UV Chewee Skin

I am always one to share info on products that I like. Well, I like UV Chewee Skin. It is a thin, easy to work with, highly elastic material with UV properties that make it highly reflective and visible. Wind it on an under- body for very cool nymphs, larvae or worms. It comes in an amazing 19 colors. One drawback is the price $4.95 a wack. Available at http://www.feather-craft.com/.

Siman Turbo Spinning Block

I am all about making nice-looking flies with less effort and complication. To do this, one technique is to use the dubbing loop. I have been a fan of dubbing loops since I was first introduced to the method several years ago. It is a clever and durable way to dub a fly. It is nice to be able to make my own mixtures of colors and materials. I use a traditional twister with the tying thread right on the fly.

How about dubbing brushes? You see them pre-made and packaged in fly shops, but the price is too high.
Jan Siman from the Czech Republic offers a tool that is a wooden block with a spinning wheel so you can make your own brushes. You can make brushes with almost any dubbing material you might choose like fur, hair, marabou and CDC. Mix colors or textures to create your own blends. Add deer hair clippings, cut up rubber legs, flash, tinsel or whatever you want. Choose wire for the core of stiff brushes and tying thread for the soft ones. So easy a cave dweller can do it.

Janciuras Reels

A guy out of Rochester, New York is making exquisit reels for trout and salmon. Check out the spefifics at http://www.janciurasreels.com/

Valla’s New Book, The Classic Dry Fly Box

Mike Valla’s New Book The Classic Dry Fly Box (Whitefish Press, $29.95) will be released November 6 at The Arts of the Angler Show in Danbury, CT.

The Classic Fly Box is considered as the “companion guide” to his first book Tying Catskill Style-Dry Flies (Headwater/Stackpole Books). The new book includes 100 classic dry flies of the Catskill-Style.

Join Mike as he takes the reader on a tour of the history of the Catskill-style dry fly. From the Abbey to the Yellow Spinner, with 98 other stops in between. Mike explores the popular to the obscure, delving into the history of these marvelous flies, masterfully weaving quotes from Gordon, Cross, the Dettes, Bergman, and other legends with his own personal anecdotes about growing up in the Catskill tying tradition. Fully illustrated with gorgeous color photography and complete with dressing appendix.

Mike will be available at the Arts of the Angler Show, at the Ethan Allen Inn, Danbury CT, on Saturday, November 6, 2010 from noon to 5PM for signing.

Galeria Muchowa

Sebastian Ruszkiewicz, of Poland, wrote to me recently about his on-line fly gallery. It's quite nice. Check it out at http://www.galeriamuchowa.pl/.

Woven Body Pheasant Tail Nymph

I've been messing at the tying bench with this new pattern. It has an abdomen of woven copper wire instead of the traditional wrapped pheasant tail fibers. Preliminary results show that the fish are liking this pattern.

Arts Of The Angler

Mark your calendar for the

Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, 2010 Arts of the Angler

November 6 & 7, 2010 at the Danbury Ethan Allen Inn, Exit 4 on Route I-84, Danbury CT.