Question:

I’m totally new to fly fishing and have a few Q’s about casting…After my backstroke how far should my wrist go forward (10 o’clock?, or what?)? and how long so I let the line drop before I use backstroke again? I think the best way to learn is to watch somebody, but if you can please help. And when fishing for salmon in rivers, do you use weights? Thanks for any help, Chad

Response:

Hi Chad, The question regarding casting is a highly debated topic to which many a method, rhyme and reason exists.  In essence when false casting (the line is literally in constant motion) the hand/wrist/arm position-motion closely resembles that of a pianists metronome.  A balance of speed and motion on either side of vertical (12 o’clock position).  So the classic 10 to 2 method really sets up a nice Horizontal cast, where the flyline appears to be in a purely horizontal plane. If you were to change that relationship (10 o’clock is the backcast and 2 o’clock the forward cast for example) then a casting stroke of 9 to 1 would yield a high forward cast which would inevitably ‘fall short’ of the target (puddle cast) and a 11 to 3 would produce a cast which would drive into the water with quite a splash. But, the classic 10 to 2 is not what you would always use when your out fishing so it is very important that you experiment with varying degrees of the ‘clock’.  There will be times when you would want to cast a ’soft’ presentation so maybe a 9 to 1 would do fine… No matter what happens, give yourself a steady casting tempo, don’t rush a casting direction because you fear the line will hit the water mid cast. Watching someone cast is alright but it is the ‘feel’ of a cast that is most difficult to put into words.  Have someone take you in-hand to let you know what a cast feels like and not just what it looks like! As for salmon fishing, I use sinktip and full sink lines as well as floaters when fishing.  Occasionally I add some split shot but most of my fly’s have weights in them when necessary. Good luck and have fun up there! Roger M. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m totally new to fly fishing and have a few Q’s about casting…After my backstroke how far should my wrist go forward (10 o’clock?, or what?)? and how long so I let the line drop before I use backstroke again? I think the best way to learn is to watch somebody, but if you can please help. And when fishing for salmon in rivers, do you use weights? Thanks for any help, Chad

Response:

Is there any reason why that unfurling loop couldn’t have lift?

Maybe this will help: http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/lift1.html — Charlie…

Response:

I could be wrong technically.  What I meant to point out was that a fly line unfurling with a tight loop looks like an airfoil in crossection. But with a solid airfoil, a low pressure zone on the top makes the whole thing lift by virtue of the fact that the bottom is solidly connected to the top.  The top can’t lift the bottom unless the two are connected in some stable way.  At least I can’t imagine how it could. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m not so sure. Clearly a moving fly line is affected in some way by the air around it; otherwise we’d all use soft rods on windy days. The question is what kind of aerodynamics are involved. I think fluid dynamics would apply. In water, similar wave structures can be created either with the water moving and the wave staying still (rivers)(analogize the "flexible" water with the "flexible" line?) or with the water staying basically motionless but the wave moving (oceans). A flycast (as it unrolls-not necessarily on the backcast) is sort of like an ocean wave; the bottom of the loop consists of line that’s no longer moving but the loop still moves forward, unfurling. Is there any reason why that unfurling loop couldn’t have lift? Any aero engineers out there? What you want is a reasonably small loop that actually looks like the leading edge of an airplane wing (I heard tell the line actually "flies" that way). That would be impossible since the line is flexible.

– Regards, Jeff Before you buy.

Response:

Good point. What I’m thinking is that the top is exerting some upward pressure on the bottom — ie, if you get the top hung up in a branch, the bottom won’t fall to the water. On a much lower scale, maybe any lift created by the top exerts some slight force on the bottom as well, delaying the descent until the whole line’s out straight. Or maybe not. This is a passing reference I saw in a video. Really: anyone versed in airfoil fluid mechanics out there?

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I could be wrong technically.  

        the effort that statement must have required is simply awe inspiring. wayno

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Or maybe not. This is a passing reference I saw in a video. Really: anyone versed in airfoil fluid mechanics out there?

Again, you could look at the reference I posted earlier and learn enough to see that fly lines don’t ‘fly’. — Charlie…

Response:

Please repost that url; my box wouldn’t go there last time (and I subsequently deleted messages). I’ll look at it carefully.

Response:

Please repost that url; my box wouldn’t go there last time (and I subsequently deleted messages). I’ll look at it carefully.

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/lift1.html — Charlie…

Response:

I’m convincing myself. Maybe I’ll forward this string to a prof somewhere for analysis…

Oh well… — Charlie…

Response:

Here you go, boys. Just plug in the boundary conditions and solve these equations. Unfortunately, you’ll need a supercomputer. Maybe you can get a grant. When I worked at the NASA Ames Research Center (Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation) they gave a grant to somebody to study the aerodynamics of tennis balls. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/ something bogus to avoid spam) [ equations.html 1K ]

Response:

OK, thanks for the reference. Good page! However, it tends to confirm my theory. Here are three relevant excerpts from NASA’s explanation of lift: 1.  "For a body immersed in a moving fluid, the fluid will remain in contact with the surface of the body. If the body is shaped, moved, or inclined in such a way as to produce a net deflection, or turning, of the flow, the local velocity is changed in magnitude, direction or both. Changing the velocity creates a net force on the body." 2.   "Viscosity: As an object moves through the air, the viscosity (stickiness) of the air becomes very important. Air molecules stick to any surface, creating a layer of air near the surface (called a boundary layer) that, in effect, changes the shape of the object. To make things more confusing, the boundary layer may lift off or "separate" from the body and create an effective shape much different from the physical shape of an object. And to make it even more confusing, the flow conditions in and near the boundary layer are often unsteady (changing in time). The boundary layer is very important in determining both the drag and lift of an object.  3.  "Newton[s] position that lift is the reaction force on a body caused by  deflecting a flow of gas." Here’s how I integrate that: per quote 1 above, a body does not need to move to generate lift. It only must be "moved, shaped, or inclined." I think that the unfurling of a fly line creates the shape required to create lift. Quote 1 also confirms that lift is a function of fluid mechanics, which supports my idea that, just as waves can be standing or moving, so could an airfoil. Finally, an accelerating fly line has just the sort of velocity change needed to create lift (there’s an extensive discussion of the role of acceleration on the NASA site). A stiffer action rod creates greater line speed; and it casts the line farther. That may be a factor of acceleration/lift, as well as simple Newton gravity/trajectory math. What’s puzzled me is how a round fly line could act as an airfoil in its interaction with individual molecules. Sure, the shape is an airfoil, but I couldn’t see how the specific line-to-molecule interaction could act like a plane (in both the popular and Euclidian senses!). Quote 2 might explain: if the line moving through the air creates a boundary layer, that layer could function more as an airfoil than the line itself does. Finally, can’t ignore the simple component that the wing’s angle of attack gives. Bernoulli’s principle (yeah, I knew what it was called before!) explains most lift, but some comes from the simple fact of air hitting the bottom of the wing (if the wing’s inclined slightly upward). That’s why attack angle is a fact in flying characteristics. So, where do we usually stop our forward cast? 10:00; exactly the same slight upward angle you’d use if you were trying to coax a little more lift out of an airfoil. Finally, there’s the simple Bernoullian theory itself: air on bottom of wing doesn’t have to move much, air on top does, ergo lift. With a fly line, it’s: bottom of loop doesn’t really move (the first ten feet from your rod tip go forward and just hang there while the rest of the line unfurls); the top of your loop — the part that’s accelerating forward the fastest — moves maybe a hundred feet or more, displacing air while it does so. Why wouldn’t there be lift? I’m convincing myself. Maybe I’ll forward this string to a prof somewhere for analysis…

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Well, that was a lot of interesting stuff, but for me the problem is that a fly line moving through the air probably does not fit the definition of a solid object.  If it’s in a straight line with force being applied in direct opposition at each end, maybe.  When it’s furled and forces are acting at different angles, I don’t think so. OK, thanks for the reference. Good page! However, it tends to confirm my theory. Here are three relevant excerpts from NASA’s explanation of lift:

Regards, Jeff

Response:

No matter what happens, give yourself a steady casting tempo, don’t rush a casting direction because you fear the line will hit the water mid cast. Watching someone cast is alright but it is the ‘feel’ of a cast that is most difficult to put into words.  Have someone take you in-hand to let you know what a cast feels like and not just what it looks like!

Possibly the most sensible thing that has been written about casting a fly! The *FEEL* of what is happening to the line is vital. — Bill http://www.graigroad.demon.co.uk

Response:

Also learn to look at the loops created when you cast, especially the one behind you. I was given some pictures of myself fishing a couple years ago when I was starting, and the loops were great big open things, which couldn’t transmit any power or forward momentum to the line. What you want is a reasonably small loop that actually looks like the leading edge of an airplane wing (I heard tell the line actually "flies" that way). Too big, no power and no distance. Too small (too quick a tempo), and you may pop a fly off and/or cut the tip of your rod off if a heavy setup hits it. Look at some pics of casters in brochures and books and you’ll see the golden mean!

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What you want is a reasonably small loop that actually looks like the leading edge of an airplane wing (I heard tell the line actually "flies" that way).

That would be impossible since the line is flexible. Regards, Jeff

Response:

I’m not so sure. Clearly a moving fly line is affected in some way by the air around it; otherwise we’d all use soft rods on windy days. The question is what kind of aerodynamics are involved. I think fluid dynamics would apply. In water, similar wave structures can be created either with the water moving and the wave staying still (rivers)(analogize the "flexible" water with the "flexible" line?) or with the water staying basically motionless but the wave moving (oceans). A flycast (as it unrolls-not necessarily on the backcast) is sort of like an ocean wave; the bottom of the loop consists of line that’s no longer moving but the loop still moves forward, unfurling. Is there any reason why that unfurling loop couldn’t have lift? Any aero engineers out there? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What you want is a reasonably small loop that actually looks like the leading edge of an airplane wing (I heard tell the line actually "flies" that way). That would be impossible since the line is flexible.

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Question:

    Hi, I have never been in eastern Sierra area, but I am planning to make a photo trip to there soon. Shooting landscape is the major purpose of my trip. My question to you are: (1) ‘What are the top 10 places you think a landscape photographer must visit and shoot?’

Alabama Hills (very hot in summer) Mono Lake Lee Vining Creek Yosemite Hot Creek Use your eyes and you will find plenty. — http://www.fnet.net/~ellis/photo/

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Having just gotten back from there I would add Bodie state park if you like ghost towns. I would also recommend a couple of sites at mono lake 1.  The south toufa (sp?) walk and tour 2.  The panum crater walk and tour. of course you can’t go wrong with anything in Yosemite. Make sure you have a place to stay before you go. btb

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –     Hi, I have never been in eastern Sierra area, but I am planning to make a photo trip to there soon. Shooting landscape is the major purpose of my trip. My question to you are: (1) ‘What are the top 10 places you think a landscape photographer must visit and shoot?’ Alabama Hills (very hot in summer) Mono Lake Lee Vining Creek Yosemite Hot Creek Use your eyes and you will find plenty. — http://www.fnet.net/~ellis/photo/

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(2) Best guide book for photo trip to Eastern Sierra    Any feedback/suggestions are appreciated. Ronald

Take a look at California’s Eastern Sierra, A Vistor’s Guide by Sue Irwin (Cachuma Press). Good photos and info and only $18. Claude

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Ronald, The Eastern Sierra is beautiful any time ofyear or day.  I suggest starting at one end of the Owens Valley and work your way through it, using your imagination.  You will no doubt find some spots of your own that are just as good or better than any that can be recommended. Bob Got questions?  Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

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Come on over to my website and check out my sections on Mono Lake, Rock Creek, and the White Mountains. That will give you some ideas for shooting. I have some commentary there also in the different sections pertaining to those locations. http://www.californiapictures.com It is a good time now to shoot wildflowers in Mammoth Lakes. Go to Reds Meadow early, I mean early or you can’t drive your car. They will make you ride the trams after 6:30AM. They are trying to keep the traffic out. Dale Proctor * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

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Everyone has talked about Mono Lake, personally I haven’t been there, been close.  That is on a list of to-go places, however, I’ve been to Bodie which is a ghost town.  I think it is one of the nicest ghost towns that I’ve been to and would recommend it to others. Would need to gage your timing for lighting, etc. * Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping.  Smart is Beautiful

Response:

Hi, Mono Lake is, without question, unique. But there are many other places of charm and beauty. On the web, start at http://www.395.com  This will give you links to about every place you’ll want to visit. It all depends on your tastes of course. In the Mammoth Lakes area, there are many opportunities to shoot wild flowers. Also consider Devil’s Postpile and Rainbow falls. The lakes basin is also nice with long and short hikes of various degrees of difficulty. The Mammoth Ranger Station can be very helpful! South of Mammoth Lakes you will find Convict Lake (morning shot), Hot Creek geo-thermal area (and fly fishing), McGee creek, and Little Lakes Valley. Little Lakes Valley is a very nice walk, spectacular at times, and not too strenuous, despite the high elevation. North of Mammoth is Lundy Canyon, fantastic in the fall.  The June Lake loop is another possibiliby, just south of Lee Vining. Lee Vining is, of course, where you will find Mono Lake as well as the eastern entrance to Yosemite via Tioga Pass. This is a fantastic road, an engineering feat (and perfectly safe), with grand vistas to the east. Tuolomne Meadows, just a few miles inside the park will give you a taste of granit domes. Before the park entrace is a road to the right (north) that takes you to Saddle Bag Lake. North of Lee Vining, about 5 mi before you get to Bridgeport, is the turn off to Bodie. Great pictures here! But watch the sun. The park is open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm in the summer. You can shoot in August until about 10:30 am and then again after about 3:30. When the sun is low you get wonderful colors in the wooden buildings. When the sun is high, you can try to take some interiors through windows. Shooting anywhere in the Eastern Sierra generally requires a polarizer (but be careful; if you polarize to strongly the sky will turn almost black). Also, because of the altitude and thin atmosphere there is a lot of blue coming through. A 81A or 81B (better) will give you truer colors. One last tip. Watch the dust! A lot of it is pumice and it can scratch your glass. (Actually pumice is the foam form of the black obsidion, which is  volcanic glass.)  If you are interested, I have a section on Bodie on my webpage with links to other sites. (I’m in the process of re-doing the sections on Sierra Wild Flowers and the Eastern Sierra.)  http://toms_place_2.tripod.com Enjoy your trip! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –      Hi, I have never been in eastern Sierra area, but I am planning to make a photo trip to there soon. Shooting landscape is the major purpose of my trip. My question to you are: (1) ‘What are the top 10 places you think a landscape photographer must visit and shoot?’ (2) Best guide book for photo trip to Eastern Sierra     Any feedback/suggestions are appreciated. Ronald

Response:

     Hi, I have never been in eastern Sierra area, but I am planning to make a photo trip to there soon. Shooting landscape is the major purpose of my trip. My question to you are: (1) ‘What are the top 10 places you think a landscape photographer must visit and shoot?’ (2) Best guide book for photo trip to Eastern Sierra     Any feedback/suggestions are appreciated. Ronald

  shourong.shu.vcf

< 1K Download

Response:

Mono LAke. If it is no #1 then it is #2 or 3. Shoot at sunrise. GO th day before to scope out the area then come back for sunrise. With a little luch you will have clouds inte western sky andit will explode with color. Got questions?  Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

Response:

     Hi, I have never been in eastern Sierra area, but I am planning to make a photo trip to there soon. Shooting landscape is the major purpose of my trip. My question to you are: (1) ‘What are the top 10 places you think a landscape photographer must visit and shoot?’

Besides putting Mono Lake at the top of the list, here are some ideas in no particular order: – Mono Lake   See my "East of the Sierra" web gallery for some images from Mono Lake   (http://www.designsinlight.com/gallery.htm) – Alambama Hills   Near Lone Pine and Mt. Whitney, and where many westerns were shot. – White & Inyo Mountains – Bristlecone Pine forest   Some of the oldest living things in the world (4000+ years) and very cool looking   Some info: http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/WhiteMts.html – Bodie ghost town – June Lake One meteorlogical feature to keep an eye out for is lenticular clouds. They form where there is a strong, steady wind blowing over mountains, in places like Owens Valley east of the Sierra Nevada. They can make for some spectacular skies, especially at sunrise or sunset. Have fun! It’s a beautiful part of the world. gene — Gene Anderson http://www.designsinlight.com/

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Question:

Going saltwater fly fishing? If so, we invite you to visit a site that just went live on November 4 of this year. Econoflies is home of the latest & most innovative saltwater fish flies & fly tying material available for the flyfishing enthusiast. We specialize in rare, creative & hard-to-find saltwater flies. We carry select saltwater assortments from blue-water selections to flats bonefish, permit & redfish selections. http://www.econoflies.com/

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Forgive him Don, for he knows not what he’s done….. Attention everyone!  Pray for this poster. hehe

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Question:

Fellow Fly Fishers     I am starting a web site and would like to know what information and features are imortant to you. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Paul Koulouris Shelburne, Vermont "The true joy of pursuing trout is that they live in such beautiful places"

Response:

This sounds like a great idea!! It would be good to know where the fishing is hot..and where it is not!! { In New Zealand that is!} Sharing what size trout everyone caught over the weekend and what fly they used!! I’m keen for this site!! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Fellow Fly Fishers     I am starting a web site and would like to know what information and features are imortant to you. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Paul Koulouris Shelburne, Vermont "The true joy of pursuing trout is that they live in such beautiful places"

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Question:

What is the proper size flies to use with a 3x and a 4x tippet or leader ? What is the tippet/leader range for WF5F line ?

Our most popular tippet sizes are 3x through 6x. In leaders we sell lots of 7 1/2′, 4x and 5x and 9′, 4x, 5x and 6x.  This is what the fly fishers buy in Nor Cal. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY www.kiene.com

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What is the proper size flies to use with a 3x and a 4x tippet or leader What is the tippet/leader range for WF5F line ?

Standard rules: — divide hook size by 4 to get tippet thickness in Xs:  thus    #12 fits 3x, #16 fits 4x etc.  Most people nowadays fish    one grade finer. — Leader butt should be 2/3 thickness of line end, and not    too much stiffer. — |  Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs,  | |        Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734         |

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What is the proper size flies to use with a 3x and a 4x tippet or leader ? What is the tippet/leader range for WF5F line ?

Response:

What is the proper size flies to use with a 3x and a 4x tippet or leader ? What is the tippet/leader range for WF5F line ?

class, boy. — George Gehrke All Writings

Question:

Hi I just planned a 5 day, 4 nite trip to Cancun.  I don’t have a lot of time there and I have heard about all the great things to do, but I’d like to hear from others about the top 3 or 4 excursions to take. E mail Thankx

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Hi I just planned a 5 day, 4 nite trip to Cancun.  I don’t have a lot of time there and I have heard about all the great things to do, but I’d like to hear from others about the top 3 or 4 excursions to take. E mail Thankx

Hello, I have been there quite a few times and really enjoy it. There is something for everyone. I would try to spend a day on Cozumel and/or Isla Mujeres, small island just off shore. Take an all day air conditioned bus tour south to the ruins at Tulum. There are lots of water sports, boating, snorkeling, scuba, fishing and yes, lots of shopping. We specialize in fly fishing trips all over the world and this is on of our favorite places. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY

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Hi I just planned a 5 day, 4 nite trip to Cancun.  I don’t have a lot of time there and I have heard about all the great things to do, but I’d like to hear from others about the top 3 or 4 excursions to take. E mail Thankx

Isla Mujeres and/or Cozumel are nice excursions.  Tulum and Xel Ha are usually packaged together as a single tour and are also interesting. Xel Ha is a place where you can snorkel in a big natural aquarium (a giant pool carved out of the rock by a river) with mixed fresh and salt water and lots of beautiful fish.  It would probably be a bit lame to experienced divers, but if you haven’t seen tropical fish close up before it’s an easy way to do it..  I would hesitate to go inland to the big ruins a Chichen Iza (spelling?).  This time of year can be murderously hot.  When I was in Cancun in May, the people who went inland to that trip felt like they would barely make it out alive – they were burnt through their shirts, probably just from the heat of the sun.  Stick to the coastal areas. I haven’t done it myself, but I know two friends who recently took an excursion where you travel through underground rivers.  They both enjoyed it tremendously.  I would put this at the top of the list. Sorry I don’t have more details. Christine

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Any favorite places to eat either in Cancun or Isla Mujeres? I’d appreciate any info.           Sue

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Question:

Does anyone know an e-mail address for Gary or Jason Borger? I would like to ask one of them a question about fly lines.

Don’t know an e-mail address, but if you look on the back of one of his videos you will find a phone number for his company.  I called them one time regarding availability of one of their titles and Gary answered the phone.  Worth a shot.  You can probably also reach him (although in a round about way) through Thomas & Thomas rods.                                                Dan Dan Gracia Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools

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Borger don’t post… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

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Borger don’t post… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

Who can blame him! Ralph H

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Jasons E-mail is listed at www.Flyfishamerica.com

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Borger don’t post… — TimW Halfordian Golfer Who can blame him!

all of us that do…for starters… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

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Does anyone know an e-mail address for Gary or Jason Borger? I would like to ask one of them a question about fly lines. Thanks! Steve Rosenblum

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  Does anyone know an e-mail address for Gary or Jason Borger? I would   like to ask one of them a question about fly lines.   Thanks!   Steve Rosenblum  Both can be reached through Flyfishers Online at www.flyfishers.com PFY

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Question:

.. the problem is with the fonts in netscape … it seems to pick up a wierd font when setting it up.. especially the earlier netscapes. go into the fonts list and find the offending font and get rid of it, netscape then picks another … – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – keyboarded:

Question:

: I’m thinking about a first trip to the San Juan this fall or next spring. : When’s the best dry fly fishing? Chris, Absolutely the best dry fly fishing I ever had on the San Juan was in mid-September a few years back over a Pale Morning Dun hatch.  I have been back a few years at the same time but have never caught it that way again. Baetis and midges hatch pretty much anytime conditions are right (overcast) regardless of time of year. Plan to fish some nymphs. Chuck

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I’m thinking about a first trip to the San Juan this fall or next spring. When’s the best dry fly fishing? Chris Long Long Island, New York

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Question:

I intend to fish in 11-mile canyon this fall.  I have fished it before with little luck.  I am looking for suggestions about flys and technique.      This summer, I primarily flyfished Mueller State Park, Pueblo Reservoir, and Nicholes reservoir.  Mueller and Nicholes were very productive.  I am using a 8 1/2 foot Browning 6-7 wt.  I have tried Deckers without catching a fish.  I have a lot to learn.    Any help would be very welcome.  Thanks in advance.    Sherman W.

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I intend to fish in 11-mile canyon this fall.  I have fished it before with little luck.  I am looking for suggestions about flys and technique.     This summer, I primarily flyfished Mueller State Park, Pueblo Reservoir, and Nicholes reservoir.  Mueller and Nicholes were very productive.  I am using a 8 1/2 foot Browning 6-7 wt.  I have tried Deckers without catching a fish.  I have a lot to learn.   Any help would be very welcome.  Thanks in advance.   Sherman W.

I can’t help you with fly suggestions, try Angler’s Covey in Colorado Springs. (sorry, I don’t know the number, maybe someone else can post it) The one useful piece of advice I can offer is to practice keeping your cast low to the water with a tight loop. What Mel Krieger calls a "Madison River Cast". The wind can realy get going on south park and unless you can get a cast into it you’re going to have problems. Tight lines, Dave Opincarne

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: I intend to fish in 11-mile canyon this fall.  I have fished it : before with little luck.  I am looking for suggestions about : flys and technique.   :    This summer, I primarily flyfished Mueller State Park, Pueblo Reservoir, : and Nicholes reservoir.  Mueller and Nicholes were very productive.  I am : using a 8 1/2 foot Browning 6-7 wt.  I have tried Deckers without catching : a fish.  I have a lot to learn. :    Any help would be very welcome.  Thanks in advance. :    Sherman W. Not to rain on your parade, but there are easier places to fish than Deckers and 11mile.  Right now, the Arkansas around Howard or Cotopaxi should be pretty productive.  Try just a gold ribbed hares ear nymph, or if you see a hatch coming off, and can reasonably match it go for it. If you’ve been going to Mueller SP, for just a little more time and gas money you can have a lot more fun.  Just about all of the S. Platte river above Spinney is open to fishing, and all the places on it that I’ve fished, respond well to nymphs (bead head, hares ear, etc.), and hoppers & humpies during the day.  This is a good place to get to know now, as when summer ends, and the big browns move in to the river from spinney, the fishing gets a lot more fun.  If you need more spec. info. try some of the fly shops, in CS or just about anywhere.  I would be happy to mail you some addr. if you are out of the area. Good Luck, Dave — | Any opinions expressed are not those of UCCS, but neither are the facts. | |                                                                          | | "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially in an AI program."  | |                         – Derek Partridge                                |

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: I intend to fish in 11-mile canyon this fall.  I have fished it : before with little luck.  I am looking for suggestions about : flys and technique.   :    This summer, I primarily flyfished Mueller State Park, Pueblo Reservoir, : and Nicholes reservoir.  Mueller and Nicholes were very productive.  I am : using a 8 1/2 foot Browning 6-7 wt.  I have tried Deckers without catching I just fished 11-mile Canyon 6 days ago.  I’ve only been to Colorado twice, and both times I must admit, the fish count out there beats the hell out of what we have here in the east.  I stopped down to the Angler’s Covey to buy 3 copies each of several local patterns of what was supposed to be the current hot flies.  My best success came late in the evening on a #24 light cahill.  Some of these guys get real scientific spewing Latin terms around, but in my experience, size is the most important factor and general coloration is next. The rainbows were fat and healthy.  (Sounds like a contradiction, but I guess I’m fat and healthy too!)  Not being used to sucking oxygen from the air at 8,500′, it was nice to be able to park streamside.  My one other Colorado fishing experience was at Cheesman Canyon, and it was worth the effort to hike into.  Anyway. . . The guy I fished with says that the trout at 11-mile Canyon are not all that leader shy — YET.  I used 8x, but that was because I bought some new Orvis tippet material that at 8x was rated stronger than what I used to buy at 4x.  Nice stuff. Anyway, I took one of my 7-1/2′ 4-wt glass rods.  I dare say I was the only one fishing a glass rod and/or a "short" rod.  I caught as many trout as the locals, and I caught them on eastern dry fly patterns. Supposedly small (#18-20) pheasant tails, bead head nymphs, gr hare’s ears were supposed to be working during times of no surface activity. I tried and RS-2 (what does "RS-2" stand for?) when I saw a bunch of tails and backs but no noses.  I guess you’re supposed to fish the emergers with a strike indicator, but I don’t like fly fishing with a bobber. Anyway, that stretch of S. Platte was a nice crick.  Saw a black bear on the way out which was kind of fun.  I didn’t land any huge trout, but I saw a few thick backs that I estimated belonged to fish in the 20 inch range.  I understand there are some bigger trout up there. All in all, it was a great vacation, ‘cept I only played golf once and only fished once.  It was really neat to hit 300+ yard tee shots, something I’ve never come close to down here near sea level. Enjoy, — Tom

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: I just fished 11-mile Canyon 6 days ago.  I’ve only been to Colorado twice, : and both times I must admit, the fish count out there beats the hell out : of what we have here in the east.  I stopped down to the Angler’s Covey It’s just not true.  There are no fish here in Colorado.  Trust me. : I tried and RS-2 (what does "RS-2" stand for?) when I saw a bunch of It stands for Rim’s Semblance #2.  Rim came here hundreds of years   ago from Korea and invented this fly as an imitation of the mayfly larva we have here in the S. Platte. : but I saw a few thick backs that I estimated belonged to fish in the : 20 inch range.  I understand there are some bigger trout up there. My son landed/released a 23" bow there this summer.  No, that wasn’t here.  It must have been in Wyoming.  We don’t have fish here. : All in all, it was a great vacation, ‘cept I only played golf once : and only fished once.  It was really neat to hit 300+ yard tee shots, : something I’ve never come close to down here near sea level. Yeah, you can get deeper into the rough here than is possible in the lowlands.  :-) : Enjoy, : — Tom Glad you had a good time. Bryan

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