BLACKLAND WOODWORKS X FLY GEEK GIVEAWAY

I mentioned an upcoming giveaway in the Blackland Woodworks fly box posts (Part 1 and Part 2) and then again as part of the Fly Geek Bennett's Lunch Money fly tutorial so I figured that I better get it together and post it up this weekend.

Blackland Woodworks provided the wood and wool fly box shown in the T.F.M. posts and Matt Bennett of Fly Geek provided a half dozen Lunch Money flies along with a mashup of other patterns that will be included in the prize.

Want to play for this giveaway?  Leave a comment on this post below or leave a comment on this same photograph on the T.F.M. Instagram page.  The giveaway will run for 48 hours and I'll pick a random winner on Tuesday.

Both Fly Geek and Blackland Woodworks are on Instagram.  Give them a follow while you're there.

GIVEAWAY WINNER
There were several hundred comments left on this T.F.M. post and then on the various social media pages as well.  The random number generator picked...

DEREK PHELPS - @derek_david_phelps

Congratulations.

BLACKLAND WOODWORKS - Building A Fly Box - Part 1

This series of two posts have been sitting in the hopper for a bit and I finally had a chance to put all the images together with the narrative to highlight the work of Justin Whisenant of Blackland Woodworks in the building of a custom wooden fly box.

I always enjoy seeing how things are made and Justin was generous to provide images at each step in the process which begins with this post.  Part 2 will be posted soon and there may be a giveaway of this fly box in the works as well.

The Shop.  This is where the magic happens in my little shop on the prairie.  I’m still building the wall and really some part of the shop is always under construction.  It’s an addiction really.

The shop view.  This is the view looking out from the shop.  Yep, I live next to Mordor.  They’re pretty good neighbors actually; mostly keep to themselves.

We start with a rough board.  The most important part of the whole process of woodworking is picking out good wood for your project.  This board, for instance, was pretty crooked, and was bought at a discount.  More importantly, for small box construction, it was clear of any knots and had nice grain.  Perfect.

The rough board is cut to a manageable length that would yield a small batch of flyboxes.

The rough board is ripped to the correct width.  The board is too wide, so I rip it to a better width for a medium size flybox.  The waste board will be great for the mini boxes and whatever whim strikes me.  I think it is very important to keep some quality scraps around for when the muse strikes. 

The blanks are cut to size and to length.  We have our blanks ready to begin metamorphosing into beautiful butterfly boxes.

The blanks are now ready for rounding.  This step is critical.  The blanks must be planed flat and the corners square, because those faces become references for further steps.

The rounded blanks are beginning to look like fly boxes and need to slip into pockets easily, so rounded corners are a must.  This step makes me feel like a master sculptor.  Yes, I’m easily impressed with myself.

A trip through the bandsaw cuts each blank into halves.  Notice the chipped corners on a couple of them.  This is why I start with oversize stock, so I can plane and sand away any blemishes from the rough stock preparation.

This beast will make quick work of hollowing out the boxes.  It will also destroy all my work up to this point in the blink of an eye.  With great power comes a great many destroyed prototypes.

Routed blanks!  Only a few more steps to go and we will have our boxes ready for action.

That’s all for now.  Next I need to plane and sand the boxes, mount the hinges, install the magnets, apply finish, and install the felt liners.  Look for the follow up post soon.

Visit the Blackland Woodworks website for more information.  Follow along on the Facebook page and email Justin at blacklandwoodworks@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to place an order for your own fly box.

BLACKLAND WOODWORKS - Building A Fly Box - Part 2

In Part 1 of Blackland Woodworks Building A Fly Box post, Justin Whisenant did a lot of work to take a piece of rough board and began turning it into something that was beginning to look like something you'd want to put a few dozen favorite flies in.  Justin completes the work in this post today and the end product is beautifully done.

The magnets mortised into both halves serve to keep the fly box securely closed.  They also add no bulk to the front like a latch does, so the box can slip in and out of pockets easily

A couple coats of shellac provide protection for the wood.  While fairly glossy, it also adds some texture that keeps the box from being too slick out on the water.  You don’t want to watch your new fly box float away.  Also, the box pictured here is one I just completed for a client, and it had some sensational grain.  I just had to show it off.

My apprentice cleaning the shop.  He’ll be making fly boxes soon enough.

The finish on the boxes begins with a couple thoroughly polished layers of my special oil mix.

Is that liner felt?  Would you like it to be?  That line never works, but this European felt sure does.  This stuff is 100% wool and extra thick and dense to keep flies well anchored.  I tried these boxes with foam liners, and it just did not have any soul.  Moral of story, when you need some soul, find a sheep.

Brass hinges and screws reunite the separated halves.  What was cleaved asunder has been rejoined into one.

This fly box is now complete and ready to be filled with flies.

Thanks Justin for the step by step build on this excellent fly box.  I have an upcoming fly tutorial by Matt Bennett of Fly Geek and we'll be giving away this fly box filled with a dozen of Matt's favorite flies.

Visit the Blackland Woodworks website for more information.  Follow along on the Facebook page and email Justin at blacklandwoodworks@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to place an order for your own fly box.

FLY GEEK - BENNETT'S LUNCH MONEY

I've been sitting on this really excellent step by step fly tutorial from Matt Bennett of Fly Geek and since I'm sitting in an airport waiting a flight to Michigan (think steelhead) it gave me a few minutes to piece this post together.  Read, see, and tie some up.

 

Matt wrote...  "The Lunch Money was created out of need for a bite-sized baitfish streamer for the Texas Hill Country.  Most of our baitfish are in the 2-3" range and due to our normally ultra-clear water, our bass can be fairly finicky, which meant it needed to both look realistic and have the right amount of movement to The original iteration was named the "Llano Critter" after the Llano River west of here, where it produced very well.  

 

The original variation was based off of Charlie Craven’s Gonga streamer and tied hook-down with larger legs, a spun craft fur head, and just a tail (no wrapping for a profile transistion) on a TMC 8089.  

 

After coming across Laser Dub a few years back thanks to Mike Schmidt’s patterns,  I incorporated that to give it a nice, translucent profile in the water with just the right amount of sheen.  I also flipped the fly to ride hook up at that time, as I'd often get fish following the fly and wanted to be able to retrieve slower without hanging up on the bottom.  

 

Originally I trimmed the head to shape but after brushing the Laser Dub back instead, I ended up with a similar shape with more water-pushing bulk.  After the TMC 8089 was discontinued in the smaller sizes, I moved to a Gamakatsu B10S, which has allowed me to tie it in a few more sizes.  

I continue to refine it a bit as new materials are released, like Hareline’s new Double Pupil Eyes, and Senyo’s Fusion Dub and Fusion Legs.  Many of the available colors listed on my website incorporate special colors of Fusion and Laser dub that I blend myself.  Umqua Feather Merchants picked up the rights to this fly early last year, and certain colors will be available through them at the beginning of 2016.  The full lineup is available through my website, Fly Geek."

BENNETT'S LUNCH MONEY

HOOK: Gamakatsu B10S, Size 2

EYES: Hareline Double Pupil Lead Eyes, Black/Yellow w/ Black Pupil

THREAD: Danville Flat Waxed Nylon, White 

TAIL: Hareline Black Barred Zonker Strip, Gold Variant

LEGS: Hareline Grizzly Flutter Legs, Black Barred Root Beer

BODY: Senyo’s Laser Dub, Brown, Yellow, Sculpin Olive

MARKER: Prismacolor/Copic Red, Black, Back, Yellow

GLUE: Loon UV Flow

Here's the step by step...

Step 1:  Attach your thread to the hook and create a bump of thread about 2 hook-eye lengths back from the eye of the hook.  Figure-eight on your eyes.  I used the medium size for a #2, small for a #4, and x-small for a #6.

Step 2:  Wrap back on the hook shank until you’re above somewhere between the barb and hook point.  Measure out your rabbit strip tail – I typically do 1.25 – 1.5 shank lengths.  Invert your vise and poke the hook point through the skin-side of the zonker strip at the point you measured out.

Step 3:  Remove the hook from the vise.  Slide the zonker up the hook shank to where your thread base ends, then flip it 180 degrees back towards the hook bend.  Tie in your tail and move your thread in front of the remaining piece of zonker facing towards the hook eye.

Step 4:  Wrap your thread to the midpoint between where the tail and lead eyes are tied in.  Grab the remaining zonker piece and wrap a collar with 2-3 wraps, depending on the thickness and length of the zonker.  I did 2 here.  Tie down and cut the remainder of the zonker strip off.

Step 5:  Tie in two Grizzly Flutter Legs at their midpoint on the side of the hook directly in front of your collar.

 

 

Step 6:  Pull the two front-facing legs over the top of the fly, stretching them to opposite side of the hook.  Wrap backwards with your thread, binding them down securely.  Do not stretch them too much as they can break fairly easily.

 

 

Step 7:  Take two clumps of Yellow Laser Dub.  Find the midpoints of each and tie them on the top and bottom of the hook shank.

Step 8:  Use your non-bobbin hand to hold these clumps back towards the tail and build a small thread dam in front to keep them laid back.

Step 9:  Repeat steps 7 & 8 with a clump of Brown on top, and Yellow on bottom.  Remember that the fly rides hook-up.

Step 10:  Move your thread in front of the eyes.  Repeat steps 7 & 8 with Sculpin Olive on top, and Yellow on bottom.  Whip finish.

Step 11:  Brunch the fly very well with a dubbing brush.  I am partial to Hareline’s Ultimate Dubbing Brush for this.  I’ll brush it forward over the hook eye and then back towards the tail.

Step 12:  Finish the fly.  I add marker spots and color the thread to match the top and bottom of the fly before coating with Loon Flow and curing.

 

Don't want to tie your own?  Jump on the Tacky Big Bug + Lunch Money Assortment.

 

Want to see more?  Check out the Fly Geek website.

Thanks Matt for taking the time to putt his together.  Look for a giveaway on the T.F.M. social media pages later today with a mix of flies from Fly Geek and the Blackland Woodworks fly box that was shown being built on T.F.M. a few posts ago.