Recent comments

Submitted by Ken on

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P.O.S. Spits small flies, don't even need to be touching them.
A $50 vice grips better than this garbage.

Submitted by John Lindsay on

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Hi. I am a new tyer out of California and I saw this Streamer online and would love to try tying it but can't find the long hooks. Can you help me please? It's the Grey ghost fly. Thx!

John

Submitted by Dirk de Villiers on

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I have agree with you on the Regal vise. I tied on one for a few years until the jaw chipped. This is almost inevitable if you tie smaller flies - more a matter of when than if in my opinion. Contacted Regal and wanted to charge me for a new set of jaws which I thought was unacceptable for a vise with an obvious design flaw that supposedly has a lifetime guarantee. I switched to a Renzetti Presentation 2000 and haven't looked back.

Submitted by matt12345 on

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Zoo doesn't dump poop in the water. Do research instead of spreading fake gossip.

Again:

Nice fly :-)
I love the simple patterns - they are quick for tying, effective on the water and look nicely.
Good job.

Submitted by Christopher Chapman on

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I love my Law vise and have been tying on it for the last 20 years. I have 4 HMH Spartan vices for fly tying classes and for 20 years prior it was a Renzetti traveler that I still have. I bought the Law right before becoming a dad and it was a big investment at the time. At first I was a little let down with the simplicity but I honestly can’t imagine on tying on anything else. From large striper saltwater flies to size 20 midges, never an issue whatsoever. Seeing that my investment has grown, I will now make sure its clean as when I am done with it my sons can split the proceeds!!! Puts a smile on my face!!

A 30-year adventure like GFF is rare. The people who launch and support these good ideas burn out and/or are forced to transform the initial project into a commercial activity and often, this is the prelude to the end. The rare cases that survive are held at arm's length by a tough headstrong or a crazy enthusiast who makes it a personal mission. Thank you martin for possibly being a mix of the two.

Submitted by Raphaël on

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The best all around streamer: seabass, asp, perch, tarpon, jack, chub, snapper... I use it mostly with white /grizzle/chartreuse or purple/black. I put bit more flash but I make the throat of calf tail to make a hot spot. And of course yellow stick on eyes and UV resin head.

Don’t worry, Google won’t loose anything cause you stop counting. If this free time give birth to + 1 publication per year or more time with Brigitte and/or fishing, well we all gain here. Obviously , more time for you and your love is first. Take care Martin.

I got an email from Trevor, with this information:
---------------
I have been out of action for a while now because of ill health but am pleased to say that I have a stock of my Javelin fly lines available.
I now live in Ireland and my current email is : tmorganmayo@gmail.com
My phone/WhatsApp number is +353 873492524.
---------------

Martin

Paul,

The sample cards and silk spools are typically available in shops catering to tyers who tie classical salmon flies, and I have seen (and bought) silk from dealers here in Denmark. Simply searching for Japanese silk floss gives a lot of possible sources for original Japanese silk.

Regarding places in Japan, I'm not able to help you right off the bat. Finding locations there will probably require some research. I have a few Japanese fly tyers in my network, and I can try asking around, but my guess is that doing some online research might unearth some tips. Silk is typically connected with kimonos in Japan and combining silk, floss and kimono may give something.

I tried: https://www.google.com/search?q=silk+floss+factory+japan and https://www.google.com/search?q=silk+floss+kimono+factory+japan and these searches did give some pointers that could be useful.

I'll see if I can find more.

Martin

Submitted by Paul Beckmann on

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I am visiting multiple cities in Japan next month. I am looking for the source that the author used to buy their silk and sample card and am wondering if there is a retail source I can visit during my trip. Thank you so much for your time.

Peter,

Your findings match my own experiences with almost any spooled material: tinsel, wire, monofilament ... you name it. We can't use terms like small, medium, large, wide, narrow, thin, thick for anything! We need absolute measurements in fractions of an inch or millimeter (preferably both), so that there can be no doubt and things can be compared.

And don't get me started on hooks where the problem is the same. I have worked on an article on hook sizes, which is just as confusing with numbered sizes that vary wildly from company to company and are totally crazy even from the same manufacturer.

It's 2024 and you'd think that the industry would be as interested as us consumers in updating these measures and units, of which most were invented up towards two centuries ago.

But that doesn't seem to be the case. We're stuck with 1/0, 5 weight, medium and all kinds of odd and almost useless units.

My thread table is a feeble try to get a little order into that part of our world. I'm glad it's helpful.

Martin

Thank you Martin, This is really helpful! Compiling it and updating it must take a lot of work, Thank you so much.
I recently entered a fly tying competition run by a print and digital magazine I subscripe to. The first fly is tied on a size 12 hook, the second on a size 10 hook. What I find confusing in the materials list is 'Fine Silver Wire'. I checked my stock from 3 different manufacturers, Measured by vernier calliper my discovery is as follows:
Veniards:Fine: 0.125mm (No. 27) ( actual 0.12mm), Medium: 0.155mm (No. 26), Large/Wide: 0.185mm (No. 25).
Uni-Soft: Small 0.15mm (No. 33) Between medium and large?, UTC Wire:X-Small: 0.1mm, Small: 0.16mm, Brassie: 0.22mm
Medium: 0.32mm.
Fly-Box: Micro/Small 0.10mm, Medium 0.20mm.
Again not much consistency across the sizes, so I guess we need to purchase from different suppliers so we can match diameters to the fly we are tying. This doesn't help us elderly folk dependant on our retirement pension!
Across my stock Small varies from 0.15mm, 0.16mm, 0.10mm.
Meduim varies from 0.155mm, 0.32mm, 0.20mm.
Thank you Martin for excellent work as always.
Best regards
Peter Jackson

Hi Rory,
Glad you liked the worm.I looked up Ridj-bak flies and found a You Tube video on a Steelhead pattern that looked good. I've used chain along the back of a curved hook to tie shrimps with a dubbing loop wound between the beads and then a shell back pulled over.
Cheers, Nick

Hey Nick,
Great fly pattern and good use of bead-chain.
Back in the '80s, when looking to add some bling and weight to some fly patterns for winter-run steelhead on Vancouver Island, I used bead-chain as a ridged back on the fly body. It worked great. These patterns are now called Ridj-bak flies. The bead-chain can be attached by overwinding it with wire or coloured floss and could even have a saddle hackle wound over between the beads. Looks great and fishes well. Can't attach a photo here but will send it to you via private e-mail if you wish.
Cheers!

Serge,

Thanks for the nice words about the site!

I'm sure you will not regret your purchase. It's a very interesting book, and one I hope you will like. Supporting books like this is important if we want to continue seeing them published.

Martin

Hi Martin. First, I want to wish you «une Belle et Bonne Année 2024».
I also say thanks…thanks for keeping alive and healthy GFF. I can’t imagine the time and efforts you had put in the project until now.

This book review is useful for me. I didn’t buy volume one and I kind of regret. Volume II is on the way. Fly fishing and Fly tying books are important object to me. My library has more than 150 of them. I am from this old school were the smell of the book is as important as it content.

Feather Mechanic II is different…that convinced me to put my hands on it. Knowing that some great tiers had collaborated is another good reason. Is this world of great photos and computerized images, hand drawings by the author is one more. So thanks for the review.

Submitted by Johan on

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Well written. One more reason for tuning in here again. And for recommending GFF.

I was born 1962. States used to control TV. Now I can have my own weekly show and many are watching from around the globe. Super cool. Websites made many magazines redundant. Mail order catalogues turned into mainstream shopping -mobile first. Analytics.

But interesting stuff is often found in niche places. Nothing is new about this.
If GFF is to cater for the big crowds it will have to adopt. Not being niche. Not being cool.

Submitted by Kim Durkee on

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Mark, I assure you those rods were cheap production rods such as Montague and H&I and were intended as entry level rods or wall hangers, the black "ink" being in homage to the minor trend of "Japanning" as black laquering was called, primarily in the 50s. He wouldn't have done that to a high quality rod from a classic maker.

Since you got this far …


The GFF money box

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Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.

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