Little time at the bench

[left field]

You salmon fly fans may like this book:

Brief interview: https://www.npr.org/2018/04/30/607079309/a-weird-but-true-story-takes-flight-in-the-feather-thief

Quote

On this fateful trip, Johnson's guide began telling him about his own hobby of Victorian salmon fly-tying. The ornate flies, the guide explained, were more of an art form than a fishing tool; they're composed of the iridescent jewel-toned feathers plucked from many of the rarest birds in the world, like the Indian crow and the king bird of paradise.

Then, the guide went on to tell Johnson the bizarre story of a master fly-tier named Edwin Rist. In 2009, Rist — who was then a 20-year-old American student at the Royal Academy of Music in London — broke into the Tring Museum, a suburban outpost of the British Natural History Museum that was established during the Blitz.

Once inside, Rist stuffed hundreds of rare bird skins into a suitcase he'd brought along. Many of those birds bore tags identifying that they'd been collected 150 years earlier by a naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace, who was a colleague of Charles Darwin.

It took over a year for British police detectives to trace the theft to Rist and by then he'd made a fortune online, illegally selling the bird skins or bags of assorted feathers to salmon fly-tying devotees.

 

[The_Real_TCIII]

A friend in Manitowoc, Wi told me their bank has a polar bear mount, they had to move it behind the counter because guys were snipping hair off of it to tie flies lol

[left field]

These classic tyers all turned a blind eye to the source of their materials. You can buy feathers from endangered birds pretty openly. The crazy thing is that many of these guys don't fish. They just like flies. 

There's a cool documentary about Megan Boyd, who is considered the greatest of all the salmon fly tyers.

She lived in a small cottage, with no electricity, running water or telephone, and tied for 14 hours a day by the light of a gas lamp. Anglers from all over the world would make the trek to buy her flies. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/11/sports/megan-boyd-eccentric-master-of-fish-flies-dies-at-86.html 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Been a while since I got to the bench  here are my first try at the check nymphs and jigs . 

Well done!


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[Salmon_Run]

On 3/26/2020 at 1:14 PM, Nytracker said:

In case you guys haven't had enough

Nice tie !!!

[Nytracker]

7 hours ago, left field said:

You salmon fly fans may like this book:

Brief interview: https://www.npr.org/2018/04/30/607079309/a-weird-but-true-story-takes-flight-in-the-feather-thief

 

I actually met Rist at a fly tying  show a long while back when I use to hit the shows every year. It escapes me which show must have been Danbury or Somerset. Kid was a great tyer .  They had a tying contest .. how many flies one could tye in a certain  time using same materials . He beat  my mentor by 3 flies to win the contest. 

He was just a kid maybe  teenager . Already  more skilled  than I.

We were all appalled when we heard what he did at the museum .

[left field]

Very cool. Yeah, he was supposed to be an insanely good tyer. What was shocking is that he basically walked away from this crime, scott free. 

[Nytracker]

Not so much Scott free ... no time ... paid a fine ... ruined  his reputation  for ever ...

[The_Real_TCIII]

You salmon fly fans may like this book:

Brief interview: https://www.npr.org/2018/04/30/607079309/a-weird-but-true-story-takes-flight-in-the-feather-thief

On this fateful trip, Johnson's guide began telling him about his own hobby of Victorian salmon fly-tying. The ornate flies, the guide explained, were more of an art form than a fishing tool; they're composed of the iridescent jewel-toned feathers plucked from many of the rarest birds in the world, like the Indian crow and the king bird of paradise.
Then, the guide went on to tell Johnson the bizarre story of a master fly-tier named Edwin Rist. In 2009, Rist — who was then a 20-year-old American student at the Royal Academy of Music in London — broke into the Tring Museum, a suburban outpost of the British Natural History Museum that was established during the Blitz.
Once inside, Rist stuffed hundreds of rare bird skins into a suitcase he'd brought along. Many of those birds bore tags identifying that they'd been collected 150 years earlier by a naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace, who was a colleague of Charles Darwin.
It took over a year for British police detectives to trace the theft to Rist and by then he'd made a fortune online, illegally selling the bird skins or bags of assorted feathers to salmon fly-tying devotees.

 

Just grabbed this book, looking forward to reading it


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[left field]

37 minutes ago, Nytracker said:

Not so much Scott free ... no time ... paid a fine ... ruined  his reputation  for ever ...

I don't know ...

No remorse, suspended sentence, small fine in relation to what he sold the feathers for, changed his name and now performs as a flautist in Europe. 

[Nytracker]

Fly fishing community  won't forget nor will the tyers . Maybe  a generational thing I would be to ashamed to show my face if I was him .

[Pygmy]

Reminds me of an old girlfriend of mine, Dirty Edna....

She was fully feathered too, and I heard that she is now playing the flute down at Mabel's House of Pleasure in Hoboken, NJ...

[left field]

36 minutes ago, Nytracker said:

Fly fishing community  won't forget nor will the tyers . Maybe  a generational thing I would be to ashamed to show my face if I was him .

Among many, for sure. But I be there are a lot of the hardcore guys who look at him as an anti-hero and would happily buy some of those feathers. 

[Nytracker]

4 minutes ago, left field said:

Among many, for sure. But I be there are a lot of the hardcore guys who look at him as an anti-hero and would happily buy some of those feathers. 

I have inherited some feather stock and purchased  lots of tying materials at sales and such . Im amazed at some of the feathers I have found that were of protected species.  Without  providence proving age and origin  they are not worth getting caught  with . They all get tossed. Not sure but polar bear use to get bought as trim on religious dolls and were legal to be shipped  to the US.  Seal fur is another item thats hard to come by but can be had .

[The_Real_TCIII]

You salmon fly fans may like this book:

Brief interview: https://www.npr.org/2018/04/30/607079309/a-weird-but-true-story-takes-flight-in-the-feather-thief

On this fateful trip, Johnson's guide began telling him about his own hobby of Victorian salmon fly-tying. The ornate flies, the guide explained, were more of an art form than a fishing tool; they're composed of the iridescent jewel-toned feathers plucked from many of the rarest birds in the world, like the Indian crow and the king bird of paradise.
Then, the guide went on to tell Johnson the bizarre story of a master fly-tier named Edwin Rist. In 2009, Rist — who was then a 20-year-old American student at the Royal Academy of Music in London — broke into the Tring Museum, a suburban outpost of the British Natural History Museum that was established during the Blitz.
Once inside, Rist stuffed hundreds of rare bird skins into a suitcase he'd brought along. Many of those birds bore tags identifying that they'd been collected 150 years earlier by a naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace, who was a colleague of Charles Darwin.
It took over a year for British police detectives to trace the theft to Rist and by then he'd made a fortune online, illegally selling the bird skins or bags of assorted feathers to salmon fly-tying devotees.

 

This book is fantastic! Great recommendation!


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[Nytracker]

Its been a while since I posted pictures on this thread . Kind of got derailed  but .

[Nytracker]

[Nytracker]