danccooke
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Posts posted by danccooke
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So then....How hard is it to tie your own flies?
Fishing has always been a sore subject in my house. I am a sea fisherman or a lead lobber if you wish with a garage full of gear, but fly fishing is something I have always wanted to have a go at. The normal response I get from the wife when I mention this is along the lines of “that will mean more tackle, different rods and reels more.....blah blah” as I phase out of the argument and dream of the monster salmon I will never catch.
However I digress from the point which is. It would appear that taking my wife and parents to the CLA Game Fair may have fixed the problem. How so I hear you ask? On the Friday the weather was nice but it was oh so apparent that at any moment the heavens could open and it would come down on a biblical level and, as we were all walking through the fisherman’s row it happened. An instant howl of wind as fishing rods and banners went flying, bolts of lightning danced behind the castle in a Frankensteinesque show and then the rain, oh my did it rain. Everyone dashed for the nearest stand and did their best to look vaguely interested in whatever they had happened upon, for us it was “The Fly Dressers Guild” stand.
We joked with the guides on the stall and one was amusingly blunt about how once the rain stopped we would vacate his tent. My wife uncharacteristically piped up “No. Not now, not until we see you tie a fly.” and that is how my wife met Phil McDade the vice president of the Fly Dressers Guild.
He pointed out that the table was not for him to demonstrate but for him to teach.
Now things were going to get interesting, you see in my house we are a modern couple and share the workload, meaning I cook and sew. Bobbins and thread are as alien to my wife as the hook that was being placed in the clamp.
Not only was Phil funny but a great teacher, and explained that the fly she was going to tie was a “Black and Peacock Spider” which in all fairness eluded nothing to us of what the final product would look like, but he showed her the tools that she would handle and the materials that she would use.
Never one to back down from a challenge she sat there like a patient school child soaking up the instructions although looking decidedly nervous as there was now quite a gathering in the tent watching.
Phil was a great teacher, he would show how he wanted part of it tying by doing it, but then would unwind what he had done so none of the final product would be his.
He started by showing how he wanted the initial whipping to lay a base of silk on the shank of the hook. He showed how to use the scissors with precise control. Making sure that a nice flush snip could be made without the risk of slicing through what had just been tied. On her first attempt with only a little guidance the result was quite impressive. Especially as this is the only time in her life she has touched a hook without that look of disdain.
Catching the peacock herls with the silk and tying them on seemed rudimentary and the following winding back up the shank appeared to be a doddle.
Phil then explained how to select the hen hackle making sure the barbs were right for the hook size and explaining how the natural curve of the feather is used when catching it in and winding it round.
The finished product actually looked quite professional.
I now have a wife who wants to tie more and experiment with making different flies. Already some equipment has been ordered. She still has no interest in the fishing itself but this can only be a small step away from me using these flies for that elusive Salmon that haunts my dreams.
Only you know if I catch one it will be because of her Fly Dressing and nothing to do with my angling ability.
Daniel Cooke.
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BTW, VICIOUS is probably how you meant to described the wife - not viscious, which is a combo of behaving like a fluid and acting in an aggressive manner!!! Acid, maybe ??
:look: 
good spot
it was late when i changed the Signature. but the behaving like a fluid (being everywhere) and aggressive, crappola i should have left it like that 
lucky she doesn't read this.
I DO wear the trousers in my house, and she has given me permission to say so
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Would you honestly rather have no gun or a Datsun whilst fiddling the figures so the wife won't notice the B arriving.
All was happy when I had my own accountant, now she is the accountant I can't sneak half as much through.
At least with fishing she has no interest and thus no idea what things are let alone cost. She quite likes the shooting malarkey and has quite taken to the Sporting Gun/ Shooter **** house reading material.
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Finally hard evidence of ONE failure.
Not essentially a flood though is it. I am guessing that no one has ever suffered a failure with any other make of gun??
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I moved on to present a brief hands on workshop in 'gun design and improvement' As you will all know Escort owners are experiencing barrel failures in the field-I
I am loving this thread BUT...... I am still waiting.
Has anyone actually seen first hand one of these explode?? Or is it all hearsay?
I am sure there have been some failures but then there would be other brands that have had failures also.
Starlight.. don't suppose witH all your fancy equipment and tubing you could make a decent gun barell themed water feature? Wifey would love that.
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hang on there mate, he was left for a couple of hours, he gets loads of exercise. clearly just being left in a new environment he decided he would investigate. hence finding my file box.
Zak is never left for more than a few hours luckily my shifts and wifey's work make that possible.
Lets not jump to conclusions about how people are bringing up thier dogs. all the things that have been damaged have been through me leaving things where i shouldn't.
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These were all back in Spring when the bluebells were out. He is mucho biggerer now
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It was too hot to leave Zak in the conservatory the other day so he had the living room too.
he found my file box with years accounts...... box destroyed, living room covered in receipts. And the BIGGEST Poo you have ever seen in your life. He never messes the house. Clearly he thought conservatory my house, won't poo in my own living space. i'll let them have it.
It was bigger than my size ten combat boot. and took lots of clearing up.
He's also over time destroyed two xbox 360 headsets, a set of ear defenders, the case for the wifes phone (how the phone survived i don't know) various cables for charging things. Normally mine (anything with my scent on it seems to be fair game when left alone)
the corners of the sofa's have been had but not destroyed, just a little cosmetic damage.
and one skirting board in the conservatory.
i think we have got off lightly for such a big pup.
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are there any PSG in the West Sussex/Hampshire border area?
I've had a bit of a scout around but not found anything so far.
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How many guns of any brand have any of us, FIRST HAND, seen explode, jam or just generally misbehave?
My O/U again a cheapy a Mirrochi has failed on me twice and no longer ejects on the bottom barrel. I've had a few mis fires (no fires) with it. The trigger mechanism totally failing on me, mid clay lesson. Embarassing to say the least.
My Datsun hasn't (as yet) let me down.
I am intrigued to hear of people seeing first had a gun explode on them or mate they were with. None of this my mate saw this. Not interested. I want "I saw this......." and how long ago.
Skoda used to be awful cars but these days...... a totally different beast. By the sounds of it the first Escorts may have been a little dubious.....
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Thanks Mate ! B)
I will be honest though, so far not a single jam or failure to cycle.
I promise I will report on here the first time it does. I am all for honesty and openess.
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I envy but in a positive way, never knock what others have but admire. I still want a nice Beretta, an Aston Martin, wouldn't object to a big fishing boat rather than my little dinghy.
Everyone appears to snipe at everyone, except where i practice, the other day whilst shooting an onlooker thought my wife was struggling with my Escort and brought over a VERY nice Beretta and offered it her to try. Couldn't have been nicer (I was a little envious it did look nice) Wifey hit four with the escort that round and four with the Beretta. A personal best for her. As we got in the car she made me chuckle. "goes to show if you can't hit **** it doesn't matter if it is expensive or not"
But we are now way from the original subject
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The problem is people see someone new with a nice a gun and vest and still learning and missing, I see it when fishing people who have gone out bought all the gear and are then learning with it.
There are those will all the gear and never miss, the same with fishing the guys with the zziplex casting 200yrd every cast and everytime hitting the same spot. BUT the thing people remember are the ones with all the gear and no idea (memories of another thread this morning)
When it comes to it, at clays I am actually quite pants, but not as pants as some of the people I have seen £000000's of gear.
Clearly there are those with all that gear that shoot the hell out of me and probably would in the field too. we all know the one that will stick in the mind the most is the one that made you feel good about yourself.
Ever been to a bowling alley and see the guy with his own ball missing the pins, you remember that more that the guy who hits strike after strike.
But I have digressed now too.
Still would like a pump just for the fun.
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I've only used one once at a 'have a go' stand for practical shotgun shooting.
I enjoyed it but like a twit pulled the trigger then took a second working out why it wouldn't fire again. Absolute idiot. I'd dry cranked it a few times and been told "don't worry you'll not break it" and then when it counted, being timed I was a *****.
I wouldn't be adverse to owning one. Just don't currently.
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I wondered how long it would be before the "I beat off the guys with krieghoffs every sunday morning with my rusty hatstand" brigade came out to play.
There is no stigma attached to owning a Baikal, they are fine guns well built and last years with no issues. I certainly regret selling mine.
You can't deny there are some out there with more money than talent. But note I did say I wouldn't object to owning one of those either.
Mine was a purely finacial choice. A rough gun for a throw away price (£140 i've wasted more on a meal out).
Now my brother buying one brand new I would have opted for a second hand something else probably.
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This does remind me of the stigma that used to come with owning a Baikal.
I like to stand out, would rather have a crappy gun and hit stuff then be one of those with a nice Krieghoff or Beretta with all the gear and no idea.
Ok I'd also like to be someone with a nice gun that does hit stuff too, I can be inwardly green of those nice and pricey guns.
ultimately if it works (which mine does, currently) i'm happy. As soon as it fails me then it will be on it's way.
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you gonna argue with that?!
In all honesty though, I take my victories where I know they count. My gun wasn't one of those, as I said it goes bang and hits things (mostly-ish, sometimes) my car and the holidays, what dog we were having etc etc. Let them win the ones they think are important then you get your way more often without tantrums.
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I am English so used to having the **** taken and can laugh at myself. I take my cammo Datsun so the clay club and treat it like **** in the field.
It cost me £140 as the cammo is worn in places. It has had 1000's of cartridges through it. Mostly Hull Special Pigeon i've (touch wood, **** there isn't any) it has never jammed or misfired on me.
if i had one complaint about the gun it would be the cruddy placement of the safety catch.
Other than that. I pull the trigger it goes Bang and things fall out of the sky, so far never bits of gun.
I used to have Gola's when I was at school, then I moved up to Nick's
I now earn bloody good money but sadly being married to an accountant means I am not actually allowed to use any money on anything but her. So it was a cheap gun or no gun.
I'm still shooting. -
Had a buzzard dive at my Roatry last night.
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Brother and I shot 10 over stubble yesterday evening.
would love to get a decent bag one day. Not for misses or lack of effort just clearly are not feeding on our permission
total 15245
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the fats in the milk help to neutralise the acids in the pepper, Full fat milk is best.
simmilar to eating a really hot curry sod the beer, give me a pint of milk. or if you are stupid enough to go for a leak after cutting chilis.
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try the WSF (world sea fishing) forum, bit like this but for fishing, might be able to help out or shame someone.
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"personally I'm happy for any of the plod to pull people for carrying any knife while out on the town whatever length blade. If it was up to me they'd take them round the corner give them a bit of a smack about take the knife and leave it at that but I guess we can't have that kind of justice much as it would sort a few of our problems out"
Wow talk about guilty before charged. I guess the Magan carta is just a "god damn piece of paper". Eff it. I bet you wish we had some of the laws they have in China or in Russia. Bang them up in prison. No charge, no evidence.
Guilty before charged you cry? ..... get your story straight, only earlier you were saying you get what your given if you carry a knife, yet if it involves a cuff round the ears and a ticking off you don't want to be part of it. You really need to learn to take a stance and stick with it.
Although before my day (not far mind) it seemed things were better on the street when an adult, copper or not, could give a teenager a good slapping for being a ****, then tell his folks and he'd get another for being caught and embarassing the family.
So no, not guilty before charged, just instil a fear and respect for adults and what is right again.
I had some damn good hidings in my time as a kid, it did me no harm, i knew right from wrong, and i knew when i was doing something wrong there were consequences and that was enough to steer me generally towards the light side
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"personally I'm happy for any of the plod to pull people for carrying any knife while out on the town whatever length blade. If it was up to me they'd take them round the corner give them a bit of a smack about take the knife and leave it at that but I guess we can't have that kind of justice much as it would sort a few of our problems out"
Wow talk about guilty before charged. I guess the Magan carta is just a "god damn piece of paper". Eff it. I bet you wish we had some of the laws they have in China or in Russia. Bang them up in prison. No charge, no evidence.
Guilty before charged you cry? ..... get your story straight, only earlier you were saying you get what your given if you carry a knife, yet if it involves a cuff round the ears and a ticking off you don't want to be part of it. You really need to learn to take a stance and stick with it.
Although before my day (not far mind) it seemed things were better on the street when an adult, copper or not, could give a teenager a good slapping for being a ****, then tell his folks and he'd get another for being caught and embarassing the family.
So no, not guilty before charged, just instil a fear and respect for adults and what is right again.
I had some damn good hidings in my time as a kid, it did me no harm, i knew right from wrong, and i knew when i was doing something wrong there were consequences and that was enough to steer me generally towards the light side
So how hard is it to tie your own flies?
in Country Sports
Posted
Thanks for all the kind comments. She has yet to start tying any more but still seems enthused. I think the write up and responses have helped too.
thanks again.