Andy Dear | Monday, 26 December 2022
On display today....The Yellow Grizzly With Orange.
It's been a hugely productive month here in the Axis Outdoors shop. For the first time in a long time I have actually had some free time to build a few rods. On the wrapper this week are a Hot Torpedo 8wt. as well as a more obscure and now discontinued taper made by Composite Developments in New Zealand called a Tactical Distance. I first cast the Tactical Distance model about 10 years ago and immediately became enamored with it. In a way, this came as no surprise as I am a HUGE proponent of 100% carbon helical layup construction. Unfortunately for me, the rod that I had the pleasure of casting was owned by a friend, and as of 2012, the Tactical Distance series had already been discontinued by Composite Developments.
Fortunately, my path crossed with the owner of CD, Marty Johansen's, a few years back. During the course of our many conversations, I mentioned to him how much I loved that taper. A few weeks later he called me to share that he found a fairly sizable stash of New/Old stock and wanted to know if I would be interested in purchasing the remaining inventory of Tactical Distance blanks. I couldn't get my credit card out fast enough! I have a charter scheduled for New Years day with Capt. Lynch, so will have both the HT-8 and the TD-8 on the skiff to torment the local population of Redfish with.
On the fly-tying docket today is another one of JT's Tarpon patterns, The Yellow Grizzly with Orange. This is another of Bubba's patterns that is a simple but effective tie with the now familiar subtle touches. Bubba's trdemark Krystal Flash head tied "keys style" is on full display again. Additionally, like many of his other patterns, the Yellow Grizz also has a multi-colored stacked wing. As you can see, he sizes the wings such that the contrasting inner wing is ever so slightly larger than the outer wing, so that the tips are just proud of those on the outer wing. A purposeful and artful detail that really adds a lot of contrast to the wing stack. Upon further study, it occured to me that if you substituted a green feather for either the inner wing or the palmered collar, this would make a beautiful tie in the famous Fire Tiger pattern. Lipped crankbaits and jerkbaits painted in the Fire Tiger color scheme have been a mainstay in just about every freshwater bass fisherman's tackle box for almost 50 years.
As I sat down to write this Front Page on Christmas Day, I couldnt help but to spend a little extra time thumbing through the Doc's pattern archives This will after all, be the first Christmas we're spending without my dear friend around. Normally about this time, he'd be calling me to see if I was watching the same football game he was, or to inquire about the most recent deer hunt. And of course, he was ALWAYS sipping on some sort of clear beverage...and it was NOT water.
As I get older, celebrating Christmas takes on a different meaning. One that is less about material gifts and more about relationships with close friends and family. Dr. John Beryl Tebbets was both to me, and I know he would appreciate his patterns being brought back to life on SexyLoops.
Hope you all had a great Christmas,
Andy
