Rivers of a Lost Coast Swap?

[Mike R]

Why not? I'm in... gotta figure out a fly.

[jim p]

I could maybe post some pictures of the real deal. I have a few flies that Lloyd Silvius tied...Eel River optics, maybe a McReynolds, maybe some others. I also have a half dozen flies that Ben Anderson tied, who started flyfishing the Eel in 1911.....

Trey Combs has pictures in his steelhead flyfishing books with a lot of information as to who developed a lot of different fly patterns.

Hi dpentoney, from what Darian notes and what i’ve read, the Eel River Optic was originated by Jim Pray. However, the book “Fish Flies,” By Terry Hellekson, pg 481 does state the following about the fly;

“In later years Lloyd Silvius started tying this fly with a black head and white eyes with red centers, and his variation was accepted. The pattern came to be known as either the “Mickey Optic” or “Red and Yellow Optic.””

Of course this doesn’t preclude Silvius from tying Jim Pray’s Eel River Optic. Tiers tie other people’s creations all the time. It would be really cool to see these flies. Please post some pictures if you get a chance.

[jim p]

Looks like we have a swap in the making. Thank for joining everyone and all the information offered. Please keep it coming.

Hairstacker, The Skunk it is, and hosting this swap will be my pleasure, thanks

slage, you’re in with the Burlap, an Arnold Arana pattern circa 1942

wjorg, thanks for the information. I am planning on stopping by the ponds sometime in June. The wife and I just recently just started stopping by there. Never been in the club house though. That setup is something else, beautiful to say the least.

Mike R, you’re in. Let us know when you decide on a pattern.

How about we limit the number of swappers to 12? I’ll wait until we fill the swap before choosing a pattern. We can also set a due date after we fill up the swap as well.

So far we have 7 people signed up:
Jim P. - TBD
Hairstacker - Skunk
David Lee - Mossback
Darian - TBD
Xnjb707X - Brindle Bug
slage – Burlap
Mike R – TBD

[Terry Thomas]

One of the flies developed on the Gualala River was the Chicken Wing. I'll tie up some of those for the group.
Terry

[Mike R]

One idea that might be good to try is to put some sort of artowrk together out of the swap flies. We could try to get the filmmakers to dign a poster and frame it with the flies around it. One could go to Kien'e and another set up to auction/raffle with the proceeds going towards Native Fish Society or Wild Steelhead Coalition. Just a thought....

Also, I'll thumb through Combs' book tonight and see if I get inspired.

See ya, Mike

[dpentoney]

Hi dpentoney, from what Darian notes and what i’ve read, the Eel River Optic was originated by Jim Pray. However, the book “Fish Flies,” By Terry Hellekson, pg 481 does state the following about the fly;

“In later years Lloyd Silvius started tying this fly with a black head and white eyes with red centers, and his variation was accepted. The pattern came to be known as either the “Mickey Optic” or “Red and Yellow Optic.””

Of course this doesn’t preclude Silvius from tying Jim Pray’s Eel River Optic. Tiers tie other people’s creations all the time. It would be really cool to see these flies. Please post some pictures if you get a chance.

I have some flies that Lloyd Silvius tied in the '60s. Among them is the Mickey Finn optic.
I just said he tied it, not that he developed it. I believe I have some other of his optics, but haven't had the chance to look......

[Bruce Slightom]

The McReynolds was originated by Clarence McReynolds, his family still lives in Eureka. The Mossback was orginated by Larry Simpson who was the owner of Time Flies in Arcata.

I am in for an Orleans Barber and a Sliver Hilton.

[jim p]

Thanks for joining Terry.

We now have 8 people signed up.

Jim P. - TBD
Hairstacker - Skunk
David Lee - Mossback
Darian - TBD
Xnjb707X - Brindle Bug
slage – Burlap
Mike R – TBD
Terry Thomas – Gualala Chicken Wing

One idea that might be good to try is to put some sort of artowrk together out of the swap flies. We could try to get the filmmakers to dign a poster and frame it with the flies around it. One could go to Kien'e and another set up to auction/raffle with the proceeds going towards Native Fish Society or Wild Steelhead Coalition. Just a thought....

Also, I'll thumb through Combs' book tonight and see if I get inspired.

See ya, Mike

Mike R shared this thought with me earlier and I thought it was pretty good and suggested he post it. I personally would be happy to help put something together. I can take care of the framing and such. That kind of stuff is no problem.

It would mean however, that everyone would have to tie one more extra fly. One for the auction set and one for the Kiene set. So at 12 tyers in the swap, that would be 13 flies unless the tyer wants one of their own back, then it’s 14. We can also limit the number of swappers to 10 to reduce the overall number of flies.

What say you group? Are you game or do you want to keep it to a simple swap?

[jim p]

Thanks for joining Bruce, will put you down for the two patterns. I was wondering if we were going to see an Orleans Barber. In light of the possibility of tying up extras for a donation piece do you still want to tie the 2 patterns?

I’ll go ahead and put in with a Fall Favorite and Thor. We now have 9 people signed up with 11 patterns.

Jim P. – Fall Favorite and Thor
Hairstacker – Skunk
David Lee – Mossback
Darian – TBD
Xnjb707X – Brindle Bug
slage – Burlap
Mike R. – TBD
Terry Thomas – Gualala Chicken Wing
Bruce Slightom – Orleans Barber and Silver Hilton

It sure is looking good. This going to be a quite a set of flies when it’s all said and done.

[Hairstacker]

What say you group? Are you game or do you want to keep it to a simple swap?

I'm game for whatever everyone else decides.