Barry,
That's quite true. You should always select the hackle to fit the fly. It's the tips that do the magic - whether it's a soft hackle or a dry fly hackle.
A few patterns call for a clipped hackle, but that's to obtain the look that's provided by the clipped off hackle barbs.
Martin
J,
I wrote the review, and as I write this I sit with my back turned to a bookshelf with many hundred books on fly-fishing and fly-tying, and compared to most of them this book holds a very high standard.
Coming from a scientific background I know that demands on research can be high and that a given article, paper or book must have "scholastic rigour" and of course be free of errors.
Luckily the world of fly-fishing and fly-tying does not require quite the same standard. A book shouldn't contain errors, but apart from that I'm personally interested in great writing, good presentation, personal views and a writer's ability to entertain, enthuse and educate me.
This book delivers.
My previous knowledge of soft hackles comes from other books and articles, and the few facts I have present do not collide with anything I read in this book. People with more profound knowledge (yourself maybe?) might see errors, missing facts, misleading content and bad research, but gullible as I am, I was impressed and both learned something and was well entertained underway, and no matter what, the amount of work put into this book is enough to impress me, and I'm sure many others would agree. I have seen a few other reviews online, and most seem to be in line with mine.
The book gave me an urge to start tying soft hackles and left me with a very good impression. I stand by my rating.
Martin
I have read that one should never clip hackle if it is too long. Trimmed barbels will not float as well -- will break the surface tension of the water. Only use the correct length hackle. Is this true??
This review is far too enthusiastic. Although the book is well presented the it nowhere near deserves Global Class rating that your reviewer suggests nor is it "a modern landmark in the history of the soft hackles". It gives an overall impression of serious research but this is misleading. The historical section lacks scholastic rigour and contains far too many errors and assumptions.
Knut,
Those two in the picture is the closest you will come to Skull Head Sunrays on this site. We're a magazine. We sell nothing. We buy nothing.
But Jon who supplied the image sells them. Check his site for more info.
Martin
Nice Job there Bill........... Looks like it would be a great Fall pattern for some big ole' brownies.
Albert,
Click on the image to go to the article and follow the link to Squizzer's web site and ask them. I can't think of anybody better to ask!
Martin
Does anyone out there know where one can purchase the pre-fabricated caddis pupa bodies used by Shane Stalcup in his video of tying a caddis pupa? I would like to try them, but don't know where to find them.
Thanks.
absolutely beautiful work. where can I find materal to dress flies with the original materials
I got to know Jim personally in the early 60's. He started me fly tying streamers in 1956 on an old Thompson vise and a pair of shears I had along with a hackle pliers made out of a coat hanger. All thumbs I was. Living in Maine and fishing was a way of life for a lot of us younger boys. Even a few weeks before his passing Jim and I would chat about when he first started tying. What a great gentleman, fly tier, husband, father and a great friend to all he meant along this great man's wonderful journey of life. Rest in peace my friend...you have touched so many lives with your gift and greatness.
"The Grizz"
Graham,
No... we can't send anything. We're not a shop.
You need shrink tube, a lighter and a pair of scissors. Look on eBay or Amazon or this UK dealer or your local electronics dealer for the tube - which should be just slightly thicker than your fly line - and in your supermarket for the lighter and the scissors.
That's the best we can do.
Martin
is there anyway you could send me the tools and shrink rap to make my own loops please
hello , my name is Eric Harkless and i have a new reel invention and i don't know where to start. i do know i need to get a patent and from what i hear from people is that patents cost a lot of money. I don't have any but i know that my reel will make billions. do you have any advice you can spare or are you interested in making it for me for 5% of the patent? I have to try every avenue that comes to me because i believe in this product more than i believe in myself. sad to say but true. Any help of direction you can give me will be appreciated on many levels.
I admire your passion and integrity exemplified by the thoroughness and fairness in this useful/well written article. Thank you
Jari,
I'm sorry about placing Fiskars in Sweden. I know it's Finnish and knew it when I wrote the article. It must have been a Freudian slip... It's been corrected.
Martin
Very Nice Article!
Not to be overlooked are medical/scientific supply firms that carry an extensive range of scissors from very expensive titanium edged scissors made by firms such as Biomedical Research Instruments to very reasonably priced knock-off surgical scissors from India, Pakistan and China
I have been researching fishing methods for Denmark for a few weeks now and this has completely blown me away! I am a keen fisherman but have never seen or heard of this technique. I am unable to afford a fly fishing set up at the moment and I go to East Jutland on holiday in a weeks time and very happy now that I will be able to try this. Thank you for sharing and I HOPE I can catch my first sea trout this way.
I bought a pair of the Solingen curved double serated scissors at whitetail a couple of years ago, and I can tell you;
those are very good, I do a lot of deerhair tying and these are truly great, a must have for shaping Dahlberg diver heads for example.
This is a great Youtube you have done I just started tieing flyies and just love doing diferent color variations. I have been useing the colored beads for eys and they work great. I do really like your site its great.
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