FLYMPH FORUM

Simple fishin' fly........one of 20 something Pike fishin' flies i sent a friend in Sweden..........she took the pic.

This fly is on an Alex Hayes hook......i've known Alex for bout 5 years. He's a young kid who lives in Michigan. i use to send him hooks a lot.....fairly often and to the tune of bout 5000 hooks over a 2/3 yr. period of time. Finally i guess he got sick of hearin' me bitch bout how hard it was to find hooks like i wanted............so one day a package comes in the mail, and to my total surprise out come the coolest hooks you'll ever see. SERIOUSLY LONG shanks.....up to 9/10 inches and huge capes.....maybe 20/0 sometimes and always "different"..........no two exactly the same..........PURRfect. So i made him a deal.....i send him anywhere from 10 to 20 or more hooks for every one he sends me............no problem. i've got thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hooks. My wife and i have free hook deals with Gamakatsu and Daiichi and i've been collecting for well over 20 yrs anyway. Not to mention all the freebie hooks we get at shows in the "Goddie-Bags." So it works out perfect for both of us, and Alex doesn't care what type hooks i send him...........if it's a hook, he can use it. So i send him some of EVERYTHING.....again and again and again and again and......................... Btw, Alex is a phenominal tyer in his own right. Definately the future of the art.
This was the first fly i ever tyed on one of his hooks. Normally i paint the hooks before getting started. This one has the antique Violin string gut eye.
i recently found another (very different), pic of this fly, so i've added it.....it's the first pic.

Anything's possible...........

all that crazy Spey lookin' hackle (above/below/and all-around), is the tail feather fibers from a Blue Eared Pheasent.
the collar has two feathers from other Eared Pheasents.....

another simple fly..... i love palmered flies.....

This is on a Jens Pilgaard ( http://www.flytying.dk ), hook.....there simply is no end to where you can take a soft hackle. Glorify it all you will.....but in the end, it's still a soft hackle. Like Travolta said in the movie, "Aint It Cool?"
Btw.....the bead in this dressing is made of clay. And the collar is from a fantastic Guinea skin i got in England while doing this show in '09. http://www.thespringflyfishingshow.com

Hey Mark,

How are you and the Missus? You going to be in Albany, OR this spring? Nice ties by the way.

REE

well, i gotta get some shut-eye.....at 6 a.m. i'm off to Kennedy to put wife on a plane for Japan and then i've got a couple weeks of SERIOUS hangin' out to do in the Jazz clubs of N.Y.C.
i'll dump some more pics after i recouporate.............

Hi REE.....please say hi to Vicky for us. i doubt we'll be doin' Albany anymore.....or maybe even Ellensburg.....no way to tell for sure right now on either of them............but one thing's for sure. If we keep it up like we've been doin' (28 events in 6 countries this year), we'll be busted soon. We're at the N.Y. house right now. Misa is goin' to Japan in the morning. We still have one more serious trip to Mexico to do this year.....but we've decided that starting next year we really need to cut back to maybe a dozen or less shows/etc. a yr. "Events" doesn't even include all the teaching and meetings of every possible kind with clubs and such. We so damn busy (which is good) we make the one legged man in the ass kickin' contest look like he's takin' a nap! It's all good.....but i've got to finish my book and i can't do that constantly on the road. Plus i miss the hell outta my tyin' room when i aint there. Spent 30 yrs. on the road with musicians and the last 10 with fly fishin'/tyin'.....time to kick back a bit.
if you guys ever wanna do the Sowbug Roundup in Mt. Home, Arkansas.....just lemme know, and your "IN." For 2011 it's March 17th, 18th, & 19th.....invites go out in Nov. If you snooze, you looze. You dig? i've got a show in Danbury, Conn. on Nov. 6th and 7th.....then i'm packing up yet another load of crap to take down to Arkansas from the house here. And the hits just keep commin'. Say hi to Steve when you talk next. Take care and we sure hope you can make it down to the Ozarks one day soon.....me casa, su casa.....later Gator.....Easy, mark.....