Seems like the last few years has seen a lot of items go away that I used and counted on for my fly tying and fishing pastime. Mustad is hell bent on discontinuing my favorite fly tying hooks, 94863, 36620, 94842, 39841. The 94863 was known as the " Ned Gray" hook, a beautiful, turned up looped eye, barbless dry fly hook. Graceful and fragile, it was a beauty, now gone. 36620 was a 6X long limerick streamer hook, just made for Thunder Creek streamers. Gone, you could get a box of 100 for the standard Mustad price, now you can pay $5 or $6 bucks for a small pack of the new Japanese hooks. I haven't yet gone over to the Asian hooks in total. Too many boxes of Mustads still in my hook drawer.

It doesn't seem that long ago that we could buy a pack of 3 tapered leaders for a couple of bucks. Now one tapered leader can cost you 4or 5 bucks. I'm learning to furl, and I learned how to tie up knotted tapered leaders many years ago. I'm going back to that, I think.

The item that I miss most is Joli Glaze. Without a doubt in my mind, Joli Glaze was the hands down best head cement around. It was intended to be a glazing for ceramics. You could buy a half pint of the stuff for less than $5, get a quart of toluene for thinner at the paint store, and you had head cement forever. Or so it seemed. I am down to my last thimble full, and it too is gone away, I can't find any anywhere. I know there are other good head cements around, but I liked this stuff.

Gone too is Overton's Wonder Wax. I hedged my bets on that one though, I ran across 4 tubes in a fly shop in 1990, I bought all of them, and I just opened the 3rd one this past winter. I'm 68, I should have enough of the best dubbing wax for my lifetime.

Ashaway fly lines are history too. If you took care of them, they could last a long time, I still have 3, and I use them. I have never cast a silk line so I can't compare there, but a tapered dry Ashaway is to me, the best casting dry fly line I have found. The new lines are great, and I have them too, but there is something about an Ashaway. And an amber colored Ashaway looks absolutely regal on a good cane rod. There was a custom cane rod builder in Seattle some years ago who used Ashaway lines on his demo rods to make sure the action of the rod was evident to the prospective customer.

If anyone should happen to know where I can find Joli Glaze, you would make a new friend in Montana for as many years as I last. By the way, stoneflies are on the move around here, and it is still only March.

I hope all of you folks have a wonderful season, full of fighting trout.


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Jim Johnson