Question:

…  got real sick.  bad stomach ache.  threw up a lot.  a real clear, slightly amber viscous vomitus.  bad gas pains. real cramping belly wrenchers.

That water probably wouldn’t be so bad without the absinthe. — Ken Fortenberry

Response:

You know, if I ever have the big one….I hope I’m around you guys…..I mean I wouldn’t have to worry about extended efforts to prolong my life without regard to the quality of it….taint no mercy here!     john – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Personally, I like to use a died marabou I get at the local hobby shop. Yea: go with the died marabou. The live ones are ugly bastards and they’ve got bloody great sharp beaks! Tight Lines, Tony Deacon

Response:

Personally, I like to use a died marabou I get at the local hobby shop.

Yea: go with the died marabou. The live ones are ugly bastards and they’ve got bloody great sharp beaks! Tight Lines, Tony Deacon

Response:

_____  One of these days, I should probably reveal the greatest secret known to man regarding the deadliest WOOLLY BUGGER Pattern known.  I should probably do it for Flies of the World because that is where everyone will find it, but this is a moral dilemma!  Who does Catch & Release and how many (in secret and behind our backs) really are Catch & Killers!??  Ahhhhh, the question boggles the mind. I have been told by a friend that if I reveal this pattern (MickeyMouse-a code word known to only a few) I would probably be assassinated, ground up into flake food and used in all the aquariums owned by ROFFIANS!  (Who would chuckle in glee dispensing me even way past midnight!) I will instruct in my will to reveal this pattern if I don’t change my mind before hand.  This pattern will triple the tonnage for all the fly fishing killers in ROFF . . . thereby, making me immortal in the eyes of mine gill-sayers. Oh!  The price of glory and it is so fleeing!  The fish and the fly is gone leaving us once again with only tippet in hand. Isn’t life a bitch?! — Mr.G http://www.gink.com/shopcart/index.html

Response:

Personally, I like to use a died marabou I get at the local hobby shop.  The dark green tends to fade after you fish it for a while – giving it a streaked appearance like what would be on the carapace of a crawdad (crayfish) when twitched along the bottom. Pearl chenille works great for spring fishing, add a dash of flashabou in the white marabou tail for an extra attention getter. I almost always tie with a bead head, and sometimes a silver works better than a brass and visa versified. Sometimes I’ll make the body out of two colors of chenille…black and brown or perhaps use a contrasting hackle color. Often I’ll tie in a few bright red wispy hanging down strands of marabou in the tail, with maybe one or two coming off the body to give an impression of a minnow with his guts hanging out.  Called up Erie way a ‘bleeding minnow.’ If I’m planning on fishing it along the bottom, I’ll use a shorter hackle but for ripping it through the water I like a real long hackle to give plenty of pulsation. I use basically one size of hook but vary the length of the body and where I begin the tail. Having contrast helps avoid changing light conditions, and having to change colors so often Personally, I have to rank a wooly bugger right up there at the top of the list. john p.s. went steelhead fishing.  the water was real cold. before the sun came up the air was real cold.  shoulda had a net.  steelhead have teeth…..up around lake erie, they get their drinking water from the lake.   put a lotta chlorine in it.  got real sick.  bad stomach ache.  threw up a lot.  a real clear, slightly amber viscous vomitus.  bad gas pains. real cramping belly wrenchers.

Response:

Question:

I’m wondering if any of you know what kind of paint is used on pastic baits and where would  you purchse some if you wanted to paint your own.

Response:

Are you holding out on me, Jim? I didn’t know you were using Pastic Baits!!!!!!! Is that a new sponsor?

Response:

Try Jann’s Netcraft or Lurecraft on the net. — The RodMaker http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/2865

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m wondering if any of you know what kind of paint is used on pastic baits and where would  you purchse some if you wanted to paint your own.

Response:

I use airplane model paint  for my bass poppers (the ones with plastic bodies) which I fly fish with. Works well on plastic. Probably would work on metal. So cheap it is probably worth a try unless you get a better suggestion. Regards from Montreal John Brkich

Response:

I use Tester Model Paint it seems to work pretty well FISH-ON FISH-HARD

Response:

Question:

Mike:  those reviews were undoubtedly too long and complex for use on this guy’s site.  You really ought to be more concise in your evaluations, or you may never see your raffle tickets (which are roughly akin to powerball lottery tickets, I should note) Mark Faulkner

You are of course as usual perfectly right. My apologies. Here are the modified reviews.  Win$ton $age Orvi$ Hardy= hardly Cane is in$ane. Graphite= diamond just another aggregate, same price. Fluorocarbon = Dupont shares. Hoffman = Good dry flie$ Renzetti= Vice ( expensive, but sometimes worth it ) Airflo= no no Send tickets to  RO$$. TL

Response:

I’m giving away a new Sage 389-5 on my site.  I’m trying to compile reviews on Fly fishing equipment.  It works like a raffle, for every review you get one raffle ticket! Thanks, Forrest http://www.flyfishingreview.com/topics/contest.html Forrest Arakawa FlyFishingREVIEW.com http://www.flyfishingreview.com Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

Response:

Airflo is crap.

I really like their PolyLeaders, that’s a product for which I’d hike a ways. — Ken Fortenberry

Response:

I’m giving away a new Sage 389-5 on my site.  I’m trying to compile reviews on Fly fishing equipment.  It works like a raffle, for every review you get one raffle ticket!

Winston is too expensive Sage is too expensive. Orvis is too expensive. Hardy is too expensive, Cane is too expensive. Graphite is too expensive. Fluorocarbon is ridiculously expensive. Hoffman is expensive but worth it. Renzetti is too expensive but probably worth it. Airflo is crap. Please send my ten tickets to a needy person on ROFF. TL MC

Response:

Mike:  those reviews were undoubtedly too long and complex for use on this guy’s site.  You really ought to be more concise in your evaluations, or you may never see your raffle tickets (which are roughly akin to powerball lottery tickets, I should note) Mark Faulkner – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m giving away a new Sage 389-5 on my site.  I’m trying to compile reviews on Fly fishing equipment.  It works like a raffle, for every review you get one raffle ticket! Winston is too expensive Sage is too expensive. Orvis is too expensive. Hardy is too expensive, Cane is too expensive. Graphite is too expensive. Fluorocarbon is ridiculously expensive. Hoffman is expensive but worth it. Renzetti is too expensive but probably worth it. Airflo is crap. Please send my ten tickets to a needy person on ROFF. TL MC

Response:

Question:

  Early one morning on Nokomis Lake (about 60 miles NW of Southend SK/Reindeer Lake) we were startled by a "snorting and huffing" sound in the water, less than 30m away from our canoe… we were paddling 200m from shore, and saw 2 (?adult) otters "standing" in the water for a better view of the "intruder" (us?)…didn’t realize that they were able to raise themselves out of the water quite so high. (As if "standing upright")…the snorting and huffing continued until we were beyond hearing.   I wonder what the "otter-ese" version of this encounter might have been? I don’t think they were as pleased to see us, as we were to mark their "indignation". —Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.—

Response:

We had a family of them under our house several years back. Noisy, messy, smelly. mike

Response:

I saw 3 otters while fly fishing on the McCloud River (CA) in the Nature Conservancy Preserve 2 years ago.  There I was in water up to my chest peacefully working a hole when the calm was shattered by a huge splash, then another and another. Scared the bejesus out of me.  I looked around and saw nothing.  A few seconds later it happened again.  The otters were climbing out of the water onto rocks and then jumping in one after the other.  It seemed like they were just playing.  They swam around and around writhing around each other and periodically popping up out of the water and then splashing back in.  They seemed completely unconcerned about the presence of my friend and I.  This lasted for a few minutes and then they swam off upstream doing the same antics as far as we could see them.  Of course they ruined the fishing but it was a magical moment that made the whole trip.

Response:

I was boogie boarding in Santa Cruz one morning and I felt something nibble at my fin. I turned to look and saw a seal pop his head up and look at me.  He did that a couple more times and I thought he was going to bite me or something and I kept swimming away. Finally after about 10 min I realized he was just playing and I turned to chase him. He ducked under water and came up nibbling my fin again. This went on for over an hour!!! I was swimming figure eights thru surfers but he wasn’t interested in them, just kept playing with me. When I went in to shore, I took off my fin to show my hubbie who had been surfing down the beach a ways…not a mark on them!!! Dee

Response:

– They’re pretty fearless.  In water they have no peers, unlike the sea otters who have to watch out for things like killer whales.  On land the only things that could get them would be coyotes, wolves, or cougars.  And they’ve a reputation for being a bit fierce as fighters, which might tend to make them less desirable as prey by the afore mentioned creatures.  They are members of the weasel family, after all.  They’re efficient at food gathering, so they have time to goof off a lot.  And they’re just cute as all get out.

    I snuck up on a big coon the other evening at sunset. He was sitting on the root of a huge cypress tree right above the waterline catching crawfish for supper. He’d peer intently into the shallow water until he spied one then quick as lightening plunge his paw in and grab it. He was real deft at not getting pinched and grabbed’em just right each time.     During that trip, I also saw Snowy Egret, Great Blue, Great White, and Little Green Heron, Ibis, Oppossum, Diamond Back Watersnake, Moccassin, Nutria, and a Gator. Silent paddling technique allows for successful wildlife observation. Floatin, John

Response:

They’re pretty fearless.  In water they have no peers, unlike the sea otters who have to watch out for things like killer whales.  On land the only things that could get them would be coyotes, wolves, or cougars.  And they’ve a reputation for being a bit fierce as fighters, which might tend to make them less desirable as prey by the afore mentioned creatures.  They are members of the weasel family, after all.  They’re efficient at food gathering, so they have time to goof off a lot.  And they’re just cute as all get out. —– rec.backcountry vixen I only answer my email every few months, on average.   Patience helps.   http://www.visi.com/~cyli

Response:

A neat otter report.  I wish more readers of the NG would post articles like that.  :-)     Thanks Cyli  - Robert

Response:

Thats interesting-a few weeks ago, I was walking my dog along an abandoned road in northeast MN, when I heard an animal running through the woods. I finally saw a long, low animal bounding towards us. I couldnt get a clean look at it because of the underbrush-at first I thought beaver, but beaver dont run that fast. Then I thought fisher, but it didnt look quite right either. Anyway, this thing, whatever it was, was running straight at us and was not slowing down. I figured it could see us, we were less than 100 feet away, and it just kept coming. When it was about to break through the brush at roads edge, I debated hunkering down and waiting for it to come out on the road so I get a clear view of it. At the last second I decided that wasnt a good idea, I wasnt sure what it was, it was behaving strangely (asuming it could see me anyway), rabies crossed my mind, and I didnt want whatever it was to charge out of the woods only to land on me or my 100 lb dog. So I said "Hey" just before it would have come upon us, and it turned and raced off without me ever getting an unobstructed view of it. Later, I walked a trail that headed towards where the animal had come from, and I found a flowage about 200 feet from the road, with abundant otter sign on the banks. I’m not certain the animal was an otter but it seems pretty likely. Perhaps otters dont have great eyesight out of water. Wayne   – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Today I was near enough the far edge of front country that only one powerboat passed me (the water’s high here, so motors could get up that part of the river.) and had one heck of a good day trip.  With the water high, I was able to get a mile or two up a creek that’s normally about an inch or two deep and then come back down quickly. Very quickly in a couple of spots. But, back out on the river, I checked out a couple of islands I’d never quite managed to canoe or kayak up to before (usually stopping half a mile short at an island that  happened to be underwater today) and then back down, trying to backpaddle and taking a lunch break to make the day last.  I did manage to be out 8 hours.  About half an hour after lunch and drifting downriver, I saw a small brown animal head making progress across my path.  Thinking it was a beaver, I slowed a bit, as it’s only kind not to scare them more than necessary. But it dove and didn’t tail slap, came up a bit upstream, dove again, and still no slap.  Then started swimming up to the land side of me. I gave it a bit more room, as this is what young beavers tend to do when scared.  They head straight for home, even if it means they have to get closer to the scarey thing.  However, when it got within 10 feet, it dove again and it was obvious it was an otter. I burbled aloud with joy as it rose and fixed me with a beady eye, then turned its head and gave me the other eye.  By then I was cooing at it.  So it swam closer, giving the sniff/look test to me and the kayak.  At just over arm’s length, he aparently made up his mind and started straight for the cockpit, so he could climb up.   Uh.  10 to 15 pounds of soaking wet wild animal in my lap?  With the kind of claws and teeth that can open clams very easily and quickly?  Of carnivorous genes, which I’ve noticed gives animals a tendency to express affection with ‘love bites’? No.  Which is  exactly what I said as I dropped the kayak paddle in his path.  He took offense (not surprising), dove and swam up upstream.   I regretted his going, but not his absence from my lap.  He got about a hundred yards away and then turned back to look at me.  I cooed and burbled some more.  He vanished.   I went downstream.  Looked back for some reason about 10 minutes later and there he was, keeping watch on me from about 50 to 100 yards away again.  He followed me for a good mile and then the wind had picked up enough that if he was still following, I couldn’t see his head any more. I think he was young.  Much smaller than the other otters I’ve noticed (not much of a number, because they do tend to backwaters and quieter places and vanish wonderfully easily).  Obviously not shy, as all but one of the ones I’ve seen have not  been shy.  Or at least only one was so shy that I saw it and then saw it take off, not to be seen again.).  Out of the way friendly, which I’d not seen, though I’ve heard of.   I think he’d never seen a kayak before and was curious about this half log half person thing.  When the smell was right, he was willing to come ride with me.   If he’d headed for even the front deck, I think I’d have let him on.  But the cockpit was obviously the easiest place to climb/leap.  Front deck wouldn’t have been safer. Just felt like it.  The Otter kayak (yes, coincidence rules) I was paddling is only 9′6".  He’d have been nose to nose with me there. Cute.  I felt so Disney (except for not letting him on and him not speaking English.).  A wonderful day that often felt very backcountry and the world cooperated by having very few people out, even with it being opening weekend for fishing.  I only saw about 8 people and all but 3 of them were at one campsite. —– rbc vixen. I only answer my email every few months, on average. Patience helps. http://www.visi.com/~cyli

Response:

St. Croix River. MN/WI border.  Up about 30 miles from Taylor’s Falls (the highest up dam on the river).  My favorite river in my second favorite place to paddle on it.  Rapidly becoming my favorite place as the part below Taylor’s is infested with powerboats and newbbie day trippers who do things like bring along radios and, on one very memorable occasion, a generator. Cyli ;     Great story. otters are a lot of fun to watch, always up to something. BTW where were you. Even what part of the nation would be helpful. Thanks. Floatin, John

—– rbc vixen. I only answer my email every few months, on average.   Patience helps.   http://www.visi.com/~cyli

Response:

Cyli ;      Great story. otters are a lot of fun to watch, always up to something. BTW where were you. Even what part of the nation would be helpful. Thanks. Floatin, John — – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Today I was near enough the far edge of front country that only one powerboat passed me (the water’s high here, so motors could get up that part of the river.) and had one heck of a good day trip.  With the water high, I was able to get a mile or two up a creek that’s normally about an inch or two deep and then come back down quickly. Very quickly in a couple of spots. But, back out on the river, I checked out a couple of islands I’d never quite managed to canoe or kayak up to before (usually stopping half a mile short at an island that  happened to be underwater today) and then back down, trying to backpaddle and taking a lunch break to make the day last.  I did manage to be out 8 hours.  About half an hour after lunch and drifting downriver, I saw a small brown animal head making progress across my path.  Thinking it was a beaver, I slowed a bit, as it’s only kind not to scare them more than necessary. But it dove and didn’t tail slap, came up a bit upstream, dove again, and still no slap.  Then started swimming up to the land side of me. I gave it a bit more room, as this is what young beavers tend to do when scared.  They head straight for home, even if it means they have to get closer to the scarey thing.  However, when it got within 10 feet, it dove again and it was obvious it was an otter.   I burbled aloud with joy as it rose and fixed me with a beady eye, then turned its head and gave me the other eye.  By then I was cooing at it.  So it swam closer, giving the sniff/look test to me and the kayak.  At just over arm’s length, he aparently made up his mind and started straight for the cockpit, so he could climb up.   Uh.  10 to 15 pounds of soaking wet wild animal in my lap?  With the kind of claws and teeth that can open clams very easily and quickly?  Of carnivorous genes, which I’ve noticed gives animals a tendency to express affection with ‘love bites’? No.  Which is  exactly what I said as I dropped the kayak paddle in his path.  He took offense (not surprising), dove and swam up upstream.   I regretted his going, but not his absence from my lap.  He got about a hundred yards away and then turned back to look at me.  I cooed and burbled some more.  He vanished.   I went downstream.  Looked back for some reason about 10 minutes later and there he was, keeping watch on me from about 50 to 100 yards away again.  He followed me for a good mile and then the wind had picked up enough that if he was still following, I couldn’t see his head any more.   I think he was young.  Much smaller than the other otters I’ve noticed (not much of a number, because they do tend to backwaters and quieter places and vanish wonderfully easily).  Obviously not shy, as all but one of the ones I’ve seen have not  been shy.  Or at least only one was so shy that I saw it and then saw it take off, not to be seen again.).  Out of the way friendly, which I’d not seen, though I’ve heard of.   I think he’d never seen a kayak before and was curious about this half log half person thing.  When the smell was right, he was willing to come ride with me.   If he’d headed for even the front deck, I think I’d have let him on.  But the cockpit was obviously the easiest place to climb/leap.  Front deck wouldn’t have been safer. Just felt like it.  The Otter kayak (yes, coincidence rules) I was paddling is only 9′6".  He’d have been nose to nose with me there.   Cute.  I felt so Disney (except for not letting him on and him not speaking English.).  A wonderful day that often felt very backcountry and the world cooperated by having very few people out, even with it being opening weekend for fishing.  I only saw about 8 people and all but 3 of them were at one campsite. —– rbc vixen. I only answer my email every few months, on average.   Patience helps.   http://www.visi.com/~cyli

Response:

  Today I was near enough the far edge of front country that only one powerboat passed me (the water’s high here, so motors could get up that part of the river.) and had one heck of a good day trip.  With the water high, I was able to get a mile or two up a creek that’s normally about an inch or two deep and then come back down quickly. Very quickly in a couple of spots. But, back out on the river, I checked out a couple of islands I’d never quite managed to canoe or kayak up to before (usually stopping half a mile short at an island that  happened to be underwater today) and then back down, trying to backpaddle and taking a lunch break to make the day last.  I did manage to be out 8 hours.  About half an hour after lunch and drifting downriver, I saw a small brown animal head making progress across my path.  Thinking it was a beaver, I slowed a bit, as it’s only kind not to scare them more than necessary. But it dove and didn’t tail slap, came up a bit upstream, dove again, and still no slap.  Then started swimming up to the land side of me. I gave it a bit more room, as this is what young beavers tend to do when scared.  They head straight for home, even if it means they have to get closer to the scarey thing.  However, when it got within 10 feet, it dove again and it was obvious it was an otter.   I burbled aloud with joy as it rose and fixed me with a beady eye, then turned its head and gave me the other eye.  By then I was cooing at it.  So it swam closer, giving the sniff/look test to me and the kayak.  At just over arm’s length, he aparently made up his mind and started straight for the cockpit, so he could climb up.   Uh.  10 to 15 pounds of soaking wet wild animal in my lap?  With the kind of claws and teeth that can open clams very easily and quickly?  Of carnivorous genes, which I’ve noticed gives animals a tendency to express affection with ‘love bites’? No.  Which is  exactly what I said as I dropped the kayak paddle in his path.  He took offense (not surprising), dove and swam up upstream.   I regretted his going, but not his absence from my lap.  He got about a hundred yards away and then turned back to look at me.  I cooed and burbled some more.  He vanished.   I went downstream.  Looked back for some reason about 10 minutes later and there he was, keeping watch on me from about 50 to 100 yards away again.  He followed me for a good mile and then the wind had picked up enough that if he was still following, I couldn’t see his head any more.   I think he was young.  Much smaller than the other otters I’ve noticed (not much of a number, because they do tend to backwaters and quieter places and vanish wonderfully easily).  Obviously not shy, as all but one of the ones I’ve seen have not  been shy.  Or at least only one was so shy that I saw it and then saw it take off, not to be seen again.).  Out of the way friendly, which I’d not seen, though I’ve heard of.   I think he’d never seen a kayak before and was curious about this half log half person thing.  When the smell was right, he was willing to come ride with me.   If he’d headed for even the front deck, I think I’d have let him on.  But the cockpit was obviously the easiest place to climb/leap.  Front deck wouldn’t have been safer. Just felt like it.  The Otter kayak (yes, coincidence rules) I was paddling is only 9′6".  He’d have been nose to nose with me there.   Cute.  I felt so Disney (except for not letting him on and him not speaking English.).  A wonderful day that often felt very backcountry and the world cooperated by having very few people out, even with it being opening weekend for fishing.  I only saw about 8 people and all but 3 of them were at one campsite. —– rbc vixen. I only answer my email every few months, on average.   Patience helps.   http://www.visi.com/~cyli

Response:

Question:

See "Presentation" by Borger, or LaFontaine’s "Caddis" book.  Overpower a sidearm cast, just like skipping a stone on the water. It might work, but when I try it I always feel like a pompous ass. Oh-oh.  POLITICAL CORRECTION: for the illiterate out there, I mean that to be a four-legged animal, not somebody’s butt. BB

Response:

Thanks everyone for oyur help! I will let you know how I go… PS Got my second trout on fly yesterday…. Put up a terrific fight for the size.  I got three big runs from this fish with line stipping of at a rate of knots… I thought it was a monster but it turned out to be about 1.5 lb. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How do you skip a fly.  I have read and heard about doing this…but I have know idea what is ment by it… Can someone help me out on this please

Response:

(and so did charlie choc) The author is Leonard M. Wright jr, "Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect," Dutton, 1972.

If, as charlie suggests, it is out of print, try the public libraries. Its a neat old book with some unorthodox solutions to some still relevant problems. The patterns he suggests and the materials he uses are not as water repellant nor as buoyant as the elk hair caddis, however, so you might want to use Wright’s technique, but stick with the EHC. brent

Response:

Mike Here’s another method that’s worked for me.  Use a long rod, very long leader 12′ with a very light tippet and stand almost directly upstream of the fish.   As the fly approaches the end of the drag free drift, lift the rod tip up and get all of the line and leader out of the water.  The fly just lightly dances on top of the water.  I’ve had a ‘bow jump 6" out of the water to take a fly danced this way. It works best if the wind and stream currents are going the same way, but it is difficult to get right if they are in opposite directions. Cheers Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.cgocable.net/~pcharles/index.html

Response:

Brent The author is Leonard M. Wright jr, "Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect," Dutton, 1972. Dave Snedeker – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – (some good advice on technique and a probable origin for the technique) Mike: If you are looking to dig even deeper, check out "Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect" by (an author I know, but whose name escapes me this early on a sunday – damn that aluminum cookware!). He describes how to tie and fish the ‘fluttering caddis’, but using hackle barbules and mink hair rather than elk hair. In any case, as Walt points out, the fish love the fly and the technique. good luck brent

Response:

How do you skip a fly.  I have read and heard about doing this…but I have know idea what is ment by it… Can someone help me out on this please

maybe try looking at some of Lefty’s writings – also try FFM website, www.flyshop.com.  http://www.newsfeeds.com/       The Largest Usenet Servers in the World!

Response:

(some good advice on technique and a probable origin for the technique) Mike: If you are looking to dig even deeper, check out "Fishing the Dry Fly as a Living Insect" by (an author I know, but whose name escapes me this early on a sunday – damn that aluminum cookware!). He describes how to tie and fish the ‘fluttering caddis’, but using hackle barbules and mink hair rather than elk hair. In any case, as Walt points out, the fish love the fly and the technique. good luck brent

Response:

How do you skip a fly.  I have read and heard about doing this…but I have know idea what is ment by it…

I skip a caddis after the initial drift is completed.  Landlocked salmon love it when the fly reaches the end of the drift and swings around to be straight down stream.  A retrieve back with sudden jerks of the rod will also encourage hits. However, this only works for a certain kind of caddis, usually in June in Maine.  The same trick applied in September does not produce the same results. Dave LaCourse

Response:

How do you skip a fly.  I have read and heard about doing this…but I have know idea what is ment by it…

There is no "right" way to do this. Experimentation is always worthwhile. I get 80%+ of my fish on a drag free drift, even on caddis. Fish feeding on Duns or emergers can be put down if there is any drag or motion to your fly, especially on heavily fished areas. I generally fish an area first using a drag free approach and then try some twitching or induced drag. Generally, just a twitch which moves the fly ever so slightly is what’s needed. However, in riffles and runs, more pronounced skips and hops followed by drag free drifts can be productive. A technique that sometimes brings up reluctant surface feeders in pocket water is a down stream technique. Wade upstream and to the side of one of the mini pools in a pocket stretch, until you are ten to fifteen feet away. In pocket water, fish are not easily spooked and a close approach is generally possible. Make a short cast to the side of the pocket you’re going to fish, raise your rod tip so that all the line and leader is off the water and hop a heavily dressed dry in and around the mini pool. With this technique, you can generally use a fly one or two sizes larger than what you would use on flatter water and a heavier tippets is also helpful. Strikes are violent. Fish will often will swipe at the fly but will hit it if your next cast is a drag free one. This is a good midsummer technique.  Especially in midsummer, these stretches of pocket water hold lots of fish including some good ones. Willi

Response:

How do you skip a fly.  I have read and heard about doing this…but I have know idea what is ment by it… Can someone help me out on this please

Response:

How do you skip a fly.  I have read and heard about doing this…but I have know idea what is ment by it… Can someone help me out on this please

 Mike, By twitching your rod real fast you send vibrations out your flyline/leader/tippet to the caddis. This causes the fly to "dance" on the water and it is a rare trout that can resist this flamenco. Here in the mountains of NC, there is a deceased flyfishing legend by the name of Mark Cathey. He "developed" this style back in the 20’s & 30’s on Hazel Creek and he always managed to fill his creel with the limit. Good luck with your dancing lessons, Walt —          The Blue Ridge Book Gallery      P.O. Box 5112  Banner Elk, NC 28604 http://www.abebooks.com/home/BLUEBOOKS/HOME.HTM

Response:

Question:

I recently bought a fly outfit and was wondering if there was a good visual tutorial on the net, or anywhere else. Thx HR

Response:

  I recently bought a fly outfit and was wondering if there was a good   visual tutorial on the net, or anywhere else.   Thx   HR

A visual tutorial for what?  Casting?  Fishing?  Fly tying?   Why didn’t you ask the joker from whom you bought your rod? Go back to the store where you bought the fly outfit and ask them for casting lessons and inquire about fishing classes (if you’ve not fished before).  If they don’t offer these things then return the outfit immediately and go somewhere else that does! I say this in all seriousness.  You are going to want lots more equipment and need lots more advice before long and you’d do well to get acquainted with a nice shop that can provide all these things. Be warned that fly tying is also looming on the horizon for you. cheers,         -tgades — Tony Gades. Seattle, WA.  USA http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades/Fishing/fish_page.html email: replace the "this_address_is_wrong" with "tgades"

Response:

Question:

I fish in Mexico now and then around Rocky Point, in the upper Sea of Cortez. My wife and I like wading and casting to sea trout and pompano but the last two trips my wife stepped on a sting ray, which really put a damper on the rest of our fishing (her’s and mine). I’m curious to know how others have solved this problem.  I’m looking at Cabella’s flats wading bootie.  It seems like it protects the bottom of your foot and your toes but a big sting ray could still whack your upper foot and ankle (yeeeouch!). Any ideas?

Response:

I fish in Mexico now and then around Rocky Point, in the upper Sea of Cortez. My wife and I like wading and casting to sea trout and pompano but the last two trips my wife stepped on a sting ray, which really put a damper on the rest of our fishing (her’s and mine). I’m curious to know how others have solved this problem.  I’m looking at Cabella’s flats wading bootie.  It seems like it protects the bottom of your foot and your toes but a big sting ray could still whack your upper foot and ankle (yeeeouch!). Any ideas?

 I have never seen or heard of anything that you can put on your feet short of steel shoes that will stop a ray’s point from going through your foot when you step on them.  The best way to avoid stingrays when you are in the area is to shuffle your feet instead of picking them up and stepping around like you normally would.  I learned this when I used to dive.  You never stepped down onto sand without fluttering your feet first.   When you walk in areas that have rays just shuffle your feet (which will leave a mud trail behind you) and it will scare the rays away before you step on them.  If there is a current, make sure you are walking into the current so the mud goes behind you instead of in front of you.  Rays are not hostile and will not attack you, but they hide themselves in the sand and can put that barb onto any part of their back that you step on in an instant.  Not a lot of fun and they are difficult to spot when so hidden.  The neoprene boots offered by Orvis, Cabela’s, Simm’s, Glacier Glove, etc. will not protect you from this problem.  Lazy feet will protect you.  No need to buy anything, just change your habits when you *think* rays are in the area.                            Hope this helps,                                     Dan Dan Gracia Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools

Response:

Thanks, Dan, for your post regardng sting ray proof wading shoes.  I wish the news was better.  I’m sure your’e right that rays can poke though the neoprene part of flats booties.  But what about the rubber sole and the rubber part over the toes and top of the foot?   Interestingly, both of my wife’s stings were on her big toe (ouch!)  Seems like something as hard as tennis shoe rubber ought to top ‘em.  These are pretty small rays, maybe as big you our outstreached hand and fingers. Let me know what you think. Thanks again.

Response:

Thanks, Dan, for your post regardng sting ray proof wading shoes.  I wish the news was better.  I’m sure your’e right that rays can poke though the neoprene part of flats booties.  But what about the rubber sole and the rubber part over the toes and top of the foot?   Interestingly, both of my wife’s stings were on her big toe (ouch!)  Seems like something as hard as tennis shoe rubber ought to top ‘em.  These are pretty small rays, maybe as big you our outstreached hand and fingers.

It’s possible it might stop such a small ray.  Never seen one that size.  The ones I’ve had experience with were about 3 feet wide across the wingtips and it wouldn’t even slow them down.  They put the barb through the top of the much harder rubber swim fins like it was butter and then went though the diver’s foot besides. One diver wasn’t so lucky and the barb missed the top of his foot slicing his leg open instead.  Not a pretty sight.  This happened while diving around the Santa Barbara Channel Islands (Anacapa & Santa Cruz Islands).  Convinced me to practice the "lazy foot" method in any area sting rays might be found.                                       Good Fishing,                                             Dan Dan Gracia Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools

Response:

I agree with your ‘lazy foot’ recommendation. I’m not sure if that is why I haven’t been stung but am going to keep it up anyway. Charlie…

Response:

I fish in Mexico now and then around Rocky Point, in the upper Sea of Cortez. My wife and I like wading and casting to sea trout and pompano but the last two trips my wife stepped on a sting ray, which really put a damper on the rest of our fishing (her’s and mine). I’m curious to know how others have solved this problem.  I’m looking at Cabella’s flats wading bootie.  It seems like it protects the bottom of your foot and your toes but a big sting ray could still whack your upper foot and ankle (yeeeouch!). Any ideas?

I heard they wade in the Texas gulf with some kind of shin guards. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I fish in Mexico now and then around Rocky Point, in the upper Sea of Cortez. My wife and I like wading and casting to sea trout and pompano but the last two trips my wife stepped on a sting ray, which really put a damper on the rest of our fishing (her’s and mine). I’m curious to know how others have solved this problem.  I’m looking at Cabella’s flats wading bootie.  It seems like it protects the bottom of your foot and your toes but a big sting ray could still whack your upper foot and ankle (yeeeouch!). Any ideas? I heard they wade in the Texas gulf with some kind of shin guards. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY

Down here in Texas we call them land-mines. The shuffle step works just fine but if you are really worried they do make a hard plastic guard which wraps around your leg and rests on top of your shoe. I think the idea came from snake chaps used by folks in rattlesnake country. RAT

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I fish in Mexico now and then around Rocky Point, in the upper Sea of Cortez. My wife and I like wading and casting to sea trout and pompano but the last two trips my wife stepped on a sting ray, which really put a damper on the rest of our fishing (her’s and mine). I’m curious to know how others have solved this problem.  I’m looking at Cabella’s flats wading bootie.  It seems like it protects the bottom of your foot and your toes but a big sting ray could still whack your upper foot and ankle (yeeeouch!). Any ideas? I heard they wade in the Texas gulf with some kind of shin guards. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY

Down in Texas we do have shin guards for wading. But the best way is to shuffle your feet. A ray is prone to thinking that anything bumping it is probably another ray, but anything stepping on it is probably something out to, well, step on it! BTW, a friend of mine had shin guards on and was hit in the back of the calf. Shin guards now cover front and back of leg.

Response:

Question:

Grow up and get a life!  If you have a "head in the sand" approach to flyfishing that’s fine, but don’t try to foist it on the rest of us.  Most fly fishers enjoy a variety of approaches to catch, and often release, a variety of fish species.   To each his or her own.

Response:

A nicely weighted nymph, quietly cast upstream, on a dead drift, is truly the only sporting way to pursue the honorable Mr. Trout.                                                        __ john quill taylor                                     / / writer at large                                      / /   Hewlett-Packard, Storage Systems Division    __     /_/ / Boise, Idaho U.S.A.                         /_/  __ _ Telephone: (208) 396-2328 (MST = GMT – 7)     /  \  / Snail Mail: Hewlett-Packard                    / \             11413 Chinden Blvd                 \             Boise, Idaho 83714                   _/             Mailstop 852                            _/                                                   _/       "When in doubt, do as doubters do." – jqt –                   haiti, rwanda, cuba, bosnia, … we have a list,              where is our schindler?

Response:

Question:

Read your thread in the FF Newsgroup.  It looks like you’ve already gotten some good answers & I agree with them.  Glad to see you tying some new things to try out – that’s half the fun. If you want the best advice – bar none, you have to call the Bass Pond. Their number is 800-327-5014.  There is not a nicer, more knowledgeable group of warmwater people around.  Doug, the owner and his wife Lori, are both in my opinion a few of the hidden gems of this sport.  The Bass Pond is the mail order arm of Anglers All, their retail shop.  If you don’t find what you need in the catalog, ask & they’ll have it (or kill themselves getting it) in their retail shop. I’ve been dealing with them a couple of years now and they get ALL of my business.  Their prices are right on & the Bass Pond rods aren’t listed along with SAGE for nothin’.  Great deal there! No I don’t work for them – I’m just fanatical about warmwater FF & the folks at The Bass Pond.

Response:

Anybody know what to use for bass in IOWA?  I am tying a wide assortment of flys right now to experiment with when the ice thaws but I’d like to be able to use some flys or nymphs that will work in early spring. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx…Jim Hauer

Response:

Wooly Bugger, size 10 and larger

Response:

Anybody know what to use for bass in IOWA?  I am tying a wide assortment of flys right now to experiment with when the ice thaws but I’d like to be able to use some flys or nymphs that will work in early spring. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx…Jim Hauer

Jim: If you mean EARLY spring, like shortly after the ice goes out, my experience is you’ll need to go with something wet (like the Wooly Buggers mentioned earlier, leech patterns, and Clouser minnows have all worked for me).  I will tell you, though, I do a lot of farm pond fishing just outside Des Moines, and FLYfishing for bass can tend to be pretty slow (at least for me) until the water starts to warm up a little. Now, once the water temp. does start getting into the high 40’s and low 50’s, things really heat up on flies.  When the bass are starting to be active in the shallows, hair bugs, poppers, and ESPECIALLY DEER HAIR MICE can be a riot.  I have caught lots of nice bass on a mouse – nothing fancy, just natural brown deer hair spun fairly thick in kind of a fat, torpedo shape on a long size 2 or 4 hook, and trim the belly a little and use a brown or black bunny hair strip for a tail.  When the bass are in the mood, this is heart attack fishing ’cause they’ll just inhale it. Later toward summer and through fall, hopper imitations work real well. At ANY time, if you want to speed up the action, try tying a nymph of some sort as a dropper attached to the hook bend of your topwater bass fly.  Odds are you may get lots of bluegills that way, and occasionally you’ll get a bass on the top and a bluegill on the dropper. Have fun, I’ll be after the bluegills this weekend.  The ice just went out on my favorite pond. Bob

Response:

Anybody know what to use for bass in IOWA?  I am tying a wide assortment of flys right now to experiment with when the ice thaws but I’d like to be able to use some flys or nymphs that will work in early spring. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx…Jim Hauer

Jim,    You didn’t mention the type of bass : large or smallmouth.  Since Iowa has lots of farm pond I’ll assume the former. I have had the best luck on large floating spiders. Tie them with white foam then pantone the backside and some of the underbelly grey to simulate the large diving spiders living amongst the pond edges. The largemouths go bunkers over them initially, then wise up after having been hooked a few times.. Its a blast !                                                                                        Jody

Response:

Question:

Sorry to raise this issue again! I would like to know people’s perceptions on whether the microfibre Simms or the codura Simms where tougher. I do a lot of rough walking/wading where I go fishing and I’d heard the codura was tougher but not as comfortable. Is this correct? Regards, Jamie Sharp

Response:

Sorry to raise this issue again! I would like to know people’s perceptions on whether the microfibre Simms or the codura Simms where tougher. I do a lot of rough walking/wading where I go fishing and I’d heard the codura was tougher but not as comfortable. Is this correct? Regards, Jamie Sharp

Jamie, The microfiber is both tougher and more comfortable. If you fish in areas that include star thistles and brambles in the streamside vegetation, I would strongly recommend the microfiber. Here in Northern California we have alot of star thistles and have seen a few problems with the barbs making their way through the relatively coarse fibers of the cordura model. Simms has assured us that this weakness has been remedied with the new microfiber material. I hope this helps,   Alan.   Alan Barnard   Kiene’s Fly Shop   Sacramento, Ca.

Response: