Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Frugal, And Heathy

Grouse and purple, yellow, green, red, orange, brown etc.....
Glancing through the pages of a book I came across an interesting bit of information concerning the history of North Country flies. It seems that the tyers of that era were truly frugal and liked to keep their flies simple. Now I won't argue that being frugal was the only reason for tying "spiders" and was the only reason was to save money, perhaps they knew the true reason was the fish catching qualities of these flies.

An example that was stated in the book was the fact that of spider tyer loved a pattern love using Grouse and Partridge feathers so much he tied 11 variations of the flies using 11 different silk threads. Now that I hail as frugal and very crafty....you can cover a wide range of insects with one basic pattern.


In my youth I was blessed with lots of meats...cold cuts as they were called were a big part of my diet. Most of these I loved and there were a few that I prized. Pressed Ham was at the top of tasty...in a sandwich of lettuce tomato and pickles it could not be beat. Then like most foods pressed ham was replaced by "healthy meats" meat that had no taste and not much texture..they were given the name of "gourmet deli" and with price tags of 9.99lb they swept away "pressed ham" which was not really ham but a sausage full of various pork cuts and true spices. Several weeks ago while visiting a Polish bakery I had my rye bread and horns. While moving to the checkout I noticed this delicious looking piece of sausage. Man that looks like pressed ham. I picked one up to try and low and behold I found my moms lunch table again.


Now to the grandest of Italian deli, Mortadella...this bologna with its highly flavored "white" pork pieces, which are fat..along with peppercorns and pistachio nuts and sliced thin must be tried.


Culinary delights...indulge, it's all healthy.







20 comments:

  1. Alan
    Love the flies, beautiful, simple and very effective!!! The deli meats just make me want to indulge in sampling some. Yummo.

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    Replies
    1. TROUT1
      Thanks
      Pete your welcome to the flies and the eats...soon buddy.

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  2. Yummy as always. At least the Deli meats are better than the pre-packaged ones.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark I'm not a fan of pre-packaged deli. Freshly sliced and thinly sliced.

      Delete
  3. Beautiful flies and lovely food choices... us old guys gotta keep healthy...

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    Replies
    1. Doug Korn, Fly Tyer
      Thanks
      Doug we only eat healthy, at least most times. Got to be a devil once in awhile.

      Delete
  4. First you show me pictures of flies and draw me in.....and then BAM!....good food at lunch time. You'e not helping me Alan. LOL

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    Replies
    1. Ralph Long
      Thanks
      Trickery Ralph. Lunch has to be interesting, as well as tasty.

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  5. Silk thread bodies and Grouse, Snipe, Starling or Hun. Partridge hackle. I use them all. Not sure the trout care. They're all effective.I love Hormel oval spiced ham coldcut. I keep asking my local supermarket to order it but the mgr. refuses. Claims there's no demand. Times have changed.

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    Replies
    1. John Dornik
      Thanks
      John I don't think they care, at times that is.
      I recall spiced ham, it came in a can. There's no demand because he doesn't have it. Hormel also make ham patties, they come in a can...good stuff.

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  6. Alan
    One healthy meal to carry a long on the stream---nice collection of hackle patterns--thanks for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill I really like a PB&J when I take a stream side lunch that gooey stuff really satisfies.

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  7. That pressed ham sure looks good, Alan. I would enjoy a few slices of it with fried eggs and rye toast.

    Regards, Sam

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    Replies
    1. Parachute Adams
      Thanks
      Sam that's a great breakfast...perhaps tomorrow's.

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  8. I have had some of my best soft hackle fishing days using simple spider patterns with partridge, grouse, and woodcock hackle. My go to pattern for searching is a thoraxed partridge & orange.

    The cold cuts look great and with my Italian ancestry mortadella, prosciutto, sopresatta, and a variety of salami's were common and we called all of them, including bologna, cold cuts.

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    Replies
    1. NJpatbee
      Thanks
      Pat I love the simplicity of these flies, and they do produce.
      Cold cuts are all we knew them by, and that's what they were called in your area.

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  9. Alan, I don know which one to chose ,the food or the flies. I guess I will enjoy both. The lunch plate looks great. The flies are all true classics.. One could spend an entire summer just fishing those flies. Something to think about.

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    Replies
    1. Brad Basehore
      Thanks
      Brad I would have a problem choosing one of them, luckily I don't have to make that decision.
      I'm happy today, for it's February....

      Delete