Monday Afternoon Sidewalk Frozen Over
Time to Tie and Dye a Fly
Good Monday to you all! I always want to put an “!” in Monday, somewhere somehow, and this Monday, all things considered, needs a few of those exclamation points littered throughout!
The temperature is having a hard time breaking 30-degrees here “North of Normal,” and this weather really is good for one thing (fly fishing related), and that is undertaking a huge fly demand from people having trouble in big water that is clear, aka. “Texas Zebra Mussel Lakes.”
I gleaned the knowledge from watching multiple conventional fishing shows that emphasize natural colors for their hardbalts in clear / clearing lake waters. You are well versed on the successes of my “Black-on-Black” series of Clousers (for mongo bass), but you would be surprised to know that in my assault on other lakes last year? The Black-on-black ruffled a few scales, but very few, and my reaction to the slow bite? I went with brighter and brighter flies in an attempt to generate “attraction” to my fly. That, in retrospect, was probably exactly the wrong thing to do.
DYEING NATURAL FIBERS
Somewhere in this pile of books I overestimate to be a “fly fishing library” there’s a pamphlet-styled-book on “Dyeing Organic Fibers” as I recall it was named … I have no idea where that went. The plan is to tie and dye a fly made from border collie, and do it well – colorfast and realistic. It’s hard to believe I had to get my “own” dog to have free reign over my supply of dog hair, and this dog has a red-brown that lends itself more to shrimp and crayfish patterns … but Finn has enough white that it’s just begging to be “borrowed.” It is certainly time for him to start earning his kibble, and this is how it’s done around here.
What makes the effort different is the idea of cutting harvesting trimming ever so subtly, his hair, tying the fly AND THEN dyeing the fly. It means creating a single-tone fly, but we can certainly provide some contrast with flash. All I know for sure is; a fly tied with border collie is a killer that is supreme to bucktail of any flavor, as durable as synthetics and has an exponentially longer fiber than any upcountry winter bucktail grows.
We are supposed to have a break in the weather this week, but it is also supposed to be tweaked by wind, so we are in a wait-and-see mode for the week. It seems like it is about time to sit down and NOW (after all the early year shite) concentrate on all things fly. I just started on the book, “Bugwater,” and it is an incredible book for anyone who wants to take the journey to the microscopic level of bugs emulated in the fly fishing world. The photography is a showstopper (you remember I’m a “picture guy” right?), and the text is just as abundant as the photography content. I will write a review on this one once I can honestly say I have read (at least some of) the text.
Meanwhile, have a great week, don’t release any memos, don’t beat your spouse, and show up here on Valentine’s day – if not sooner!!!
Category: Complimentary Reading, Fly Tying, Life Observed, Literature
