Production salmon and steelhead fly dressing

Cooped up in the Midwest winter, I decided to practice a bit of production tying. The aim was to produce a set of sample flies to display at shows, and barter for dog-food sell.


First off, I discovered to my dismay that this kind of tying can be tedious. In a production or commercial run of flies, every fly must be almost exactly the same. That means heads must be uniform, hackle and wing lengths measured and trim, and proportions correct.


Until one tries this for real, it seems easy. Take ten flies and look at them separately, and they look fine. Then place them close together and voila! we see differences. The old Sesame Street game of “One of these things is different/not quite the same” comes to mind.


I frowned and scratched my head. When I examined the ever-so-slight differences in the flies, I discovered that often it was related to selection of materials. One wing was tied denser than another due to a few too many black bear hair fibers, or the hackle lengths were not uniform. There was also the human factor at work, but the pre-selection of materials, and laying things out properly solved the issue of my mind wandering when reaching for fur or feather while contemplating Mahler’s ninth symphony.


So here is what I learned:


Choose the hook sizes first and lay them out.

Pre-select the winging material and collar or throat hackles. These are the two material areas where careless prep work can sink a fly.

Place a piece of cork or Styrofoam near the vise, and place the completed flies there before lacquering. This will allow one to check exact proportions.

Dress at least half a dozen flies of the same size and pattern at the same time.

Do not answer the phone or get distracted.

Too much sniffing head cement coffee leads to errors.


From the left: Rusty Rat, Will Taylor Special low water, Silver Doctor low water, Laxa Blue varient, Unnamed winter fly, and the Blue Bear. The last two are winter dressings, while the others are intended as summer flies.

An historical and inspirational poem

Old Time Salmon Fishing

Written in 1925 by John Cossboom, renowned American angler and originator of the famous ‘Cossboom’ series of flies.

Did you ever cast for salmon in the spring,
For the big bright shining fish fresh from the sea,
With the leaping strength and vigor that they bring
To the swollen flood-fed river running free?

Did you ever feel the fever in your blood
When a dirty cold Nor’easter threatened rain,
And you smelled the river clearing after flood,
And you sensed the salmon in the pools again?

Did you never wield a rod of eighteen feet –
A Leonard, old, with handles wound with cane –
The “Church of England” rods we used to meet,
Swung by anglers of the old school without strain?

Did you ever use a cast of Hebra size?
Did you ever cast a sixty-thousandths line?
Did you ever tie on Durham Ranger flies –
Big 5/0 flies, and cast them in the wind?

Did you ever see a wave behind your fly
And know it for a fish of monstrous size,
And when that wave exploded two feet high,
Feel your great rod bend near double to the rise?

Did you ever have a guide yell in your face,
When your salmon surged across the heavy pool
And dragged your rod down level with your waist,
“Keep your tip up, or you’ll lose him, you dumb fool!”?

Did you ever race along the slippery shore
With your rod held high and bended to the fray,
While down across the rushing pool he tore
And jumped two hundred feet and more away?

Did you ever feel your rod and line go slack,
And cry, “He’s gone!”, in disappointed pain,
And when you found he’d only started back,
Did you madly reel the strain on him again?

Did you ever think you had him tired out,
When his tail began to show above the stream?
Did you ever think him yours without a doubt
Till he rushed and made your old reel fairly scream?

Did you ever back up slowly on the beach
And draw him gently toward the waiting guide,
Then have him stop and stay just out of reach,
And chug those scary chugs from side to side?

Do you recall that long last surging plunge
That took him up and out across the tide,
And how you swung him back down to the lunge
That sank the gaff into his silver side?

Do you recall your fervent thankful prayer,
As his forty pounds lay shining at your feet,
To the Red Gods who had smiled on you so fair,
To the Red Gods who had made your joy complete?

That’s the fishing that they called a “Sport of kings” –
When thet fished in swollen rivers’ springtime flow
For the big bright shining fish of other Springs,
With that heavy rugged gear of long ago!

What it means to me

I tried to capture with available photos some of the romance I find in this fine sport of angling for bejeweled fish in glorious rivers.

A couple of spring patterns

Although these flies can and are tied more sparse for lower water situations, here I tied them more full for spring spate flows in March and April.

Will Taylor Special varient and the Blue Bear. Both Canadian Atlantic Salmon patterns.

The Blue Bear is pictured as tied with krystal-flash, but I substituted peacock sword.

The Will Taylor Special comes from the Miramici River, and according to the best information available to me, was originated by Boyd Dunnett.

Both flies have bodies spun of dyed wool. I kind of like the green I got by mixing a bit of chartreuse with kelly green.

Ethics, and the Gentleman

“Ethics involve an individual’s values. They’re about an angler’s understanding and endorsement of the concept of Fair Chase, and the desire to capture and release – or kill – salmon as humanely as possible.


This is the real-world difference between fishing and merely gathering food. It’s also the difference between the ritual taking of salmon in a clean and simple way and turning salmon into props for egotistical stunts.


Fair Chase is the philosophy of accepting restrictions that help level the playing field, giving salmon – or deer, or partridge – a chance to elude capture by craft, agility or strength. The ethical angler doesn’t merely want to get a salmon; he wants to catch one in a way that demands skill and the fish a chance to win. The laws of Fair Chase change, and there’s no universal agreement on them, but they can be described as sportsmanship. Just where an individual draws the line – does Fair Chase demand the use of barbless hooks, or is that just an additional flourish for anglers seeking a greater challenge? – defines the nature and quality of his ethics.


The concept of sportsmanship evolved from the Anglo-Saxon notion of the gentleman – the secular equivalent of a priest, who adhered to a code of conduct, or ethics…”

Peter Bodo, The Atlantic Salmon Handbook.

I consider the (modern) concept of the Gentleman to be a very important one. One of the highest praises that can be placed upon a man is that he be called a gentleman. It refers to a bearing and manner, an approach to life itself in all its intricate paths and myriad pursuits. A gentle-man is gentle. This does not refer to pacifism, but to respect and restraint, kindness and quiet. A gentleman walks through life with compassion, understanding, and the ability to listen. He treats others as he would himself be treated. He adheres to an ethical code. A gentleman is not born; he is made by his actions and reputation. Above all, he is wise. He bears himself with dignity and his touch is light upon all that cross his path.

The title or more correctly, the mantle of ‘Gentleman’ cannot be assumed, one’s peers must confer it. A sort of non-armorial peerage of manner.

The concept of the gentleman as emerged from Victorian times is a confusing one, with public education (read Eaton and Oxford), class, social status, organizational membership, armorial peerage, and ethics all jumbled together. It also may be good to note that their was quite a bit of hypocrisy in how a gentleman acted. People who referred to themselves as ‘Gentlemen’ slaughtered the ‘heathen’, cheated in business, oppressed others, took unfair amounts of game, opposed woman’s suffrage, etc.

To quote John Henry Cardinal Newman of the 19th century;

“It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him; and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself. His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature: like an easy chair or a good fire, which do their part in dispelling cold and fatigue, though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of those with whom he is cast; — all clashing of opinion, or collision of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment; his great concern being to make every one at their ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company; he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the absurd; he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unseasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favours while he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by a mere retort, he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets every thing for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out. From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage, that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at insults, he is too well employed to remember injuries, and too indolent to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned, on philosophical principles; he submits to pain, because it is inevitable, to bereavement, because it is irreparable, and to death, because it is his destiny. If he engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves him from the blunder.”

This of course, is a rather saintly and glaringly catholic description, and one that may place too much emphasis on meekness.

Geoffrey Chauser clarifies the concept when he writes:
"Certes he sholde not be called a gentil man, that... ne dooth his diligence and bisynesse, to kepen his good name"

and

“Loke who that is most vertuous alway
Prive and apert, and most entendeth ay
To do the gentil dedes that he can
And take him for the gretest gentilman”

I have had the fine privelege of meeting a number of true gentleman in my life, and in every circumstance, have taken a bit of their wisdom and approach to life, and tried to make it my own.

They lead by example. Whether on the stream, or on the street. Virtue, ethics, and bearing.

Trailer for the Lost World of Mr. Hardy

Very interesting historical production. Two trailers.

Available for purchase here. http://www.thelostworldofmrhardy.com/

Enjoy!

The no-hitch Stealth Bomber

A while back, I posted a picture of this fly, and some of you wondered if I had fished it. New designs and prototypes are fine as art, but until actually tested in river conditions, they are an unknown quantity.

So, this fall I did fish the N.H.S.B. Here are my conclusions.


The fly works as designed. The bare hook at the rear anchors it, and the radically tapered head pushes water. I did not need to place a hitch on it, although I have no doubt it would work with a hitch just fine. I did not catch anything on it, but that is my fault. I only used it a couple of times, once in a run that was most likely fishless, and the second time as a comeback fly for a fish that chased and boiled.


The action of the fly was solid, but after around an hour or so of being in the water, it had a tendency to sink into the surface film. All I had to do was squeeze out the water and it worked for a further half-hour or so before becoming waterlogged.


As graded by the harsh professor:


Aesthetics: A

Design: B+

Performance: C+


Definitely a fly for faster water. Works well in riffles. Works fine in glass water too, unless waterlogged.


And there we have it. From concept to vise to river.