Very nice photos gents. Ray, I especially like the light imprint of the floating spider. John, a couple of thoughts about the lack of underwater movement... Water currents are probably a big part of underwater hackle movement. Good luck working in a fast-flowing river though. That sounds like diffic...

Ray, Datus Proper's What the Trout Said is my all-time favorite fly tying book, even though it contains not a single fly pattern recipe. I couldn't find the term 'jingler' in Proper's book, but was your fly inspired by his Bent-Hackle Fly? If so, he suggests that the stiffer rooster hackle behind th...

A totally beautiful fly! What (or who) is the origin of the term "jingler"?
--Phil

An Iron Blue is one of my go-to flies when BWOs are on the wing, and I have a couple of questions about crimson vs. claret vs. maroon Pearsall's silk. No.15-Maroon was renamed at some point to No.15-Dark Claret. And, the color changed from a slightly reddish brown to a more strongly reddish brown (b...

This is the actual clamp that was given to me... Dana, Is that artery clamp serrated right to the tip? I carry a similar device on a zinger on my fishing vest to grab flies from the fly box onstream when changing flies. It holds the fly securely while I fuss with the leader, old fly, etc. getting r...

Those herl-headed wingless wets are a bear to tie neatly. Well done. --Phil

The esteemed Mr. Bearbutt and I recently visited Dave Roberts at the Feather Emporium or, as I think of it, the Disneyland of feathers. I truly arrived with the intention of buying but one and only one item, a grizzly dyed yellow rooster cape for tying green drakes. As always seems to happen though,...

A little peek behind the curtains at Dave Roberts' remarkable Feather Emporium... Natural coachman brown: https://i.imgur.com/VB05YoA.jpg Got cree? https://i.imgur.com/EyFJxK5.jpg Signed by Tom Whiting: https://i.imgur.com/x9GxQQL.jpg Blue collar cree: https://i.imgur.com/5TRj4rY.jpg The source of L...

It's comforting to know that I'm not the only tortured soul who finds tying materials --- especially new, interesting, or rare ones --- to be irresistible temptations. I need a 12-step recovery program but, as best I can judge, steps 1 through 11 involve continued acquisition.

John,
What pattern are you tying? A dark dun Whiting 4B hen cape would have worked on flies that large. While you wait for the Collins capes, a mottled feather from a partridge's back ties a right handsome green drake emerging nymph. --Phil