Category Archives: product

Rivers in Motion: The Yellowstone

The Yellowstone DVD The lads at DryFly Media sent me a DVD entitled: “Rivers in Motion: The Yellowstone” – it’s a novel idea akin to “visual white noise” – the sights and sounds of the best stretches of your favorite river to put you at peace with the world…

Knowing that Singlebarbed wouldn’t be at peace if the Holy Ghost hisself was present, I volunteered to give it a look see.

No, it didn’t lull me to sleep, but it made the fly tying 10% faster. The omnipresent roar of big water in the background made me feel like I was tying on a park bench before the hatch started in earnest. Tongue firmly sandwiched between teeth, casting furtive glances at the monitor to see if the fish are rising yet –  and the only thing missing was the afternoon breeze sending my materials flying.

It played hell with my blood pressure.

I watched/listened to a couple of the scenes at home with my tinny little headphones – which destroyed the entire purpose,  so I swapped it out for the Dolby SurroundSound setup, which upstaged the book my girlfriend was reading – who stomped off to bed in a huff.

In the right hands this could be a powerful tool, clear the ManCave with the sounds of thunderous, slippery, rapids then enjoy the bliss of tying uninterrupted. 

I took it to work to try it there, had a couple simple speakers meant for cubicle use and with a pair of monitors had the Yellowstone flowing down one screen and a document in the other … worked swimmingly, but I had to turn it down whenever the humans intruded.

The guy next to me leans over, “Dude, you frying bacon in there?”

“No, Meathead – that’s the sound of some severe Blueline rapids filled with ravenous giant trout.”

He grabs the DVD cover, “Yellowstone, I got to go there. You going there?”

“I was there until you poked your nose into the cubicle, now I’m having trouble breathing through my eye lids, my aura is out of kilter, and your fruitless search for a free donut has messed with my ‘Happy Place.'”

In short, the audio dictates most of effect, 10 different stretches of the Yellowstone filmed for 9 minutes duration, and you absorbing it all via computer screen or TV/Stereo.

I found myself wishing there was some fellow fishing, or a herd of something peacefully grazing within the view of the camera, adding the perspective of size to the mass of water flowing past. All in all it was an interesting experiment.

The final scene hosted a large pod of fish munching their way through a nice hatch. That was a difficult watch – as the volume of rises and their frequency had me extolling the cameraman, ” .. are you a Man, to hell with the video, get a rod and get down there, dammit.”

I think adding a couple fellows fishing has potential – you’d have to edit out all the swearing, but watching another fisherman fish would likely glue you to each episode. It’s the reality of fishing, it’s so rare that you’re alone on a river these days – it’s almost part of the experience.

Something for the stocking this Xmas – or something to send someone whose been shoveling his driveway for three months, and hasn’t touched a rod for same … it’ll likely torment hell out of this erstwhile pal.

The re-emergent Thomas-Phelps-Xuron, it’s hard to keep a simple design in obscurity

I’ve known it by many names – but mostly it’s “the vise I can’t get rid of…”

One of my buddies found one at a flea market, it was an original “Thomas Vise” complete with a sheet metal C-clamp. Elsie and Harry Darbee swore by it, and it enjoyed a brief resurgence as the “Catskill Vise” – never manufactured as such, just a common name for the old Thomas specimens still in existence.

I owned my first when it was the “Phelp’s Vise” – bought a second one for parts from Peter Phelps after it was rechristened the “Xuron”. It was popular with Eric Leiser and some of the eastern tiers in the Eighties, but like all simple, elegant, sturdy designs, it vanished.

A fly tying vise without any moving parts doesn’t wear out; no “forcing collars” to split, no seals or gaskets, no midge jaws to break – and even when you turn a stainless steel 3/0 into a pretzel – there’s nothing in the assembly to protest or groan.

The best part is they’re making it again.

It’s still called the “Xuron” vise – and in this day and age of rotating gizmo vises, its price falls into the “entry level” of fly tying tools. The Deluxe model with pedestal base is $160.

That’s a far cry from the $400 contemporary miracles of rotary design – and it still offers a feature you can’t buy in any other vise, the base has a “ball and socket” joint that allows you to adjust both the attitude of the jaws, and tilt the vise to any degree in the “X , Y” coordinate plane. You can pull the vise jaws backward into an upright position, or thrust them forward and rotate the jaw to make the shank of a salmon-double level.

Simple screw to tighten, and palm pressure to rotate It appears the only change to the vise is the presence of a “knurled” knob where the Allen screw used to be.  We modified the design by rotating the head 180 degrees (so the tightening lever is on the far side) and replaced the screw with a small “L” shaped bar of metal so we could rotate the jaws into a new position by pressing your palm against the bar.

The knurled knob isn’t as easy to manipulate while tying – so I’d recommend modifying the assembly, or asking the vendor whether he still stocks the old threaded “bar” – or can modify the assembly for you.

Some companies still do that – it’s called “customer service.”

Which is the “best” vise is hotly debated in every fly tying forum available on the Internet. “Best” seems to be important to new tiers – while us old guys are more interested in what works. This is the “General Practitioner” of fly tying vises – able to accommodate hook sizes from 6/0 to 26 with the same single tightening motion – and handles the rarified styles like Waddington shanks and tube flies with a tilt and tighten.

Considering the contemporary vises I’ve used – which seem to be moving into more of a “specialized” style, with a plethora of knobs, dials, and gauges to handle hook sizes and styles – this vise is uncommon.

It’s rare that simplicity reasserts itself – I must not be the only fan, as someone still thinks there’s plenty of life left in the design. After putting about a quarter million flies through it in the last 20 years – all on the same set of jaws, I’m sure you’ll find this tool more than meets your needs.

Christmas is heading our way, and it’s going to be a tough holiday what with the turmoil in markets and decline in the economy. Maybe this is worth a second look – it may be the “best” price for the service you’ll get.

It’s like learning to tie flies, only cheaper

Fly shops and canny fellows Them heady days of a commercial resale license are long gone, compliments of the Internet. Manufacturers use minimum order to separate the riff-raff from the genuine capitalists – something I gleefully exploit at every opportunity.

With the economy in the tank those $50 orders from “Fatty” over at Singlebarbed are doubly precious, and plays well with my shameless hoarding nature…

I figure you’re interested, hence my mentioning where to find vast quantities of feather dander on the cheap – unfortunately not all my readers are Real Men fly tiers, so not everyone gets to take advantage.

Among the largest sources of capital outlay for fly fishermen are flies, it’s the reason most attempt to learn the craft somewhere in their career; the smart ones fail, realizing that’s it’s twice as expensive  – leaving us slow learners to master the craft.

India and Malaysia have provided most of the flies found in fly shops for the last couple of decades, but China and Africa are coming aboard as direct competitors – and a canny fellow may be able to take advantage.

Minimum orders from Kenyan manufacturers are often only 4 dozen flies – and counting your fishing buddies and their need to lighten your fly box, that’s a single outing. The rest require a minimum of 100 dozen, which represents a season of pals and their grabby mitts.

Both Chinese and African vendors charge about $3.40 per dozen, about thirty cents a fly, making a 100 dozen only $340 US.

Split an order with a buddy, and laugh all the way to the bank…

Alibaba.com lists 605 manufacturers of flies in their sales leads, all contain contact information and sample pictures of their wares. All it takes is an email to the manufacturer requesting samples, and you may find a new best friend, and score enough freebies to cover your next couple of outings.

Most of you may not have noticed the resurgent dollar, how in the last couple of months it’s beating almost every other currency available. As long as the dollar is strong against the Yuan, Drachma, Lire, Pound, etc – you’ll be paying even less for your tackle.

While you’re at it consider one of those really expensive pontoon boats – the ones listed at $1500 or more in the catalogs .. Who do you think makes those?

Minimum order is 10, and direct from the manufacturer it’s pretty much guaranteed to be less than half price. Shipping will add more, but 9 guys at your casting club might be interested.

… and no, you’re not harming American fly tyers – most shops use their best talent on the specific patterns they can’t get from the offshore vendors; all the watershed specific patterns, flies that require higher skill levels, and those patterns that are useful only a couple weeks each year.

It’s all the standard patterns that flesh out their fly selection that are imports.

It’s raining iPhones

It could lead to a $300 projectile I love gadgets as much as the next fellow, and after eyeballing an Apple iPhone some months ago – I figured sooner or later I might end up owning one.

Now I’m glad I waited as there may be a better than average chance at scoring a free one. The software geniuses at Freeverse have debuted the first fishing game for the iPhone, and like the Wii, it’s motion activated.

You’ll remember the Wii as the cause of all those smashed TV screens, the “heat of battle” caused the controllers to slip from sweaty fingers – neatly imbedding themselves in some fellow’s expensive wide screen.

… reading the fine print of the iPhone game, it mentions “casting is activated by an overhand throwing motion” – which means the well heeled fellow at the bus stop may want you to “go long” ….

If you want one – just keep running.

It’s a thought … $300 per catch may put you in the middle tier payscale for NFL receivers.

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What in hell am I going to make with that

togen_steelhead It was an oddball hook, normally I would’ve kept moving without another thought – but a sale is not to be taken lightly…

Togen has an overstock sale on an odd shaped “Salmon-Steelhead” hook in black nickel, only a single size available, size 2 – but I took another gander and saw a “creepy-crawly” hook rather than steelhead-salmon steel.

Traditional hooks can be turned over to ride point up only with some heavy add on, bead chain eyes or similar physics-altering device capable of overcoming the weight of the bend and point. Hooks are naturally heavier towards the arse end – and something’s needed to reset that balance point.

“Creepy-Crawly” describes everything that’s big, sinks, and used early season, when the water’s heavy and the fish are looking for the big bug.

This has just the right kind of oddball shape that I can easily flip it over just by positioning the lead on the shank. The size is right for big stonefly nymphs and heavy … you guessed it … crayfish patterns.

Early season nymphing is hell on hooks, and it’s common to rescue a fly from a rock snag to find a nice “L” shape to the point – getting that precious point out of harm’s way would be desirable.

At $7.50 per hundred, they’re half price.

Furry Foam by any other name is a blanket

JC Penny's Vellux blanket with 9 colors available I was tracking some quarry for the Roughfisher, and as the supply is ample figured I’d share with everyone else, as many of you tie flies with baby blankets …

You call it Furry Foam, and are content to pay $1.25 for a 6″ X 6″ square, I call it a Vellux Throw, and pay $15.00 for 36 square feet. At retail that’s a 600% profit for the middlemen – who score them wholesale I’m sure.

J.C. Penny’s offers nine colors in stock, available as a throw wrap ($15), and Twin through King sized sheets ($19 – $34).

Hareline sells it in the fly shop, but why buy it from them Big stonefly nymphs and Darth Clam come to mind, likely it’s something you’ll want to split with a buddy, or share with your fly tying class – 36 square feet is a lot of flies.

One of the few investments for a toddler they won’t outgrow – once they get too big you can launder it and chop it into manageable pieces, you may even have it longer than the bronzed baby shoe.

Just cut around anything that looks like “urpy-chuck.”

You could at least throw me a towel when you’re done, the War on Six Dollar items heats up, or I do

I made the mistake of restocking some rubber leg material at my last visit to the local establishment, and was driven into another paroxysm of swearing.

There among all the pre-packaged “jobbed” materials was the Spirit River “Tarantula legs” – minus the color I was looking for, naturally. I did find one old pack down at the floor that someone had missed – just enough to get me through the weekend.

My mistake was glancing at the price while admiring my find.

Detail view of the (olive) Pumpkin metal flake

Don’t waste your money – times is hard enough without being used savagely, $2.50 for about 24 strands of colored leg material is unconscionable – that’s a dime per fly.

Spirit River buys the damn stuff from someone akin to the Living Rubber Company, and you’ll find all the colors and sizes they offer – plus extra colors not available at your fly shop – and the price is 1/11th what the shop charges.

Do the markup math yourself – a “25 skirt pack” is about $6.00 from Living Rubber, and each of the “skirts” equals a Spirit River pack of rubberlegs, about 24 strands. I don’t mind so much if an enterprising fellow doubles or triples his money, but 11 times is enough to make me wince – only because he’s making 11 times the retail price of the rubber, he’s making double that if he buys it wholesale.

The standard skirt material from Living Rubber is what Spirit River describes as their “medium” size, and it’s rectangular rather than round. If memory serves, the Spirit River “fish scale” rubber is also rectangular. Living Rubber sells the round rubber in 15 foot lengths for $8.00 – these are simple one-color bands of ~50 strands each. They don’t yet sell the printed pattern round fibers on their web site.

I haven’t contacted the company for the availability of round imprinted rubber, but if they’re selling it wholesale to jobbers, they’ll certainly sell it to you.

Shown in the photographs are “25 skirt packs” of “Green Pumpkin” (the olive and black metal flake) and dark green/black and the orange/black varieties.

Take advantage of the vendor for a change, see how it feels – it’s another sawbuck saved for your next big purchase …

Stalking the elusive Ultra Chenille, it’s Vernille in the Wild

I figure it’s a cross between Euell Gibbons and Basil Rathbone, a mixture of natural curiosity and dogged determinism; a personal quest, my ongoing War Against Six Dollar Items, where I delight in finding products “in the wild” – unfettered by middlemen, fly shops, and their obligatory markup..

I’ve been chasing down Ultra Chenille (Vernille, Velvet Chenille, Suede chenille) for almost a year. I thought I had it when I discovered a manufacturer in Turkey,  instead it was an interesting crop of fibers and yarns, all cheap as dirt and as yet undiscovered.

The good stuff, and it's cheap as dirt

Ultra chenille is a great material, tough as nails, low buildup, and has a variety of uses from traditional chenille flies to the nouveau dressings unique to the product.

At $2 for 9 feet, it’s also pricey.

I’d toss the old rayon stuff if the price was low enough to replace it – mainly because ultra chenille wears better and doesn’t come apart in your fingers if spun in the wrong direction. The fibers being so much shorter – it doesn’t mat or bleed, especially after the flies have been fished.

Tie is the blue strand, fly shop stuff is the flesh colored strand This fiber is made by a manufacturer called “Silk City Fibers” located back East, and is marketed under the “Tie” name, to distinguish it from the myriad of other yarns they make. It’s neither suede, rayon, or cotton, rather a synthetic nylon called “Polyamide.”

Acid dyes will dye nylon just fine – allowing the possibility of scoring a 2000 yard cone of white and making whatever color you fancy.

Chenille and yarn follow a number of sizing conventions and the “YPP” convention is commonplace. “YPP” is Yards Per Pound, and the higher the number the smaller the diameter of the material.

“Tie” is a 3800 YPP fiber which is about 15% smaller than the size sold in the fly shop. Also good, because we can use it on smaller hooks without making the fly too bulky – and it’s likely available in a variety of sizes – something else that’s missing from the fly shop selection.

100 yards in a neat little bundle for only five bucks A cone of ultra chenille is $90 from a reseller – and while only a commercial tyer will get excited – searching on eBay yields a vendor with 14 of the 16 colors available from the factory.

50g skeins for $5 is a steal, and she has plenty.

The top picture is her color selection, and contacting the vendor directly will score you enough of “the good stuff” to make it worth your while.

The smaller size is especially useful, as it’s diameter is small enough to make trout flies – expanding your use beyond  traditional steelhead flies and streamers.

The War Against Six Dollars Items continues, with you folks the beneficiary.

The Brownline ABEL

Fishing the brown water has always had a “Budweiser” mystique about it; the luxury of knowing you’re never going to meet someone, therefore bathing is optional, coupled with the social stigma – no clique, no secret handshakes, and the knowledge that Fly Fisherman magazine will never reveal your secret spot.

Abel Carp finish Now Abel reels has ruined it for us odiferous stalwarts – making a “Carp” finish on their latest line of reels.

I don’t mind too terrible much, but I know that reel and me have a date with destiny. I’ll never have the coin or moxie to buy one, I just know that the screaming angler I rescue from a couple feet of toxic sludge will have it – and I’ll come face to face with the knowledge that the “last odiferous frontier” has been tamed…

Then again, in one last paroxysm of outlaw – I could stake him out on an anthill or take his shoes and reel – then chase him through the flaming gravel beds of Death.

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The price is certainly worth a second look

Those of you who’ve resisted the Spey phenomenon and are looking for that first rod or subtle nudge to tip you over the precipice, avert your eyes – quickly…

Loop of Sweden

The Loop Rod Company (of Sweden) is one of many rod companies blowing their excess inventory onto eBay, no subterfuge in all of this as they’re actively marketing rod sales via this outlet.

What drew my attention is the Loop Adventure Spey Rod, 13′ 2″, 3 piece, for an AFTMA #9 line. The price is $119, with 154 of them available.

I can’t resist a really good price – and those that are dangling on the edge – unsure of whether the style is suitable for their fishing, and don’t wish to make a multi-thousand dollar commitment – this may be a good way to get your toe in the water.

The rods are mailed directly from the Loop factory in Sweden, and the postage will run you about $30, so the total outlay will be about $150.

I’m sure there are plenty of rods better, this is an overstock of a discontinued model and the price suggests it may be worthy of a second look – something you can smuggle onto your credit card without too much guilt.

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