Tying Vice Sightboard

I have been messing around with various connotations of a sight board for the last couple of years, and have now come up with a version that I am pleased with.
The same sort of sightboard from some of the big names in fly tying equipment cost in the region of £20 – £30, mine cost about £3.00 maximum.
The board is the made from Art Board which has a foam centre; the cost was about £1.50 for an A3 sized piece from a local craft shop, the front and back are covered with foam sheet that cost 60 pence per sheet again from the local craft shop. The foam was fastened to the craft board with double sided sticky tape. The support arm is an old wire coat hanger which I acquired from work as it was going to be thrown out. It took about 30 minutes to make and has saved me about £20.

Fly Tying Classes 2012

Last Wednesday I attended the induction evening for the tying classes starting in January 2012, run by the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild. I have moved up a step to the intermediate classes. This coming tying season we will be tying River & Lake Flies.

Week 1 – Stripped Quill Flies – Quill Dry & Quill Nymph
Week 2 – Loch Style Wets – Red Ribbed Mayfly & Dark Olive Dabbler
Week 3 – Big Dries – Stimulator & Black Klinkhammer
Week 4 – Black CDC Hopper & Cruncher
Week 5 – Terrestrials – Black Gnat & Generic Terrestrial
Week 6 – Teal & Black Palmer & Black Buzzer
Week 7 – Olives – Olive CDC Dun & Un-weighted Olive Nymph

The cost of the course of tying lessons is £15.00 which I think represents good value for money, as some of the materials will be supplied if you cannot procure your own.

Riverside Cycling

On Tuesday I had a day off from work and decided to get the bike out and go for a ride along by the river. It was a cool day but dry (no sign of rain), so got the panniers on the bike as i thought I might as well do a bit of light grocery shopping while out, instead of taking the car later.
I set off about 10am and decided to head to Sedgwick just outside Kendal. I cycled along by the river before picking up the cycle path for about 2 miles and then headed along the road to Natland. This is a quiet country road with very little cars; from there I continued along to Sedgwick then picked up the river for a mile before heading towards Crooklands still sticking to the quiet roads. From Crooklands I picked up the A65 back towards Kendal. I then called into Asda for the shopping that was needed and then back along the cycle path and stopped by the river for a break, whilst sitting on the bench seat I watched a salmon jump the weir heading up river to breed, soon after I set off home. This was a ride of about 14 miles, the longest I have cycled in a long time, so when I got home I put away the shopping and then had a very nice warm relaxing bath to soothe the aches and pains.

Planning Ahead

I have not been on the computer much over the last week due to planning ahead for next year’s cycling, walking and fishing trips. There will be a combination of Walking and Fishing and Cycling and fishing.
I have had the maps and guide books spread out on the floor for the last week when I have not been at work, looking at possible walks and bike rides with some fishing thrown in.
So far I have only come up with a couple of possible walks, the first is a walk up to Alcock Tarn for some brown trout fishing, the second is a trip to Buttermere with a walk up Red Pike to the tarn situated at about 1500ft, which is reputed to be full of small brown trout which take freely and give lively sport.
I will continue to do more planning for next season’s brown trout, I need to find some locations that are within a reasonable cycling distance but which may include an overnight camp.

Davie McPhail (Peter Ross)

Just been looking on Davie McPhails Youtube site at the Peter Ross fly. This is a firm favourite with me down here in the Lake District.
The site is a great resource for helping me with my tying. His site is the best that I know of for fly tying. The videos are easy to follow, as you can pause and rewind if you missed something.

Glasgow Angling Centre Blog (Hidden Waters)

Just been on the GAC Blog where they have a cracking little video made by Wychwood called ‘Hidden Waters’ filmed on location in the Lake District, my stomping ground. The film work is exceptional, showing of some of the more remote tarns at their best with some cracking brown trout to boot.
Very inspirational so much so that I will be getting the maps out over the next few weeks planning my fishing trips for next season.
Follow the link below to watch.

http://blog.fishingmegastore.com/

Rescue Services Open Day

The open day has been advertised here for the last couple of weeks, and I have been hoping that I would have the day off to be able to attend along with my son.
Well the day arrived and I was off work, so I took my son round to the open day a little later than planned due to having to go to do the food shopping with the wife. We arrived too late for the river rescue, but were able to walk around the Fire, Police, ambulance and Mountain Rescue bases. Kendal Mountain Rescue had a display of all their equipment that they need to take on any rescue including stretchers climbing gear etc. they had a young volunteer getting his leg put in and inflatable splint.
My son was interested in the Fire Service more than anything else. We had a walk around the fire station and watched the Fire service do a rescue display along with the Ambulance service. I didn’t realise the amount of effort and hard work that the Fire Service actually have to put in on any given rescue. They do a great job and I feel safe in the knowledge that they are there should I ever need them.
The next thing that we had a look at was the Bay Search and Rescue vehicles. These are used in Morecambe bay to get across the quick sands that are in the bay. The vehicles on display were used when the Chinese cockle pickers were caught out with very fast rising tides a few years back. We went for a walk around the other vehicles that were on display, when my son caught sight of a police motorbike, which he made a beeline for. We had a chat with the police officer and he got to sit on the bike.
This was a great day out and would recommend that if you get a chance to go to one of these types of events that you should go along and see the work that the Emergency Services do.