Question:

Is there any good coastal flyfishing in the Santa Barbara to Monterrey area in the autumn?  Maybe even at thanksgiving?   I’ve heard about good striper fishing in the Bay area, but I don’t know about farther south.   thanks, Plattelines

Response:

Is there any good coastal flyfishing in the Santa Barbara to Monterrey area in the autumn?  Maybe even at thanksgiving?  

Dan Blanton’s board is a good source for ffing the salt in California. Try your question at http://www.danblanton.com/bulletin.html.

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Question:

Thanks for the info. Bill , that River Runner is exactly what I need . I phoned to order one a few minutes ago and he`s gone for two weeks fishing     I would have got one overnighted to my place but… Thanks Jeff

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi Jeff, We are using them on small outboards from 4hp to 25hp on the lower America River in Sacramento, California to sneak around the shallow rocky river for stripers. The river has a 5mph speed limit so horse power is not an issue. We are using small boats that run 8′ to 16′ long. Mac’s "River Runner" is what you need. They seem to work well and help reduce prop damage. You can get them directly from Mac’s or you can find them at some boat or marine supplies too. They come in several sizes and are easy to install. Here is the web address: http://www.propsavers.com/ — Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento, CA, USA www.kiene.com After smashing my prop to bits yesterday I`m seriously considering a prop guard . Any of you using them ? Like em ? Hate em ?  Just like your experiences on performance after the install . I`m not going high speed , just doing a lot of river running and it LOW LOW LOW right now , 2 feet of water in some spots . Ouch ! Thanks Jeff

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Trouble with that is my engine is a 30HP and when the jet pump goes on I lose about 30 % . I would like the jet , but if I`m going to have to go new I might as well sell my outfit and buy a 4.3 L inboard / jet river boat . A Merc 40 HP Jet up here is $ 7300.00 CAN plus taxes . Jeff

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You should seriously consider replacing the lower unit with a jet unit. They use them quite a bit in the North West on the rivers there. Just my $0.02 worth After smashing my prop to bits yesterday I`m seriously considering a prop guard . Any of you using them ? Like em ? Hate em ?  Just like your experiences on performance after the install . I`m not going high speed , just doing a lot of river running and it LOW LOW LOW right now , 2 feet of water in some spots . Ouch ! Thanks Jeff

Response:

After smashing my prop to bits yesterday I`m seriously considering a prop guard . Any of you using them ? Like em ? Hate em ?  Just like your experiences on performance after the install . I`m not going high speed , just doing a lot of river running and it LOW LOW LOW right now , 2 feet of water in some spots . Ouch ! Thanks Jeff

Response:

Hi Jeff, We are using them on small outboards from 4hp to 25hp on the lower America River in Sacramento, California to sneak around the shallow rocky river for stripers. The river has a 5mph speed limit so horse power is not an issue. We are using small boats that run 8′ to 16′ long. Mac’s "River Runner" is what you need. They seem to work well and help reduce prop damage. You can get them directly from Mac’s or you can find them at some boat or marine supplies too. They come in several sizes and are easy to install. Here is the web address: http://www.propsavers.com/ — Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento, CA, USA www.kiene.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After smashing my prop to bits yesterday I`m seriously considering a prop guard . Any of you using them ? Like em ? Hate em ?  Just like your experiences on performance after the install . I`m not going high speed , just doing a lot of river running and it LOW LOW LOW right now , 2 feet of water in some spots . Ouch ! Thanks Jeff

Response:

You should seriously consider replacing the lower unit with a jet unit.  They use them quite a bit in the North West on the rivers there. Just my $0.02 worth – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After smashing my prop to bits yesterday I`m seriously considering a prop guard . Any of you using them ? Like em ? Hate em ?  Just like your experiences on performance after the install . I`m not going high speed , just doing a lot of river running and it LOW LOW LOW right now , 2 feet of water in some spots . Ouch ! Thanks Jeff

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Question:

OK, maybe this is stupid, maybe its not. The reason I never did any big game hunting (deer, moose, etc) was I felt sorry for the animals. No problem whatsoever with my buddies who did it; I like deer meat. But I had this horrible empathy for them so I didn’t want to shoot them myself. Let someone else more steel-willed do it. Now, when I see pictures of trout on the fly, I see always notice them staring down at their mouths, like they are trying like hell to see what they have that is dragging them out of the water. Its like they are totally amazed or something. Not that I’m gonna quit fishing or anything, but when I see pics like this one http://www.ncffb.org/cgi-bin/ncffb.cgi?read=139220 I just sort of find myself feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Is this, like, completely abnormal? riverman

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Not that I’m gonna quit fishing or anything, but when I see pics like this one http://www.ncffb.org/cgi-bin/ncffb.cgi?read=139220 I just sort of find myself feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Is this, like, completely abnormal? riverman

I read somewhere that the fish tries to keep its eyes pointing up so if it is lying on its side it looks as if it is looking at its nose, this is one way of telling if a fish in a picture is alive or dead. I wonder if that is why a fish stays still if you hold it lying on its back making it dissorientated. — Don`t Worry, Be Happy       Sandy —       Website:-  http://www.ftscotland.co.uk     IRC:- Sandyb in #Rabble  uk3.arcnet.vapor.com Port:6667      #Rabble Channel Website:- http://rabbled.cjb.net              ICQ : 41266150

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, maybe this is stupid, maybe its not. The reason I never did any big game hunting (deer, moose, etc) was I felt sorry for the animals. No problem whatsoever with my buddies who did it; I like deer meat. But I had this horrible empathy for them so I didn’t want to shoot them myself. Let someone else more steel-willed do it. Now, when I see pictures of trout on the fly, I see always notice them staring down at their mouths, like they are trying like hell to see what they have that is dragging them out of the water. Its like they are totally amazed or something. Not that I’m gonna quit fishing or anything, but when I see pics like this one http://www.ncffb.org/cgi-bin/ncffb.cgi?read=139220 I just sort of find myself feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Is this, like, completely abnormal?

Yes. Stop it. Go fishing. TL, Tim

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Not that I’m gonna quit fishing or anything, but when I see pics like this one http://www.ncffb.org/cgi-bin/ncffb.cgi?read=139220 I just sort of find myself feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Is this, like, completely abnormal? riverman I read somewhere that the fish tries to keep its eyes pointing up so if it is lying on its side it looks as if it is looking at its nose, this is one way of telling if a fish in a picture is alive or dead. I wonder if that is why a fish stays still if you hold it lying on its back making it dissorientated.

They are disorientated.  Next time you have a trout held inverted,  watch what it does with its dorsal and pectoral fins and to a lesser degree the ventral fin.  If you move the trout to different angles,  you can induce him to try to roll in the opposite direction.  The fish obviously uses its fins to manoeuvre in the current just like the rudders on a aeroplane.  The trout must be bewildered as to why he cannot control his position whilst in air ~ everything must feel wrong to the fish, and so he dedicates all his brain power into trying to get himself back the right way up before he uses his tail to swim away.  If a trout is delicately help upside down he is so easy to unhook and release ~  however, a grayling is a different matter altogether! Regards, Michael.

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No need to feel sorry for the animals, they dont give a squat about you.  As far as the fish is concerned you are trying to relate to them in human terms…its a fish for pete sakes, its brain is the size of a pebble.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, maybe this is stupid, maybe its not. The reason I never did any big game hunting (deer, moose, etc) was I felt sorry for the animals. No problem whatsoever with my buddies who did it; I like deer meat. But I had this horrible empathy for them so I didn’t want to shoot them myself. Let someone else more steel-willed do it. Now, when I see pictures of trout on the fly, I see always notice them staring down at their mouths, like they are trying like hell to see what they have that is dragging them out of the water. Its like they are totally amazed or something. Not that I’m gonna quit fishing or anything, but when I see pics like this one http://www.ncffb.org/cgi-bin/ncffb.cgi?read=139220 I just sort of find myself feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Is this, like, completely abnormal?

Considering your catch rate, Riverman, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Think of it this way. If the fish weighed 500 pounds and you were floating down the river, he’d eat you. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/

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Not that I’m gonna quit fishing or anything, but when I see pics like this one http://www.ncffb.org/cgi-bin/ncffb.cgi?read=139220 I just sort of find myself feeling sorry for the poor bastard. Is this, like, completely abnormal? Considering your catch rate, Riverman, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.

If that weren’t so painfully true, it’d be funny. Actually, its pretty funny anyway. riverman

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Question:

Not being a fish I can’t say for certain but… Just because the fly in you hand looks to the angler like the fly that is hatching doesn’t mean that the fish sees it the same. I bet that there was something that the fish saw that was different enough that it ignored the imitation and went after the real thing. The caddis was something familiar but without something to compare it to. Paul

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Took the recently acquired 2 wt. out to my favorite stream yesterday for some mid summer midging.  When I arrived, I observed trout feeding on the surface but couldn’t see what they were feeding on.  When I got on the water I saw tiny, cream colored insects hatching and flying off the waters surface.  This is exactly what I had hoped for.  I was prepared with a handy selection of cream colored midges ranging in size from 20-24 and was eager to use the 2wt. in this setting.  After watching my presentations be ignored for over 45 minutes in every size category,  I  decided that if I was going to fish dry and not catch anything, I may as well fish with something I could darn well see. So, I tied on a size 16 elk hair caddis and on the first cast was hooked onto a nice rainbow.  I proceeded to catch 3 more bows in a 30 minute span.  Much to my dismay, the skies had turned dark and the boomers were signaling that I should exit the stream. I still can’t figure it out…..there was absolutely nothing on the water the size of the caddis I was fishing.  In fact, it looked like a darn freighter among canoes where the hatch is concerned. Could it be that it was just so big and juicy looking the fish couldn’t turn it away?  Ideas, thoughts welcome and appreciated.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – On some heavily fished waters, especially where the fish are highly educated, this technique is not quite as successful, as the fish are often simply too wary, but it will still work often enough.  Tactics for use on specific waters vary, but one thing is certain, now matter how wary a fish becomes, it has to eat to survive, and if you find the right fly in this case, and present it properly, you will invariably be successful. In my experience, and in that of many others, as is well documented in the literature, you may catch at least ninety percent of the trout you find on any reasonable fly,  correctly served.  The other ten per cent will prove more difficult, and may require other more specific prescriptions. Often this ten per cent includes the larger fish. They got large because they are naturally more wary than their brethren, or because they live in "impossible" places, which can not be reached suitably with a fly.  In some cases, most especially with some big browns, the fish are almost entirely piscivorous, and a normal dry fly or nymph is seldom taken.  A streamer or a large bug like a hopper may prove useful for such fish.  Or even something like a large woolly bugger, fished deep near a known lie. Or it may be necessary to fish for them at night.  These fish rarely have anything but fish in their stomachs. An inspection of the stomach contents of practically any trout, will invariably show that the fish has taken all sorts of things, ( the piscivorous fish excluded of course ),  even when a specific hatch is in progress, and though these insects ( often the nymphs especially), may dominate, there are always other insects in there as well. This is also one reason why even more or less hopeless anglers, using awful technique and equipment , terrible presentation, and more than likely lousy flies as well, still manage to catch a few fish. None of the above applies to sea-trout or salmon, or indeed to other anadromous fish which normally cease to feed in fresh water.  They do not take the flies in order to survive, and indeed in many cases can not digest them properly anyway.  Here it is basically a case of finding a fly which will annoy them enough to grab it, or for some other reason, reflex, feeding memory etc etc. There is no way to know why these fish take a fly at all. Logical considerations, as in the case of normal freshwater fish, do not apply here. Just a few thoughts on the matter. TL MC — "If you have tried everything you know, and nothing works, then perhaps it is time to accept that you don

Question:

         I am just starting to learn how to fly fish.  I am currently using my friends equipment.  As I was looking around for my own equipment,  I quickly realized it is not very cheap.  If any one has any older equipment sitting around collecting dust,  I would appreciate it if you would either sell it to me very cheap or give me it to me please. I would be more than happy to pay for all shipping costs.  Please E-mail for my address. Thank you  Scott    

Response:

        I am just starting to learn how to fly fish.  I am currently using my friends equipment.  As I was looking around for my own equipment,  I quickly realized it is not very cheap.  If any one has any older equipment sitting around collecting dust,  I would appreciate it if you would either sell it to me very cheap or give me it to me please. I would be more than happy to pay for all shipping costs.  Please E-mail for my address. Thank you Scott    

Wait till the clave is over.  There are likely going to be a number of multi-piece rods (formerly two piece) that will be on the market – real cheap. Cheers Visit The Streamer Page at http://members.home.net/pcharles/streamers/index.html

Response:

         I am just starting to learn how to fly fish.  I am currently using my friends equipment.  As I was looking around for my own equipment,  I quickly realized it is not very cheap.  If any one has any older equipment sitting around collecting dust,  I would appreciate it if you would either sell it to me very cheap or give me it to me please. I would be more than happy to pay for all shipping costs.  Please E-mail for my address.

Get a Cabela’s catalog. If you can’t afford their stuff you need to find another hobby, — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/ something bogus to avoid spam)

Response:

Get a Cabela’s catalog. If you can’t afford their stuff you need to find another hobby,

Good advice.  You would do that by going to http://www.cabelas.com  You should be able to get started for less than $100, and it’s not bad stuff.  You might try e-bay too.  I’m sure there’s used stuff out there, but it’s hard to find. — Levi "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

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Good advice.  You would do that by going to http://www.cabelas.com  You should be able to get started for less than $100, and it’s not bad stuff.  You might try e-bay too.  I’m sure there’s used stuff out there, but it’s hard to find.

Hard to find?  Nah, there are 272 fly rods for sale on ebay right now.  This one’s about to end, $13.50. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320507767 Regards, Jeff

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         I am just starting to learn how to fly fish.  I am currently using my friends equipment.  As I was looking around for my own equipment,  I quickly realized it is not very cheap.  If any one has any older equipment sitting around collecting dust,  I would appreciate it if you would either sell it to me very cheap or give me it to me please. I would be more than happy to pay for all shipping costs.  Please E-mail for my address.

I started out with a Martin outfit from Wal-Mart a few years ago.  It wasn’t the best, but for just starting out for something like $35.00 you get a 3 piece rod, a reel with backing, and fly line.  You have to buy some leaders and your flies to start, but what the hell for under 50 bucks you can be fly fishing.  Every couple of years I up date and get a new rod and reel set up…come to think about I feel I’m due again  Problem is It seems to keep getting more and more expensive… I just seen a nice 4 weight split bamboo rod at the shop selling for $500 and the reel was around $250….I don’t think the wife will go for this set up though.  I guess I’ll dream for just a little long for now…. anyone have the winning numbers for tonight’s lottery ahead of time? –Randy

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Question:

I am looking for a copy of Fly Rod and Reel Magazine – The May / June Issue. If anyone has it, and can scan the article written by the PETA President about the future of Fly Fishing. I have heard about the article and would like to read it. Thanks, Mike

Response:

I am looking for a copy of Fly Rod and Reel Magazine – The May / June Issue.

I wouldn’t believe anything I read in Fly Rod & Reel magazine. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

Response:

I am looking for a copy of Fly Rod and Reel Magazine – The May / June Issue. If anyone has it, and can scan the article written by the PETA President about the future of Fly Fishing. I have heard about the article and would like to read it.

… as if anyone cares – their predictions of the future would be as reliable as T-Bone’s. RalphH

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[deleted] I wouldn’t believe anything I read in Fly Rod & Reel magazine.

The advertisements are real. I pinched myself and they were still there. — TimW, Halfordian Golfer "A Cash Flow Runs Through It…" "Guilt replaced the creel…"

Response:

I am looking for a copy of Fly Rod and Reel Magazine – The May / June Issue. If anyone has it, and can scan the article written by the PETA President about the future of Fly Fishing. I have heard about the article and would like to read it.

It was not an article, it was a couple of paragraphs embedded in several other commentaries. Do not have a scanner sorry but try sending an email to Wayne Knight (remove nospam to respond via mail) Expert in the creation of  wind knots and tailing loops.

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Question:

George, For the 3 wt. we need a medium action.  I like a fast action rod because of my casting style but for small streams and casting tippet most of the time, the slower action is more accurate and has more finesse.  Since we are talking mostly Brook trout and small stream fishing I have been working on a name.  No blockbuster yet comes to mind.  So far its Little Bastard, Small Stream Bastard, Mr. Rapidan Bastard (Monteague had a Rapidan many years ago), or that Bastard Brookie.  Still needs work. Wayne to fish is human….to release divine. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – parties, such as finding some really GREAT Tonkin Cane.  Since I don’t take things for granted Wayne, I would rather admit up front that I may be blind sided, but I assure you, once I have the Cane and the forms I can get yours out just so I can keep my word, if need be.  (I have the tapers)  Do you want a medium or fast fly rod for a three weight? I’m trying to think of a Model name for the 6.5′ .  See the Bastard Page on the web.  I need help in this area. George Wayne To fish is human…to release divine. Folks, the more i read, the less i know.. having been away for several week,s I note that resident most hated/most loved roff guy g g is working on "the bastard"!?!? could someone please clue me in… clearly it is a fly rod and not some bizarre confession. Enquiring minds want to know! edwin —

Question:

Obviously you haven’t been to Elephant Butte. Mind you, the lake’s there as advertised. The camping sites are mostly very primitive, according to my son who has camped there. No trees or other shade. EB might be an OK area if one were staying in a motel in T or C, in an RV park, or on a houseboat, but it’s certainly not a good place to camp in a tent.

I have to agree with you, Pat.  Also, if he believes EB to be a huge lake, he has really been deprived.  By the way, I lived in TorC for several years and my son still lives there. Paul in Portland OR

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Do you know that there is huge lake in New Mexico- Elephant Butte Lake ??? You can fish, sail, swim, jet-ski, water-ski, camping and all of these in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico. Folks are very friendly down there and prices are very reasonable to visit. Check out this web page for more information: http://www.globaldrum.net/rvnewmexico/ Regards,              Alex. Sounds like a place to avoid !

  LOL!!   Jet skiers and water skiers?  Sure, that may be ideal for   fishermen who want to cast corn for carp and watch barely dressed women water ski, but most fly fishermen I know would prefer a tent and 5 miles of uncrowded river to fish.——Muskie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Do you know that there is huge lake in New Mexico- Elephant Butte Lake ??? You can fish, sail, swim, jet-ski, water-ski, camping and all of these in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico. Folks are very friendly down there and prices are very reasonable to visit. Check out this web page for more information: http://www.globaldrum.net/rvnewmexico/ Regards,              Alex. Sounds like a place to avoid !

Why? Your way of camping (which must be in disagreement with at least one opportunity above) is the only way? Seems bigoted to me …

Response:

Bigoted or enlightened?  Most fly fishermen only like big crowds while at the flyfishing shows. I have enough trouble dealing with the "aluminum hatch" (canoes); can you imagine trying to be nice to jet ski riders? Give me a quiet spot, where the only "improvements" are water pumps and maybe a flush toilet.

| SNIP! | | Sounds like a place to avoid ! | |Why? Your way of camping (which must be in disagreement with at least |one opportunity above) is the only way? Seems bigoted to me …

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Do you know that there is huge lake in New Mexico- Elephant Butte Lake ??? You can fish, sail, swim, jet-ski, water-ski, camping and all of these in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico. Folks are very friendly down there and prices are very reasonable to visit. [snip] Sounds like a place to avoid ! Why? Your way of camping (which must be in disagreement with at least one opportunity above) is the only way? Seems bigoted to me …

Obviously you haven’t been to Elephant Butte. Mind you, the lake’s there as advertised. The camping sites are mostly very primitive, according to my son who has camped there. No trees or other shade. EB might be an OK area if one were staying in a motel in T or C, in an RV park, or on a houseboat, but it’s certainly not a good place to camp in a tent. — Pat O’Connell Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints, Kill nothing but vandals…

Response:

Do you know that there is huge lake in New Mexico- Elephant Butte Lake ??? You can fish, sail, swim, jet-ski, water-ski, camping and all of these in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico. Folks are very friendly down there and prices are very reasonable to visit. Check out this web page for more information: http://www.globaldrum.net/rvnewmexico/ Regards,              Alex.

Response:

Do you know that there is huge lake in New Mexico- Elephant Butte Lake ??? You can fish, sail, swim, jet-ski, water-ski, camping and all of these in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico. Folks are very friendly down there and prices are very reasonable to visit. Check out this web page for more information: http://www.globaldrum.net/rvnewmexico/ Regards,              Alex.

Sounds like a place to avoid !

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Question:

Here in ROFF I have learned the following: Trolling a fly from a float tube is not flyfishing Using a strike indicator is almost flyfishing Using more than one fly is really flyfishing Presenting dry flies upstream is the only true flyfishing Eating trout is OK (and tasty) Eating trout is not OK, but perch taste better anyway Tailwaters are bad Tailwaters are fabulous Tim is a funny guy Ralph really likes Tim Many people want to flyfish Colorado needs hatcheries Hatcheries ultimately hurt anadromous species It ain’t the way it used to be And I agree with all of these things……. JE

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Here in ROFF I have learned the following: Tim is a funny guy Ralph really likes Tim

like him? I absolutley adore the big neurotic lug! Ralph H remove "take_this_out" for email reply

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Question:

   My girlfriend (an elementary school teacher) just showed me a wonderful childrens’ book.  It’s called         A River Dream, by Allen Say.    In the book, a little boy in bed at home receives a gift from his uncle: a flybox.  When he opens the flybox, a bunch of live mayflies fly out and disappear out his bedroom window.  He looks out the window, and where once was an ordinary street scene he sees a beautiful mountain stream with a boat.    The little boy gets in the boat and heads downstream, where he encounters his uncle out flyfishing.  The uncle (who practices catch and release, by the way) teaches the little boy to fish, which of course results in the little boy catching a lunker of a rainbow.    The book (as with all Allen Say books) is beautifully illustrated, and the story is well-written.  I highly recommend it for adults and your kids alike!          - Scott —         Scott Wilkinson         Montgomery County, Maryland

Response:

:    My girlfriend (an elementary school teacher) just showed me a : wonderful childrens’ book.  It’s called :       A River Dream, by Allen Say. : the story is well-written.  I highly recommend it for adults and your kids alike! Could you provide the publisher’s name and an ISBN? — Newfoundland and Labrador Science  and Technology Advisory Council                Tel     (709) 738-3400 114 Empire Ave., St. John’s, NF    A1B 1C7      Fax     (709) 738-3276

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