Odds and Ends

Yes, it’s that time again. It’s time to highlight a few odds and ends that are happening around RiverKeeper Flies. Because the holiday season is approaching, I decided to randomly select two of my Subscribers and send them a dozen of my custom flies. Look and see if your name is at the bottom of this post. Thanks to all my Subscribers for their support of the website. My only wish is you continue to find useful information here.

The first update is another downloadable book. You know I have a page entitled Links to Old Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Books:

Here is another recent addition to the extensive list of 44 old books you may download for FREE:

• The Fly-Fisher’s Guide by Bainbridge (1816)

Another book I mentioned in a recent post is Brook and River Trouting by Edmonds and Lee (1916). It’s a terrific book which has color pictures showing the materials used to tie popular soft hackle flies used in the North Country region of the UK. For some reason, the book really speaks to me. There happens to be a first edition copy currently on eBay for $825. I missed out on the leather-bound deluxe edition which included real feathers and flies.

Don’t quote me, but I read where there were only 50 copies of the deluxe edition published and distributed by the authors to family members, wealthy friends and associates. This rare edition included hand-colored engraved plates of flies; 39 flies tied by Hardy, with the correct REAL feathers and other dressing materials displayed in sunken compartments on 10 heavy board mounts; and 19 samples of colored tying silk displayed in a sunken compartment on heavy board mount.

This rare deluxe edition sells for several thousand dollars. (If you wanted to know what’s on my Christmas list…)

Other recent changes include:

• You’ll find new fly pattern sheets on RiverKeeper flies. I now have over 200 fly pattern sheets in the Fly Patterns pages. I continue to add fly patterns on a regular basis. A couple new flies include Egan’s Thread Frenchie and Egan’s Tungsten Surveyor. You’ll see more Perdigon nymphs in the near future.
• Follow me on Facebook – @RiverKeeperFlies, Instagram – @riverkeeperflies,  or Twitter – @reelmusic365. 
• I know several people like to print fly pattern sheets from my RiverKeeper Flies website.  For the record, I’m fine with people using my fly pattern sheets. All I ask is to reference my website as the source. To date, the only way to accomplish this was to cut/paste. I recently added a tab you’ll find on the top of each page and post which makes it easy to print, create a PDF file, or email the page to someone else. Look for the following to help you accomplish this:

I’ve been spending time getting ready for the Central Oregon Flyfisher’s Winter Fly Tying. This year will be my 8th leading the club’s tying classes. They are every Tuesday night in January, February, and March. If you are a regular reader, you might remember previous posts where I’ve described these sessions. Read how our classes operate HERE.

I’ve been tying flies too. This year will be the most flies I’ve ever tied in a single year. I’ll let you know the final total at the end of the month. 

Nymphs have been flying off my Renzetti vise. I finished 3 dozen #16 tungsten bead head Rainbow Warrior nymphs.

The last batch of flies were #18 tungsten bead head Higa’s SOS nymphs.

Now would be a good time to order a few of these nymphs before they find their way into the provider box!

It won’t be long and I’ll be at the Western Idaho Fly Fishing Expo in Boise, ID to demonstrate a few flies. I can’t believe it’s only a month away! Here is what I wrote after returning from the 2018 Expo.

I’m part of a project Central Oregon Fly Tyer’s Guild where members tie flies for a plate that is donated each year to the NW Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo in Albany, OR. The current one is Green Drake. I’ll be tying my variant of Mercer’s Green Drake Poxyback nymph. Here is a picture of last year’s donation.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out the 2018 Fly Fisher’s Christmas List for an idea or two. I might be able to complete another custom fly order or two before the holiday, but you better contact me quickly. Just leave a Comment below and I’ll get back to you.

And the winners of a dozen flies are: Stan H and John H. Congratulations!!! You’ll be receiving an email from me shortly.

Enjoy…go fish!