Hoping for noone to get disappointed is not real swap thinking, Mr. Di Somma. Let me tell you about some real swap thinking:
Right this moment, I'm hosting 'On the Edge To Nothing Swap 2009' at the (Swedish) 'Edge FlyFishing Forum'... size #20 and smaller. And now I have seen some true swap thinking. This has become something I will use as an example in the future, when it's time for the old "A swap isn't a contest. It's all about effort." explanation. As a fly-fishing forum, this one differs a lot from VFB. Most of the talk is about fly-fishing and not really much about tying. Few of the tyers are advanced tyers. I wanted to see how much they really liked to tie tiny flies themselves so I invited them to a swap, but I took it "easy" and set the bar at #20... with a three months tying time (partly to be able to even fill the list). It took me by surprise, to say the least. The list of 12 participants was filled in less than 24 hrs... and most of the guys went out to buy hooks to even be able to participate. (A few of them didn't even know where to find such small hooks when signing up.).Only one of them chose to tie on a #20, as "large" as possible. The rest went down to #24 and smaller. (This #20 tyer later had to drop out... but less than 15 minutes after announcing it a new guy stepped in, coming in with a #28 PT nymph.) One of them bought #22's... as "practice hooks", so the #26's that he also bought wouldn't come as a shock. All this talk about buying hooks" was really nice to see. It was new, but they were ready to try. But it didn't stop with hooks. Two guys had some problems. But instead of dropping out or going for larger hooks, one of them got himself new glasses... and another bought a new vise!!! "Give up??? - No way!!!" LOL This turned out to be more than checking out the midge interest. It also became a check how people felt about swapping... and here it wasn't any "No, I can't do good enough to swap." Here we had some TRUE swap thinking: "I'm not afraid... it's effort that counts.", "It might not be the best... but it sure will be fun." The swap has been going on for two months now and the talk in the thread is the same: "Holy smoke, this was fiddly... but WOW it was fun!", "WHY haven't I tried this before???" etc. Some of these guys are guys who have complimented the midges I've posted earlier and then said things like "I wouldn't be able to tie in the thread on a hook that size" when I've asked "Why not try it yourself?". It really gives me a warm feeling reading through the swap thread (and I have read it more than once... just for the fun of it). When you WANT to give... then you're ready to swap. Same effort from everyone will make noone give less than the other. /Nick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- From: phxflyt...@cox.net To: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com Subject: [VFB] Re: Catskill Dry fly update Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:40:39 -0700 Peggy: I should have my tying skills up a little higher then they are now so I would like to try this swap. I'm not sure yet what I will tie but I sure would like to be in it, with these great tiers. I hope no one will be disapointed with my tying. Thank you, Alan Di Somma Phoenix, Mexico's second largest city.... Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail. ----- Original Message ----- From: Peggy Brenner To: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 8:01 PM Subject: [VFB] Catskill Dry fly update And let's try our luck in the path Mary Dette and all the famous Catskill Dry Tyers laid for us with a swap, room for 10 and not due till December. And to keep it a real stretch of our skills let's try for small dries, 16 and under, all levels of tyers. 1 Peggy B Condor 2 Neville Gosling 3 George Vincent 4 Michael Bliss 5 6 7 8 9 10 -- Peggy Brenner ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.30/2263 - Release Date: 07/26/09 06:33:00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Bing™ brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place. Try it now. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to vfb-mail@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to vfb-mail-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---