Winter & Tying Season

Immediately after the previous post, winter arrived abruptly yet just as we anticipated. Hence, I started to spend more inside at my tying bench with much more time and enthusiasm than ever! 

I try to upload tying videos on my YouTube channel once a week until spring. There might be a few absence due to holidays etc., but I don't think I would run out of patterns on the list!

Also, I often post these pictures on Instagram. I seldom handle my i-phone when I'm near and around waters for social media purposes............. It works well for me at my bench. And there are some superb tyers and enthusiasts out there too.

One project I was eager to work on was 6 flies of Plate 2 in The Salmon Fly (1895) by George M. Kelson. Within 2016, I finished 3 of them. Then rest of winter and spring were occupied with personal moves. So those 3 flies had been unframed and kept in small plastic containers for a year. Then the rest of 3 were finally completed😌. But also it was worth a wait. I came to know a professional framer in Livingston and he gave me ideas and tips. I asked him if he can make oval cutout mats. That makes my life much easier after dressing😄

So here they are.

In an alphabetical order,
The Baron

Harlequin

John Ferguson

The Lion

Silver Doctor

Thunder and Lightning

I also made a few single-fly frames.

The Wild Irishman - see the background photo of the frame😏

And..............

This is definitely the one of the most complicated and busiest patterns ever recorded with three tail veiling, two body hackles, two throat hackles, two cheeks, and the list of feathers for wings😓 However the result and accomplishment are very satisfying😙

Happy Turkey Day every one🐦🐔🍗😋

October - The Longest Month

How do you think of October? Just another month? To me, all through life, it's been the longest month though it's just another month with 31 days. Although cool fall weathers become dominant, there are still Indian Summer days here and there. Finally, morning = day break = seems delayed but the sunset hasn't come so quickly rather we still have enough lights to stay late & fish!! (depending on which mountains you are close to). Furthermore in my case, I still actively guide and fish, yet one by one I'd better get ready for winter months. All those activities and thoughts keep October FULL which makes me feel it SO Long. That's what I've come with over the years......

This year seems to be no exception. I actually feel it's going smooth.......Perhaps I was anticipating and getting used to.........does that mean I'm getting old?

Anyways..............here's how it's going so far!!
I had good father-son clients for the float trip on Yellowstone River.
What a guide............having clients work on the action.......... Photographing Guide!......maybe.

Result!!

It was a mixed weather but over all it was nice to be on The Yellowstone.

Oh...............it was one of the WINDIEST day on Lower Madison.............

You may ask: what I'm getting ready for winter besides firewood (That's right! I just stacked them!)?
Atlantic Salmon Flies, of course. This season, I've planned several framing projects, group or single.
Through my own experiments and what other The Experienced teach me, I have found the best bleaching kit!!

With that and aforementioned my own newly developed dyeing skills, I kicked off the first framing project!!

Following are all based on Mr. George Mortimer Kelson's directions (plus or minus my own interpretations accumulated over the years and the flies).

Britannia

The Champion
I'd like to add this must be (at least one of) the champion of materials and procedures involved!
Every Atlantic Salmon Fly has its own history and modern dressers would add his/her own interpretations and wanderings. Like Napoleon and several other distinctive names, did Mr. Kelson imply himself as he had named this pattern?

The Infallible
Married wing of this might seem awkward for some viewers. According to Mr. Kelson's recipes (there are two), "a pair of tippets (back to back) are 'capped' or 'surmounted'" by married strips of other feathers. Who knows? This is my interpretation with my own best and respect.

I have just completed these three ------- In between several other schedules............... Oh, yeah, this is my October!!

Then, DePuy's Spring Creek Winter Pass will commence soon and I will be fishing and guiding very hard!!

Art of Dyeing

~ Dyeing is an art itself, requiring a great deal of care, time, and patience to do properly. ~
Dr. T.E. Pryce-Tannatt "How to Dress Salmon Flies" (1914)

I'm still fishing and actively guiding but also it's about time to think of and get ready for my winter projects. For both trout and Atlantic Salmon flies, my initial project, as well as the first and foremost challenge, is to learn dyeing feathers. I know a few people who can give me good advises. Also, nowadays, there are some good information on the internet. Then, I kind of know the initial cost to get started and achieve some successes wouldn't be so expensive. And I have plenty of feathers that I can use for practices and experiments.

So I started from bleaching. Materials and results I have here are NOT wrong but I have already learned the process was not smooth and can be improved by different agents.

Then I proceeded to dyeing. Purposes of experiments were: time to take and amount of dye. Let me show them to you: see two feathers dyed in blue were the first experiment. They weren't dyed properly yet were "overdone" = too long (see feathers are cooked!). I tried to shorten the time then I added more dyeing agents. Tried green then yellow. Finally the red piece in this pictures was the last one of my very first experimental batch.

Just like anything else, the more I practiced, the better results I got and the more comfortable & confident I felt. I also experimented mixing colors. With several trials, I achieved the olive dye!! And I like this marabou plume!!

I also dyed deer hair in black. This is the best black-dyed deer hair I have ever touched!! Perhaps some of you have experienced the same: deer hair dyed black has been very dissatisfying to work with, even those from well-known vendors. I've been suspecting it would be due to dyeing agents or processes. I still don't know why but I'm just happy with what I created.
Along with turkey biots dyed in PMD yellow and baetis olive, I tied: No Hackle Gnat - PMD, Unnamed Caddis - black wing, and No Hackle Gnat - baetis.

I have two major framing projects (and couple more along the way) with Atlantic salmon flies. I needed to do inventory of materials. One of materials that I'm sure I would run out for this season is Indian Crow (Red Ruffed Fruit Crow) substitution feathers. And this is one of the major "pushes" for me to pursue dyeing. Why don't I buy real ones? How much are real ones gonna cost? - Google it!!

After several practices shown above, I felt I can "dip dye" or perhaps I may call "tip dye". It turned out to be GOOD right off!! Eventually it became very tiring for me to stand over the stove and hold tweezers at certain distance over the steam. So I invented a device!! From then on, I started reading books during the process!! Results got even better!!

So.............here they are!!, along with "Crimper"!!

I do like what I came up with!! With these, I can work on framing projects one by one!!

Over all, dyeing offers me new pleasure and motivations regarding fly-tying. I have just knocked on the door of this new subject. It's gonna be another exciting and learning season!!