you want. To complete the task just scrape any fat off the skin, and then stretch the cape feather side down on a piece of cardboard box. The skin will dry and harden within a couple of days. Oil will seep out – the more fat left on the skin, the more oil – but this can be wiped away during the drying process. Cornmeal applied to the skin will absorb all oil, and not be toxic to your dog, after he inhales the cape off your tying bench.

Hides are more complex, as they have much more connective tissue attaching them to the host animal. Same rules apply, you need to scrape all the fat off the back of the hide, then tack it up (hair side down)stretched onto a cardboard surface. Hides take a lot longer to dry as they are much thicker, and can contain much more sinew and fat.

If you engage in this behavior, remember that Mrs. McGillicutty will take a dim view of you pelting her tabby on the lawn. It won’t matter how legitimate the kill was – or who done it, you’re toast.

Ditto for all birds and mammals in or out of season, you are culpable and will be ticketed if you attempt to take any animal parts from the roadside. It’s a fair assumption, that might be a high value target and you may have swerved intentionally.

In California, all road kill of size is picked up by the California Department of Transportation and incinerated. Their concern is the health risk; all animals have ticks, fleas, and assorted blood sucking things attached to them when alive. Most will quickly depart a corpse, but you’re at risk for whatever may be present, including rabies and assorted other maladies.

I’m just prepping you for the time when you round the bend of the river and allegedly spot a Great Blue Heron in pristine condition, cold as stone. I’ll let you wrestle with the moral and criminal repercussions on your own.

Technorati Tags: road kill, fly tiers are disgusting, rehab

Fly Tying is one of those rare disciplines blending art and science. An endless source of frustration and pleasure, interspersed with fits of genius, artistic tantrum, and drudge.

There are really only three types of fly tiers; Beginners, Experts, and Opinionated, and like any art form is replete with sub-schools, trends, false prophets, and is always on the brink of total revolution. New materials are always the catalyst for change, with much of the old thrown out and whatever is “new” trumpeted as the one true path.

Somewhere in all of this is the aspiring tier, surrounded by Bibles, dusty tomes, and countless magazines, usually without the materials cited by the prestigious authors, and hanging somewhere near financial insolvency, trying to keep pace.

You’ve completed the introductory and intermediate fly tying courses offered by your local club or shop, and are now left to your own devices to plod your way to your Brown and Black belts. You have an awful lot of mind numbing repetition to endure before your flies resemble those you’re using as models. There is no fast path to competency, but there are many things that you can focus on during apprenticeship to make it less onerous and more engaging.

Material Shortcomings

The material problem will always be present, half of the new fly patterns you’ll read about are “new” only because of the use of some revolutionary material, guaranteeing if you?re using magazines as inspiration, you’ll be making frequent trips to the fly shop.

New materials are a given in this craft, as synthetics slowly replace all of the exotic birds and beasts we’ve used in the past. In many cases the synthetics are much superior to the original – only Luddites and old guys with a lifetime supply to mourn their passing.

At this stage of your indoctrination you may believe tying an Adam’s without the proper materials will yield a fly less successful. Not true, all you’ve done is invent a new fly, no thunderbolt will strike you dead, no crime has been committed, and fish will eat your Adam’s minus Grizzly hackle just as fast as they’ll eat the normal pattern.

The only difference between what you’re tying and what a professional ties, is how many fish it will handle before exploding. That talent you’ll acquire as part of the mindless repetition part. Substitute freely, and throw the result in your fly box, as nothing beats the thrill of duping a fish with something you invented.

What Works, Good Design Principles

Solid construction and good design are your immediate goals. Construction is learned through understanding the limits and proportions of fly tying. Limits are inflexible and exceeding them will weaken the finished fly.

There is only a finite segment of hook shank that is flat and level, exceeding that will cause tails to point downward, or hook eyes to be filled with hackle barbules and cement. Later when fishing and the fish have a sudden weakness for Pheasant Tail nymphs, your last one can’t be threaded on the leader…that is a crime.

Proportions are similar to limits, but they are flexible. Fly components are measured by hook gape, or shank length, depending on how your instructor or favorite book taught you. Tail length can be shortened or lengthened without compromising construction, so proportions are guides, not inflexible limits.

On rare occasion the properties of a tying material will make proportion a limit. Duck Quill wings on traditional dry flies are a great example, the material is both fragile and rigid, absorbing head cement like a sponge. Once dry they can easily spin a 7X tippet like a rubber band during false casts, especially if oversized. Beautiful to look at but poorly designed for fishing.

You look at your latest handy work, an Adam’s with no Grizzly hackle and your hackle tip wings are at different heights. What do you do? You put it in your fly box. Trout’s eyes are mounted on the sides of their heads, much of their visual plane is monocular vision (only one eye can see the object), if it’s hungry your wings won’t matter.

Coming Out : Imitation versus Impressionism

This will be your first significant test as a fly tyer, this is where you will vacillate uncontrollably, dipping your toe first in one, then the other – trying to find who and what you believe in. No author or magazine can help you, this is the test of tyer-as-artist, and likely you will see merit in both camps, but will slowly trend towards one or the other as your craft matures.

Imitation is exactly what it implies, you prefer crafting replicas of actual insects, and as a fisherman you believe them to be more effective than generalist patterns. Isn’t this the reason why you wanted to learn to tie flies, so that you could have better more exacting choices?

Real insects are hard and shiny as they wear their “skeleton” on the outside, imitation often leads to the use of synthetic or shiny materials to simulate the real bug. Compensate for the lifeless and hard materials with some that add movement or motion. The photograph is motionless, but the real bug squirms and wriggles, it is a living insect you are duplicating, not the photo.

 Flies catch more than fish, flies catch fishermen too. All of us are guilty of the “..if I were a fish I would eat that” logic, which probably hinders us more than helps, as we have no idea what trout think. One thing is true, exacting imitations are pure sex, we want them bad, and the entire angling industry panders to our obsession, with our paycheck the obvious victim.

Impressionism is simulation of an insect, roughly matched to shape, size and color, but with little detail. Impressionistic flies may be general enough to represent all three aquatic food groups with a single pattern, with only the hook size changing. Other flies may acknowledge a damselfly has three paddle shaped gills as a tail with a tuft of marabou, the expression that the damsel has a more substantial tail than a mayfly, but it is not copied beyond that.

This is the fun part, where your experiences are married with the practical and the theoretical, where myth is confirmed and legend can be discarded, it’s the crucible where “your” flies are born.

Which path you prefer is inconsequential, you can fiddle with materials, you have license to alter proportions, you can make flies that resemble nothing, everything, or something – and you’ll be catching fish with all of them.

Fly Tying, the Craft is not the Art

Fly tying craft is disguising a hook by imitating common fish food for use with rod and reel. Fly tying art is the rigor of perfecting these techniques to produce flies worthy of framing, or showcasing the talents of the tier, never to  be used in anger.

At times it’s tough to distinguish between the two, the lines are fluid making it difficult for an apprentice tyer to gauge progress. Much of your angling is reduced to a few trips per year, and the confirmation of your flies effectiveness will not be regular. Magazines and books are constant companions at the tier’s bench, and what you create will be compared to the photographs they contain, it’s important to distinguish art from craft, and to compare apples with apples.

A talented tier can create flies that ignore all proportion, stretch known limits, are extremely difficult to tie, and require exotic materials. It also may take them 3 or more hours to tie that fly, it represents art of the highest form, but can be confused with functional patterns by the unwary.

Putting it all together, the Art of Domestic Bliss

Every rule of fly tying has been broken by flies that are the exception. All limits shattered, all proportion thrown by the wayside, and herein lies sanctuary. The most important rule is do they work, not are they beautiful.

Fish are stupid, have poor vision, and are not vocal, they’ll never sing your praises.

You will have to tie many thousands of flies before proportion and construction are second nature. During all this time, you will evolve many theories, you will read many more, some may hold water and some may not.

Collect real bugs from your favorite streams and imitate them with the materials at hand, forget about what you don’t own, use what you have. Every fly you tie hones your construction skills, even if it never sees action.

A small coffee grinder used with a skein of yellow, red, and blue yarn, can yield every color in the rainbow, chop the segments shorter than an inch, and use the Artist’s Color Wheel to make your fur colors. Fly tying is actually many disciplines, some not related to fishing at all.

Test materials and flies in your bathtub, learn what adds life and motion, and what makes your fly ride upside down. You will find that physics and proportion are tied together, you can take license with proportion knowing what the physical change will be in its aerodynamic or fishing qualities.

Exploit the materials available to you, leverage your friends. Do you hunt ducks? Does your neighbor? More importantly, does your neighbor notice the bald spot on his Airedale? Be wary, as 20 lbs of fresh killed deer hide will have to be treated immediately, right after you resuscitate your wife…

Fly tying is a mess maker hobby, filled with odiferous and objectionable items. You will need special storage arrangements to retain domestic bliss. Rotting flesh and moth infestations will be unpopular, seal everything separately to minimize infestation and odor, and use incense cedar rather than mothballs, as moth crystals smell equally bad. Open drawers mean your dog is eating your purple buck tail, or your child is reaching for the porcupine. Be alert that everyone in the household may not share your passion.

You need to address the storage issue almost immediately, and with a permanent furniture purchase. An old vanity table and a chest of drawers will work, both are garage sale fodder, tear the top off the desk and build a new larger work surface. Line both with incense cedar slats from the hardware store. To be allowed into your house, refinish both, as a $25 garage sale purchase can turn into something much better looking if sanded and finished properly.

After all this, you will be confronted by many critics that will find fault with your finest work. Most will have their paws in your fly box to assist you in “lightening” it, but the real critic is the trout, stay focused and please the fish first. Remember you started this bestial trek thinking you would catch more fish, and you are much further along than you think.

Technorati Tags: fly tying, fly tying impressionism, realistic imitation