After sampling KBarton’s Free Range dubbing during the kick ass carp trip out west I knew I had to have some. No, I knew I needed it ALL. I don’t know where to begin, this stuff is awesome. Coming in every mind-blowing color of the fly tyer’s rainbow Singlebarbed has out done himself yet again. I say again because although I haven’t plugged the Sixth Finger yet you will notice my pair of those sexy blades showing up in many of my tying photo’s. If I’m tying they are on my hand, I wonder if I’ll ever really be able to go back. Back to the Free Range, with colors like Pea Green, Rust, Black Claret, Caddis Green, and Brown Mustard you can tell this was made by a tyer for tyers. The guard hairs, subtle flash and easy to dub mixture grabbed me right away. Montana was going to let some of his stash fly back to Minnesota with me but I said no, I just knew I would have to have the whole lot and after contacting Keith my white package arrived the other day.

The timing couldn’t have been better, I’d been checking the mail waiting for my stash to give me a reason to bust out the vise and get to work. I’ve been fishing a bit in my free time but haven’t had any reason to tie, simply put…my boxes are full and unless I’ve run out I can’t justify sitting inside tying when I could be out fishing or enjoying the fresh air Southeast Minnesota has to offer. With the arrival of my Free Range I had the motivator I was looking for to sit down and knock out a couple dozen. I picked a simple fly, something that wouldn’t detract from the Free Range, the Free Range Soft-Hackle is what I’m calling it. Just a dubbed body with a single wrap of Partridge for the collar. My gut tells me that I’ll take loads of trout with these flies. Thanks to John Montana I used a new technique to apply the dubbing that takes full advantage of all the subtleties of this stuff. This method involves a bit of wax, a touch of dubbing and sending my thread to the moon to achieve a nasty, buggy, trout turning body. I tied three dozen in six colors, thanks Keith for investing the time to make this awesome dubbing. This stuff will be put to good use in many future W.F.F. flies. If your looking for some hit Singlebarbed’s store and stock up and while your at it get those scissors, if you tie with blades in your hand you will love these and likely never go back.

Slide Show

If I had to describe myself as a fly tyer it would sound something like this: A stubborn slow tyer hell bent on perfection with a slight hint of O.C.D. who avoids straight shanked hooks whenever possible. It’s the truth and as a result it has prevented me from tying and fishing patterns that I should. With that said I’m not the type to give up, it is the struggle that makes you better at whatever you do. Being a stubborn S.O.B. I of course decided to use the Mustad 37160 to tie my Copper John’s. This presents a bit more difficulty because the drastic curve of the shank tends to mess with the lay of the wire as you wrap the body of the fly (remember “stubborn”). As a relatively new tyer I find inspiration and advice from Switter’sB and KBarton, both of whom present loads of excellent information for anyone willing to read and practice. Specifically, Barton put an inescapable truth in my head. Once you notice a mistake you must fix it then and there, it won’t be able to be corrected after the fact, period. It seems simple but it’s hard to admit it to yourself and at times, harder to put into practice. Read the rest of this entry »