Happy 80th Birthday, Grandpa!

This past Saturday was my grandfather's 80th birthday and we celebrated with a bit of a family get-together in Mitchell's Bay, Ontario. Everything went quite smoothly as family get-togethers go and apart from a few logistical snafus, it was a relatively good weekend. Unfortunately, in all the pictures I took I never got one shot of the birthday boy!

We decided to stay the night at the local campground in the tent-trailer. It rained the entire drive down but the day turned out to be not so bad, and by nightfall the weather was simply amazing. I took the kids fishing, although it was more like 2 hours of dad untangling 4 different fishing lines from one another, followed by Drew falling into the water and getting soaked and muddy. I also had a chance to have a few beers and visit with family I hadn't seen in quite awhile, and the kids got to roast marshmallows. I was even able to start a fire with no paper out of the scrap wood from the last tube amp cabinet I brought (thanks again, Boy Scouts).

Everyone else went to bed before midnight (although not to sleep) and I just sat outside in the dark by the dying fire for over an hour. The sky was perfectly clear and full of stars and it was absolutely peaceful. I just wished I'd had a few more pieces of scrap wood so I could have enjoyed it a bit longer. ;)

The Obligatory Flies

So whenever I can snatch a spare 20-30 minutes nowadays I try to sit down and tie a fly. I am getting steadily better but I still struggle with some fundamentals; in particular hackles, and occasionally the whip finish. This is a Blue-Winged Olive I tied the other day:



The first hackle looked great but when I went to tie the whip finish the thread slipped and everything unravelled, including the hackle. Well, rather than start over from scratch I tried to save what was there. It still isn't all that bad, but it did look better...honest!

Tonight I tied my first beaded fly as well:



I don't have any real fly tying beads. This is from my daughter's craft box. It is supposed to be a Peeping Caddis (a sinking nymph) but looks quite a bit different than the picture in the book. The body is supposed to have a gold wire wrapped around it to give more of a ribbed look but I decided to leave that part of it out due to lack of materials. I tried gold tinsel but it did not have the same effect. I still think it will catch a fish though!

A Couple More Flies

I tied a couple more flies this weekend. I had a go at an elk hair caddis:



It turned out alright. I added a bit of a tail to cover up a mistake, and after I took the photo I gave it a bit of a haircut. ;)

My second one turned out to be a completely original creation due to a failed experiment. It has a fairly convincing wing and body, but the head didn't turn out at all how I planned. I think I'll call it a ruby-throated whipper-snapper.



That's what I like about fly tying though. I take a fair amount of artistic license when I tie a fly, and that what makes it so exciting. Will the fish bite it? Maybe I have stumbled across a new killer combination of colours and materials.

That's why I enjoy cooking as well (when I get around to doing it). I like to experiment and see what tastes work and don't work. Sometimes my family might not enjoy that part of it though. ;)

Good Luck, Steorn!

Well, looks like Steorn is having a bit of bad luck.



I wish them the best of luck in solving the issues and I look forward to seeing their demo - whenever it happens. Incidentally, the amount of negativity and sheer rudeness of the comments on the Steorn forum truly astounds me. I just can't believe how idiotic people can be.

I've Been Blogged

Woohoo! My blog has been blogged about! Do I get a prize? Now I've gone and blogged about someone else's blog too! I'm confused... Is this like pointers in C?

Over Unity

So I have been waiting many months for Steorn to announce anything significant about their revolutionary machine. Apparently today they have made available a live demo in a museum in London. You are supposed to be able to view it over the web, but the page doesn't seem to be alive yet. Maybe tomorrow?

Even More Fly Tying

I tied a couple more flys (flies?) over the weekend and tonight. The one I tied on the weekend didn't turn out again since I didn't have the proper materials. I figured I would fake it with some hair from the back of my dad's neck. ;) I call it "The Schweaty Redneck":



So tonight, fed up with never having elk hair or marabou - I went out and bought some and then took another crack at an F Fly. Admittedly it is the easiest one to tie, but it is definitely my best result to date. And my whip finishes are coming along nicely too!



I also went fly fishing on the weekend with my dad and brother. Unfortunately I didn't catch anything worth mentioning (again), but I think it is only a matter of time. I'm getting in lots of practice and I am quite proud of how quickly my casting is progressing (if I do say so myself)!