Welcome to Just Old Flies

Welcome to 'just old flies,' a section of methods and flies that used-to-be. These flies were tied with the only materials available. Long before the advent of 'modern' tying materials, they were created and improved upon at a far slower pace than todays modern counterparts; limited by materials available and the tiers imagination.

Once long gone, there existed a 'fraternity' of anglers who felt an obligation to use only the 'standard' patterns of the day. We hope to bring a bit of nostalgia to these pages and to you. And sometimes what you find here will not always be about fishing. Perhaps you will enjoy them. Perhaps you will fish the flies. Perhaps . .


Part Fourty-one

The Safe

By Old Rupe


The other day I got a call from my old grade school buddy Paul. He owns and operates a local animal hospital in my suburb, that takes care of all the high dollar dogs and cats in town. Paul and I are close I guess but our different life styles just doesn't let us get together often. Our sense of humor and views on life are similar since we were products of the same environment.

I will never forget the time that Paul was complaining at our local general store, where we were raised, that he needed glasses but probably wouldn't get them for some time. He was wearing old levis with many worn holes and patched gum boots with bailer twine for a belt. We had flown in on his plane to visit with our parents for the weekend. I probably was not dressed much better.

The local Vista Volunteer grabbed Paul and was going to take care of poor old Paul's medical needs. I remember him saying, "I can take care of all your needs." Paul said "I've been looking for you for years, I've got a lot of needs."

About fifteen minutes into the spiel one of the locals said, "Doctor XXXX, would you look at my cow when you have time." This killed Paul's act and the Vista Volunteer left. If you own a 2-3 million dollar animal hospital you just don't get your needs taken care of. Anyway back to the safe story.

Browning Gun Safe

It seems that Paul had bought a 700 pound Browning gun safe that had to be picked up at the Grand American Trap Shoot that day. I borrowed a pickup from my niece and went to the Grand American. What an event. We picked up the safe and returned to his house, which with the help of much thinking, we unloaded the safe in the middle of his garage. Without the lever and the inclined plane it would have never happened.

After we finished we were reflecting on the day and the Grand American in particular. "Paul did you feel threatened today? There must have been a thousand people walking around with guns and ammunition?"

Paul's reply was, "The question never even entered my mind."

So much for gun control. ~ Old Rupe

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