The endless hours of making an illustration

Illustrations of wildlife looks so amazing but what is even more amazing is the time that needs to be put into making it.

History of trout in Patagonia

Patagonia as we know wasn't always a fly fisherman's paradise. Just like New Zealand, Patagonia had no native trout or salmon so they are all imported by man. The idea of pristine rivers with no trout to be found for millions of years is hard to grasp.

It all started early 20th century when the first trout and salmon eggs were brought to the area. Read more about the history of trout in Patagonia here.

Here are two podcasts with great info about fishing in Patagonia I really enjoyed: part 1 and part 2

Lime Royal Humpy

 This lime body Royal Humpy is waiting for the sign to travel to an artist to get a portrait painted.

Recently someone asked about the Humpy: "I've fished Wulff dries, but never a Humpy. What's the advantages?"

Like the Wulff series it floats very well so it can withstand rough water conditions. It basically doesn't imitate anything specific but can go for many different insects (mayfly, caddis, beetle) in various stages. Doug Swisher and Carl Richards wrote in their iconic book 'Fly Fishing Strategy' (1975) that a Humpy can also be fished as an imitation of a mayfly stillborn (emerger).

'Sunrise' Delaware Adams

This is a variation on the Delaware Adams, the 'sunrise' Delaware Adams

Irresistible

"Irresistible", that's what a client of Joe Messinger Sr. said about this fly after his successful fishing trip in Canada while the world was still heavily in war during the early 1940's.

With this fly Joe Messinger Sr. tried to imitate a female drake and has a two tone spun deer hair body, deer hair tail and wings and a claret (wine red) hackle. Especially the claret colored hackle is quite intriguing. 

Joe (Messinger Jr) wrote me "He tied them in other color combinations but the dun with claret hackle was the most popular." Unfortunately Joe never asked his dad why he used the claret colored hackle. The story goes Messinger Sr had this pattern since the late 1930's but didn't have a name for it yet. After it got its name, this fly has been a well known fly all over the world.

This story of the Irresistible was written by his son Joe Messinger Jr. and published in the now defunct magazine American Angler (May/June 1991). Following the story about the Irresistible, Joe also wrote the article about the Bucktail Frog (probably better known as the Messinger Frog) in the July/Aug 1991 issue.

A few years later after reading the article about the bucktail frog I decided to write Joe a letter and we became friends ever since. Now almost 30 year later, Joe sent me an Irresistible. Thank you Joe!

Tim Camissa did an interview with Joe Messinger Jr. about the Irresistible and Joe shows how to tie the fly, the way his dad did.

Light Cahill

Along the years the hackle used for the popular Catskill dry fly called the Light Cahill went more cream coloured but I think it looks nicer with a ginger hackle as it was tied in the early days.

Mike Valla says:

"Jay, for years the hackle shade you selected was the shade used for Light Cahills---in the Catskills. Overtime, the hackle shade changed to almost a cream....so different and not at all what we traditionally used. The late Ralphy Graves and I often discussed and point out this fact."

Light Cahill tied by Elsie Darbee:

Another Light Cahill tied by Elsie Darbee:

Flies tied by Rube Cross, in the middle a Light Cahill

Able Mable

Did some tying together with my little man.

I tied a few Alien Bugs and an Able Mable, Ed van Put's signature fly using the materials Ed recently gave me.

Royal Humpy

 

Jack Dennis' signature fly the Royal Humpy:

"It was 1968 when I decided to marry the Humpy and the Royal Wulff at the urging of then Penn state professor Joe Humphrey and his college fellow wrestler Charlie Ridinour they had difficulty seeing the grey hackle Humpy on the Gros Ventre river in Jackson Hole. That August I tied some up and Joe caught the first fish on the new Royal Humpy and the name came from Charlie who guided for me."

Humpy takes off

Three Humpy's ready to take off to a place far far away 🚀

And a comment by Jack Dennis

Coffin Fly

This Coffin Fly (Eastern green drake spinner) is a serious big bug 😳

Here is one tied by Winnie Dette.

The real thing

Grizzly hackle - a very underrated shade

Martin Joergensen wrote this elaborate article about the grizzly hackle. All you need to know about the grizzly hackle and more.

Hungry GTs

We all probably have seen this footage from the BBC Blue Planet II. It's still impressive and scary at the same time. Now book a trip at Alphonse in the Seychelles at around $15K a week and experience that big GT on a fly 😎

TMG (Teal, macaw & ginger)

This is the TMG (Teal, Macaw & Ginger), a Catskill style dry fly I came up.

Wings: Teal flank feathers bunched & split

Body: Macaw quill

Tail: ginger hackle fibers

Hackle collar: Metz ginger hackle

Hook: vintage Mustad 94840 size 12

Update:
Here is the Improved TMG

Unknown vintage capes

Recently acquired a few no name used vintage capes like this nice ginger cape. Still enough hackles for a size 12 Light Cahill. Love the glassy gingery shine and the straight & stiff barbules!

Update:
Mike Valla sent some interesting info about the hackle color used for the Light Cahill:

"Jay, for years the hackle shade you selected was the shade used for Light Cahills---in the Catskills. Overtime, the hackle shade changed to almost a cream....so different and not at all what we traditionally used. The late Ralphy Graves and I often discussed and point out this fact.

.....

Metz hackle was that shade. It was a big deal when Metz produced "the perfect ginger," as they called it in full page late 1970's Fly Fisherman magazine advertisments----sometime in the 80's a lighter hackle was used."

Thanks Mike!

Also check out page 92 and 153 in Mike's book 'Tying Catskill style Dry Flies' about the hackle color.

Flies tied by Rube Cross, in the middle a Light Cahill

Penn prints

I love history that has a link to fly fishing. These Penn prints are reprints of old 16th, 17th and 18th Century maps of famous cartographers printed in the 1960s. Some interesting insights from then, like California shown as an island. Also the Korean Peninsula (Willem Blaeu, ca. 1642) is shown as an island*.

Then there is this map by the famous Dutch cartographer Nicolaes Visscher of the eastern USA as seen in the 17th century.

A large part of the Eastern coast was a Dutch colony then called Nieuw Nederlandt (New Netherlands) or in Latin ‘Nova Belgica’. Back in those days The Netherlands was called 'Low Lands' which also included parts of current Belgium.

The area now known as the Catskills is particularly interesting. The map also shows the Catskill area as the Dutch settlement ‘t landt van Kats Kill’ which can be translated as ‘Kats Kill county’ with a creek called ‘Kats Kill’. The word ‘kill’ is an old Dutch word voor creek. I think ‘Kats’ refers to a Dutch family name. We also see Long Island (written in Dutch).

If you have some spare cash you can buy an original Nicolaes Visscher map...

* In a later map (1658) by Nicolaes Visscher shows Korea as a peninsula.

Alien Bugs should be outlawed...

Craig Mathews' reaction about the Alien Bug tells the story... 😁

 

How to use bear spray

I've seen a black bear in Montana only once while I was fishing a mountain lake in a float tube. 

Knowing how to use a bear spray when one encounters a bear is maybe common knowledge for inhabitants of the Rocky mountain states, but for a tourist mostly not.

Fishing small streams with dry flies

The Floating Fly is a series of articles in one format about fishing with dry flies by various fishermen (not persé fly fishing authors 😉) under supervision of Christopher Rownes. The number of authors has been growing rapidly.

Check my story on fishing small streams with dry flies here.

André Puyans again

From Mike Valla's book 'The Founding Flies'. We've never corresponded nor met but surely we would have had a great time talking about the Humpy 🤓!

Checkout the rare Humpy tied by Puyans I recently acquired.

March Brown dun floating

Was watching a video by the Jensens and saw this close up of a March Brown dun on the water. Look how the dun floats with the abdomen angled up pushed by its the legs. This really comes close how the classic Catskill dries floats on the water.

Adams with Darbee hen wings

Adams with wings from a vintage Darbee grizzly hen cape giving the wings a more broader & rounder profile. Vintage Mustad 94840 size 12 hook, musk rat dubbing, grizzly Collins & Dark Ginger Sideling Hill Hackle cape.

Podcast with Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto

There have been several podcasts with Cameron, but this one is the most elaborate (and longest) one so far. Cameron started his blog The Fiberglass Manifesto in July 2008, mine in September 2005. I think we are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, running blogs on fly fishing?

Listen to Cameron's story here.