Comments from Bat Back Black, First Under-Secretary: Pacific Rim Chapter of Predators R Us.

ObtigatoryWarning:

The Surgeon General (No, not the fly pattern) warns that the following comments often must be taken with a grain of salt, read loosely between the lines, or at least diluted with enormous helpings of pasta.

Well, to quote the most infamous Male on American TV, "Let's Rock!"

Guess who is the Person I'm most grateful to when it comes to Salmon Fly Tying? (as are many other tiers) The answer can be found later in this article.

Tying on 7/0 to 10/0 hooks is fun - casting them is not!

Use of exotic or rare materials is over-rated, over-priced and wasted on flies when tied by beginners or intermediates.

Tying Jock Scotts, woolly worms Light Cahills and streakers isn't art to me, even though Picasso is alleged to have said "if it's good, it's art."

The end justifies the means when tying exhibition flies. Who's to say what is right or wrong. Not me.

Tier is spelled T-I-E-R, not. tyer.

There are few ugly patterns, just poorly tied flies.

Hard to find commonly used items... 1) Quality small ostrich for butts. 2) Silkworm gut. 3) Golden Pheasant Crests for tails. 4) Chicken feathers for body hackle.

I never use English Jay feathers., nor do I care for dyed guinea feathers as a substitute (they are often dyed too dark). I just use natural spotted guinea. Kenya Crested Guinea is OK, but its fibers are coarser.

Any feathers around the house that haven't been used in five years? Why? Poor quality stuff, here & there? Why?

The Salmon Fly Tag - better way too small than too big.

If you tie a Salmon Fly mostly at one time and it looks like a stink bait, try tying just a portion of it at a sitting. It is difficult to maintain concentration over a long period of time.

Salmon Fly Tying is like chess or war. Know the opponent (fly pattern) and identify the strengths, problems and weaknesses in it. Having done that, anticipate each step and its consequences.

If we can't criticize, we can't correct.

Speys and Dees were also tied on regular length hooks and they looked good too.

Desire over skill anytime in Salmon Fly tying. Desire will find a way, skill can quit.

An under-rated, beautiful pattern - low water March Brown.

The Blue Charm may be, step-by-step, the most difficult fly to tie. I've never seen a good one.

I think Syd Glasso tied better looking Dees than Speys.

Willam F. Blades - Never be another! Simply the all-around best! The da Vinci of fly tying.

Speaking of... Leonardo da Vinci is the person I'm the most grateful to when it comes to Salmon Fly tying. Why? Gotta keep reading.

Circle which of the following should be saved...

a) The Ancient Forests b) Antique Salmon Flies c) Muslin maps of Bosnia d) This article.

A humbling experience... On October 7, 1993 1 spent 1hr 30min getting the tail and its veiling on Jock Scott. At this rate, U.S. Troops will be out of Somalia before this fly is completed. (I beat the troops by several months).

The true beauty of a Salmon Fly can only be viewed in natural sunlight.

A well tied throat hackle will add unsurpassed beauty to the fly. Poorly applied and checkmate!

Never seen quality Badger hackle for Salmon Fly tying.

Trivia Time: What is the significance of these numbers: 2500,8000,25000?

[Respectively, the numbers of feathers on a house sparrow, chicken and swan. (It's true!, I counted them – Really!)]

It helps to have a visual aid like an Opti-Visor. Mine has a 2X lens.

If you think your fly has that mechanical (paint by numbers) or sterile (too perfect) look try and tie with more freedom. Relax, be less demanding and be more easygoing - sort of hippy vs yuppie like.

The rules you learned about Salmon Fly tying may have reigned you in too tight. Realize that your corners can be more rounded, your creases don't have to be as crisp or your edges as sharp as you think.

To quote a phrase, "Salmon Fly tying isn't brain surgery." If it. were, I'd have bodies piling up everywhere. Mistakes are virtually made during every step when tying. My goal then becomes keeping the errors small an to try and hide them (example: If blood is spurting two feet in the air, I'll stop the bleeding with a Jungle Cock compress) Don't be afraid to make a mistake, even a biggie. If the Salmon Fly dies in the vise before you, cheer up and just start over – something you can't often do in "Brain Surgery".

The tier must be flexible - adaptability is important. Rules or guidelines often are obstacles in disguise. Hang the rules - beauty is the only reason to do something.

When tying, if something is bothering you about the fly stop and correct it or just start over. Until you understand this, that `Light Saber' will remain just a flashlight!

Leonardo da Vinci invented the scissors to demonstrate leverage. Ever try tying a fly without using a scissor?

It wouldn't take much to convince me that E. Crosfield wasn't the best Salmon Fly tier of his day as some people claimed during his time.

The modern day Salmon Fly tier has a tremendous advantage in that he can study the many beautiful styles of past tiers.

The antique tiers' advantage is, of course, they have never seen the modern tiers' style.

Even though it seems the craze is to tie large exhibition Salmon Flies, I wish there was more emphasis on smaller hooks - #2 - #6 or smaller. Every time I see a small antique Salmon Fly, I stare at it in wonder.

"They form a fascinating group, as they require considerable artistic skill and , manipulative dexterity to turn out satisfactorily." Pryce-Tannatt on Small Summer Patterns.

Check Point Charlie - If you have a rotating vise, use it! After you complete each step while tying at least rotate tile vise to see how the "Far Side" looks. However, the best view is to just turn the vise around to look at it properly. Then look at it from a distance, say three feet, for a good perspective.

Exhibition Salmon Flies should be like exhibition ballroom dancing - elegant and graceful.

Upon completion of a fly - don't hate it or love it till at least three days later.

Educate the eyes to distinguish anything unusual or different, no matter how insignificant, then scream out "Why is it different!" Then, if you like it., can you duplicate it over again intentionally.

We often go to extremes to accomplish things - often it results in extremes too.

Given a choice, it's best to tie in natural sunlight. July 30 is often the best day of the year to tie in the Northern Hemisphere.

Know your limitations - if you tie poor wool or herl heads, don't have them on your flies until you practice getting them right.

Spotted Guinea is the best throat hackle there is.

Secrets on Dyeing - Heat the dyed water - stick the material in. I accept the results. Can't get consistency and the color desired? Who cares?!

The lock Scott designed in the 1850's - Too bad it leaves us with no hope to ever design a better pattern. ''Thanks guy, you putz!

"All that glitters is not gold" - Most, if not all, lay people will think any full dressed Salmon Fly is "Gorgeous". This weakens the good Salmon fly's reputation.

Humor is a tremendous asset to bring to the fly vise. After spending hours fighting a Torrish and having the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse tapping on my shoulder, I know I can still laugh at fate - the fly and the rubber hose from my car's exhaust.

Likewise, a terrible temper can be an asset. Tying hour after hour in a frustrating stupor, making mistake after mistake, there comes a time when - I'm not gonna take it any more! Suddenly, a baby mushroom cloud appears over the fly. The terrible Genie is unleashed and the fly is no more. With surprisingly little fallout, once more the atmosphere about the vise is again serene and again the world seems like a better place.

It's not a good sign when words such as "Fetid" and "Miasma" are used in a critique of your fly. However, consider "Succulent" the highest compliment.

When criticizing a beginner's fly, approach it. like a pod of Orcas attacking a school of bluefin tuna. Disagree? Don't you think any surviving tuna will be a better and smarter tuna?!

Just a thought - if there were environmental cavemen (and there weren't at the time of Tyrannosaurs Rex) and T. Rex were an endangered species would they try and save them? And where would we be if birds never developed feathers?

Isn't it a stroke of luck Indian Crow and Blue Chatterer aren't the size of ostriches?

What we need is a booklet of close-up photos of antique Salmon Flies. "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Am I the only one giving the thumbs down to the books by Hale, Francis-Francis, Kelson, Taverner and, yes, even Pryce Tannatt? There is really so little available to tell us about Salmon Flies of the past that these poorly written books look great because it's all we have.

If you have the two books Classic Salmon Flies by Mikael Frodin and The Art of The Atlantic Salmon Fly by Joseph D. Bates, Jr. turn to page 148 in the first and to Plate XV in the latter. Doesn't the drawing of the Popham in Frodin's book resemble Kelson's Popham in Plate XV (center of plate)? Could it be the flies of Kelson's book are more representative than thought?

The only bumper sticker I've ever owned said: "Be ALERT! We need more LERTS!"

Finally - the buffet ends. If you agree with at least 11 of the previous comments - Toooo Baaad! You have symptoms pointing towards being a LERT!