Paddling the Flats

A Curious Mind

Will he get under the bank?

Will the farmer see the stray sheep?

Where are those sheep coming from?

Won't the rod break?

Why do damsel flies fly together? Are there really fresh water mussels? What if we had crocodiles in NZ? Why did the fish swim into the weed? Why is that grasshopper yellow? A great morning out with a nature loving young fisher. Hooked 6, landed 3 - dry fly.

Back on the Vise.

Goose Boit Cheeks.

Off the Bench.

Been tying a few Boobies, found that it is very difficult to paint foam.... it does all kinds of strange things. Ended up using Humbrol Super Enamel. Takes a day to dry, but waterproof. The other marabou creations have biots for cheeks. I used the smallest Tiemco wing burner to shape them, you can't beat natural feather, well I couldn't find a good alternative. If you don't have the wing burner just tie the back of the biot and pull it forward as you would a normal wingcase. Try some UV glue over the top to make them pop.  Tied on a size 12 standard nymph hook by Daiichi, the rib is stretch floss in red. If you want to pack a lot into a small hook, try the Tiemco nylon thread 18/0, it creates no bulk. Last season a similar tie landed 12 fish on opening day.

A Nice Find

An old Stream Fly reel and copper cast tin came my way. It was interesting to find out F. Steans and Coy was the original Alexto Sports from the 1930's. The F. Steans and Coy and the Stream Fly were basically NZ copies of the Hardy Perfect. Rumour has it the maker was an ex-Hardy's employee. He must have produced quite a number of these before "supposedly" being put out of business by copyright laws.

Aint that the Truth...

Was watching this classic and thought Clyde must have been a Fly Fisherman.