WFI ON THE FLY

INSIDETHISISSUE:

DECEMBER5,2018

IssueNo.020

We are Thankful for YOU!

As the holidays draw near, Our blessings we recall.

So many things we are thankful for, We think about them all.

We appreciate your business, And everything you do.

In fact of all things that we are thankful for We are also Thankful for YOU!

Blessings to you and your family for a wonderful Holiday Season, The Crew at Whiting Farms

Saddle Up With Dr. Tom Pages

2

Featured Dealer 3

Colette’s Coop 4

The Inner Vice 5-7

Featured Tier 8-9

Social Media Buzz 10

Featured Product 11

WFI Info 12

                      

SADDLE UP WITH DR. TOM

Then, utterly out of the blue, young ladies started wearing long saddle hackle feathers, predominantly griz-zly, in their hair as a fashion accesso-ry. Early rumblings of this starting happening in late 2010, mostly evi-denced by an upsurge in orders for our “Utility/EuroHackle” saddles (like 10,000 saddle at a time!). By 2011 the craze was in full swing and saddles were evaporating from any and all fly fishing shops, and even out of fly tiers’ personal stocks from those who want-ed to cash in on this crazy and lucra-tive demand. Fly shops in turn cranked up their orders for saddles in response, which not only tilted the demand balance from capes over to saddles, but instead completely blew it away! It got ugly in some instances. But that is also, perhaps, for a future article. Whiting Farms, in an effort to calm the waters and try to keep things more normal, instigated some new policies to stem this upheaval. In particular limiting numbers of saddle sales to match numbers of cape sales to all clients. This was NOT well received from the shops and distributors, who in some cases DEMANDED every saddle we had. Which, if this truth was better known, would shift the per-ceived blame for the saddle hackle shortage that ensued away from Whit-ing Farms, whom even trade maga-zines were blaming for the shortage, to the shops that were raking in the bounty of this unprecedented situa-tion. But this is not where I am trying to go with this article. Rather, we at Whiting Farms, directly and through our Pro Team and Ambassadors, initi-ated educational efforts to highlight the advantages of using dry fly CAPES in lieu of saddles, citing their range of hook sizes and therefore higher value and convenience for fly tying. This was an attempt by us to balance the demand for the rather simple reason that every rooster has one cape and one saddle, which other-

wise creates unfortunate production and inventory issues when saddle sales far outstrip cape sales. I don’t know whether fly tiers demand shifted toward capes because our edu-cational efforts succeeded, because there was a shear lack of saddles availa-ble in the shops, or there was some oth-er factor that played a role. But since the hair fashion era subsided, demand for capes has materially exceeded de-mand for saddles! And if anything this demand, or preference shift, has inten-sified to the point where we are now in the opposite situation! There is now a shortage of capes in relation to saddles, at least in our dry fly product lines, at Whiting Farms. What the hell? Like any business we have to balance sales to match supply in our system. But since I can’t alter the ratio of capes to saddles on the roosters, we have tried to do this in other ways. We have adjusted the pricing relationships of capes to saddle to make the saddles more economically attractive to hackle purchasers. That hasn’t seemed to shift the demand much, though. What other tools are available to us? We have the ability to offer more dyed color in sad-dles than capes. This is what we are embarking upon now. So the reason to write this article now is to specifically let the shops, distribu-tors, and subsequently the end use tiers know that we are in a new era of saddle availability unknown in the past, both in sheer availability and dyed color op-tions, than ever before. So, yes, Whit-ing Farms is “back in the saddle” so to speak. Damn that sounds corny! But it is true.

Thomas S. Whiting, Ph.D.

Page 2 WFI on the Fly

Back in the Saddle I have intentionally written very lit-tle about the 2011/12 “hair fashion feather phenomena” because there still seems to be some pretty raw feelings about it in the fly tying com-munity to this day. There are actual-ly many interesting facets and effects from this odd event, but that discus-sion should perhaps wait for a future article. But there is one quite pro-found effect I would like to dwell on today that came directly out of the hair feather days. Up until this 2011/12 time period Whiting Farms had always sold slightly more dry fly rooster capes than saddles every year. Even though we were best known for the legendary Hoffman grizzly dry fly saddle, capes amazingly out sold saddles. It always surprised us a lit-tle, but that’s what the year-end numbers revealed. I think there were several contributing factors towards this fact. Predominantly, fly tiers had historically used rooster capes, as they were the principle pelt with dry fly hackle that tiers had availa-ble, at least until Henry Hoffman got going. So the majority of fly tiers were already programmed, if you will, to use rooster capes for dry flies. But also the cape provides a very wide range of feather sizes, which lends it to being useful for a range of flies, from wooly buggers to dry flies to tailing from the throat hackle. To further reinforce this rooster cape preference, nearly all the books and articles on tying dry flies focused on using cape feathers, showing them in their photos. Plus all the competitor dry fly hackle pro-ducers predominantly sold capes. So the cape was king in fly tying through about 2010.

FEATURED DEALER

WFIontheFly

 

 

 

 

Ed’s Fly Shop 

Ed’s Fly Shop is based out of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, approximately 150 miles north of Denver, Colorado.  Lo-cated in the heart of the Colorado 

Rockies, the Shop is close in proximity to some of Colorado’s best fishing.  Within walking distance, the Yampa River is home to some of Colorado’s most beau ful brown and rainbow trout.  The Colorado River, Elk River, 

Steamboat Lake, and Stagecoach Reser-voir also provide excellent river and s ll

-water fishing opportuni es.   

  In January 2010, Ed opened Ed’s Fly Shop with one goal in mind:  to provide the finest quality fly tying sup-plies and gear to anglers.  The Shop carries a wide selec on of fly tying sup-plies including materials, hooks, tools, vises, and accessories.  The Shop also sells a full range of fly fish fishing gear ranging from rods, reels, fly lines, boots, and waders to boats.  New prod-ucts are con nually added based on Ed’s personal fly tying and fly fishing experiences along with product quality.  

Ed’s Fly Shop was pleased to partner with Whi ng Farms to carry their feathers.  Ed could clearly see that Dr. Tom Whi ng was dedicated to pro-ducing not only the highest quality but best selec on of feathers.  Whether it be hackle, saddle or cape, Whi ng Farms provides superb quality at a great value.  Ed’s Fly Shop recently vis-ited Whi ng Farms and was impressed by the passion and hard work of the Whi ng Farms team.   Everyone at Whi ng Farms is commi ed to produc-ing a product that customers around 

the world demand.  It wasn’t surprising to learn that Tom is at the facility day in and day out to ensure the quality and consistency of all products.   

Ed, a fly  er and fisherman him-self, has always been mindful about the product that he carries in the shop.  He puts himself in the shoes of the custom-er and sells only the same merchandise he would purchase for himself.  Ed takes pride in the brands that he carries and thoroughly reviews products before bringing them into the shop.  Ed is dedi-cated to client sa sfac on.   If a custom-er is unhappy for any reason, Ed works hard to make it right.  As a small busi-ness owner, Ed appreciates a customer’s decision to purchase from him. 

  Ed’s Fly Shop is heavily involved in the fly fishing community.  Ed is a board member of the local Trout Unlimited chapter, Yampa Valley Fly Fishers.  Ed’s Fly Shop par cipates in local Trout Unlimited fund raisers, in-cluding the Golf Trout Tournament, a popular two-day tournament where teams fly fish the first day and golf the second day.  The Shop also enjoys hos ng local events, including fly tying nights.  Last year, fly  ers around the area, young and old, par cipated and shared knowledge.  Ed also regularly a ends The Fly Fishing Show in Denver to find great new products.   

Ed’s fishing journey began when he was 8 years old and decided to try fishing in a canal near his house in Flori-da.  A er catching a few bass, he was hooked.  He con nued his  me on the water when he moved to Pennsylvania, and it was only natural to try fly fishing when he moved to Colorado.  Fly fishing became a genuine passion for Ed, be-cause it combined the enjoyment of fish-ing with being outdoors on the water.  In combina on with being on the river, Ed started tying his own flies.  He found fly tying to be engaging and gra fying.  He would spend hours in front of a fly tying vise perfec ng flies for his next fishing adventure.   

To date, Ed’s most memorable fishing adventures have been in Alas-ka where he caught a 30-inch rainbow on the Kenai and the Douglaston Salmon Run in upstate New York where he landed huge king salmon. 

 

https://www.edsflyshop.com/

info@edsflyshop.com (970)372-2395 27486 Brandon Cir, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

Page 3

WFI F COLETTE’S COOP Page 4

A Wise Bird Once Said…..

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. ~ Arnold H. Glasow

 Finding myself reaching the end of another year, I wonder, have I gotten any wiser? You know the saying goes “another year older, another year wiser”. It must be true. I am, in fact, wiser about sev-eral things. You can cut corners; you can drive a bit over the speed limit; you can pass a car, but ultimately you arrive only a minute or two earlier. So all the stress and rushing may not be worth it in the end. It might be better to get there when you get there, safely!

Chickens don’t rush. This is something I have learned over the years at Whiting Farms. This year in particular I would really like to have some of the chickens grow and mature a bit faster. But they just won’t have it. They have their own speed limit and they absolutely stick to that speed. I have to ad-mire them for their fortitude. We set the eggs and watch them, waiting for them to hatch. Much like a pot of water set to boil, the eggs will not hatch any faster if you watch them. Once they do hatch, we have the sweetest baby chicks but they too refuse to grow faster than their natural speed limit. This trend continues through-out their adolescence. Human teenagers always want to grow up way too fast. They want to act and dress like adults. They seem to rush through their teenage years and later wish they could be teenagers again. Not adoles-cent chickens. It’s first gear all the way. Again, they have no desire to rush. When they reach their adult stage of life, chickens continue with the no rush attitude while people

seem to add more and more to our lives leading to the need to rush through every day. Maybe we can learn something from our poul-try friends. Perhaps we should all try to simplify our lives, enjoy friends and family, fish more often and stop rushing through our days. Honestly, I LOVE the idea because I dislike the buildup of stress and that feeling of rushing all the time! Alas, I still wish we could figure out a way to grow chickens faster. I’ll talk to Dr. Tom. He seems to be able to do almost anything!

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched

~ Aesop

Colette accounting@whitingfarms.com

THE INNER VICE

track roads risking high centers and re blowouts in order to find a fishing 

gem away from the minions. 

In essence, what I’ve done is come rela vely full circle back to my youth. It’s been so sa sfying to find pris ne crystal clear li le streams laughing, bubbling, and tumbling over and around boulders into riffles and pools. Fish in a variety of species and a kalei-doscope of color pallets eagerly a acking dry flies mimicking items that are readily available such as ants, beetles, hoppers, stoneflies, caddis, and mayflies. Peace and serenity of the birds, plant life, wild animals in abundance. And nary a human around. Times to relieve stresses of everyday life; where  me seems to stand s ll, and I become whole again! 

Some mes, coming full circle can be a refreshing means of self-enrichment, a way of reflec on, and an energizing, envigora ng act which propels us into the future! I know, for me, my wish is that the future holds many more of these sa sfying experiences on small, rushing, and meandering waters. I won’t totally abandon the various blue ribbon rivers and slow moving spring creeks, but I feel as if I’ve come home. These out of the way brooks feel comfortable like a well worn shirt that was loved for years, and finally located deep in the bo om of a draw-er. I’ve found something I’d lost, and it feels so good! 

 

 Chris Williams

gently released back to the confines from which they came. I felt like I was a “real” fisherman, and I made it a point to fish most of the ac-claimed bodies of water to hone my cra  and learn these hallowed wa-ters. 

For many years I found this life sa s-fying and challenging. I was fortu-nate enough to experience some rather phenomenal days of fishing in my life. I’ve seen blanket hatches, and I’ve fished to waters boiling with nearly two foot trout. I’ve fished ponds, spring creeks, and riv-ers whose bo oms were nearly black with heavy rainbows, browns, cu s, or brook trout. 

Over  me however, my sport has become many other peoples’ favor-ite ac vity as well. The great rivers are loved to death with folks enjoy-ing guided floats and wading abun-dant runs. In many ways I applaud the fact that so many are able to find the same peace I have over the years from the sanc ty of these revered waters. 

But selfishly, I recently have found myself lamen ng the fact that I can no longer commune with nature alone in the environs that have so long held my fascina on. I’ve found myself searching for new waters far from the reaches of folks intent on using fly fishing as their own social pursuit. This has usually involved trudging far into forested areas or driving slowly down ru ed single 

When I first learned to fish over 50 years ago, it was on a high desert stream which cascaded from one plunge pool to the next for several miles. I used my deceased grandfather’s steel telescoping pole, and dapped earthworms and split shot in each li le hole. I was amply re-warded with usually three or four plump redband trout from each hole which went on a wil-low stringer and into a wet, grass lined creel. Each  me I dangled a worm into a likely spot and found a willing par ci-pant on the end of my line, it was not only the fish being hooked, but I was also swallow-ing it hook, line, and sinker! Gradually, the worms morphed to Rapalas, Super Dupers, and Panther Mar ns; which then progressed to Wooly Worms and nymphs, and finally dry flies. 

Over  me I le  these pris ne li le creeks to pursue larger prey on rivers, spring creeks, and s ll waters. The 10-12” beau es that were such a prev-alent part of my youth no long-er seemed quite so im-portant.  The fish I was now stalking were much more dis-cerning than those li le guys, and they were so much more challenging to land, o en run-ning deep into backing and us-ing wily strategies such as wind-ing around submerged logs to escape my grasp. These fish no longer ended up on a dinner plate, but were carefully and 

TrackusontheWeb:www.whitingfarms.com

C W P T M

Page 5 WFI on the Fly

THE INNER VICE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pho to s by Chr i s Wi l l i ams

Page 6

WFI on the Fly

T H E I N N E R V I C E

From the USA:

California 

Ben Byng 

Colorado 

Pat Dorsey 

Charlie Craven 

Michael Gula 

Tim Jacobs 

Merne Judson 

Al Ritt 

Chris Krueger 

Rich Takahashi 

Son Tao 

 

Florida 

Tom Logan 

Minnesota 

Matt Ebbers 

New Jersey 

Michael McAuliffe 

New York 

Bob Lindquist 

Oregon 

Phillip E. Fischer 

Texas 

Chris Johnson 

Utah 

Grant Bench 

Curtis Fry 

Clark (Cheech) 

Pierce

Internationally:

Australia 

Neben Karsten 

Sweden 

Jan Edman 

The Netherlands 

Johan Klingberg 

Martin Westbeek 

Hans Weilenmann 

New Zealand 

Robert Strahl 

United Kingdom 

Christopher Reeves

2018/2019WHITINGFARMSAMBASSADORS!

California 

Steven Fernandez 

Wayne Luallen 

Steve Potter 

Colorado 

Phil Iwane 

Florida 

Mel Simpson 

Idaho 

Chris Williams 

Illinois 

Chris Willen 

Michigan 

Jon Ray 

Montana 

Lars Olsson 

New Hampshire 

Peggy Brenner 

New Jersey 

Chris Del Plato 

New York 

Levern “Vern‐O Burm 

Oregon 

Norm Domagala 

ThankyouallforrepresentingandpromotingWhitingFarmsproducts!

Marc Williamson 

Pennsylvania 

Kieran Frye 

Tennessee 

G.S. “Stack” Scoville, Jr. 

Texas 

Ken Bohannon 

Fred DuPre 

Internationally: 

United Kingdom 

Matthew Pate 

From the USA:

2018/2019WHITINGFARMSPROTEAM!

Page 7 WFI on the Fly

FEATURED TIER

My own personal journey started in arrogant selfishness and pride. Not only did I want to tie flies that were difficult, if not impossible, but I also had to catch the most and the big-gest fish. It is ironic how friends, and life, have a way of cleansing that out of you. I remember one day catching a monster striped bass in Moriches Bay. I can’t tell you the ex-act size of the fish, but I can tell you that I was alone. And I can tell you that, not to brag but to celebrate the moment, I wanted my best buds there with me. When they were not there, a hollow, anticlimactic feeling pervad-ed. Shortly, many of my best friends – among them the very best men I might ever know - would pass and I started to understand what the fly was trying to teach me…. that these flies we tie are relational in nature……. they connect us to far more than just fish. It is not about the biggest or the most, it is about who the flies lead into our lives and the places to which the fly leads. Just to clarify, I am not trying to create some new religion of the fly, the fly is strictly a tool of something far big-ger…… It is I who have been hooked by the fly! The first fly tying show I was invited to was at the behest of my tying mentor, John Pro-korym. It was the initial launch of what would become The International Fly Tying Symposium and was held at the Villa Roma (not so coincidentally, in Callicoon, NY ….. more about that later). I was 22 years old, and it was the first time I was asked to tie with many great tiers: I learned right away that I really needed to improve! Before too long, I became friends with many of these phenome-nal tiers like Ted Patlen, Bob Popovics, Ken Turco and John Haag. We would attend many shows including the Symposium, Som-erset, Marlborough, College Park, Danbury and Timonium. I wrote for many publications like Fly Tyer, Salt Water Fly Fishing, Fly Fisherman and even Japanese Fly Fisherman! Then things got tragic….. John and Kenny passed. I did not want to write and even had a hard time fishing.

Continued on page 10

trout after another. For the first time in a very long time, a good dream (as opposed to a nightmare) did come true! That gentleman, John MacCaffrey, on that day brought the pages to life of all of the books that helped my leg, and my heart, begin to heal. I began to realize the good that could come…… Hard core fly tying blossomed in college when I started to tie professionally. I mass produced classic catskill style trout flies (no easy accom-plishment considering that this was in the BW era (Before Whiting) in the evolution of hackle and the apex of Chinese Neck dominance) to help pay tuition. Then I tied enough saltwater flies for the likes of Orvis, Kittery Trading Post, Ramsey’s and a host of others to pay for a new kitchen and vinyl siding. All of this, in

turn, led to tying at shows and writing for magazines. It also led to the kind of friend-ships, a fellowship of the fly, that fostered something far deeper. To me, this is the heart of the matter:

The interests of people help direct their paths in this world. There is nothing wrong with feeling at ease, peace and just plain right when strumming a guitar, riding a horse, racing the engine of a classic automobile or painting a picture. But for some of us, such powerful, pur-poseful emotions are born at the vise and mature on the water – and there is abso-lutely nothing else that will do.

Scrolling through the inspirational work wit-nessed on the Whiting Facebook page con-firms that I am not alone in this attraction to the fly. I see fellow fanatics who boast both great general skill and specialization. Phil Iwane and Robert Strahl amaze me with their miniature perfection. Steve Potter’s deer hair work is spot on (I have done a TON of deer hair work with saltwater flies and know full well how hard it is to acquire those skills!). The clean tying of Chris, Grant, Matt, Merne and so many others pop off the page and chal-lenge me to improve. And apparently this phenomenon is hardly limited to North Amer-ica, as our brethren abroad have shown.

There is absolutely nothing fun about spend-ing your 7th summer stuck in the house, right leg locked straight in a cast, pins protruding from all angles. On the last day of school, I had been hit by a car. But if there is one thing this life of mine has affirmed it is that, while not everything that happens to us is good, it can be used for good. How does this relate to fly-tying? Please let me explain……. Before that fateful summer, fishing for me was bobbers and bait – a bit of freshwater, but mostly baby bluefish (snappers), which we could catch at the local dock. Then one day my parents suggested I go to the local library and “find something to read” – as if that is going to excite a 7 year old boy who just wants to play ball but physically could not. Given the comparative omnipotence of parents, off to the library we went. As my parents weathered my grumbling, a golden light radiated from a display table. There, with a presence eclipsed only by the Holy Bible itself, stood “The Ency-clopedia of Fishing” by AJ McClane. I could no more resist the pages of that book then Ralphie could resist the BB gun in a Christmas Story! I only needed to quickly thumb through those pages when my focus fixed on diagrams of a fly being tied. I checked out THE book from the library, pestered my parents to go home

and promptly stole some of my dad’s common nails, some of my mom’s sewing thread and ripped open my down pillow. A few minutes after locking one of those 8 penny nails into my dad’s woodworking vise, I produced my first “fly.” My knee wound up being severely damaged. I spent the better part of three years in and out of Lenox Hill Hospital getting surgery on both legs (the initial injury caused almost a 4 inch difference in leg lengths), and my interest in all things fly fishing related helped overcome a pretty bad situation. Visions of brook trout leaped in my head and tugged at my heart. Surgeries now complete, I rode a bike to West Lake in Patchogue and watched an elderly gentleman with a cane rod catch one brook

T T B B B L

Page 8 WFI on the Fly

FEATURED TIER Page 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WFI on the Fly

Fortunately, another friend introduced me to digital photography (just a few short years before, everything was done with slide film) and my new found passion for pictures acted as a bellows for my fly-fishing passion. If the lesson of losing my friends did not com-plete the point, paying for my kid’s college bills did! Paying those bills left little time for fancy, so my tying has come full circle. I could not care less about creating impossible to repro-duce patterns. Meeting college obligations meant that I had far less time in my life, so I sought the simple, quick and effective. I am now a parachute pattern proponent who car-ries a limited number of fly styles designed to cover the water column – whether fishing in salt or fresh water. Whereas in the past I could spend as much time as I wanted on the water and tying, now every opportunity for either was to be cherished in a way never before un-derstood. Today I am a man seduced by multiple forms of the fly and, the other side of fiscal obliga-tion, able to pursue the important – as opposed to the urgent: my wife and I are building our riverfront retirement home on the magnificent Main Stem of the Delaware River in Callicoon (anyone traveling east is welcome to visit and fish), so I am most likely to be pursuing wild trout in the Catskills. Many sleepless nights have been spent chasing the nocturnal striped bass, but my favorite saltwater fish is the false albacore. As trout season and albie fishing wanes, Great Lakes steelhead fishing intensi-fies. All of these fish have two traits in com-mon: first, they are challenging to catch. Sec-ond, they have the heart of a champion. I had the absolute blessing to coach wrestling for 30 years. During that time, I learned that the difference between good and great is found within…. it is the heart. This desire to test a champion’s character is what finds me now dedicating as much time and resources as pos-sible to swinging flies for (primarily) Atlantic salmon and also steelhead. This passion for salmon and steelhead has catalyzed in me the journey to explore both hairwing salmon and spey flies. From an injury to a book, from friends to a home, to a hobby with wings, it is most re-markable how the threads that secure feathers to a hook now capture the flow to the river that is my life.

S O C I A L M E D I A B UZ Z

Tis the Season of Fly Tying

With fall nearing its end, this time of year is often bit-tersweet for fly fishermen. Fishing guides are celebrat-ing the end of a busy season of guiding clients and looking forward to some much needed time on the water for themselves. Die hard anglers are excited that the crowds have diminished and now is the time to find solitude on water normally inundated with fisher-men. The dry fly fishing enthusiast may be suffering for a few months, but alas the dry fly tier sees that the glass is half full when he is making hackle wraps. Welcome fly tiers to the start of the fly tying season. I often think of fly tiers as either three or four season tiers much like the season rating attributed to back-packing tents. Sure there are fly tiers who are always in full fly tying season (4 season tiers) but for most fly tiers (3 season tiers) this is the time to replenish fly boxes with a full supply of patterns. Regardless of the type of tier you are, one thing is certain: this time of year produces an influx of fly tying activities. So what do you do? Where do you start? You already know you have some gaps to fill in your boxes from all the flies you snapped off this season. Was it poor casting? Nah, we know the fish viciously chewed them up. Do you start cranking out the go-to flies, or lead off with some easy midges to knock the rust off? I will admit that it is satisfying to look at a pile of midg-es that only took you an hour. Or, do you plan the granddaddy-of-them all resolutions to tie absolutely everything and organize all of your boxes by their ge-nus species? There is no perfect way to kick the season off, but my advice is to jump back in, one fly at a time. It’s easy to lose track of time at the vise but try not to be a total recluse. Get out and tie with a few friends once in a while. I have a buddy that I facetime with who lives a state over from me and we have tie nights. Our wives give us shit like no tomorrow! "Are you talking to your boyfriend again" says my buddy’s wife. One of my neighbors frequently drops in, unan-

nounced, yelling from the front door, "are you down in your basement building bombs again"? (obviously referring to flies here). I look forward to this time of year, because it’s a nice chance to read a few more fly fishing chronicles, attend a trade show here or there to stoke your passion, and spend some much needed time at the vise. The shorter days, colder weather, and lethargic feed-ing fish are the main factors contributing to the off-season label. But for many of us, fly tying is what allows the continuous quest to keep fly fishing at the forefront of our minds year-round, no matter what the forecast is. It's fun to break the bounds of fly fish-ing humanity in winter though, and try your frozen hand at fishing for selective trout in below freezing temps. In fact, one of my favorite things about win-ter fishing is the relaxing crawl to the stream that most of us choose to take after 2 cups of coffee and a full plate of biscuits and gravy. The long slow winter is brewing a perfect storm for fly tying tables to ex-plode with feather trimmings, or cabin fevers need-ing to break for trout hiding under snow drifts. How-ever your spend this winter fly fishing season, enjoy it like all the rest. Happy Holidays, Fly Tying, and Frozen Fingers,

Adam Kroneberger

Social Media Manager

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F E A T U R E D P R O D U C T

Note: We are revisi ng an ar cle wri en by Pro Team member, Grant Bench in 2016. This ar cle is meless since our Whi ng 100 Packs remain one of our best selling products. Enjoy!   

 

Whi ng 100 Pack By Grant Bench

Whiting Farms’ 100 packs are ideal for the tier looking for value, and consistency without breaking the bank. Recently, I was given the charge to see just how many flies I could get out of the pack and the results were quite impressive. In order to stay consistent, I used all sz.12 dry fly hooks for this mini project. Styles of flies included tenkara, catskill, English, and French style dry flies and of course, traditional dry flies we use here in the West. Most ten-kara style flies required only 4 wraps of hackle. In fact, I was able to produce 15 tenkara (sakasa kebari) style flies utilizing one feather! That’s an astounding 60 wraps of hackle in one! Others required up to 15 wraps of hackle, i.e. the bivisible. On others such as the crackleback, I used 6 wraps of hackle while on the reverse para-chute patterns, 10-12 were required. So as you can see I was all over the place w/ regards to wraps per fly. Averaging it out, 6 wraps of hackle were used in each fly which may be a bit of overkill or it may be spot on depending on how much hackle you like to use on your flies. My total of finished bugs came out to be 155 bugs with 6 being discarded due to o.c.d. reasons. Due to the nature of each feather and each one being different, for sizing purposes there was about eight 1.5” tips leftover that I will use for small-er flies down the road so potentially the total number would be 160+ bugs out this single 100 pack. Assuming my math is correct, the aver-age tier should be getting 12-13 flies out of each feather. Taking that number and multiplying by the number of feathers in each size 12 pack (12) our magic number is 156. How’s that for value? Maybe they should be called 150 packs? September 2016  

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W F I S O C I A L M E D I A I N F O R M AT I O N

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