EclecticGuy

I’ll be doing a fly tying demonstration at the Evening Sun Fly Shop in Peperrell, MA on Sunday January 10th, 2010 from 10:30 am to 2 pm. Stop by and see how this great pattern is tied and say hello! You also have to check out Charlie’s new video on the Squannacook and Nissitissit Rivers!

Over the last few years I have produced a number of fly fishing related items out of personal interest. Surprisingly, I get a fair number of inquiries to purchase these items – including tenkara flies, several other fly patterns, ice fishing tip-ups, hand-made brass fishing reels, horsehair fishing lines, Walton’s Engines (aka twisting or furling engines), and custom rods – all by … Continue Reading

Last month I posted a recipe on tying the simple tenkara fly that I saw Dr. Ishigaki use at his presentation in the Catskills.

This morning I got an email from CM_Stewart (the fellow who introduced me to tenkara and told me about Dr. Ishigaki’s presentation). Here is what CM_Stewart had to say:

I thought about sending this when I first saw your description of Dr. Ishigaki’s flies, but decided it wasn’t important.

I still think it’s not important, but decided you might want to know. Your instructions for tying one of … Continue Reading

This falls in the “this eclecticguy is crazy” department! Or, maybe not! I’ve been furling fly fishing leaders for a number of years and have known about these twisting engines. Darrel Martin has photos of a reproduction engine and a woodcut of an old engine in his book “The Fly-Fisher’s Craft: The Art and History“. I did a little research and called Darrel to ask about his engine before designing this one. The trickiest part is the gearing. There are 3 smaller gears around a central gear that … Continue Reading

Several weeks ago I made a quick post about the tenkara flies Dr. Ishigaki gave me at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum. I’ve had a couple of requests to follow up with the recipe, so here goes.

Materials

Hook: Tiemco 100 – sizes 16, 14, 12, 10

Thread: any large nylon or polyester thread will do. Dr. Ishigaki uses cheap nylon thread from a discount store. I have been using Danville 3/0 fly tying thread.

Hackle: India Hen, Partridge, or Pheasant soft hackle

Tying

Notice that I did not specify colors for the thread and hackle. That’s because … Continue Reading

In my previous post, I told about my trip last weekend to the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum to see Dr. Ishigaki present and demonstrate tenkara. It was a great experience. After the demo, I presented Dr. Ishigaki with a replica of an 18th century fly I tied – complete with a horsehair snell. He was delighted and in return, gave me 2 of his tenkara flies – right out of his personal fly box! It turns out that he only fishes one pattern, in multiple colors, usually size 12. Tenkara is more “presentation” than … Continue Reading

I got a bit of time to fish my favorite stretch of the Squanacook today. It was a bright sunny day (65°) with a light breeze. I got to my favorite section and there were 2 bait fishermen there – one upstream and one downstream from “my” spot. Their bobbers drifted slowly down stream.

I looked around and noticed little black stoneflies laying eggs on the water. The female hits the water with a splat and skitters across the surface – upstream, downstream, with the wind, against the wind – what ever direction they want. One even landed on my thumb, … Continue Reading

If you are in to fly tying and want to get better, have an excuse to tie more flies, and see some great work from other fly tyers, I highly recommend participating in a fly swap. Check out the Fly Swaps and Contests forum on FlyTyingForum.com to get started. There are other Web sites that host swaps – each has its own set of rules so make sure you read a few posts and any rules and policies the site has.

Basically, here is how a swap works:

• First, … Continue Reading
  

Yesterday I hit the Squannacook River and caught a nice 15″ rainbow on a black Wooly Bugger. Shortly thereafter a hatch of what appeared to be March Browns kicked up. I heard a splash and saw a trout on the opposite bank tucked in under a log sipping flys off the surface. He was very picky about only sipping flys that were actually under the log overhang. I tied on an adams (all I had in drys) and cast. I got him to strike twice but in my enthusiasm, missed … Continue Reading