Time to Order New Hooks

The first week of November is over already. Where has the time gone? As I wrote in my Seasons Change post recently, the first of November is a time when I begin to tie more flies as fishing wanes. Yes, I continue to fish during the winter months, but the major dry fly action has ended for the year. So, it’s time to order new hooks and spend more time at the fly tying vise.

I reviewed my hook inventory recently to determine how many hooks I have remaining for the wide variety of flies I tie. This image shows most of my current inventory. I noticed I’m completely out of size 14 standard dry fly hooks. I’ve tied about 1,800 flies so far this year. That number will increase as I begin filling the provider box.

Before I get too far into today’s post, I wanted to remind you of the Casting for Recovery (CfR) online auction. It will continue through 11/13. I featured several items, including 7 dozen RiverKeeper Flies in the auction supporting the Southern Oregon CfR retreat my wife leads, in last week’s Tying Flies and Casting for Recovery post.

It’s difficult to keep all the hooks I need for fly orders in stock. I’m a custom fly tyer not a commercial tyer. I never know what flies a customer is interested in. Some requests are for older fly patterns not found in fly shops anymore, like Polly Rosborough’s Casual Dress.

Interestingly, two staples I now carry in my box are a result of tying new-to-me flies a customer requested. They were the IOBO Humpy and Improved F Fly.

While I don’t carry a lot of inventory, I tie a few of the popular flies I’ve sold over the years in anticipation of future sales. Here are a few I’ll be tying in the near future.

It’s fly tying season, and if you’d like to participate in some Zoom fly tying, here are two opportunities. The first is from my friends Gretchen and Al Beatty.

The second Zoom fly tying opportunity is the Central Oregon Fly Tyer’s Guild. The first class will be December 1, beginning at 5pm (Pacific Time). Classes are scheduled through April 30, 2023. I’ll provide more information when the link becomes available.

If you are a fly tyer, I encourage you to join one of these sessions.

If you don’t tie flies, it might be time to pull out those empty fly boxes and take a quick inventory to see what flies you’ll need for next year. Put that list together and send it to me. I’ll add you to my list as I begin tying flies for 2023.

I’ll leave you with this last image of a recent catch.

Enjoy…go fish!