Celtic Beauty...Doubles Destined for the Dee

A fellow from the SalmonFishingForum requested some Celtic Beauties, tied on double hooks, for his trips next year to the Dee as well as to the Findhorn.  Sizes 8 to 14, please.  Yikes!  I've never tied on doubles before and they took a little getting used to.  Half way through the first fly I felt like I needed to install a blood gutter below my vise!  And cut thread much???  However, after about the third fly (good thing I started with the 8's first) I got things under control and quit stabbing myself and cutting the thread on the rear hook every third wrap.

Doubles are hard to find over here.  Only my friend Wally would have a stash, though, that included everything I needed down to the #14.  His fly tying materials closet is a bottomless pit!  Also bought a few Daiichi 7130's; they have a longer shank than the Partridge Double Wilson's Wally had.  Daiichi is pretty proud of those hooks, apparently, at a cost of more than a dollar each!

 All told, a learning experience!  Click on the pic for a larger view.

Holiday Beauty

Trying to work myself up for a more festive season and throwing the crutches out the window, I sat down at the vise and came up with my holiday (I'm getting so Politically Correct in my old age) fly, The Holiday Beauty:

The Famous Grouse Fly

One of my oldest friends, Bill H., sent me a ruffed grouse tail feather sometime ago.  A momento of a long ago hunt, he asked me if I would make a fly out of it.  I've always wanted to tie a fly called "The Famous Grouse" after my blended scotch of choice, and here was the ideal opportunity.  I knew I wanted to make it - from a feather standpoint - exclusively of ruffed grouse feathers.  I have a fairly healthy stash of those, having been a hardcore grouse hunter for many years.  Oh, for those years in the mid-1980's when I hunted 100 days/year over my little string of 3 great english setters!  LOL, oh to be able to  hunt at all last year or this year!  Health problems keep getting in the way.

Anyway,  The Famous Grouse (don't forget to double click on the pics to supersize):

The taill is from any part of the bird that looks good to you (I think I used a back feather), the hackle is an upper tail covert, and the wings are a tail feather.   I would use paired tail feathers in the future, but I need to make the wings on Bill's fly out of just the one I had.

The body material is some stuff I had stashed in a drawer.  It came as a freebie in an order from Scott's Fly Shop on Ebay (not sure that exists anymore).  It strikes me as perfect for this fly; I like the touch of claret that runs through the brown:

I'm pretty happy with this fly...it reminds me of a ruffed grouse.  I got pretty up close and personal with them for a few years doing grouse research in grad school:

Man, that was a lifetime or two ago, eh?   Well, it will be fun to find out what this fly does next season.  Looks great for trout, salmon maybe not so much.  Time will tell!



It's All in the Hat!

Several weeks ago I fished for landlocked salmon in northern New York State with my friend John, who hails from Montreal.  As I noted in an earlier thread, we had a great day.  I gave him one of my hats (the logo is based on my Celtic Beauty):

Well, the hat is still working!  He landed 3 fish just the other day, including a 6 pounder, and gives credit to the hat.  Here's a pic he sent me, taken by another fellow SpeyPages forum user:



AND, I caught my largest atlantic salmon to date wearing one last month, so they gotta have what it takes!

Oh, wait, that's right, Linda got her top fish of the week wearing one, too!

Oh, yeah, it also works in tan!

Don't you wish you had one, too?  LOL

When New Friends Get Together

You can just tell when you've met a kindred spirit.  I frequent the Spey Pages forum, and have learned a lot, particularly about fly tying and materials dyeing there...plus I've met, electronically, some interesting folks.  On Friday, I finally got to meet and fish with a fellow I've corresponded with over the past year.  John lives in Montreal and of course, I live in southern Vermont.  He invited me up to fish with him for landlocked salmon on a river he visits often.

It was a beautiful Friday, lots of sun - not always the best weather for fishing - but winter's coming, enjoy it while we can!  John suggested using my Deep Green Beauty, and it was moving fish and making them roll, but no hookups. 

We were fishing a pool where you can see the fish come to the surface quite clearly; John watched for fish while I cast.  After rolling several fish, he said, "Quick, put on something with some color and flash!"   So I reeled in and tied this on, my take on the Mickey Finn:

I cover the hook shank with silver mylar, then create the body out of natural pearl E-Z body braid.  The wing is that lovely translucent polar bear.

Well, on the second cast (I flubbed the first one), it was fish on!  The fish didn't realize it was hooked for a few moments, but when she did, she was quite the acrobat.   It pays to know the river and its fish, and John certainly does!  Note that #2 Mickey Finn (click on the pic once to enlarge, click again to supersize)!

John also landed a fish, and we rolled a bunch more.  AND I got some great tutoring from him on two-handed casting, using my switch rod.  All told, it was a great day.  I had a blast, and I don't think John minded lugging me around...I'm easily old enough to be his father (ugh.).

Earlier this year, I also got to fish with  "forum friend" Rob up on the Miramichi...I think another good time was had by all.  And that's what I think fly fishing forums should/could/wish they would be all about: making new friends and learning new things.  I know I do!



Autumn in Vermont

Sure, some of it's about those calendar shots of the Green Mountains in blazing fall color, but it's also about a cool damp morning with the sounds and smell of splitting wood, Canada geese honking overhead.