Question:

This past few days I have been fishing the Sage SLT 5 weight 8′6. At 3 ounces it is a dream to cast and it turns over a dry fly so nicely. It performs consistently on long and short casts. but I think it’s the simple comfort it provides (smoothness, forgiveness, lightness) that impressed me. I also nymphed with it, but found it not as good as the Scott for lifting 3 AB shot, 2 #8 nymphs and a waterlogger strike indicator. The last rod I purchased was 4 years ago, a Scott SES. This is the first rod I have tried where I can really feel something worthy of calling a technological advance. I think it just made the Xmas list. — Gary M

Response:

Yes a very good rod with plenty or reserve power, smoothness and light weight in hand. Beats every other 5 weight i’ve ever cast.

Response:

Interesting comments. At our fishing clubs "Tackle Night" the Sage rep was there–so I had the opportunity to cast both the SLT and the XP. I found the SLT to be not to my liking at all. I use a Scott STS 905-4; aqnd again IMO, the SLT couldn’t hold a candle to the Scott., THe XP, however, was an absolute *dream* to cast. Since the Freshwater Scott STS series has been (stupidly IMO) discontinued–if I break the one I have I se an XP 905-4 in my future.   Dave M

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This past few days I have been fishing the Sage SLT 5 weight 8′6. At 3 ounces it is a dream to cast and it turns over a dry fly so nicely. It performs consistently on long and short casts. but I think it’s the simple comfort it provides (smoothness, forgiveness, lightness) that impressed me. I also nymphed with it, but found it not as good as the Scott for lifting 3 AB shot, 2 #8 nymphs and a waterlogger strike indicator. The last rod I purchased was 4 years ago, a Scott SES. This is the first rod I have tried where I can really feel something worthy of calling a technological advance. I think it just made the Xmas list. — Gary M

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Question:

Hello all, Now that it’s midwinter, I am doing much fishing in my mind, thinking about the season to come.  I have thought about how the focus on my fishing during the 10 years I have lived in New York has gone from nymphing to dry fly fishing.  I do all styles and approaches, but I do find that I seek out situations where I am most likely to get them on top. I probably should nymph more than I do, because you can do it without a hatch, and there are better chances of getting bigger fish.  I just get annoyed how deep nymphing is better suited with different rods, lines, and leaders than dry fly fishing.  I find it awkward to switch back and forth on the stream, and I refuse to carry 2 rods onto the water. One thing about the technique – I do most nymphing in close – with a rodlength or 2 of line out, no more.  I find it very hard to control the drift beyond that.  Can anybody give me some discussion about nymphing in close/far away?  About good nymphing leader recipies(I tie my own)?  About how spooky fish react to your closeness to them? Pete Collin

Response:

Peter, I think you’re doing the right thing restricting you line length, I’m very disciplined about that using a maximum of one myself while searching pocket water and runs.  If I see a fish, I will lengthen line as the circumstances allow rather than approach to close. It does take a fair bit of concentration which can be nice to alleviate with a dry fly presentation every now and then – often I find the fish taking the dry will take the nymph quite readily. I’m happy to use the same leader for both dry and nymph – adding or deleting tippett where required … length is a rod length (7.5 – 9ft) and thats it. Formulae is the simple 60 20 20 occasionally I’ll use a furled butt section of 4lb mono usually where there is room to swing the rod for a decent hook set.   What is important is the nymph swimming level, especially when searching water for fish that are not visible.  Usually tight to the bottom requires a fly somewhere down there to attract their interest. However you prefer to get the fly down, weight in the fly or a shotted up leader is immaterial as long as it is in the zone.   Casting might not seem important in such circumstance but it is … if you can cast (by whatever means) so that the leader doesn’t straighten properly the fly will sink further than if it does straighten.  I sometimes think it is forgotten that this is something that can be used to great effect in controlling the depth of a nymph for long or short distance nymphing with weighty flies. The Flies themselves are an interesting topic … Steve

Response:

One thing about the technique – I do most nymphing in close – with a rodlength or 2 of line out, no more.  I find it very hard to control the drift beyond that.  Can anybody give me some discussion about nymphing in close/far away?

No simple answers here, Peter. Nymphing is a big topic. It’s worth a few books and quite a few have been written. There are a variety of techniques that allow you to nymph in close, as far as you can cast, just under the surface, bouncing on the bottom, etc. etc. etc. It take times to learn the different techniques, more time to get decent with them, but what’s probably the most difficult to learn is where and when to use the different techniques. Like dry fly fishing, control is much easier if your casts are short. If the situation warrants it, you are going to be more successful fishing in close. Like Jeff and Dave pointed out, you can often get very close to fish when they are feeding on the bottom, especially in broken water. They are much more secure than fish feeding on the surface. However, there are several other things that dictate how close you can get. Because of a number of factors, trout in some streams and rivers are more spooky. Much tougher to get close to these fish without spooking them. On placid sections, it is often difficult to get close to fish without spooking them, etc. On big rivers, depth and current speed are going to prevent you from wading close enough for a short cast to many prime areas. For example, the most productive area we fished at Henry’s Fork this fall, required long casts to reach some of the best lies. I also dislike rerigging all the time on the water. IMO, for most nymphing, a short leader butt with a couple of long tippet sections is better for nymphing than a traditional tapered leader.  The thinner tippet sections allow the fly to sink more readily, act more naturally and also allow you to use less weight (which I like). However, more often, I just add a long tippet section to a regular tapered leader. That way it’s much easier to switch back to a dry. This does mean, at least when fishing deep water, my leader is very long. Willi

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One thing about the technique – I do most nymphing in close – with a rodlength or 2 of line out, no more.  I find it very hard to control the drift beyond that.  Can anybody give me some discussion about nymphing in close/far away?

Another thing – learn the "tuck cast".  It’s great for shorter distance casting in pocket water when you need to get the nymph down to fish-catchin’ level ASAP.  Much easier with a split shot near the nymph or a weighted nymph.

Response:

One thing about the technique – I do most nymphing in close – with a rodlength or 2 of line out, no more.  I find it very hard to control the drift beyond that.  Can anybody give me some discussion about nymphing in close/far away?

A longer rod certainly helps.  In fact, I’m thinking of going to a 9.5 to 10 foot rod for heavy nymphing and might ask about that here soon.  For closer nymphing with a "high stick" (controlling depth and slack by raising and lowering your rod), I think you’re better off with no strike indicator. This is especially true in deeper, broken water with rocks where the depth keeps changing.  The farther away you get, especially if you are not sight nymphing in clear water, and especially if the depth is constant, the more a strike indicator will help you.  With steady water flow (not a lot of broken water and mixed currents), you can get in some fairly long casts with an indicator.  About good nymphing leader recipies(I tie my own)?

Tying your own is convenient if you use a foam indicator or other indicator that you can slide around, since you have a number of knots that act as "stops" for the indicator.  As far as material, Maxima works good but it’s not the strongest per diameter, so I’m looking for something else in the tippet.  Flouro is too damn expensive, and Orvis Super Strong has broken a lot on me – it’s strong, but it’s simply not very abrasion resistant IMO. Look up Borger’s "uni-body" leader if you want simplicity.  With a bit of lead on the leader, we’re not going to quibble over the whether the 6th section should be 15 or 17" for best turnover, eh?  About how spooky fish react to your closeness to them?

In bouldery pocket water with deeper runs and chop on top, you can get virtually on top of them (assuming you can’t see them).  In fact I’ve gone in with my arm up to my shoulder to pull out a snag, and continued to fish the run and catch fish.  In smoother spring creek type water, and for sight nymphing, ask elsewhere

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I’m confused by this statement. Would you please elaborate? — Citizen Fisherman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m happy to use the same leader for both dry and nymph – adding or deleting tippett where required … length is a rod length (7.5 – 9ft) and thats it.

Response:

Peter Collin writes: One thing about the technique – I do most nymphing in close – with a rodlength or 2 of line out, no more.  I find it very hard to control the drift beyond that.  Can anybody give me some discussion about nymphing in close/far away?  About good nymphing leader recipies(I tie my own)?  About how spooky fish react to your closeness to them? Pete Collin

Hi, Peter.  Most of my nymphing is within 15 feet of me, but there are the occasions (quite often, really) when an actual distance cast can be of some use.  Up and across (with or without an indicator) seems to work best for me. I am talking, maybe, 30 or so feet.   I have found that the nymph must get down to the bottom for best results.  The best way I have found to do this is to use non-toxic split shot.  If you do not know the water you will have to experiment with the size/amount of shot.  Your leader/line or indicator should move slower than the surface water (unlike dry fly fishing).  The water near the bottom of the pool/run/etc is moving slower than the surface water.  Therefore, you have to slow down your drift.  Gary Borger in a recent tutorial stated that if your indicator is moving the same speed as the surface water, you have to add more weight (split shot, bead head, whatever).  If I use an indicator, it is usually the yarn type with the o-ring attached.  Put some floatant on and it never sinks. I prefer a leader somewhere between 7 1/2 to 9 feet, with an additional 3 or so feet of tippet.  I generally use a 4x leader with 4x or 5x fluorocarbon tippet.  About 3 feet above the fly (at the leader/tippet knot), I place my shot.  I seldom fish a double. To switch over to dries, simply snip off the fluorocarbon tippet and add 3 feet of mono 5x.  I always use a floating line, btw.  It is easier to mend.  My favorite rod is a Sage SP 9 foot 4 weight. Spooky fish?  I’ve caught fish right at my feet on Maine, MA, NY, PA, and NM waters.  The fish in Idaho were a little more spooky and most of my hook-ups were at a distance, up and across.  The fish in Labrador were very spooky and in four years, I managed to catch only 2 small (2 – 3 pounds) brook trout on caddis worms.  It is a dry fly fisherman’s heaven!  d;0) A lengthy reply……sorry.  HTH Dave

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Question:

Would anyone like to give a history of Roff. When it started,who are the longest posters Etc.

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I and several others helped kick off alt.fishing in the late 1980’s, and the Associated Press and several well known magazines interviewed us and ran articles on the new forum for fishers. Until the early 1990’s, I posted stats on who the top posters were per year.  Readership was about 20,000-40,000 in the early years Several years later, Brian Dixon (then in Colorado, ironically now working for HP a few buildings away from me) successfully led an effort to get the rec.outdoors.fishing.* hierarchy started. Certainly many of us older posters don’t post as much due to other activities. I remain very impressed with the quality and value of the fishing forums, and thank many of you for keeping things going. Thomas Gilg – President, Mid-Willamette Fly Fishers, Corvallis Oregon – VP Conservation, Oregon Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers – Oregon [Fish] Restoration and Enhancement Board, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife    (i.e. I and 6 others get to decide how to spend the several-dollar surcharge on every    angling license sold in Oregon to improve fisheries and fishing opportunities) – lots of other fishing conservation and education stuff

Response:

Would anyone like to give a history of Roff. When it started,who are the longest posters Etc.

I’m not sure who started ROFF or how long ago it was, but I’ll bet HWMNBN was the one who introduced him to USENET as they developed new fly patterns in a foxhole in the Korean War. –Steve (hey, someone’s gotta namedrop, even during a Clave)

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, I posted stats on who the top posters were per year.  Readership was about 20,000-40,000 in the early years    thomas, is there any way that you or some other tekkie could roughly determine the number of posters/lurkers on roff at the present? wayno

There’s no way to count pure lurkers, without having server logs for every access point on the net – world wide. Most of us are already booked for other more worthy endeavors, but I invite my good friend from The Old North State to have at it with his usual gusto ;^) Otherwise, you could scoop a contributing authors list through one of the news archivers for as far back as they go. I figure that roughly 500 authors have contributed (positively or otherwise) since Opening Day. /daytripper (who’s heading for the Cape of Cod for the week. Buh Bye! ;^)

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thomas, is there any way that you or some other tekkie could roughly determine the number of posters/lurkers on roff at the present?

Well, number of posters would be fairly easy. However, if there’s someone out there who can tell how many lurkers there are, please let me know. I have a few questions to ask about my future. –Steve

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Tom;   From a self professed computer geek and fly fishing fanatic, thank you.          Frank Reid Before you buy.

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, I posted stats on who the top posters were per year.  Readership was about 20,000-40,000 in the early years

        thomas, is there any way that you or some other tekkie could roughly determine the number of posters/lurkers on roff at the present? wayno

Response:

Amen! Well done Tom. This ng and ROFFT are the major reasons I enjoy my online time. — Jamie http://clik.to/flyfish

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Tom;   From a self professed computer geek and fly fishing fanatic, thank you.          Frank Reid Before you buy.

Response:

Wayne Harrison: … is there any way that you or some other tekkie could roughly determine the number of posters/lurkers on roff at the present?

Someone somehow used to post USENET readership statistics in one of the news.* newsgroups.  I think they derived actual readership numbers from some NNTP servers, and then did some reasonable math to come up with total readership.  They would also list top posters for the top lists. Someone with time on their hands might cruise the news.* groups to see if they still post such results. Thomas Gilg

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Someone with time on their hands might cruise the news.* groups to see if they still post such results.

I found: http://metalab.unc.edu/usenetb-bin/to-group.pl?rec.outdoors.fishing.fly Not that I have time on my hands you understand<g. — Charlie…

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Remarq.com, which I use as a free newsreader (hence the stupid phone ad at the bottom of my posts) lists ROFF as having 1958 Threads and 2241 posters. Don’t know how far back that goes nor how many of those posters are various "G" alias’ Cheers, Allen Epps Got questions?  Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

Response:

Wayne Harrison: … is there any way that you or some other tekkie could roughly determine the number of posters/lurkers on roff at the present? Someone somehow used to post USENET readership statistics in one of the news.* newsgroups.  I think they derived actual readership numbers from some NNTP servers, and then did some reasonable math to come up with total readership.  They would also list top posters for the top lists.

You could make REALLY crude guesstimates, but it would be nearly impossible to get real numbers short of asking every ISP newsprovider to track each of their users and report back. They probably did something like, there are x news providers, with y average users a piece, z% of their users read usenet and then look at the posting amounts of each newsgroup to get some idea of the popularity of various group’s readers. It’s probably a good estimate +-40-50%.      - Ken —     "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly,       and I did.  I said I didn’t know."     — Mark Twain

Response:

Someone with time on their hands might cruise the news.* groups to see if they still post such results. I found: http://metalab.unc.edu/usenetb-bin/to-group.pl?rec.outdoors.fishing.fly

Thanks.  On that site I found their explanation on how the readership is estimated… "Readers      Estimated total number of people who read this group, worldwide      There are two sources of error in this number. The number is      computed by multiplying the number of people in the sample who      actually read the group by the ratio of estimated network size to      sample size. The estimated total can therefore be biased by errors in      the network size estimate (see above) and also by errors in the      determination of whether or not someone reads a group. Assuming that      "reading a group" is roughly the same as "thumbing through a      magazine", in that you don’t necessarily have to read anything, but      you have to browse through it and see what is there, then the      measurement error will come primarily from inability to locate .newsrc      files, which can either be protected or moved out of root directories.      There is no way of measuring the effect on the measurements from      unlocated .newsrc files, but it is not likely to be more than a few      percent of the total news readers. "      - Ken —     "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly,       and I did.  I said I didn’t know."     — Mark Twain

Response:

Someone with time on their hands might cruise the news.* groups to see if they still post such results. I found: http://metalab.unc.edu/usenetb-bin/to-group.pl?rec.outdoors.fishing.fly Not that I have time on my hands you understand<g. — Charlie…

    chocolat, you da king uh da world!  and the source is located in a unc.edu file–unfreaking impeachable! wayno

Response:

Question:

I will be going to Alaska this summer and would like to fly fish for anything.  I am an avid hiker and will be hiking in Denali National Park, the Wrangell-st.elias National Park as well as the entire Kenai Peninsula and Prince William sound region.  Rivers that I can hike to and fish would be ideal.  Is there anyone who has been to that region that might have any information about what there is to fish for and where I could access the best spots on rivers. Tight lines, Brent

Response:

I will be going to Alaska this summer and would like to fly fish for anything.  I am an avid hiker and will be hiking in Denali National Park, the Wrangell-st.elias National Park as well as the entire Kenai Peninsula and Prince William sound region.  Rivers that I can hike to and fish would be ideal.  Is there anyone who has been to that region that might have any information about what there is to fish for and where I could access the best spots on rivers. Tight lines, Brent

You are hiking the entire Kenai and Prince Williams Sound. Are you sure you have a map that shows a scale? Anyway, I would be more worried about my boots then the fishing.  Walt in Juneau, AK.

Response:

I apologize for the confusion.  These are general areas that I am considering.  I only plan on going to Denali for a week and then one other specific place for a week.  I would love some input as to which areas would give me the best opportunities for good hiking and GREAT fishing in July.  I would want to fish for trout or salmon.  (I’m not picky). Any response would be helpful. Thanks, Brent – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I will be going to Alaska this summer and would like to fly fish for anything.  I am an avid hiker and will be hiking in Denali National Park, the Wrangell-st.elias National Park as well as the entire Kenai Peninsula and Prince William sound region.  Rivers that I can hike to and fish would be ideal.  Is there anyone who has been to that region that might have any information about what there is to fish for and where I could access the best spots on rivers. Tight lines, Brent You are hiking the entire Kenai and Prince Williams Sound. Are you sure you have a map that shows a scale? Anyway, I would be more worried about my boots then the fishing.  Walt in Juneau, AK.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I will be going to Alaska this summer and would like to fly fish for anything.  I am an avid hiker and will be hiking in Denali National Park, the Wrangell-st.elias National Park as well as the entire Kenai Peninsula and Prince William sound region.  Rivers that I can hike to and fish would be ideal.  Is there anyone who has been to that region that might have any information about what there is to fish for and where I could access the best spots on rivers. Tight lines, Brent You are hiking the entire Kenai and Prince Williams Sound. Are you sure you have a map that shows a scale? Anyway, I would be more worried about my boots then the fishing.  Walt in Juneau, AK. Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" <html &nbsp; <blockquote TYPE=CITEI will be going to Alaska this summer and would like to fly fish for <branything.&nbsp; I am an avid hiker and will be hiking in Denali National <brPark, the Wrangell-st.elias National Park as well as the entire Kenai <brPeninsula and Prince William sound region.&nbsp; Rivers that I can hike to <brand fish would be ideal.&nbsp; Is there anyone who has been to that region <brthat might have any information about what there is to fish for and <brwhere I could access the best spots on rivers. <pTight lines, <pBrent</blockquote You are hiking the <ientire Kenai and Prince Williams Sound.</i Are you sure you have a map that shows a scale? Anyway, I would be more worried about my boots then the fishing.&nbsp; Walt in Juneau, AK.</html At Denali call Glacier Expeditions toll Free 1-877-880-9045 they kn

Before you buy.

Response:

Question:

Reminds me of the time I hooked a fish in the dorsal fin.  I thought it was a monster because it pulled so hard, then I saw where it was hooked.  They sure can pull when hooked that way. Ernie

<snip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -What I did experience,which was unusual, on an Irish stream this summer was lassooing a brown- it rose to a small dry spider style dry. I struck, and thought I had hooked a whopper.When I got it in, I found the tippet had gone 360 degrees round the belly of a small  fish, and the fly had caught up in the tippet. I had dragged the fish side ways through the water! regards, Gillaroo.

Response:

there’s an easy way not to get tangled in the reeds.. don’t cast into them they have been using the same dropper system in Ireland and Scotland from time immemorial- so I don’t think you have to worry about using a new or specific leader/dropper material???  Gillaroo

Response:

I have tied bass flies with a weed guard by using a loop of heavy leader material that guards the hook point but will still hook an bass that hits it. Ernie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – there’s an easy way not to get tangled in the reeds.. don’t cast into them they have been using the same dropper system in Ireland and Scotland from time immemorial- so I don’t think you have to worry about using a new or specific leader/dropper material??? Gillaroo

Response:

Gillaroo, Here in NSW Australia we can only use 2 flies. Lake fishing it is common practice. I always tie the second fly off the bend of the first. A friend I often fish with ties a 6" dropper for his top fly (like your method). He seems to get hung up more on reeds etc than I do, but it does allow the top fly to swim properly. He catches far more fish on his top fly than me – like a %^&* 8lb brown two weekends ago! I’m considering changing to the 6" dropper system but fear too much tangling during casting – what sort of mono do you use – is stiff stuff preferable. Cheers John Knight Sydney FlyRodders’

Response:

We fish 90% of the time from the shore, hence the reed problem. It can also be a real bugger when trying to get land a fish and your second fly hooks up on a reed – that is one reason why some people here just use single wet flies. Do you really use a blood knot and tie the "bob" onto the tag? I can see it gives the nice 90 degree angle, but I wouldn’t have thought there would be much knot strength in the tag. Cheers John Knight Sydney FlyRodders’

Response:

Ernie, I’ve never seen a trout fly with a weed guard – I think they (often) take the fly too delicately and the weed guard would let them spit the fly. Cheers John Knight Stdney FlyRodders’

Response:

If anyone wants a sketch of how I tie my droppers, please email me direct- Ill be happy to send one. Gillaroo

Response:

John,    I use a six turn blood knot and have never had a blood knot come apart. The dropper is actually an extension of the last section of leader, so even if the knot came apart the dropper would still be connected to the line. Ernie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We fish 90% of the time from the shore, hence the reed problem. It can also be a real bugger when trying to get land a fish and your second fly hooks up on a reed – that is one reason why some people here just use single wet flies. Do you really use a blood knot and tie the "bob" onto the tag? I can see it gives the nice 90 degree angle, but I wouldn’t have thought there would be much knot strength in the tag. Cheers John Knight Sydney FlyRodders’

Response:

John,    I think if you read my post again you will see I said "bass flies". Ernie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ernie, I’ve never seen a trout fly with a weed guard – I think they (often) take the fly too delicately and the weed guard would let them spit the fly. Cheers John Knight Stdney FlyRodders’

Response:

Some snipped for brevity What I did experience,which was unusual, on an Irish stream this summer was lassooing a brown- it rose to a small dry spider style dry. I struck, and thought I had hooked a whopper.When I got it in, I found the tippet had gone 360 degrees round the belly of a small  fish, and the fly had caught up in  the tippet. I had dragged the fish side ways through the water!  regards,  Gillaroo.

Reminds me of the time I hog tied & landed a steelhead without hooking it.  It apparently went for the dropper, got the main part of the leader (where the dropper was tied to the tag of the blood knot)wrapped once around its jaw. Meanwhile the tippet made a full nelson around its pectoral fins (from forward under the left pec, over the back, from the rear under the right pec)with the point fly hooked around the main part of the leader. The dropper was hanging free about an inch from its jaw. Until I got it close, I couldn’t figure out why it was giving such a poor fight. Before you buy.

Response:

John,    I have never used them for trout either, but if I were fishing Streamers or minnow imitations I might try it.  They hit them hard. Ernie Harrison – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ernie, I know you said bass flies – I just don’t think bass fly style weed guards will work on trout flies. The only "weed guard" I’ve ever used on trout flies has been with hackle, by palmering a stiffer than usual neck feather up the hook shank, with a bigger diameter than the hook gape – e.g. a bristly wooly bugger. Regards John Knight Sydney FlyRodders’

Response:

Ernie, I’ve never seen a trout fly with a weed guard –

Dragon Fly nymph patterns sometimes have weed guards fashioned from hanks of Moose hair – the nymphs are fished down and dirty in the weeds and the hair keeps the hook point free of weed.

Response:

Ernie, I know you said bass flies – I just don’t think bass fly style weed guards will work on trout flies. The only "weed guard" I’ve ever used on trout flies has been with hackle, by palmering a stiffer than usual neck feather up the hook shank, with a bigger diameter than the hook gape – e.g. a bristly wooly bugger. Regards John Knight Sydney FlyRodders’

Response:

In the UK our standard set up for lake/loch/lough fishing would have the flies maybe 5 or 6 feet apart, with the ‘point ‘ fly tied to the point, and dropper flies tied to a dropper maybe 6- 8 inches long tied to the main leader  using a blood knot or similar so that they stand out at right angles to the main leader.  Maybe you experience foulhooking because your dry/ nymph combo is only inches apart- what we in the UK call a dropper and you do are slightly different animals.When I talk of a dropper I mean the piece of line 6-8 inches long coming off the main leader.I have not experienced any significant increase of foul hooking using ‘our’ system. What I did experience,which was unusual, on an Irish stream this summer was lassooing a brown- it rose to a small dry spider style dry. I struck, and thought I had hooked a whopper.When I got it in, I found the tippet had gone 360 degrees round the belly of a small  fish, and the fly had caught up in  the tippet. I had dragged the fish side ways through the water!  regards,  Gillaroo.

Response:

Question:

I’m learning how to flycast.  When I false cast I get a lot of circling loops in my leader. Is this just another form of tailing loops? What are the remedies? Thanks, Randy Kadish

Response:

   I believe those knots are refered to as wind knots. They come from your backcast. you shouldn’t hear a crack the whip sound. I try to stop and wait for a little bit on the backcast.I guess it’s a matter of timing. I hope this helps.                                                                     jpo – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m learning how to flycast.  When I false cast I get a lot of circling loops in my leader. Is this just another form of tailing loops? What are the remedies? Thanks, Randy Kadish

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I’m learning how to flycast.  When I false cast I get a lot of circling loops in my leader. Is this just another form of tailing loops? What are the remedies?

1.  Make the pickup strong and forceful.  This requires: 1b  Control of the line with the left hand.  It should not     flop up and down in the guides. 1c  Line reasonably straight, from fly to rod butt, before     pickup.  This is easiest on running water. 2.  All false casts, forward and back, should have the same amount of force from the hand and into the rod tip. Don’t add pressure on the forward cast.  (You don’t need it and it is likely to hurry the timing.) 3.  To keep the line aerialized as high as possible, stop the power stroke at the vertical.  (This avoids pulling the line lower in the sky.  Gravity is already there for free. 4.  To get the timing right, turn your head and watch the line as it unrolls high behind you.  The forward stroke should begin just as the line is straight and level, behind the rod tip.  Because both muscles and rod lag just a fraction, your brain should initiate the forward stroke when you see the aerialized line is straight and the leader beginning to unroll. 5.  Decide beforehand whether you are going to make one or two false casts.  You can add a third if needed (but beware of hurrying, which will spoil your rhythmic timing.)  No one with a modern rod needs more than three casts, and the more false casts you make the likelier that you will lose tempo. 6.  When learning to cast, rest often, say for a minute after every five or at most 10 casts.  Both muscles and brain need to be unfatigued to co-ordinate well (and you find fish by looking, at least in some waters.)   The aim is to get muscles and brain so adapted that you can put your fly where you want without even thinking of the cast.  This is done by reinforcing planned (conscious) good casts, and it takes scores of repetitions of good casts.  Every thoughtless bad cast interferes with this, i.e. cancels out more than one good cast. — |  Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs,  | |        Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734         |

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I’m learning how to flycast.  When I false cast I get a lot of circling loops in my leader. Is this just another form of tailing loops? What are the remedies? Thanks, Randy Kadish

ear as pick the line up.  The fly line goes shooting back and the ONLY WAY you can make an OPEN LOOP is that you need to drive your hand, the fist full of fly rod cork or the handle (?) is to drive that hand forward of your ear before you start to bring the loaded rod over driving the fly line to its target. Again:  1)  On the backcast always make sure your rod hand is behind your ear         2)  On the cast, always make sure your rod hand is forward of your ear. I suppose I could suggest something else for you to practice.   By using a section of ceiling in a large room, take a fly rod tip and string a tapered leader through it.  Practice casting with the TIP moving along and just below the ceiling as horizontal as possible.  Of course, it will  help if you tie a little piece of yarn on the tippet to help visually.   What this will do is this.  It should make you realize how much it takes to move the hand forward and back behind the ear in order to do what?         1)  To quickly remove the SLACK in the line before you turn the wrist over back and forth.         2)  Helps you define how much energy it takes to make an open loop.         3)  Helps define WHEN you should turn the wrist over after you slide the rod tip along the ceiling back and forth.         4)  Visually makes you realize timing. When you go back outside with the real thing, start watching your back casts also.  If you have a poor backcast you cannot make a purse out of a sows ear.  You cannot DROP the back cast.  This is why casting along a ceiling is so dramatically helpful.  If you can’t keep a line flowing along a ceiling you can’t do it outside.   If you don’t want to use a leader, use an eight foot length of thick yarn.  Two inches from the end tie one overhand knot where the fly should be.  This is an even better training aid.  You can rig up a short spinning rod for this if you want but a fly rod tip also works. Hope this helps.  I guarantee anyone, you will soon enough stop those trailing loops that put overhand knots into your tippets. Mr. G.

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George,    You would do better if you stuck to Gink and left the "Sauce" alone. You are going to have this guy twisted up like a pretzel. — Ernie Harrison Remove NOSPAM to send E-Mail Selling my Fly Fishing Books Go to: http://users.ccnet.com/~emh – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ear as pick the line up.  The fly line goes shooting back and the ONLY WAY you can make an OPEN LOOP is that you need to drive your hand, the fist full of fly rod cork or the handle (?) is to drive that hand forward of your ear before you start to bring the loaded rod over driving the fly line to its target. Again:  1)  On the backcast always make sure your rod hand is behind your ear    2)  On the cast, always make sure your rod hand is forward of your ear. I suppose I could suggest something else for you to practice.   By using a section of ceiling in a large room, take a fly rod tip and string a tapered leader through it.  Practice casting with the TIP moving along and just below the ceiling as horizontal as possible.  Of course, it will  help if you tie a little piece of yarn on the tippet to help visually.   What this will do is this.  It should make you realize how much it takes to move the hand forward and back behind the ear in order to do what?    1)  To quickly remove the SLACK in the line before you turn the wrist over back and forth.    2)  Helps you define how much energy it takes to make an open loop.    3)  Helps define WHEN you should turn the wrist over after you slide the rod tip along the ceiling back and forth.    4)  Visually makes you realize timing. When you go back outside with the real thing, start watching your back casts also.  If you have a poor backcast you cannot make a purse out of a sows ear.  You cannot DROP the back cast.  This is why casting along a ceiling is so dramatically helpful.  If you can’t keep a line flowing along a ceiling you can’t do it outside.   If you don’t want to use a leader, use an eight foot length of thick yarn.  Two inches from the end tie one overhand knot where the fly should be.  This is an even better training aid.  You can rig up a short spinning rod for this if you want but a fly rod tip also works. Hope this helps.  I guarantee anyone, you will soon enough stop those trailing loops that put overhand knots into your tippets. Mr. G.

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Question:

Hello: I am looking for the San Jose Flyfishing Club.  If you have any info, please send to me.  Tia…. Steve

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Hello: I am looking for the San Jose Flyfishing Club.  If you have any info, please send to me.  Tia….

They used to hold their meetings at the corner of Saratoga Ave. and Williams and occasionally would announce their meetings in the SJ Mercury.  They could also occasionally be found meeting at the Campbell "Perc" ponds on the weekend.  I understand they have a casting pond there now. John Fereira

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San Jose Flycasters hold their monthly meeting at the Senior Center at the corner of Payne and Saratoga on the second Wednesday of every month – next meeting is July 9. Many club members can be found at the Campbell Casting ponds located withing Los Gatos Creek Park. On Thursday nights there are a number of club members providing free casting instruction. bob sato — Dr. Robert K. Sato Catalytica Inc. 430 Ferguson Drive Mountain View, CA  94043   USA Voice:  (415)940-6375 Fax:    (415)960-0127

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Sorry – I forgot to include: Meetings start at 7 pm. bob sato – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – San Jose Flycasters hold their monthly meeting at the Senior Center at the corner of Payne and Saratoga on the second Wednesday of every month – next meeting is July 9. Many club members can be found at the Campbell Casting ponds located withing Los Gatos Creek Park. On Thursday nights there are a number of club members providing free casting instruction. bob sato — Dr. Robert K. Sato Catalytica Inc. 430 Ferguson Drive Mountain View, CA  94043   USA Voice:  (415)940-6375 Fax:    (415)960-0127

– Dr. Robert K. Sato Catalytica Inc. 430 Ferguson Drive Mountain View, CA  94043   USA Voice:  (415)940-6375 Fax:    (415)960-0127

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Question:

Thought you all might be interested in a new Fly Fishing Loop of websites. The loop is just getting started, but already has been well received. It’s called the: Fly Fishing Loop Located at: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~tsteele/FlyFishingLoop/ Any fly fishing related website can be in the Loop. This can include, personal home pages, commercial websites (such as a manufacturers with products or services that are fly fishing related), fly tying sites, fly fishing clubs, organizations, links pages, fly fishing publications or periodicals, fly fishing guides, fly fishing shops etc. If it is fly fishing related and has a website, it can be in the Loop. You can get more information, and sign-up online. It takes about 2 mins. Everything you need to be in the Loop will be emailed to you automatically, after you sign-up. I hope that will take a moment to visit the Loop’s home page. The loop is devoted to fly fishing and all things related to the pursuit of fish on a fly. It needs your support. Website that are in the Loop will get increased traffic from the Loop. Visitors to the Loop will be interested in one thing…Fly Fishing. For commercial sites and those in the trade, the benfits are obvious, you get exposure to a specific audience of FF visitors to the Loop. Personal sites, organizations and clubs will get increased website exposure in the Loop, and can use the loop to get their word out, to the right audience as well! The Loop also benfits from the diversity and range of content that the various members have on their sites. Throught the Loop you can navigate all member sites, easily. I hope you will consider joining the loop. Tight lines and light leaders, Thomas Steele The Steelhead Site http://steelheadsite.com

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Thought you all might be interested in a new Fly Fishing Loop of websites. The loop is just getting started, but already has been well received. It’s called the: Fly Fishing Loop Located at: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~tsteele/FlyFishingLoop/

Hi, Just tried and got no connection. Could you verify that the above is correct. Thanks. Michael — Mit der Dummheit kampfen Gotter selbst vergebens -Schiller-

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Just tried and got no connection. Could you verify that the above is correct.

Works for me … must have been server trouble. Looks very cool and is a neat concept. Thomas Steele The Steelhead Site

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Question:

Does Anyone know any good flyfishing rivers/lakes in or near Halifax, NovaScotia? I will be traveling there for about two weeks and would like to know if there even is flyfishing there. Please E-mail me back or just posting it up might be good if I ever see it again.                        Thanx JT

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Does Anyone know any good flyfishing rivers/lakes in or near Halifax, NovaScotia? I will be traveling there for about two weeks and would like to know if there even is flyfishing there. Please E-mail me back or just posting it up might be good if I ever see it again.                       Thanx JT

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Submit one or browse what we’ve got!!! http://www.sklarew.com/vaflyfish/reports/index.html

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Submit one or check out what we have!!! http://www.sklarew.com/vaflyfish/classifieds/index.html

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Please stop by and add your link to our "Add-a-link" section!!! http://www.sklarew.com/vaflyfish/index.html (Netscape 2.0) http://www.sklarew.com/vaflyfish/aol.html (non Netscape Users)

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Stop by our site, add you links, browse our classifieds and Virginia Reports, leave us your comments!!! www.sklarew.com/vaflyfish for netscape users www.sklarew.com/vaflyfish/aol.html for other browsers

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I’ve been out with a pulled back for over one month now!  I pulled it setting up my research project up in the Blue Ridge.  How’s the fly fishing going in VA?  What hatches have come off?  Any successful fishing reports? Thank, steve

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Well, smallmouth fishing in the northern half of the state has been pretty lame due to an unusually wet spring and high water. But I had a great day in May catching native brookies in Shenandoah National Park! Scott W.

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Fishing has gone from poor to worse here at least in northern parts of Virginia since Memorial day. We’ve had record rains and flash flooding. Fishing was fairly good for a short spell about a week ago, but then the rains hit AGAIN!!! Keith in Waterford, VA

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Question:

Is it just me or is sea kayaking under going a rapid de-evolution ?    I can think of no other sport that is racing back to the future like it.   Skin boats,  thin wood paddles Greenland training techniques this stuff has been in use for 10,000 years .   Can any modern R.D dept. hope to come up with any thing that can withstand that test of time?

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Is it just me or is sea kayaking under going a rapid de-evolution ?    I can think of no other sport that is racing back to the future like it.   Skin boats,  thin wood paddles Greenland training techniques this stuff has been in use for 10,000 years .   Can any modern R.D dept. hope to come up with any thing that can withstand that test of time?

 I would’nt go so far as calling it a "de-evolution", the same thing happens with just about every sport out there – equipment becomes more and more sophisticated and technologicaly advanced. The original creation that started the whole process becomes lost to history. Just because I want to build a Baidarka doesnt mean I want to hold the rest of the world back – I just want something different – something that you just dont see very often, but is also recogizable as a part of past history – which is what makes it so fun. This is the reason I fly fish instead of using the latest in bait casting reels(but I use both), I also shoot a recurve bow(but I also own a compound), and I shoot black powder ( but I also have the most modern of arms). I’d be willing to bet that the modern R&D shops can and do design kayaks and canoes that are light years more efficient and durable than past boats, but evolution is the way of the world, and what better way to evolve than to look back to the past to plan for the future?

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