No magnifying glass; just a pair of 3.00 diopter cheap reading glasses. By comparison, my actual "reading" glasses are 2.25 diopter.

EP

Nice! A much classier replacement for what I've been using . . . recycled dentist's tools!

But then . . . I've been getting the cast off dentist tools for free.
EP

I've used a Regal for over 30 years. I had a dalliance with a Renzetti Traveler for a few years during that period and rarely used the rotary feature and now rarely use the vise. IMO, there is nothing that beats the Regal for simplicity and for holding a hook securely until you want the hook release...

I wouldn't go anywhere in the Rockies without some 14 and 16 softhackles with woodduck fiber tails, pheasant tail body with copper wire rib, and a softhackle of quail or grouse coverts (IOW plain and simple). Hope I gotcha in time.

EP

A favorite topic . . . When I fished the Delaware drainage, the magic number for both hatching and feeding was 50 degrees. While I occasionally observed Baetis hatches on the Willowemoc at lower water temperatures, nothing would ever rise to the hatched duns. I once sat on a stretch of the W. Branch...

Thanks, Jim, for the reaffirmation of the Dette/Darbee/Miner/Hebert/Whiting lineage. I acquired one of Andy Miner's pale watery dun rooster necks in the mid-70s when I was living in Minnesota, and I didn't think I would ever be able to replicate the color. Since the Hebert/Miner necks became availab...

I agree Mark. The plastic rods that I still fish occasionally are all what passes for "moderate" action today -- not easy to find. I classify rods as either "casting" rods or "fishing" rods. I like the "fishing" rods. They have to be able to protect a 6X tippe...

Excellent summary Mark . . . simply because I agree with you on just about all points. :-) Differences? I prefer a knotless tapered leader terminating in an overly (by most people's judgments) long tippet of close to 4 feet, making a 12 to 13 foot leader over all. Knotless because I am usually fishi...

I will give your recipe a workout in a few weeks.

Don't be afraid to tie them nice and full. The lead flattens the body, so you can make the peacock pretty thick. Let me know how they work.

Eric

If I may ask, why the peacock for such a dark brown insect? Any reason other than peacock herl just works? Nope -- other than the Leadwing Coachman being, in the eyes of many, the prototype Isonychia imitation. I simply started using it in this particular context because peacock herl nymphs worked ...