Size 18 Claret Softie

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Beautiful fly and picture. Makes me want to try some flexi-floss. That body looks too smooth to be real and the ribbing is perfectly spaced.

REE

[willowhead]

i take it your quite happy with the vise? C&F makes beautiful things. Like to try one of those sometime. Can you tell me what's the largest hook it'll HOLD!? Tkx., .....obviously there's no need for me to tell you this.....but i'm gonna do it anyway.....you got skills Bro!

[kanutripr]

Very VERY nice.

I'm a sucker for claret. That abdomen is very nicely done. Of course so is the rest of it.



Vicki

[Smuggler]

Nothing wrong with this fly. Exceptional.

[Old Hat]

Wonderful tie Karsten. Good to see you here.

Carl

[fly_fischa]

Thanks for all your kind comments...

Roadkill - Unfortunately things are getting a little breezy and cold in central London right now. There isn't anywhere close that I can give the little fella swim, something I plan to remedy in the near future

Hey Carl, good to hear from you my friend, I haven't seen you around for a while. I hope you're keeping well

Willowhead - The C&F marco polo kit is over engineered as you would expect. It was given to me as a gift before I set off for the UK for 6+months. Sorry for all the additional info, I thought you or maybe some of the other members might be interested, if thinking about shelling out for one
To answer your question the jaws supposedly hold hooks from 32# through to 3/0# but I can't speak from experience.

My thoughts on the vise:
Expensive, if you buy one yourself but worth it if you can afford it in my opinion. I wouldn't use the vise as my long term one but gladly use it when travelling or for emergencies. I would however use all of the tools with my regular vise as they are awesome tools and well organised in a compact kit.

Incredibly Compact yet somehow manages to contain more tools than the average tyer will need.

Tools are beautifully layed out and function equally well when in use.
Most of the tools are simply brilliant, although the half hitch tool is well made it seems a bit redundant seeing there is a whip finisher in the kit (I guess it gives you a choice). The whip finisher took a little adjusting to get used to as the needle like pointy ends can fray the thread if not used properly. I was so used to my matarelli that I was disappointed with the C&F at first. After cussing and carrying on I decided to use my head, worked out how to use the tool and haven't looked back since (I never said I was bright ).

The vise is simple in design yet perfectly functional for most tying needs
In my opinion the sweet spot for the jaws is 22#-4#'s which suits me perfectly. I don't think it would be my tool of choice for large saltwater flies or spinning deer hair on big flies like bass bugs. Although you could do the latter I don't think it would be an enjoyable exercise.
The magnetised jaws are well designed and the hook holding adjustment via 2X screw wheels fast and efficient. The jaws do a very good job of holding your hook in place.
The vise head does rotate so you can look and turn but the head has a fixed angle so cannot be used for rotary tying.
The tension on the head turning can't be adjusted and seems to be coming from a sealed bushing of some sort. I was a bit worried/unhappy about this, wrote to C&F to find out more and never heard back. I've gotten used to it and hope that it doesn't wear out at some point as there is no adjustment
If you grew up tying on a standard angle vise like most people, the Marco Polo will feel comfortable to you. You need to support the vise with your non tying hand by resting it on the vise head, something I'm used to anyway. The vise pedestal/stand is well made and it stands firm but the whole unit is a bit light which becomes an issue when you exert torque around the fly, hence the use of the non tying hand for stabilising.

If you have any questions on the Marco Polo kit I'll be happy to help if I can.

[tie2fish]

I'm a little late getting in on this thread, and essentially all the superlatives have already been applied. So, just know that I agree with all of them; this is an elegant way to "return" to the forum.

[willowhead]

Thank you VERY much for going beyond.....you've answered every question i had very completely. i really appreciate it. From your review, seems it's not for me. It's so weird, i have 15/16 vises or whatever it is.....and the best one all-around, is a $50 vise. HOLDS hooks from 32 to 20/0.........is true rotary, has tons of hand room, and swings up and down on an ajustable rocking arm.....go figure.

[Kelly L.]

I really like this fly. I love the color, taper, and use of hackle. Very nice in my opinion!

[fly_fischa]

Hi Kelly L. -
Thanks for all your kind comments on my recent submissions. I'm relatively new to tying soft hackles but having been tying for some time. This is the right place to pull up a chair and ask away to learn how to tie soft hackles, I guess you already know that. Everything I've learnt regarding this style of fly I owe to the generous members of this forum and a handful of members on another forum. Here are few links showing where I started out, I thought you might be interested, in any case it would be cool to see some of your ties in the future...

Karsten

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=47348

http://flymphforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=727