More tying...... Girdle Bug.

A few guys on Tar Heel Fly Fishng Forum have started an online fly tying contest.  Well, not a contest so much as a fly is picked and everyone sees what they can produce.  Everyone then comments on the flies and gives attaboys and dobetters.  This week was Girdle Bugs, BWO nymph, or attractor nymphs.  I picked Girdle Bug because it looked like something I could tie easily.

I screwed up initially by misunderstanding the posting deadline.  I thought I had all week and I only had a day.  So naturally I slept all day and failed to get the supplies I needed to tie this bug the right way.  I had no other alternative but to do the "guy thing" and half-ass slap something together.  I rummaged through my tying bag and stole a bungee cord then set to work creating a fly that looked like it came straight off the short bus.   This monster would probably scare more fish than it would ever hope to catch.  In fact I would probably have to hope that it would hit a fish squarely on the head rendering it unconscious and then magically foul hooking it.  That is no way to fish!

So I decided to make up for my lack of planning and went off in search of proper tying materials.  A few dollars later I was ready to take a second crack at the Girdle Bug.  I think the second try was much better and a whole lot more fish-able.  I am still in need of a lot of practice so that my flies look a lot neater.  I also need to purchase some more supplies so that I can branch out a little and tie more difficult flies.  I think I am going to try out some nymph patterns and try to fill out my fly box. 

Practice makes perfect.

If at first you don't succeed........

I think I shamed myself into doing some of the fly fishing off season tasks that I said I would do.  I had an easy day at medic duty last night which afforded me the downtime I needed to read my hatches book and try out my vise.  It is a nice job sometimes..... sometimes.

Over the years I have accumulated an assortment of feathers, hooks, and threads that basically amount to a big bag of crap.  I rummaged through my big bag of crap and pulled out Grizzly Hackle, Peacock Herl, and a couple of hooks.  I figured I would tackle the Griffith's Gnat as an easy start.   It looked simple and easy.... so I thought.  I think my peacock was a little old because I broke several strands of herl off trying to wrap them.  So much for tying with old crap. 

After a few minutes of cursing and replaying the tutorial on my tiny Blackberry screen I did manage to tie the materials onto the hook shank and get the herl rope twisted into place.  I was very satisfied with my choice of the Renzetti Traveler 2000 vise as it's rotary action made winding the herl a snap.  I continued onto the hackle and produced a bug that looked good but had hackles that were way too long, extending far beyond the hook gap.  I stripped that fly down and tied it over selecting what I thought was a smaller hackle.  I finally produced a reasonable facsimile of a Gnat.  Wow!  That Matarelli whip finisher nearly kicked my ass!

I had produced a decent looking fly and was even able to duplicate it a second time quicker than the first one.  All in all I tied two usable flies in..... THREE HOURS!  I saved four dollars in the process and wasted materials to tie four flies.  I hope this gets easier as I practice more.  Now onto bigger and more complex flies.   After a lot of practice.

I marveled at my accomplishment and compared it to the commercial ones in my fly box.  "Hey, I'd eat that!"

Discipline, or a lack there of.

Fishing is a... discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish. ~Herbert Hoover

With all this winter weather you begin to think that you will never see a dry day.  Every planned outing for some needed fishing has been thwarted by snow, ice, and high water.  I steady myself with the thoughts that patience now will yield dividends later in the Spring and Summer months.  Dividends of adequate water levels and abundant hatches of insects for our trout friends to snack on.

So what does this all have to do with discipline?  Louis Pasteur said that "Fortune favors the prepared mind."  In my winter downtime I had planned on hours of reading and fly tying practice to prepare for the coming battles of the Spring.  I have been reading, or trying to read, a book by Dave Hughes called "A Handbook of Hatches" which educates on what trout eat and the flies that imitate them.  It seems like a great book, if I could just make myself sit down and read it.  I thought my downtime at work would be a good time to do it but the idiot box has a strong draw.  Either that or I have adult onset ADD, my money is on ADD.  I have wanted to start tying some flies but I can't seem to make myself sit down and start the process.  The jobs associated with tying, cleaning out my guest bedroom and organizing a spot to tie in, have put me off to the whole process.  LAZY!  The possible cost to me in supplies and the inevitable sparring match with the wife for funds also weigh heavily on my mind.  She is very good to me but I feel like I ask for too much when times are too thin.

Eventually, I will make time to do what I need to do.  The guest room will get organized.  The book will get read.  And I will go fishing again.  It all takes discipline to make yourself do it all!  I need to get me some of that discipline stuff, do they sell it online?