The Badger Fly Fishers Spring Opener is always enjoyable, but yesterday's iteration was over-the-top fun. John S. (the Forum Ghillie), Joe G. (Mr. Bearbutt), and several others drove long distances to attend the festivities. Thank you for making the day so memorable
Such gatherings bring a lot of friends that I see far too infrequently. Many of those friends are very talented fly tyers, and it's great to see them work their magic. My close friend Henry and I have taught a Trout Unlimited fly tying course for 14 years. Thus, we know an awful lot of Wisconsin fly tyers, and I enjoy seeing many of them at this annual show. Sadly, there is never enough time to properly catch up with everyone, as the show is pretty hectic.
I'm a one trick pony, and I always seem to tie soft-hackled flies of some variety at such shows. Yesterday was no exception, but it was the first time I gave William's magnificent spinning block top billing. Interest in both soft-hackled flies and the spinning block was high. William, I suspect you can expect some inquiries about buying blocks, because several people took photos of the underside of my block, which contains your contact info.
Ray, about those trading cards, this was a first-ever edition. I always hand out pattern sheets of flies that I demonstrate, but the idea of a 'baseball card' version occurred to me only last Sunday. I fussed with the layout, design, and printing during the week, and finished them Friday afternoon. I think they're pretty cute. Many more people picked up the pattern cards than would normally pick up printed pattern sheets, so I guess they were well received. Version 2.0 will probably use different card stock paper. The matte finish of the cardstock I used muddied up the photos a bit, and I think I can do better next time. The cards proved to be a good way to give away demonstration flies. I just stuck the fly hooks through a corresponding card. Sell the cards? No way, but I'll gladly give them away. Send me your mailing address in a message, and I'll put all four into an envelope.
The highlight of the show for me was seeing some historical memorabilia that Bearbutt brought to share. Joe is a true scholar of fly fishing and fly tying history. The museum-worthy historical pieces he brought yesterday gave me goosebumps. I was verklempt. For example,
Bivisible Skaters tied by Edward Hewitt:
The barred grizzly beard nuzzled up to this Hewitt Skater is none other than Obi-Wan Bearbutt himself, who ties Skaters that would make Hewitt blush with pride:
And then there was Datus Proper's traveling fly tying kit. It is the very same small kit described by Proper on page 231 of
What the Trout Said (1982). If you don't already know about Proper's book, it is a masterpiece of understanding fly design and trout behavior. As a fly tyer who admires the book greatly, touching and feeling the materials was almost a religious experience. My friend Henry was awe-struck, because he did not know that Joe was bringing it. A sample of the kit's contents:
Proper's small traveling kit:
The tying tools:
Seal dubbing:
Tying furs:
Tying feathers:
Datus Proper's fly box:
And last, but not least, Datus Proper's one week Irish fishing license from 1975:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/AOOeUon.jpg)