Agreed, I don't see why you even consider apologizing for being OC on a fly fishing website. If we could not do these things to absolutely wretched excess, half the fun would be gone.

If I was not so bamboo obsessed, I would definitely be using fiberglass most of the time. I always liked the slower, but still powerful feel of the stuff. There are some bargains out there in vintage rods to be sure. As with cane, the material lent itself better to lighter lines and shorter lengths ...

I like this one, too, and immediately started thinking of variations. Panfish fly for sure, marabou tail and weight the forward shank to make it dive. All olive with ostrich herl tips for the tail and remaining herl for the thorax as a damselfly nymph. Lots of possibilities.

Hi Jon - My take on what is needed to fish soft hackles is a moderate progressive taper, with a full flexing, easy loading action. You need just enough butt strength to turn the tip over with some authority, because at times, you may be laying out a longer line on a big riffle. You need enough butt ...

Excellent discovery on the new yarn. I have been chasing the killer bug for a couple years, too. I just ordered some of the alpaca, which does look perfect. To date, the spindrift oyster has worked best for me, but really, it's more like Mrs Sawyer's later substitute than the original Chadwick. I ou...

Jon - I did not see your earlier question. There is a groove in my block, only because I tried it first with no fabric. I also found it was too easy for the fur to move around. The fabric gap would have been enough. Since my block is free to spin, the groove and the tension from the hanging bobbin k...

Jon - Nice looking shipment. All the poles appear to be straight, and the nodes appear to be well spaced apart. I can see that a couple of the poles have full length splits. You probably already know this, but if the others do not, you need to do that immediately, otherwise they will develop random ...

A look at the bottom of the block. It helps to have a metal lathe, but the same could be done with a hardwood block. I thought I might need to drill through the bushing and tap it for a set screw, but on my vise the block bumps into the adjustment screw on the jaws, and stays put. The flies were tie...

I always used the dubbing loop method if I wanted a shaggy fur body. No block or anything, just inserting the fur noodle or cut fur into the waxed loop by hand. Since joining this site, I have seen the advantages of the block for mixing furs, etc. I determined to see if I could come up with a vise m...

With apologies for the crummy photo, here's another take on it: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/tsmithwick/frames_zpscfemttzf.jpg Some years ago, I was active in the Southern Jersey TU chapter. We got the idea to frame a couple sets of the flies we raffled off each month. One went to someone ...