Friday, February 1, 2019

February...Some Comforting Thoughts

Winter can be beautiful and comforting if your inside
February the month of my birth, oh happy day,...Great things going on this month. Our friend from Pennsylvania "Punxsutawny Phil" will make his prognostication on an early Spring. There are two wonderful fly fishing shows/expos. The Connecticut Fly Fishermans Association Expo on Saturday 2-2-18 at Maneely's in So. Windsor CT...and on Saturday the 16th The Bear's Den Fly Fishing Show in Taunton, MA.

A comforting sign will be "Truck Day" at Fenway Park in Boston. That's when the truck heads south to Florida with the World Champion Red Sox gear to start the Spring training and Grapefruit League season.


So you would like to tie Rangeley Streamers. Can you tell how many separate steps are needed to tie this body?


BT's #3
These streamers require some work to complete. They do offer the tyer  great rewards and satisfaction when completed..


While on comforts...is there anything more comforting than a grilled cheese sandwich? This one has American and Provolone cheese on seeded Polish rye.







23 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Alan whenever it may be this month.

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    1. Start white underbody thread behind eye and wrap to rear in smooth
      touching turns
      Tie in and wrap flat tinsel tag
      Tie in body rib flat tinsel
      Tie in body flat floss
      Tie in and wrap peacock herl butt
      Bring white underbody thread forward in smooth touching turns, tie off and remove excess
      Start black finishing thread
      Wrap body floss forward in smooth overlapping turns, tie off and remove excess
      Palmer flat tinsel rib forward, tie off and remove excess
      Build smooth head underbody as prep for adding wings, etc.

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    2. William Shuck
      Thanks
      Bill I believe you have done this before? It's complicated and several mishaps can happen along the way, but it's well worth it.

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  3. FYI, Friday April 12th is Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. No reason to wait until then. Me, I'm a grilled cheese kind of guy.

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    1. Mark Kautz
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      Mark I'll have to make a special one that day.
      They're so delicious.

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  4. Grilled cheese plus cream of tomato soup. One on my favorite comfort foods in the Winter.

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    1. David-Mary Noll
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      David I can remember my mom making me that 65 years ago.
      I never tire of it.

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  5. Truck Day!!!! The start of the season for my 11 year old son!! 48 days until the official first day of Spring.

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    1. Brookie61
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      Kurt all good things are in the circle of baseball.

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  6. Alan
    Toasted cheese sandwich, apart from a rich and hearty what could more comforting whilst we await winter to release it’s grip?
    We had them last weekend on homemade sourdough - the boys and my wife had mature cheddar and I had some ripe and oozing reblochon with mushrooms. Too much is not good for my heart but certainly good for the soul!
    Thanks
    Alistair

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    1. Alistair Corbishley
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      Alistair the doc tells me to watch the cheese, and I do as I'm eating it. Everything in moderation.
      Your cheddar is it on the sharp side?

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    2. The cheddar has a good strong ‘farmyardy’ taste and a sharp tang!

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  7. Alan, Happy Birthday Month! Hopefully Phil will grant us an early warming. :)

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    1. Ralph Long
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      Ralph, Phil says put away the shovels and long johns...early spring.

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  8. I just saw Punx noted 6 weeks to spring. While this ultimately is the same as 6 weeks more winter :)... it feels good to hear, and reflects the 50's we will have next week.

    10 ish steps?
    1.start thread
    2.) start tinsel and floss/yarn
    3.) tie down for a smooth body.
    4) make tag
    5) tie down tag
    6) tie in peacock
    7) wrap peacock and tie off
    8) wrap floss/yarn body and tie off @ head
    9) smooth body with a spoon or other such thing if desired
    10) wrap tinsel rib
    11) tie off rib
    12) sit back with pride
    13) contemplate if the wing will sit right, or if you over did the front end and it's going to twist or flare...
    14) have a coffee, and remember it's for fish, let it go and tie that wing on :)

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    1. Hibernation
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      Will those 50 degree days will feel so good we may even be able to hack another week of winter.
      Have you ever tied streamers before?

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  9. Alan, we're iced in. The rivers and drains are frozen but not much snow. Never mind the stove is blazing, the terriers are happy and it's meatballs in tomato sauce tonight. That photograph below is fantastic, trout, any trout is a real, living, work of art. Regards, John

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    1. Anonymous
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      John winter has hit the UK.
      Meatballs are one of my favorite comfort foods. A little sauce with some crusty bread, oh heaven.
      Lots of colors in that tail.

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  10. Grilled cheese. Comfort food & fly tying in the winter months. Not many things better. That being said, Phil said that spring is coming early this year. Let's hope the rodent isn't a liar.

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    1. Michael Agneta
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      Mike..Philly cheese steak sandwich, now that's comfort.
      I hope Phil is right.

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  11. Alan,

    Not a lot. I've gone through phases :). One of which was spurred several years back when I found your blog! Little aspects of it have trickled over other areas for me. For example, on clouser minnows I often tie a Carrie Stevens style "banded" head with red or orange etc as a highlight in the middle. It's history, and New England through and through. It's fun to carry that into other areas. And point blank, I've always had a hard time getting feathers to sit "right"... So working on Rangely style streamers now and then helps work on that weak point.

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