Some Bing Lempke Flies

[Byron haugh]

Here is a picture of some of Bing's flies.

I met him in Last Chance, Idaho in the early 1980's. He was self-taught in aquatic insects. I spent an evening with him in the old Challet Bar there in Last Chance. At that time he was tying at the FFF Conclave in nearby West Yellowstone.

Winner of the Buzzek (sp?) award and once featured in Time Magazine, he was an extremely talented and interesting man.

Today, there is a memorial in the parking lot at the head of the Harriman Railroad Ranch to him which was designed by Rene Harrop.

[Crunchy]

Byron,

Just where is Last Chance, Idaho ? I do know where Beyond Hope, Idaho is but couldn't find Last Chance.

Crunchy

[Byron haugh]

Last Chance is the unofficial name of the village at the southern end of Island Park, Idaho. It is where Mike Lawson's shop is located as well as near the upper end of The Railroad Ranch on the Henry's Fork of the Snake.

[Uncle Jesse]

I think those are probably the smallest flies I have ever seen a photo of anywhere. I am assuming that is a common "kitchen" match they are displayed upon. That would be the only thing I could do with them, I would never get a line through the eye without a magnifying glass.

[Allan]

Hi Guys,

If anyone wants to read an article by R. Cordes/B. Lempke about the extended body extender as well as 3 of their patterns and how to tye them, here's where you can find it:

FLY TYER magazine, Summer, 1983 (vol 6, iss 2), beginning on page 44. The patterns discussed and illustrated are tyed on size 18 hooks.

Couple of things about that issue of the magazine: There's more information about fly tying in this one issue then in all the Fly Tyer magazines in any one year since about 2000. Other flies patterns illustrated and discussed by: Dave Whitlock, Tom England, James Ferris, Andrew Gennaro, Ken Iwamasa, Tom Beatty, Herb Button and others. Fly tying methods articles by Dick Surette, Alf Walker, Gary LaFontaine, Keith Fulsher, Gary Borger, Tom Nixon, Chauncey Lively, Fling/Puterbaugh, E.H. Rosborough, Jon Witwer, Stephen Misovich, and Hafele/Hughes. Then there are 3 more issues from that year. Great front and back cover too.
This magazine was the best there was, and is. If you can get your hands on any of these early FLY TYER magazines you won't be disappointed.

Allan

[JohnScott]

I didn't move to SE Idaho until some time after Lempke's death. But I did know a couple of his close friends, to include Bruce Staples, another Buzz Buszek award winner.

Lempke was something of an icon in SE Idaho, and for more than small flies and the extended body tool that he created. ( My recollection, as I gathered from his friends, is that there was some dispute that Cordes was actually involved in creating that tool. )

I did get to view a video of Lempke tying with the extended body tool ( quite likely the same one you discussed with pittendrigh, Byron ). I think that probably had an influence on me, in that, while I don't do anything at all like Lempke did, I have done a lot with extended body flies, and they have all been successful patterns.

John

[Byron haugh]

Hi Guys,

If anyone wants to read an article by R. Cordes/B. Lempke about the extended body extender as well as 3 of their patterns and how to tye them, here's where you can find it:

FLY TYER magazine, Summer, 1983 (vol 6, iss 2), beginning on page 44. The patterns discussed and illustrated are tyed on size 18 hooks.

Couple of things about that issue of the magazine: There's more information about fly tying in this one issue then in all the Fly Tyer magazines in any one year since about 2000. Other flies patterns illustrated and discussed by: Dave Whitlock, Tom England, James Ferris, Andrew Gennaro, Ken Iwamasa, Tom Beatty, Herb Button and others. Fly tying methods articles by Dick Surette, Alf Walker, Gary LaFontaine, Keith Fulsher, Gary Borger, Tom Nixon, Chauncey Lively, Fling/Puterbaugh, E.H. Rosborough, Jon Witwer, Stephen Misovich, and Hafele/Hughes. Then there are 3 more issues from that year. Great front and back cover too.
This magazine was the best there was, and is. If you can get your hands on any of these early FLY TYER magazines you won't be disappointed.

Allan

Can you post a picture of the photo which shows how they used the extender in relation to the vise? Or, if that would be a copyright issue, perhaps a sketch of the setup.

[Allan]

I do not know if there's a copyright issue. Unfortunately, I do not know how to copy a magazine photo to a computer. I'm pretty computer illiterate. Maybe someone has that magazine issue and knows how to post that information.

John - You wrote, "Lempke was something of an icon in SE Idaho, and for more than small flies and the extended body tool that he created. ( My recollection, as I gathered from his friends, is that there was some dispute that Cordes was actually involved in creating that tool. )"
I have no idea about any dispute. All I can say is that the article about this tool, and the 3 flies tyed, has both of their names as co-authors. The article is prefaced with the following quotation that I cite for authenticity of the creation of the tool not necessarily its contribution to fly tying. "Mark this date well. The Lempke-Cordes fly body extender may prove to be one of the most profound contributions to fly tying in many years." Rene Harrop

Allan

[TyroneFly]

Here is a picture of some of Bing's flies.

I met him in Last Chance, Idaho in the early 1980's. He was self-taught in aquatic insects. I spent an evening with him in the old Challet Bar there in Last Chance. At that time he was tying at the FFF Conclave in nearby West Yellowstone.

Winner of the Buzzek (sp?) award and once featured in Time Magazine, he was an extremely talented and interesting man.

Today, there is a memorial in the parking lot at the head of the Harriman Railroad Ranch to him which was designed by Rene Harrop.

Byron,

Are those size 32s? Those are awesome! Thank for sharing.

[Uncle Jesse]

Here is an article from the FAOL archives about the tool with photos and the second like has a good photo that can be enlarged with a click but it is marked as copyrighted by ebay

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...Body-base-tool

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...ying-171201795