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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1950's, 60's, 70's ! ! First off, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon, processed meat, canned corned beef from Argentina, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking!!! As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Abrakebabra or Subway. Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death! We shared one bottle of real Coke with four friends and NO ONE actually died from this. We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Lucky Bags, Cowan's Toffees, Joe Bazooka Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. We ate cupcakes, white bread with crusts and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in river beds with matchbox cars. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on SkyTV, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms.......... WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter! We were given pellet guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays!! We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet! RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT AND NOT DUE TO BLACKMAIL, THREATS AND GUILT FROM THE PAST.... strange but true! Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather staps and bully's always ruled the playground at school. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla' This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. PS -The big type is because your eyes are not so good at your age anymore!

You could always try this one if you are not too easily embarrassed - !!!!

One tip on Spiders, keep the head small and neat like this one below - What is the tying on your foam backed fly? That looks as though it will give great fun on riffles!

I'll wait for the Walmart version!

Folks, here is a link to the swap that is just finishing for a fly constructed with a quill body. All of the flies were all cracking and could grace anybodies fly box. Enjoy! UK Fly Dressing Quill Bodied Fly Swap, July 2008

What waste? I'm Scottish, there is no waste!

I can't see any PB images or access my account - anybody got a clue?

Expensive? No Way! They only cost about C$2.00 to make after you have made up the board. All you need are a couple of spools of UNI 6/0 or 3/0 thread, mono if you want super strong and from 100M of mono you get 3 x 2M furled leaders 15lb BS. I am Scottish and anything that involves expense is scrutinised very closely! Sorry, but just making them for fun and not retail. Conor, if you do PM me and I will send you drawings of the modifications that I made to the original design that makes it more flexible in constructing different tapers and lengths.

More on it here

I've read about them, I've seen one, courtesy of AMU and I wanted one. So I decided to make my own using the guide lines by Henk Verhaar that appeared in a Global Fly Fisher article. The only thing I bought were the weights from the local tackle shop what don't do fly fishing! The rest came from the shed. A 1/4 sheet of 12mm MDF 1M x 0.5M, a length of 2 x 3/4 pine and a broom handle, screws, dowel and hooks I had in there as well. Knocking it up according to the instructions was not difficult although this being Friday the 13th I did manage to short out the cable on my £150 jigsaw! Step 1. Cut 2 planks from the MDF Step 2. Join them with pine and countersunk screws so it can be disassembled for storage Step 3. Measure it out and fit the posts Step 4. Follow the instructions and hey presto! My first two 6ft Furled Leaders, one for the river and the other a Hi-Vis for buzzer and nymphing from a floating line! Furled Leader anyone?

Those of you familiar with Mike Conners will remember that he posted a method of creating a nymph style fly called the Glymph, This was a hook coated in UHU and to which loose dubbing was applied to and when dry formed a reasonably durable nymph, this is a step in the same direction. I was stripping a few peacock herls and the pile of debris was growing, it was about to be swept into the palm of the hand for disposal in the waste bag when I remembered his technique and put a hook in the vice to which I wrapped 2 layers of thread and whipped off. I coated this in varnish and stuck it into the the pile of herl waste and this is the result. After drying I tested the durability and a few fibres came off but the majority remained giving a basis to form buzzers and nymphs from. Here is the same technique on an FM 31160 super grub hook

Now that is a fishing report! I envy you guys being able to head out to the wilds when the fancy takes you, we just have to make do with an escape 15 mins from civilisation here!

The drag system is Rulon discs, able to tune from a 1/4lb brown to a truck stopping line breaking solid stop! I have found it excellent on lake fishing especially when something is taking me out to the backing as I normally hand line for sensitivity but this reel has great control and sensitivity on the drag, for that price you are not buying a pig in a poke but a good quality reel for the price. If the 'named makers' can bump this up to over $100 - $200 with a badge on it then the quality is there in the first place. I received one with a bit of epoxy on the back but I was not complaining as I know how good they are in the first place and not being a 'tackle tart' it suits me fine.

Go to Ebay fly fishing and search with 7/8, 5/6 & 3/4, this should turn up a source in Hong Kong that sells unbadged excellent reels. The starting price UK is 99p with £24.18 P&P. I have a Bloke 5/6 KPXX which retails at £160 UK, the same reel unbadged can be had for £25 inc P&P! I have 3 of the Hong Kong ones now and they are excellent in the 5/6 weight. A mate brought the same reel back from fishing in Chile and it cost him $100 US, if only he had known! TLs PS delivery is within 2 weeks of purchase.

Fishing with the Murt and AMU tomorrow evening on the Liffey and I need as much help as possible so there are now a dozen of these in the box as well as a couple of undisclosed patterns that should keep me up with the masters of the river! Nice simple tie, a few ginger hackle fibres, a stripped quill and a ginger hackle, varnish on the quill optional.

I managed to break my Bloke XL50 6 weight with a Copper Joe. I was river fishing and using a Copper Joe and it hit the top section, did not break then and I thought nothing about it. Went lake fishing and on the 3rd fish it snapped the top section between eyes as I was landing the fish. Waiting on a warranty replacement and will be no longer using Copper Joes!

Hard winging by either coating in varnish, Floo Gloo, waterproof Sellotape or using spray on elastoplast can give you durable sedges like this. Murt did an excellent SBS on the Deveaux Sedge and this is one I did in a similar vein. Grouse, Pheasant, Hen Back, Mallard can all be used to provide colouration for the winging of this sedge and it's variant. Happy tyings

If you are having this problem then you are not getting the thread loops tight enough over the butt end of the deer hair. I use UTC 140 Denier and you can put a lot of tension on it before it breaks but all you need is for it to bite into the deer hair a bit and cause the butts to flare out a which you cover with the foam anyway! IF you are still have in problems with losing hair there is a method that is not pretty but the hair will never fall out - use superglue! The very runny stuff is the best as this will soak into the crevices and bind it all together but the best way to do this is with proper thread control as you will benefit much later in your tying career if you get it right now. Take a look at this Deer Hair Bomber Sedge I have been experimenting with and you will see that the winging is just held with thread over the thorax area of the fly, if I had used to much thread it would detract from the dubbing on the thorax and as the thread was pale yellow it would have been much worse if I had over whipped it. The whip finish actually is on the deer hair and not at the eye of the hook as I wanted to keep it dark with the dubbing. Another thing with deer hair, when you are tying in the bunch for the wing, keep a good hold of it between your thumb and finger as you pull down the loop of thread, you can then tighten it up with a couple of more turns while still holding it and this prevents the deer hair flaring too much. Keep at it because no matter how good you think someone is at tying flies, they did not instantly become an expert as it takes a lot of learning, questions and patience. I still tie like *hit!

Troutslayer, for a first tie you did not pick an easy one but by the looks of it, you are coming along well. Just a few pointers on the construction. I have stuck both photos together so it is easier to see what I am talking about. Go a bit lighter on the dubbing as this is what makes the base for everything else on the fly, if you have it too heavy it then pushes everything out. I was always told that less is more in everything about fly tying but I still make the mistake of being too generous with materials sometimes and have to redo it. The butt should not go as far round the bend but the amount is correct. It is hard to see from my photo the area under the head but I am a tight Scotsman and don't see the need to dub that part. The foam does not need to be pulled so tight and can be a bit wider as this gives the fly it's main buoyancy because the deer hair does get wet and try to drag the fly under if you are twitching it across the surface to emulate the real thing, this makes for savage takes. See if you can find a close cell foam like that made by Wapsi, it is much easier to use. There is one thing this fly does that cannot be stopped, it has a tendency to furl your tippet if cast rapidly to fish as the deer hair wing drives it in a spiral when casting, if I could stop this happening I would make a fortune but it is down to the aerodynamics of the fly and we just have to live with it. I tried different methods with the deer hair but what it is now seems to be the best and you have that covered OK Beginners all make the same mistake with thread and I was no exception to this either, we tend to use too much thinking that a few wraps will not be enough to hold it all together but it is and by reducing the number of wraps and whippings it gives us a cleaner looking finish. I whip finish all my heads with 2 sets of 3 turns, this is more than enough to hold it all together and on foam I do not use varnish or head cement as it breaks the foam down. All in all, for a beginner choosing a difficult fly you have not done too badly at all! We all have to learn to walk before we can run and there are plenty of folks in the forum that can help you with those first steps. TLs

The Scottish Government has announced plans to deal with the salmon killer parasite Gyrodactylus salaris (G.salaris) should it arrive in Scotland. It proposes to kill off ALL wild salmon (not to mention all trout and grayling too) in river systems where G.salaris is detected using Rotenone which has been widely used in Norway where 46 infected salmon rivers have been treated. This was the opening paragraph of an article in this month's Fly Fishing & Fly Tying in Northern Climes, an editorial that is protective of the salmon fishings in Scotland and has long been an ardent campaigner against salmon farming. Norwegian fish farmers imported fish from the Baltic where they are resistant to G.salaris and expected the Atlantic Salmon to be resistant also but alas no, this was not the case and they managed to infect a great many of Norway's salmon rivers. This then brought about the usage of Rotenone with which they killed off every single fish of all species in an attempt to eradicate the disease. It is reported that all these rivers are now recovered and productive again but I think that his statement needs taken with a pinch of salt Just imagine the effect on the likes of the Tweed, Tay and the Dee. These rivers have huge catchment areas for their size in Scotland and if the Tweed was to be infected that every tributary used by salmonids would have to be treated meaning the total loss of all game fishing in the area, the loss of tourism, anglers and employment in the game angling sector with no guarantee of success. In Scotland they would be looking at a 'cataclysmic environmental disaster' (FF&FT words) on monumental proportions if this disease ran rife and they responded with the proposed measures. It does not bear thinking about.

Step 7. Take the tip of the hackle in your hackle pliers and carefully wind on 2 - 3 turns depending on your preference for hackle density. Less is more in the case of spiders and you can accomplish this by stripping off one side of the remaining hackle fibres to make it even more sparse. Step 8. Secure the hackle carefully as you do not have too many fibres to play with and trim the excess hackle point off Step 9. Whip finish with a small neat head and apply sparingly a small drop of varnish making sure that it only goes on the threads. Note - a lot of tyers prefer to leave the quill body as it is and some prefer to varnish or cover with brushable superglue, I leave this option open to your own discretion. Step 10. Admire from the top....... Step 11. ..........and the front!

Setting the Quill Bodied Swap came about when I purchased the Whiting Bronze Grade Saddle shown below, it was cheap for the quality - €8! I had to find a use for it and a supply of quality quills came to mind for the larger feathers. Contributions to the swap from the other forum members are proving to be of very high quality indeed and I went for this simple pattern with a slight twist in the construction to make it more interesting as an SBS. If you have not stripped a quill before then take a look HERE This is the saddle I used for this SBS, it has a great iridescence to it and gives added attraction to the fly. Materials Hook - Fulling Mill 31550 all purpose medium size 12 Thread - Bennechi 12/0 Black Body / Hackle - stripped Iridescent Black cock saddle feather Modus Operandi Firstly, prepare your hackle stalks! When you strip the hackle stalks aim to leave the fibres roughly 1.5 to 2 times the length of your quill body to give a nice webby look to the finished fly. (A genuine Tupster tip) I have saved the stripping from the hackle stalks as no doubt I will find a use for it in the future! Step 1. Mount your hook level in your vice Step 2. Run your thread in tight touching turns to a point level with the hook to give the desired body length. My thanks to Tango for simplifying this for me. Step 3. Secure your quill stalk at this point, note how the start of the hackle fibres are back from the eye to prevent crowding when wrapping it. Step 4. Wrap your thread back to the start of the hackle fibres in tight touching turns again, keeping the stalk on top of the hook shank to give a nice even base for the quill Step 5. The first turn of the hackle stalk should be on the bare metal of the hook and the next on the thread butted against this. Doing this gives a more rounded appearance to the butt of the body. Step 6. Secure the hackle stalk with a few turns of thread and trim as closely to the body as possible without cutting the thread as I did twice! I use a scalpel to get as close as possible.

maxwell, you make me sick! Excellent photos and looks to have been some great fishing done as well - lucky fecker! TLs

126Barnes, I managed to get hold of a Bronze Whiting saddle in iridescent black for next to nothing and that is what this is made from, there is no real hackle as such used but I will demo this later to show how it is done. A very easy method of getting a spider hackle spot on with no fuss. TLs Roddy Maxwell, you are getting a few of these in with the rest of the stuff.

We are having a Quill Bodied Fly swap on our side of the pond and this is what I came up with for it. Need to get it a bit neater for the swap though.