Hey Tony....i'm always up for those kinda stories, esp from someone that used to live not too far from where i am now!!!!
Question for anyone/everyone....average length of leader to use...9'total?? >From the end of the fly line to the fly, that is.... Had approximately 38 minutes yesterday to hit the water before a 20 minute drive to my youngests' softball game, and knew i had to re-rig when i got there. Had my truck door open while i tied new 4x on and the spool decided to beat me down to the river. After a couple of "Oh Nuts..." , i chased the spool down and clipped. Now i'm down to 28 minutes...I start to cast and yesterday was nothing like the day before when everything worked great. I do know i've got way too much on for 4x and that i've gotta trim it down before i head again. OH yeah..what told me i had way too much?? Catching brush, the back of my hat etc.. 4x about the length of my F150 WILL soften the fly drop on the surface but it's still way too much... Who's got the elk hide??? Tom-Vermont > [Original Message] > From: Tony Spezio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 5/21/04 7:41:32 PM > Subject: Re: [VFB] Finally!!! Joyce > > I missed Joyce's message about tying in the old days. How would a young > lady like Joyce know about that. !!!!!!! > I do remember the days before waxed thread on plastic bobbins, vises > that turned, bobbins, Zelon, Rayon, packaged dubbing, necks with long > hackles, saddles with hackles that can be used for dry flies, hooks > smaller than sz 14 and the list goes on. > I could go on about how we tied flies back then but I don't want to bore > anyone. > Tony > > DonO wrote: > > >Joyce is sooooooo right on. New tiers can't remember what it was like > >trying to get decent feathers to tie small dries 3 or 4 decades ago. A size > >range on a neck was pickled clean in no time, as many times it took two > >feathers to tie a decent dry. They were harder to tie with, had short sweet > >spots, and the finished product didn't look anywhere near what you see > >today. Tying was more of a challenge-turned-frustration than anything else > >when it came to small dry flies. If you had the money back then, you could > >wait your turn and maybe get a quality Metz, or at least what we though was > >quality, at the time. Most tiers had shoe-boxes full of necks with the > >middles striped out and the rest going to waste, unless they stooped to > >trimming hackles when all else failed. This trimming wasn't ever accepted > >commercially because of how webby the larger feathers were, and trimming put > >the webs at the tips- not good unless you wanted wet flies. This was the > >motivation for Henry Hoffman and others to start working on the saddles for > >dry fly use. > > > >When I got my first 'new generation' Whiting super saddles about 7 or 8 > >years ago, I was so engrossed in tying with them that I didn't stop tying > >dry flies until I had run out of hooks, about 6 or 700 flies later. I > >ignored everything else as I was having so much fun tying with the new > >stuff. Interestingly, I didn't even put a noticeable dent in the saddles I > >had after that many flies. Then I got my first cree. Wow! I tied more dry > >flies in 6 months (with pleasure) than I had in my entire life (40 years of > >tying). > > > >So I for one don't take these new feathers for granted, and Joyce and other > >long-time tiers will all agree. I can tie 8-10 flies with one hackle before > >I need the hackle-pliers to tie the tip portion. Even the old tying > >instructions for dry fly hackling needed to be revised. > > > >You're right Joyce. > >Counting flytying blessings. > > > >DonO > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: Joyce Westphal > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 8:03 AM > >Subject: Re: [VFB] Finally!!! > > > > > > What a great thing to live and tie today. Don't you just love it? Counting > >my blessings. Joyce > > > > > > > > > > -- > Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. > Experience the convenience of buying online with [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://shopnow.netscape.com/ > --- Tom Swahn Jr (VFB # 10545) --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet. "Fishermen are born honest but they get over it.." Ed Zern "I never go to rivers to kill hecatombs of trout or, actually, any trout; I go to unkill parts of myself that otherwise might die.." A Few Premises-Nick Lyons
