Fly Fishing Journeys Pod Cast Louis DiGena – The Art of Fly Tying

Podcast: https://flyfishingjourneys.com/louis-digena-the-art-of-fly-tying/ 

Lou DiGena is an accomplished fly tier from New Jersey.  He’s an extraordinary guy. We dive deep into fly tying, photography, digital media, and fine art. As I learned on this podcast, he is a professor of fine art and digital media at St John University.   

I don’t think either of us thought we were going down the art rabbit hole but that is the fun part of podcasts, learning about your guests as a person and their expertise. It clear Lou is an artist, both behind the vise, behind the lens and in various other art mediums.

He stresses the idea of observation both in art and on the water and how focused observation will make you a better fly tier and fly fisherman.  

© 2024 Louis DiGena All Rights Reserved.

#loudigena #flytying #flyfishing

First Drawing with AutoDesk SketchBook Express

While this is not a fishing post, the subject matters is all trout. While at the Apple store today I purchased a Pogo Stylus. So on arriving home I downloaded SketchBook Express for my iPad and went to work.

Here is the result.

Method of Dressing Nymphs

Method of Dressing Nymphs comes from THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY by Skues, G. E. M. (George Edward Mackenzie), published in London, A. & C. Black, ltd. in 1921.  I found this brilliant plate while researching some traditional wet fly patterns.  I find inspiration in looking at old patterns and intrigued with the methods used to tie these pattens.  Enjoy the plate and description.

Plate II. METHOD OF DRESSING NYMPHS.
From a water-colour drawing by St. Barbe Goldsmith.

"Placing your hook—say, a Limerick No. 16—in your vice, begin whipping near the eye, and whip nearly halfway down the shank. Tie in here, with point towards head of hook, a bunch of six or eight fibres of feather of suitable colour, regulating the length so that when the fibre is bent over to the eye of the hook and tied down there will be enough of the points left to be pressed out on either side to represent the legs. Then pass the silk under the ends of the fibres of feather on the side of the bend of the hook, and whip on the bare hook to the tail; tie in two short, stout, soft whisks of suitable colour, tie in gold or silverwire, twirl on dubbing thinly, and wind to the place where the fibre is tied in; wind on the wire in regular spacing to the same point, and secure on the head side of the place where the fibre is tied in ; thicken the dubbing, and wind over roots of feather fibre to head. Then divide the points equally, and press backward from the eye; bring over the feather fibre to the head, tie it down with two turns, including a half-hitch, cut off the waste ends, and finish with a whip finish on the eye. Thus the legs are forced to stand out at right angles, or rather more backward, from the eye, and below the level of the hook shank, andthe effect of wing cases is produced. (See Plate II.)" –  Page126  THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY

Duke's Cigarettes Card – California Salmon

Here is another of the Duke Cigarettes card from the Library of Congress's digital collection.  It's of a California Salmon (King Salmon).  I wish I as able to find cards in better condition, but no luck.  I've clean it up a bit, but the scans from the collection are not the best.  They only have seven of the cards digitized in the digital collection, and I've not found any others online.  I'll  posting them throughout the year.

Enjoy.

Smoke 'em if You Got 'em

I found this beautiful Speckled Trout (a.k.a Brook Trout) in the Library of Congress digital collection.  It's a Duke's Cigarette Card, date (?).

I drive by the Duke's Estate when I visit my parents I had no ideal of the history of Duke's Cigarettes nor the family history. All I knew was Doris Duke family business was in tobacco. I did not know until recently that they are responsible for the pre-rolled cigarette as we know it and the American Tobacco Company was one of the original 12 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  American Tobacco Company became the largest tobacco company in the U.S. and was broken up in the 1911 by the Supreme Court through the Sherman Antitrust Act on the same day that it ordered the Standard Oil Trust to dissolve (in school Standard Oil got all the attention).

The American Tobacco Company was broken up in to American Tobacco Company, R. J. Reynolds, Liggett & Myers, and P. Lorillard.  American Tobacco Company later expanded in to non-tobacco products and renamed itself American Brands and has since been renamed Fortune Brands and no longer has tobacco interests. Some of Fortune Brands products are Jim Bean, Makers Mark, Moen, Master Locks, Pinnacle, and Titleist. Maybe I should by stock in Fortune Brands since I've consumed and used many of their brands.

I've not even touched on the it's history with Duke University and it's international businesses.  All this because I went looking for trout images in the Library of Congress digital collection.

Great Tenkara Site - Traditional Japanese Fly Tenkara

While doing research on traditional Japanese Fly Fishing "Tenkara" I came across a wonderful site by Yoshikazu Fujioka, Trout and Seasons of the Mountain Village.

On the site you'll find information the the history of Tenkara, his favorite streams in Japan, the U.S. and New New Zealand, and his art work acrylics and watercolors (which he is best know).

Here are a few links to his site:

Trout Streams of the Mountian Village;

My Best Streams, Japanese Fly "Tenkara";

and

Traditional Japanese Fly Tenkara.


Enjoy!