“wfi on the fly” -...

“WFI ON THE FLY”

Seems we are all shocked when au-tumn arrives and the summer fishing season is nearly over; yet this issue of the WFI is full of good ideas for using the High & Dry Hackle to get ready for next summer, and just in time for the winter tying season! Tom Mullen, our USA Sales Coordina-tor, has written an article on using the High & Dry Rooster Cape materi-al and included some of his favorite fly patterns, including the Poor Witch, created by Jim Poor, founder of Anglers All Fly Shop in Littleton, CO—this month’s featured dealer. You will also find a great ant pattern using H&D from Martin Westbeek of Holland. We were proud to have Martin at Whiting Farms in 2005

when he brought five students who had the assignment to research and make recommendations for the Whit-ing distribution in Europe. See more about Martin in the “High & Dry Chal-lenge” article.

Have a splendid autumn season. Dr. Thomas S. Whiting and

the Whiting Team As a side note from “the team”, when you get this newsletter, grab a bever-age, take a break from your busy day, curl up in a comfy chair and enjoy Dr. Tom’s article on genetics. Don’t be in a hurry, you’ll want to spend some time digesting the information. It’s a terrific read and an article you’ll want to save for future reference!

Sept. 2013

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Saddle Up with Dr. Tom:

“Poultry Gene Pool—A

Glimpse Inside the Coop“

Pages

2-7

Dealer News: Anglers All 8-9

Colette’s Coop: News

from the Office

10

Pro Team sCOOP”: by

Pat/Carol Oglesby

11-12

Featured Pro Teamer:

Bob Jacklin

13-17

Product Feature:

High & Dry Capes

by Tom Mullen

18-21

High & Dry Challenge:

Martin Westbeek

22-23

High & Dry: WHY? 24

Humor: (Fish ‘n Chicks) 25

Sept. 2013 "WFI On The Fly"

Whiting Farms Mission Statement:

To produce the highest quality, value and selec-

tion of feathers for the fly tiers of the world.

Whiting Farms Pro Team Mission Statement:

To be the ambassadors of the WFI products to the

fly tying community.

W h i t i n g F a r m s , I n c .

5796 Sawmill Mesa Road P.O. Box 100 Delta, CO 81416 USA

Track us on the Web:

www.whitingfarms.com C o n t a c t u s a t i n f o @ w h i t i n g f a r m s . c o m

1 - 9 7 0 - 8 7 4 - 0 9 9 9

The breeding of chickens specifi-cally for their feathers is a very, very small niche industry, barely even known about by the regular food poultry industry or by the primary poultry breeders. The total world market for genetically bred fishing fly-tying feathers may only be around $5 million per year, and thus supports but a few small businesses. This minor market is also at the mercy of a number of impinging factors, such as currency exchange rates, trout "whirling" disease and other aquatic nuisances, export impedi-ments due to disease concerns (i.e., avian influenza, exotic new-castle), regional droughts which affect fishing, and even global cli-

matic change. All in all, being in the "feather business" is a clas-sic niche enterprise, with the incumbent high risk/reward aspects. It is also a long-term endeavor due to a rather severe initial learning curve develop-ing the needed facilities and husbandry to produce quality, undamaged feathers to sell. So these are the overriding con-cepts I want to convey – that feathers are hardly a "get-rich-quick" business – and that you better love it if you want to get into it, because it is definitely a project for the long haul.

All these warnings having been said, the feather business can be a very rewarding pursuit. Fish-ing fly tiers take their feathers surprisingly seriously, even passionately, and are very will-ing to pay considerable money for the pelts. Most of our prod-ucts at Whiting Farms sell from $12 to $65 per pelt at retail, with two pelts coming from each rooster. We even sell a few "collector" capes – called "Ultra Platinums," which are probably never even tied with – for $150 apiece, which are al-ways on backorder. So it can be lucrative if all aspects of the en-terprise are clicking: genetics, husbandry, facilities, processing and marketing.

In regard to genetics of the feather business, "dry fly" hack-le is the most complex and im-portant.

SADDLE UP WITH DR. TOM “POULTRY GENE POOL —A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE COOP”

"WFI On The Fly"

D r . T o m W h i t i n g i n h i s c o r p o r a t e a t t i r e , s h o w s t w o r o o s t e r s . T h e b i r d o n t h e r i g h t h a s o n e e x t r a g e n e

r e s u l t i n g i n a r o o s t e r w i t h “ h e n ” f e a t h e r s . T h e r o o s t e r o n t h e l e f t h a s g e n e s t h a t r e s u l t i n n o c o m b n o r w a t t l e .

P h o t o b y P a t O g l e s b y

This article was originally

written and presented as part

of a genetics roundtable dis-

cussion. It has been edited

and included in the WFI

newsletter as a point of inter-

est to Whiting’s dealers, dis-

tributors and Pro Team mem-

bers for use in deepening your

understanding of the produc-

tion of feathers and to better

communicate with your cus-

tomers and constituents in

the fly-tying industry when

they have questions about the

origin, importance and exclu-

sivity of the Whiting product

lines.

SADDLE UP WITH DR. TOM, CONT.

"WFI On The Fly"

Dry fly hackle are rooster feath-ers that, when wrapped around a fishing hook, splay out into a dense hackle "collar," which when cast onto water causes the fishing fly to stand atop the water – thus a "dry fly." Dry fly hackle are the feathers from the head and neck of a rooster, usu-ally referred to as the "cape," and sometimes the back feath-ers, called either the "saddle" or "saddle hackle." Commercial type roosters, show breeds, or "barn yard" fowl have hackle feathers too, of course. But, as any fly tier will tell you, their feathers don't begin to have the characteristics that can tie a de-cent fly nor float a hook on the water. It is only through pains-taking, long-term selection for the host of characteristics that will accomplish these functions that roosters will grow good dry fly hackle. And this is referred to as "genetic" hackle.

The genetic lines that are used to produce dry fly hackle – which are the most demanding fly tying feathers to produce and command the highest pric-es – only have a few origins.

Whiting Farms was founded upon the exclusive purchase of the "Hoffman Hackle" line from Henry Hoffman in 1989. Hen-ry's parents had a small meat chicken breeding enterprise in California and so Henry grew up learning the basics of poultry selection and husbandry. But Henry's great passion was fly-

fishing, which spawned a nearly equal interest in fly tying. In the 1960's Henry was tying flies com-mercially and he was frustrated with the inability to even get usa-ble "grizzly" feathers, grizzly being a black and white barred pattern that is an essential in fly tying. So Henry found a trio, initially, of Barred Plymouth Rock Bantams, which had fairly decent neck and saddle feathers. He started a rudi-mentary breeding program with these, adding a few more barred individuals and incorporating the two other essential hackle colors – white and brown, using "show" poultry stocks and breeds. Few if any records were kept of what was done, but in long conversa-tions with him I have concluded the whole gene pool of the "Hoffman Hackle" line goes back to between 6 and 12 individuals! What made Henry's feathers supe-rior to all others was that he was himself using the feathers to tie flies commercially, and he always selected sires which provided hackle that "turned" on the hook ideally, and not with problems such as twisting, fracturing, etc. And this "tying performance" cri-terion made the Hoffman Hackle appreciated and coveted. The per-formance selection strategy has been considerably expanded and used in all lines at Whiting Farms.

The other major genetic line in the dry fly field had a far more diverse origin and development, and has been more widely dispersed. Many stocks and breeders have contributed to it over the 70 or 80

years of its existence, but the two most significant individu-als were Harry Darbee from New York State and Andy Miner, Jr. of Minnesota. Both were serious fly tiers, Darbee commercially and Miner as a hobbyist, who endeavored to breed roosters that had de-cent dry fly hackle. Darbee was active in the 1940's, 50's and 60's, and provided Miner with his foundation stock in the 1960's. But both individ-uals incorporated chickens from a myriad of other hobby breeders, show poultry breeds and even fighting cocks in pursuit of their be-loved hackle. Andy Miner, by profession an attorney, be-came the "Johnny Appleseed" of the hackle world, giving chickens and eggs to whom-ever requested them, for the love of fly-fishing and fly ty-ing. And he never sold a sin-gle pelt, instead gave them away, only asking for fishing flies in return. The extant hackle producers in business now (Metz, Keough, Collins) founded their production with "Miner" stock. I also ac-quired one branch of the Min-er stock, which I named the "Hebert/Miner" product line, to delineate that its origin was from Andy Miner through Ted Hebert of Michigan, who arguably received the best of the Miner stock and/or did the best job with them. The sole surviving son of Andy Miner contacted me and ex-pressed his appreciation that

"WFI On The Fly"

I had openly credited his fa-ther with his pioneering and generous work in the hackle field, and his unhappiness with the lack of credit some of the other hackle producers had given his father. A friend-ship with Bill and Kathy Miner has developed and I have been given the books, breed-ing records, photos, historic pelts and other memorabilia of Andy Miner, Jr., which I hope to develop into a book and museum some day.

What's always been fascinat-ing to me, from a genetics point of view, is that the breeding strategies and meth-ods employed by the two principal hackle pioneers, Henry Hoffman and Ted Hebert, couldn't have been more different! Actually even diametrically opposed in some respects. Both men were passing on their life's work to me (after I'd paid their purchase prices) and so spent considerable effort ex-plaining how they began and developed their stocks and methods. Both individuals had the same, exact goals – high quality dry fly hackle – which is long, supple, web-free cape feathers, which when wrapped unproblemati-cally on a hook, created hackle barb collars that stood the fly on the surface tension of wa-ter, to entice a trout to take the fly. But Hoffman, starting and continuing with an ex-tremely narrow genetic foun-


dation, would only select, painstakingly, roosters for their phenotypic traits, and nearly never considered even looking at the female side. Yet he named his families or lines solely after the dam lineage, regardless of the male used on them. While Hebert, after tu-torage by Andy Miner, selected predominantly on the female side by phenotypic feather characteristics, principally the most "roostery" feathers on a pullet; and he used whatever rooster seemed obviously ade-quate to be a sire. Further-more, the Hoffman method amounted to extremely close inbreeding, intentionally or unintentionally. But the Miner/Hebert method pre-scribed never mating like with like, intentionally or uninten-tionally fostering diversity and minimal inbreeding accumula-tion. Couple with the fact that the Miner strain was a con-glomeration of assorted breeds, (i.e., Blue Andalusian, Brown Leghorn, fighting cocks), the two hackle strains were in radically different ge-netic states when I acquired them: the Hoffmans in 1989 and the Hebert/Miners in 1996.

Since the feather characteris-tics which constitute dry fly hackle "quality" have been of little interest to poultry investi-gators in the past, what these pioneers in hackle breeding had done was the best initial guide to how I should proceed

with their stocks. Neither fel-low did any real pedigree work, instead simply selecting on phenotypic "qualities," as they perceived them, with ba-sically a strategy of "find the best, breed with the best, and hope for the best." But this evi-dently worked in that the Hoff-man and Hebert pelts were definitely known as the best available, which was why I ac-quired their stocks.

A brief discussion of colors is in order at this juncture. Many fly tiers tend to think that feather colors are of primary importance and difficulty in breeding hackle birds. But they are not really, for two reasons. Firstly, the principal colors needed to fulfill demand – grizzly, white (for dying), and brown – are all quite easy to achieve. Sex-linked barring for grizzly, dominant white for white, and any number of the multi-allelic series of extended black for brown will give you the basis colors. These geno-types are quite stable, and with a little phenotypic selec-tion can be tweaked to satisfy most fly tiers. The ginger shades tend to be less stable, with modifiers that shift inten-sity. But since ginger is usual-ly sold as either light, medium or dark ginger, such segrega-tion doesn't create too much of a problem. The "duns," which are a rather ill-defined group of grayish/brownish shades, but quite important in imitat-ing mayflies, are somewhat of


a challenge in that most are in-completely dominant, requiring crosses. One, however, is a sim-ple recessive, the "lavender" gene, lv, which does breed true. In all, I have six different genetic "duns," a few of which have not been described previously but work in my programs. If there are difficult colors, then pure black and "cree" are the tough-est. Pure black is easy to breed, but the problem arises in that the density of pigment to create black is so intense that the barbs tend to be unacceptably soft and/or curved – not ade-quate for tying really. So we mostly dye for black. And "cree" is a rare, "collector" color pattern that is quite beautiful, involving repeating barring of white, brown and black. Its problem is it doesn't breed true, requiring instead a three-way cross. And only a tiny fraction of the terminal cross actually yields cree amongst the many other phenotypic segregants; and what cree does result, even varies between good cree and barely cree. So cree is only available on a long waiting list, and probably a good portion of cree pelts sold never even get used for tying flies, but are just kept and shown off.

The second reason colors are really not too important is fish see colors differently than we do coupled with the fact that color perception is greatly im-pacted by water. But this is out-side the present subject of ge-netics, so I won't delve further

"WFI On The Fly"

into it in this article.

So feather colors are a fairly easily managed aspect of hack-le breeding, especially if one has the capacity to do quality dying.

The real challenges in hackle breeding are in the continu-ously variable, qualitative traits, as with most breeding endeavors. To cite some of the characteristics which contrib-ute to feather quality and pelt value:

feather length density of feathers on the

pelt freedom from web (usable

length) symmetry of barb length density of barbs per unit

length distribution of hook-size

range on the cape and sad-dle

moderate taper of the ra-chis (quill)

freedom from turning problems

smoothness and sheen of the feathers

All these qualities determine how well the feathers perform for the fly tier, both in the ty-ing vise and on the water catching fish. And because the unit of use is the individual feather, all aspects must work together for the fly tier to be pleased with the product and therefore willing to pay the price for the whole pelt.

Of course the biologic support system that extrudes these fly-tying feathers, the rooster, must be selected to accommo-date such a function. Obvious-ly, vigor is always a criterion. But temperament and confor-mation play significant roles in whether the dry fly hackle rooster can carry the feathers in an undamaged state until he is harvested at around 45 weeks of age. Over-active or aggressive individuals tend to damage their feathers. And the long saddle (back) dry-fly hackle that Henry Hoffman initially developed, which now never ceases growing, re-quires not only a calmer roost-er, but a wide, flat back, to keep the 8 to 12 inch saddle feathers out of harm's way of the feet and manure accumu-lation.

As all of you can imagine, the above listed feather and chick-en traits are multi-genetic and continuously variable. Though I have never done any formal heritability estimates on any of these traits, after 17 years of selecting for them, I have a fairly good sense of which are highly, moderately or lowly heritable from the ease and rapidity of progress from se-lection. Fortunately a few are higher heritable, most are moderate, and a couple have maddeningly low heritability. I have also developed some selection criteria that can be mass selected on breeder can-


didate pullets, for traits that are essentially sex limited to rooster feathers.

Because the hackle business is such a small industry, only sup-porting about a half-dozen compa-nies, it makes sense that each com-pany be vertically integrated from the foundation stock through to final packaged pelts. Stock is not sold and is considered proprietary. I can't speak to how the other hackle breeders conduct their pro-grams, but I have a very hands-on system. I pull every hatch, record-ing the data, keeping notes and processing the chicks. I select eve-ry female, between 23 and 30 weeks of age, typically retaining the best 10 - 20% as breeders. I put together all matings: a few mass matings, but most are caged in single sire pens for individual or group matings. An increasing amount of artificial insemination work is being done, largely for lack of more mating cages. But the heart of the program is my going through every single rooster in the system at harvest. With the aid of a crew, I examine under a bright light, each and every rooster. Most simply go to harvest, which is eu-thanasia by CO2 gas. The individu-als that I think have potential as breeder candidates are returned to a cage and "flagged" for later, thor-ough examination. Due to the small scale of my operations, and the fact that I put together every mating and see every rooster, I am intimately familiar with all the lines and can fairly quickly ascer-tain whether any given rooster is a contender for being a sire. I also have the perspective of where the lines have come from, where they

"WFI On The Fly"

are now, and a mental image of where I want to take them. Plus what are their needs or deficien-cies. This intimate, constant fa-miliarity with all lines affords me the opportunity to know what their strengths and weaknesses are, to further their progression towards some quality ideal. The contenders get a painstaking, two-page dossier filled out on them. If a rooster passes this thorough scrutiny, then I pull 12 feather samples from specific locations on the principal two pelts. These are given to one of the pelt graders at Whiting Farms who has about 30 years of fly tying experience, and he liter-ally wraps each feather around a hook and critiques the critical facets of how they perform on the hook and potentially on the water. The form he fills out on each set of samples is incorpo-rated with the prior evaluation to determine whether this indi-vidual will be used to breed with, and if so—

How: Production or Pedigree.

Such thorough rooster examina-tion, with different traits weighted as to need and/or im-portance, has resulted in fairly rapid overall progress. Selection pressures are usually in the top one-half to one percent of the production roosters. Of course the need for balance amongst the traits, with an understanding and judgment towards appropri-ate emphasis, is what makes the breeding program a success or not. And as the lines and birds evolve, so must the selection sys-

tem. This one generational selection system is simple and direct, and I think appropriate for the scale of the market and production systems. Whiting Farms has 60,000 individual rooster cages in 14 rooster sheds, with 9 brood / grow barns and one breeder shed and hatchery. These facilities are spread out on two sepa-rate ranches within about a 20-mile radius in Western Colo-rado. Redundant populations of pedigreed females, of the principal product lines, are kept on both of the ranches at all times as a safety measure.

Besides the aforementioned two dry-fly hackle lines, Whit-ing Farms has a host of other lines developed for their fly tying feathers. These include a genetic wet-fly hackle prod-uct line that was started from scratch in 1992 and is now a fairly significant component of sales. Wet-fly hackle is used for saltwater, bass, etc: any type of sub-surface feathered fishing fly. A "Spey" hackle, which was initiated to imitate Heron feathers for tying At-lantic salmon flies, has been under development for nearly 10 years. A gray partridge substitute, from breeds having mottled gray hen feathers, is another avenue whereby a non-domesticated species, which has a fundamental fly-tying feather, has been ap-proximated on a hen to facili-tate production and economy. The oldest known chicken breed, bred specifically for fly


"WFI On The Fly"

tying feathers, the Coq de Leon from Northwest Spain, was im-ported in the early 1990's. Tra-ditionally the roosters were plucked of their shoulder and back feathers (always on the third phase of the moon!) and sold in bundles of a dozen. Writ-ten records of these practices go back in Spain 500 years. Whiting Farms has adapted their Coq de Leons to a pelt based product. Whiting Farms has a number of other minor or R & D lines. Ideas for new product lines come from fly tiers telling us what they want and/or can't get, and also from 100 "Pro Team Members" who are expert fly tiers, who do exhi-bition tying, are authors, or just highly regarded, who help guide Whiting Farms and act as our out-reach group.

The United States is still the larg-est single market for fly tying feathers, with Japan the largest foreign market. In all, Whiting Farms sells into 40 different countries around the globe, with slightly over half of recent years' sales being outside of the USA. Typically distributors are used in foreign countries, but not always. Commercial fly tying factories, where fishing flies are all hand-tied, almost exclusively by wom-en, is a growing sector for Whit-ing Farms. Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, the Philippines and Kenya are where a preponderance of these fly factories are located.

Thomas Whiting, Ph.D.


“There you have it;

creating hackle in a nutshell

(or rather an egg shell)!

FEATURED DEALER—ANGLERS ALL L ITTLETON, COLORADO

A n g l e r s A l l s t o r e f r o n t i n L i t t l e t o n , C O

Anglers All is located at 5211 South Santa Fe Drive, in Littleton, CO. You may reach them toll free at 1-800-327-5014, direct at 1-303-794-1104, Fax 1-303-730-8932.

Website: http://www.anglersall.com P h o t o b y M i c h a e l G u l a

In 2014 Anglers All will be celebrating its 60th anniversary. A milestone we are very proud of here at the shop. Not only are we 60 years old but have been in the same location since 1969. The company was founded by Jim Poor in 1954 as Mountain View Tackle and moved into its current location in 1969, tak-ing on the name Anglers All. The shop has changed hands very few times, the latest in 2009. Since the new regime we have renewed our focus on great people, comfortable atmosphere, and the best selection in the specialty fly business. We have been a dealer and supporter of Whiting Farms for as long as we can remember. Today our fly tying selection features many of the Whiting farms products and we all use them on our personal fly ty-ing benches. As other feather merchants have come and gone, Whiting continues to deliver the highest quality feathers. Since Anglers All prides itself on the best selection and quality of fly tying inventory the partnership is a natural one.

C o n t i n u e d

"WFI On The Fly"

If you are a Whiting Farms Dealer and would like

to contribute to this column, contact Colette at

[email protected]

FEATURED DEALER CONTINUED —ANGLERS ALL L ITTLETON, COLORADO

"WFI On The Fly"

Anglers All is a full-service fly shop serving the Mile-High Denver area. In addition to their complete retail shop they offer casting clinics, and fly-tying schools, guided trips and destination excursions, fly fishing classes of the “101” variety as well as advanced techniques such as spey casting schools and “on-the-money” casting methods to im-prove one’s accuracy and distance skills to become a better angler. Owner, Chris Keeley and Manager, Greg Garcia, are friendly fly fishing experts and experienced sportsmen. For convenience, out of town customers may purchase from the store’s on-line shopping service.

T h e “ W h i t i n g ” w a l l a t A n g l e r s A l l P h o t o b y M i c h a e l G u l a

I BEG YOUR “PARDO”!

A wise women once said “Never apologize, never ex-plain. Just get the thing done and let them howl.” Here is another one I like, “Never apologize for the truth. The right sort of people do not want apologies and the wrong sort take mean ad-vantage of them.”

Now that we have that clear, let’s get down to business. The new season has begun! It started September 1, 2013. It always feels like a fresh start; sort of like slapping on a new coat of paint. Each season we send out new season order forms, pricing and terms doc-uments to all of our custom-ers by email. Over the past few months we have spent a lot of time considering what products and colors to offer this season. We have a few new products on the order forms this year, which is al-ways exciting.

Now here is the truth: While we tried desperately to get the new season information out to everyone by Septem-ber 1st it actually went out a couple of weeks after the first of September. I won’t lie; this hurt my ego just a bit because I really wanted to make that

goal! In fact, part of me wanted to beg your “pardo” for being late this year. However, we have been busy, working very hard and while we didn’t meet the goal, we came within a few tail feathers (rooster talk for weeks) and that is the truth.

By now, if you are an active Whiting Farms customer, you should have received your “2013/2014 Season” paperwork by email or by mail if you are one of the few who don’t have an email address on file. We always email these forms to the primary contact email account we have on file. So check that account. You might even check your spam folder if you don’t see the email since it came with attachments and might have been placed in your junk mail folder by accident.

If you’ve looked and still don’t see your new season paperwork feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’ll send you another copy.

Please don’t forget to complete the informational update page of the terms document and re-turn it to us as soon as possible. It is the last page of the terms document you received. It helps us to make sure we have the most current information on file for you, not only in our comput-er system here at Whiting, but also on our website if you have a Dealer or Distributor listing.

Now, you’ll have to eggscuse me until next time. I have to get back to work in the Coop!

Have a great fall.

Colette

“COLETTE’S COOP”

"WFI On The Fly"

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

GREETINGS PRO

TEAM!

We really appreciate the feedback we have received from many of you. You are the “eyes and ears” in the field for WFI and you are in a position to see trends and hear what tiers are looking for in materials. Many of you will be the first to know about “what is happening in the fly tying world.” We encourage you to communicate with us and let us know what is going on in your fly tying world. As you know, sometimes things can change rapidly in fly tying. Oc-casionally it is the development and re-lease of a pattern by a recognized tier, sometimes it is an article that has been written about a particular material or, more often, no one knows what triggered the trend. At Whiting Farms it takes some time to respond to demand. We can’t just put on another shift and produce more “widgets”. It may take generations, and from the time the egg hatches until you get the pelt in your hand, it is nearly a year. As Dr. Whiting mentions in his article, he wel-comes, even relies on, feedback from his Pro Team in developing genetic lines that are critical “tools” of the fly-tying trade. Please take the time to study Dr. Tom’s fas-cinating “gene pool” article in this newslet-ter.

Our featured Pro Tier in this issue, Bob Jacklin, is a strong supporter of WFI; and regarding the WFI Pro Team, he says, “I am pleased to be a part of the Whiting Farms Pro Team and enjoy tying with the quality and innovative feathers produced by Dr.

Tom Whiting and Whiting Farms.” We are pleased to have Bob on board and we consider him a special friend.

Just a reminder – don’t forget to submit your annual documentation for the WFI Pro Team qualifications as the end of the year is just around the corner. Let us know what you’ve been doing. And, another reminder to those of you who have not yet mailed in your six flies. Please mail them to Whiting Farms, Inc. at P.O. Box 100, Delta, CO 81416 (USA). If you have any questions or concerns, about your docu-mentation / flies or anything else, do not hesi-tate to contact us. We would love to hear from you.

We look forward to seeing many of you the end of September in West Yellowstone, MT at the International Federation of Fly Fishers Fair. It is always impressive to see the number of Pro Team tiers present at these major shows.

Thanks to all of you for your continued sup-port and representation of Whiting Farms.

Carol and Pat Oglesby

[email protected]

PRO TEAM “SCOOP” BY PAT & CAROL OGLESBY

"WFI On The Fly"

N OT E : T o s u b m i t a n a r t i c l e f o r

c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n t h e F e a t u r e d T i e r s e c t i o n , o r t o c o n t r i b u t e a f l y p a t t e r n o r

i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t a W h i t i n g F a r m s p r o d u c t y o u a r e e x p e r i m e n t i n g w i t h ,

c o n t a c t P a t a n d C a r o l a t p r o t e a m @ w h i t i n g f a r m s . c o m

From the USA:

California

Ben Byng

Ken Hanley

Scott Hoff

Wayne Luallen

David McCants

Steve Potter

Colorado

Ed Berg

Pat Dorsey

Michael Gula

Tim Jacobs

Merne Judson

Larry Kingrey

Mark McMillan

Carol Oglesby

Pat Oglesby

Jeff Oulton

Taila Oulton

Al Ritt

Jon Spiegel

Steve Schweitzer

Rich Takahashi

Jerry Toft

Kirk Webb

Connecticut

Roger Plourde

Florida

Bruce Chard

Oscar Feliu

Tom Logan

Dave Schmezer

Mel Simpson

“sCOOP” - THE 2013 WHITING FARMS PRO TEAM!

"WFI On The Fly"

Georgia

Tim Ivey

Iowa

Ward L. Bean

Idaho

Bruce Staples

Chris Williams

Louisiana

Rusty Dunn

Massachusetts

Joe Cordeiro

Leslie Wrixon

Michigan

Dennis Potter

Minnesota

Brad Befus

Tyler Befus

Missouri

Roxanne Wilson

Terry Wilson

Mississippi

Melvin G. Pecaut

Montana

Bob Jacklin

Bob Lay

Lars Olsson

E. Neale Streaks

Nebraska

Sue Armstrong

New Hampshire

Peggy Brenner

New Jersey

Chris Del Plato

New Mexico

Deborah Duran

Bill Fenstermaker

Deward Yocum

New York

Frank J. Audino

Levern “Vern-O Burm

Bob Lindquist

Ohio

Chris Helm

Chuck Moxley

Oregon

Norman Domagala

Phillip E. Fischer

David E. Roberts

Jack Schlotter

Marc Williamson

Pennsylvania

Ginger Allen

Kimberly Boal

Kieran Frye

Richard S. Ross

Tennessee

G.S. “Stack” Scoville, Jr.

Texas

Ken “Bo” Bohannon

Fred DuPre’

Utah

Buddy Knight

Wisconsin

Guy “Doc” Jensen

Wyoming

Marvin Nolte

Don Ordes

Scott Sanchez

Randy Stonebraker

Internationally:

Australia

Mick Hall

Ireland

Alice Conba

Sweden

Jan Edman

Johan Klingberg

The Netherlands

Herman Broers

Hans Van Klinken

Faiza Weilenmann

Hans Weilenmann

Martin Westbeek

United Kingdom

Christopher Reeves

Thank you all for representing and promoting Whiting Farms products!

FEATURED PRO TEAM TIER —BOB JACKLIN

"WFI On The Fly"

Bob Jacklin grew up in New Jersey fishing for na-tive brook trout in the headwater streams of the northern part of the state. After high school he attended the United States Military Conservatory of Music and spent three years of active duty as a percussionist with the 389th U.S. Army Band. Fol-lowing this military stint, Jacklin attended Union College for two years and also received a diploma from the Northwestern School of Taxidermy.

An ardent fly fisherman, fly tier and conservation-ist from his early years, he began working on trout stream improvement projects as a teenager. Bob started tying flies commercially in 1963, develop-ing many unique and widely accepted patterns. Along with his many patterns he was honored by the late Lee Wulff with a letter of authenticity rec-ognizing the quality, durability and pattern identi-ty of the Wulff series of flies. As a fly tier and cast-ing instructor he has appeared as a featured guest

at many International and regional Sportsman’s Expositions and Conclaves here in the U. S. and Japan.

Bob’s fishing in Montana started in the mid-60s and by 1970 he was a full time guide and fly fish-ing instructor for the Bud Lilly Trout Shop in West Yellowstone, MT. This year Bob celebrates his 44th consecutive year as a fly fishing outfitter in the Yellowstone area. Additionally, he was a principal instructor for nearly ten years with the landmark Fenwick Fly Fishing Schools and for twenty years he was on the staff with Sage Fly Rod Company. Since those early years he has taught thousands of students the art of fly cast-ing, fly tying and how to fly fish. Bob has won numerous fly casting tournaments with the In-ternational Federation of Fly Fishers and Trout Unlimited. Bob has inspired many spectators to get into fly fishing by conducting casting demon-strations each Sunday evening at the casting pond behind the Union Pacific Dining Hall in West Yellowstone, Montana.

In 1974 Bob began his outfitting and fishing business in West Yellowstone. In 1982 he pur-chased the Tackle Shop and store location from Pat and Sig Barnes. Over the years Bob has be-come the senior outfitter and fly fishing guide in the West Yellowstone area. He has toured and lectured on such diverse fishing subjects as: basic entomology, fly tying, reading the water, casting techniques, knot tying, selecting tackle and how to fish the West. He has starred in vide-os on the art of fly fishing, including one for the Japanese fly fishing market and one for the TV series, “Fishing the West” and “In Search of Fly Water”. He co-authored a book, Fly Fishing the Yellowstone in the Park, with the late Gary LaFontaine. In the spring of 2004 Bob released his first DVD titled, “Introduction to Fly Tying with Bob Jacklin”. He is an advisor and consult-ant to Fish and Game Departments and several fishing tackle manufacturers. Bob is a member

C o n t i n u e d

B o b J a c k l i n o f W e s t Y e l l o w s t o n e , M T P h o t o b y P a t O g l e s b y

of the St. Croix Rod Company Advisory Team and on the pro staff for St. Croix, Umpqua Feather Merchants, Ross Reels, Cortland Lines and Whiting Farms. Bob is a Master Certi-fied Fly Casting Instructor with the International Federation of Fly Fishers (IFFF) and a mem-ber of the IFFF Casting Board of Governors. He is a member of Trout Unlimited, the IFFF, Theodore Gordon Fly Fishers, Catskill Fly Fishing Center, Catskill Fly Tyers Guild, The American Museum of Fly Fish-ing and the Anglers Club of New York. He is past president of the Western Rocky Moun-tain Council of the IFFF and has tied flies and demonstrated fly casting at conclaves and sports shows around the country since 1965. In 2000, Mr. Jack-lin was the recipient of the In-ternational Federation of Fly Fishers coveted, Buz Buszek Memorial Award for his many years’ contributions to the art of fly tying. In 2004, Bob was honored by the IFFF as Man of the Year, for his support and contributions to the Federation and fly tying. Also in 2004, Bob was inducted into the prestig-ious Fly Fishing Hall of Fame at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum. In 2008, Bob was presented with the IFFF’s highest honor, The Lapis Lazuli Award for dedication, promi-nence and long-term service to the organization (an award that is given infrequently and only upon merit.) Later that year he was inducted into the

FEATURED PRO TEAM TIER —BOB JACKLIN, CONTINUED

"WFI On The Fly"

Legions of the Headwaters of the Missouri River Hall of Fame in Bozeman, Montana.

From April through October you will find Bob and his wife, Sharyn behind the counter of Jacklin’s Fly Shop. During the winter they get to travel and Bob has time to work on his hobby, taxidermy. When you are in West Yellowstone be sure to stop in at 105 Yellowstone Ave. and visit Jacklin’s Fly Shop. In addition to being able to get your fly fishing supplies, you will enter a museum of fly col-lections, framed letters from well-known personalities and many other items of fly fishing interest.

Bob can be reached at: www.jacklinsflyshop.com

105 Yellowstone Ave., West Yellowstone, MT 59758. Phone: (406)646-7336

As you can tell, Bob is one of the “old timers” in the fly fish-ing realm. You will find him to be a humble, gentle and inspir-ing professional in the fly fish-ing world.

Bob has developed a number of flies through the years, but his signature fly is the March Brown Nymph. Though it uses no feathers, we have included it here due to its prominence.

On the next pages are some of Bob’s favorite and most promi-nent fly designs. Included are photos, material lists, the histo-ry of the flies, and tips on how they are fished .

J a c k l i n h e l p i n g a y o u t h t i e r a t t h e 2 0 0 6 I F F F F a i r i n L i v i n g s t o n , M T

http://www.jacklinsflyshop.com

FEATURED PRO TEAM TIER —BOB JACKLIN CONTINUED

"WFI On The Fly"

MARCH BROWN NYMPH Materials Hook: 12, 12, 94 14, #285 Dai-Riki or 1X long nymph hook Weight: Lead wire (sizes .015 or .020) wrapped around the hook shank Thread: Sizes 70 or 140 denier rusty brown nylon thread Tail: Three natural or rusty brown pheasant tail fibers, separated Body: Australian opossum dubbing, muddy-brown tan to rusty amber color Ribbing: Vinyl D rib, rusty brown, sized to match the hook Legs: Natural or dyed brown Hungarian Partridge or hen pheasant body feather tied in under wing case to simulate the natural legs of the nymphs Wing case: Bottom, turkey tail feather strip. Top, brown or rusty scud back or body stretch sized to match the fly. Head: Australian opossum under scud back to form a head. Tied off at the neck with a whip finish. Bob developed this pattern in the early 1970s for the March Brown Nymph when fishing the Esopus River in NY state. It simulates the nymph stage of the march brown mayfly of the Northeast. However, he has used it as his “go-to” fly with great success all over the West and the Yellowstone area. It is best fished, when possible, with no additional weight added to the leader. Fish upstream and allow to drift down past the angler in a natural, smooth or dead-drift fashion. Use of an indicator is recommended as it can be used to help regulate the drift by mending the line which will keep the indicator and fly moving along in the same path or lane at the same speed as the current. Fishing it drag free allows the fly to drift along or near the bottom and acting naturally.



"WFI On The Fly"

PLATTE RIVER SPECIAL Materials Hook: 4X long Model Perfect of Limerick hook, sizes 2, 4, 6 Thread: Black, 140 denier Body: Weighted with #15 lead wire or non-lead wire. Finished with fine Earthwork Brown Ultra Chenille Ribbing: Med. gold wire Wing: Four large Whiting Farms America Hackle Rooster Cape hackles, two large yellow and two large ginger or brown Collar: Two large Whiting Farms American Hackle Rooster Cape hackles, one large ginger hackle tied in front of one large yellow hackle to form a collar in wet fly fashion.

Vary the colors of the hackle and the body to make other feathered wing streamers like the Black Labrador Retriever, the White Labrador or even an all Yellow Labrador Retriever. Fall fishing for BIG BROWN TROUT! Bob has used the dressing for this streamer for 40 years on the Big Horn River, the Missouri River and his home water on the Madison River in and out of Yellowstone National Park. This dressing for the Platte River Special is proof over and over for large brown trout on their fall spawning run up the Madison River into Yellowstone National Park from Hebgen Lake into Montana. The Platte River Special has been Bob’s autumn “go-to” fly when fishing for big brown trout. He first discovered the fly in June 1970 while fishing around the Medicine Bow area of Wyoming. Bob purchased the fly from a small tackle shop and brought it to MT. The fly was designed by Bud Miller around 1951 and used in the Casper, WY area on the famous Miracle Mile of the North Platte River. The original dressing for this feathered streamer was four large hackles, two bright yellow and two brown hackles used for the wing; and two hackles, one each color, for the collar. Bob thought it was unusual because the fly had no body and was tied on a bare shank Limerick Hook. He changed the fly by adding some weight to the shank and covering the weight with fine brown ultra chenille. He also changed the hook to a 4X long with a model perfect bend. Over the years, the fly has been copied by others and used as the Big Horn Special. This fly and its history has been recorded in the 1979 edition of the great book “Streamers and Bucktails, The Big Fish Flies” by Joseph D. Bates, Jr.



"WFI On The Fly"

WESTERN BROWN DRAKE PARA-SPIN-SPIN

Hook: Dai-Riki #280 size 10 or a 3X or 4X hook with a slow curve in size 10

Thread: Rusty brown, 140 denier

Egg Sack: A small ball of black dubbing tied at the bend of the hook under the tail fibers

Tail: Several strands of long stiff dark elk mane hair, tied over the egg sack to highlight the thin body and the long tails of this brown drake spinner fly

Body: A very thin body of rusty dubbing tied all the way from the egg sack to the eye of the hook

Ribbing: Stripped peacock herl or rusty turkey biot.

Post: White Antron, para post wings or poly yarn tied in as a post, then trimmed short.

Hackle and Wing: A large stiff hackle from the bottom of a Whiting Farms Grizzly or Dark Barred Ginger Hackle Cape for the hackle that will represent the wide spent wing of the brown drake spinner

A couple of hints on tying this fly: Add a drop or two of Krazy Glue at the base of the post so the wing will cement and hold the hackle and post as one unit; tie in a large, stiff over-size neck hackle by the butt with the concave side facing up—this gives a cup and saucer effect when at rest on the surface of the water, the cup being the short post supported on the water with the hackle being the saucer, tied with the concave side up, and the convex side of the hackle laying on the water surface.

Bob uses this fly to represent the spinner stage of the Western Brown Drake, the largest of the Western mayflies. Use this fly not only for the larger mayfly spinners, but also for the little trico spinner. The Para-Spin or Para-spinner is a blend of two great flies, the parachute and the spinner. Bob’s idea was to use the parachute style fly to simulate the bulky flat wing of the brown drake spinner when at rest on the water and the white parachute post cut short to be still visible to the fisherman and showing the proper silhouette and look from the underside. The long tails and the thin rusty body add to the natural shape and silhouette of the brown drake spinner.


PRODUCT REVIEW—HIGH & DRY BY TOM MULLEN

When I was very young I be-gan selling flies to sporting goods stores, fly shops, and to individuals who did not tie their own flies. I have been selling flies for nearly fifty-five years now and have seen great changes in the availa-bility of fly tying feathers.

The quality of available feath-ers years ago, compared to now, is like day and night. Using the readily available Indian or Chinese dry fly capes in the early years was frustrating to say the least. One example would be trying to achieve enough hackle on a heavily hackled fly such as the Royal Wulff. This was always difficult. It would take four feathers of the Indi-an capes to create a fly that would float high enough in the heavy flows of western rivers. Tying the smaller-sized flies was almost impos-sible since the available capes back then rarely ever produced sizes smaller than a #16. The quality did not exist.

The Royal Wulff Dry Fly has been a favorite of mine for many years. This fly is an attractor type pattern which doesn’t imitate any specific mayfly. My largest brown trout landed from a river was a beautiful thirty-inch, thir-teen-pound specimen from Colorado’s Gunnison River

during a December sideways snow storm. Needless to say, it made my day. This fish tried to eat the size #12 Roy-al Wulff on the third drift over his position. About twenty-five minutes later, I was able to get a close-up look at him.

The search for good priced quality hackle continued for years until 2010. Whiting Farms released, to the gen-eral fly tying population, a beautiful genetically-crossed cape that was cost-effective for the average fly tier. The High & Dry Capes with their wonderful genetics from Whiting Farms takes one or two feathers to create a high floating dry fly. It is much easier to fit the collar with two feathers than four as in the past. There is now no need to crowd the head as was necessary with the pre-viously available hackles.

Another fly pattern that is on my favorites list is the Stimu-lator. It is an easy-to-tie pat-tern, and with the proper hackling, it performs beauti-fully. It can be a great gen-eral imitation of several in-sects that the fish are looking for. Depending upon the size of the fly and the various col-or combinations, this fly can be very effective during stonefly hatches and hopper action. I have had some large

trout attack these flies when they are drifted and twitched over them as they are look-ing to the surface. The fish act quickly as though they don’t want this bug to get away from them!

As fly tiers we are always in the quest for the best quality materials with which to cre-ate the flies we love to tie and fish. At the same time the economic downturns we are experiencing keeps us on the hunt for feathers that perform properly while not costing a lot. Dr. Tom Whit-ing, feather guru, and top developer of genetically raised chickens for the fly tying world, has developed the perfect cross of birds that fills the bill. I am referring to the High & Dry Rooster Capes. High & Dry Rooster Capes are nearly perfect for creating dry flies. These capes are the result of a blend of birds where the main component consists of about 75% Hoffman genetics. The Hoffman genetics are a strong genetic line of birds developed by the famous grower, Henry Hoffman. It is these genetics that help give the Whiting birds such won-derful feather qualities once they have been crossed through the great talent of Dr. Tom Whiting.

"WFI On The Fly"

C o n t i n u e d

When examining the feathers from the High & Dry Capes, it is clear that they possess excellent qualities. Their barb count is very good as is the number of feathers per pelt. Barb stiffness is wonderful so the fly will float right on top of the water. The size ranges run from #8 on the large end down to size #18 or smaller on the small end. The quill possesses won-derful elasticity which al-lows turning around the hook shank to take place with near perfect ease of use. The lateral sym-metry, (length of barbs on one side of the quill com-pared to those on the op-posite side), is excellent through the length of the feather. These capes are offered in a large range of colors which are appro-priate for a huge selection of fly types. There is a steady stream of available capes from Whiting Farms, and fly tiers who have used them say they perform wonderfully and want to expand their per-sonal selection.

Two more fly patterns that have done great things for my fish catching over the years are the

Poor Witch and the Travel-ing Sedge.

The Poor Witch is a mayfly imitation developed years ago by Jim Poor, the first owner and fly shop proprie-tor of Angler’s All, Ltd., a wonderful fly shop in Colo-rado. The Poor Witch is a dry fly that imitates mayflies that are freshly hatched and are testing their wings for the first time, or a mayfly that is nearly at the end of its life and is nearly spent. It works like a charm when the mayflies are hatching.

The Traveling Sedge is a pat-tern that I developed about thirty-five years ago. I need-ed a pattern that would imi-tate the sedges I encoun-tered in the high alpine lakes in the late summer or early fall season of the Rocky Mountains. I now use only Whiting Farms hackle on these and I have noticed a dramatic difference in how they perform on the water’s surface. These sedges were sizes #10 and #12 and they travel around on the surface of the lakes creating a small vee-wake as they go. The largest trout go nuts for them when there is a good hatch of the sedges. There are some tricks to fishing them correctly for maximum

"WFI On The Fly"


S e e p e l t p h o t o o n p a g e 2 4

success (see instructions on page 22.)

Most fly tiers possess a good knowledge of feathers for the types of applications for which they are used. I have received very good reports from tiers who have used the High & Dry Rooster Capes since they have been availa-ble. Tiers have been asking about getting a broader range of colors in the line of birds. Whiting Farms is now offering a wonderful range of both natural and dyed colors. Check out the new colors listed on page 24 of this newsletter. Dealers should also consider the 20% dis-count offered at this time. Take advantage of more profit on these wonderful dry fly capes.

Tom Mullen is the USA Sales Co-ordinator for Whiting Farms, Incorporated. Chances are very high that you have spoken with him many times over the years. His extensive fly tying experience and WFI product knowledge allow him to share his skills here, as to the use of Whiting Farms High & Dry Hackle.


"WFI On The Fly"

ROYAL WULFF DRY FLY

Hook: TMC 100 Sizes #10 thru #18

Thread: White 6/0 and Black 6/0

Tail: Dark moose body hairs

Wing: White calf body hairs (upright and divid-ed), (Use white thread to bundle the wings)

Body: Peacock herl for rear 1/3 with a red floss band in the middle 1/3, then the forward 1/3 is more herl.

Hackle: Coachman Brown or Dark Brown High & Dry Cape, (Use 2 feathers to create a heavily hackled collar)

POOR WITCH-designed by Jim Poor (Anglers All)

Hook: TMC 100 Sizes #12 thru #22

Thread: Dark olive (size depends up-on hook size)

Tail: Dark moose body or hock (2 hairs tied in a V)

Body: Muskrat fur or Super Fine Dub-bing (Adams Gray)

Wing: Whiting Genetic Hen Cape (Light Dun) Tied ¾ spent style

Hackle: High & Dry Rooster Cape: Grizzly and Brown, (Can trim top and bottom of hackle for low water fishing)

P h o t o s b y P a t O g l e s b y

"WFI On The Fly"


STIMULATOR DRY FLY

Hook: TMC 200R Sizes #4 thru #16

Thread: 6/0 (80 denier) black or dark olive

Body: Antron yarn for large sizes and An-tron dubbing for small sizes, (play with different colors to match stoneflies or hop-pers)

Abdomen Hackle: Brown or Grizzly High & Dry Rooster Capes, (Try turning one of each color at the same time: palmered)

Ribbing: Gold or copper wire to match hook size (reverse wrap through hackle)

Wing: Elk mane or body hair tied to ex-tend nearly to end of tail tips

Thorax: Antron dubbing (use brighter color)

Thorax Hackle: High & Dry Rooster Cape: Grizzly and Brown

TRAVELING SEDGE

Hook: TMC 100 sizes #10 thru #16

Thread: 6/0 (80 denier) dark olive or tan

Tail: Elk body hair (one hook gap long)

Abdomen: Consecutive wraps of Brown High & Dry Cape (trim all around to 1 hook gap long)

Under-wing: Pearl Krystal Flash 6 or 8 strands

Over-wing: Elk body hair (Extend to almost length of tail)

Thorax Hackle: High & Dry Rooster Cape hackle- Brown (tied thickly)

(One trick when fishing this pattern on a lake is to cast it so that it lands with a splat on the surface. Let it sit there without moving it for up to a minute. Then do several short strips about an inch long. Stay ready since the fish tend to slam dunk these flies. Wow!)

P h o t o s b y P a t O g l e s b y

“Here is a description of Mart's Parachute Ant. I'd like to submit it for the High & Dry Challenge, since it's a great ant pattern that has done very well for us.” Martin Westbeek For winning the High & Dry Challenge, Martin will receive three High & Dry Capes to use on those ants and some other great patterns of his choice. Martin Westbeek is a media and advertising lecturer and the Program Manager of the Media bachelor program at the Fontys Uni-versity of Applied Sciences in Holland. Having won several fly tying awards, Martin enjoys tying clas-sics and variations of classics, especially with natu-ral materials. Sea trout and grayling are his favor-ite sport fish.

Mart’s Parachute Ant is included in this article, but for full step-by-step photos, refer to:

http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/marts-parachute-ant/

Mart's Parachute Ant During the warmer months of the year, they

are just about anywhere... Ants. Early in the season flying ants swarm, and many are blown onto the water. Others are carried uphill by warm air currents and drop into higher streams or lakes, which is called ‘upslope blow-ins'.

Later in summer ants will be on leaves and in branches of streamside vegetation looking for food. They live in dead trees by the streams, and lots of them drop into the water. In these ants, trout and grayling have a constant supply of food all season round.

So whatever hatches, or if no hatch comes off at all, or if you're fishing in the heat of a summer day... an ant is a useful thing to carry.

Many ant patterns are made of foam. They look great, and are fast and easy to tie, too. The problem with these foam ants, however, is that they float quite high. Real ants don't. They only float for a

"WFI On The Fly"

HIGH & DRY CHALLENGE AND, THE WINNER IS MARTIN WESTBEEK FROM HOLLAND

C o n t i n u e d

Materials:

Hook: TMC 102Y, #17

Thread: Hyperfine, brown (or black) or any other fine, strong thread

Post: White poly yarn

Flash: One strand of pearl Crystal Flash

Abdomen and head: Brown (or black, or cinna-mon) Superfine Dubbing

Waist: Thread wraps

Hackle: Whiting High & Dry Saddle, brown, grizzly dyed brown (or black)

Marker: Felt tip brown, black or cinnamon

Tying Instructions:

1.Start the thread at the midpoint of the hook shank. Tie in a length of poly yarn (diameter not exceeding the outside diameter of the hook eye) extending over the bend. Stop right above the barb. 2.Basically, an ant body consists of three very dis-tinct parts: the abdomen, a very thin waist and a head that's slightly smaller than the abdomen. Dub the abdomen in the shape of a rugby ball. The size of the abdomen is about 1,5 times the distance from the barb to the hook point of a TMC 102Y hook. This will give you enough room for the tiny waist. Tie in one strand of pearl Crystal Flash im-mediately in front of the abdomen. 3.Fold the poly yarn over the abdomen, Humpy style, and tie down with a few wraps.

brief moment and then slowly sink. Enter the par-achute ant: a low-riding parachute ant with a sub-merged body and a post of poly yarn and two strands of pearl Crystal Flash for visibility.

The pattern is great for Arctic char, brown trout and grayling .



"WFI On The Fly"

4.Color the poly with a waterproof felt tip marker, pull the poly and the strands of Crystal Flash forward, and wrap the waist. 5.Stop the waist about 2 mm shy of the hook eye, make a couple of wraps in front of the post to stand it up. Select a saddle hackle and strip off some of the barbs. The length of the stripped quill should equal the distance from the hook eye to the post, plus the height of the head, plus the height of the para-chute. 6.Tie in the hackle right behind the hook eye, and wrap back towards the post. 7.Wrap the hackle up against the post, and wrap down again. 8.Dub the head behind and in front of the post. It's a little smaller than the abdomen. Leave the thread in front of the parachute post, at your side of the fly.

HIGH & DRY CHALLENGE CONT. BY MARTIN WESTBEEK FROM HOLLAND

In an email note from Martin on 09/09/13 he said:

“I'm stoked that you decided to use the Ant for the next issue!

This is a fly tied on a #18 size hook, so the parachute post has a

*really* small diameter. It's a testimony to the quality of the hackle

stem that it can be tightly wrapped around a tiny post without it

breaking.”

9.Hackle the parachute down to the thorax/head. Because you're hackling around a small diameter post you may want to make 5 to 7 wraps. Or less, if you want the ant to sink (more on that lat-er). 10.Pull the hackle down, and make three to four thread wraps around the post to tie off the hackle. Try not to trap too many barbs, so keep your thread wraps below the lowest barbs. Clip the hackle. You could make a whip finish around the parachute post, but on a small hook like this #17 this is fiddly - to me any-way. That's why I use a reversed whip finish (making turns to-wards me) behind the eye. This prevents the thread being pulled under the dubbed head. Clip off the post to desired length. Put a tiny drop of CA glue on the whip finish, on the post where the parachute hackle starts, and on the tie-off point of the hackle, and you're done! Drowned Ant Sometimes trout seem to prefer an ant that fishes deeper. In that case, or if you come to a deep spot where you just know that there should be a fish down there, simply modify the fly. Clip off most of the parachute post, put a split shot on the tippet, some 30 cm from the fly, and see what happens. Works like a charm in riffles, too.

Good fishing! Martin

*Available

Natural Colors: Grizzly

White

Brown

Light Ginger

Medium Ginger

Barred Dark Ginger

Golden Badger

Cream Badger

Dyed Colors:

Black

Grizzly / Peacock Herl

Grizzly / Medium Dun

Grizzly / Olive

Grizzly / Golden Straw

Grizzly / Dark Olive

Grizzly / Coachman Brown

Grizzly / Pale Yellow

Grizzly / Golden Olive

Grizzly / March Brown

Grizzly / Burnt Orange

White / Brown

White / Light Ginger

White / Medium Ginger

White / Light Dun

White / Medium Dun

White / Dark Dun

White / Olive

White / Golden Straw

White / Golden Olive

White / Coachman

HIGH & DRY HACKLE —WHY? "WFI On The Fly"

High & Dry Hackle Advantages

Simple – Just a Single Grade

Moderate Price Point

Excellent Steady Supply

Superior to other Non Whiting Hackle Brands

Broadest Color Availability

Reliable Source of Some Colors not Available in other Dry Fly

Hackle Lines.

* SEE EXPANDED COLOR LIST BELOW

Badger / Burnt Orange

Badger / Peacock Herl

Badger / Brown

Badger / Olive

Badger / Golden Straw

Badger / Golden Olive

Badger / March Brown

F ISH ‘N CHICKS HUMOR BECAUSE WE’VE ALL WA NTED TO

KNOW—WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD? NO GROANING, PLEASE. . .

Why did the t-rex cross the road? Because the chicken hadn't evolved yet

Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it could be done!

Why did the rooster cross the road? To cockadoodle dooo something

Why did the chicken cross the road halfway? She wanted to lay it on the line.

Why did half a chicken cross the road? To get to its other side!

Why did the chicken cross the road twice? Because it was a double-crosser

Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove he wasn't chicken!

Why did the rubber chicken cross the road? She wanted to stretch her legs.

Why did the Roman chicken cross the road? She was afraid someone would caesar!

How did the wealthy rubber chicken cross the road? In her Cadillac stretch limo.

"WFI On The Fly"

Why did the chicken stand in the middle of the road?

Cuz he wanted to play squash!

What do you call a dirty chicken that cross-es the road and crosses back again? A dirty double crosser.

Why did the chicken cross the road, roll in the mud and cross the road again? Because he was a dirty double-crosser!

Why didn't the chickens cross the road?

Because they were chicken

I hope one day chickens will be able to cross the road without being judged

on their motives.

To end the moans, and show we are not to-tally inane, and for you who appreciate a

more sophisticated sense of the arts, a love-ly Haiku from Colette:

Coq de Leon Hen

Soft speckled beauty supreme

Trout admire you too

“wfi on the fly” -...

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