Question:

Well Ernie, that is very flattering, but before anybody gets the wrong idea, there are a great number of things about which I know little or nothing. I know a lot about fishing, simply because I was always crazy about  it, and I have spent a great deal of time either doing it, or studying it. I rather fear that my knowledge in various other spheres is severely lacking. Just as well we don

Question:

I’m planning a familiy trip down to Islamorada this summer. Since I’m on a budget I can unfortunately only afford to hire a guide for one day. How good are the opportunities for doing some solo wade-flyfishing in the Islamorada area. Too vast and crowded? Tips are appreciated, Tor Larsen

Response:

Spme State Parks w/ood access South of there

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Rook2, I was there last year and had a fine time fishing from the road side. If you head on out towards Key West not very far from Islamorada there’s a number road side areas you can fish where the boat cuts come close to shore. I pulled two fine bone fish out this way. Good luck – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Spme State Parks w/ood access South of there

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Question:

Looking for sources of info and owner feedback on any aircraft along the lines of the Cessna 180; i.e., taildragger (not necessary, but an option if it is less expensive), good useful load, reasonable speed, 4-6 passenger, simple (no retracts, CS prop OK), IFR.  Usage would be flights from Minneapolis/St.Paul area to northern Minnesota and Canada, with occasional flights out west (Montana, Wyoming), Michigan, Arkansas, and the Carolinas.  Possible flight into grass and dirt strips.  Need good useful load because very few of my fishing buddies are under 200 lbs. each, and I want to fill as many seats plus gear as possible. Keith Miesel Other similar aircraft along these lines would be considered.  I’m just trying to identify my options.

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For carrying a planeload of 200-pounders, plus fishing gear (and I know how that can add up!), you may be looking for a Cessna 206. Great load carrying, plus a big door. The Cessna 180, while it will physically carry a big load, is (at least in the early years) not legal with big loads.  Check gross weight and useful load figures.  Aviation Consumer’s big, two-volume book set of airplane reports (can’t remember the name, and it’s at home) is worth every penny. Great detail on all the popular GA planes. — Tom Gresham, host http://www.guntalk.com (for Gun Talk Radio Show)

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A Cessna 185 will actually outlift a 206 on poundage, but the big door on the 206 makes for easier loading of gear.  My rule is, if you are carrying fannys, use a 185, if cargo, use a 206.  Rough fields also favor the 185. BTW, look at Kenmore Air Harbor’s STC for the 180…they have a 250 pound GW increase weight kit and  40 HP enhancement kit.  They call it a "Super 180". For carrying a planeload of 200-pounders, plus fishing gear (and I know how that can add up!), you may be looking for a Cessna 206. Great load carrying, plus a big door. The Cessna 180, while it will physically carry a big load, is (at least in the early years) not legal with big loads.  Check gross weight and useful load figures.  Aviation Consumer’s big, two-volume book set of airplane reports (can’t remember the name, and it’s at home) is worth every penny. Great detail on all the popular GA planes. — Tom Gresham, host http://www.guntalk.com (for Gun Talk Radio Show)

– Walt Johnson Lockheed Martin Federal Systems                Software Cost Engineering Owego, New York 13827                                VOICE(607-751-2158)

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Response:

Looking for sources of info and owner feedback on any aircraft along the lines of the Cessna 180; i.e., taildragger (not necessary, but an option if it is less expensive), good useful load, reasonable speed, 4-6 passenger, simple (no retracts, CS prop OK), IFR.  Usage would be flights from Minneapolis/St.Paul area to northern Minnesota and Canada, with occasional flights out west (Montana, Wyoming), Michigan, Arkansas, and the Carolinas.  Possible flight into grass and dirt strips.  Need good useful load because very few of my fishing buddies are under 200 lbs. each, and I want to fill as many seats plus gear as possible.

If you are serious about the 4-6 passengers in the 200+ lb category plus fishing gear, plus normal baggage then you are out of the 180/185/206 class of airplane. That kind of requirement is only going to be met by something like a Beaver or an AN-2! BTW the price range of the 180 is $60-85K, the 185 is $75-95K and the 206 will run you from $80-110K. A good Beaver will set you back $175K and the AN2 while cheap to buy is REAL expensive to operate, (in the 40GPH range + a lot of oil & maint). Then you have the problem with certification, insurance etc. Are you sure you want to do this? If you can pare your seat requirement down to a max of three passengers and you, then the 180 with little baggage or a 185 with a little more or a 206 with 5 seats and almost no baggage or fuel might get you by. Or….with a 180/185 or get everyone to a nearby spot on a commercial flight and ferry them over to the fishing hole in two or three loads. Or better yet….get a floatplane and have everyone fly to someplace close and take them to a REALLY good fishing hole! R Wood in Alaska

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Question:

Please teach a newbie gardener the basics of dividing irises.  The specific Iris I have in mind is Siberian, I think, tall with lance-shaped leaves and small blooms.  The plant itself is doing wonderfully (20 blossoms and counting), but I’ve noticed that it’s taken on a circular growing pattern, with a blank space of soil at the center.  I understand that this is a sign that the plant needs to be divided and/or moved. How do I cut the rhiozomes to divide the plant? When is the best time of year to perform the operation? Do irises need to be moved to fresh soil occasionally?

Siberian irises have bulbs, not rhizomes.  You divide them [in the fall] by cutting off all the leaves about 4" above ground level, digging up the entire clump, gently splitting the bulbs apart, and replanting at about 6" depth, and 8-12" separation.  To avoid fungus problems, I generally wash and dry the bulbs before replanting, and dust with sulphur, but this is completely optional. To divide rhizomatous iris, cut off the leaves, dig up the clump, wash off the soil, and, using a sharp knife, divide the rhizomes into groups of 1-3 leaf bundles.  Dry very well, and dust with sulphur before replanting, with the rhizomes above the ground.  [In very cold areas you put winter mulch on the rhizomes after the ground freezes, and remove it in early spring.] As long as you are fertilizing regularly, your irises don’t need to be moved to a new location. Chris Owens

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Siberian irises have bulbs, not rhizomes.

  Did you mean the reverse?  Mine grow in expanding grass-like clumps of nearly solid root mass so it’s hard to tell.  Looks more like a rhizome.   With healthy clumps of Cesears Brother, I’ve heard it recommended to dig them up and run over them with a car until you get them broken into managable clumps.  It’ll take a pick ax to get mine out of the ground. — Lloyd Fortney http://www.phy.duke.edu/~fortney/ has links to my garden, flower, flyfishing, and travel JPEG images as well as teaching, research, and stuff like that

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Please teach a newbie gardener the basics of dividing irises.  The specific Iris I have in mind is Siberian, I think, tall with lance-shaped leaves and small blooms.  The plant itself is doing wonderfully (20 blossoms and counting), but I’ve noticed that it’s taken on a circular growing pattern, with a blank space of soil at the center.  I understand that this is a sign that the plant needs to be divided and/or moved. How do I cut the rhiozomes to divide the plant? When is the best time of year to perform the operation? Do irises need to be moved to fresh soil occasionally? Thanks in advance, Doctor Fang

Response:

Please teach a newbie gardener the basics of dividing irises. The specific Iris I have in mind is Siberian, I think, tall with lance-shaped leaves and small blooms.  The plant itself is doing wonderfully (20 blossoms and counting), but I’ve noticed that it’s taken on a circular growing pattern, with a blank space of soil at the center.  I understand that this is a sign that the plant needs to be divided and/or moved.

Sounds like a siberian, if the leaves are half an inch or so in width. Divided, yes perhaps.  It may be a good idea, but isn’t absolutely necessry if it’s blooming well and you’re satisfied with the appearance.  20 blooms isn’t a lot for a clump. How do I cut the rhiozomes to divide the plant?

Cut the foliage back to about 6" on the part you are about to cut away, so you can see what you are doing.  Take a sharp pointed spade and make a vertical cut through the ring.  Drive the spade down as deeply as you can.  You want to get as much root as possible.  Siberians are very deep rooted.  Move along the ring to include as many crowns as you want, or perhaps about 6" and make another cut.  If necessary cut also along the outside edge to free the section up and then remove it.  Take as much soil with the division as possible, to minimize root disturbance. Some people advocate doing this to a long established clump every year, removing 1/4 to 1/3 of the clump.  Each year you take the oldest remaining section.  When a section is removed it’s replaced with fresh enriched top soil.  This goes a long way to eliminating the ring effect and leaves a large established clump mostly intact to look good and still bloom well the next year. When is the best time of year to perform the operation?

Siberians are tough.  When it’s finished blooming you can divide it.  The foliage should be cut back (as above).  Keep the new division very well watered for at least several weeks to help them re-establish.  If you don’t want or haven’t room for the divisions send them to me! Do irises need to be moved to fresh soil occasionally?

No, but they grow more vigorously in soil that hasn’t grown iris before or in many years.  Iris give off a substance which acts as a growth inhibitor. Dennis Mathiasen Central NY Zone 4b

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Question:

Anyone have experience using sidefinding transducers on fishfinders? I see that Apelco, Bottomline, Humminbird and perhaps others make them. Do they do a decent job seeing targets and structure near the surface, without undue interference from shore or surface? I do a lot of inshore flyfishing, am usually fishing in the top 10 feet or so of water. Some people (maybe including me — my jury’s out) may find issues of enjoyment and perhaps sportsmanship weighing against using such transducers, but for the moment I’m just wondering how good the technology is. — Mark Parsons

Response:

I had been very sceptical about the accuracy of any fish finding device period, until I picked up a bottom line Fishing Buddy II, which I mainly bought for depth finding and temperature readings, more than actually "fish " finding. Then on one outing to a new lake, a friend and I clamped this thing on his canoe, and I tried the side finding mode. Wow, there were no fish rising, but every time I cast to the indicated area, I got a strike! Being new to flyfishing at the time, I didn’t land all that many of the fish, but I was amazed at the accuracy of the information, especially since all the brookies were small (4"-10"). Now I’m sure this unit isn’t really any better than any of the others out there, but I now believe that electronics, when properly used can be a great deal of help.        Mike

Response:

Anyone have experience using sidefinding transducers on fishfinders? I see that Apelco, Bottomline, Humminbird and perhaps others make them. Do they do a decent job seeing targets and structure near the surface, without undue interference from shore or surface? I do a lot of inshore flyfishing, am usually fishing in the top 10 feet or so of water. Some people (maybe including me — my jury’s out) may find issues of enjoyment and perhaps sportsmanship weighing against using such transducers, but for the moment I’m just wondering how good the technology is. — Mark Parsons

Mark-         I also spend alot of time in fairly shallow water 10-12′ or less, and find the sidefinder to actually be of more use then the down finder. Granted you do get some false hits occasionally, but the sidefinder helps me to determine if I am in a populated area better then the downfinder in this shallow water. In deeper water I might expect the opposite.. -Dan-

Response:

Mark Parson writes: Some people (maybe including me — my jury’s out) may find issues of enjoyment and perhaps sportsmanship weighing against using such transducers, but for the moment I’m just wondering how good the technology is.

I also wonder about the use of fishfinders while fly fishing. It sort of rubs me wrong to consider doing it … but I’d sure like to not waste a lot of time blind casting to empty areas devoid of fish. Has the fly fishing puritan ethic cut too deeply here? Are there any other fly fishermen using fish finders … was there any guilt involved … yea, I expect some flames on this … but I’m curious if anyone else is going thru the mental gymnastics of attempting to incorporate some technology and also understand the why of the seeming guilt. Bob Vorel

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I own a Fishing Buddy II which can be attached to my float tube, it has helped with depth and temps, but I have had a hard time placeing much confidence in it’s  fish detecting feature.  I have found the audible tone it emits very intrusive.  It also  seems to hang my flyline alot.  If it dropped to the bottom of the lake tomorrow     I wouldn’t buy another. Simple is Best.                                           Tight Lines

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Hi,   When I hear someone commenting "that’s cheating" when refering to sonar units, I ask them if they had the oppertunity, would they stand on a tall overlook and see the fish in the water before fishing it…   We were using sonar on floattubes 15 years ago and by directing the transducer by hand, we could look under structure and "sidefind". Too bad we thought it was public domain and didn’t patent it ;^(   Interpretation of the screen is the hard part for most anglers. Jim Jim, Nevada Jim’s Outdoor Sports, Elko, NV

Response:

Anyone have experience using sidefinding transducers on fishfinders? I see that Apelco, Bottomline, Humminbird and perhaps others make them. Do they do a decent job seeing targets and structure near the surface, without undue interference from shore or surface? I do a lot of inshore flyfishing, am usually fishing in the top 10 feet or so of water. Some people (maybe including me — my jury’s out) may find issues of enjoyment and perhaps sportsmanship weighing against using such transducers, but for the moment I’m just wondering how good the technology is. — Mark Parsons

I have used the Hummingbird sidefinder.  It helps find structure, but I thought thought it was pretty funky.  It spotted fish (big salmon) when there were no fish there, and the distances seemed to be off by a large margin.   The bottom finder was great. -Burton — L. Burton Hawley          alias hawleyb(at)juno.com 2330 NW Hummingbird Corvallis, OR

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Question:

It’s spring. i.e. steelhead runs in Michigan.  I am a student, who for the first time since comming to collage had time to go fish the early spring runs off of Lake MI.  Any tips on how I can rig my 5-wt. line (leader & tippet) to even have a chance landing a steelhead with my brookie/brown rod? Thanks in advance, this group

Hi Bri, That was easy to say because that’s what I call my son Brian.  You con do OK with your 5wt. on most steelhead.  I have landed numerous steelhead on my 4 wt. Orvis Western Spring Creek (fast action).  I prefer to use a reel with a disc drag so I can provide some resistance to the running fish.  They like to run up and down the stream.  Get yourself a steelhead leader, they have less taper and finish up at about 0x or 1x at the tip and have a high breaking strength.  The tippet should be 10-15 lb. test, depending on how big a fish you expect.  I have landed several steelhead on my trout gear fishing a stonefly nymph on 3x Orvis Super Strong Tippet which is rated at 8.5lb test. I had a big 20 lb’er on this set up one day and got him close to me a couple of times until the last trip when he got too close to the rocks on shore.  He decided at that point he wanted to go back the the Columbia River.  Down the rapids he went, and pop went my tippet. Then you will need to find out from a shop near where you are going to fish what flies are working.  Then away you go!  One thing to remember, you have got to put the fly in front of his nose.  That frequently means split shot, sink tip lines, or shooting heads. Good luck, -Burton — L. Burton Hawley         2330 NW Hummingbird Corvallis, OR

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It’s spring. i.e. steelhead runs in Michigan.  I am a student, who for the first time since comming to collage had time to go fish the early spring runs off of Lake MI.  Any tips on how I can rig my 5-wt. line (leader & tippet) to even have a chance landing a steelhead with my brookie/brown rod? Thanks in advance, this group has helped my out before and I’ve learned a ton since ‘joining the group’. Bri

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Question:

Whats the best model/brand fly line? (wf5-floating)

Response:

Whats the best model/brand fly line? (wf5-floating)

My vote is for the Ultra 3 by Scientific Anglers. Take Care,

Response:

Whats the best model/brand fly line? (wf5-floating) My vote is for the Ultra 3 by Scientific Anglers.

Considering price as well, Cortland 333 (2nd choice 444) — |  Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs,  | |        Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734         |

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I don’t know what the best line is but I can tell you to stay away from Courtlands Lazer Line.  I’ve got a DT5F that casts great….unfortunately it floats like a brick.  If I wanted a sinking line I would have bought one.  

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: Whats the best model/brand fly line? (wf5-floating) I am about to try out a WF6-F Mastery XPS.  Several fishing buddies and acquaintances think it is "the best". Cortland 444 lines last forever.  Cortland 444 SL lines tend to get sticky.  The Masterline series from Great Britain is not bad. — Burnaby, BC

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Whats the best model/brand fly line? (wf5-floating)

Hello William,         There are many good fly lines available to the angler today.  All of them have attributes that may or may not be what you are looking for. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the cortland lines.  The SL lines float well and sag very little in the eyes of your rod.  The Lazer lines have small dimples in the texture,(much like a golfball) to give you the maximum distance.  My favorite line is by Scientific Anglers.  It is the Mastery XPS.  It  is a supple line allowing great control.  Not a distance line, but I am not a distance guy.  You should go into your local shop and have them explain these subtleties. They may even haave these lines available for you to cast.  Good Luck. Paul J.

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Question:

Anyone know of a mail-order source for 8 millimeter diameter pom-poms to use in making egg pattern flies?  (I believe 5 are smaller and 10 larger than the real thing – a king salmon egg.) Also – what are favorite colors for these things?   Thanks.

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I’ve bought white 8mm pom poms at a fabric store called Jo-Ann Fabrics. I’ve used RIT dyes to get colors such as chartreuse and Orgeon Cheese (be sure to use a vinegar bath after dying to make it colorfast).  These two colors have been the most effective for me on the Salmon River in NY.  I then insert the hook through the pom pom, making sure it enters perpendicular to the inner thread.  A small bit of thread wrap in front of and behind the pom pom holds it in place.  A hot glue gun will do the same, but it gets a bit messy.  Good luck.

Response:

Anyone know of a mail-order source for 8 millimeter diameter pom-poms to use in making egg pattern flies?  (I believe 5 are smaller and 10 larger than the real thing – a king salmon egg.) Also – what are favorite colors for these things?  

Hi- Ben Franklin’s craft stores carry pom poms and will mail order. Get the white ones and dye them to your specs. Purple, lime, flame and peach will round out your selection. Don’t ask why steelhead and trout like these colors . . . just remember they do not percieve colors as humans do (they see UV and IR as well as the colors we see). 3mm is perfect trout and kokanee size roe. I’d guess 8mm is king salmon size but honestly don’t know and I doubt if the fish care.    Tight lines, Ralph —

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Just to let you know – those seemingly fancy eggs with protruding mylar tags are available in most of the craft stores way up here in Canada, but I have only seen them in 10mm. Being something of a beginner, I first purchased these lettle gems from a tackle shop, and could have bought an equivilant weight of gold for the same price. In the craft shop they are 5cents each and available in all sorts of colours – which means that if you are slow off the mark, purple will be the only colour remaining. Good Luck – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone know of a mail-order source for 8 millimeter diameter pom-poms to use in making egg pattern flies?  (I believe 5 are smaller and 10 larger than the real thing – a king salmon egg.) Also – what are favorite colors for these things?   Orange and peach.  Those hand-tied from glow-bug yarn have a nicer, translucent look than those made from pom-poms. — -Wayne Trzyna I’d be <amazed if chinooks were selective enough to hesitate to take a 10mm pompom because it was 2 mm larger than the real thing.  Go with the 10’s if that’s what you can find.  Be sure you check the local craft and fabric stores.  If they have them, you’ll save a bundle.  At least you would here in Oregon, where you’re fishing egg flies strictly along the bottom, and catching rocks a lot.  What I haven’t seen, other than in fly shops, though, are the pompoms with the tiny bits of protruding mylar. If that’s what you really want, I’m afraid I have nothing to offer. Tight lines, Greg Metcalfe

– << Allan Hyggen   << <<          <<

Response:

Just to let you know – those seemingly fancy eggs with protruding mylar tags are available in most of the craft stores way up here in Canada, but

Note:  I conducted an off-the-cuff study one day, with some Alaskan Rainbows feeding behind spawning chum salmon.  The rainbows would approach the "fancy protruding mylar" egg patterns, scope ‘em out, then turn away. But they would readily take similar pom-poms without the protruding mylar. I think the protruding mylar catches more fishermen than fish. — -Wayne Trzyna

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Note:  I conducted an off-the-cuff study one day, with some Alaskan Rainbows feeding behind spawning chum salmon.  The rainbows would approach the "fancy protruding mylar" egg patterns, scope ‘em out, then turn away. But they would readily take similar pom-poms without the protruding mylar.

…and they would take eggs hand-tied from glow-bug yarn more readily than either type of pom-pom. — -Wayne Trzyna

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Question:

Anyone have any tips on flyfishing for Mooneye in the Caledonia, Cayuga area of the Grand River. Many Thanks in Advance — gp

Response:

Anyone have any tips on flyfishing for Mooneye in the Caledonia, Cayuga area of the Grand River.

My experience on the Ottawa R. has been: 1 — can be caught only when rising to some sort of a hatch (otherwise live deep, it seems.) 2 — need fine tippets and matching at least size of natural. 3 — feed in schools but are easily scared;  when you wade towards a school they sheer off;  you have to wait until they come within casting range. — |  Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs,  | |        Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734         |

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Question:

Does any one have any info on landlock flies?techniques they would like to share It would be greatly apreciated.                                         Adam Ford

Response:

 (Adam Ford) writes: Does any one have any info on landlock flies?techniques they would like to share It would be greatly apreciated.

Standards: 1–streamers that imitate smelt, in rivers in spring (when smelt spawn) and trolling in lakes all year, 2–small Muddlers in white water, 3–matching the hatch of dries or nymphs, when trout-like feeding can be observed, 4–big nymphs in deep pockets (Charles Brooks style). —  |          Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Rd., Carlsbad         |  |        Springs, Ont., Canada K0A 1K0; tel: (613) 822-0734       |  |  "What I’ve always liked about science is its independence from |  |  authority"–Ontario Science Centre (name on file) 10 July 1981 |

Response:

Adam, Joe Jack who lives here in Burke VA introduced to me to spring fishing for Landlocks in Maine at Wheaton’s Lodge on East Grand Lake (Canadian Border).  We fished with "tandem" streamer flies.  These are large streamers with a second trailing hook to get the ones who "short strike" the fly.  He also ties single hook versions for the rivers.  The tandem flies are "trolled" from a canoe with your fly rod and about half of your fly line out the back of the canoe.  He sells flies whoesale and retail.  Contact me separately for his phone number.  Wheaton’s Lodge was great.  I had my own cabin with 3/4 bath, wood stove and 3 home cooked meals a day for $75/day.  Guides are $115/day for 2 fisherman.   Boat and motor can be rented for $35/day.  I can’t wait to go back. Bill A.

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This past summer I did some trolling with flies for landlocked salmon in Maine in July.  We trolled with lead core lines to get down 20+ feet.  I used and old bamboo bait rod and antique pflueger summit bait reel.  You don’t get as good a fight with the lead core but you can still get down to the big ones in the lakes with flies.  We used tube flies tied on copper tubes.  These were new to me but I think they’re really cool.  We tied standard traditional streamer patterns on them and strung them on a short shock tippet attached to a small treble hook.  Use a plastic tube (aquarium tubing) to make a releasable connector at rear of fly tube.  I tied a few strands of silver flashabou and some white marabou on the treble hooks.  Deadly!  My buddy makes his tube flies on heavier copper conduit tube, about 3/8" diameter and permanently attaches the treble with spring steel wire running through the tube,  truly lures, definitely not fly fishing be careful in special regulation areas.   Normally I stick with the real traditional patterns.  A great reference book is Trolling Flies for Trout and Salmon by Dick Stewart and Bob Leeman distributed by the Stephen Green Press Fessenden Rd. Brattleboro VT 05301 and Universal Vise Corp16 Union Ave, Westfield MA. 01085. E-Mail me if I can tie some flies for you or if you have any questions. Landlocks are the best!  Catch and release Dave Wood

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