Recent comments

Levered cam fly vise

Levered cam fly vises, especially those with narrow jaws, put an amazing amount of pressure on the hook wire. I have heard this pressure can weaken the steel in the hook wire. I believe it; the broken hooks I have found myself fishing with broke right where the vise jaws were on the hook bend. To prevent this I use a technique suggested by Art Flick: Cut a small piece of light cardboard/paper (like a cereal box), bend it in half, and place the hook bend between the halves. Trim the cardboard so it won't protrude far beyond the vise jaws, place the paper-wrapped bend of the hook in the vise and close the jaws with about half the pressure you normally use. The hook will be held rock-solid in the jaws of even the cheapest vise and the chances of the hook breaking are greatly reduced.

Congratulations Mart

Congratulations Martin and GFF on the videos. You have a wonderful site filled with entertainment and great information. It is a place where everyone can learn something. No mater what your level of fly tying ability is, you can't know it all. I learn something new everytime I come to this site.

Thank you for making this site available. There is nothing like it. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing you the next time you come to the Catskill Mountains.

Comment to #94-2013 Blue Knight by Jim Bennett

Definitely eye candy, and an attention getting fly. Congrats.

One thing not mentio

One thing not mentioned is the hook quality. Cheap hooks have points that break off. Also a cheap hook has inferior wire and doesn't have high carbon wire. Cheap hooks aren't a bargain if the points break off. I can't recall the last time I broke a point off, I don't fish saltwater though. If you sharpen points, that will often remove the coating, causing them to rust. Black Nickel hooks are usually the sharpest and some of the worst are blackened salmon hooks, those usually almost always have dull points because they are painted.

Bending hooks removes a hook's tempering. When the heat treating fails, the hook usually breaks. Cheaper hooks are almost always not heat treated well because that involves another step which costs time and money.

I've dropped fly boxes in the water and usually at the end of fishing for the day, I remove the flies. wrap them in a towel and bake them in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. You need a cotton towel or paper towel with no plastic fibers.

I've been watching h

I've been watching him tie for sometime now and he is really a good tier. His techniques are very good...and that fly is beautiful. I'll probably steal some of his ideas!

I've lost more than

I've lost more than one nice smallmouth bass because the hook went dull banging off the rocks. I carry a diamond sharpener and touch up any fly that won't bite into my thumbnail.

Comment to #93-2013 - Royal Coachman Hairwing by R

Lovely fly there Bob. :-)

Comment to #93-2013 - Royal Coachman Hairwing by R

Just wicked

Comment to #93-2013 - Royal Coachman Hairwing by R

Nice tye Bob,neat head...

great number, great

great number, great quality ! keep it up !

Best wishes from Romania!

Congratulations Mart

Congratulations Martin! GFF is the most democratic cyberspace of fly fishing. Great vídeos, nice photos and a space for politics discussions on fly fishing. Politic in the sense of relations between fisherman, market, economy an enviroment.
Cheers. Ernesto Guevara

Benbow,

The guard

Benbow,

The guardian that would be me, and I'm simply keeping people and machines from adding spam links to fake comments, which immediately happens as soon as it's allowed. Been there and done that. But send me the link, and I'll be pleased to add it to your comment.

Even with the ban we still get tons of spam. After having replied to this I deleted four irrelevant comments about odd pills and one about inflatable boats. They could easily have been 20 or 30 if direct links were allowed.

Martin

I just found a site

I just found a site that lists flytying hook sizes in millimeters. Unfortunately, the guardians of this website do not allow posting URL's, and for security reasons I accept that. They don't seem to allow cut-and-paste of the chart either. Go to SwittersB&Flyfishing and you should find the chart as I did.

And yes, of all the

And yes, of all the commercial fly retailers L.L. Beans Hornberg is the best ive seen too. It has some kind of aura the others dont lol, sounds like crap I know but I swear by it.

Interesting thread.

Interesting thread. We raise chickens, and I must agree with the cone/bag method for slaughter. It is quick and low-stress for the bird.

But many will discover that raising chickens only for the feathers is NOT worth it, economically. It's cheaper to buy them. Heck, it's more expensive, even when you use the meat and eggs, like we do. But it's worth it, if you are trying to stay hormone, pesticide and antibiotic-free in what you eat.

So is it possible to

So is it possible to learn which boat was the "relable" for the big box stores?

This Brian guy knows

This Brian guy knows what's up. Coming from a ski mountaineering background if you want to stay the warmest in cold conditions evaporation is your enemy not wetness. See the hardy alaskans that use vbl in their shoes, vests for backsweat from packs and sleeping bags when climbing big AK peaks. It is kind of an odd feeling having vbl on but as long as you have dry clothes to change into after you're done fishing the extra insulation from the neoprene will keep you warmer

I am also looking fo

I am also looking for a chart that includes the actual gap dimensions in millimeters as well as a true-size depiction of flytying hooks. I looked up Netcraft, but their chart only goes down to size 16, and I tie down to size 22. They do not include millimeter sizes for flytying hooks. In the meantime, what I do to sort hooks that have gotten mixed up is this: I lay out on a sheet of white stock paper hooks of known size at the top of each of three columns: 14, 16 and 18 in my case. I then spread out the mixed hooks and move each to the column that best appears to match. Any that then seem out of place then get moved one direction or the other. Hooks too small for even 18 become designated 20 until they, too, seem divided. The smaller ones there are thus 22's, the smallest hook I use. Conversely, those larger than the hooks in the #14 column become 12's, the largest I use other than streamer hooks. In the absence of a functional chart, this works for me. BTW: I think the best containers for flytying hooks are the prescription bottles from Walgreens. They even give me empty ones without charge [though I am a regular customer]. The tops screw on, so there's little chance of spillage, and the reversible caps can act as holders for a half-dozen or so hooks while tying. I use Avery labels to identify what's in the bottle.

Comment to #92-2013 Gray Wolf's Llama Hair Chapman

Thanks folks...>Looks like the head cement oxidied on that one, and on the brown julie, come to think of it.

You can also use win

You can also use window colour to make eyes.

Comment to #92-2013 Gray Wolf's Llama Hair Chapman

I like this pattern are you great idea, I will try this version.

just found this site

just found this site and found it to be a very interesting fly tying site !!!!!

Comment to Scott Bernard

Long way from South Portland but love the county - daughter Deb Dunn used to live in Presque Isle and was my excuse to travel there.

Comment to #91-2013 - U.S. Air Force by Tom Fulton

Tom, this one is definitely a winner. I love the colors, and all it stands for. You stepped up to meet the challenge here, no doubt about it!