Re: [VFB] Finally!!! Joyce

[Tony Spezio]

I use a 7' 5X leader with 2' of 6X tippet for most of my fishing.
Tony
Tom Swahn Jr. wrote:
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

     

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--- Tom Swahn Jr  (VFB # 10545)
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"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

 

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