Diving frog step-by-step

I've been inspired by Larry Dahlberg and Dave Whitlock since the early 1990's.
Look here to read about my search for the origins of the Dahlberg diver.

Belly hair, deer strips in several colors. To get a nice natural mottling effect use colors that doesn't contrast too much

Set up a clean foundation of thread. I still use Danville Flymaster Plus.
You can get them anywhere, strong, very affordable & available in many colors

Use stiff, wide and webby hackles for the tail (legs). Often called 'bass hackle'

Add some rubber legs for some movement and joy 😀

Stack white belly hair

Foundation for the collar

Second stack for the collar

Third stack

Pull gently yet deliberately

Secure (whip finish or half hitch, a drop of super glue helps to make your stacks stronger) the steps after every
completed stack to make sure your fly doesn't explode if an accident (thread breakage) happens 😀
Make sure the upper and lower stacks are cleanly separated.

Another first of the upper stack

One of the last stacks of deer hair

All stacking deer hair done!

Don't crowd the eye!
Make sure you have enough room behind the eye to tie off

Yup, belly side looks okay 😀

First cut for the belly. Don't cut it right away to the hook shank.
Use the first cuts to check the balance of the sack being even on top.
Make sure you cut the belly to have enough hooking gap

Head of the diver. Again cut in stages for more control

I need a bath! Where's the tub? 😀

 

Add some rubber legs on the head for some tantalising action 😀

Big mess

Scissors given to me by my late friend Chris Helm

The No hackle

Wow, love this piece of history from Mike Lawson on the No-hackle. Take a look at the picture with a natural next to the no hackle. The similarity is striking!

Mike shows how to tie the No hackle:

Two older video's from Jack Dennis' collection from the 1980's:

1) From Jack Dennis' video "Tying Western Dry Flies with Mike Lawson"

2) From Mike Lawson's video "Tying Flies for Spring Creeks"

Read Mike's story on the No hackle here.

These No Hackles actually fish better when the wings are all split and chewed up!😄

Mike tells why this is. By the way, watch the whole video from the start about the Henry's Fork

Ps.
Can't believe I didn't take a picture of us two together when I visited his shop last August... 😵

Cree

Tied a Humpy yesterday evening using the new Hebert Miner Gold Cree saddle I just acquired.
Barb count is very good and the dark colors are amazing.

A more durable loop on silk fly line

I should fish with silk fly lines more often. Maybe I'm just too lazy 😀
Silk line doesn't come with a loop, so to attach a leader you either need to use a needle knot or make a loop (fold the tip of the fly line and secure the loop using tying thread). Here my friend Hiro from Japan shows how to make a more durable loop on a silk fly line using a braided loop connector.

Chris Barclay - the grip artist

Okay okay, I'll admit. I'm a grip junkie... 😁

I've known Chris Barclay for about six years now. He started his own rod building company late 2013 and he has been building quality custom fiberglass rods ever since. My first rod from Chris was the 723, his first rod model built from a proprietary blank.

Chris is building me a new 70p, arguably the last blank from his acclaimed and retired fiberglass parabolic rod series known to mankind. I requested a torpedo shaped ventilated grip. A little shorter than most would order. I just love how the grip turned out!

For me the most important part of the rod is the grip. I have very specific thoughts about proportions of a grip. Maybe it's because in fly tying proportion is the single most important detail on a well tied fly. Fortunately Chris understands my pickiness on grips 😀

About ventilated grips:
The ventilated grip was pioneered in the 1940's by South Bend Rod Company and Paul Young Rod Company. Rods from both companies had distinctive parabolic action and the segmented (ventilated) grip allowed the rod to flex all the way to the reel seat.

Update Jan 25, 2019:
Rod is finished! Looking mighty handsome.

How the brown trout made New Zealand famous

Big trophy brown trouts are the hallmarks of the New Zealand experience. Especially in the south island these trouts are all fly fishermen talk about. But how on earth did this invasive trout become the nation's number one targeted fish? There's an interesting story about how the brown trout was imported to New Zealand.

The American Museum of Fly Fishing

Did you know that the American Museum of Fly Fishing has all of its past quarterly magazine on line to be viewed for free? All issues starting from 1970 till the most recent issue! Amazing resource of information.

If you love reading about history of fly fishing you're gonna love it!

Check them out here.