Damsel Flies

I went out fishing at the dam this morning and I though that instead of boring you with the usual fish pictures I will show you a pretty little Damsel Fly that decided to dry its wings on my float tube. (Ok, I didn't actually land a fish, so this is all I have)

I also shot a little underwater movie of a Damsel nymph swimming but I still  need to figure out  how to edit it and load it on Youtube.

One of the fish my friend caught this morning took the fly deep into it's gills and had to be killed. When opening its stomach it was stuffed with Damsel fly nymphs.  The below patter has always worked for me when the fish are eating Damsel fly nymphs like this. Sadly I didn't have any of these patterns in my box this morning.

 

Did you notice that there was a hand in the picture?

Ahh, the humble hand. Often overlooked, mostly ignored and certainly not given any credit. Even  though it is in most of our pictures. I certainly never gave it any second glance when I looked at a fishing picture until my wife mentioned a while back when I showed her some pictures of me holding a fish.

She told me that every picture I showed her has only a hand and a fish  in it. You almost never see the face of the person who caught the fish. It is always THE HAND. She also asked me if I can recognise who caught the fish by looking at THE HAND.

I suspect she said the above with a slight bit of sarcasm.

It did make me think though. When looking at a picture of a fish I never looked at THE HAND. It was like it was blocked out of my vision. Almost like those pictures that someone emails you with a half naked girl with a stunning sunset in the background. The caption would be “Beautiful picture of a sunset” and the the standard comment is “ What sunset?”

Come on, you all know what I am talking about.

So now that my wife brought this missing piece of the picture to my attention I cannot help but look at THE HAND. My vision is now tuned on THE HAND. The fish first gets a glance and then the hand gets studied before I look at the fish again. In a single blow she pretty much ruined my enjoyment at looking at a picture with a stunning fish in it.

I often fish alone and we all know how awkward it is to take a picture of a fish that you caught when you are alone with your camera. THE HAND was never considered when lining up the shot. It is not an important piece of the picture.

Well that is also now ruined for me. Every time I take a picture I wonder how THE HAND will look. Did I clean and cut my nails? Is THE HAND cradling the fish properly? Is THE HAND in focus? It is driving me nuts, and I suspect I am alone in this.

Well no more. Below is some pictures of THE HAND from some of the people reading this blog. I hope that most of you will now also look at THE HAND when looking at a picture, and will consider how THE HAND will show up in the pictures that you take.

BTW. At the start of this obsession it is normal to go back and look at ALL of your pictures that you ever took to see how THE HAND features.

 

 

My left hand

 

 

 

 

And an extremely rare picture of my right hand

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Average Joe’s hand

Simon’s (Pike fly-fishing articles) hand

Troutrageous’s hand (Notice the little finger)

 

Smalliestalker’s hand uncovered……

 

 

 

 

 

…..and covered

 

 

 

Brk Trt’s hand

 

Send me some pictures of your hands and I will introduce them to the rest of the world. (Or to at least to all four of my readers)

 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

 

I think I am now cured after seeing the below picture of the Outdooress with this awesome fish. I did not even look at THE HAND when I saw this picture. I hope that I don't “Get 10 Lashes With an 8 weight Line” for stealing this pic.

“What fish?” I hear you ask :-)

Rod Building 101- Part 5

This is the final instalment of the rod building tutorial by Michael Newby and Shaun Futter

You can find the other instalments by clicking on the links below

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4 

 

STEP 18: FINISHING YOUR ROD

Here you will need a 2-part rod finish (Like Flex Coat’s High Build or Lite formula), Colour-coded syringes, a mixing container (preferably glass…a tot glass works excellently), a paper clip, brushes, a saucer and some foil to cover the saucer with.

Mix the two parts of finish together. Mix a full 3cc’s of each part, do not try and mix less…the mixture may not be consistent then. The key here is to mix SLOWLY. Count ten turns clockwise, and then ten turns counter-clockwise. Do this repeatedly until the mixture is completely clear. (It may take up to 7 or 8 minutes.) It’s essential to work slowly to minimise bubbles forming.

Nowpour the mixture over the tin foil in the recess created by the underside of the saucer. This will spread the finish nicely, help dissapate any bubbles that formed in the finish, and increase the “pot life” (using time) of the finish.

Assuming you are doing a 4 piece rod, do two sections at a time…not more. If you are doing a two piece rod, do one section at a time. I would not advise trying to do the entire rod at once in the beginning. The finish starts to become tacky and very difficult to work with.

Start with the butt section and second section. Apply finish over the hook keeper, decorative wrap and rod writing first. Over this big area, use long brush strokes from side to side. Continue until the finish is all over the area required, and fairly level. Move to the stripping guides, and apply finish to the wraps. Once you have finish applied to all the wraps, go back and neatly finish the ends of the wraps. You want to have the finish overlap onto the blank for about 1mm right around the blank.

NB: Do not “brush” the finish on, this will introduce bubbles in the finish. Hold the brush loaded with finish against the wrap, and turn the blank. It may help to rest your brush hand on top of the rod stand. Keep turning the blank, to ensure the finish does not sag to one side and possibly drip off.

Put the completed section in the rod-dryer, and turn it on. As the rod turns in the dryer, inspect the wraps and finish for bubbles. You can “pop” bubbles in two ways: Take a straw and lightly blow on the finish. This will raise the bubbles to the surface and pop them. Or, use a lighter, and hold the flame to the side of the finish as it turns. This will momentarily thin the finish, bring the bubbles to the surface and pop them.

 
 
Rod turning in rod-dryer.
 

 
 
Note the overlap of finish onto rod blank.
 
Then mix a fresh batch of finish and complete your top two sections. Put it in your rod dryer (now the entire rod is turning) and pop any bubbles you may find.
Turn the rod for at least 12 hours, to ensure the finish has cured enough to not sag anymore. You’re done! Now let the rod stand for at least 7 days for the finish to harden properly before you fish or cast a line with it. After this, take some furniture polish or Brasso and clean the rod up for a final shine.
Remember to put a little candle wax on your male ferrules before fishing it, to ensure good contact, prevent them from loosening while casting and to make disassembly at the end of the day easier.


Now pack your new rod it a suitable rod sock (bag) and a rod tube, and go fish!

There is little more satisfaction than when you catch a fish on a fly you tied yourself…except when that fish is caught with a rod you built yourself. Enjoy.

Other resources for finding Information/Assistance
www.ganador.co.za/custom.html
www.jsflyfishing.com
www.flexcoat.com
www.aaoutfitters.com

www.flyfisherman.com/rodbuilding