Looking at pics of folks tying bench had me thinking. Some of them looked like Operating Rooms and others looked like a teenage boys bedroom.
Mine runs from one to the other extreme (although it never looks as good as some of those pics). Here's why; I start out with a plan "I'm going to tie up a bunch of steelhead hair wing patterns", for instance. I clean up the bench, put everything away where it belongs. Then I pull out the materials needed for the pattern(s) I'm tying. For the first half a dozen flies I'm convinced that I'm one of those neat and tidy people who are organized. Then a day or 2 later, I decide that I'm short on red fox squirrel nymphs, so I pull out the stuff for tying up a few of them and put them alongside the other materials...
You see where this is going. 2 or 3 more iterations and a large portion of my materials are lying on the desktop next to the vise, and my bench looks like an anti personel mine went off in a chicken coup.
All that said, I don't know that I'm going to change things up that much. I have a box full of sweet hair wings for this summer, and I was able to tie up a few trout patterns too. I'll probably clean my bench tonight, or maybe I'll pull out the stuff I need to tie up a few gnats...
New paint, all that remains is my crappy old table that will leave next. The empty dormer is where my reloading bench was, revealing the KJRB "sounds of the 70's" stickers in the window, only old Spokanites would recall that station. Flooring dudes start today. Looking forward to getting back to tying. Been a month or more, seems like forever.
Almost 3 months later update. Back to my crappy table, and my ocd set it up kinda how I was used to , as I slowly transition back to my original desk. After clearing and moving everything, I was left with a pile of miscellaneous hooks, from small to huge. I kinda organized them, and rather than going through countless packages to put them away, I am on a mission to tie them all with stuff I will fish. I started with the sz 2 and 4 Carrie Stevens hooks, and am finishing up some 3/0 Dahlbergs now,. The mess is back. It just perpetuates. But it also keeps me sane .
Mystery hook challenge....what I'm up against.I believe this is a 3/0 light wire worm hook with little barbs towards the eye, probably a cheap hook, the Cohen legs are amazing when wet.
not seen are large bin of bucktail, and a couple of ziplocks with saddle hackles which have to be put away after each session or the dog will murder them.
There was a shank that fit nicely on the bulkhead at bottom
last of the bigger stuff, I think the weird gold ones will become Valentine's flies, and I got ideas for the weird jig ones, just gotta find the rattles
not seen are large bin of bucktail, and a couple of ziplocks with saddle hackles which have to be put away after each session or the dog will murder them.
The package of asymmetric eyes in the lower right of the picture sure looked lika a calculator at first glance. I thought, damn, you're making this way too complicated...
Threat level orange. Much worse than this and I take 15 minutes to clean up. I'm pretty effective with the pike file methodology though. View attachment 271141
The disaster that is in front of me at the moment.
I clean it every once in a great while, but I've kinda just given up hope that I'll ever be able to keep it neat and tidy
Hook- weird worm jig that holds a rattle perfectly, 4/0 according to chart
LG dumbbell eyes and 4mm rattle
Body- deer hair and stacked wool
Antennae- stripped quills
Rib-20lb Maxima chameleon
Legs- good luck finding some, or similar
Shell back -nymph skin rusty brown
Tail- hen pheasant dyed brown
Eyes-black UV resin over melted 40lb test
After too much time ( I get carried away sometimes) and UV resin, I want to put it on scale. Should be interesting to cast
Great looking crawdad! I too suffer from the ADD bench syndrome, but have gotten better since retirement. When working the kids would see my desk covered with papers etc. and just crack up! My principal gave a ration of shit about it the first time he saw it. Then he figured that I could really teach and didn't ever go there again. Thank goodness there are all kinds of people in the world!
The disaster that is in front of me at the moment.
I clean it every once in a great while, but I've kinda just given up hope that I'll ever be able to keep it neat and tidy
I’m thinking it’s going to become a bass fly with weed guard. Time to spin some shit on it and see what happens I guess. I figured it was for people with bad eyesight
As it should be. Nothing quite like an active tying area. I have no doubt that fly will work just fine on browns. I can't wait until I can set my tying area backup. RV living makes it a little difficult at times. Keep up the good posts.
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