Hatches Magazine 2010

Posted August 25, 2010:

The 2010 issue of Hatches Magazine has just been released and I have been informed by a close friend and tying student through http://www.classicflytying.com that the issue has been shipped and has already been received by some subscribers. I have a feature wet fly article in this issue titled Traditional Wet Flies – Notes on Materials, Procedures, Proportions, and Techniques. It is 4800 words with lots of photos. I was very pleased to be able to write this piece for Hatches.

Like most tyers I am still learning about fly tying. This sometimes occurs when I am tying flies alone; the result of a simple idea or creative thought. At times an idea arises when I am far from my tying vise. Other fly tiers sharing their knowledge allow us to learn and progress in our fly tying endeavors.

I would like to say thank you for the positive comments, compliments, and support of many friends and customers who have purchased one or all of my three of my fly tying DVD’s,

I hope and pray that I am able to continue fishing, tying flies, writing, and taking photographs for a long time. Thank you to all of those who have supported me!

Early Reviews of 2010 Hatches Article

This topic started August 25th:

Here are some early reviews in the first 24 hours from fellow tyers who have seen and read my wet fly article, Traditional Wet Flies, in the 2010 issue of Hatches Magazine. They are taken from a topic on http://www.classicflytying.com.

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> Just got my copy of the 2010 issue of Hatches magazine, edited by our own Will Mullis. Don Bastian has a great summary of his wet fly techniques in this issue. Lots of pretty pictures, too. His videos are still tops, but this is a great resource, with many of his top tips. Way to go, Don!
– Leigh

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> Yes Don, great in-depth article! Just got the 2010 Hatches in the mail yesterday. The wet fly article captures much of the essential information I have seen you present, plus several more tips and great reinforcement material to really explain clearly the various techniques of constructing the wet fly. One of those articles I will read several times over. Well done, Don!
– Peter

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And my reply:

Thank you guys, friends, for your compliments. I hope my writing and photos helps you to improve and resolve some of your tying questions.

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I liked it too, nice one Don. Nothing that you didn’t cover in more depth in your fantastic DVD but great to see your flies in print in bright living color. Very very pretty!
– Scott

The above comment is from a customer in Atlanta. Thanks Scott!

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For someone who doesn’t consider himself to be an accomplished photographer, I thought Don did a great job with the fly pictures.

His copy wasn’t particularly difficult to edit, either. He knows his way around the language pretty darned well. And, as always, his information was spot-on.

– John

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That’s John, as in ‘isonychia’ a.k.a., John McCoy, from Huntington, WV,  on classicflytying.com.

John is a reporter for the Charleston Gazette. He did the editing of my article. Thanks very much John for your compliments on my work! I appreciate it very much. I hope that my writing and information is helpful to anyone hoping to improve their fly tying.

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And this is my posted reply as of August 28, 2010 on http://www.classicflytying.com:

Thank you Scott, John, Peter, and Leigh for your approval, comments, & compliments! To Mike and Mike – I hope you are pleasantly rewarded by your expectations! Thanks for taking the time to post a comment of anticipation!
I really appreciate the fact that you all have positive reactions to my work. John, thank you especially for your compliments and positive ratings of the photos and writing.

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Recollections…

To everyone, I am still amazed any time I think about it, at how a kid twelve years old, seeing the color plate flies in Bergman’s Trout for the first time, so quickly it seems, has now so much time and life behind him, and it amazes me when I think of the fact that my interest in fly tying so long ago brought me to my present place.
I can remember, vividly, after an afternoon of farm pond fishing for bluegills, fly fishing for the first time and catching lots on a Yellow Sally – then upon return to our farmhouse in Tioga County, PA, asking my dad, “Do you have any books on fly fishing?”
“Yeah, I have this one.” He walked to an antique dry sink in the big room, the top of which served as a bookshelf, pulled a small, claret-colored book from its resting place and said, “This one,” as he handed it to me.
It was a ninth printing, first edition copy of Ray Bergman’s Trout. Like any kid, the first thing I did was look at the pictures. The rest of the short story, as they say, is history.

I am glad for those of you who I have been able to help, inspire, motivate, and teach, in any way; and I also am grateful for the role I may have played in whatever way, however large or small, to promote interest in traditional wet flies.

Thank you to each of you! I hope I will be able to contribute in many ways to this hobby. And I do have quite a few more ideas…still thinking.

Something wet fly…

There are numerous variations between the painted flies in Ray Bergman’s books, and the written recipes in the back. I have always been curious about this fly, the Something, for its differences between the color plate painting and the written recipe. As far as I’m concerned the fly is correct when tied either way. But the macro-image of the painting clearly reveals a difference from the recipe. So here it is. This is the revised pattern recipe:

Tip:     Gold tinsel

Tail:    Golden pheasant tippet

Ribbing: Gold tinsel

Body: Black floss

Hackle: Black

Wing: Green, scarlet, purple, yellow, purple, orange – married

Something wet fly - color plate painting from Ray Bergman's book, Trout (1938), by Dr. Edgar Burke

The recorded wing recipe in Trout

Something - six-strip wing as in the painting - green, red, purple, yellow, purple, orange

Wet Flies on Mustad Limerick Bend Hooks

Walker, Henshall, Polka, Forsyth, Royal Coachman, Orange Ibis (clockwise from top)

Forsyth #8

Henshall #8

Orange Ibis #8 (an original pattern of my design)

Polka #8

Royal Coachman #8

Walker

...and these are the hooks.

Traditionally, wet flies were often tied on Sproat Bend hooks, but in March, while I was participating at the Annual L L Bean Spring Fishing Expo, my tying friend Mike Martinek gave me a box of Mustad 36712 hooks. I tied these patterns on them and mailed them to Mike recently as a favor for his kindness. The patterns are from Trout by Ray Bergman.