Recent comments

I know Africa is not a country

Tim,

I know that Africa is a continent and not something that should be viewed as a single entity. There's a huge difference between the different countries, but for my headline, I chose to simplify things. And I don't think my headline vilifies anybody to be honest. The post is about the connection between Africa and flies.

And to say that it's based on a "bit of spam" just shows that you obviously don't see what I see in my inbox, in the comments on this site and on my Facebook page. Having a large and popular web site attracts a lot of people, and I prune out messages from people wanting to do business with me on a daily basis. A lot of those are fly tyers based somewhere in Africa. And yes, that might not mean Morocco or South Africa, but to most of the GFF readers Africa is about as much info needed to place it as it is for you to know that I'm based in Europe. There's no derogatory motif behind that, just a wish to make understanding easier.

And sure the English in most of these messages is way better than my Swahili or Yoruba, but that doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to share the funniest ones and poke a bit to those who are clearly not showing their own flies in their marketing.

I am also sure that there are plenty of these operations that deliver excellent flies, and have seen lots of flies come from Africa and Asia, which are easily as good as flies tied in any European of US based flyshop. The post actually both mentions one and shows flies tied by a factory where people clearly both know how to tie flies and how to market themselves.

Regarding payment and logistics in connection with doing business with these manufacturers I have only little knowledge about the options, and I would be the wrong person to give advice on how to transact with them.

Last but not least, I don't think I'm tarring anyone but the businesses I mock and surely not a whole continent – in spite of the headline.

Thanks for your comment.

Martin

Threads

Thank you very much, sharing your extra ordinary results of your tests.
I like to see that others the same named attributes of the producers of thread are willing to test.
It is a long way, but some guys are the better "detectives"

Bets regards
Eberhard

African Fly Connection

I feel compelled to comment on your piece "African Fly Connection". Firstly some very good flies come out of Kenya, although I suspect that not all are, just as not all flies anywhere are top class. Secondly I would suggest that the average level of English from the correspondents (almost certainly a second language) clearly exceeds the grammatical abilities of at least one of your commentators. I would further point out that I am pretty sure that many of the flies that are sold in US shops come from Africa or the East and are sold at a pittance compared to the shelf cost in your local fly shop. But the really sad thing is that your headline vilifies and entire continent based on a bit of spam. There are plenty of competent Fly Anglers, Fly Casters and Fly Tyers in various African countries. It is incredibly difficult to do small amounts of business with the US, simply getting paid is a nightmare, as to suggesting Pay Pal, well I can't stop laughing, come to Africa and try to deal with Pay Pal.. So whilst we all get annoyed by spam, be it from Chinese hook manufacturers or Kenyan Fly Tyers it isn't reasonable to tar everyone with the same brush and denigrate an entire continent based on a couple of emails. Kindest regards Tim Rolston www.inkwaziflyfishing.co.za

Fishing in Sweden

Kasper, Great Article. I was wondering, with your recent Election, are the Greens Going to try and close off more areas to Fishing? Cheers, MDD

flies from Kenya

There are a number of very good suppliers in Kenya, i have used Fly fishing Kenya a number of times and have never been disappointed. I know of a few others that get their flies from the same area and try to pass them off as hand tied locally, the world loves a trier.

John

Too cold for me!!!

Wow,Martin you must have an internal furnace my fly hurling bretheren, I myself wouldnt be able to get out of the truck let alone get geared up for arctic exploration, great article/story showcasing the length some of the crazier fly fisherman go to pursue what they love. I am at least motivated to day dream od winter tubing.

Hi Paul

Hi Paul
Nice summing up. I look forward to next summit in April.

Hi to all the 2006 brave ones

Hi to all the 2006 brave ones! ...thrilled to see all those happy faces again.

new info on leaders

I'm writing an article on fly leaders and wanted to know if you had anything to add to what you wrote in your book. It's been a while. I plan to discuss commercial knotless leaders, knotted leaders, furled and woven leaders and a new coated type I just heard about. I want to give readers some idea of the range of choices there are and the trade-offs. Any informatin you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Mark H.

Czech Nymph

Very nice tie.

Independent

Pjevsemand,

Yes, there is some resemblance, but the two flies came to life far apart and very separately. The Burning Man owes everything to my own fly The Plipper as told in the text, and wasn't actually inspired by anything else.

Martin

Contact the producers

Bookworm,

Try contacting the producers, Mountain Media. There's a link in the fact box, but you can also go directly to http://www.mountainmedia.se/en/contact/

Martin

nice vice

Tim, awesome demo. I would buy this vice in a heartbeat but it is way over my budget.

Richard's comment is bs. Most Americans say buy American but it is a hypicritical/ignorant comment since most of their own products are made overseas yet they don't even realize it or consciencly ignore it. Take a look around Richard and you'll see you're a big fan of overseas products. You love China, Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, etc but won't admit it.

You obviously buy quality products and spend your money wisely. Keep up the good work, and in thiw case, go Italia!

giants of em

where can I buy this ????

Organza

Another great fly Davie! I have been tying a lot of nymphs with organza as it makes great gills ! Now I will use it on my chironomid patterns as well!

Thanks
Bob

foam poppers

The Burning Man looks a little like Jack Plott's Hula Popper as shown on this site.

I use these by the dozens on

I use these by the dozens on selective trout on the Missouri on 6-7x tippets, so I lose a lot of them. But this is an easy, quick, and effective way to tie the comparadun.

I've seen this way on YouTube

I have seen this way and it looks easy enough but I am sure you have to practice a few times. I prefer to tie the feather on the hook then fold the hackle while wrapping. It seems to me to take less time. I suppose if you knew how many flies you would be tying it could all be done at once and thereby increasing number of flies tied. Thanks for being on facebook because it is easier for some of us to use to find articles. All the best to you and yours. Sean

triple haul

Great pointer! I've got the double haul covered with my #8 9ft and #4 6ft, but after reading this article I'm going for a #6 9 ft this season and will search for that WTF tapered line & a friend to accompany me :-)

Ted,

Ted,

Thanks for your suggestion!

The donation button has been on my mind and I have even set it up on PayPal, but never got around to implement it. I have different ideas on how to activate the site and its users, and the option to donate might be one of the thing that will appear.

Martin

Machining students would like to try as a student project

Tom:

Thanks for sharing your work. It's amazing.

I am an administrator at a community/technical college that has both machining and woodworking programs. My students would like to try and reproduce your vice as a class project. Is there anyway that we could discuss?

Doug Long

Antenna's

The cdc antennas are tot stiff, its better that it is softer, otherwise the fish spit it out. But overall its a nice shrimp imitation.

Since you're so busy with the

Since you're so busy with the 'new' GF why not make a donation button? I for example donate $5 each year to Wikipedia, not much but it helps them going.

Eel-like creature

As far as I can see, this is a hair worm with Latin name being Gordius aquaticus(cf), living parasiticaly in insects. I don´t know an English name.
Regards
Siegfried