From owner-flyfish@LSV.UKY.EDU Sun Mar 17 10:03 PST 1996 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 08:34:46 -0800 From: "Andrew R. Bonamici" Subject: Re: Oregon Council FFF Fly Tying Expo, Eugene Oregon Saturday 16 March. Comments: To: David Alexander Mason Comments: cc: FLYFISH@UKCC.uky.edu, Redside2@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list FLYFISH Hi, Dave et al.: Really sorry to have missed the lunch if it came off as scheduled. I couldn't get to the Fairgrounds until about 1:30 -- looked around for you but needless to say it was pretty hectic. I had a great time watching Deke Myers tie the fly rod spinner bait from his Bass Flies book (can't remember the name off hand). These look like something out of Dr. Seuss -- silicone legs & silver flashabou "spinner" on a post of 15 lb hard Mason leader material. He was a good presenter with lots of one-liners; he'd tie on the orange & white silicone legs & say "We're really matching the hatch now...." or "This is a long way from a #14 Adams, but a bass is a long way from a trout -- lives in different water & has different behavior." etc. I also spent quite a bit of time at Kent Helvie's table watching him tie a Rusty Rat & then a Black King (very traditional looking Spey fly with black wool body, black spey hackle, teal flank facing hackle, bronze mallard wings). Kent is author of "Steelhead Fly Tying Guide" & a fine, fine flytier who really knows the traditions. I was hoping for a trick to counterwind the rib through a spey hackle, but he confirmed that there isn't one, just slow & patient, with bodkin in hand to free up the trapped fibers. He ties the wings on as a pair -- leaves a bit of quill attached during the tying operation & then trims with a razor blade. He keeps the heads really small -- just a couple of 3 or 4 turn whip finishes, & then a careful coating with black lacquer. BTW I met John Snelling (FF@ guy from OSU) at Helvie's table & we visited for a while, which was fun. I only stayed until about 4:00 & then had to return to the yardwork. What a great event, though -- incredible flytying at every turn. At Helvie's table I also visited with a cool older guy from Rhode Island who has been flyfishing in saltwater since the 1950s; retired from the military & gave the impression that he either has a fly shop or deals in materials. He said that he has been trying to get to this show for years & was thrilled with it. He and Helvie were going on about using cold dyes for Arctic Fox; just letting it sit in 4X strong solutions for a couple of weeks. Judging from what Kent had at the table the pink looked best; purple was a bit on the faded side. Reminded me that I need to dye some of my caribou black & gold to make some Unsinkable Bees; & also Stoneflies. Also on the stonefly front -- got a couple small bags of a nice rusty macrame rope (2/$1 at the benefit materials sale table) & plan to crank out some MacSalmon knockoffs in hopes of another Deschutes trip this year. Well, that's all for now, take care, Andrew bonamici@oregon..uoregon.edu