the Dancing bird

‘Green Meanie

the onslaught of age and all the lovely side-effects associated with this wonderful period in life: lost or misplaced of memory, debilitating hallucinations and delirium tremens that happens without even drinking !… have given me the impressions that there are very little differences between birds and fish and can’t help but see this mutation when i observe either one.

just as the original Surrealists would just sit there, rely on automatism and wait for their subconscious to ejaculate and do the work for their intellectually over-stressed creamy consciousnesses, i often sit at the vise and things just happen.
birds happen. bird shapes that appeal to fish happen. bird shapes that move like fish in the water happen.
somewhere the cross-over happened and to be honest, i couldn’t be happier. it even makes me want to dance like a bird.

Ideas, drawing board and live testing

By Ulf Hagström

once in a while something comes up out of the ordinary in fly design and this is another one of those special moments.
inspired by scientific fish studies, good friend Ulf Hagström has done it again and come up with a design that stimulates feeding behavior in pike.
although these studies where focused on pike, in my mind it would be very unlikely that this stimulation wouldn’t be just effective with any other predator species, so this is something to think about and try out next time you’re working on a streamer patter for you favorite species.

“When you read up on pike feeding behavior and talk with guides and other people that fishes a whole lot more than I do it is evident that pike feeding behavior is not as simple as many people will think. My own conclusion this season has also come to the conclusion that pike are way more complicated than most people will give it credit for.

Anyway, what has been proven several times is that pike have a feeding behavior that often are triggered by competition, and clepto parasitic behavior. Other fish that are feeding, or other pike that are feeding, will get even the most stubborn of pike to act on instinct and start feeding aggressively. There have also been some new spinner lures introduced lately (I’ve been told) that mimics large baitfish hunting smaller fish. With this in mind I thought that I needed to design something similar but as a fly.”

click the pic for the rest of this very inspiring article. thanks Ulf !

‘roll-over wet

designed to be a ‘wet emerger’ this spider’s made to stay as close as possible to the surface film during the drift by using a light wired hook, a ‘prickly herl for the body and some hare dubbing as the head. if necessary, in faster waters those two elements can get some floatant with a little help from the Fly Brush.  i won’t claim any originality by including a head made of dubbing as it’s undoubtedly been done before but i’ve never heard of this on North Country-style spiders before and would appreciate any information about this. thanks !

made with:

love
hook- Maruto C47 barbless #16
thread- Veevus 14/0 brown
body- one fiber from a large dark brown mottled feather (not sure what bird but any big feather would do)
hackle- creamy grizzly hen
head- Mad Rabbit ! dubbing (hare)

Review- Veevus Tying Threads and Tying Materials

A thread is a thread is a thread, right ?
Well, no. Considering that in most cases, tying thread is what holds everything together when we’re tying flies, it’s quality and reliability are what ‘makes or breaks’ the tying experience and our results depend on it doing what we expect it to do.

“The choice of tying thread for a particular application in fly dressing is probably one of the most important decisions a tier will make. It is as important as the choice of materials used for the flies themselves. 
Thread choice can be a very subjective issue, many tiers will have love/hate relationships with different threads from time to time, and this can be the result of incorrect thread selection in the first place.”
quote from Dr. Paul Little / Fly Dresser – The Journal of the FlyDresser’s Guild 2011

A few months back, I discovered and saw tying videos of  these new threads and wrote Emir Veevus, the founder of the company to ask for some samples to review. A few days later I received a nice little box with 12 spools comprised of:

Threads-
6/0 F02 White
8/0 E01 Black
8/0 E02 White
8/0 E04 Red
8/0 E06 Pink
10/0 D04 Light (Almond) Green
12/0 C05 Burgundy/Claret
14/0 B02 White
14/0 B05 Brown
M11 M Stomach
(Yup, Stomach does sound a bit ‘medical’ but Emir tells me that it was the result of  the translation of ‘abdomen’ or ‘body’ and the word stayed. I think it’s cool and yet another item that sets this company apart !)

Tinsel & Wire-
T12 S Holo-Tinsel
W01 S Steel Wire

From the Veevus site we see that these threads are stronger than all non-gsp type threads (gel spun polyethylete) which is a wonderful quality because it’s enormously frustrating to have a thread break before we’re finished with the fly… but is that what makes a good thread ?
Not really, or at least it needs some other qualities on top of strength.
If strength was the major criteria we could just hand out a considerable amount more money at the shop and buy the gsp threads mentioned above and happily live with the knowledge that our thread is strong enough to bend almost any hook in the vise without breaking.
Ok, that might sound pretty good but it doesn’t sound pretty good to me. What we find out when we buy the gsp threads is they slip on or around materials, need to be kept under a constant pressure because they don’t stretch and in the case of tying in foam or deer hair or similar, they often cut right through the materials (Add your favorite cuss-words here) because the thread is very thin and the buyer was told by the advertisers that they could tug down like a brute, so they tug like brutes…

Enough with the strength, let’s look at other aspects.

Stretch-
When a thread stretches it will later retract when tension is reduced. This holds our materials better than a thread that won’t stretch.
All of the Veevus threads stretch a little. Just enough and in an easily controllable and predictable manner.
Just right.

Twisting / Splitting-
Their non-bound multi-filament construction allows full and easy control. Sure, all threads can be twisted tighter but not all can be untwisted easily. Untwisting is yet another key element in thread management as it allows us to either lay a smooth and flat layer of thread for its appearance or for reducing bulk but also to use that extra width to bind down certain materials with that wider surface contact.
Splitting the threads to insert dubbing is as easy as it gets.
While the other threads have a many multi-filament construction, the 6/0 is a two-strand making this extremely easy, fast and a very strong for inserting bigger materials needed for the construction of streamers, pike or saltwater flies. I don’t even need a dubbing needle to split this thread. Just unwind it a bit, give it some slack and it opens up on it’s own.
Just right.

Resistance-
Or more specifically, abrasion resistance. Number one here is the dreaded ‘hook-point tick’ of the thread while winding around the shank. Although this occurs less and less as time goes by, I won’t say that it never happens to me but here I did a few tests on purpose to see how they hold up. Some threads tear right away. The Veevus threads don’t.
Just right.

Colors-
Available in a vast array of colors as you’ll see here, if you need to add your own color because you want a special tone or just want a different color without tying off and changing spools, they take permanent marker’s inks very well and fast and the color stays on.
Just right.

Spools-
Rarely mentioned yet a very important aspect is the spools themselves and how the thread was wound on them. You won’t find any loose ‘starter’ ends coming off the side lip of the spool like it’s quite common with Benecchis’… All of the threads have been wound cleanly and evenly with just the right amount of tension leading to very smooth tying.
It would be very hard to say exactly if this is the reason why, but after two fly-tying fairs, several tying courses and the subsequent traveling and bag-throwing, not a single spool has unwound which usually results in the thread crossing itself, blocking up while tying and ending up flying through the air with frustration… Just right.
And before I stop with the smooth bit, some of the spools seem (my guess) to be made of Rilsan, a low-friction plastic often used as washers or in other mechanical parts. They’re slightly translucent. When placed in bobbin holders there is a strong marked difference in rotational smoothness from any other type of spool I’ve ever seen, once again making tying very precise, predictable and smooth.
I hope they extend the use of these spools throughout the whole range.
Just right.

Stomach Thread-
As mentioned above, it’s initial purpose is for building abdomens and bodies but it’s a lot more versatile than that. It’s construction is a cross between a floss and a thread which means it can also be used for tags, tails, hot-spots, wings and heads. It is easily twisted tight or loose and split to insert whatever dubbing-type material you might want to bind down. The spool I received is a bright fluorescent yellow/green and by inserting darker dubbing in the split-thread,  was able to get a much more ‘natural’ color of the body on the outside while getting a glow from the thread from underneath, specially visible when wet. Cool.
Just right.

Holo Tinsel & Steel Wire
Both are excellent products.  What greatly sets these apart from many others is once again their strength and flexibility. Once mounted on a bobbin holder they can easily replace tying thread: Including tying on, binding on materials, dubbing and whip finishing. This opens up quite a lot of creative possibilities, helps reduce thread bulk, makes tying easier and more precise and there’s no waste.
Just right.

Steel Wire abdomen on ‘Silver and Gold’

Conclusion-
After using these products several months there isn’t a single negative aspect I could add here. That’s quite impressive considering how much I like to critique and criticize…
I’m using the smaller 10/0, 12/0 and 14/0 sizes almost exclusively and with complete confidence for trout-type flies and my technique and general ‘tying tidiness’ has gone up a notch, maybe several.

As in my other reviews, this is a two part question and answer affair.

- Do I like these products and would I recommend them ? Most definitely yes.

- If I where to have only one brand of tying threads would the Veevus be it ?
Again, most definitely yes and quite happily. They’re that good and are exactly what i expect from a versatile top-end product.
Just right.

You’ll find all these products and more tying goodies on the Veevus site.

Small Stream Tactics podcast for Flugfiskeradion

a while ago Jesper Hultqvist of Sweden’s Flugfiskeradion (Fly Fishing Radio) invited me to do a podcast for his site and when asked what topic i would consider, small stream tactics came to mind first as this has been a somewhat obsession of mine in the last ten or so years. the podcast explains the whys and hows pretty well so i won’t dwell too much here.
of course i had prepared notes before the interview and of course i forgot to use them… so, even if it is mentioned at the end i’ll restate here why this type of fly fishing is so close to my heart: Intimacy 
intimacy by necessity but also by choice. these confined environments force us to think and act on a much smaller scale than what we might be used to. every movement has it’s consequence so every movement needs planning. it’s exhausting but it’s a wonderful exhaustion.

  <— Click Here !

yes, the introduction is in swedish but don’t let that scare you off ! it all switches over to english in about 30 seconds.
54 minutes long, you can either listen to it directly on the site or download the MP3 and listen wherever you want. (i highly recommend doing this at work !)
i do hope you enjoy this and hopefully if you’re not already a small stream fan you’ll get inspired to go fish these lovely, magical little waters so full of unexpected treasures.

share the love

at the risk of sounding biased and self-important, here’s a little reminder that many anglers actively do a lot more to help keep waterways and their ecosystems in good shape than one might think.
for many of us there’s a lot more involved than just catching fish.
sure, as with most people, we do things out of self interest but in this case it works out for the good of the many and most of that many is nature itself.

heads

it’s always a bit difficult for me to be around other anglers, specially in stocked commercial fisheries as this scene inevitably pops up when i least expect it and it often ‘kills the moment’. i know very well that eating the catch is an important aspect for many and that the point of a put and take fishery is about putting fish in it and taking them out, but the image lingers.
true, it does indeed make observing them, noticing details and  of course seeing what’s inside of them a lot easier than when they’re alive and yes, it is fascinating but it’s something i’d rather study through diagrams.

here’s another kind of  head i find much more enjoyable.

how mayflies and trout are made.

we’ve seen Markus Hoffman’s fantabulous fly tying videos here, here and here and now we get to see the next step of his obsession with art, insects, trout and fly fishing.
it’s fascinating to watch, however if you don’t like high speed, thrashy loud music that involves monster-like screaming as a singing form, i’d seriously recommend turning down the volume…  enjoy !