Author Archives: garren

May 2025 Meeting

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Mays meeting will be on Saturday May 17th, at the Fall City Fire House at 9am. Those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Bar and Grill at 8am.
I apologize for not having pictures for this month, but we will be having Joel Hill as our guest tier, Joel is a talented fly tier and will demonstrate the Glasso style Spey Flies. I spoke with him and suggested patterns like the Orange Heron, Sol Duc Spey, and flies with multiple ribbings and Bronze Mallard wings. Flies like the Reachs, the Black and Red kings, these flies utilize Spey like hackles wound the reverse way to the ribs, sporting tented Mallard wings. Good fishing flies, so there is a lot to learn from watching Joel.
 
Thank you to our members who demonstrated at the FFI show in Issaquah, lots of talent not many visitors, but thanks for your commitment.
 
Guild shirts should be ready by the May meeting, I will send out a separate mail to those who ordered shirts with the price.
I do not have any information  on name tags at this time, but will be working on it.
 
I will also have more information from Ray about his material and having them on hand for our members. I will talk to Ray, see what he has then pass on that information with another email, so members will be prepared. A huge thank you to Ray for thinking about the group and him wanting to pass his collection on to those of us who tie within the Guild. Thank you!
 
We are still putting together a meeting for early June to have a dying session, I have not been able to contact Dave, as I do not have a current phone number, but will keep at it. Even if he is unable to attend I think we have enough members with experience to put on a session and get good results. The location, time and date are still in the works, so don’t put all your eggs in one basket…
 
Ben will update us on the Grewcock Salmon Patterns and the interest in securing the PDF recipes for the group.
 
Hunter is busy working on his Newsletter, and he can update us on his progress. If you have any ideas, tips, methods or techniques for tying or material prep, please get that to Hunter, everyone can benefit from this. Also please contribute your flies to the Guild archive, give them to Hunter, thank you.
 
If you would like to get something from our Library, contact Dareld for your request, he can get them to you at the meeting, he also has thumb drives available with past tiers demonstrating their talents for the Guild. This is a great asset, use it.
 
Coffee will be on, beverages in the cooler and lunch provided for the group.
See you all Saturday the 17th.
 
Respectfully, 
Glenn  

April 2025 Meeting

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Hey everyone,

The NWASFG will meet on Saturday April 19th at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am, those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Bar and Grill at 8am.

Guild shirts have been ordered and are at the embroidery shop as we speak.

Name Tags have been given to Nick, and he said he would be working on those as well.

The FFI Casting and tying event is on April 27th in Issaquah, the guild has seven tiers and is also hosting a class from Hunter, thank you all for supporting this event, should be a fun time.

We have discussed as a group (us old timers) a lifetime membership to Steve Morton, he’s our resident Oregon Chef and co-host of the Yorke food extravaganza we all get to participate in yearly in Albany. Welcome Steve, and thank you!

Mark Spaur has been working behind the scenes for a year trying to get our old meeting location back to the Issaquah Library Annex building. Mark has attended meetings on behalf of the group and has some news to share with us on Saturday. A ton of work was put into this, Mark will talk to us about what he has found out.

Ben has, through an email to the Guild been working on a book deal from Barry Grewcock and his Encyclopedia of Salmon flies and Sea Trout Patterns. Ben shared with me some of what is in there and I have not seen this much pattern variations in any book I currently have in my library! So many patterns to choose and look over. Ben will cover more ground on this and answer any questions you might have, he has enlisted the help of Jim McKinnon for the printing duties, as anyone who attends our meetings can attest to his monthly pattern sheet is something to see.

Byron, who has recovered from that evil dentist, will give us a little talk on fly choice and proper hook selection. We are lucky to have a World Class Hook Maker in our group, and he can share some good information with us about what he knows, and the feedback he gets from tiers worldwide.

This month we will have Brett Breuel demonstrate the fly of the month, we has talked about having one of our members share with us their take on how they approach a given fly, their ideas and techniques. Brett is an accomplished tier and we can learn much from him, I look forward to it.

The Fly Pattern for April is The Black Dog, from Kelson, Hardy, and Hale. There are many variations of this fly, this one seems to be the one seen more often. I feel that a longer shanked hook gives this fly a more “racy” appearance, perhaps a Sunday or Playfair hook? Given the ribbing scheme, of two oval tinsels and a band of silk floss the longer shank spreads it out giving it more flow. A long Heron Hackle or suitable substitute feather really gives the Black Dog a recognizable look. Again, there are many other variations available to tie, so keep that in mind, Blue, Claret, and Red dyed heron was regularly used. As you can see in the recipe, the underwing utilizes 2 red/orange hackles enveloped by 2 extended Jungle Cock feathers. Remember, that the underwing is part of the wing, so when building the main wing don’t go too crazy! A medium sized wing (fiber count) should be used, otherwise it get too big, so just keep that in mind when building your wing. Simpler is better I think, use your discretion. The last thing to consider is the application of the unbarred Woodduck sides (lemon) you can use strips, from a really big lemon Woodduck feather. Or strip down the feather to use the whole tip, your choice. I have found that by dying Pearl Mallard tan/cinnamon it looks acceptable as it has larger fibers.

I will still use the White Board for my thoughts on the fly, even though Brett will be demonstrating for us, if its useful, and you want to see it?

Coffee will be on, beverages in the cooler, and lunch will be provided.
Look forward to seeing you all on the 19th!

Respectfully,
Glenn

Black Dog

Black Dog

March 2025 Meeting

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Our monthly Guild meeting will be held on Saturday March 15th, at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am. Those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Bar and Grill at 8am.
 
This weekend March 7th and 8th is the Oregon Albany Fly Expo held at the Lane County Fairgrounds, hope to see many of you there, it’s always a great time. If you are attending, don’t forget to wear your Guild shirt to promote our group. Also if you plan on attending the food extravaganza at Todds house please stop by and see me, I will be collecting the money for our contribution toward the food, it will be $20.00 per person and BYOB. I have a list and directions as well. We will also collect 2 flies, one for Todd and one for Steve, our chef!
 
The FFI fly casting and tying event on April 27th in Issaquah will have several Guild members demonstrating at the show, if interested, please see me or talk to Hunter, who will be conducting a class, thank you Hunter.
 
This months fly has changed, we were going to do a Purple Emperor, but I saw that we did an oval silver body and tapering for the Smith. So, I thought it would be good to learn how to fully gut a hook, tie an underbody (tapered) and do a flat silver tinsel bodied fly. So we will be tying a Silver Doctor by James Wright as seen in Kelson. As usual, start with a shortish tip/tag, a topping for a tail, nice and low with decent fiber count, also calls for an optional Kingfisher tail veiling. I will use that in this fly, and you should double the kingfisher, it really gives much better color saturation. Red wool but, tied elliptical, and nice and tight. Flat Silver body, cut a long taper with the cut end facing down and tied in at 5 o’clock then the oval silver rib at 6 o’clock. NO body hackle, but 2 throats, a blue and Gallina. With no body hackle I think a longer throat really accents the flow of the fly, so extend it a little, it’s a style thing so it’s up to you. The underwing calls for Connected strands of tippets, which means with the rachis attached, so like normal. You can tie them in as whole tippets and trim them, or strip and set them in as you would do whole tippets. I usuall tie in tne tippets right after the body, then the throats, then the main wing. It’s up to you. Create whatever type and style of married wing, see the recipe above. Woodduck and Pintail sides, Mallard roof, horns, a topping then finish with a Red Wool Head “Band”, not a whole red head, again that’s up to you.
I think it’s a clean pattern and a recipe that has enough materials to keep us busy!
 
If you need anything from the Library, please contact Dareld for your selection, you take it for a month, then return it the following month.
 
Flies for the Guild Archive can be given to Hunter, we appreciate your contributions.
 
Mark will send out the online information for those not attending the meeting, we appreciate those watching from home.
 
If there are any members who want to purchase a Guild Shirt, please let me know so we can put in the order. Will be approximately $83.00
 
Coffee will be on, beverages in the cooler and Lunch will be provided as usual.
 
Looking forward to seeing you all at the meeting on the 15th of March.
 
Thank you Linda for providing us with the recipe card for the Silver Doctor.
 
The Silver Doctor - Kelson

The Silver Doctor – Kelson

February 2025 Meeting

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We will be meeting on Saturday February 15th, at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am. Those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Bar and Grill at 8am.

I hope those going down to Albany are getting ready, I think it’s the best fly tying event on the west coast, so plan on being there either to watch and learn or to tie. The Guild has always had a great showing of tiers, so be sure to wear your Guild shirt to support what we have to offer. If your a first time tier tie what you want to, Spey flies, Classics or whatever suits you. See you there!

I have selected a Classic Salmon fly from Kelson that has Steelhead colors but stays true to a full dress pattern The Manchester Swell. While it is pretty straight forward, as always, remember the things we have been pounding on like short antique style tip and tag, and a LOW tail. The body itself is 1/3 buttercup yellow silk then Magenta silk, with a Magenta hackle running from the second turn of tinsel. I use a flat silver and silver twist (see Ben) or you can use a large oval if you choose. This calls for Blue Jay throat, and I like the look a full Jay throat up front, so leave enough room for 2 feathers. Again, thats your choice. Tippets in strands and Gallina are called for so remember to raise your tying platform to keep those strands lying flat over the body. I also tie in Gallina strands to brush in with my fingers before tying down the tippets, so the both get tied on together, keep them low! Pretty straight forward wing so nothing too crazy, just make up whatever kind of arraigned strips you like. Mallard roof and short sides of Jungle Cock finishes it off. I hope we get a good turnout and lots of activity at the vice.

As usual we will have the coffee on, cold beverages in the cooler and lunch provided for you.

See you all on the 15th.
Respectfully,
Glenn

Manchester Swell (Kelson)

Manchester Swell (Kelson)

January 2025 Meeting

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
 
I hope everyone had a chance to relax with family and friends over the Holidays, and it’s time to meet again!
 
Our January meeting will be on Saturday, January 18th at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am, those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Bar and Grill at 8am.
 
Don’t forget the Albany Fly Expo in March 7th and 8th at the Linn County Fairgrounds, they are still accepting tiers if your available, its a great time.
 
This month we will be tying a Tay River pattern, The Smith, this fly was tied up to a 10/0 and used by Harling, a method like today’s use of Hot Shot’s. A fisherman payed out a long line and the Ghilly rowed the boat over known lies, back and forth and then dropped down little by little. It was also tied large for tidal waters and high Spring fishing, where 3/0 to 7/0 were common. So if you like tying a little larger here is a fly for you! The only real problem was the length of your winging materials. I am going to tie either 5/0 or 6/0, so see Byron for those hooks, the Harrisons are awesome. This fly as you can see from the photo and recipe (thank you Linda) it has an oval silver body separated by hackles. As with a body hackle we want to have a taper and flow, so each hackle should be a little longer than the last one until you reach the throat. I will have more information written on the white board at the meeting. If you have Rooster necks or colored Saddles they will work well, in Yellow, Red, and Blue, also have Gallina hackles too. This fly uses GP Spears for the underwing, which I can’t stand due to them being stiff as a board, thin and have no shape. So, you can substitute hackles in red and claret, 2 of each, they will lay nice and low for you. Or be traditional and use the spears, I’ll have them with me also. When it comes to the wing, if you do not have Grey Mottled Turkey tail, substitute with Amhurst, if your GP Tails are not long enough, use Brown turkey tails, you can be creative and still stay within the recipe. It doesn’t have a lot of add on’s so that’s nice for a change! I will bring along some nice long Brown Turkey Tails for those needing them.
 
I would look over the pattern card and perhaps spend a few minutes selecting hackles in the colors stated above. You can use either medium or large oval tinsels for this fly, I have seen it tied with flat and an oval rib too. See Ben for all your tinsel needs, give him a message. 
 
Don’t forget to ask Dareld for any book or thumb drive in our library, a great resource for our members, so use it.
 
Bring a fly for the Archives if you haven’t done so already, Hunter is busy trying to get it updated and your help is appreciated.
 
Also you might contact Garren Wood, he takes care of our Salmon Guild’s online presence, and send him pictures to up date the flies on the site, I plan on doing so in the weeks to follow. It’s nice to have it refreshed for those looking into our group, as we have so much to offer tiers interested in tying Classic Salmon Flies. 
 
A shout out to our resident I.T. guru Mark for working hard behind the scenes to have our on-line members up and running, he has changed the format and camera’s to bring everyone a better experience for our meetings. From the feedback I have received, it seems to be much better for in house members, as well as those at home. As you can see this whole thing is not a one man show, so many contribute to our meetings and all that entails, Mark, I thank you.
 
Coffee will be on, beverages in the cooler and lunch provided as usual. I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday the 18th!
 
Respectfully,
Glenn
 
The Smith

The Smith

November 2024 Meeting

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It’s time to raise the bar as far as our tying goes, the next 3 months will take us to new places! Our meeting will be on Saturday November 16th at 9am at the Fall City Firehouse. I have been told that the Raging River Cafe has closed, and I don’t know of another location for breakfast in the area, perhaps someone more familiar could recommend a new location for those wanting breakfast before the meeting.
 
If you haven’t paid your dues please contact Steve or you can pay Megan at brocco.megan@gmail.com  dues are $40.00.
 
The Oregon Fly Expo is coming up in March, fly registration has been sent out by Hal Gordon, so if you plan on tying, contact Hal or send in the electronic registration soon. We always have a good Guild showing, and its a great time with all our friends!
 
This month we will attempt to dress the Floodtide, by Kelson, this pattern is what I consider a “crossover” fly, incorporating the Eagle hackles along with a mixed married wing. I have talked to Byron about hooks and I recommend a long shank hook, as this fly was a Spring fly or a pattern to use with high water, hence the name Floodtide. Please get a hold of Byron and get the proper hook, we think a 4/0 or 5/0 will suit this fly well. Next months fly will also be tied larger so be prepared.
Remember to try for that antique tip/tag, so think smaller. Low Tails, and one that is open and full (good barb count) I have shown you how to get them to lay low and how to open them up, so employ that with this fly. Woodduck should fit inside the tail and extend about 3/4 of the way into the tail. Four colors of seal are used in the body, two tinsels I would go with a large flat and lace or oval. Ben is the go to guy for the tinsels, so touch bases with him for those needs. Start to sort through your hackles for the Eagle feather, a good substitute is a thin stemmed Marabou dyed yellow or Golden Yellow, you will strip one side, these flys can get away from you if you don’t eliminate one side, too fluffy. You want to kinda see the body colors through the hackle. A Red or Crimson Gallina hackle is used for the throat.
For the underwing it calls for G.P. Spears, these can be tough to handle, the smaller ones are the ticket. But, I was playing around this week and you can substitute hackles instead, use 2 Red and 2 Claret Rooster neck hackles, back to back. The color represents the spears and will be easier to tie in. Something to think about anyway. Then Jungle Cock gets tied in over the hackles or spears. For the wing remember to slim them down some, only 4 materials are used, Bustard, Amhurst, yellow and red. I like somewhere between 12 and 16 fibers, and set the low right over the underwing. But again, your tying this thing, do what feels good. Lastly, there are 2 sets of Jungle cock used, sides and cheeks. Try to balance the length of the sides so the are evenly spaced, then again for the cheeks. 
 
That’s about all for this months fly, it’s a pretty one for sure.
 
Ben has been handling the vice attachment purchase and the Traherne book for those interested, please get a hold of him.
 
Also remember we have an extensive Library which is handled by Dareld, being as large as it is you will have to contact him so the items can be brought to the meeting. Also Jim McKinnon has spent an enormous amount of time taking our old tapes and digitally formatting them onto thumb drives, thank you Jim for the hard work. So use the materials we have on hand and talk to Dareld about securing those items. 
 
Coffee will be on, cold beverages in the cooler and lunch will be provided for those attending. Mark will have the online presence for our members who can’t attend.
 
Floodtide-Kelson

Floodtide-Kelson

October 2024 Meeting

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Our first meeting will be on Saturday October 19th, at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am. Those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Cafe at 8am.
 
I hope you all are well and have been enjoying your beautiful summer weather! Well its that time of year again to get back together and continue our journey into Classic Salmon Fly tying. Due to the fact that some of our members will be heading up to Calgary for the ASFI 24′ with many of them heading up to fish, I postponed the September meeting. I wish them the very best and hope the will represent our group and continue this great event.
 
Dues are due for the new year and can be sent to Megan Brocco at brocco.megan@gmail.com they are $40.00 for the year. Thank you.
 
For our first meeting we will be having a Tri-Fecta of flies to select, the Fiery Brown (Rogan), the Thunder & Lightning (Wright) and the Lady Caroline.
 
 I selected these flies as being fairly simplistic in their construction, but by no way easy. As with all things, understanding the construction, materials and methods to use to achieve your desired results is our goal. That being said, I have been asked to go back to the beginning, and show how I fully gut a Salmon hook, and then do an underbody. I usually show up with that done already, but we will do the start up process together. Hooks can be procured from our resident Hook Maker Byron, and I would think around a 1/0 will do just fine, even a little smaller is ok too.
 
I will write some of the points to consider on the whiteboard, as some like the idea as we move into the construction of each pattern. If it helps I will continue, if not we can stop it, your feedback is important here. While these patterns have the classic components like tip, tag and tail they don’t have all the busy accouterments other patterns may have. I would like to start to slowly build up to more difficult flies as we progress. I would like to work on Upright Mallard Wings this month, while its easy to talk about, it’s a little more difficult to pull off correctly. I will show you a few tricks to use which can give you some options during construction, and how the “Style” can change the look of the fly. We also will employ Tippets in strands, but I will show you some methods ( you may already use) to help you if the strand thing isn’t your cup of tea! Herl heads or Wool head will be used too. The Thunder & Lighting wing is one where you can use different methods and Materials depending on the size of fly being tied. A foundation is very helpful in tying these flies, it gives support for the soft flimsy Bronze Mallard strips to lay against, here I employ strips of Mottled Brown Turkey strips. An underwing of sorts, it gives a solid foundation for the main wing of Mallard, 2 strips on each side. That gives us a nice deep color to the wing. The Tippet strips do the same for the Fiery Brown, again we will be tying “Upright” Mallard Wings as our monthly technique. And finally I threw in the Lady Caroline, a very popular and widely use fly even today. Although the fly uses Bronze Mallard wings, they are tied in low and tented over the body, “Spey” fly style. Multiple tinsels are used on the Caroline along with a flowing Heron (or substitute) feather up the body and a throat of G.P. Flank or breast feather. 
 
That should consume our day together, give you a few tricks and ideas you can use on other patterns down the road. As always the feedback from the group is instrumental in helping me try to provide quality meeting content, which will move you forward in your tying. So please think about where you are as a Salmon tier, give me either patterns you want to attempt, questions about fly interpretation and materials, anything YOU need help with. It’s easier for me to bring you content when I get ideas from you guys! I can throw stuff together and just put our heads down and bang em’ out, but what’s the sense in that? Been there, done that… but have you gotten better? The level of your tying ability is a direct result of understanding and practice. So, give that some thought and provide me ideas and flies we can do together to get you where you feel motivated, engaged and wanting to tie a better fly. 
 
If anyone needs a shirt of something embroidered let me know, we can put an order in.
 
As usual we will have the coffee on, lunch provided and cold beverages waiting for you. Look forward to seeing you all, and hope we can have a full house for our first meeting!   
 

April 2024 Meeting

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Hello Gang!
Our April meeting will be held on Saturday April 20th, at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am, those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Cafe at 8am.
 
This month we will be tying The Green Highlander, there are two main patterns for this fly, Kelson and Pryce-Tannett. You can tie either one and the Kelson version is easier for sure, but I have posted Pryce-Tannett’s recipe. Also you can see I have two pictures within the recipe card. I usually tie a varient of sorts as I like some of the touches each pattern gives. P.E.T’s version uses silk floss for the body in the recipe, but I usually use Green seal. Also P.E.T uses silver tinsel (flat) for the tip/tag, I like oval and yellow floss. Tippets in strands are used in P.E.T’s pattern, while Kelson uses 2 tippets, I also use whole tippets and trim them down. You can get very creative with the wing, as seen in the picture, or go straight forward as in the second picture, your choice. The fly has ALL the accoutrements you could ask for, Woodduck and Teal, Jungle Cock, and Indian Crow, Mallard Roof, Horns and a Topping!! Don’t forget next month we tackle the King, the Jock Scott, so I’m gearing you up!
 
Hook size can vary, but I’ll probably tie 3/0 LS, Harrison or something like that. Not too big. Byron has all your hook needs, so hit him up!
 
I will have the things to look out for written on the white board, as usual before we dive in, if you want that sort of thing?
 
Coffee will be on, cold beverages in the cooler and lunch provided for the group.
 
A shout out to our friend Ben, who was in a car accident and hoping he is doing well and is on the road to recovery?? Also a special thank you to our International Ambassador Linda, who every month provides us with the recipe card attached to our email, Thank you Linda!
 
That’s it, see you all soon,
Respectfully,
Glenn
 
 

Green Highlander

January 2024 Meeting

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Thought I would send this out so you are aware of our January meeting for the 20th, at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am. Those wishing to have breakfast will meet at the Raging River Cafe at 8am.
 
I hope everyone enjoyed Piero’s visit and the techniques he demonstrated for us. I found a few nuggets, although I will not be tying in hand anytime soon. I found the group enthusiastically watching, asking questions and being involved throughout the sessions. With that, I want to build on some of what Piero did for our next meeting. I want to have a “Techniques” meeting, focusing on Mixed Wings, Stacked Wings and tippets in strands. 
 
Please take some time and review the Cork Collection, here you can see simple patterns utilizing mixed wings, which I will focus on for our patterns. There are a few simplistic patterns, namely The Grey & Crottle (J.O.Harold),Dark & Bright Claret (J.O. Harold), The Butcher. I have attached a few pictures of practice flies I’ve tied with no real pattern followed, just so you get the idea of what we will try to do. We will attempt the winging techniques of Hale, Kelson and Blacker, except we will not mix left and rights as Piero did for the wing. One thing I also have used are clear plastic materials clip when stacking wing materials to keep them in order, also a picture of that above as well. (*Amazon for about $20.00) You can use some of your not so great materials for these wings, goose, turkey (with stress marks), Mottled turkey, etc… so bring Dark turkey, GPTail, Peacock Wing, yellow, red, blue, lt. blue, green (goose or turkey), Bronze mallard, Woodduck, Pintail, Tippets (big ones), some seal furs, Grey, Claret, & Blue. I would use hooks from 1/0, 2/0, or 3/0 nothing too big. Will be fun!
 
We will also be finalizing our Roster for our February meeting. Albany is coming in March, and The York’s have stepped up again, and will host the yearly extravaganza at their home. Directions and other info will follow soon. Aaron also mentioned the Flyfishing / tying show in February held in Bellevue’s Maydenbaur center, a few of us will be tying there as well, it will be held Feb 17-18 I believe. So our Feb meeting date will be moved up to the 10th.
 
If you have any questions just send me an email. But take the time to look at the Cork Collection and get motivated!
 
Lunch will be served, cold beverages, and the coffee will be on! Until then, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
 
Respectfully, 
Glenn