Forgotten pleasures

[Wolfgang]

For the past two years, ever since we moved from the duplex into a house, I
didn't bother to unpack (let alone organize) my fly tying gear because I
still had enough bugs to get me through what little fishing I've managed to
squeeze in. Not so, this time around. With the promise of nine days of
intensive angling staring me in the face, it was time to do something. I've
never been exactly anal about neatness, but a quick search through drawers,
tubs, boxes, bags and various other containers left even me a bit
disconcerted. All my hooks (and a lot of other junk) were stored in one of
those upright metal cabinets with the clear plastic drawers.....the ones
that never slide properly in the first place and, given that they are always
over-filled, often won't open at all. The cabinet has been lying on it's
back for two years. Icky! :(

A couple of hours (and $50 at the fly shop buying things that, as I found
out later, after a more careful search, I didn't need anyway) I was ready to
rock. Hooks, thread, chenille, calf tail, mallard flank, brown hackle, nail
polish......yep, all there. Pinch down a barb, chuck the hook in the vise
and.......ACK!......some evil ******* has stolen all my fingers and replaced
them with poorly disguised thumbs! :(

Some observations:

1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years on
the shelf.
2. Hooks shrink.
3. There is considerably less light in the world than there used to be.
4. The labels on containers lie.
5. Materials in general have become unruly and disrespectful.
6. Hook eyes (and hackles) have developed an extraordinary affinity for
head cement.
7. Having magically absorbed a vast quantity of head cement from a
distance, hook eyes disappear entirely when approached by a bodkin.
8. Fingers (or thumbs, as the case may be) do not. :(

Nevertheless, perseverance pays off. After a mere day and a half of intense
labor leavened liberally with blood, sweat, tears, and occasional reference
to foreign language dictionaries in search of new profanities with which
relieve the tedium of repetition, I am the proud owner of 30 new pass lakes
and 18 equally virginal woolly buggers.

When all is said and done, it is good to know that I haven't lost any of my
blinding speed and that the detritus left on the floor still doesn't
outweigh the finished product by all that much. :)

Wolfgang

[[email protected]]

On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 09:35:34 -0500, "Wolfgang" >
wrote:

>For the past two years, ever since we moved from the duplex into a house, I
>didn't bother to unpack (let alone organize) my fly tying gear because I
>still had enough bugs to get me through what little fishing I've managed to
>squeeze in. Not so, this time around. With the promise of nine days of
>intensive angling staring me in the face, it was time to do something. I've
>never been exactly anal about neatness, but a quick search through drawers,
>tubs, boxes, bags and various other containers left even me a bit
>disconcerted. All my hooks (and a lot of other junk) were stored in one of
>those upright metal cabinets with the clear plastic drawers.....the ones
>that never slide properly in the first place and, given that they are always
>over-filled, often won't open at all. The cabinet has been lying on it's
>back for two years. Icky! :(
>
>A couple of hours (and $50 at the fly shop buying things that, as I found
>out later, after a more careful search, I didn't need anyway) I was ready to
>rock. Hooks, thread, chenille, calf tail, mallard flank, brown hackle, nail
>polish......yep, all there. Pinch down a barb, chuck the hook in the vise
>and.......ACK!......some evil ******* has stolen all my fingers and replaced
>them with poorly disguised thumbs! :(
>
>Some observations:
>
>1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years on
>the shelf.
>2. Hooks shrink.
>3. There is considerably less light in the world than there used to be.
>4. The labels on containers lie.
>5. Materials in general have become unruly and disrespectful.
>6. Hook eyes (and hackles) have developed an extraordinary affinity for
>head cement.
>7. Having magically absorbed a vast quantity of head cement from a
>distance, hook eyes disappear entirely when approached by a bodkin.
>8. Fingers (or thumbs, as the case may be) do not. :(
>
>Nevertheless, perseverance pays off. After a mere day and a half of intense
>labor leavened liberally with blood, sweat, tears, and occasional reference
>to foreign language dictionaries in search of new profanities with which
>relieve the tedium of repetition, I am the proud owner of 30 new pass lakes
>and 18 equally virginal woolly buggers.
>
>When all is said and done, it is good to know that I haven't lost any of my
>blinding speed and that the detritus left on the floor still doesn't
>outweigh the finished product by all that much. :)
>
>Wolfgang
>


It's like riding a bike...once you remember where you left it

[Conan The Librarian]

Wolfgang wrote:

> [little snip]
>
> All my hooks (and a lot of other junk) were stored in one of
> those upright metal cabinets with the clear plastic drawers.....the ones
> that never slide properly in the first place and, given that they are always
> over-filled, often won't open at all. The cabinet has been lying on it's
> back for two years. Icky! :(
>
> A couple of hours (and $50 at the fly shop buying things that, as I found
> out later, after a more careful search, I didn't need anyway)

I believe that is Big Dale's first law of tying. (I.e., the things
you *need* to buy are usually just sitting under a pile of the things
you wonder why you bought in the first place.)

> I was ready to
> rock. Hooks, thread, chenille, calf tail, mallard flank, brown hackle, nail
> polish......yep, all there. Pinch down a barb, chuck the hook in the vise
> and.......ACK!......some evil ******* has stolen all my fingers and replaced
> them with poorly disguised thumbs! :(
>
> Some observations:
>
> 1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years on
> the shelf.
> 2. Hooks shrink.
> 3. There is considerably less light in the world than there used to be.
> 4. The labels on containers lie.
> 5. Materials in general have become unruly and disrespectful.
> 6. Hook eyes (and hackles) have developed an extraordinary affinity for
> head cement.
> 7. Having magically absorbed a vast quantity of head cement from a
> distance, hook eyes disappear entirely when approached by a bodkin.
> 8. Fingers (or thumbs, as the case may be) do not. :(

Hilarious, and oh so true. :-) In my case, I was away from fly
tying for almost twenty years. I was truly amazed at how much smaller
hooks had gotten since the eighties.

> Nevertheless, perseverance pays off. After a mere day and a half of intense
> labor leavened liberally with blood, sweat, tears, and occasional reference
> to foreign language dictionaries in search of new profanities with which
> relieve the tedium of repetition, I am the proud owner of 30 new pass lakes
> and 18 equally virginal woolly buggers.

No doubt soon to be used to decorate the rocks and trees of your
favorite fishing destination.

> When all is said and done, it is good to know that I haven't lost any of my
> blinding speed and that the detritus left on the floor still doesn't
> outweigh the finished product by all that much. :)

Ah, and that's why I do my tying in my "shop". That way the
detritus mingles with the plane shavings and doesn't look nearly so
obvious. :-)


Chuck Vance (laughing *with* you, not at you)

[William Claspy]

On 9/7/05 10:57 AM, in article , "Conan The
Librarian" > wrote:

> No doubt soon to be used to decorate the rocks and trees of your
> favorite fishing destination.

I'll just say two words:

Tag alder.

> Wolfgang wrote:
>> When all is said and done, it is good to know that I haven't lost any of my
>> blinding speed and that the detritus left on the floor still doesn't
>> outweigh the finished product by all that much. :)
>
> Ah, and that's why I do my tying in my "shop". That way the
> detritus mingles with the plane shavings and doesn't look nearly so
> obvious. :-)

I'm taking a BIG bag of tinder north with me next week, mostly oak and
walnut. Of course, what with the zero thickness shavings I take, the bag is
mostly air... :-) (Actually, I cranked out some scrub plane crunchies two
days ago. Fun!)

Bill

[Tim J.]

Wolfgang typed:
<snip>
> 2. Hooks shrink.

Amen, Brother Wolfgang. When I went fishing with Stan last Thursday, I spent
an otherwise useful 20-30 minutes just threading the bastids on the tippet.
I had two enemies: the shrunken hook eye, brand new eye glasses, and a
fanatical devotion to the Pope (...three enemies.)

Freakin' hooks.

Freakin' tippet.

Freakin' Stan (but that's another story...)
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

[riverman]

"Amen, Brother Wolfgang. When I went fishing with Stan last Thursday, I
spent
an otherwise useful 20-30 minutes just threading the bastids on the
tippet.
I had two enemies: the shrunken hook eye, brand new eye glasses, and a
fanatical devotion to the Pope (...three enemies.) "

Actually, I've had this creeping anxiety that my FF days might be
numbered because my close-up vision is becoming so difficult. I know
that I can get lenses for that, but I don't normally wear glasses, so
having some just to tie on a fly would be very inconvient. Or one of
those things that clips on to your visor....its not like I don't
already have enough crap hanging off me to snag a line on.

Well, maybe the days aren't <numbered>, but certainly tying on #16 and
on up flies is by far the most strenuous thing I do with my eyes. If I
don't get it right within a minute or two, my eyeballs feel like they
are being crushed in a vise.

--riverman

[Tim J.]

riverman typed:
> "Amen, Brother Wolfgang. When I went fishing with Stan last Thursday,
> I spent
> an otherwise useful 20-30 minutes just threading the bastids on the
> tippet.
> I had two enemies: the shrunken hook eye, brand new eye glasses, and a
> fanatical devotion to the Pope (...three enemies.) "
>
> Actually, I've had this creeping anxiety that my FF days might be
> numbered because my close-up vision is becoming so difficult. I know
> that I can get lenses for that, but I don't normally wear glasses, so
> having some just to tie on a fly would be very inconvient. Or one of
> those things that clips on to your visor....its not like I don't
> already have enough crap hanging off me to snag a line on.

I'm getting another set of those for sure. I got a pair from a Penns raffle
a few years ago and they were great until I scratched 'em badly. They really
helped, and I need them now more than ever.

If you're snagging your line on things you are wearing, the eye specs are
the least of your worries. I just hope you're not using any of those Rotten
Bananas from Frank - you'd be out like a light!
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

[Jeff Taylor]

"riverman" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Actually, I've had this creeping anxiety that my FF days might be
> numbered because my close-up vision is becoming so difficult. I know
> that I can get lenses for that, but I don't normally wear glasses, so
> having some just to tie on a fly would be very inconvient. Or one of
> those things that clips on to your visor....its not like I don't
> already have enough crap hanging off me to snag a line on.
>
> Well, maybe the days aren't <numbered>, but certainly tying on #16 and
> on up flies is by far the most strenuous thing I do with my eyes. If I
> don't get it right within a minute or two, my eyeballs feel like they
> are being crushed in a vise.
>
> --riverman

I'm not at this point yet, but probably not too far off....

Use the bifocals at home with these threaders and then you don't have to
worry about it streamside...

http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scianglers/fly_boxes_threader.jhtml

HTH,
JT

[Wolfgang]

"Conan The Librarian" > wrote in message
...
> Wolfgang wrote:
>
>> ...I am the proud owner of 30 new pass lakes and 18 equally virginal
>> woolly buggers.
>
> No doubt soon to be used to decorate the rocks and trees of your
> favorite fishing destination.

Nah......I'm gonna be using John as a backstop.

> Chuck Vance (laughing *with* you, not at you)

Works for me.....either way. :)

Wolfgang

[vincent p. norris]

>1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years on
>the shelf.

Geez, I hope not, Wolfgang. More likely, you have grown stronger
since you've been coming to Penns and drinking Yuengling instead of
that namby-pamby Wisconsin beer like Milwaukees' Worst, etc.....

Think of all the poor Skydivers, using chutes with nylon shroud lines
that are much more than two years old!

vince

[vincent p. norris]

>>1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years on
>>the shelf.
>
>Geez, I hope not, Wolfgang. .....

>Think of all the poor Skydivers, using chutes with nylon shroud lines
>that are much more than two years old!

A Postscript: I had lunch today with a skydiving friend. He said
ultraviolet light does degrade nylon, and there have been cases of
partial failure (none fatal that he knew of) for that reason.

So keep your thread in a drawer, guys.

vince

[Dabear]

Your post brought a smile to my face. I'm an older, gray haired fly fisher
who has been fly fishing for over 50 yrs. When in college, I tied flies
commercially for awhile...and for decades, tied my own flies....primarily to
save money. I now have so many boxes of flies that I doubt if I'll ever run
out...unless I get back into chasing technology and decide to tie some of
the newer patterns. However, about three months ago, I too decided to try
my hand at tying once again...after a number of years of abstaining. I can
identify with all of the comments you made. For some reason, tying flies is
something I'll have to "re-learn"...now that I can't see, lack normal
dexterity and am lacking a few brain cells (too many hours standing in cold
rivers).

As I type this, I am preparing for my first Fall fly fishing trip on the
Smith River (it literally runs through my back yard). The California State
record steelhead was caught right below our house (I'm told) in 1997. The
Smith is not noted for being an easy river to fish with a fly...but it can
be done...and with some success at times.

Barry




"Wolfgang" > wrote in message
...
> For the past two years, ever since we moved from the duplex into a house,
> I didn't bother to unpack (let alone organize) my fly tying gear because I
> still had enough bugs to get me through what little fishing I've managed
> to squeeze in. Not so, this time around. With the promise of nine days
> of intensive angling staring me in the face, it was time to do something.
> I've never been exactly anal about neatness, but a quick search through
> drawers, tubs, boxes, bags and various other containers left even me a bit
> disconcerted. All my hooks (and a lot of other junk) were stored in one
> of those upright metal cabinets with the clear plastic drawers.....the
> ones that never slide properly in the first place and, given that they are
> always over-filled, often won't open at all. The cabinet has been lying
> on it's back for two years. Icky! :(
>
> A couple of hours (and $50 at the fly shop buying things that, as I found
> out later, after a more careful search, I didn't need anyway) I was ready
> to rock. Hooks, thread, chenille, calf tail, mallard flank, brown hackle,
> nail polish......yep, all there. Pinch down a barb, chuck the hook in the
> vise and.......ACK!......some evil ******* has stolen all my fingers and
> replaced them with poorly disguised thumbs! :(
>
> Some observations:
>
> 1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years
> on the shelf.
> 2. Hooks shrink.
> 3. There is considerably less light in the world than there used to be.
> 4. The labels on containers lie.
> 5. Materials in general have become unruly and disrespectful.
> 6. Hook eyes (and hackles) have developed an extraordinary affinity for
> head cement.
> 7. Having magically absorbed a vast quantity of head cement from a
> distance, hook eyes disappear entirely when approached by a bodkin.
> 8. Fingers (or thumbs, as the case may be) do not. :(
>
> Nevertheless, perseverance pays off. After a mere day and a half of
> intense labor leavened liberally with blood, sweat, tears, and occasional
> reference to foreign language dictionaries in search of new profanities
> with which relieve the tedium of repetition, I am the proud owner of 30
> new pass lakes and 18 equally virginal woolly buggers.
>
> When all is said and done, it is good to know that I haven't lost any of
> my blinding speed and that the detritus left on the floor still doesn't
> outweigh the finished product by all that much. :)
>
> Wolfgang
>

[Wolfgang]

"Dabear" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> Your post brought a smile to my face. I'm an older, gray haired fly
> fisher who has been fly fishing for over 50 yrs. When in college, I tied
> flies commercially for awhile...and for decades, tied my own
> flies....primarily to save money. I now have so many boxes of flies that
> I doubt if I'll ever run out...unless I get back into chasing technology
> and decide to tie some of the newer patterns. However, about three months
> ago, I too decided to try my hand at tying once again...after a number of
> years of abstaining. I can identify with all of the comments you made.
> For some reason, tying flies is something I'll have to "re-learn"...now
> that I can't see, lack normal dexterity and am lacking a few brain cells
> (too many hours standing in cold rivers).
>
> As I type this, I am preparing for my first Fall fly fishing trip on the
> Smith River (it literally runs through my back yard). The California
> State record steelhead was caught right below our house (I'm told) in
> 1997. The Smith is not noted for being an easy river to fish with a
> fly...but it can be done...and with some success at times.
>
> Barry
>
>
>
>
> "Wolfgang" > wrote in message
> ...
>> For the past two years, ever since we moved from the duplex into a house,
>> I didn't bother to unpack (let alone organize) my fly tying gear because
>> I still had enough bugs to get me through what little fishing I've
>> managed to squeeze in. Not so, this time around. With the promise of
>> nine days of intensive angling staring me in the face, it was time to do
>> something. I've never been exactly anal about neatness, but a quick
>> search through drawers, tubs, boxes, bags and various other containers
>> left even me a bit disconcerted. All my hooks (and a lot of other junk)
>> were stored in one of those upright metal cabinets with the clear plastic
>> drawers.....the ones that never slide properly in the first place and,
>> given that they are always over-filled, often won't open at all. The
>> cabinet has been lying on it's back for two years. Icky! :(
>>
>> A couple of hours (and $50 at the fly shop buying things that, as I found
>> out later, after a more careful search, I didn't need anyway) I was ready
>> to rock. Hooks, thread, chenille, calf tail, mallard flank, brown
>> hackle, nail polish......yep, all there. Pinch down a barb, chuck the
>> hook in the vise and.......ACK!......some evil ******* has stolen all my
>> fingers and replaced them with poorly disguised thumbs! :(
>>
>> Some observations:
>>
>> 1. Even the strongest nylon thread weakens considerably after two years
>> on the shelf.
>> 2. Hooks shrink.
>> 3. There is considerably less light in the world than there used to be.
>> 4. The labels on containers lie.
>> 5. Materials in general have become unruly and disrespectful.
>> 6. Hook eyes (and hackles) have developed an extraordinary affinity for
>> head cement.
>> 7. Having magically absorbed a vast quantity of head cement from a
>> distance, hook eyes disappear entirely when approached by a bodkin.
>> 8. Fingers (or thumbs, as the case may be) do not. :(
>>
>> Nevertheless, perseverance pays off. After a mere day and a half of
>> intense labor leavened liberally with blood, sweat, tears, and occasional
>> reference to foreign language dictionaries in search of new profanities
>> with which relieve the tedium of repetition, I am the proud owner of 30
>> new pass lakes and 18 equally virginal woolly buggers.
>>
>> When all is said and done, it is good to know that I haven't lost any of
>> my blinding speed and that the detritus left on the floor still doesn't
>> outweigh the finished product by all that much. :)
>>
>> Wolfgang
>>
>
>

[Wolfgang]

> "Dabear" > wrote in message
> nk.net...
>> Your post brought a smile to my face. I'm an older, gray haired fly
>> fisher who has been fly fishing for over 50 yrs. When in college, I tied
>> flies commercially for awhile...and for decades, tied my own
>> flies....primarily to save money. I now have so many boxes of flies that
>> I doubt if I'll ever run out...unless I get back into chasing technology
>> and decide to tie some of the newer patterns. However, about three
>> months ago, I too decided to try my hand at tying once again...after a
>> number of years of abstaining. I can identify with all of the comments
>> you made. For some reason, tying flies is something I'll have to
>> "re-learn"...now that I can't see, lack normal dexterity and am lacking a
>> few brain cells (too many hours standing in cold rivers).
>>
>> As I type this, I am preparing for my first Fall fly fishing trip on the
>> Smith River (it literally runs through my back yard). The California
>> State record steelhead was caught right below our house (I'm told) in
>> 1997. The Smith is not noted for being an easy river to fish with a
>> fly...but it can be done...and with some success at times.
>>
>> Barry

Kind of fun to revisit old friends, isn't it? Good luck on your return to
tying and fishing.

Wolfgang