When the Fisherman is Away

This article came up today on my Facebook page, as a memory from five years ago, in 2012. Unfortunately, our beloved Abigail passed away in November 2016, the day after Thanksgiving. She was two months shy of her 15th birthday. My wife and I had to make the difficult decision of having her put down at the vet’s office, following her decline after a stroke of some type a couple months earlier.

Don Bastian Wet Flies

There’s an old saying that I’ve heard folks say ever since I was a kid. Here it is: “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” My version of this regarding a recent experience goes like this: “When the fisherman is away, the dog will play.” At least that’s how it sometimes goes.

I have a number of fly tying and dog stories that are mine or those of friends, stashed into a project I started three years ago. This project is the writing of  short humorous stories, accounts, and tales of various fishing and hunting experiences that I’ve had over lo, these many years. When the idea started I thought I’d have about thirty topics, but the list has swelled to nearly ninety at present. Seven chapters are finished. My plan is to publish these stories in a two or three volume set. But today, I need to write…

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Close Encounters of the Trout Kind

From three years ago today, but well worth sharing again. There is some good stuff here, if I may say so myself. 😉
Also in the comments, my dear departed friend, Jack Tokach, shared an amusing story about one of our personal experiences related to this topic. Enjoy again!

Don Bastian Wet Flies

This article developed into a bit of a larger piece, based on my personal years of experience and observations, as a result of my reply to a recent post on Gink and Gasoline. The article has a really long title so I’ll just post the link. I suggest you read this post before continuing here, it will help build my case. http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing/fly-fishing-is-there-a-time-when-anglers-should-admit-defeat-and-move-on/

My personal experience bears out the fact that, as long as a trout keeps feeding, he is not spooked and can be caught. That is where the challenge and appeal to keep trying comes in. Because many trout under the surface of the water cannot be seen from above, most anglers do not realize that a nymphing trout or a trout feeding off the bottom anywhere in the water column will do the exact same thing to your fly that a surface feeding trout does – which we…

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Just Fishing

It has been a long, long time since I posted anything here. Well, I’ve been busy. There were the scattered posts I made, the most recent but still old ones, referring to my drumming in a Classic Rock Band, my girlfriend, Mary – we got married on June 4th, and other things that have occupied my time. Between Mary and I, we have nine grandchildren. We also moved, from her home in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where we were both living since July 2014, back to my home in Cogan Station. And that move was less than a month ago, on October 26th.

I am fairly active on Facebook, mostly for the band I am in, Pepper Street Band, and we also have a website: http://www.pepperstreetband.com. We played sixty-five bookings this year, and have twenty-five already lined up throughout 2017. But the boys have all decided we are not playing 65 times again this year. It will be closer to fifty.

I could write for days to try and get caught up, but why I am here now, well, it is because on Facebook, a friend and fellow fly tier just posted a photo of a book he bought a copy of: Ray Bergman’s first book, published in 1932, titled Just Fishing. He observed that there are no recipes for the fly patterns it contains. They were painted by Dr. Edgar Burke, who had done all the color fly plate paintings for Bergman’s books. I have been fortunate to personally see eight of the original plates Burke painted for Trout, (1938), and have a good idea of what his work represents in terms of translating that to tying materials used for specific patterns. So, thanking God for the data stored in a computer file, I can see that I created a particular Microsoft Word Document file on March 17, 2005. What is it? Ha! A detailed recipe list for all the flies in Just Fishing. I personally give this list an accuracy rating of about 99%, (Nobody’s perfect!).

So here it is:

Fly Pattern Dressings from Just Fishing (1932) by Ray Bergman – compiled by Don Bastian from close study of the color plates, since the actual dressings are not listed except for the streamer and bucktail patterns from the black and white photographs at the end of the list.

Plate 1 – Special Lures

Wet Fly Patterns:

Logan – Tag – gold tinsel; Rib – gold tinsel; Tail – red & yellow married; Body – brown floss; Hackle – brown; Wing – married yellow w/crimson stripe; Head – orange w/peacock herl at base of wing.

Brougham’s Cohoe – Tag – silver tinsel; Tail – golden pheasant crest; Rib – silver tinsel; Body -red wool; Hackle – red; Wing – dark brown turkey with thin strip of yellow at upper and lower edge; Head – black.

Never-Was – Tail – peacock sword fibers equal to body length; Body – peacock herl; Hackle – over-sized, dark green tied palmer; Wing – orange; Head – peacock herl & black.

Black Nymph Creeper – tie on 2x long hook – Tag – gold tinsel; Tail – guinea; Body – silver tinsel with sparse golden pheasant tippet at mid point, tyed as a top veiling equal to 2/3 length of tail; Wing – white hackle tyed streamer; Hackle – black collar; Horns – two fibers peacock sword.

Pink Nymph Creeper – tie on 2x long hook – Tag – gold tinsel; Tail – orange fibers; Rib – black silk; Body – pink floss with single strand of white ostrich herl as a top veil at second turn of rib; Wing – sparse peacock sword fibers; Hackle – pink and white collar intermingled.

Yellow Nymph Creeper – tie on 2x long hook – Tag – silver tinsel; Tail – two tips short yellow ostrich herl; Rib – black silk; Body – pale yellow floss with sparse golden pheasant tippet as top veil equal to end of tail tyed in just behind mid-point; Wing – yellow hackle tyed streamer; Hackle – yellow collar; Horns – two fibers of peacock sword.

Dry Fly Patterns:

Orange Fish Hawk –  – Rib – gold tinsel; Body – orange floss; hackle – badger.

March Brown – Tail – long, sparse fibers of Mandarin flank; Rib – finest gold tinsel; Body – Hare’s Ear dubbing; Wing – barred turkey; Hackle – cree with little or no white.

Brown Spider (Hewitt) – Tail – brown hackle fibers; Body – tying thread – Hackle – Brown, over-sized; fronted with white.

Nymph Patterns:

R.B. Stone Fly Creeper – tie on 3x long hook – Tail – guinea fibers; body – yellow underside, brown above; Rib – black thread; Legs – guinea fibers in three separate bunches, the first just to the rear of mid-point, second half-way to head, third just behind the head.

Grannom Nymph – tie on 2x long hook – Body – medium olive dubbing, tapered slightly larger in thorax; Legs – finely barred teal flank tyed as a collar.

Inch Worm – tie on 4x long hook – body – thin light olive dubbing; hackle – light olive collar.

Blue Olive Nymph – tie on 2x long hook – Tail – dun fibers, short; Body – gray floss; Thorax – dark gray dubbing; Hackle – dark dun hen as a collar.

Pale Olive Nymph – tie on 2x long hook – Tail – light dun, short; Body – pale olive floss; Thorax – pale olive dubbing; Overback – light slate quill section over abdomen; Wingcase – light slate quill section over thorax; Legs – light dun hen fibers swept to sides.

Iron Blue Nymph – tie on 2x long hook – Tail – dark dun fibers, short; Body – dark gray floss; Rib – black silk; Thorax – Iron Blue Dubbing; Wingcase – dark slate quill section over thorax; Legs – Dark slate fibers swept to both sides.

Carot Nymph- tie on 2x long hook – Tail – brown hackle; Abdomen – orange floss; Thorax – gray dubbing; Hackle – light dun hen tyed as a collar.

Just Fishing – Plate 2 – Wet Flies

In the book illustrations, the tying style of nearly all these patterns differs significantly from those later shown in Trout (1938), and those in With Fly, Plug, and Bait (1947). There are scattered slight differences in the dressings, but the main variation lies in the style of hackling the flies. These patterns from Just Fishing were painted by Dr. Edgar Burke from originals furnished by Wm. Mills & Son in New York. Virtually all the wet flies illustrated in Just Fishing were tied using the older, traditional style of “collaring” the hackle, even in front of the wing. Bergman was among the early 20^th Century angling writers to popularize the practical form of tying a wet fly using a “throat” or “beard” hackle. Though in 1850, James Wright, creator of the Durham Ranger, wrote of a “false” hackle. Wright also created the Greenwell’s Glory. All heads are black unless noted otherwise.

Green Drake – Tail – mallard flank dyed pale green; Body – pale green dubbing; Rib – peacock herl;  Wing – Mallard flank dyed pale green; Hackle – brown; Head – Yellow with peacock herl.

Cahill (Dark) – Tail – Mandarin; Body – blue-gray fur;  Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – brown.

Montreal – Tail – red; Rib – gold tinsel; Body – claret floss; Wing- dark brown mottled turkey; Hackle – claret.

Gray Hackle (Red) – Body – red floss; Hackle – Silver-gray Badger.

Red Quill – Tail – brown fibers; Body – stripped peacock quill; Wing – light slate; Hackle – red brown hen.

Fish Fin – Body – pink floss; Wing – White quill; Hackle – dark furnace.

Maginty (note spelling variation) – Tail – red and gray mallard; Body – alternate yellow and black chenille; Wing – white-tipped turkey; Hackle – brown.

Coachman – Body – peacock herl; Wing – white quill; Hackle – brown; Head – white with peacock herl.

Quill Gordon – Tail – dark dun fibers; Body – peacock quill; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – dark dun.

Olive Quill – Tail – light olive fibers; Body – peacock quill;  Wing – light slate; Hackle – light olive.

Seth Green – Rib – yellow silk; Body – dark green floss;  Wing – dark brown mottled turkey; Hackle – brown.

Dr. Breck – Tail – jungle eye; Body – silver tinsel; Wing – married white with wide red stripe; Hackle – scarlet. Head: white with peacock herl.

Little Yellow May – Tail – three long fibers of pheasant tail; Body – pale yellow floss; Rib – gold tinsel;  Wing – Mallard dyed pale yellow; Hackle – ginger.

Cowdung – Tag – gold tinsel; Rib – gold tinsel; Body – dubbed brown; Wing – light slate; Hackle – brown.

Brown Hackle – Body – peacock herl; Hackle – brown.

Professor – Tail – scarlet; Rib – gold tinsel; Body – yellow floss; Wing – gray mallard; Hackle – brown.

Silver Doctor – Tip – silver tinsel and yellow floss; Tail – golden pheasant crest; Tag – Red floss; Body – silver tinsel; Rib – oval silver tinsel; Wing – in order from top – Barred Mandarin, Florican, teal, yellow, blue, scarlet, topping of golden pheasant crest; hackle – beard of blue and guinea mixed; Head – red.

Orange Fish Hawk – Tag – gold tinsel; Rib – gold tinsel; Body – pale orange floss; Hackle – gray badger.

Beaverkill – Tail – long gray mallard; Body – white floss; Wing – light slate; Hackle – brown.

Royal Coachman – Tail – golden pheasant tippet; Body – peacock herl with band of red floss in middle; Wing – white; hackle – brown.

Grizzly King – Tip – gold tinsel; Tail – scarlet; Rib – gold tinsel; Body – dark green floss; Wing – teal; Hackle – badger.

Parmacheenie Belle – Tip – silver tinsel; Tail – married red and scarlet; Rib – silver tinsel; Body – yellow wool; Wing – married white with red stripe; Hackle – scarlet and white. (I corrected the spelling on this).

Montreal Silver – Tail – scarlet; Body – silver tinsel; Wing – dark brown mottled turkey; Hackle – claret.

Grannom – Tag – peacock herl; Body – buff wool; Wing – light brown barred turkey; Hackle – Brown.

Black Gnat – Body – black chenille; Wing – slate; Hackle – black.

Lord Baltimore – Tail – married yellow and black; Rib – black silk; Body – orange floss; Wing – Black with jungle eye; Hackle – black.

Red Tag – Tail – red wool; Body – peacock herl; Hackle – brown tied palmer.

Light Cahill – Tail – Mandarin; Body – pale ginger dubbing; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – ginger.

Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear – Tail – Mandarin; Rib – gold tinsel; Body – hare’s ear dubbing; Wing – slate.

Hawthorne – Tip – gold tinsel; Tail – black fibers; Body – rear 2/3 black floss, front 1/3 black wool or fur; Wing – black; Hackle – black.

Wickham’s Fancy – Tail – brown fibers; Body – gold tinsel; Hackle – brown tied palmer; Wing – slate.

Campbell’s Fancy – Tail – golden pheasant crest; Rib – oval gold tnsel; Body – gold tinsel; Wing – teal; Hackle – brown.

White Miller – Tip – silver tinsel; Rib – Silver tinsel; Body – white floss; Wing – White; Hackle – white; Head – white with peacock herl.

Blue Quill – Tail – dark dun fibers; Body – peacock quill with light and dark bands; Wing – slate; Hackle – dark dun.

Iron Blue Dun – Tail – brown; Body – rear 1/3 red floss, front 2/3 gray dubbing; Wing – dark slate – Hackle – brown.

Just Fishing – Plate 3 – Dry Flies

Owre – Tail – gray mallard; Tag – gold tinsel; Body – cream dubbing; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – ginger.

Light Hendrickson – Tail – Mandarin; Body – medium blue-gray fur; Wing- Mandarin; Hackle – light blue dun.

Light Cahill – Tail – Mandarin; Body – cream dubbing; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – ginger.

Wallkill – Tail – cream; Body – olive floss; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – cream.

Hendrickson Egg Sac – Tail – Mandarin; Body – gray floss, yellow chenille tag; Wing – Mandarin – Hackle – dark dun.

Cahill (Dark) –Tail – Mandarin; Body – dark blue-gray fur; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – brown.

Pinekill – Tail – Mandarin; Body – gold tinsel; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – furnace.

Bataviakill – Tail – brown fibers; Body – black floss; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – olive.

Quill Gordon – Tail – dark dun fibers; Body – peacock quill; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – dark dun.

Special Queen – Tail – golden pheasant tippet; Body – gold tinsel palmered with under-sized brown hackle; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – brown.

Basherkill – Tail – pale yellow fibers; Body – light olive floss; Wing – Mandarin; hackle – pale yellow.

Paulinskill – Tail – cream; Body – white floss; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – ginger.

Hendrickson – Tail – Mandarin; Body – dark gray fur; Wing – Mandarin; Hackle – dark dun.

Brown Bivisible – Tail – brown fibers; Body – brown hackle; few turns of white hackle in front.

Badger Bivisible – Tail – badger; Body – badger hackle, few turns of white in front.

Black Bivisible – Tail – black; Body – black hackle, few turns of white in front.

Fan Wing Royal Coachman – Tail – golden pheasant tippet; Body – peacock herl with red floss band in center; Wing – white duck breast fan-wing; Hackle – brown.

Bridgeville Olive – Tail – cream fibers; Body – white floss; Wing – mallard flank dyed yellow; Hackle – cream.

Fan Wing Pink Lady – Tail – golden pheasant tippet; Body – pink floss; Rib – gold tinsel;  Wing – white duck breast fan- wing; Hackle – brown.

Blue Spider – Tail – Mandarin; Body – gray fur; Hackle – blue dun, large.

Wickham’s Fancy – Tail – brown fibers; Body – gold tinsel with palmered brown hackle; Wing – slate; Hackle – brown.

Royal Coachman – Tail – golden pheasant tippet; Body – peacock herl with red floss band in center; Wing – white quill; Hackle – brown.

Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear – Tail – brown; Body – hare’s ear dubbing; Rib – gold tinsel; Wing – slate; Hackle – rabbit fur guard hairs.

Black Gnat Silk Body – Body – black floss; Wing – slate; Hackle – black.

Coachman – Body – peacock herl; Wing – white; Hackle – brown.

Pink Lady – Tail – golden pheasant tippet; Body – pink floss; Rib – gold tinsel; Wing – slate; Hackle – brown.

Little Marryat – Tail – ginger fibers; Body – light gray fur; Wing – light slate; Hackle – ginger.

Iron Blue Dun – Tail – two long fibers moose body hair; Body – rear 1/3 red floss, front 2/3 gray fur; Wing – dark slate; Hackle – brown.

Note: On the Royal Coachman, RC Fanwing, and Pink Lady fan wing, I also add a tag of flat gold tinsel.

Special Flies – from Just Fishing – a short list of streamers and bucktails.

R.B. Streamer – Wing – white polar bear, yellow bucktail topping; Body – silver tinsel; Cheeks – scarlet feathers.

Lady Doctor – Wing – white polar bear, black bucktail topping, jungle cock eye; Tail- yellow; Tag – red floss; Body – yellow with palmered yellow hackle; Cheeks – scarlet feathers.

Ballou’s Special – Wing – sparse red bucktail underwing, white marabou topped with 8 or 9 peacock herl tips, jungle eye; Tail – golden pheasant crest; Body – silver tinsel.

Highlander – Tail – Dominick (grizzly); Body – silver tinsel; Wing – yellow hackles under badger hackles, long jungle eye; badger hackle collar.

Conger’s Lassie – Tail – Dominick (grizzly) hackle tips; Body – gold tinsel; Wing – orange and badger hackles, long jungle eye; Hackle – black collar.

The patterns noted with the initials “RB” are Ray Bergman originals. And remember, written fly pattern directions, when correct, should be easily tied correctly without a photo or image. Married wing and tail components are always listed from the top down. And a tag is always under the tail, and a tip is at the end of the body and always encircles the tail.

Lee Wulff and Curt Gowdy in Labrador

Greetings blog followers and friends! Long time no see! 😀

It has been a long while since I posted anything here. Lots of reasons for that, mostly living a busy life, still tying flies, drumming and singing in the Classic Rock band and the church Praise Band, enjoying life with Mary, to whom I am now engaged for a June 2016 wedding. Together, we’ve spent time at soccer and T-Ball games with our collective eight grandchildren. We went to Maine in June for the Carrie Stevens weekend at the Rangeley Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum. We both love music, and we saw Garth Brooks in Concert last May. In less than two weeks, we are going to see Joe Walsh in concert in Poughkeepsie, New York. Then in October we have tickets to see Paul McCartney in State College, Pennsylvania, just an hour away. I did manage to get some fishing in, and gave Mary some fly casting lessons. She is anxious to get on the water where she can hook some trout! Hopefully before the autumn leaves are gone. I have quite a backlog of stuff to post here. I have also been very busy with some personal matters and getting caught up on things as life always moves forward.

This video link was sent to me by a friend. I started watching it and thought, how very classic and iconic, and I wanted to share it. Lee Wulff and Curt Gowdy fishing together for trophy brook trout in Labrador. I met Curt Gowdy in the 1980’s when he came to speak at our Trout Unlimited Chapter. This came about because a local angler and chapter member reached out to Curt in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s when he was in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, as the sports announcer for the Little League World Series Games. My friend, Dave Wonderlich, who works at the Slate Run Tackle Shop (see link to that fly shop on the right), offered to take him fly fishing. Dave provided all the equipment since Mr. Gowdy was not prepared to fish on this particular visit to Williamsport.

This is one of the episodes of “American Sportsman” and I believe it was filmed in the 1960’s. It is just under a half-hour in length, but will be well-worth your time to view and enjoy it. Grab a beverage and some snacks and relax!

Hackles – Photo Tutorial on What’s What

A quick hackle / photo visual tutorial:

A line-drawn rooster and diagram illustrating where specific feathers that fly tiers use come from on the bird’s body.

I saw this old, or what seemed to me to be old, image on facebook this morning, and right away, thought to myself, ” I get these questions a lot.” Good numbers of people in my classes or folks I speak with at shows and fly tying demos don’t know where on a bird certain feathers come from. Or they don’t know the difference between neck hackles, saddle hackle, or hen back feathers.

The saddle hackles on a hen might be called ‘saddle hackles’ but are more often called ‘hen back’ feathers. The spade hackles on a rooster are merely wide ‘hen back’ feathers on a hen that have very long webby fibers. And the spey hackle on the rooster is also called ‘schlappen.’ Note in particular, the well-illustrated differences in the comparative shapes of the neck, saddle, spade, and spey feathers. A similar ‘shape difference’ applies to hen feathers as well, neck vs. saddle, with all the hen feathers being shorter and more webby that those same feathers from a rooster.

Saddle hackles generally have thinner stems than neck hackles, making them very nice for drys because the thinner stem winds easier and results in less bulk, and while they (saddles) will contain dry fly hackles, the sizes are usually larger, suited for use on big drys. In fact, I’m working on some orders now for Fan Wing Royal Coachman drys; sizes #8, #10, and #12, and some nice, natural brown, vintage saddle hackle I have is working out very well. I’m headed to Maine and Lakewood Camps and the Rapid River next week for a few days, as a diversion from my invited participation as one of the featured fly tiers at the Carrie Stevens Weekend at the Rangeley Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc on June 26 – 28. I plan to tie some of those Fan Wing Royals in a #6 size to perhaps tempt a large landlocked salmon or even better, a big brook trout to the surface. I’m sure it has been a long, long time since any anglers have drifted a big Fan Wing Royal Coachman on those fabled waters, and that my friends, is in my favor. 😉 And for that I will be using a long 3x tippet. 😀

Neck hackles are better suited for winging streamers, at least on older rooster capes, and thankfully, on the newer genetic ‘streamer necks.’ Just remember, whether it’s a rooster or hen: Neck = cape; saddle = back, spey = schlappen. That’s pretty much it. Thanks for reading. 🙂

A Weekend With Carrie Stevens

Been gone too long, sorry about that, lots of reasons, none bad. 😉 No time to even explain, not that it would be necessary. 🙂

Here is my next professional engagement; I am one of seven featured fly tiers at a special event being held at the Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc, Maine. The dates are June 26, 27, 28. Here is the facebook page link for those of you on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/events/940130296038129/

And here is the link to their website / events page:

http://rangeleyoutdoormuseum.org/rangeley-outdoor-museum-events.asp

Check this out! The other tiers are Leslie Hilyard, co-author of “Carrie Stevens: Maker of Rangeley Favorite Trout and Salmon Flies;” Peggy Brenner, Selene Dumaine, Sam Kenney, Peter Simonson, Chris Del Plato, and Ted Patlen. Graydon Hilyard will also be present. Lots of cool stuff scheduled for the weekend. Leslie Hilyard will be deconstructing an original Carrie Stevens streamer, and there is going to be a raffle for a Carrie Stevens original streamer, and much more!

I have not been fishing. Don’t even have a license yet… Been busy tying flies, was behind on my orders, and still am a little bit. Playing in the band frequently. Absolutely loving that! Next Thursday, June 4th, the band has 8 gigs in 17 days, and we start with a 4-day run, playing June 4, 5, 6, 7 at local venues. Three outdoor gigs. Here’s the band website in case you want to divert your fishing interest for a few minutes.

http://www.pepperstreetband.com

Mary and I will be spending a couple days at Lakewood Camps before the event, and then “local” at the Pleasant Street Bed & Breakfast in Rangeley.

http://pleasantstreetinnbb.com/

http://www.lakewoodcamps.com/

And to give you some eye-candy, here are two Carrie Stevens patterns tried by my Maryland friend, Bill Shuck:

Green Beauty Streamer, tied by Bill Shuck.

Queen of the Waters, tied by Bill Shuck. This pattern is not in the Hilyard book, but is in “Forgotten Flies.” An original tied by her is photographed.

 

The Liar’s Bench at The Angler’s Nook, Shushan, New York

“The Liar’s Bench” post was written almost two years ago, and it is still continuing to grow. In the last two days, I received two lengthy and well-written e-mails from a man in New Jersey named George Nimmo. Mr. Nimmo fished this area for years, and he has proven at once to be an excellent writer, moreover he is a valuable and bountiful source of additional, detailed information on the characters, the original fly shop owned by Ralph Entwhistle, and the history of The Angler’s Nook – a combination fly shop / campground / hangout / diner.

One of the most interesting bits of information on this whole story comes from Kevin Laughton, who lives in Australia and, through this blog article, discovered this topic. An Australian connection? Amazing but true. Mr. Laughton and others took several hundred US soldiers on active duty in Viet Nam fishing in Australia on R&R in 1970. One of the fellows Kevin hosted was none other than Richard Entwhistle, the son of The Angler’s Nook original owner, Ralph Entwhistle.

With a few more e-mails that I’ve saved, Mr. Nimmo’s expansive information, and a photo of Richard Entwhistle in Kevin Laughton’s kitchen in 1970 in Australia with some nice trout…yes, this will one day be a largely expanded article on The Angler’s Nook and The Liar’s Bench.

Please make sure you read through the entire list of comments. It is well worth it.

Don Bastian Wet Flies

I received a fly order through http://www.myflies.com from a customer in Delaware last month. Our back-and-forth e-mail correspondence eventually turned his initial dozen-and-a-half order for my Floating Caddis / Mayfly Emerger into a very nice order, as he kept adding more patterns until his order reached ten dozen, including some sulfur Comparaduns and Thorax Duns, and a few dozen of a pattern by Jim Slattery, originator of the Stimulator, called the Triple Threat Caddis. Here’s a link to Fly Angler’s On Line (FAOL) with that pattern: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/091304fotw.php

The TTC, as I call it, while I’ve never fished it, looks like a great pattern. I’m definitely going to tie some up for my personal fly box. And I had fun tying it. I did them for my customer in tan with orange thread as the FAOL article suggests, a ginger-brown version, and olive. Anyway, to The Liar’s Bench at the Angler’s…

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Ontario In March – Fly Tying Classes and Demos

Everything is official now. I am heading to Ontario on Thursday, March 12, and presenting a fly tying class that evening at Grand River Outfitting and Fly Shop in Fergus from 6 – 9 PM. Here is the information posted on the event on the Grand River Outfitting and Fly Shop website:

www.http://ontarioflyfishing.ca/event/gro-presents-don-bastian-grand-river-caddis-patterns/

The class will feature all of my original caddis patterns: The Hatching Caddis Adult, Hatching Caddis Pupa, Floating Caddis / Mayfly Emerger, Floating Caddis Pupa, plus two more proven and deadly caddis larva patterns. These flies, if you have them in your box, will certify your readiness for most any caddis hatch / situation you encounter. Just have a range of sizes and colors… 😉  And here is a link to the shop: www.http://ontarioflyfishing.ca/

Mary and I will be meeting part-time shop employee, guide, instructor, and good friend, John Hoffmann for a relaxing afternoon and dinner before the class.

Friday evening, March 13, I am presenting a fly tying class at First Cast Fly Shop in Guelph, from 6 to 9:30 PM.

Here is a link to the event at First Cast:  http://www.thefirstcast.ca/event/don-bastian/

Rates and reservation information is now posted for both shop classes. The Niagara Region Flytyers Event has a few remaining tickets for sale to the public, at $20 each.

Saturday March 14, I am presenting a fly tying demo in St. Catherines, for the Niagara Region Flytyers Club, to be video -played on a TV screen, time of this demo is from 11 AM to 4 PM. There will be a couple breaks in this five-hour session. One highlight of the classes and demo will be the tying of Bastian’s Floating Caddis / Mayfly Emerger. Specific information about the patterns in these sessions can be obtained from the fly shops. As yet I am not certain that the event in St. Catherines is open to the public.

Bastian’s Floating Caddis Emerger. This pattern and its variations will be part of these sessions. This fly is deadly. One of my customers posted on the Orvis site, “it should be illegal.” 😉

During and after these classes, Mary and I will be hanging out as the guest of my close friend Rick Whorwood, who resides in Stoney Creek, Ontario, a suburb of Hamilton. We have been close friends for twenty-five years. Rick is a fellow musician of sorts; he has “some guitars” and recently bought a vintage 1967-ish Rogers Drum set, champagne sparkle pearl. He started taking drum lessons recently and while he is learning fast – he used to drum back in his teenaged years – he wants me to show him some of my chops. 😉 Mary plays guitar as well, and she’s a heck of a good singer, so I think the two of them might be doing a little jamming. Maybe even the three of us…

My vintage 1975 English-made Premier Powerhouse 2500 drum set…prior to the start of a local gig.

This is going to be a great trip! Anyone interested in these classes, please feel free to let me know in the comment section.

Recycled Fish

Yes, indeed. A fish made from recycled materials. Who’d have thought this up? But apparently two women artists from western Pennsylvania did, and made this “beast.”

One of my blog followers and friends who lives in the area near Pittsburgh, saw this in a local recycling center and took the photo. In this shop, they also have almost anything and just about everything for sale, including used furniture, doors, car parts, etc.

Recycled Fish. I’m not sure if this creation actually has a name…photo by Bill Havrilla.

It measures sixteen feet long and weighs 1500 pounds. The two women who built it made it entirely from trash and junk collected along the Allegheny River and donated it to the center. It has at least three bicycle forks (on this side) in the dorsal fin and two more in the caudal fin. The mouth is made of a couple front quarter-panels from a car, and various bits and pieces. The eyes on both sides, are car headlights. The fins are all made of bundles of electrical wiring in among the bicycle forks.

Oh, and it’s not for sale…in case you were wondering.

Online Soft-Hackle Pattern Book

Waterhen and Red Soft-hackle. Photo from Neil Norman’s blog.

A fellow named Neil Norman sent me a message a couple weeks ago that he had linked his blog to mine. Finally I had time to check it out. I borrowed the image above from his most recent post.

Since I have lots of readers interested in Soft-hackles here, I though I would share this news. I have linked his blog, a Soft-hackle Pattern Book:

http://softhacklepatternbook.blogspot.com/  to mine. The link is listed on the right, here, under “Blog Links” or something like that. You can click from here and get there anytime. 😉 Or better yet, if you like soft-hackles and what you see there, then subscribe and you’ll get e-mail notice of each post he makes.

Mr. Norman is a PhD candidate for English Literature. Dare I say, he writes well, and intelligently. Check it out!