The night started out with a little history of Carrie Stevens (we will be tying four of her Classics).
The instructor is a big fan of this woman who lived in Maine many years ago . I know that he is not alone in the admiration of this woman since the page shown is from the Rangeley Sporting Heritage Museum.
Here is the link: Carrie Stevens.
As the title of the blog states, we tied an Allie's Delight; however, mine didn't look quite like the instructors. I know it was the first time doing this pattern but I had high hopes. The issue is (as you streamer folks know) is keeping the material in the correct position. I will take the lesson learned last night and improve upon the next streamer. I did learn how to do a Half Hitch without using a pen or tool and I was pleased with that.
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| Maybe there is a fish with one eye that might take this by mistake. |
This Thursday the syllabus indicates that we will be tying the Gray Ghost. The following classes we will be tying the Yellow Canary and the Pink Lady (we were told last night it was the last streamer pattern this talented lady did).
Ya know, You got to start somewhere. You'll get better as time goes on.
ReplyDeleteMark
That is my take on it Mark. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you for a fact Mac. I've been tying for about 15 years. I could tie a few flies really well, the rest...not so much. I basically laid off for about a year, but kept reading and watching demos. All of a sudden it clicked, literally about 2 weeks ago. I'm a special case...I'm slow I guess. But I've been tying the nicest size 18 flies, which is something I could never do. So my advice is absorb, read, watch tying videos and practice. It will hit you like lightening on a clear day.
ReplyDeleteOh and if your flies don't look like the instructors, rename it, swear that it catches fish and stand by and watch the imitations.
ReplyDeleteA very productive streamer. The streamer was named after Allie French of Willimantic CT. He was a close friend of the Stevens' and spent many years at Upper Dam.
ReplyDeleteEd thats not to bad on your first attempt.
Hey Howard.....I hear you. That has happened to me in other areas. As for your advice about renaming the fly.....to quote Sam Kinison in Back to School: Good answer.....I like the way you think.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan for the background. I thought it was named for a daughter (we didn't get into too much about her other than the page on the screen. The instructor mentioned how she tied them by hand, she caught some record trout, etc. but not about how the names of the flies came about). I appreciate the kind words on my first attempt. Some coaxing gets the feathers into the proper place but not for long.