How many times have you reached for your Rainbow
Crystal Flash with a feeling of frustration over
the way it so completely disarranges itself into a
tangle of seemingly useless confusion.
Well, if you are like most of us, and we were all
"newbies" at one time or another, you now are well
aquainted with the magnitude of our dilemma. You
may even wonder why you ever got into such a totally
exasperating hobby in the first place!
Well, take heart. There is a solution to all problems,
large and small. If you will take the bag in which the
flash is supplied by the manufacturer, and simply cut
a triangle from it as shown, you can neatly handle any
of these "stringy gremlins."
This takes only a second and serves a number of purposes.
First, it allows you to pull out, through the cut, only
that material you need at present for your fly. If you
will carefully use the tip of your scissors, to work the
material from the bag, you will save yourself much
aggravation, and be a much more pleasant person to
live with as well.
Second, you can maintain the label intact. This is a
great aid when your pattern calls for a shade seen only
in the beak of a Himalayan Yak Snout because the label
will clearly indicate the color as being the aforesaid
"Himalayan Yak Snout." This is particularly helpful to
those of us who are either, a) colorblind, or b) have
never seen a Himalayan Yak up close.
The third reason I prefer to leave it in the original bag,
is when I travel I need simply pick up the bag and toss
it into my traveling tying kit. It requires no other
preparation.
There are other ways of dealing with this material. Some
of you may use a rack which holds several skeins of flash
instantly available.
For the above reasons however, I have found this to be
the easiest way to solve this particular problem.
Now get out your flashes, and fish hairs etc. and
enhance your efficiency at the bench with two diagonal
snips of your scissors. It just doesn't get any
easier than this!
If you have any tips or techniques, send them along,
most of this material has been stolen from somebody,
might as well steal your ideas too!
~ George E. Emanuel
(Chat Room Host Muddler)
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