Looks Like Creative Sports is no more

[Ralph]

Every so often I hear of old timers who have passed away and the family wants someone to take all their fly tying materials.

This might be a time to get some exotic materials that have not see the light of days in 50 years?

Spot on Bill. When Cal Bird passed we inherited a full fly shop worth of material, tools and flies. I gleaned the very special stuff and gave the rest to the Tahoe Truckee Flyfishers. I hope ever fly fisher has someone in the wings to pass on their stuff when they kick the bucket.

[Bob G]

Billy -

I strongly agree with your philosophy regarding indicators...I am so very sad and disappointed when I learn from a friend that they hired a fly shop and guide to teach them how to fly cast and fly fish, and the friend explains that they exclusively fished indicators.

Best, Bob

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Amen.............

[amoeba]

Yea I believe IÂ’ve seen some in Fly Fishing Specialties maybe a couple years ago that was for sale.

No you didn't, not even the slightest chance you saw natural polar bear, for sale there, or anywhere else in this State "a few years ago" or for that matter, this century. Like a fly shop that sells animal skins doesn't know what is and is not allowed. They do. Old stock is long gone and small retailers don't need Federal violations.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Over 20 years ago Stan Hellickson called me on the phone(LOL landline) from his fly shop, Fly Fishing Specialties, to warn me that the

Feds were just at their place looking for bear hair. I had some nice light tan Black Bear hair on a peg we used for Bonefish flies so I too

all 8 of them and put them into the dumpster. They never did show up?




Small business in America is almost all gone now............especially in California. It almost felt like there was a "war" on small business?

[amoeba]

Over 20 years ago Stan Hellickson called me on the phone(LOL landline) from his fly shop, Fly Fishing Specialties, to warn me that the

Feds were just at their place looking for bear hair. I had some nice light tan Black Bear hair on a peg we used for Bonefish flies so I too

all 8 of them and put them into the dumpster. They never did show up?




Small business in America is almost all gone now............especially in California. It almost felt like there was a "war" on small business?

Yeah, well, a couple million pairs of kangaroo soccer cleats, the preferred material for that sport, still make it into California every year after the ban moratorium on that silly law lifted in 2015, and I doubt they are hand-carried across the State line.

[Rich Morrison]

I hooked a nice healthy fish on a big dry Friday night. In Northern California!!!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Good job Rich......



A few years ago I took an old Fenwick FF805 fiberglass fly rod, which was our top selling trout rod in the 1970s, up to Dunsmuir to the

upper Sacramento river. I had one of my very old Pflueger Medalist 1494 reels on it with a new weight forward 5 floating line.

That day on a #14 yellow bodied Humphy dry fly I caught a wild 16" Rainbow trout on it below town.



It was so nice........

_______________________________________

I really did a lot of Ted Fay style "high stick nymphing" in my lifetime but we used no "bobber" type indicators.


The man who taught me high stick, upstream, pocket water nymphing (1970s in Dunsmuir) had a Scientific Angler dark 'Mahogany'

colored double tapered six floating fly line with white finger nail polish on the threads making the loop connection point of the end of

his fly line. He told me that years ago he had seen Ted Fay guiding a client on the Upper Sac and hired him for the next day.


Back in the day we used the nice soft, supple Cortland "Peach 444" fly lines back then for stream fishing. We just watched the end of

the light colored fly line to see when a trout had grabbed/stopped our weighted wet fly/nymph.



Later on in the 1980s/1990s people like Ron Rabin started using some Sunset colored Amnesia monofilament pieces to make multi-

colored discrete indicators for high sticking. This really caught on.....

_______________________________________

One of the first time we saw anyone using an indicator was in the 1970s draught on the Gualala river in the winter when the fish were

held up in nice clear slow moving pools. Andy Puyans, from Creative Sports, made a small round floating indicator with something like

maybe spun deer hair?

_______________________________________

When new things came out over the past 50 years or more like factory integrated sink-tips, indicators, "breathable" waders?,

fluorocarbon monofilament, clear fly lines and bead head nymphs many old timer were in shock.

.