One Small Bream Is Better Than None

[KrisB]

Needed to unwind after a long car trip back from visiting family in Maryland, so I went fishing at the FAA. A couple was also there and they were fishing with really long lines that could reach halfway across the pond (fly fishing?). They each caught one huge bream that they tried to use as live bait, but it didn't work. Biggest bream I've ever seen! I guess I do need to learn fly fishing!

I caught one small bream by the little pier, but I'm content with that. Beer-battered fried fish on the menu for tomorrow!

 

[bshobbs]

Fly fishing has its perks...then you will want to learn to tie your own flies....

 

[KrisB]

then you will want to learn to tie your own flies....

Of course! I know how to tie my own hooks now. Is learning to tie flies that much more difficult? Or is it a sign of a fishing obsession?

 

[woodmoose]

Of course! I know how to tie my own hooks now. Is learning to tie flies that much more difficult? Or is it a sign of a fishing obsession?

Not difficult

and yes

 

[Hunting Nut]

Of course! I know how to tie my own hooks now. Is learning to tie flies that much more difficult? Or is it a sign of a fishing obsession?

It's a sign of having spare time to burn.

 

[woodmoose]

tying flies is like reading to me,,,,you have to pay attention but you still relax,,,

one of my favorite pastimes when I have to hang out indoors ,,,along with reading,,,

 

[Woods and water]

You are definitely dedicated. Congrats on enjoying the outdoors

 

[KrisB]

It's a sign of having spare time to burn.

Not for long! Small game and trapping seasons are on the way!

 

[bshobbs]

I am retired and unless I have some honey do list, I hunt, fish and tie flies. I ease out the house and into my Man Cave which is a old camper just out the back door. Lights, TV, air and heat and kick back....[emoji41][emoji41]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[nccatfisher]

tying flies is like reading to me,,,,you have to pay attention but you still relax,,,

one of my favorite pastimes when I have to hang out indoors ,,,along with reading,,,

You wouldn’t relax when you shake like I do now. Everything is a damn frustrating experience.

We were seaming a dog box recently and the one thing I will not let Zac touch is a damn caulking gun. His idea of a good bead is gob that crap on and smooth it with his finger. Well you MAY get by with that with latex but with silicone or urethane you better not try that crap. I had to run a bead 90” across a top and only had 1/2” for it to seal on. Not enough and we had a leak. Too much and we had a mess, the acid in that stuff will etch the finish in polished aluminum. It took me about 10 mins to run that bead across there but looked like a machine did it. He commented after I did it that he would have bet me $100 I couldn’t have done it they way I shake. I told him that I burnt up at least a week’s worth of concentration on that one caulking bead.That is what fly tying would be like for me.

 

[woodmoose]

You wouldn’t relax when you shake like I do now. Everything is a damn frustrating experience.

We were seaming a dog box recently and the one thing I will not let Zac touch is a damn caulking gun. His idea of a good bead is gob that crap on and smooth it with his finger. Well you MAY get by with that with latex but with silicone or urethane you better not try that crap. I had to run a bead 90” across a top and only had 1/2” for it to seal on. Not enough and we had a leak. Too much and we had a mess, the acid in that stuff will etch the finish in polished aluminum. It took me about 10 mins to run that bead across there but looked like a machine did it. He commented after I did it that he would have bet me $100 I couldn’t have done it they way I shake. I told him that I burnt up at least a week’s worth of concentration on that one caulking bead.That is what fly tying would be like for me.

well one, that was a great story,,, next time just tell him "go sit on that broken TV and watch how a man does it"!

on the flies,,,,naahh,,,you'd do well,,,at least like I tie,,,,I don't worry about artful looks,,,I want results with them,,,,and that kind of precision you described isn't needed,,,

other more expert than I may disagree,,,but it works

 

[dc bigdaddy]

my son has tied some that we need to try. He tied some bass poppers that are just pretty to me. He can do the stuff he wants, but tell him to do something that you know he don't want to do if you don't want to get ugly.

 

[YanceyGreenhorn]

You wouldn’t relax when you shake like I do now. Everything is a damn frustrating experience.

We were seaming a dog box recently and the one thing I will not let Zac touch is a damn caulking gun. His idea of a good bead is gob that crap on and smooth it with his finger. Well you MAY get by with that with latex but with silicone or urethane you better not try that crap. I had to run a bead 90” across a top and only had 1/2” for it to seal on. Not enough and we had a leak. Too much and we had a mess, the acid in that stuff will etch the finish in polished aluminum. It took me about 10 mins to run that bead across there but looked like a machine did it. He commented after I did it that he would have bet me $100 I couldn’t have done it they way I shake. I told him that I burnt up at least a week’s worth of concentration on that one caulking bead.That is what fly tying would be like for me.

Interesting you brought that up...you ever had the shakes affect your welding? You shoulda seen me the first week doing Tig. Looked like I was trying to poke holes in my base metal with my tungsten , while the other hand looked like I was using the filler rod as a magic wand trying to conjure up a decent bead. Slowly Getting a rhythm and becoming smoother. But man my hands have been jittery since I was a teen

 

[YanceyGreenhorn]

well one, that was a great story,,, next time just tell him "go sit on that broken TV and watch how a man does it"!

on the flies,,,,naahh,,,you'd do well,,,at least like I tie,,,,I don't worry about artful looks,,,I want results with them,,,,and that kind of precision you described isn't needed,,,

other more expert than I may disagree,,,but it works

Had a guy I grow up with ask me how fly fishing really worked. I asked him to elaborate and discovered he took it quite literally. He thought I was literally tying house flies onto fishing hooks. Wish I was joking. I told him you’ve gotta get a digital scale and after you carefully kill a buncha house flies, you weigh em all and keep the heavier ones

 

[KrisB]

Had a guy I grow up with ask me how fly fishing really worked. I asked him to elaborate and discovered he took it quite literally. He thought I was literally tying house flies onto fishing hooks. Wish I was joking. I told him you’ve gotta get a digital scale and after you carefully kill a buncha house flies, you weigh em all and keep the heavier ones

That was me just recently in the Skinners- Put 'em up thread in the deer hunting forum. People were showing their skinning knives and someone said they knew a guy who skinned a deer with a rock and a truck, so I was imagining a guy skinning a deer on the bed of his truck with a piece of sharp flint.

 

[nccatfisher]

Interesting you brought that up...you ever had the shakes affect your welding? You shoulda seen me the first week doing Tig. Looked like I was trying to poke holes in my base metal with my tungsten , while the other hand looked like I was using the filler rod as a magic wand trying to conjure up a decent bead. Slowly Getting a rhythm and becoming smoother. But man my hands have been jittery since I was a teen

Yes, my TIG days are almost over. It makes me extremely mad to know what I used to be able to do. Prior to going undiagnosed with lymes for years I was steady as a rock. I could TIG for days, heck weeks and never have to clean my tungsten. I could lay a bead that looked like a robot did it. Sadly there are days I have to give it up, I may contaminate my tungsten a dozen times in a couple hours. A good day I'll still have to stop and grind 4-5 times. The boy that does it with me is steady as a rock, he goes for weeks and never will touch it.

If I can prop or lean against something I can do ok, but any position where I am straining I am screwed. I can still use a spoolgun better than most people can and even on real thin stuff. I just don't like the looks even a good spoolgun weld.

 

[YanceyGreenhorn]

Yes, my TIG days are almost over. It makes me extremely mad to know what I used to be able to do. Prior to going undiagnosed with lymes for years I was steady as a rock. I could TIG for days, heck weeks and never have to clean my tungsten. I could lay a bead that looked like a robot did it. Sadly there are days I have to give it up, I may contaminate my tungsten a dozen times in a couple hours. A good day I'll still have to stop and grind 4-5 times. The boy that does it with me is steady as a rock, he goes for weeks and never will touch it.

If I can prop or lean against something I can do ok, but any position where I am straining I am screwed. I can still use a spoolgun better than most people can and even on real thin stuff. I just don't like the looks even a good spoolgun weld.

Appreciate the response. Makes sense about the lymes. It’s interesting being in a class full of other new welders besides myself. Everyone’s issues vary so much. One guy contaminates his tungsten too much. Another guy touches filler to tungsten more often than not. I still have issues either pulling a long arc or dipping my tungsten ...but more often I’m quick to add filler prior to letting my molten weld pool establish. I’m extremely hard on myself and I don’t think it’s a bad thing to set the standard high. But on them rough days where I’m super frustrated, I gotta take a deep breath and revisit the garbage I was doing 6 weeks ago to see my progress. At least I’m logging 30+ hours a week behind my hood. Tig has been a much slower improvement for me than stick. But I’m hanging in there and I gotta remember I’ve barely scratched the surface. Thx for the reply

 

[nccatfisher]

Appreciate the response. Makes sense about the lymes. It’s interesting being in a class full of other new welders besides myself. Everyone’s issues vary so much. One guy contaminates his tungsten too much. Another guy touches filler to tungsten more often than not. I still have issues either pulling a long arc or dipping my tungsten ...but more often I’m quick to add filler prior to letting my molten weld pool establish. I’m extremely hard on myself and I don’t think it’s a bad thing to set the standard high. But on them rough days where I’m super frustrated, I gotta take a deep breath and revisit the garbage I was doing 6 weeks ago to see my progress. At least I’m logging 30+ hours a week behind my hood. Tig has been a much slower improvement for me than stick. But I’m hanging in there and I gotta remember I’ve barely scratched the surface. Thx for the reply

For me it is about equal, either contaminating my tungsten or hitting it with my filler and the contaminating it so I count it all the same. LOL. At least stick or MIG I can still two hand it.

 

[YanceyGreenhorn]

For me it is about equal, either contaminating my tungsten or hitting it with my filler and the contaminating it so I count it all the same. LOL. At least stick or MIG I can still two hand it.

Yeah for sure. That second hand makes a big difference

 

[woodmoose]

that is one skill that I haven't earned,,,, one day,,,
did some stick welding as a youth, but nothing serious,,,

when I get grown, I may follow and get some training