Hi Ron,

I got the idea from one of the tiers that I met here in Japan. He twists crystal flash with the barbule and it really looks good. Do you have chick marabou? One of the tiers uses it combined with crystal flash.

Otto

Hi Rick, Thank you for clarifying, and I apologize if I came across as accusational. A while ago, I had an experience with a friend who found some feathers on his property and used them to tie some flies. The flies turned out to be absolutely beautiful. However, when he brought them to a fly tying s...

Hi Ron, Thanks for the picture of your fly and yes, it looks like you are getting a similar affect. This weekend, I am back in Tokyo and will take pictures of the feather. I first saw a fly tier at the Tokyo show use a barbule form a feather for ribbing and thought it was a great idea. She also woul...

Hank,

I cannot tell you how many bears I have seen. The northern part of Honshu and all of Hokkaido are full of bears, which did surprise me.

Otto

Hi Ron, Sorry for the delayed response, things got a bit hectic. My guess would be a secondary wing feather by looking at the shape of it. I have included a picture of the feather and later this week will take a better picture to show a close up of the feather. This picture does not do the feather j...

Two more pictures...

Hi all, I thought the rain would finally stop but no such luck. Yesterday evening, I stopped by the fly shop and hung out with the owner and tied flies. It is amazing that we really don't communicate well verbally but we do understand the universal language of fly tying. His English is much better t...

Nice fly! That will definitely hunt well

Mike,

Thanks and yes, my tying is very simple due to lack of materials but I am learning that perhaps I don't need as many materials to tie a nice fly.

Otto

Hi all, The weather is not cooperating and it has done nothing but rain, which has blown out most of the streams. I did find another feather but this time the mystery feather is not a mystery. It is from a Common Myna and this feather is a dark brown with a bit of mottling mixed in. I decided to fol...