Who is more obsessive?

by **Papasequoia** » October 21st, 2009, 8:48 am

Every sport/hobby has people who get deep into it. For example, people who do civil war re-enactments who spend untold hours researching every battle and skirmish and invest their life savings in obtaining authentic clothing and gear from the era. Mountain man enthusiasts who aren't satisfied unless they have killed the deer to make their jacket and done it with an antique ball and musket and tanned the hide themselves. In our sport, people often think of fly tiers as the obsessive compulsives, at least those who take it to extremes, like counting how many elk hairs to include on a caddis imitation, or spending hours discussing the pros and cons of various hooks. However, for the past couple of years, ever since coming into close contact with a number of rod builders, I've started to suspect that they are even more obsessive about what they do. What do you think?

by **RichardCullip** » October 21st, 2009, 8:51 am

Rod builders for sure.

by **NorcalBob** » October 21st, 2009, 8:53 am

This is an easy one!!!! :bananadance:

Rod builders, by a mile!!!!!! :gun:

I used to build my own rods, but then found out I wasn't anal enough, so I stopped!!!!! :booty:

by **Rob909** » October 21st, 2009, 8:55 am

Why is "Red Sox Fans" not a choice :lol:

Rob

by **darrin terry** » October 21st, 2009, 9:12 am

Jon, why are you obsessing over this? :lol:

Oh, I said fly tyers. There are far more fly tyers out there than rod builders and the sheer collective obsession they represent has to to out do the rod builders.

by **Flyjunkie** » October 21st, 2009, 9:15 am

Fly Tyers... Certain areas of Fly tying just lead to such Obsession..: Steelhead, Atlantic Salmon, Wetflies, Classic NE Streamers,Deerhair bass and sunfish bugs, Saltwater patterns(for certain species that is...) are the areas that come to mind... I don't obsess With my Basic Nymphs & dries... (other then tying them as perfect as Possible...). Those folks who tye Classic Full Featherwing Atlantic Salmon Flies Really Obsess with getting the right Materials and the correct amount of turns of Ribbing, hackle. The Marrying of Various Feathers for those beautiful wings... Those Folks are extremely Obsessive.. And I love their work because of it...

by **briansII** » October 21st, 2009, 9:20 am

Ever hear a rod builder say, "eh, no one will ever see that gap in the thread".

Fly tier. "It's buggy looking" Meaning. It's a big mess on a hook, but I don't care.

briansII

by **rkfiske** » October 21st, 2009, 9:32 am

Whoa hey what about those split cane guys?

by **1mocast** » October 21st, 2009, 10:48 am

rkfiske wrote:Whoa hey what about those split cane guys?

Good point! Gotta get the right silk lines, 800 year old wet fly patterns, tied with extinct bird feathers...

by **tomsakai** » October 21st, 2009, 2:19 pm

Just because I spend an hour or more a day studying fly patterns and I haven't tied my first fly yet, does that mean I have an obsession? :shock:

by **dirtryder219** » October 21st, 2009, 5:31 pm

I went with fly tiers. I build my own rods and tie my own flies, but I spend way more time thinking about tying than I do what my next build will be.

by **Raider** » October 21st, 2009, 7:06 pm

This is a tough question. I can get pretty anal about how I tie a fly and what I use to do it. But, I get totally stopped in the middle of a build over minute details such as 'how many wraps to use in the metallic trim' 'How many wraps of thread between them?' When I'm doing inserts and handles on my lathe, it gets worse. I started making several different ones and letting my friends pick. They get to keep the losers. I'm starting to think this may not be the best method. With tying, I usually just let 'er rip and tie something. It's not really a big deal if I don't like it. Just put it into a box and wait for Jon to come over.
Good question Jon, I enjoyed answering it. Later, Raider

by **Pete** » October 21st, 2009, 9:20 pm

I am obsessed with all things fly fishing but, I go overboard for rod building. I am very obsessed with every detail of a rod build. If a build isn't as close to perfect as I can get it, it drives me nuts. How many times have guides been rewrapped because they didn't look just right? Could there be anything better than building a Bamboo rod from scratch? Well, besides that special thing that has nothing to do with this topic

.

I'll build fly rods, especially Bamboo rods, for another 50 years but then I quit.

Pete

by **Papasequoia** » October 21st, 2009, 9:27 pm

Raider wrote:It's not really a big deal if I don't like it. Just put it into a box and wait for Jon to come over.

Hey Allen, it's been awhile, that castoffs box of yours must be getting full again by now.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. I still can't believe some of the flies you had in your throwaway box. A true obsessive!

Rob, :funnyup:

Good one. However, that would be a different poll. Nevertheless, I will say that I have been rooting for the Angels even though they knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs. Why? one might ask. Simple, a true Red Sox fan will root for anybody to beat the Yankees, even if that team just beat the Sox. 8-)

Since the Phillies just beat the Dodgers moments ago, I now have my fingers crossed for a Phillies/Angels World Series, where, I will have to switch and root for a National League team.

As for this poll, I've been thinking about it for awhile now, but all of the recent talk about the build for Craig brought it to the forefront. I remember one night a couple of years ago after a SSFFC meeting, sitting at the brewery on the porch with a few people. I can't remember everyone who was there, I remember Chiaki and Allen, and I think Pete, and a couple of others. The talk turned to rod building. I swear, it was as if they had all of a sudden switched to speaking in an obscure dialect of Upper Mongolian. What the * were these people talking about??? I was lost, the only one in the area who was totally clueless about what they were discussing. I looked around for help, but there was none, so I got another beer. They continued. I think they were talking about metallurgy and alloy types for those metal thingys the line goes through (they even have a name for those metal thingys!) I was still lost, so I got another beer. Finally things started to make sense of a sort. They were talking about naked guides, or stripping guides or something like that. I backed away slowly...obviously they were certifiably, obsessively insane.

Now, granted, when fly tiers get together and start discussing the relative merits of Ice Dub vs Hare Tron dubbing vs Hare's Ear Plus dubbing the non-fly-tier (tyer?) might have some doubts. But I have to tell ya, I think it's the rod builders who are really out there. One thread misplaced, one smidgen of a streak on a coating, and they are tearing the whole thing apart and starting over. C'mon now people, I can't believe that the rod builders are coming in second. They need more votes; they're nuts! :lol:

by **stanbery** » October 21st, 2009, 10:17 pm

Papasequoia wrote:
Raider wrote:But I have to tell ya, I think it's the rod builders who are really out there. One thread misplaced, one smidgen of a streak on a coating, and they are tearing the whole thing apart and starting over. C'mon now people, I can't believe that the rod builders are coming in second.

What is wrong with that? I'm I missing something? Would you much rather get a work of art or a piece of CRAP!!!
Man I just knew I should have let you do under on the Owens :doh:

Darn Naked guy

Jon