Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My son will be turning 8 in a few months and has begun showing interest in our sport.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a good beginners set-up. I want something that will last, but doesn’t break the bank.  I’d consider a rod and reel combo up to $200.  We normally fish small trout rivers and since we live in So.Cal. most of our fishing requires extensive traveling, often on any airplane, i.e. a three or four piece.  For example we will be hitting the Battenkill in Vermont this summer.  Anybody’s 2 cents are welcome.  Thanks, Todd My feeling is that you would be better making short trips to "put and take" ponds or similar, and fishing with worms etc if necessary. Eight year olds rarely possess the attention span required for intensive fly-fishing, and their success rate is accordingly low. This leads to frustration, and reduces interest even further, and may result in them giving up. Take him somewhere where he will catch fish. It does not matter how.  Do not fish yourself, devote your time and attention to him, but without crowding him.  let HIM fish, do not take the rod off him when he hooks a fish, show him how to cast, bait up etc, and then LEAVE HIM ALONE.  Constant barrages of advice are useless, and defeat the object of the exercise. Answer questions, and demonstrate if necessary but only when asked. Take a fly-rod along and the gear ( yours, not a "kid-rig" ), and show him how it works for a short while.   He will soon get the idea.  The main thing is, he MUST CATCH FISH, and he MUST NOT GET THE FEELING THAT HE IS BEING FORCED TO DO SOMETHING. TL MC

Good advice, if you feel you must start with fishing.  I had probably been casting for a year or more before I started fishing with a flyrod.  I fished, just not with a flyrod.  It was made into a game, with practice flies and ring targets on my Grandfather’s casting lawn. It taught me proper and varied technique, as well as patience.  IIRC, once I started fishing, this training seemed to also help with the "not catching anything" problem so often attributed to the disinterest of younger anglers – I could at least try to be accurate, and try various casts and techniques.  Eventually, I could catch as many fish as the older anglers.   As to what I started on, the first rod was an old fiberglass 8ft. 2 or 3 weight which had first been my mother’s "training rod" in her youth. After I had casting and rod care reasonably down, I was pretty much allowed to use whatever, within reason, but tended not to fool with rods that were someone’s _personal_ rod(s).   If I were you, I would just get a smallish (under 6 and no more than 8.5 feet), cheap (even used) rod, glass or graphite, it doesn’t matter at this point, of medium-ish action.  If you need to buy an additional reel, the cheapest reel I could find (a Martin 61, perhaps), and a decent, but not top-of-the-line, WF line of proper weight.  I would use small-ish bucktail "whiffs" or cut the entire bend and most of the shank from streamers (get really bright, bushy ones – overdressed commercial ties are actually better here).  Also, get inexpensive tapered leaders, at least in the beginning. I would then begin casting (not fishing) lessons if you are knowledgable _and_ patient enough.  Be honest with yourself in this regard.  If you aren’t BOTH, find someone who is – you and the child will come out better and happier.  If the child wants to go cast, let them.  Some say it is difficult to break bad habits once learned, but it even more difficult to learn without doing, IMO, and kids, unfettered, tend to fare alright in this regard.  Of course, YMMV. TC, R

Response:

My son will be turning 8 in a few months and has begun showing interest in our sport.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a good beginners set-up.  I want something that will last, but doesn’t break the bank.  I’d consider a rod and reel combo up to $200.  We normally fish small trout rivers and since we live in So.Cal. most of our fishing requires extensive traveling, often on any airplane, i.e. a three or four piece.  For example we will be hitting the Battenkill in Vermont this summer.  Anybody’s 2 cents are welcome.  Thanks, Todd

Response:

My son will be turning 8 in a few months and has begun showing interest in our sport.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a good beginners set-up.  I want something that will last, but doesn’t break the bank.  I’d consider a rod and reel combo up to $200.  We normally fish small trout rivers and since we live in So.Cal. most of our fishing requires extensive traveling, often on any airplane, i.e. a three or four piece.  For example we will be hitting the Battenkill in Vermont this summer.  Anybody’s 2 cents are welcome.  Thanks, Todd

Todd, You might want to check out Cabela’s.  Several people on this newsgroup have bought these and have been happy with them as near as I can tell.  I had the opportunity to try one out last summer and found it to be better than I expected.  They aren’t expensive and will fall well below your $200 price range, Cabela’s backs their products very well, and they are decent rods.  What I didn’t like about them was that some of the components aren’t high quality, but they work.  I didn’t like the reel seat or grips, but the rod did perform nicely and the blank is a far better than I imagined it would be.  Overall, I would give the rod a passing grade and found it to cast extremely well.  I have been toying with the idea of buying one myself as a pack rod since my Sage met an untimely end.  (If anyone finds it on the bottom of the Yellowstone, can you return it?) <g Here is an url for you to look at: http://www.cabelas.com/texis/scripts/store/+/CatalogDisplay/displayPO… — Warren Findley Shut up and fish! For Yellowstone Clave info: http://www.geocities.com/troutbum_mt/YNP.html

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Todd, You might want to check out Cabela’s.  

…or, e-mail my good friend walt winter at ezflyfish.com.  he’ll give you good advice and sell you a good product within your price range.  i dislike cabela’s… jeff

Response:

My son will be turning 8 in a few months and has begun showing interest in our sport.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a good beginners set-up. I want something that will last, but doesn’t break the bank.  I’d consider a rod and reel combo up to $200.  We normally fish small trout rivers and since we live in So.Cal. most of our fishing requires extensive traveling, often on any airplane, i.e. a three or four piece.  For example we will be hitting the Battenkill in Vermont this summer.  Anybody’s 2 cents are welcome.  Thanks, Todd

My feeling is that you would be better making short trips to "put and take" ponds or similar, and fishing with worms etc if necessary. Eight year olds rarely possess the attention span required for intensive fly-fishing, and their success rate is accordingly low. This leads to frustration, and reduces interest even further, and may result in them giving up. Take him somewhere where he will catch fish. It does not matter how.  Do not fish yourself, devote your time and attention to him, but without crowding him.  let HIM fish, do not take the rod off him when he hooks a fish, show him how to cast, bait up etc, and then LEAVE HIM ALONE.  Constant barrages of advice are useless, and defeat the object of the exercise. Answer questions, and demonstrate if necessary but only when asked. Take a fly-rod along and the gear ( yours, not a "kid-rig" ), and show him how it works for a short while.   He will soon get the idea.  The main thing is, he MUST CATCH FISH, and he MUST NOT GET THE FEELING THAT HE IS BEING FORCED TO DO SOMETHING. TL MC

Response:

Take him somewhere where he will catch fish. It does not matter how.  Do not fish yourself, devote your time and attention to him, but without crowding him.  let HIM fish, do not take the rod off him when he hooks a fish, show him how to cast, bait up etc, and then LEAVE HIM ALONE.  Constant barrages of advice are useless, and defeat the object of the exercise.

I introduced my daughter to fishing at a little plunge pool in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness. This was carefully planned out. I knew from a previous trip that the little trout in this pool were so eager that they’d jump into the air to get the fly before it landed. If a fly managed to make it to the surface it would last only a few seconds. She caught a fish immediately. As luck would have it, the fish was hooked in the eye, and she was so grossed out she wouldn’t fish any more. The next summer we took a raft trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon, which is a fishing dream trip. I bought her a Cabella’s Three Forks 3 weight combo and she never even used it, despite my broad hints. Oh well. At least I had Three Forks combo to lend to Warren when he forgot to bring his rod to Jack Creek. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/

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Question:

What do you guys think? — Padishar Creel

 Mike is gone.  Never to grace ROFF again! Opie

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Hold the presses, did I hear that Mike is not going to be part of ROFF?  I want my membership dues refunded immediately.  Mike is one of the best, if not the best part of this NG and we need the long rodder in our midst.  I say we *not accept* Mike’s resignation.  Who is the hell does he thing he is?  He can’t quit, he belongs to us…he must of missed the fine print in the contract, but no ill feelings Mike, just get your butt back on line, pronto, Mister Connor. I think a poem from Mike will suffice as penance!  What do you guys think?

The following which was posted 9/30/00 by Mr. Connor, is one of my favorites: The angler stood in silent concentration casting to a rise a passer-by quite interested, watched the angler cast his flies. "Are there any fish in here" he asked of our friend piscator at last, "I have never seen one here at all, not today, or ever in the past". "There are a few",  our angler then replied with friendly smile, "But it

Question:

You said it twice, so, I can only guess that was a sincere *response*. Opie  **Hurt in Lenoir!**         isn’t that the town that inspired the famous axiom, to wit: "if you’re found here at night, you’ll be found here in the morning"? or was that "you can’t go home again"?         no, wait:  "stuck inside of lenoir with the ashville blues again"…ah, hell, forget it.

I knew a guy named Emil Lenoir many years ago.  Once told me that he bought a twelve year old Tuareg girl when he was in the foreign legion in Morocco.  Not sure what the connection is here. Wolfgang who has been to Lodi, WI but managed to escape

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Wolfgang who has been to Lodi, WI but managed to escape         in the inimitable style of ol forty himself:  not to put too fine a line on it, or some similar shit, but wasn’t creedence clearwater making reference to lodi, california? anally retentively yours, wayno

No, no, NO!  What DO they teach in the schools these days?  Leopold squeezed the Congo with an iron hand from Belgium, WI. Hitler wrought havoc on the entire European continent (not to mention a whole heap of gypsies and other undesirables) from Berlin, WI.  Friday night witch frys are a lovely old tradition in Salem, WI.  And why on Earth would anyone suppose that an immensely popular rock band would sing a song about some nothing little burg in California?  And don’t even get me started on what goes on in Oconomowoc!! Wolfgang geographer nonpareil         p.s.:  and isn’t this just the kind of question that answers the question, "what the hell does wayno *do* all the time…

the answer IS the question grasshopper

Response:

…. wilson’s is always good…. Sure!  Never took ME there, sumbitch! Wolfgang who has created a monster.  Becky wants to go backpacking on the AT in NC in April.  Wanna go fishin Waldo?    :)

sure as shit i’ll go afishin’ with ya….. but *not* on wilsons <g walt

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You said it twice, so, I can only guess that was a sincere *response*. Opie  **Hurt in Lenoir!**

        isn’t that the town that inspired the famous axiom, to wit: "if you’re found here at night, you’ll be found here in the morning"? or was that "you can’t go home again"?         no, wait:  "stuck inside of lenoir with the ashville blues again"…ah, hell, forget it.         wayno

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Wolfgang who has been to Lodi, WI but managed to escape

        in the inimitable style of ol forty himself:  not to put too fine a line on it, or some similar shit, but wasn’t creedence clearwater making reference to lodi, california? anally retentively yours, wayno         p.s.:  and isn’t this just the kind of question that answers the question, "what the hell does wayno *do* all the time…

Response:

This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller. …

FIVE people fishing Wilson’s at the same time ? Sounds crowded. — Ken Fortenberry

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This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller. … FIVE people fishing Wilson’s at the same time ? Sounds crowded.

lol’s…. walt (couldn’t really call them drsob’s, at least when they’re not present)

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Now looka here Walt, I don’t mind a little embelishment of detail to make a good story, but *nobody* will believe *that* introduction. It was a fun trip, though.  Wish I could remember what Tom — Tom Brown Wake Forest, NC Please don’t tell my mother that I hang out at ROFF; she thinks I play piano at a whorehouse.                                              Author’s name withheld This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller.

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This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller.

<sniped I don’t know about anybody else, but the writing here is a good as the articles I read in my fly fishing magazines and I really like the annual subscription rate…

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‘preciate the invite Walt! Opie  **No LDB’s in Walt’s future from me!**

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller. Tom stayed here at my home and Jeff stayed down at his cabin, the only roughing-it, aside from the stream, was cooking those big 16 ounce rib eyes on the grill friday evening. Saturday morning we headed out to Wilson’s Creek after stops at the flyshop and the grocery store for sandwiches and beer. We arrived at the trail head, rigged up, grabbed a walking brew, and headed down the trail to meet the stream. No encounters of the snake kind, a uneventful 30 minute hike. The stream was absolutely gorgeous. The water was running high and clear from the recent rains we have been enjoying here in the mountains. The usual rainbow in the first pool rejected my initial proffering, par for the course, I think he enjoys teasing me. We fished upstream with the usual ahhhs and reflections that a beautiful day on the water inspires deep within. Initially, the fishing was slow as we moved up. We each caught a fish or two with some misses. I was fishing a black beetle but switched to an adams para b/c in my haste to leave the house, I had forgotten my sunglasses and a low riding black meniscus beetle is tough to keep track of even with glasses. Both Tom & Jeff were fishing visible flies and the switchover made sense. We fished up through the timeless granite pools, each taking his turn, each watching the waters with anticipation of the next strike. We arrived at the junction of Little Wilsons and Jeff headed solo up that tiny water…. water that is infested with little feisty brownies in the 5 to 10 inch range. Tom and I continued up Wilson’s and it was like night and day. Whereas the fishing was somewhat slow before, we were now catching fish in nearly every pool or riffle, I think we even had a three fish pool, which is an accomplishment on these waters. On this day, I encountered a knot failure. I lost a fly in a rhodo when the line broke at the clinch knot. I usually don’t suffer that failure, the knot is a good one and I’ve been using it as long as I can remember. It’s usually my wind knot that fails. The secret to a good clinch is 5 turns, through the loops, wet with spittle, and gently cinch down by holding the fly in one hand and the tippet in the other, don’t tighten by pulling on the tag end of the tippet. Also, I believe that tippet needs to be similar in size to the eye of the hook for a clinch to perform properly. A size 6 wooly bugger on 6x will break at the knot….. just my experience. Anyway, Jeff, after much success on ‘lil wilsons, pulled out into a camp of beer-swillin, pig-lovin, banjo-playin rednecks. That must have been a sight. He hiked back to the truck and was kind enough to drive it up to where Tom & I would be pulling out so we would not suffer those gross indignities <g. It was great to see Jeff’s truck when we pulled out. The last 1/2 mile of river all I heard from Tom was "where’s the beer!" We lounged a bit enjoyin’ a beer or two, ate our lunches, and Jeff and I headed back up Wilson’s, leaving Tom with the beer. I think it made Jeff’s day when he caught one more fish than I on this side trip…. he being such a competitive cuss. Great day, great fish, and greater companions…… thanks guys, I needed it. Walt

Response:

I never saw that original post, thanks for the report, have been wondering about fishing Wilson’s sometime soon  Would you say the fishing generally stays good between now and, say, October?  Thanks, This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller. Tom stayed here at my home and Jeff stayed down at his cabin, the only roughing-it, aside from the stream, was cooking those big 16 ounce rib eyes on the grill friday evening. Saturday morning we headed out to Wilson’s Creek

Regards, Jeff

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I never saw that original post, thanks for the report, have been wondering about fishing Wilson’s sometime soon  Would you say the fishing generally stays good between now and, say, October?  Thanks,

that’s whaccha get fer killfilin’ me <g sure jeff…. wilson’s is always good…. walt

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‘preciate the invite Walt! Opie  **No LDB’s in Walt’s future from me!**

not my fault op. i swear, it was jeff’s fault. he was in charge of the invites… ldb’s…. shoot, i think we drank a bunch of them <g walt

Response:

You said it twice, so, I can only guess that was a sincere *response*. Opie  **Hurt in Lenoir!**

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ‘preciate the invite Walt! Opie  **No LDB’s in Walt’s future from me!** not my fault op. i swear, it was jeff’s fault. he was in charge of the invites… ldb’s…. shoot, i think we drank a bunch of them <g walt

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…. wilson’s is always good….

Sure!  Never took ME there, sumbitch! Wolfgang who has created a monster.  Becky wants to go backpacking on the AT in NC in April.  Wanna go fishin Waldo?    :)

Response:

This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller. <sniped I don’t know about anybody else, but the writing here is a good as the articles I read in my fly fishing magazines and I really like the annual subscription rate…

Amen!  An English professor I knew in college was fond of saying that writing is the most difficult work that man has ever created for himself.  He never read this news group.  Never have so many made it look so easy. Wolfgang waiting for the day when some ambitious soul collects it all and turns it into a novel

Response:

This past weekend I was visited by two gracious Southern gentlemen, Tom Brown and Jeff Miller. Tom stayed here at my home and Jeff stayed down at his cabin, the only roughing-it, aside from the stream, was cooking those big 16 ounce rib eyes on the grill friday evening. Saturday morning we headed out to Wilson’s Creek after stops at the flyshop and the grocery store for sandwiches and beer. We arrived at the trail head, rigged up, grabbed a walking brew, and headed down the trail to meet the stream. No encounters of the snake kind, a uneventful 30 minute hike. The stream was absolutely gorgeous. The water was running high and clear from the recent rains we have been enjoying here in the mountains. The usual rainbow in the first pool rejected my initial proffering, par for the course, I think he enjoys teasing me. We fished upstream with the usual ahhhs and reflections that a beautiful day on the water inspires deep within. Initially, the fishing was slow as we moved up. We each caught a fish or two with some misses. I was fishing a black beetle but switched to an adams para b/c in my haste to leave the house, I had forgotten my sunglasses and a low riding black meniscus beetle is tough to keep track of even with glasses. Both Tom & Jeff were fishing visible flies and the switchover made sense. We fished up through the timeless granite pools, each taking his turn, each watching the waters with anticipation of the next strike. We arrived at the junction of Little Wilsons and Jeff headed solo up that tiny water…. water that is infested with little feisty brownies in the 5 to 10 inch range. Tom and I continued up Wilson’s and it was like night and day. Whereas the fishing was somewhat slow before, we were now catching fish in nearly every pool or riffle, I think we even had a three fish pool, which is an accomplishment on these waters. On this day, I encountered a knot failure. I lost a fly in a rhodo when the line broke at the clinch knot. I usually don’t suffer that failure, the knot is a good one and I’ve been using it as long as I can remember. It’s usually my wind knot that fails. The secret to a good clinch is 5 turns, through the loops, wet with spittle, and gently cinch down by holding the fly in one hand and the tippet in the other, don’t tighten by pulling on the tag end of the tippet. Also, I believe that tippet needs to be similar in size to the eye of the hook for a clinch to perform properly. A size 6 wooly bugger on 6x will break at the knot….. just my experience. Anyway, Jeff, after much success on ‘lil wilsons, pulled out into a camp of beer-swillin, pig-lovin, banjo-playin rednecks. That must have been a sight. He hiked back to the truck and was kind enough to drive it up to where Tom & I would be pulling out so we would not suffer those gross indignities <g. It was great to see Jeff’s truck when we pulled out. The last 1/2 mile of river all I heard from Tom was "where’s the beer!" We lounged a bit enjoyin’ a beer or two, ate our lunches, and Jeff and I headed back up Wilson’s, leaving Tom with the beer. I think it made Jeff’s day when he caught one more fish than I on this side trip…. he being such a competitive cuss. Great day, great fish, and greater companions…… thanks guys, I needed it. Walt

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Question:

Going to fish the Upper Kern River (between Kernville and Johnsondale) in California over Thanksgiving.  I have never fished this water before and would appreciate any suggestions regarding fly patterns and fishing locations. Thanks in advance, Kirk

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Kirk, Every Thanksgiving I go over the hill and through the woods to my Grandmother’s house in Lake Isabella.  And I always try to do a little fishing on the Kern while I’m there.  I find it to be pretty tough fishing at that time of year and I have yet to discover what pattern works and what the best place to fish is in the section of the river you’ll be fishing. There’s a fly shop in Kernville where the road crossing the river T’s into north/south route that parallels the river on its eastern side.  You might try dropping in there for info. Generally, I have had better luck by hiking in a couple miles above the Johnsondale bridge and working my way upstream from there.  You might try a dry they call the "Kern Special" in the store I mentioned above.  It’s basically a royal wulff but with a green waist instead of a red one. —                                                       -dnc- KIRK BANNERMAN wrote – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Going to fish the Upper Kern River (between Kernville and Johnsondale) in California over Thanksgiving.  …

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what a co-inky-dink! California FlyFisher (Oct 98) has an article on this stretch of water! Might want to pick up a copy B4U go. Larry #:)#

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Question:

I agree with whoever said test test test. i know testing helps me feel better knowing what my sugar is. I also think it’s an individual matter for each to find. I know it’s been like that for me. I try to raise my blood sugar before my workouts (aerobic classes usually) so that I don’t have to worry about it during and after the wrokout. I usually have juice or fruit and it works to raise it enough so I don’t have to worry, and then i usually have dinner after. When I go out for bike rides alone I do the same thing. If it helps, I kept an article about managing blood sugar that i read in the magazine Diabetes Self Management. I thought it was a very good article that gave lots of examples about blood suagr during exercise and what to do about food and insulin. It was in the November December 1996 issue. The title was Balancing Blood Sugar and Exercise by Richard Weil. I don’t know if this is in the library, but there is a number in the magazine that i guess you could call to request a copy or maybe a back issue. The number is 800 234-0923 (that’s the subscription service). There’s also a number for advertising [212] 989-0200. I would try both numbers. The article really cleared up some things for me so I recommend it to you. I don’t work for the magazine, but I do think the article was helpful. Good Luck, Tina

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There are also all too many stories of a lone person who goes out into the woods never to return.  Diabetes is rarley a factor in these stories. Bears, Clifs, Falling rocks, Pitfalls, Snakes, Ect, Those are factors, Diabetes almost never.

Much more common are:   Falls causing sprains/broken bones: you lose your mobility, then you’re in trouble. Happens even without ‘cliffs’.   Inadequate clothing and/or shelter (exposure, hypothermia).   Insufficient food intake/food supply (starvation).   Insufficient water. – - – The root cause of these problems is usually foolish overconfidence. The one which is highly affected by DM is insufficient food intake,   which I have suffered a few times. Test often! Take lots of extra food, extra drugs, an entire extra test kit.   Experience is critical. DON’T try a 5-day in the middle of no where until you have a lot of solo overnights and 2-nighters under your belt.

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   Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes    Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer    on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on    vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. Actually you have answered your own question… You said "ALONE" The simple soultion is as follows 1: Always have a ready source of "Quick" glucose (Cake Iceing tubes)    Gluco gell, Gluco Tabs, Regular (not diet) pop,  Orange juice 2: (And this is perhaps the more improtant) always have a partner who    KNOWS you are diabetic and KNOWS the signs of HYPO in you. Now if you happen not to be a diabetic (As many are not) Then #2 is becomes #1 and delete all after PARTNER.  That is right… Man was not ment to be alone, Man was ment to be partnered (No this is not a religious or moral statment)  but there have been many, many, many stories of a couple of people who went out in the woods and one became injured.  The other saved his/her life.  There are also all too many stories of a lone person who goes out into the woods never to return.  Diabetes is rarley a factor in these stories. Bears, Clifs, Falling rocks, Pitfalls, Snakes, Ect, Those are factors, Diabetes almost never. So the easy answer is DO NOT HIKE ALONE,  Take a main squeze or hiking partner "Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your business" A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep. Net-Tamer V 1.08X – Registered

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

When you know let me in on the secret.  Last winter I went out one weekend alone to go hiking and waterfall viewing.  One time I was about 3 miles into a lonely trail when it hit.  I had taken extra carbo before the hike (granola bars), and luckily I had a sack of candies.   The entire walk back it was one candy after another.  I must have injested over 100 grams carbo by the time I got back to civilization.   So what’s the answer?  Eat as you go?  Doesn’t sound fun to me.  Less insulin?  I’ve read that you should actually take a little insulin before you excercise, to make sure your body doesn’t starve of glucose and start keto.  Maybe both…..  Trial and error seems the only way for now.

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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?

You are talking essentially about exercise so I have attached my standard exercise answer.  There is tremendous variability in diabetics response to exercise and the response is also affected by your type of diabetes and medication.  Some people can get along with only minor adjustments in their routine and some of us have to do quite a bit of compensation.  The more you learn about diabetes, your particular flavor of it, how the body normally works, and how a diabetics body works, the better you will be able to adjust to abnormal situations be they changes in activity, diet, workshifts or whatever.  Diabetics can do pretty much what ever they want to.  The first diabetic to swim the English Channel was just in the news. That doesn’t mean, however, that it you don’t have to put extra effort into it to deal with the effects of having diabetes.  When I think about doing things with diabetes, I often remember the old joke about Ginger Rogers.  She did everything Fred did, but backwards wearing high heels. — Charles Coughran Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="EXERCIS5.TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="EXERCIS5.TXT" The best way to deal with problems associated with diabetes and exercise begins with understanding of what goes on in the metabolic system of normal people and what the differences are for diabetics. Only with such understanding can you make intelligent choices about pharmacological tactics. Relying on rules of thumb can cause more problems it solves because of the wide variability of individual responses and the wide variety of diseases that fall under the rubric of diabetes. Not to mention, I have seen postings where the rules of thumb were clearly misunderstood. While the following is intended for those who take insulin, it may assist those on oral medications as well. Exercise in this context means extended aerobic activity, say a minimum of 20 minutes of jogging. This is a somewhat simplified account but I think it captures the most important aspects for exercise related bg control. Comments encouraged. When a normal person starts to exercise, the insulin output of his pancreas goes down. At first blush, this seems backward since the muscles are working hard and therefore require more glucose to be transported from the blood into the cells. There are two reasons more glucose can be transported with less available insulin. The first is that during exercise insulin becomes much more efficient. The mechanism of this effect is not fully understood, but it helps overcomes the reduction in circulating insulin. Second, exercise activates non-insulin mediated glucose transport pathways. These pathways are not sufficient to handle the load in the absence of insulin, but do increase the effective insulin efficiency. When insulin levels decline relative to the counterregulatory hormones — glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol — the liver is stimulated to release stored glucose. The blood glucose that is being transported into the cells is replaced by that from hepatic stores. It is this hormonal balance system that keeps the levels of blood glucose in the normal narrow range during exercise. For those of us who inject insulin, the first problem is obvious. Our circulating levels of insulin do not react to exercise. Absent any correction, when the muscles demand glucose and insulin becomes more efficient our blood glucose plummets and we become hypoglycemic. This is the reason for a commonly encountered prohibition to not schedule exercise when your insulin is peaking. The higher the level of circulating insulin, the more pronounced the effect. One solution is to reduce our circulating insulin levels by reducing insulin intake. Here specific advice starts to be difficult due to the wide variety of insulins, regimens, and individual variability. The spectrum spans from a Type II who takes a little NPH to help his beta cells out to a c-peptide free pumper. I have spoken to diabetic runners whose tactics would put me in an ambulance, even though our situations seem to be very similar. You see a lot of advice of the form, "reduce your insulin 2 units for every hour of strenuous exercise". This kind of advice ignores real world variability and is sometimes much worse than useless. Clearly, someone who takes one shot/day has a much more limited ability to adjust circulating insulin levels than someone using multiple injections or a pump. The other approach is to increase blood glucose levels by eating carbohydrates timed to arrive at the blood stream in the form of glucose when it is needed. The easiest way to do that is usually to eat fast acting carbohydrates during or immediately preceding exercise. Again, there are rules of thumb around about so many grams of carbohydrates for a particular length of exercise at some defined level. Again, they seem to be swamped by individual and circumstantial variability. Some of us do a combination of both and pump up our bg levels somewhat before exercise and reduce insulin levels to keep things on an even keel. The bottom line is to make careful adjustments and test, and test, and test, to find out how things work for your particular body. So much for too much insulin. What happens when the circulating insulin level is too low? When levels are so low that even the increase in insulin efficiency doesn’t overcome the defect, glucose isn’t transported into the cells. Worse, since insulin levels are low the liver continues to pump glucose into the blood. The result is bg levels rise with exercise. The muscles get stressed due to lack of fuel and the metabolism of fats kicks in, ketones start being produced and the danger of ketosis or ketoacidosis looms. This is the basis for another rule of thumb which is often misunderstood. The rule is usually stated "don’t exercise when your bg is above 240 mg/dl (13.3 mmol/l) and ketones are present in the urine". This makes sense because those are signs that you have inadequate insulin supplies — that’s how many of us got diagnosed. Exercise in those circumstances will make things worse, not better. On the other hand, if you are 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/l) because you just drank a large regular cola by mistake with lunch, exercise is a great way to bring that bg down in a hurry. Why your bg is elevated is just as important as the fact of the elevated level when deciding whether or not exercise is contraindicated. The 240 is also a somewhat arbitrary number. Some people start throwing ketones at significantly lower levels. In short: avoid exercise if your insulin level is too low. Do exercise if you are sure your insulin level is adequate but your blood glucose is too high. Exercise also produces effects at longer time scales. Sometime after exercise, there is often a take up of blood glucose by the muscles to replenish depleted stores. This most often occurs an hour or two after exercise, but has been reported in the range of 1/2 hour to 48 hours. Again, as is the case during exercise, artificially high insulin levels will lead to hypoglycemia. The last rule of thumb is to watch for hypoglycemia after exercise. *SPECULATION BEGINS HERE* A problem some of us encounter from time to time is a post exercise bg spike. Blood glucose readings will be reasonable after exercise but sharply elevated a few hours later. It is my speculation that this represents circulating insulin levels that were adequate to deal with exercise induced blood glucose demand with its attendant insulin efficiency increase, but too low to deal with the post exercise demand when insulin efficiency has lowered somewhat. It has been my experience that post exercise elevated bg levels respond to much less insulin than would be required in a more normal situation. It appears that insulin efficiency falls off after exercise at some rate and you can be on the correct side of the curve during exercise and the wrong side after. This hypothesis is the best of a couple I have come up with. *SPECULATION ENDS HERE* Regular exercise over time scales of weeks or months can reduce overall insulin requirements. In addition, as muscles become trained and improve their internal storage, it feeds back into the amount of glucose demand present during exercise, and thus into the entire control cycle. Diabetes makes exercise, and almost everything else, harder. But, hey, if it was easy it wouldn’t be any fun There are two very good, readable books from which you can get more information. The better is Campaigne and Lampman, _Exercise in the Clinical Management of Diabetes_. Almost as good is _The Health Professional’s Guide to Diabetes and Exercise_ edited by Ruderman and Devlin and published by the American Diabetes Association.

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Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"??

Frequent testing is not necessary.  I engage in all types of strenuous and active things (skiing, hiking, bicycling, snokling, rock climbing, etc.) with no testing at all during the activity. My method is this:  take into consideration your level of activity, adjust your insulin accordingly, and bring along lots of sugary things to compensate.  Of course, this only works if you are relatively good judge (like I am) of when your blood sugar is low. For example, when I go skiing, I’ve found that after eating a regular breakfast and taking a normal dose of insulin in the morning, that I can eat lunch without taking any insulin during the day’s activities. Then I eat dinner and take a normal dose.  It so happens that the decrease in my blood sugar corresponding to my increased activity is almost exactly balanced by the lunch I eat (usually it is not a very large lunch, though, because the ski food prices are so high). I should say that I am on an ultralente/Humalog regimine (I split the ultralente dose into morning and evening, and then just take the required amount of Humalog right before I’m going to eat something). Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?

When I do something like this, I just don’t take any of the regular insulin (but keep the ultralente the same).  Often I still go low and need to eat something. If you can’t tell when you are getting low, then you are screwed and this easy method (make sure you have enough insulin so you don’t go hig and just eat when necessary to prevent lows) won’t work. keith

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Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

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You got it test test test…. experience experience  you can do anything if you are willing to do what it takes to know your body every step of the way.  Include your wife in everything…this should boost her confidence that you as a team can handle anything.  I have been diabetic for 20-years and have never let it stop me from anything I really wanted to do.  it just takes work. Good Luck, M.H. Moman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

– The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.                   -Frances Willard

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Question:

hi all, has anyone done any FFishing in Turks Caicos.  i’m going there for my honeymoone and need to know if i should pack my 7 weight! thanks in advance! -eric — Oracle DBA                     GE Fanuc                      Phone:  (804) 978-5945

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hi all, has anyone done any FFishing in Turks Caicos.  i’m going there for my honeymoone and need to know if i should pack my 7 weight! thanks in advance! -eric — Oracle DBA                     GE Fanuc                  Phone:  (804) 978-5945

I say yes, my wife says no (and with great emphasis I might add). David726 E-mail for further assistance to:

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hi all, has anyone done any FFishing in Turks Caicos.  i’m going there for my honeymoone and need to know if i should pack my 7 weight! thanks in advance! -eric — Oracle DBA                     GE Fanuc                      Phone:  (804) 978-5945

You better have the right woman to try fishing on your honeymoon.  Luckily I do.  We took our ‘moon in Nantucket and I went fishing one day.  Got a few striper too.  If it’s okay with her I would say bring it and find out about the opportunities lsater. — Gordon Churchill Flyfish NC http://www.planet-nc.com/flyfishnc/ Striped Bass on the Roanoke River, Hybrids on Jordan Lake, Largemouths on surface.  Pickup and dropoff in Research Triangle Park

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If you’re going on a honeymoon, you are taking the wrong rod! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -hi all, has anyone done any FFishing in Turks Caicos.  i’m going there for my honeymoone and need to know if i should pack my 7 weight! thanks in advance! -eric — Oracle DBA                     GE Fanuc                  Phone:  (804) 978-5945

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Question:

Has anyone tried these photochromic, ophthalmic, polarized sunglasses? If so, are they worth the price? What’s the best color for all around use? Which are the most durable frames? Thanks in advance. Joel

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Has anyone tried these photochromic, ophthalmic, polarized sunglasses? If so, are they worth the price? What’s the best color for all around use? Which are the most durable frames? Thanks in advance.

Joel — I just had a chance to take a look at a pair of metal flex-frame/ gray photochromic prescription Marquesas. The flex-frame seemed very nice.  It was flexible in all sorts of directions which should minimise the effects of inadvertent abuse associated with fly fishing.  Orvis also did a very good job grinding and mounting the lenses. Because of the glass lenses, the outfit was a bit heavy. Everything looked nice until I did a polarizer test.  At cross-polarization, the lenses showed considerable transmission of blue light.  I estimated polarization between 50-75%.  In other words, glare, albeit reduced in intensity, will be still visible in blue. That, in my view, is inadequate in a pair of ~$200 fishing glasses where polarization should be in the 95% range across the spectrum. Hope this helps. Best, -Ande Rychter

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I have several pair of the Marquesas, here are my recommendations: 1)  Yes, they are an excellent pair of sunglasses with glass lenses that are resistant to scratches (up to a point!) 2)  Get the plastic frame models, not the metal frames, especially if you fish a lot in saltwater. (The metal screws rust, not the frame! Orvis will replace with plastic frame, by the way.) 3)  Best color lenses for saltwater and general fishing: brown or amber 4)  Best color for clear freshwater on sunny day: grey 5)  They are very easy to adapt to large heads like mine (no pun intended!) 6)  The cases that come with them are a piece of shit! Get a hard lense case from a backpacking supplier that will really protect the glasses.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Rychter) writes: Has anyone tried these photochromic, ophthalmic, polarized sunglasses? If so, are they worth the price? What’s the best color for all around use? Which are the most durable frames? Thanks in advance. Joel — I just had a chance to take a look at a pair of metal flex-frame/ gray photochromic prescription Marquesas. The flex-frame seemed very nice.  It was flexible in all sorts of directions which should minimise the effects of inadvertent abuse associated with fly fishing.  Orvis also did a very good job grinding and mounting the lenses. Because of the glass lenses, the outfit was a bit heavy. Everything looked nice until I did a polarizer test.  At

cross-polarization, the lenses showed considerable transmission of blue light.  I estimated polarization between 50-75%.  In other words, glare, albeit reduced in intensity, will be still visible in blue. That, in my view, is inadequate in a pair of ~$200 fishing glasses where polarization should be in the 95% range across the spectrum.

What method did you use to make your assessment? These are real interesting results as laboratory tests on these glasses came out at 99% effective polarization.  The grey lens also has the most even transmision of colors throughout the visible spectrum varying from as low as 15% to as high as 25% light transmission from light wave lengths of 400 nanometers through 950 nanometers (upper edge of visible light is 760nm). Below 400 nm light transmission was under 4% and stopped entirely at 350nm.   Although the grey lens gives the most even transmission of colors of any lens (truest colors), it does not give the greatest clarity or depth perception because it does not reduce significantly blue light (closest to high energy UV [280-380nm]).  The human eye sees best in the middle range of light (yellow) and least clearly near the outer edges of the visible spectum (blue and red).  The blue light spectrum (380nm – 480nm) focuses on the front of the retina and tends to make things blurry, reducing contrast and depth perception.  The crystalline lens of the eye absorbs blue light and  over-exposure of blue light can cause permanent damage to it.  Wears them out. The yellow lens absorbs all light up to 470nm (upper end of blue light spectrum) and transmits 60%to 94% of all light from wavelengths of 500nm into the infrared (760nm-1mm).  Since they do not readilly block IR light they have to be specially treated to absorb this "hot" part of the spectrum.  Yellow causes color distortion – for instance the blue sky may look green.  This is arguably the highest contrast lens. The brown lens will transmit  from as little as 5% to as much as 10% of the blue light spectrum and completely blocks the UV light below 380nm. As it reaches 450nm it steadily increases to ~40% at the upper end of the visible spectrum of light.  It also does not significantly distort colors – tends to shade shift as opposed to color shift.  This lens provides a good combination of true colors (or close to true) and increased contrast. This is my personal choice for fishing glasses. Warm spectrum lenses – yellow, amber, brown,etc. –  also help preserve a chemical in the human eye known as rodopsin (sp?) that helps with night vision.  Fish it to the limit!!! *PLEASE NOTE*  The *regular* Marquessa glasses are $119 for the nylon or the metal frame, and $126 for the flex frame.   The *prescription* glasses are $186 to $195 for single prescription and $200 to $215 for bi-focal depending on the frame.                                                         Thanks,                                                           Dan Dan Gracia                                                               Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools If you kill that big fish you can’t catch ‘em again.  So what if they eat other fish?  If you kill the big ones there will only be little ones left (funny how that works!).

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Everything looked nice until I did a polarizer test.  At cross-polarization, the lenses showed considerable transmission of blue light.  I estimated polarization between 50-75%.  In other words, glare, albeit reduced in intensity, will be still visible in blue. That, in my view, is inadequate in a pair of ~$200 fishing glasses where polarization should be in the 95% range across the spectrum. What method did you use to make your assessment?

{A detailed description of transmission properities of Orvis Marquesas  deleted.} Dan — Thanks for the description of the excellent transmission properties of the Marquesas line.  Unfortunately spectral transmission and polarization are different things.   In testing these specific Marquesas, I estimated how much I could see when I cross-polarized the light passing through the glasses. Cross-polarizing lenses is equivalent to looking at the glare reflected from the water surface and is a good indication of how well a pair of polarized glasses will do in a fishing situation. On a bright day I could clearly see everything (albeit in deep blue), hence my ball park estimate of 50-75% polarization.  That’s less than impressive. For comparison, I ran the same test on a pair of Action Optics glasses. The glasses in question were the Silver Creek Brown in non-prescription. At cross-polarization, I virtually could see nothing.  This indicated to me that the glasses were very well polarized, probably in the high 90%, and would practically cut off all polarized glare reflecting from the water surface. In both tests I used a 60 mm Hasselblad polarizing filter.  These filters are very nearly 100% polarized. Best, -Ande Rychter

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Although the grey lens gives the most even transmission of colors of any lens (truest colors), it does not give the greatest clarity or depth perception because it does not reduce significantly blue light (closest to high energy UV [280-380nm]).  

snip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The yellow lens absorbs all light up to 470nm (upper end of blue light spectrum) and transmits 60%to 94% of all light from wavelengths of 500nm into the infrared (760nm-1mm). snip This is arguably the highest contrast lens. The brown lens will transmit  from as little as 5% to as much as 10% of the blue light spectrum and completely blocks the UV light below 380nm. snip This lens provides a good combination of true colors (or close to true) and increased contrast. This is my personal choice for fishing glasses. Warm spectrum lenses – yellow, amber, brown,etc. –  also help preserve a chemical in the human eye known as rodopsin (sp?) that helps with night vision.  Fish it to the limit!!!

My latest Orvis catalog shows that these glasses come only in gray, brown or copper lenses.  What would be the best lenses for low light conditions?  I am not concerned about any color-shifting but I wish to retain as much of the light as possible and reduce glare. Thanks. — Hugh L. Scott                    Albuquerque, NM

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Question:

I have not heard of any in the western part of the state or in Southern Indiana (I’m in Evansville).  Fort Campbell north of Nashville Tenn is supposed to have a trout stream, and eastern KY must, but I’m not familiar with them.  Tight lines. Bill Mack

The fisheries people Frankfort have a document listing all of the trout streams in Kentucky.  Check the Regs booklet wherever you get a license or call information for the Dept of Fish & WildLife.  The cold water fisheries expert is a guy named Jim Axon (sp?). Believe it or not, there are several streams in KY with self sustaining populations of wild trout (brookies).  But they are extremely small, hard to get to, and harder to fly fish. As I remember it, most of the trout streams are south and east of Lexington. There are put and take rainbow fisheries at a number of tailwaters (such as below Buckhorn Lake).  In the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area there are "put-grow-and-take" brown trout fisheries is Rock creek and also trout in some smaller creeks.In the Red River Gorge area there is Swift Camp Creek, Coal Slab Creek and Chimney Top Creek plus a few smaller ones.  Another P-G-T brown stream is the Dix River tailwater below Herrington Lake dam just south of Lexington.  You’ll need a boat as access is limited for this one. I’m told that the vast majority of all the trout in KY are in the Cumberland River tailwater in the area from Burkesville on down.  This is a big river, a boat is best, but there are some wading access points. The state record brown and it’s twin (both 18 lb. +) came from here.  There’s a fly shop in Lexington that can tell you more, but I can’t remember the name (might try the Orvis 800 number and ask for their dealers in KY).  Indiana’s St. Joseph is the only trout/ steelhead/salmon river I know of in the state. Sorry, I don’t know of any cold water closer to Louisville, but consider giving stream fishing for smallmouth bass a try, they can be a blast on a fly rod and #4 yellow popper! Tight Lines…. Jeff Clark       Dayton, OH

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I have not heard of any in the western part of the state or in Southern Indiana (I’m in Evansville).  Fort Campbell north of Nashville Tenn is supposed to have a trout stream, and eastern KY must, but I’m not familiar with them.  Tight lines. Bill Mack

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says… I am about to move to Louisville, Ky and wondered if anyone knew of any good rivers or streams in Kentucky or Southern Indiana to fly fish for trout. Thanks, Allan Meguiar

The are allegedly trout in the Cumberland River between Wolf Creek dam and Burkesville.  You can get there in a couple of hours on US 127.  Fishing is very sensitive to discharge schedule from dam.  Good luck.  I hope you have more luck than me! Jim Gallt

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I am about to move to Louisville, Ky and wondered if anyone knew of any good rivers or streams in Kentucky or Southern Indiana to fly fish for trout. Thanks, Allan Meguiar

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Question:

I have the opportunity to take a "Flyfishing Seminar" in southern Mississippi with Mel Kreiger.  Since ther is little or no freshwater fishing nearby (at least this time of year), I’m assuming the seminar will be concerned mostly with casting.  As a novice who has taken some casting classes i could probably use the help. The problem is the $$$.  They want $175 for each one day session.  The money is donated to a very good cause (the Crosby Arboretum), but it’s still half the cost of a new rod… Anybody out there had any experinece with Mel’s casting classes?  Is it likely to be worth the money? Please let me know ASAP as the price goes up to $225 on the first (yikes, that’s tomorrow…) Many thanks, Bob McAnulty

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have the opportunity to take a "Flyfishing Seminar" in southern Mississippi with Mel Kreiger.  Since ther is little or no freshwater fishing nearby (at least this time of year), I’m assuming the seminar will be concerned mostly with casting.  As a novice who has taken some casting classes i could probably use the help. The problem is the $$$.  They want $175 for each one day session. The money is donated to a very good cause (the Crosby Arboretum), but it’s still half the cost of a new rod… Anybody out there had any experinece with Mel’s casting classes?  Is it likely to be worth the money?

I had the opportunity to take a Mel Krieger seminar for free (through Golden  West Women Flyfishers in S.F.), where Mel’s wife, Fanny, is a member.   Although there were a lot of people, and little personalized attention from Mel, it was still very useful (and I am a pretty good caster already).  If you can spend the money, I think Mel Krieger is a great casting instructor.  If you can’t afford the class, at least buy the  "Essence of Flycasting Video."  I like to just review it every  once in a while to keep my casting sharp.   If you are a novice, with some casting experience, I think Mel will  have you throwing a tight loop and double-hauling by the end of the day. John

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For my money Mel is the best casting instructor anywhere.  I have known him for 20 years and have seen him teach many times.  He even taught me.  I still try to find time to spend with him to break the bad habits I pick up along the way.  He has written several books and has at least two videos.

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I honestly cannot attest to Mel’s "live" presentation, but I will say that I learned a lot from his videotapes on casting. The problem, as I see it, with live seminars and to a certain extent, videos, is that each "master" has his own style of casting. There is no one way to cast, and learning other casting styles after a basic motion is mastered is much easier than trying to learn from a "Master." I do like Mel’s casting style. My recommendation is to buy his video on ADVANCED Fly Casting: this will save you $150 over the cost of the seminar; and you can make a worthwhile contribution to the Crosby Arberitum as an added – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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I do like Mel’s casting style. My recommendation is to buy his video on ADVANCED Fly Casting: this will save you $150 over the cost of the

seminar. I disagree.  Buy the Essence of Flycasting tape, rather than Essence II.   Essence has the basics, plus some advanced material.  Essence II has some things that may not be useful to the mainstream (spey casting, etc.). This advice only applies if you’re going to buy one tape.  Best bet is to buy them both.

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I’m assuming the seminar will be concerned mostly with casting.  As a novice who has taken some casting classes i could probably use the help.

Yes it is and he is superb.                           Dan

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The problem, as I see it, with live seminars and to a certain extent, videos, is that each "master" has his own style of casting. There is no one way to cast, and learning other casting styles after a basic motion is mastered is much easier than trying to learn from a "Master." I do like Mel’s casting style. My recommendation is to buy his video on ADVANCED Fly Casting: this will save you $150 over the cost of the seminar; and you can make a worthwhile contribution to the Crosby Arberitum as an added

Regardless how you do it, if you move the rod correctly you will get a good cast.   However, the "style" that Mel teaches is efficient, accurate and repeatable all day long without causing soreness or injury.  I espouse this style of casting as I have found it the best for the reasons just stated.  His tapes are superb, however I would recommend "Essence Of FlyCasting" as the best for a novice, and Essence 2 for tournament style casting and 2 handed rod casting. NEITHER of the tapes is a substitute for instruction from the man!!  A competent instructor is far superior to any tape out there because his instruction is personalized to your needs. Price is the difference here.                                                           Dan

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Question:

I bought a vest from an outfit in Montana called Goldeneye.  I got their shortie vest.  Supplex material, many pockets, YKK zippers, etc.

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I bought a vest from an outfit in Montana called Goldeneye.  I got their shortie vest.  Supplex material, many pockets, YKK zippers, etc.

I got something pretty cool for Christmas.  It’s made by  Liegh, and is a kind of non-vest.  Two pouches, like fanny packs front and rear held on by a harness.  It seems to hold quite a bit of gear, and include two water bottles in easy to get to holders.  Has a nice net loder as well.  I haven’t gone out with it, but I’m certain I’ll like it.  I think it goes in the $50.00 range, and comes in several colors.  I hope this helps, and this posting doesn’t screw things on this thread up too much. Chaz

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Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly Path:

caen!math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!utnut!nott!cunews!freenet.carleton. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -ca!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ao665 Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 28 Am looking to buy a budget priced vest (under $50).  Am considering Cabela, LL. Bean, and FeatherCraft offerings.  Any experience or ideas?

Several stores are having sales at his time of year.  I just found two local stores that were selling Patagonia vests for 40% off.  I got the vertical vest for only $60.00.  It’s a great vest, much better than the Orvis Tac-L-Pak which is already ripping apart after only 2 months of use (I am going to try to see if Orvis will take it back).  My girlfriend also found a good deal by going to the Columbia Clothing Outlet store where she found a "Henry’s Fork" vest for $30.00.  This is also much higher quality than the Orvis. Good luck. – Steve

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Am looking to buy a budget priced vest (under $50).  Am considering Cabela, LL. Bean, and FeatherCraft offerings.  Any experience or ideas?

My wife bought me an LL Bean Guide vest ($55 US).  It is made of a fairly light fabric, but it is 65% polyester/35%cotton so it should endure.  (The catalogue says it is 65% cotton but the label says that polester predominates.)  Because of the high polyester content it dries quickly. It does not have a high tech collar like an Orvis Tac-L-Pak, but it is comfortable anyway. It has lots of pockets.  The small ones beside your navel will hold a 3X5X1.5 inch box.  The little one on the right chest pocket will hol a nymph wallet.  The one I like best, though, is the big gusseted cargo pouch on the back.  It is just like the game pouch on my grouse vest.  It is very handy for carrying water, sanwiches, and a raincoat.  It is big enough that I can stuff my landing net in there while I bust through the alders. Don’t you wish you had a wife like mine? Keep your stick on the ice. Thos.

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Am looking to buy a budget priced vest (under $50).  Am considering Cabela, LL. Bean, and FeatherCraft offerings.  Any experience or ideas?

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Am looking to buy a budget priced vest (under $50).  Am considering Cabela, LL. Bean, and FeatherCraft offerings.  Any experience or ideas?

A friend has one from Cabellas and likes it.  In general, get one with more pockets than you think you can use — at some point, you’ll be glad you have them!  Its hard via the mail, but watch out for thin fabric and low-quality workmanship.  Return it if you think it won’t hold up.  Both Cabellas and Bean are real good about exchanges or refunds if you’re not happy. Enjoy, Nat Davis

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