Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Embrace The Cold - Time For Fly Tying

    Its that time again. Stow the gear, clean the lines, and break out the fly tying equipment.  Its time to restock the fly boxes for the onslaught of fins in 2014.
  Today I awoke to a Canadian type chill in the air with an temperature leaking mercury out the bottom of the gauge.  I can't say for sure but the fist sign of an upcoming ice age might just be a temperature of 7 degrees in South Carolina.  I sure hope those coastal reds found a nice warm stretch of water to hang out in because if they didn't then there is going to be a whole lot of fishcicles floating around Charleston Harbor.
  Enough complaining and more flies.  I sat down at the vice and tied a dozen of these crafty little guys the other day.  Not much else to do since I was confined to the house.  Its a simple fly - I love the three ingredient flies - that is an extremely effective dry.  You can pump out these babies faster than Bode Miller does the Super G.  Tie them small and tie them quick.
After tying up a load of dies I went to work on a few large wet flies.  I've never had much luck with them but they are sure fun to create.
    Using the cold to my advantage, the wife and I sat down with the kids for a little plastic bead craft time.  Basically its a 'create your own mosaic' type thing with plastic beads then iron them out.  Good for having the kids use their imaginations but the down side is that I now have quite a few of these bead creations around the house.  Luckily once they are ironed out the beads stay pretty much together.  My son made a Loch Ness Monster (or Dragon), my daughter slaved away on an intricate coaster design, my wife came up with a heart, and I of course made a fishy looking thing.
    If you are stuck inside during this snap of cold, make the most of it.  Tie up some flies, do something creative with the family, or just grab an adult beverage (or hot coco) and settle next to a roaring fire.  Keep warm out there.

2 comments:

Feather Chucker said...

I tied some last night. Softhackles mostly. I have this charcoal dubbing I've been reluctant to use for awhile. I'm not sure why. I tied a fly with it last night and it looks awesome. Of course usually my taste isn't the same as the fishes.

Unknown said...

Most of the flies I've labored over and groomed to look picture perfect rarely temp fish. Then I tie on a grubby hobo looking p.o.s. and the trout go nuts. Thats the reason I've become a big fan of simple 3 ingredient flies.
I bet the charcoal color will be effective. Fish love that blackish hue.