Staying Busy During the Cold Weather

 I thought I would share some of the projects I’ve been working on during the cold month of January. As many of you know, one of my hobbies is woodworking, and during the winter months I spend a lot of time in my wood shop. Too cold to fish this time of the yearfor me, especially when the temps are in the mid 50's or lower during the day. I remember being on the water during those cold temp days when I was younger but not anymore. That is why my fishing season begins now the last week in March. 

Cathey wanted a small bench for our back porch, which I made using scrap pine. I seldom throw away lumber that I think I can use one day for a project such as this bench. I needed a larger shelf to store some of my fishing items. Everything you see on the shelf had been taking up space in the bottom of my boat. The hat rack was a must!

I've been doing a lot of fly tying lately. These are the better ones I am willling to share. I am not worried about a traditional color, but just in the experiment stage now. The colors are a little far-fetched, and probably doesn't relate to a particular bug or insect. I have learned one thing since I started tying: is the videos on line make it look so easy, but for me it has been a fun challenge, not frustrating. It will be interesting in the Spring to see which one of these beauties will attract a take. I will be trying some of these patterns on the tailrace as soon the temps warm.  

Bad, Fair, and Better

 Bad, Fair, and Better is how I am going to evaluate my fly-tying classes. I have spent the last couple of days experimenting with different wooly bugger patterns that are fairly easy to tie. I have found the best way for me to learn how to tie a decent fly is to watch the video of the fly I am trying to duplicate. I didn’t realize how many fly-tying videos are available on the internet, serving as the perfect instructor. 

These flies were some of the first I finished and were mainly an exercise in learning how to use the tools, which resulted in some really bad wooly buggers.

You can see with these two wooly buggers I was improving some.

These are better, but I still need to improve, and the only way to do that is to keep practicing!