Fishing — and how to tie one on

Press, 18 December 1976, Page 15

Fishing — and how to tie one on

PETER LAWLOR

The tying of flies is a practice that will drive some people totally up the wall. And it is not only the tyer who suffers. The cloud of clipped feathers, the atmospheric strata of dope in the air. and the ends of fur drive my asthma sufferers from the room. The}’ can escape, so that part isn’t so bad. It’s the repercussions after I’ve tied a flock of them brings the pain .. . The first trippers across the carpet get a hook in their slippers. The vacuum cleaner wraps a fine nylon around its beater and gums up. The table setters complain of the fuzz that gets on their plates. Fly tying is an art that doesn’t charm the community.

Ideally I've hoped it would be a job to fit in front of the TV screen but my concentration of lights for the fine work bothers the viewers, so that’s out. I now work in solitary confinement.

Not every angler is temperamentally suited to tying flies. At 25c to 40c it’s a bargain to have the pros do it, so most fishermen go a long time without the bother of fiddling around with this meticulous art.

Eventually pride takes over. You want to add your own ideas to alter a common pattern that is on the market; maybe just a little more tinsel on the body; you might prefer to use black alsaiian hair instead of bear. So, you

start making your own It’s kept in the fly box along with all your ready mades to be brought out on a special occasion — proudly, yet casually, to a close friend: “Try this one. It’s one of mine." Then you buy some more equipment and a set of plastic boxes in a small chest. You don’t go all the way and prefer to stick to a particular pattern of fly. In other words, no intricate stuff.

In my own survey I've found that all-round sportsmen don't get into tying their own — too much gear around. Boat owners like to buy a gross at a time from the dealer and don't mess around with it. You tie flies only if you are totally committed to the madness. A commercial supplier tells me that his women assistants are the best tyers. They maintain a greater consistency in the finished product than men do. One of the best fly tyers 1 know is an Irishman who is an engineer on a freighter. He is six months ashore fly fishing then six months on board presumably looking after the engines. He rolls ashore with his fly box full of fantastically tied flies. They are as beautiful as a colour plate in an angling book. His rod is at the ready and he doesn't make any more flies until he's bark in his cabin. Perhaps the best advice for the would-be fly tyer is to buy a good vice, one that sits solidly on the table edge, and a very simple bobbin for the ill. thread; then build up tour own supply of feathers and pieces of wrap. But do try to watch an experienced one at it because it is hard to learn from even the most explicit book. Don't forget to check closets for clips off old fur coats. Do keep an eye out for an opossum not too long dead at the roadside for a clipping or two, ideal foi a rough nymph. And keep an eye out for the stray chook for your feather hackle, and a soothing word to a not too fierce alsaiian while you clip a hair from the haunch. Then, with bits and pieces, look for solitude. It’s the only place to go and tie one on.