While going through my streamers the other day I noticed a couple of odd looking ones. The flies seemed to be missing something. Upon further examination I noticed that the feathers were chewed upon. One of the flies had most of the shoulder missing and the other the wing was chewed in half.
What had happened was one of those feather critters was eating the streamer. I have now been going through my saddles and all the other loose feathers and skins and checking for more. They will be boxed up and put into the chest freezer for a spell and hopefully this will take care of it.
This is a book I suggest you pick up if you have an interest in streamers. Mike Martinek is an expert fly tyer and an authority on the history and tying of Rangeley Style Streamers.
This is a little project I've been fooling with. Wooden fly boxes have always been a fancy of mine and I'm trying to make one that will hold the necessary flies for a small stream outing.
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Thanks for the post...I will definitely look into getting that book.
ReplyDeleteKiwi,
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I have seen a few copies on ebay.
Damn critters.....they get into almost anywhere and eat almost anything.
ReplyDeleteEd,
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Funny thing is they are so small you can't see them.
sorry about the infestation...
ReplyDeletethat box looks great!
Sanders,
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I've some fine tuning to do on the box. It should be a good small stream box.
A few well placed moth balls will keep the creatures away. Hell....can you even buy moth balls these days?
ReplyDeleteMidgeman,
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You know I don't think they do sell them. Whole cloves work pretty good.
You know I've only ever that bug issues with pheasent skins. Just to be safe I put every material with hide still attached in the freezer for a bit. Nice box! I too am a fan of wood boxes, all that needs is some nice green felt on the bottom, purly for looks though. By the way is that a Ken Lockwood hiding in there?
ReplyDeleteBill,
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I did the freezer thing, I hope that solves the problem. The felt sounds like a good idea.
That's a Ken Lockwood. A nice simple effective bucktail.
Letting your cats browse your tying materials seems to work. They like the one's with critters crawling on them better than healthy ones.
ReplyDeleteHoward Levett,
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If that's true I'll have to borrow the neighbors cat and put him to work.
BT,
ReplyDeleteActually you can still find moth balls, but they are highly regulated at this point as they are basically a pesticide. Back in the day just about every fly tiers bench smelled of the things as did most closets because so much of the clothing was wool, but I haven't had to deal with the bug problem in years. They can certainly make a mess of a fly folder or flybox! I lost a lot of my Grand Dad's old bugs to the darn things after leaving his old wet fly folder in a trunk in the basement.
Midgeman,
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Some of the fly shops still have moth balls in use. I feel that the freezing process, and the cloves should do the trick.
It's though to loose family stuff, especially old flies.
Sorry, Forgot to add Home Depot sells them as Enoz Brand, Old Fashioned Moth Balls or you can find them on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteOne of the great things about flyfishing is that it can take us off in all sorts of tangents, like your handcrafted flyboxes. So satisfying to create something useful and pleasant to look at.
ReplyDeleteThe Tenkara Ambassador
tenkara ambassador,
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It can be as creative, and personal as we may want it. And like Tenkara simple and elegant.
Hi Alan, is that a new printing of the Martinek book? Bummer about the hackles.
ReplyDeleteDarren,
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It's a 2nd edition, printed in April of 2000.
I purchased the book from Mike, I believe in 2001.
And a added bonus...it floats!
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