Sparse Grey Matter

I was sorry to learn of John's passing. When I worked for the fishing tackle division of Shimano, John came to us with the idea of making a fly tying machine. Unfortunately, his idea never went anywhere with our company, or anyone else I guess. Years back, I watched in awe as he tied his unusual fli...

Hi Ted, You're right. I think the word emerger might have evolved from Swisher and Richards classic Selective Trout which was first published in 1971. Off the top of my head, it's the earliest book of its type I can think of, but I could be wrong. My memory ain't that great and that's exactly why I ...

There's no emerger category in this forum so I am posting this question here in hopes it gets a helpful response. An emerger is fished in the surface film so I figure I haven't committed too big a sin if I'm wrong! Anyhow, I've been unsuccessfully searching for an Iso emerger pattern with an olive b...

I just read your post and imagine this is too late to be of help. Anyhow, I think the picture you are referring to is mine, and it illustrated a story I did for Trout magazine many years ago at the request of then-editor Tom Pero on the urban side of trout fishing. It's a 35mm slide and is buried so...

Fisher made nice blanks and they were used by Wisconsin maker Jon Apple to build his custom fly rods. His rods were light as a feather and to me the actions resembled those of bamboo rods. I have two Apple rods and one I built from a Fisher blank myself. It is a 9' 5-weight. It has a pleasant-feelin...

Thanks for all the feedback. I kind of expected the Edison location since geographically it the closest similar venue I knew of. However, I wasn't ruling out the possibility of them taking over some mega hotel in the region. I used to work a booth at the Edison show but haven't done so for many year...

A friend recently told me he heard that the building where the Somerset Fly Fishing Show has been held was sold and will be converted into a factory. He heard beginning with the 2018 show, the location for the show will be changed. Anyone know if this is true, and if so, what the new location will b...

I started fishing the Catskills in 1969. Back then we didn't have the communications network we have today and knowledge had to be obtained by exploring on your own and talking with other anglers. The maps, books, CDs and Internet we now have makes it possible for newbies to learn immediately what i...

Permit me to add my 2-cents. It is to your advantage to ALWAYS purchase feathers and hair that you can personally examine at a brick-and-mortar retailer. Unlike synthetics which have little variation in color and texture, there can be a great variation in materials that come from living birds and an...

Years back I tied and used flies down to #28. In fact, I still have almost an entire 100 count box of Mustads left which I'll never use again. These days I only tie down to size #20 and am satisfied with the number of fish I catch. IMHO, I think presentation is far more important than hook size.