spittendrigh wrote:
The fly tying season started for me today. I haven't tied
a fly since April. But I did visit the ladies sewing store today,
where I bought scissors, thick claret-colored thread for ribbing,
various spools of metalic tinsel and a bunch of long thin
'beading' needles, which I tie most of my fly bodies on these
days. This weekend I'll drive down to West Yellowstone and get
a bunch of bird skins for tying soft hackles.

And I find myself wondering: what should I work on this year?
I still tie lots of standard patterns, but like many of us, I do
like working on new designs most of all. So what do you think the
most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are?
What the most important fish foods that don't have a satisfactory
imitation yet? If you could close your eyes and say the magic words,
presto, what would you like to see in the fly bins next year?


I'm up to my ears in tying stuff for the silent auction at my club's
Xmas party. Some of my old standbys have provoked some quite savage
bidding wars to the clubs advantage. After that it's replenishing my
boxes of small stuff, 18 and smaller. I'm also considering going
semi-pro with a barter deal for some steelhead guiding services.

Mike McGuire