John, My book is elderly, but it is not ancient! It is a 10th edition, published by Longman's in 1901. My understanding is also that Ronalds hand colored only the 1st (1836) through 4th (1849) editions. My 10th edition was, I believe, the last of the Longman's editions containing hand-colored plates...

John,
Thanks for the heads up. I edited the links in my post also.
Wire? You need a mile or two? How are you fixed for Killer Bug yarn?
Las Vegas? Remember, what happens in Madison stays in Madison.

Phil

Bob, Ronalds' book is a real gem. He made order out of chaos concerning the naming of insects and imitations. Eleven editions were published over ~80 years, which reflects its greatness. Not too long ago, I found an elderly copy of The Fly-Fisher's Entomology that led a sheltered life but was reason...

Bob, Very pretty flies! Alfred Ronalds included a Grannom pattern (which he also termed Granam, Green Tail, and Shell Fly) in his beautiful book The Fly Fisher's Entomology (1836). It's similar to Pritt's pattern: Body: Fur of hare's face left rough, spun on brown silk. A little green floss silk may...

When did Pearsall's switch from spooling silks on wooden spools to plastic spools? Here are a couple of photos of old and new spools of Gossamer No. 6A (Gold, aka. light orange) and No. 19 (Hot Orange)... Gossamer No. 6A old (L) vs. new (R): https://i.imgur.com/2aWVTP1.jpg Gossamer No. 19 old (L) vs...

I've caned quite a few trout over the years, and a great taper is a thing of beauty. For me, it's difficult to decide which is more beautiful ... the trout, the rod, or the setting





Fortunately, it's not a competition.

Those are spectacularly beautiful flies, both in execution and in photography. Just magnificent!

John, It's not the lighting. When color is important, I manually set the white balance with a photography standard right before taking the shots. (See the white balance card below.) Both of these skins were bought at Blue Ribbon Flies. https://i.imgur.com/lfoxEKf.jpg Gambel's Quail vary in color, an...

With a brownish-dun cast to the feathers, I think Gambel's Quail is more handsome than either California Quail or Mountain Quail. Lots of good feathers on the head, neck, and back. https://i.imgur.com/xwiBwX5.jpg https://i.imgur.com/SHYs5St.jpg https://i.imgur.com/pBeBGJw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/N2n...

I don't know if you have wood pigeons on your continent. The well known author and fly tier Geoffrey Bucknall writes that he prefers that bird rather than heron for his Kite's Imperials. For body herl, not hackle. Secondaries. Coverts are fragile stuff, but utilized by some British lake/reservoir f...