Archive for November, 2006

Now here’s a neat idea if you’re looking for a unique gift for your fly angler – a business located in Toronto, Ontario offers really nice looking tie and lapel pins as well as brooches.

These are patterns tied up on 14 or 18 karat gold, and the photos on the website look really nice!

Take a peek.

I have a nice office that is mostly used for business.. but it’s the only space I have where I can make a mess and tie flies as well.

Problem is, I’ve been using my work desk also as my fly tying station for years. This poses real problems for me; when I am in the mood to tie up flies, I have to take out all my fly tying material out of a large plastic crate thing where I store it all, and then scatter my work desk with hooks, feathers, and fur.

In order to get back to my work, I have to throw all the stuff back into my plastic crate.  This poses so many problems – just sometimes finding stuff that I want is a real nuisance.

My excellent friend Wendy, (who unfortunately is neither a fly angler or tier) spied a desk at Ikea that she thought would be useful for me as it has a small footprint when not in use, yet lots of storage space.  It even came with a bench that also acts as a storage unit, and fits right underneath the desk when not in use.

Well, bless her, last weekend she went out to Ikea and purchased the unit for me.  You can see what it looks like, here.  Of course, Ikea products are always a lot of fun to put together (sarcasm) – and after many hours, as well as a trip back to Ikea because of some of the pieces being missing and/or not correctly made, I now have a fly tying station that is dedicated to … well.. fly tying!

It’s not a bad little unit at all.  I’ve managed to organize all my large and small bits and pieces, clear out the plastic crates that sat in my office before, and can quickly get at my fly tying materials and supplies when the mood strikes me.  This unit is not specifically made for fly tying – there are some things I’d like to change and/or add, but I’m happy that any time I get the urge to wrap some thread around a hook, all I have to do is walk three steps across my office, open up the unit, clamp the vise, and I’m ready.

And clean up is a cinch.. just puch everything back and close up the unit.  The desk from which I operate my business never has to be touched with bits of feather, fur, or tiny hooks.  I even have room left over on the top shelf to store my fly tying manuals and books, too.

The bench isn’t huge, but there’s enough room for my butt as well as my little four year old, David, to sit with me too. Now I’ll be able to tie flies without having to worry about cleaning up my desk afterward to get ready for a workday.  Sweet.

Thanks, Wendy!

Interesting.  Just received an email advising that the 2007 Canadian Fly Fishing Championships will be held in Grand Prairie, Alberta.

That’s a place in the middle of nowhere – hundreds of kilometres north west of Edmonton, Alberta.  But no rivers – instead, the competition will be completely lake/pond based.  I guess I’ll be spending lots of the summer months on lakes – something I have seldom fly fished in the past.

Grande Prairie is quite a bit north – the city is 55 degrees latitudinally, north of the equator.  Lots of daylight hours in the early summer.. wonder what it’s like in September, the tentative month for the competition.