Spring is the time to get our fishing gear ready, but also means new inspirations for the grooming part. Here are some pictures I find very inspiring.
Just have a look and see why I'm so fond of Italian (especially Napolitan) suits (the silhouette is more 'cut to the bone' than English suits) and Italian shoes, especially Santoni and Sutor Mantellassi. I won't bother you with my suits, so just enjoy the nice silhouette of these nice suits.
Reuben Cross was born in Neversink, New York on March 16, 1896 and would become one of the legends of the Catskill tying scene. During his early teenage years Theodore Gordon was tying flies for a living and Rube claimed that he learned tying from Gordon, although this was never confirmed by anyone.
In 1927 Walt Dette asked Rube Cross, in exchange for $50, to teach him the art of fly tying. Rube told Walt to go to hell... Walt started to untie Rube's flies and mastered fly tying retying the fly. (1992 Eric Leiser, The Dettes, Willowkill Press).
Here are some of Rube's dry flies and pictures of Rube at his tying table from his book Tying American Trout Flies (1936 Dodd, Mead & Co). Did you notice how he ties without using a a bobbin holder? It's pretty amazing how tiers like Rube and Walt during that era (1920-1940's) managed to tie such wonderful flies using fly tying materials which were pretty hard to get and hardly the quality as we know now. Wonderful fly tying history.
About my Catskill project:
Hmm... I still haven't had the moment to sit down and tie the Catskill dries... If I start tying, I just want to tie the whole project at once. But before I'm up and running I'll be distracted by the rush of the weekend. I also need to tie a bunch of flies for Ed (olive dahlberg diver) and experiment on some Zoo Cougars for my streamer box. I think I just promised Zach a lanyard. I just need a sunday afternoon without chores and phone calls!
More about Reuben Cross from the book 'Fish Flies: The Encyclopedia of the Fly Tier's Art' by Terry Hellekson.
Update Nov 22, 2025:
I found this issue of Outdoor Life December 1934 in the Internet Archive with an article about Rube Cross. Don't forget to scroll to page 63 for the final part.
I watched Kelly's streamer fishing DVD at Dave's shop during my last trip to Canada & USA. I rarely fish with a streamer during my fishing because I think using a streamer will ruin a stretch of the river which I prefer to fish with a nymph or a dry fly. But there are parts of a river that a streamer might be the best approach, like a very deep pool. Again, streamer fishing means you have to re-rig your rod and often as not I'll just pass and move to the next part of the river where I can continue fishing with my nymph.
I ran into this tying video of Kelly Galloup's favorite streamer, the Zoo Cougar. The nice thing is, it's tied by the man himself! Kelly Galloup is a fishing guide and a lodge & fly shop owner, but he became well known because of his streamer fishing methods (jerk strip retrieve) which are on DVD nowadays. The videos on YouTube aren't ideal for fast moving videos. For slower moving shots it's just watchable.
Here's Kelly showing us how to tie his Zoo Cougar:
Here's a podcast interview with Kelly Galloup which contains many excellent tips on fishing with a streamer.
Back to the streamers:
I don't have a favorite streamer yet. Mostly I'll carry a bunch of Wooly buggers and a few muddler-type streamers. Since I don't fish a streamer that often, I haven't developed a certain preference for a pattern. I think I should fish more often (where possible) with a streamer this season. Maybe I'll tie half a dozen Zoo Cougars and fish with them exclusively to improve my knowledge about streamer fishing.
Update:
I just found the video where Kelly shows us how he fishes his streamers. The shots aren't worth a dime, but the info on the rig is the main issue.
Update April 24, 2016:
Here's a Zoo Cougar tied by Kelly in a superb high resolution:
The huge success of Apple's iPods started to raise the question: when is Apple going to make an iPod integrated with a mobile (folks in the US call it a 'cellular') phone? Well, after many months of speculation, it's finally here! Today Apple launched the iPhone.
Apple's interpretation of anything is always different from anything else that's on the market. The iPhone isn't a regular phone with just an option to play music, but it's a personal communication wonder. It's a phone (quad band so useable all over the world), it's an internet client with Wifi & Edge (web browser Safari and Mail built-in) and a wide-screen video iPod. Of course one of Apple's trademark is how they approach the Human Interface of their applications. The iPhone is no exception.
Obviously nobody has seen the thing in real life yet. The iPhone will be available in June in the USA, Europe at the end of 2007. Prices are aimed at $499 for a 4Gb and $699 for a 8Gb version for the moment. But it looks like this thing will blow away every phone with MP3 playing feature available. So you thought Sony's Walkman phones were nifty? Check out the iPhone's amazing capabilities and possibilities here.
Flashback:
What did Steve Balmer say about the iPhone back in 2007?
I met Jan Siman during the Fly Fair of 1992(?). I was tying at the show and Jan came to my stand and gave me a bunch of dubbing brushes to try. He said he made them himself. Ever since my number one nymph, the bead head caddis pupa, is made out of this material.
Dubbing brushes can be made at home using a simple dubbing whirl or the neat dubbing brush spinning block. Several years ago I met this elderly German who made a similar machine himself. I bought one of his few machines. I haven't used it since these ready to use dubbing brushes are so easy to come by. Or maybe I'm just plain lazy to try it out.
On the YouTube site I ran into this instructional video of Jan Siman's dubbing brush spinning block. This video does a much better job explaning than the (badly) written one.
Every once in a while we all do something foolish. Last week I replied to Olli's posting on his blog about tying with hair. I agreed to tie Olli a Dahlberg diver and a Humpy in exchange for a full service guided 2 week fishing trip if I ever decide to come to Finland. I've had worse deals in my life...
The Dalhberg diver shown here has the following ingredients:
Spring is the time to get our fishing gear ready, but also means new inspirations for the grooming part. Here are some pictures I find very inspiring. 
Here are some of Rube's dry flies and pictures of Rube at his tying table from his book Tying American Trout Flies (1936 Dodd, Mead & Co). Did you notice how he ties without using a a bobbin holder? It's pretty amazing how tiers like Rube and Walt during that era (1920-1940's) managed to tie such wonderful flies using fly tying materials which were pretty hard to get and hardly the quality as we know now. Wonderful fly tying history. 
The huge success of Apple's iPods started to raise the question: when is Apple going to make an iPod integrated with a mobile (folks in the US call it a 'cellular') phone? Well, after many months of speculation, it's finally here! Today Apple launched the iPhone.
Every once in a while we all do something foolish. Last week I replied to Olli's posting on his blog about tying with hair. I agreed to tie Olli a Dahlberg diver and a Humpy in exchange for a full service guided 2 week fishing trip if I ever decide to come to Finland. I've had worse deals in my life...
The Dalhberg diver shown here has the following ingredients:
