International economics and the outdoors
Fly tying in particular is more like alchemy, the creation of something prized and valuable from readily available and otherwise worthless stuff.
Last night I spent a couple of hours tying Brown Bombers. All you salmon anglers out there surely know what constitutes a Brown or Orange Bomber. I prefer the brown variety, but both entice salmon equally well I think. I’m just happier floating the brown hackle for some intangible reason that I don’t fully or logically comprehend. I might have an emotional attachment of sorts. Fly preference isn’t always rational. After all, fishing isn’t purely scientific like physics or chemistry. There is art and poetry in equal measure with technical skill and practical knowledge.
Fly tying in particular is more like alchemy, the creation of something prized and valuable from readily available and otherwise worthless stuff. Take a Bomber for instance. Its components are simple and possible free in the right circumstance, with the exception of the hook, because not many of us can forge our own fish hooks. Otherwise, all you need are a patch of caribou hide, a tail of calf, and a long feather from a brown rooster. Add a spool of thread and you are good to go.
I love tying flies, especially during long winter nights. I carefully craft my bombers from natural materials while snow blows around outside my window. That paints a wonderful cozy picture, but actually rain driven by northeast wind pounded on the window last night. It’s been a strange winter this circle around the sun. Nevertheless, I’m getting my Bombers all tied up in anticipation of the solstice, summer, and salmon fishing. I hope this season is much better than the last.
Radio talk
I nearly always listen to music or some sort of radio news program while I’m tying flies. Last night it was Nightline with Jonathan Richler on VOCM. There was talk of the U.S.A. introducing high tariffs of imports on Canadian steel and aluminum. As we all know President Donald Trump is the driving force behind the United States moving towards a more protectionist sort of economic philosophy. It seems simple on the surface, the U.S.A. using all local raw materials for their own industries, the good of their people, but just dig a little deeper. I won’t go into the details here, but oftentimes for American companies it is far more feasible to import Canadian steel or aluminum. Bottom line, protectionism might gain a few jobs in certain industries but cause a net loss overall. But what does this have to do with fly fishing?
I’m clamping an Englishmade Partridge Bomber hook into a Griffin fly tying vise made in Montana, trout-fishing country for sure, in the United States of America. My bobbin was made in Sweden. You get the obvious picture. I’m not sure if Mr. Trump does. We are living in a global economy, we all
Hey Mr. Trump, this is all silliness you are getting on with. Canada and the U.S.A. are best friends and good neighbours. We all benefit from cross border trade, buying, and selling.
benefit from it, citizens of the world, anglers included. I love those English salmon hooks. I could also buy varieties from Japan or Norway, Tiemco and Mustad, or even Eagle Claw, made by our neighbours to the south. Hey, we have many choices.
I just took a look at a map showing the locations of North American steel mills. There are none in Montana. I wonder where Griffin sources its steel to manufacture their very highquality fly tying vises. Montana borders Canada, the nearest steel plants are in Alberta and Saskatchewan. This is just a tiny example in the scheme of things. North America is a huge land mass and manufacturing, trade, and business is not as simple as tying a Bomber.
Getting back to choices. We anglers and hunters have plenty to choose from when buying gear. And we spend lots of hardearned money on stuff to use out of doors. We can make political statements with our cash if we like. And we don’t have to compromise on quality. I love my American-made waders, guns, fishing rods, reels, hooks, vises, and the list goes on. But you know what, there’s lots of good gear from other countries as well. For instance, the English can sure make a damn fine fly tying vise. My very first was a Veniard, made in jolly old England, probably out of British steel, but I bought it in 1978 at The Sports Shop on Water Street. I still use it as a travel vise.
What about guns?
America for sure manufactures the lion’s share of hunting rifles and shotguns. But if The Donald refuses Canadian steel, we can shop elsewhere. Winchester and Remington scatterguns are nice, but the Italians sure make a fine duck gun. Beretta and Benelli are totally worth every penny you pay. I’ve been using a Beretta semi auto for over a decade and it’s flawless, the best shotgun I’ve ever owned. Browning is made in Belgium, Japan and Portugal, a true international player, although the company has American roots. Sako and Tikka rifles, excellent quality, are engineered and built in Finland. We certainly have options.
These days, high quality fly reels are typically fabricated from aerospace grade aluminum. The extreme precision machining process involves robotics and computerized numerical control, or CNC for short. Some of the very best reels are made in the USA, to name a few, Abel, Tibor, Ross, Orvis, and Nautilus. I love them all. But again, the English can certainly make good stuff. Hardy fly reels are classic and timeless. Lately I’ve been keen on Danielson fly reels from Sweden. I hear that Einarsson reels are fantastic, made in Iceland. Loop, once Swedish, is now a Newfoundland company. Their topquality fly reels are designed in Sweden and then machined and assembled in Korea. Fly fishing has no borders.
Islander, located on Vancouver Island, machines and produces world-class fly fishing reels. I have three of them. Why not buy local? And I’m sure they use Canadian aluminum and steel. Or maybe they don’t. There’s a steel mill not far away in Washington State. Hey Mr. Trump, this is all silliness you are getting on with. Canada and the U.S.A. are best friends and good neighbours. We all benefit from cross border trade, buying, and selling. I really don’t want to give up on buying great gear south of the border.
Now I’ll get back to tying Bombers. I need two dozen and I’m half way there. And later I might take a look at those Einarsson reels. I’d love to try on out on the Pinware.
Paul Smith, a native of Spaniard’s Bay, fishes and wanders the outdoors at every opportunity. He can be contacted at flyfishtherock@hotmail.com or follow him on twitter at @flyfishtherock