Category Archives: Meeting

April 2025 Meeting

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

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)

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

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

November 2023 Meeting

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Hello everyone!

Just wanted to get this out to all of you so you can practice before the meeting! Our November meeting will be held on Saturday November 18th, at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am.

Those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River Cafe at 8am.

Our yearly Dues are due ($40) and to facilitate things you may pay using PayPal through Megan. Her email is: brocco.megan@gmail.com

You may also pay for shirts with her as well, hopefully this will speed things up for members so we can get our 2024 Roster available to everyone.

Shirts are ready to be picked up for those who have not done so. Any other embroidery items you may want done can be given to me and I will take care of it with our business, see me with any questions.

Last call for Shellac, anyone wanting a bottle please let me know before the meeting, I will have them for you. No charge.

Our December Meeting with Piero is all set up and ready to go. Linda has worked very hard to bring this quality tier to the Guild. I need to have anyone who plans on going to the pre get together on Friday evening at The Bachand’s home to PLEASE contact Linda to confirm that you will attend. Linda has also set up reservations for dinner after the Saturday session with Piero, and also needs to have a final headcount. Please let Linda know on this too.

Piero and Byron will have “Fly Kits’ available to members for a nominal fee, so you can try some in hand tying. Kits are $20.00 If you are interested let Linda know this as well. She has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Guild to bring you a great weekend, thank you Linda!!

If you need a new name tag please let Nick Riggs or myself know, Nick has been working on our new look!

Ok, on to this months Fly, Moray Doone.

I have stripped, cleaned and dyed the Quills required to tie this pattern, (will have them for you) thanks to Steve for providing all the quills for this, much appreciated Steve!

It also calls for pink floss, I will have that as well. You will need a small yellowish fuzzy hackle (wolly bugger marabou) or as it calls for Hen Pheasant thigh hackle, dyed yellow. I also think a yellow saddle hackle could work, just keep the fuzzy fibers at the butt intact. A Widgeon hackle for a throat, Jungle cock, and a slim wing. I will also show how to accomplish a Herl head too!!

Call or text me if you have questions, should be fun!

Lunch will be provided, coffee will be on, and beverage’s will be in the cooler!

Keep- those bobbin’s turning!

Respectfully,

Glenn

April 2023 Meeting

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Just wanted to reach out and give you the Monthly meeting info again, we will be tying Kelson’s The Bachelor. I chose this fly to allow us enough time to finish a fly in our allotted time. We will meet on Saturday April 15th at the Fall City Firehouse at 9am. Those wanting breakfast will meet at the Raging River cafe at 8am.

I also wanted to thank all those who attended the Albany Expo, we had a really good showing for our little guild! The dinner at Todd’s was a huge success as our resident chef Steve Morton cooked up a beautiful Paella, it was delicious! We decided to take up a donation for Steve and our group alone raised $550.00 plus some awesome Steelhead flies for him. Thank you all, we had 22 members attend! Such a good showing!

This meeting I would like to extend our meetings so those who travel will get the full benefit of our meeting. With that being said, we will be taking a lunch break with the guild picking up pizza for the group. I will bring a cooler with beverages for us. I think leaving the firehouse at noon is cutting us short on allowing time for help, discussions and completing a fly, or at least getting close to completing one. Let’s see how we do this month and decide if it works or not. I will be available to help anyone requiring a little assistance, or help with the fly.

I stopped by the Embroider today and the shirts are in, the artwork selected, along with proper spelling of names, sizes and color of shirt. I don’t know if they will be done by Saturday or not…we’ll see. But, the ball is rolling at last!

Finally, the infamous “Guild” Hat has been found, and brought to Todd’s house for its newest member to be announced. We proudly presented the Feathered Fedora, beautifully adorned with plumes, beaks and other plumage to one of our old members Hunter Bachand! This man deserves the bounty of the Bird, he constantly teaches new members, keeps beautiful notes and shares those things with anyone who needs them. Congratulations Hunter, we’re proud of you!

That should do it for now. See you all the 15th!

Glenn

Bachelor-Kelson

February 2023 Meeting

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Hello Everyone, our February Guild meeting will be held on Saturday Feb 18th at the Fall City fire House, at 9am. Breakfast will be over at the Raging River Cafe at 8am for those having breakfast. I would like to thank all involved with putting on the Tying weekend last month, much appreciated. This month we will tackle the Butcher (Jewhurst) as seen in Kelson. Techniques this month will touch on multiple tail veilings, Seal fur body, multiple ribbings, body hackling and 2 throats. Along with the winging and finishing touches. So have your materials ready to go!! We will visit new club Shirts, name-tags for those needing them. Hopefully Hunter can share some information about our next guest speaker, and Rocky and Linda also have some ideas for future guests as well. If you have an interest in anything from the Library please contact Dareld to secure your book order, remember the 2 week advance notice please. If you are having difficulties with any tying technique or problems please, let me know so we can tackle those things at future meetings, don’t be shy! Look forward to seeing you all there, on the 18th.

Special thanks to Linda for providing the sweet Fly layout with the recipe for all of us! Thank you.

Buther, Kelson

January 2023 Meeting

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Sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday. I hope all who participated had a good time. Our January meeting will be the weekend of the 14th and 15th. As mentioned before Glenn Wilson will be demonstrating for everyone. He will tie the Black Doctor on Saturday. Sunday he will show how he does certain parts of a fly as requested by you. So think about parts you would like to see and on Saturday that can be discussed amongst members with Glenn. Both days will start at 9:00am at the Fall City fire hall with breakfast at 8:00am at the Raging River cafe for those interested. There will be a teams link sent out for those who would like to watch but can’t be there in person. Also Todd Yorke is willing to put on the chili feed at his house Friday night March 10th. So for those that will be at the Albany show think about it and let me know by the end of next month so he can have an idea of how many will be there. The reason for Friday instead of Saturday is some members like myself may be planning to head home Saturday after the show. Please let me know if Friday is a problem and we can adjust if it affects to many. For those who wanted Cellire, Steve is working on it. I will let you know once I hear. Looking ahead the February meeting will be the 18th and the March meeting the 25th. Have a merry Christmas and Happy new year.

Dareld

Happy New Year everyone! Wanted to take a few minutes to bring everyone up to speed as to where we are at the present time. Due to some issues Dareld has stepped down as President, and I have been asked to take it on. If there are no problems with that, then I’m your Huckleberry. Other Guild administrators are as follows: Steve Brocco, Treasurer, meeting room arraigned, book purchases, guest tier costs. Linda Bachand and Rocky Hammond will serve as our International and Domestic Ambassadors they will secure guest visitor/Tyers to the group. Hunter Bachand will serve as our Fly Archivist. Public Relation and Hosts will be Kristen Macy and Britt Davenport, they will order shirts, name tags, business cards and related materials for the group. IT will be done by Mark Spaur, setting up equipment for virtual presentations at the meetings. Internet Website will be done by Garren Wood, maintaining our website and Facebook page. Library will be Dareld Thompson, unless he doesn’t have the time. Provides books, and other Guild related materials from our Library. You must order these two weeks in advance to the meeting so they can be brought to the meeting.

We can discuss this at our upcoming meeting this January 14-15th.

January Meeting is a two day tying weekend, both Saturday and Sunday at the Firehouse. Saturday I will be demonstrating Pryce-Tannatt’s Black Doctor. This pattern has most of the steps required in a full dress fly. As usual I will talk my way through the fly as it’s tied. Questions are welcomed, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Sunday, if we have enough members to make it worthwhile, I will be addressing things that members have requested, so far that would be: sides, mallard roof techniques, splitting Jay hackles and selecting, preparing and tying in Tails (Golden Pheasant). If you have a request PLEASE get a hold of me so I can add those things. I have to prepare hooks up to the requested items.

Well, that’s it for now, sorry it was long winded, but I felt you all needed to know what’s going on. By the way, it’s YOUR Guild!

Sincerely,

Glenn