Clark Spinning Block

[WiFlyfisher]

At a small fly fishing show in Madison WI I got to watch a friend (Phil A) demonstrate using William Anderson's Clark Spinning Block. It sure looks a lot easier than watching Jim S. doing it on his knee.



BTW, the guest speaker was Craig Mathews and he discussed all the great places to catch big trout and no one ever fishes, just be sure to carry your bear spray.

[letumgo]

John - Is Phil on our website? If not, could you point him in our our direction? Looks like he is already a member of IBF.

I loved seeing one of William's (Clark's) dubbing block at a tying demo. Very cool.

[WiFlyfisher]

Ray, no he had not heard of the Flymph Forum until I told him about it yesterday. He is an excellent fly tier, teaches fly tying for a TU chapter, loves the history of fly fishing and is a wingless wet nut. He showed me at the show his original copy of one of Jim Leisenring's book from 1941.

He also has some Chadwick's 477 yarn so he tied for me Frank Sawyer's Killer Bug with the yarn and wire.



I did send him an email last night with some photos of the show and a link to the flymph forum.

[letumgo]

VERY cool!

Thanks John. I hope he joins the forum. I will keep an eye on the admin log for new members. Let me know if he has any problems logging in.

Did he say where he got one of William's blocks?

[William Anderson]

Excellent to see the block go into use so quickly. He ordered it a couple weeks ago from my site. Really nice guy and a true flympher. He really is very well versed in all things soft hackles and has miles of Flymph water in the driftless regions. How cool is that too have a real 477 killer bug? I do hope he'll join us.

[PhilA]

Well, that WiFlyfisher guy is a mischievous character. Outing me to a bunch of soft hackle devotees. This from a guy known to tie flies the size of small birds and fish them long after dark. I think it was Groucho Marx who once said, "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me or WiFlyfisher as a member."

Not sure I have much to add here, but I'll poke around and see what drifts in the current. I've been fishing soft-hackled flies for decades and have developed an interest in the history and traditions of fly fishing. I live in south central Wisconsin, within easy driving distance of many hundreds of miles (two to three thousand, actually) of limestone spring creeks. The fish are wild, the access is excellent, and the streams are very flymph friendly. My name, by the way, is Phil Anderson ... no relation as far as I know to William the luminary.


About that Chadwick's 477 ...

I've long been intrigued by Frank Sawyer's Killer Bug and the mystique of Chadwick's 477 yarn. Over the years, I've gone through phases of trying hard to find the yarn (or a good substitute) and then giving up after not succeeding. I've probably bought – sight unseen – most of the Chadwick's substitutes touted on the Internet. But, when they arrived in the mail, the color match to online photos of Chadwick's was always disappointing.

I occasionally scoured Ebay and Ebay-UK for Chadwick's. Trouble is, a gazillion other possessed souls are doing the same thing, and I'm not about the spend $100 for a card of yarn. Besides, of all the features that contribute to a fly's success, color is WAY down on my list of what is important. Nevertheless, the search continued.

Then, about a year ago I wandered to some out-of-the-way cul-de-sac of the Internet where vintage sewing supplies were offered for sale. In a photo of one offering, a couple of cards of Chadwick's Mending Yarn were mixed among other odds and ends. One was of interest, as it appeared to be a color similar to 477. But, the color number on the card was partially obscured. The "4" and part of a "7" were visible, but the third digit was covered over by something else in the pile. Was it 477? Or, was it one of the 9 other possibilities? I rolled the dice, pushed my $5 forward (plus $3 shipping!), and when the package arrived … jackpot. It was the real deal. Sometimes an angler just gets lucky.

In the end, the satisfaction was the quest for Chadwick's 477, not the yarn itself. I now wander around aimlessly without anything to do except go fishing. Well, not exactly. I'm in discussions with a sheep farmer attempting to score some creamy yellow fur from the scrotum of a white ram. James Leisenring, after all, described a Tup's Nymph as "the best all-around nymph I have found".

Incidentally, while in Montana this past summer, I spent an afternoon fishing the upper Big Hole River. The river holds one of the few remaining populations of native fluvial grayling in the lower 48. I was hoping to knock an item off the bucket list: catch a grayling on a Killer Bug tied with Chadwick's 477. Wish I could show you a photo, but the grayling did not cooperate. I'll try again another year.

[Smuggler]

Phil, I think you'll be fitting in here quite well. Good to see Williams blocks in good hands such as yours. Welcome aboard.

Great score on the 447 too, that's just too cool.

[swellcat]

William the Luminary, whizz-dyed scrotal fur, and flies the size the small birds: the Good Humour Man has rolled into the 'hood, bells blazing.

Welcome. Here's hoping you'll find excuses to post often.

[hankaye]

ThirdMeadow, Howdy;

Welcome to the forum .... we've just had the furniture rearranged, so you are finding your way
around with the rest of us. Thanks for the intro, went well with my coffee, truly enjoyed your
tale of The Quest for 477.
Sure wish other new members would take the time for a short intro ...
Careful not to 'bark' your shins on the coffee table, make yerself comfortable enjoy the place.

hank

[WiFlyfisher]

Dear PhilA (alias ThirdMeadow),

You haven't seen my new, secret killer dry fly pattern! I call it the "Quarter Pounder".

Think of it this way, when the truttas are really hungry do they want a snack or would rather have a "Quarter Pounder"? It's a pattern designed for the big freestone rivers when the big fish are looking up for an easy meal fluttering on the surface. It might even work on the third meadow.

BTW, I think you will be right at home with these other gentlemen of the Wingless Wets and the Brotherhood of the Flymph.

Enjoy!