Mike G

What's in your wallet?

I went to the bar with my gal, but the next thing I knew she took up with another guy. Last I saw they were driving off in his carp.

You missed "Shnauzer Clouzer."

Regardless of what you may think of our penal system, the fact is that every man in jail is one less potential fisherman to clutter up your favorite pool or pond. Ed Zern

Yes, I mean a fly tying contest. There could be more than one if the first draws any interest. I see three, a Float'n Fly (1/16 Jig), a subsurface fly like a streamer or nymph, and a floating fly like a popper or diver. Now I have to figure out some rules. who will be "da Judge," etc.

There's a tournament here. Let's see what what we can produce from the "fake fur." Who's in?

Midge, Mating-midge, Midge a trois, Morgy... I think I had a guide like that.

I agree with ronk. To stabilize the bundle I tie the sections together with two tie tapes and make sure the fine tip does not strcik out where it could be easily snapped.

Lake Minnetonka for Largemouths. Mississippi for Smallmouoths.

Good Terry, Let us know what you think when you get the stuff.

Rich gave me a tip that I want to pass along.As the weather and waters cool, our thoughts turn naturally to Float’n Fly fishing. Time to tie some up. The “flies” popularized by the likes of Charlie Nuckols and Bob Coan are small jigs traditionally made of Troll Hair, AKA fake fur. There is website where you can get free swatches of fake fur. http://www.distincti...php?cat=LONGFUR They have a lot of different furs to choose from. I went ahead and got five free swatches, Husky Fur (grey), Extra Long Fur burnt orange). Brandy Fox (brown),Monkey Fur (black), and Sparkle Fur (lime). I am glad it was free so I could try a few different types. Not all of them totally good for tying. It turned out that the Sparkle Fur was far and away the best with fibers a full 4 inches long and minimal fluff under fur. The Sparkle is achieved by plugging in a few metallic strands about every inch. Though the strands could be removed, I would leave them in since I usually add flash to wings anyway. Sparkle fur comes in a good range of colors. You can learn from my mistakes. Mistake 1, the Husky Fur was usable only because it offered some black tipped guard hairs about 3 inches long that could be teased out of the heavy under fur. Mistake 2, the Monkey Fur swatch was very matted and required some work with a comb to straighten the fibers about 3 inches long. Once that was done the fur is usable though the color selection is limited to black or white. Mistake 3, Extra Long Fur was disappointing. Even combing did not cure the matted hairs. Fibers about 2 inches long can be teased out of the dense under fur. Mistake 4, Brandy Fox was my worst mistake. The longest fibers were barely 1.5 inches long. Go get your free swatches now. If you need some inspiration on patterns to tie, visit the Punisher Lure site. http://www.punisherl...t-fly-jigs.html

48. We choose to go fishing. We choose to go fishing in this decade and do the other things, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. John F. Kennedy

Tom, Excellent poetry. Tom, I grant you three out of four titles. I am stingy with the Filosofer title. Tom, less is more; stop while you are ahead: I brush the sky with my rod. I carve the river with my line. I fool the fish with my fly. I am a fisherman. I wish I had said that. If you can continue to crank out insights like that, sign me on as your editor.

Keep that fly in the water until it stops producing. Time enough to frame it afterwords. There's a nice difference between drugs and fly tying. First, tying supplies are a lot cheaper than drugs. Second, drugs will shorten your life while tying will lengthen it.

“…when fishing is easy we never learn anything. It takes poor fishing to extract the last bit of resourcefulness from the angler’s brain in the effort to get at least a slight measure of success. But when it is so good that everyone gets his limit there is really nothing much to talk or write about. … You begin to realize that it is much more interesting and satisfying to catch only one fish under adverse conditions than it is to catch fifty when they are coming easy.” Ray Bergman, Fresh-water Bass

Good one Josh. Add a Lefty's Bug to your kit and it might be all you need. But, as Jonn says, "Wait! there's more!"

The only record we have is that He and a team of Apostles used a net,

Its in the picture.

For fishing rich has given you good advice. I'll go further. Get a guide through them. It is worth it to avoid the trial and error you would go through on your own.

Bad Ass Whistle gives proper tribute to its ancestors while keeping the name short. My vote is for that.

Great pictures and nice tying series. I have some flies that I spun off of the Hairy Fodder which I called the Whodat Fodder and the Mardi Fodder.. So I suggest you keep Whistle in the name. After that it is up to you. Soon I will be tying some of these ????? Whistles using Craig's ringers to mount the eyes.

rich, You saw it in person. Was the hair loose or were they clipping it off of a strip of hide? BTW, since I do not want to impose my tastes on everyone, it is the tyer's choice whether to use this stuff or not. I am on the not side.

Tibetan Temple Dog hair started appearing in the catalogs of several fly tying suppliers. Wikipedia semms to indicate the most likely identity for the breed: "The Lhasa Apso is a non-sporting dog breed originating in Tibet. It was bred as an interior sentinel in the Buddhist monasteries, who alerted the monks to any intruders who entered." It could also be Tibetan Terrier or Tibetan Mastiff. No matter what, I cannot get comfortable with putting a piece of dog hide in my kit. Hides that result from hunting or slaughtering are no problem. I have tied many Bambi hair and Bambi tail flies. Temple dog is too much.

Some men fish all their lives without knowing it is not really the fish they are after. Henry David Thoreau

Good video. I think Lee was an early champion of the "flea" rod, that is a rod 6 ft or less long. BTW Casting 60 ft with a tip should be easy. Here's two guys who do not even need a tip. http://www.gofishn.com/gofishn/8471-bet-this-guy-can-cast-fly-cast-better-without-a-rod-than-you-can-with-one/