Welcome to the Riverhouse blog
Welcome pathological tiers. At long last, Riverhouse Fly Company has arrived in cyberspace. With the fine work of Jeff and Andrea Selser of Selser Media, I feel confident that this site will be the finest in the known cosmos. That's quite a statement, but then I have been known to make some whoppers. I will let you decide.
I have been passionately, if not fanatically, involved in the tying game for over thirty years. I have always been an avid angler, but right out of the chute I was, and still am, consumed with tying. I remember the nights years ago, sitting at the kitchen table in our old house having put both my baby son Chris, now thirty, and my dear wife Karen to bed so I could sit in the quiet and tie. It was a magic window of time and all these years later, it often still is.
Mind you, there were times of great frustration in those early days of bug making. We all go through trying to get our “ten fat worms” to do what we need them to do to perfect some new technique. One dark (emotionally) night I got so pissed off that I threw the bobbin and thread in a fit of fury. I found the spool of thread but it took a while to find the bobbin, which was stuck, tip first, through the dry wall. It was about 1:00 AM, so as long as I stayed quiet, I could repair the damage. That was the last night I threw tools. I puttied, dried, sanded and painted into the wee hours so I would not get caught. Not good.
I was teaching beginning tying at our local Orvis shop within a few years of that fateful beginning and well on my way to instructing on a regular basis. These days, I travel the greater Midwest during the fall and winter with my Close-Up Video Tying Theater teaching Patterns and Techniques classes, Techniques Only classes, conducting evening seminars for clubs and shops, and working fly fishing shows.
I have been a fly designer for several years, first with Umpqua Feather Merchants and now with Rainy's Inc. in Logan, Utah. Rainy Riding and her son Jesse run what is without a doubt, the finest imported fly business on the planet. I am fortunate to have 15 patterns in about 50 sizes and combinations due for sale in 2009 and many more for 2010. It takes about 1-1/2 years from the time of submitting a new pattern before it hits the street.
You will notice that we have started the tying library with a handful of patterns. I
will be adding to this on a regular basis. Keep checking. You won't be disappointed. I
have a list of well over 150 patterns and techniques to draw from.
Most importantly, let me know what you think. Your input will be important.
Yippee Tie One On!