I was looking through my computer stuff and came up with this site http://globalflyfisher.com/ it is without a doubt one of the most informative sites for FlyFisherman on the Internet and all the info is free. Go take a look I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
The Global FlyFisher - The Internet's Cutting Edge Fly Fishing Site
Site Developed by GFF Partners: Martin Joergensen, Steve Schweitzer, Bob Petti, Bob Skehan & Kasper Mühlbach
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Saturday March 19th we will be having our 3rd annual Fly Tying Symposium.
It will be held at the Hotel Utica and will begin at 9:00am.
There will be no price for admission.
Come enjoy the fun with bucket raffles and seminars all day. We hope to have at least 25 exhibition tyers at the event and we also will have side by side fly tying all day long for kids of all ages.
If you are interested in being a guest tier, please contact Harold... email here.
If you are interested in having a booth or doing a seminar, please email JP Ross.
We are looking for sponsors so please contact us if you are willing to send us a monitary donation for this event. More details to come.
I am afraid that I have been posting here very often I will try to change that and keep this Blog up to date.
Jack Gartside 1942 - 2009
Jack Gartside passed away peacefully last night. As many of you know Jack was diagnosed with small cell cancer in October 2008. The initial treatment was positive and Jack was able to enjoy trips to Florida in the spring and local venues throughout the summer. However in early Fall it became apparent that the cancer had spread and Jack was admitted to hospital last month. Jack’s fly tying skills were legendary and his impressionistic patterns fooled fish of all species. Gurgler, Soft Hackle Streamer, BMG, Gartside Hopper, Firefly & Sparrow to name but a few of the many unique patterns he developed - so often with materials discarded or overlooked by others. Anyone lucky enough to have fished with Jack will remember his stealthy, heron like approach, efficient casting style and repertoire of retrieves that breathed life into his patterns. Even on the slowest of days when you couldn’t “buy a take” he would keep your spirits up with his enthusiastic chant of “Any minute now, any minute now…” As many of you know Jack was truly one of those rare and special people who lived life to the full and who captivated so many of us with his infectious charm, enthusiasm and some truly terrible jokes & pranks... Jack will be hugely missed. More details to follow at his website www.jackgartside.com
Talk about cold early, it sure is cold outside now. I just heard that it snowed in Rochester, NY (just down the road from here) this AM and it was the earliest it had ever done that.
I would say it is a very good time to stay inside and tie flies,cause as they say “ the more you tie the better your flies” or at least I say that :)
Collins Hackle Farm. Charlie Collins started breeding hackle chickens in 1980, using stock from Andy Miner, Harry Darbee, and Dick Bitner. Collins’s main genetic emphasis is in breeding birds with thin, flexible quills that wrap true and don’t split or twist. “If you can’t wrap the feather, all the other hackle traits are worthless,” he says. “No trait is more important than quill quality.”
Collins has a relatively small operation, hatching from 4,000 to 8,000 chicks annually at his farm in Pine City, New York. He breeds for neck qualities exclusively and doesn’t sell his saddles individually–he includes them with his necks. For about $50, you can purchase a top-grade neck and saddle directly from Charlie. He has a wide array of natural colors passed down from the Miner stock (Bitner raised grizzly almost exclusively) and is especially proud of his colored barred stock, which many tiers admire because of its buggy appearance and stiffness.
Collins’ avows his approach is nonscientific compared to a large-scale producer such as Whiting or Metz. He approaches his hackle herding in the old-school manner, producing feathers that are very desirable for traditional Catskill tiers. He has walked the fine line between advancing hackle quality and retaining some of the feather characteristics that appeal to traditional Catskill tiers who don’t necessarily want densely hackled flies.
While large-scale growers such as Whiting and Metz micro-monitor each chicken’s environment, interestingly, Collins takes an almost exact opposite approach. Collins feels that his hearty strain of mountain-bred bird is not only truer to the backyard breeders of the Catskill era, but also makes for a healthy, strong, and relatively disease-free flock.
Collins Hackle Farm
436 Kinner Hill Road
Pine City, NY 14871
Phone 607-734-1765
