Perhaps you don’t know him by name, but you know his face. Arnold Richardson was “Norman” at the end of “A River Runs Through It.” A dedicated fly fisher, and as much in love with the sport as Norman or Paul, his aged face was the perfect embodiment of Norman. You can read his full Obit at

http://helenair.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_e2b9ff28-13e1-11e0-9f5c-001cc4c002e0.html

Arnold Richardson and the aged Norman in "A River Runs Through It."

This is the icicle reduced to its bare bones. Actually this is the “stage” of the icicle that I fish most often because it works just as well as the others and is super fast to tie. In addition, like the “reduced” version, there is no tail and no body, eliminating the hassle of tearing up the tail and body with the hemostats when trying to remove the fly.

This tactic for tying the icicle is the one I use on many long fly imitations. I tie it in black with blue flash, black with green flash, and black with purple flash for salmon and big browns, and a host of other color configurations.

Clamp and wrap--cover the front 2/5 of the shank.

Insert the material, spin the loop, and wrap it to form the fly. Now, here's the trick: If you place red flash on the material so it is next to hook, the red will end up on the interior of the fly. Putting the black on the end of the material furtherest from the hook allows it to be on the outside of the fly. Vary colors and placement as you see fit.

I received a question about John Beth’s bunny flies and his other “giant killers” that he uses for Lake Michigan tributary salmon, browns, and steelhead. The question asks: “Hello! Do these flies ride hook up or hook down? I see the eyes on top of the hook (like a clouser) so I would think they ride hook up, though the keel of the hook and color stacked (on John’s Brown Bunny, for example) looks like they ride hook down.”

John’s replies: “All these flies use Mustad 36890 – salmon hooks with looped, upturned eye. They ride with the hook point facing down. I’ve used that same hook forever – they are strong, sharpen well,  and the eyes tie so well on it – the loop just creates  a natural “ramp” for the barbell style eyes.”

John's Giant Killers ride hook point down.

One of the unique features of the reduced icicle is the ability to use any flash material and any color flash material on the fly. For example, one can use red LiquiFlash for the body/tail (wing) and then add black LiquiFlash to the white hair. All of a sudden, the world becomes a different place. There are so many combinations that it doesn’t even pay to start listing them. However, try blue or green or black, or red, or yellow or……I did say I wasn’t going to list all of them. So, go wild. Experiment. Don’t let anything hold you back.

Use a color other than pearlescent for the "wing"--in this case blood red.

Use a color other than pearlescent for the flash in the colllar--in this case, black.

The International Fly Tying Symposium was held on November 20, 21 at Somerset, NJ, and I’ve given some reports from the meeting. More to come, including this one. On Saturday night, Show originator and promoter, Chuck Furimsky, hosted a dinner for all the exhibitors and tyers at the event. World renowned Jazz Pianist, Joe Augustine, one of the Steinway artists, and David Fink, renowned standup bassist, wowed the crowd with a full hour of very tightly performed jazz. Both Joe and David are fly fishers and understand the inner drive that sustains us. It was evident in their playing and gracious comments to the whistling, whooping, and wildly clapping crowd of fly  tyers. For more information on Joe and all his releases, see joeaugustine.com/.

You can hear Joe at www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7hPabgfYnI

Joe Augustine--the guy wearing the tie--surrounded by well-entertained fly tyers. Thanks to my friend, Jackson Long, for the photo

The Icicle, as I tied it in its previous posting, is the “complete” version with tail, body, and collar. The one I’m posting now is the reduced version in which the body and tail are replaced by a “wing” of pearlescent flash material tied in at the back of the collar position and allowed to extend rearward as far as the tail would normally reach. This “wing” is tied in flat on top of the hook and so serves as both the body and tail of the fly. This is a faster version that the “complete” one, and works equally well. One advantage that it has over the complete version is that the fly fisher can grab it with hemostats to remove it from the fish without worrying about accidentally grabbing the tail or body and destroying them as the hook is removed.

Tie in the flash material at the rear of the collar position.

Add the collar of fur and flash material blended in the loop.

Add eyes, throat, and any other coloration that you desire.

My friend, Marcelo Malventano. now has a site where one can purchase his fly art. have a look: www.mallardproducts.com

Writing about the woodshed made me think about how cold it was a couple of the days that I worked outside, and that reminded me that i promised Roger Lynn I’d put up a post on the tying of the icicle. First we;ll do the full monte version with parts for everyone. Later I’ll post some truncated versions that offer the same fish-getting qualities but which are faster to tie and offer a unique quality that the full version doesn’t offer.

Tie in tail of pearlescent Jewel Flash and add a body of pearlescent chenille. The fly can be dressed on any hook you like; this is a 3XL.

Selelct a clump of white hair--this is FoxxFurr---and trim it from the hide/backing. Spread the fibers just a bit and then spread a dozen or so strands of pearlescent Jewel Flash on top of the fibers and parallel to them.

Insert the fur and flash into a spinning loop and twirl very tight.

Wrap the chenille of fibers forward to form the head/wing of the fly. Stroke the fibers back after each wrap to prevent them being trapped by the subsequent wrap.

Add eyes and throat with permanent markers.

Bars look cool but are totally optional.

In the olden days, one was sent to the woodshed to receive a good spanking for disobedience. Well, I’ve been to the woodshed, but not for punishment. Rather, for a work of love. Nancy is a creator of wood art on the lath, and needed a place to store her wood. She generously allowed me to put off building it until I had finished my fishing season for the year. Then, it was time for serious work. We ordered 3 yards of 1-3 inch gravel and laid a good drainage base for the 8 foot by 24 foot floor of the shed. The floor consisted of a frame and 2 x 4’s turned on edge and spaced every foot. The support posts are 4 x 4’s bolted to the floor frame. Next came the walls of 5/8″ T-1-111 sheet siding. This was followed by roof joists of 2 x 4’s spaced 24″ on center to support the plywood sheeting of the 12 x 28 foot  roof. The logs went in–some quite reluctantly,, but it’s amazing what a man with a will and cant hook can do. The door are tarps held securely with bungie cords. Air circulates freely, but precip is kept out. Now to move the mount of wood out of the garage and into the waiting shed.

Although not directly related to the fishing topics of this blog, the wood shed is the reason that I have not been posting with regularity over the past couple of weeks. So–expect a more regular posting of items again

Thanks for going to the woodshed with me.

I figured that I loaded well over 1200 shovels full into that wheelbarrow.

Nancy helped by raking the gravel drainage pad into place.

Finishing the floor and frame--this thing was put together with screws.

The walls going up.

The completed shed with the wood securely in place. Yes, it does snow in Wisconsin.

Ready for winter--the next day it snowed 13.5 inches with 20 to 30 mph winds, but the wood is a snug as a bug in the rug.

The International Fly Tying Symposium was held in Somerset, NY the weekend before Thanksgiving. It’s a great event for anyone who loves the art and craft of fly tying. I always enjoy seeing the great display of the creative human spirit emerging in everything from emergers to monster mice and way beyond. And I enjoy seeing old friends and hearing what about new tools, tactics, materials, and design elements.

My old pal, Bill Keough, was at the show with a great display of finely tuned genetic capes, and with a great assortment of “old fashioned” big hackles for the likes of bass and tarpon hackles and the necessary feathers for big streamers. So much of the focus has been on producing hackle for the tiniest dries that the crying need for the big stuff has been overlooked. Well, Bill has not only all the great small stuff, but also the stuff that all of us who tie big flies can really use. See him on line at www.keoughhackles.com

Bill and a big pile of capes for everything from 28 to 2/0.