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Hobbies/Crafts


Wingnut

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Just thought I'd pop these pictures on of one of my hobbies. I don't do fly fishing, it's too much like hard work nowadays. I do it more as an art form.

One of the best people I ever watched fly dressing was almost totally blind. It was funny to see him with his eyes half an inch away from his vice as he turned and spun the silk, but he was a perfectionist and used to compete regularly in the tyeing competitions at a national level.

 

The middle fly , (Invicta) takes seven different materials to complete if I remember correctly. But once you have mastered this one, you can tye anything.

 

BlackPeacockSpider.jpg

 

Invicta.jpg

 

 

Alderfly.jpg

 

 

An hour or so is spent in the shed making frames

And the end result makes a nice christmas pressy. In fact I might wrap this one up and send it to meself.

 

FlyFrame2.jpg

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So did he make these or are they your creations? My only question is why are the hooks black because I would have thought the fish might be attracted to something shiny?

 

Caught a nice trout once with no bait while just checking I'd got enough lead shot on the line for the float. Took me right by surprise when the float looked like it had a brick tied to it. It was the quickest fish I ever caught and clearly it was attracted to the glistening new hook.

 

Bill :)

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All me own work Bill. Sometimes a shiny hook works, but I think the trend today is to go for camoflaged hooks. The Black Peacock Spider has a tinsel rib cage to add a bit of flash, I think you can just about see a bit of it near the head in the photo.

 

Black and Red were allways the best colours for catching with. They are called killing colours. I think most other colours and patterns are there to catch the angler. :)

 

The best fly I ever used was something that resembled a pinch of scrumpled up wool, it had caught that many trout. I have no idea why the trout fancied it so much as it didn't imitate or look like anything. Not to me anyway.

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Nice flies Wingy :wink:

 

Sort of takes me back to my childhood days and even beyond into my very late teens.

 

Mmmm... the sight of a skinned squirrel pegged out on a wooden board on the washing line still gives me the jitters:shock:

 

Ok so dad swore blind it was already dead when he found it and mum said not to be so squeamish as she skinned it and staked out to dry in the sun for it's fur.... for dad's flies :? It looked like it had doen a Rambo swing down out of the trees but had not got the angle quite right and SPLAT :lol:

 

Kept dad quiet for months though and I remember many more wonderful and beautifully artistic lures being made. I tried a few times myself but it was harder than it looked.

 

Rather nice if they were not sucessful though as it meant no trout from Appleton res. for tea HURRAH !!

 

Do people still fish there these days ?

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They still fish the res Dizzy, but only for coarse fish. They stopped stocking trout years ago, as the gypo's were beating everybody else to them.

 

Great idea Mary.

Me and all the other lads could do with somebody to clean our mess up after us. And while yer at it, a bit of home cooking wouldn't go amiss. :wink::D

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I used to tie flies when I fished Appleton reservoir in the late 70's/early 80's. I must have made thousands from tiny little nymphs to flashy lures. I collected feather, wool, dog hair, tinsel, in fact anything that could be made into an imitation fly. It became an obsession rather than a hobby. It was very satisfying to catch a trout on a home made fly. Peter, I fished with a chap named Billy Wainwright. He lived off Chester Road, by the swing bridge. His favourite method was to cast a large lure as far as he could then strip it back in at incredible speed. We nicknamed him "The Stripper" and he had this name on the back of his fishing jacket.

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