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This month I was honored to have been asked to do an interview for "On the Fly South" online magazine. This was a fun interview, Usually people want to talk about the vise or how Norm and I started to work together. That is fine as I always like to talk about Norvise. This interview was a little different as you will see. To check out "Getting a Grip on the Fly Tying Business" Click the image below.  I am always humbled when I am asked to do these types of things. Never in a million years did I think I would be in this position. Thank you for reading, thank you for your support, and thank you for tying on a Norvise! Till Next time...
Tight Lines - Tim By Braden MillerThursday, after 8 days in Emerald Isle Albie fishing, spending time on the beach with my family, wearing board shorts and flip flops we made the four hour drive home to meet Tim at my house. Mom and I were home for a hour and a half, just enough time to unpack the trucks, switch some clothes into another bag and we got back in the truck to head to Sylva, NC for the Tuckaseegee Fly Shop’s Norvise Demo Day at their Sylva location. Our 6 hour drive ended up being close to 8 hours due to accidents and all lanes closed for a bit. Friday morning we woke up to temps in the 40’s so we traded our board shorts and flip flops for jeans, sweatshirts and shoes! Mom, Tim and I got some breakfast before we headed to the shop to set up our vises for Demo Day on Saturday before we heading to the river with Shannon “Big Mess” Messer (I loved how he answered the phone Tuck Fly Shop, Big Mess speaking can I help you?). We all got our waders on (even Mom) and headed out to do some Euro Nymphing, which I had not done before. Even Mom got waidered up and hit the river with us.  Braden working the first run.  Rule #1...Don't guide the guide.  It was not long before Tim was into the first wild "Bow.  Braden and Tim working a run. (Shannon came behind BOTH of us and caught fish here...people, Big Mess is GOOD)!  Awesome fish  The TFO Drift Rod was perfect for this type of fishing.  2 happy fisherman. Tim and I both were using the Temple Fork Outfitters Drift Rod. After a quick Euro Nymphing lesson and some tips from our amazing guide, Big Mess, Tim quickly caught his first wild rainbow of the day and I wasn’t far behind him. After fighting Albies in the Atlantic Ocean for a week, I set the hook rather strongly and launched two poor little rainbows right out of the water. Luckily for both the fish and myself they stayed on the hook and landed back in the water. We fished several sections of the river and probably caught 25 or so wild rainbows and Tim landed one wild brown.  Love these wild Rainbows   There is a picture an artist can't paint!  Moving to the next run while Big Mess is dropping some wisdom!  This little guy needs to visit Jenny Craig!  Braden with one of the better ones of the day!   This was truly a great time!  The smile says it all!  This may be my favorite picture of the whole weekend. We caught a bunch of beautiful small rainbows, a handful of decent sized rainbows and I caught a rather chunky fellow. Shannon recommended we have dinner at really good BBQ restaurant called Haystack Smokehouse. Man was that some good food; from the Brunswick Stew, to the pulled pork, brisket, andouille sausage and especially the Banana Pudding. I can personally say we will never go to Sylva and not eat at the Haystack Smokehouse (man now, I wish I could eat dinner there tonight). It was an early night for the three of us so we could be ready for Demo Day Saturday.  Good stuff here  Tim was on this like skin on day old pudding! Brr, Saturday morning was even colder than Friday! This was the first morning this year I have seen frost on our truck. We arrived at the shop around 7:45 to make sure we were ready when the store opened and so Tim could record his episode for the shop’s *podcast called, Tuck Cast, With A Splash of Bourbon, with Shannon “Big Mess” Messer, Bobby the Bearded Wonder and Coach Dale Diesel Collins. Tim and the guys talked about the story/history of Norvise and what makes it so unique. They dove into Tim's relationship with the late Norm Norlander and what it takes to produce the Norvise Fly Tying System. Saturday was Big Mess’s 50th birthday and Tim’s 49th birthday. Once the shop opened there was a steady flow of customers throughout the day. We meet some current Norvise owners that came to visit for Demo Day. Some upgraded their vise or added a new Auto Bobbin or two to their collection. There were some who came to the shop to check out exactly what the Norvise was capable of and some came with intentions of joining the many other Norvise tiers. Tim gave his normal show demo for a group of people, he challenged several to take his bet could he tie a wooly bugger in under 60 seconds? If you have never seen him in person at a show, Tim bets someone that if he can tie a wooly bugger in under 60 seconds then they have to purchase a full set up and if he fails, he will give them a full set up. I have been going to shows with Tim for two and a half years now and I have never seen him lose… not too many people ever take the bet. I spent my day tying game changers and a baitfish or two. Every time I finished tying a new game changer, someone would buy it from me. I know selling flies is what a tier strives for, but for those of you who know me, whenever I tie a new fly, especially a game changer, I form this sort of attachment to each one of them. I am very thankful to those who loved the flies I tied Saturday so much, they wanted to fish with them. I look forward to seeing what they catch.  Bobby "the bearded wonder" checking out the crowd.  One of the flies Braden spun up this weekend.  A couple of Gamechangers Braden tied.  DAMN!  A small crown watching Tim spin the Norvise.  Coach Dale "Diesel" Collins, Jarrod and a customer looking on. Mom, Tim and I all had a wonderful day at Tuckaseegee Fly Shop for their Norvise Demo Day. We look forward to returning to Sylva soon to visit the shop again, see all they guys and Norvise fans, and of course to do some more fishing in the trout capital of North Carolina. Thank you to everyone who came out to the Norvise Demo Day to see Mr. Tim and I, and for checking out what makes the Norvise the most innovative fly tying system on the market today. If you are ever in Sylva or Bryson City, North Carolina you have to remember to stop in one of Tuckaseegee Fly Shop and say hello. Till next time...
Tight lines - Tim OK, So this week we are back on our series of my favorite Smallmouth patterns and this one may be my favorite. The O'Neill's Controlled Chaos is a pattern developed over the past few years. This fly is a direct decedent of Mike Schultz's Swinging D and Eric Snyder's Twisted Swinger. The Swinging D is a fantastic fly, one of the best Smallmouth flies out there. It takes a long time to tie. Mike himself offers a stripped down version to combat this issue. My buddy Eric Snyder stripped it down a little more with his pattern the Twisted Swinger. The Controlled Chaos is stripped down even more giving what I feel is good balance between a fly with the action that I want and time spent at the bench. More of a platform really, the possibilities are endless. When fishing this fly you want to throw it on an intermediate or a type 1 sink tip on a shore leader. The idea here is the foam head will try and float the fly and the line will try to sink it. The result is a battle of wills that give this fly incredible action. Originally designed as a Smallmouth pattern, we have successfully landed Smallmouth, Largemouth, Trout (Rainbow, Brown and Brook) Chain Pickerel and Striper to name a few. Size can be adjusted by modifying the hook, shank and head size. This one is about 3.5 / 4 inches and will throw nicely on a 7 weight. This one is in "Bleeding Shad" color. We also use Black / Chartreuse and Fire Tiger. Recipe; Hook; Partridge Attitude Extra #1 Tail; one white and one Pearl Grey Marabou Blood Quill Flash; 2 or 3 strands of silver Flashabou Body; Complex twist of Schlappen and Polar Chenille UV silver. Shank; Flymen 35 mm (1 3/8 inch) shank Body; Complex twist of Schlappen and Polar Chenille UV silver. Collar; Senyos Laser Dub red / white Head; Rainey's foam diver head size small Norvise products used; Rotary Norvise, Magnum Hub, Auto Bobbin, Saltwater Jaw  Tie on on the back third of the shank and wrap back to just in front of the hook barb.  Select and prep 1 each white and grey Marabou blood quill. We will be tying in at the tip of the feather so stroke the fibers back leaving about 1" of fibers to make the tail.  Tie the tip of both feathers and palmer forward until all of the fibers are on the hook. Take care not to trap any of the fibers as you are wrapping. Use your bodkin or a brush to pick or brush out the tail as you are wrapping forward. Remember, if you are using a Norvise you can just spin the vise.  After you are finished wrapping the tail stroke / Brush all the fibers back and wrap your thread back over the stem of the feathers. This will make the tail very durable. Put 2 or 3 strands of silver Flashabou down each side of the tail.  Select one long, fairly even Schlappen feather. Strip the fuzz from the bottom and stroke the fibers rearward.  Tie the feather and an equal length of Polar Chenille in at the base of the tail. See the video below on how to use the spin function of the vise to make the complex twist.  Clamp the base of the feather and the polar chenille together and twist them together. Use a brush to brush out the fibers so they don't get trapped underneath one another. To see a video of how to make the Complex Twist with the Norvise click HERE  Palmer the complex twist forward to the eye of the hook. Take care to stroke the brush reward after each turn so the fibers are not trapped. Tie off and clip the brush at the eye of the hook. Use your bodkin and a brush to pick / brush out the body of the fly. This is the completed tail section of the pattern.  Attach the rear hook to the Flymen Shank. You can see I have used a hair clip to secure the tail section of the fly to the Saltwater Jaws. This is one reason I like using the bigger jaws when tying articulated flies.  Close the shank with a good, solid thread base.  Here I like to use the thread to mark where my head will stop. This is the spot where I stop palmering the body. Remember, you have to leave enough room to get the head on the fly!  Repeat the same steps for the complex twist for the front half of the body.  Hi tie 2 clumps of Senyos Laser dub on the shank. Red on the bottom and White on the top.  Fold the front half of each clump rearward and build a thread dam in front of the collar. Brush out the collar so that it becomes "fluffy" and veils over the front body. Lay down a heavy thread base on the rest of the shank. This will give the glue something to grip on when you install the foam head.  Coat the thread base and the front of the collar with a heavy dose of Zap-A-Gap and slide the head on over the shank. You have about 5 seconds before the glue takes hold so get it on and positioned quickly. You will only get one shot! Build a nice thread dam in front of the foam and head cement this to finish off the fly.    The last three pics show the finished fly. As mentioned this Bleeding Shad color combo is a favorite of mine followed closely by Fire Tiger.
When fishing be sure to mix up your retrieves and most importantly pause between strips. You will be surprised to see, even when you are not moving the fly it is always in motion. Often the strikes will come during the pause. I hope you enjoy tying and fishing this pattern. It has become one of my favorites over the past few years. Till next time... Tight lines - Tim |
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