A Humpy trade with Charlie Craven

Charlie Craven is one of the best fly tiers in the world. He also owns the fly shop called Charlie's Fly Box in Arvada, Colorado.

A few weeks I asked Charlie to order a large piece of cow elk hair from Nature's Spirit. Cow elk has a finer structure (less coarse) than bull elk and it also has nice even tips which is needed for wings on a Humpy or elk hair caddis. Its structure is tougher than deer hair so it doesn't break as easily under tight thread wraps as deer hair. Yearling elk is also a good choice as it has short even tips and also less delicate than deer hair.

I have seen many humpies in my life. Charlie is in my opinion one of the very few tiers that ties a good looking Humpy. When he messaged me that the hair was in I quickly asked him to look for a Humpy in his fly box and toss one in with the hair before shipping. Here's the Humpy (with the straight eyed hook) I shipped to Charlie (of course I used Cow elk hair here).

This is the best video of tying a Humpy by Charlie. The way Charlie ties here, wings first, was done by the late André Puyans. In this video he ties the wings first and uses the butt section of the hair for the hump. This is an easier way to tie a more consistent wing length than the traditional way. I'm so used to the traditional way I'll keep on tying that way. Especially pay attention on the proportions, which makes or breaks this fly.

Update May 28, 2020:
Charlie's Humpy (2) arrived today, together with the Cow elk hair and some nice stickers. Thanks Charlie!

New Zealand - are we being deluded?...

I have (had) this idyllic view of New Zealand. Fishing in solitude in a vast landscape looking like the back drop of Lord of the Rings with huge fish in gin clear rivers.

A gorgeous country like this demands to be taken care of. I mean it doesn't look beautiful if you make a mess does it?...

Then this wake up call came... Read here that reality is very different.

Inconsistency of casting instruction

Here's something I've wanted to write about for some time. The inconsistency of casting instruction and many (if any?) instructors don't know it's there... Recently I ran into this video that contains the footages I have been looking for. By the way, I love the setting in Patagonia and the instructor is great.




1) Instructor demonstrating the basic casting stroke
The instructor demonstrates how to make a nice tight loop cast (starting around 5:30). His casting stroke is smooth, compact (no 'large movements') & elegant. Look at his casting style: (almost) vertical casting stroke (aka San Fransisco's Golden Gate casting club style) using his shoulder and (mainly) lower arm, all moving in one plane. Similar to how you move your arms when you run. This casting movement (a '2D' movement') is quite easy to get it, especially for beginners.

2) Inconsistency of instruction
Later on, while helping a student he holds the student's hand and shows the casting movement (around 8:55). The instructor's casting movement is the same vertical casting style while the student is 'forced' into the side arm (like when you raise your arms after 'hands up!') casting stroke with his lower and upper arm to the side in a 90 degree position making casting movement very awkward. This position also puts lots of stress on the shoulder.

This side arm (using predominately your elbow) casting movement is a much more complex '3D' movement as it involves your elbow, upper arm and a bit of your shoulder joints (3 joints!) all moving in different directions. This is quite confusing for beginner. Try casting using this movement with your non casting arm and you know what I mean 😀.

I know it's not easy to stand next to each other and positioning both arms symmetrically. However if you want to teach the student the casting stroke you promote, the movement of the instructor needs to position the student in the casting 'path' you want to instruct, otherwise you're confusing the student (and the student is probably not even aware that he is confused!). This inconsistency will result in the student learning the 'wrong' casting stroke. See the student's casting style that he is trying to master around 8:40, look at the student in the pink sweater next to him too, same casting movement.

Ps.
Casting styles is a whole different subject on its own. Different casting styles can be used depending on the type of fishing (for instance with weighted flies), conditions (wind) and/or target (under a branch). One style isn't better than the other, just be aware that when teaching students one needs to be consistent and not mix casting styles in the instruction.

Here's an article about different casting styles.

When Harry met Gordon

Harry Darbee meets Quill Gordon

Chasing the Taper

The documentary Chasing the Taper (almost 1.30 hour long) is finally out on Vimeo as 'Video-on-demand'. I watched a part yesterday evening. I stopped after Per Brandin broke a new built rod in half because it did not have the action he liked... 😵

Love the pace of the documentary and in-depth of several of the highest regarded bamboo rod makers' thoughts about their passion. The DVD of this great documentary can also be be ordered here.

Update 22 Jan 2023:

The Q&A with Per Brandin is up!

Update 14 Jan 2023:

I watched this documentary again this evening. This documentary is like a time capsule. It is a must watch for anyone interested in the history of bamboo fly rod making!

I also watched it again because I wanted to see and hear again what Per Brandin said about his work as a bamboo rod maker. I recently got in touch with Per. More to come in the future about my contact with Per.

Callibaetis Flymph

Love the speckled look of the Coq de Leon hen hackle!

A variation with a Dark barred ginger hen hackle

Dark barred ginger tail & Coq de Leon hackle

Here's a nice article about V.S. 'Pete' Hidy, together with James Leisenring two most influential fishermen on tying & fishing with the Flymph.

Firehole Number One

This was the last fly of yesterday evening.
Found this fly in Mike Valla's book 'Tying the Founding Flies'. What a neat looking Catskill dry fly!

Vintage Mustad 94842 size 12
Teal wings
Fox fur body
Hackle is mix of Hebert Miner Grizzly and Collins black cape
Veevus 16/0 grey thread

Quill Adams

Vintage Mustad 94842 size 12

Grizzly hackle tip wings

Stripped peacock quill body

Hackle is mix of Hebert Miner Cree and Collins brown cape

Veevus 16/0 grey thread

Update:
The Whitcraft, an Adams with a Macaw quill body developed by Don Martinez in the 1940's, was also called Quill Adams (Founding Flies by Mike Valla, page 258).
So guess that means this fly is merely a Quilled Adams 😁

Threads

Charlie Craven's article on tying threads is a great reference on what thread is best for which application.

Check it out here

Dark Hendrickson

April Vokey shows how to tie a tube fly

April Vokey shows how to tie a tube fly. I really like the easy to understand steps April shows here.

Also check out April's new website Anchored Outdoors, a spin-off of her Anchored podcasts.

The Pink Lady

The ingredients:

Vintage Mustad 94842 size 12
Double slip mallard wings
Pink floss body
Silver tinsel
Hebert Miner Medium Ginger cape
Veevus 16/0 tan thread

March Brown

Tied another Catskill dry fly this evening, the March Brown.
I used a vintage Mustad 94842 hook this time. The hook shank is maybe slightly on the shorter side compared to the Mustad 94840 but I really like the up eye of the 94842.

Hook: Mustad 94842, size 12

Thread: Veevus 16/0, color tan
Wings: Wooduck flank feathers

Body:  Tan colored fox dubbing

Hackle: Hebert Miner grizzly & Collins brown mixed

Update 15 Jan 2022:

The Catskill Fly Tyers Guild made a video about the history of the guild. All the sudden I recognised my March Brown (around 12:57)!

Adams (Catskill style) again

The ingredients:

Vintage Mustad 94842 size 12
Vintage Harry Darbee grizzly hen hackle tips for the wings
Hebert Miner Cree cape
Veevus 16/0 gray thread
(vintage) Upstream medium gray superfine dubbing

State of modern Fly fishing

Many of the issues I see happening in fly fishing are described here.
Time to look in the mirror...

I posted a similar post back in 2015.

Silver Doctor

A fine full dressed salmon fly is a work of art, but is also looked at with fear.
Here's a tutorial how to tie a Silver Doctor that takes it as easy as it can get.

Trout Grass - The Revival Edition

I reviewed the DVD Trout Grass back in 2005. It has become the documentary about the journey Tonkin bamboo making from their source in China to bamboo rod makers all over the world. The video was co-produced by the late bamboo trader Andy Royer and the video included footages of musician Hoagy Carmichael, writer Thomas McGuane and rod maker Glenn Brackett.

The original supply of DVDs sold out and the master video tape was lost with the floods caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. This summer Joshua Moro, co-producer of Trout Grass, started a Kickstarter campaign to revive the lost video using modern technology to upgrade the video quality from a digital Betamax tape and to preserve the video for the future.

As a backer of this campaign I got to watch the final digital version of the video today. The video quality is indeed an upgrade from the original DVD quality (480p), but obviously one can't expect pin sharp HD (1080p or higher) quality from a source that dates pre-blu ray era.

Update August 12, 2020:

The digital remastering certainly results in a much crisper image. The option to watch the documentary with commentary track with David James Duncan and Glenn Brackett is amazing. This is new. For this this DVD is worth the price. I’ll have to watch it with this track in its whole. Bonus scenes: Deleted and unused scenes are a nice addition too.

A nice gesture is seeing the names of the backers at the end credits of the revived video. $20 for this new edition is worth it in my opinion, even if you got the original DVD. For bamboo fans it’s a must buy. Get it before it sells out!

For more info and to buy the DVD go to the website of Trout Grass.

Tying bass flies with Jimmy Nix

One of the big influencers (this word wasn't around back then yet...) that triggered my interest in tying with deer hair is Jimmy Nix. Jimmy Nix is a well known fly fisherman and tier of largemouth bass and saltwater species. During the early 1990's I watched his VHS video called 'Tying Bass Flies with Jimmy Nix' endlessly.

Not sure if this video is legally on Youtube?

Messinger's 2019 holiday greetings

Thanks Joe!

Read here for more about my friendship with Joe Messinger Jr.

Q&A with George Minculete

My Q&A's started as an idea to interview some of the memorable people I've met in fly fishing, both online as well as offline. Rather than a true interview I decided to keep it simple by asking a few Q&A's.

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Our next guest for the 2nd Q&A is the Romanian rod builder George Minculete of Tight Loop fly rods. I started exchanging emails with George late 2012 after I saw his website. I was especially impressed by George's ability to build very clean looking rods (color scheme, tight wrappings of the guides and epoxy work on the guide wraps). But what really struck me right away was his very well proportioned half wells aka Western grips. Yeah, I'm a 'grip junkie' as you know by now... 😀

My first rod built by George is still my number one 9ft #4 rod of all time on a new-old-stock G. Loomis IMX blank I owned. Fast forward almost 10 years and now I own several rods built by George and these are probably not the last.

So let's start with the Q&A!

1) Q: To how many countries have you shipped your rods to? What's the most unexpected destination?

"I can't say I've ever counted the countries I have shipped rods to, but I can say most of them went across Europe and the US, a few to Canada and a couple to Russia and Australia. The most unexpected destination was Taiwan, which was actually the only country in far Asia I've shipped a rod to. I would love to see some of my rods in Japan in the near future."

2) Q: Do you have any past or present rod builder(s) you got/get inspired?

"I have been most inspired by master rodmakers like Tom Morgan, Dave Lewis and Kerry Burkheimer. I also get inspiration from contemporary builders like Matt Leiderman, Mike McFarland and friends like Christian Hörgren, Callum, Chris, Nico, Shane and others."

3) Q: Custom built rods have always been a very small niche market. Do you see an increase of customs built rods? And if so what are the reasons?

"Can't say they represent a very small niche nowadays. There seems to be an emergence of custom rod builders especially with fiberglass rods, so there must be increased interest in the market.

I like to think people get more educated over the internet these days, especially when they see the fine examples of beautiful fly rods coming out from small, artisan rod shops. I think this contributes to more and more people wanting to own a great quality handcrafted fly rod at some point, that is truly what they are looking for."

4) Q: What kind of rods are the most requested and what are your favourite type of rods to build?

"I'm a trout fisherman and I love to build trout rods, so these are most requested, but occasionally I challenge myself on building bigger rods, like double handers or some heavier weight glass rods."

5) Q: Do you have memorable builds and if so name two?

"Oh I have many memorable builds. To name two of them...let me see....I can think of personal and first Steffen Brothers fiberglass rod I built many years ago, it was a 7'3" 2/3wt. 2pc. that I regrettably sold. It was my first contact with the more modern fiberglass world. Then, on the graphite side, I can think of a Sage TXL ultralight that I so much enjoy using anywhere on my home waters."

6) Q: I've seen degradation of quality (materials used and finish) of rods by high end rod manufacturers the past 15 years or so. Is this due to higher prices of rod building materials (cork, quality reel seats, etc.) or do fly fishermen these days see their fly rods more like a commodity and care less about build quality?

"Great quality cork seems to become more difficult to find, and at large scale production I can imagine is even harder to produce quality cork handles and finishes.

I believe some of the major rod manufacturers are still trying to produce good quality fly rods. We live in the golden age or fly rods, so we have to be thankful of all the R&D the big rod companies do, for new composite materials and new rod designs, that we have more access to today. On the other side, competition can be a good and a bad thing sometimes. Consumerism is a bad thing that unfortunately reached flyfishing too, therefore we've seen high end rods that are horribly finished and ugly looking."

7) Q: What kind of fishing or destination are in your top three bucket list?

"I think Mongolia is one big dream of mine to fish, then probably the Yellowstone-Glacier parks in western US and lastly New Zealand."

8) Q: Are you going to do own propriety designed blanks in the future?

"I'm not sure. With all the great blank offerings that are available to custom rod builders today, glass or graphite, it's hard to say. I might want to try making some special ultralight-light line rods, with spigot ferrules and fine tips and deep loading actions at some point. For now, I'm mainly focused of building the best blanks out there and build them to perfection."

Thank you George!

My other Q&A's:
1) Q&A with Chris Barclay
2) Q&A with George Minculete

3) Q&A with Edoardo Scapin

4) Q&A with Hoagy Carmichael

5) Q&A with Jorge Trucco

6) Q&A with Per Brandin

7) Q&A with Jack Dennis

8) Q&A with Charles Jardine

9) Q&A with Christopher Rownes

10) Q&A with Leon Hanson

11) Q&A with Joe Messinger Jr.

12) Q&A with Mike Valla

13) Q&A with Larry Kenney