Question:

WOW….somebody’s going to write in my name….. john – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Who do you trust?  What are you people arguing about?  Both Bush and Gore are four letter words and you’re going to get it no matter which you vote for. Clinton machine is dead in the water as is Gore who was every bit as much a liar as Bill is.  Difference is, during times of war they executed traitors didn’t they?  Gore was just as much responsible for selling America out to China as anyone.  Basically, if elected by the ignorant, the same crew will run this country from in the basement as before.  Yes, a few cosmetic changes but nothing you will ever notice. Gore will get more of your guns and freedoms to bear arms will be weakened ever more. Bush will get more of your last remaining forests, not that anyone here can do anything about it.  All of you can kiss Alaska Oil Reserves good bye for this state will have it’s heart ripped out for its oil. Basically, all of you are going to be Gored or Bushed.  You deserve what you get.  To stop this kind of idiocy, you need to abolish the Federal Reserve.  Have Congress buy them out.  They’re just a private investment company anyhow, raping America for money. Let’s all face it.  They’re BOTH lousy choices.  Vote for a change, at least.  Vote for the man that will leave your gun ownership alone and we know who that is because your guns are the ultimate remaining power that controls the government, one would think. Awe, nuts!  Back to fly fishing the muddy rivers due to clearcutting. — George G. Bastard Bamboo Fly Rods http://www.gink.com/ http://www.gink.com/chat

Response:

Who do you trust?  What are you people arguing about?  Both Bush and Gore are four letter words and you’re going to get it no matter which you vote for. Clinton machine is dead in the water as is Gore who was every bit as much a liar as Bill is.  Difference is, during times of war they executed traitors didn’t they?  Gore was just as much responsible for selling America out to China as anyone.  Basically, if elected by the ignorant, the same crew will run this country from in the basement as before.  Yes, a few cosmetic changes but nothing you will ever notice. Gore will get more of your guns and freedoms to bear arms will be weakened ever more. Bush will get more of your last remaining forests, not that anyone here can do anything about it.  All of you can kiss Alaska Oil Reserves good bye for this state will have it’s heart ripped out for its oil. Basically, all of you are going to be Gored or Bushed.  You deserve what you get.  To stop this kind of idiocy, you need to abolish the Federal Reserve.  Have Congress buy them out.  They’re just a private investment company anyhow, raping America for money. Let’s all face it.  They’re BOTH lousy choices.  Vote for a change, at least.  Vote for the man that will leave your gun ownership alone and we know who that is because your guns are the ultimate remaining power that controls the government, one would think. Awe, nuts!  Back to fly fishing the muddy rivers due to clearcutting.   — George G. Bastard Bamboo Fly Rods http://www.gink.com/ http://www.gink.com/chat

Response:

Question:

Yo Dave, I’m with you. And I know this guy is probably going to beat me up for getting out of line here, but I couldn’t help imagining Pat’s voice as Eddie G Robinson’s." See, I use only braided line, see. You use that mono and the fish is going to rub you out, see. N’yeah" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – "PAT" But I take it as an insult when you tell me I don’t have a clue. Look pards, I don’t know where you’re from, and don’t care really. ok lemme explain… i didnt mean to insult you i just thought it funny that you are telling a new jig man to forget the $150 curado he just bought and upgrade to 80 lb test.. he surely doesnt need that… you must agree that a new jig man who obviously isnt fishing for millions in prize money wouldnt need to go buy a $300 dollar set up with 80 lb test.. if he misses one fish a day who cares? Thats why its called fishing not catching! On to the next comment.. You misunderstood or misread what i wrote.. as it is quoted above i said that the name tuna should have been the first clue.. i said nothing about you being clueless.. yo might be a great fisherman but seems to me that you dispense tournament advice to an amatuer who is gettin interested in a type of fishing.. My last point.. the name "pards" might actually be taken as offensive.. i had nothing in my letter to you that was meant to be taken as a direct insult to you.. yet you reply to my email seems to not hold as much charecter!!! End of discussion. Dave

Response:

Amen, AJH.  They should have to put labels about Jigs being addictive.  :-) After you start sticking those big beauties on the jig-n-chunk, your hooked for life.  I used to only use a jig for a short time at the end of the winter season, but then I learned to catch bass on the jig-n-pig (usually zoom super chunks).  Now I use them all year through.  Swimming them through shoreline weeds is almost as much fun as top water fishing. Bassman

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I fish a jig and pig just like a plastic worm. I use a 3/16 or 1/4 oz black and blue jig (Strike King Bitsy Bug) with a Zoom swimmin chunk Sapphire blue trailer. Right now I am using 14lb hi vis mono, I have ordered 30lb test Berkley Fireline in the hi vis green. I too feel it’s very important to watch the line when fishing jig and pig and worms. I am trying the Fireline in hope of improving my hook set and maybe it will allow me to feel the bass bite. Once you catch a few bass on the jig and pig you become obsessed with it. Anybody want to buy 1200 powerworms. Also I remove about half of the fibers in the weed guard, I think it allows a better hook set. I have caught at least 12 bass on the swimmin chunk I have on now and it still looks good so you can one advantage it has over the worm. Stick with it you will get hooked

Response:

"PAT" But I take it as an insult when you tell me I don’t have a clue. Look pards, I don’t know where you’re from, and don’t care really.

ok lemme explain… i didnt mean to insult you i just thought it funny that you are telling a new jig man to forget the $150 curado he just bought and upgrade to 80 lb test.. he surely doesnt need that… you must agree that a new jig man who obviously isnt fishing for millions in prize money wouldnt need to go buy a $300 dollar set up with 80 lb test.. if he misses one fish a day who cares? Thats why its called fishing not catching!   On to the next comment.. You misunderstood or misread what i wrote.. as it is quoted above i said that the name tuna should have been the first clue.. i said nothing about you being clueless.. yo might be a great fisherman but seems to me that you dispense tournament advice to an amatuer who is gettin interested in a type of fishing.. My last point.. the name "pards" might actually be taken as offensive.. i had nothing in my letter to you that was meant to be taken as a direct insult to you.. yet you reply to my email seems to not hold as much charecter!!! End of discussion.

Dave

Response:

Me too. — Why is it called ‘Tourist Season’ if we can’t shoot them ?     Shawn

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’d like to hear more. We routinely fish with 1oz. jigs in less than 3′ of water.   I’ll explain later if anyone’s interested. What your car says about you – Ford Crown Victoria – "I enjoy having people slow to 55mph and change lanes when I pull up behind them" — Got questions?  Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

Response:

holy smokes…..thanks for the input. Keep em’ comin’ I had luck w/ one fish so far. 3 pounder. As soon as the thing hit the water BOOM had a 4" green tube as a trailer. That was it for the rest of the day….I guess i’m gonna keep on fishin’ keeping a open mind. Brian

Response:

"Dave" Adjusted his Orvis fly fishing cap, put on his topsiders, laid down his Harvard business journal and decided the world needed to hear this: The name , tuna blank, of your "Heavy" setup should have been the first clue that you are not correctly set-up for bassin’ Dave

Look pards, I don’t know where you’re from, and don’t care really. I fish for money.  I described my tournament setups.  Why?  Lemme s’plain. First off, you gotta realise, we’re not throwing that jig on some rocky bank.   Three scenarios that I’ll explain, and maybe you’ll understand. 20′ deep matted hydrilla.  Use a minimum of a 1oz. jig.  Usually a 11/2 oz. when it’s really thick.  When that fish hits, if he moves laterally two feet, he’s gone. Lost, never to be seen again.  You must get him off the bottom and up through the matted grass instantly.  It ain’t gonna happen with 12 pound mono.  Period. Falcon lake, pitching into flooded mesquite trees.  VERY large, very strong fish.  They will stay in the thickest, nastiest part of the cover.  We used to use 30#mono, but you’d still get two a day lost by sawing off in the cover.   Skipping a jig under boat houses and docks.  Nasty place, lot’s of things to rub mono off on.  The braid ended the problem. Look Skippy, everyone goes fishing for a different reason.  If you think it’s more "sporting" to use light line, hey that’s just fine.  I’ve caught 120lb. Tarpon on fifteen pound line too.  It’s a different deal.  In a bass tournament, one lost fish is worth thousands of dollars. Literally.  If I can eliminate that from ever happening, then that’s what I’m gonna do.  But I take it as an insult when you tell me I don’t have a clue.  You spend one day on the lake with me, and you use your 6lb. mono.  Then let’s compare sacks at the end of the day.   End of discussion. Pat Goff

Response:

Hi Brian: Brain: "This is what i understand to date. You try to get it in the water next to or right in the cover making the least amount of noise you can. right?" Reply: Yes & No.  When flipping or pitching, you try and get as close as you can to your target without spooking the fish.  Often this will depend on water clarity and depth.  Depending on how close you are to your target depends on if you are flipping (0-15ft.) or pitching (15-40ft.).  Flipping is easy. Pitching on the other hand requires a lot of skill and practice.  The longer the rod the easier it is to perform both of these techniques. Your 6′6" rod is the minimum length you want to use for this technique.  A 7′6" or 8′ flipping (heavy) is the best rod for this technique.  But with 6′6" you should be able to pitch up to 25′ comfortably and quietly. Brian: "Here’s a scenario of a river we fish often. The edges of the river have thick weeds and brush back about 25 feet all seeming to be in 1-3 feet of water. NOW do i throw the jig into the brush? how far back do i throw it? OR do I just try to work the edges?" Reply: When I am fishing a weedbed, I first flip or pitch to the shade side of weed points, cuts, and holes (1′ to 3′ in) along the edge.  I position the boat parallel to the weedbed but 15′ to 20′ off the weedbed itself and work the entire edge.  Then I would slowly and quietly move my boat so that it was just touch the weeds and then flip or pitch to the holes that are further in the weeds and thoroughly fish the weedbed out. Brian: "When should i use different colors or weights of jigs?" Reply: As for color you need to know what the fish are feeding on.  If the primary forage is crawfish, then I would use black, brown, pumpkin, or watermelon. If the primary forage is shad then I would use black, white, or black/white blend or gray/black/white blend.  Clear water (crawfish) I use brown/black (jig skirt/trailer), pumpkin/green or pumpkin/orange, watermelon/brown, pumpkin/brown, pumpkin/black.  Clear water (shad) white/black (jig skirt/trailer), black/white, white/white, black&gray/white. As far as weight, I use small 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 ounce jigs for smallmouth around rock and gravel bottom (0-8 ft of water)and #101 or #11 pork trailers, or 5/16 ounce for deeper water #11 trailer.  I use 5/16 & 3/8 ounce jigs for largemouth along weedbeds, brush piles, etc.  I use 1/2, 3/4, and 1 ounce jigs for thick weeds or fishing deep structures.  But I believe we can all learn from Woo’s Classic victory.  So you can count on me trying 3/16 & 1/4 jigs on 8 pound test with #11 trailers in deeper water. Brian: "Do you flip it in there, let it sit for a while? bounce it off the bottom? swim it? Or are there any rules at all? Does the same things apply here the same as in all other tackle? Or is it just a convoy mission to get in there, scare the crap out of the fish, so he’ll bite and then bring him on home?" Reply: Tough question.  I personally start with flipping or pitching a jig into the cover and let it settle to the bottom.  Then I hop it a couple of times in place (1" to 3"), then a couple more moving hops (6"-12") and then I swim it out.  Remember to stop it just before the jig gets to the top and let it drop a second and then pull it.  Once I get a strike or two, I know what they want and I drop the other movements. Brain: "If somebody could be kind enough to explain the point of Jig-n-a pig. It would make me(i bet a bunch of other people too!) understand it better." Reply: There are many types of jigs, all for different types of cover and presentations.  Jigs can represent many different types of forage.  A simple hair jig looks more like a fish or larvae.  A larger hair jig with a bigger pork trailer can represent a mouse or small animal.  While rubber skirted jigs look more like crawfish.  Silicone skirted jigs can represent both fish and crawfish depending on color.  Let’s start with "Hair" jigs.  These are the oldest type and are super effective in clear water or when there is little cover.  The hair moves with the water action (waves) and applied action looks more alive (in my opinion) then do silicone skirts.  They are excellent in colder water situations.  Rubber and silicone skirted jigs and all the possible colors can be customized to match the forage in your area. I always custom blend my skirts to closely match the crawfish or forage fish in the lake I am fishing.  Example.  The crawfish in my home lake are light brown and have black and light orange patches.  So I start with a pumpkin colored skirt and add a strain or two of black and orange.  Then I put on a brown or orange trailer.  On the orange trailer I use a black permanent marker and dye it so that it looks mostly black with orange spots. The jig can be presented in a lot of ways to match the conditions you are fishing.  A light jig (1/8, 3/16, 1/4 ounce) with a #101 can represent a small fish or crawfish.  On clam water this setup will have a medium fall rate (about 1 to 1.5 seconds per foot)  The same jig with a #11 pork trailer will fall much slower (1.5 to 2 second a foot), and look like a bigger fish or crawfish.  The same jig with a #1 trailer will fall real slow (2 to 3 seconds a foot) and an even larger fish and crawfish. Brian: When jig hits the water does it really matter if it’s quiet or not?" Reply: Most of the time you want to flip or pitch this type of lure into the water as quietly as possible.  But there are times when splashing the jig can be beneficial (like in muddy water or at night or when casting the jig on top of thick matted weeds). Hopes this helps. — Craig Baugher

Response:

I’d like to hear more. We routinely fish with 1oz. jigs in less than 3′ of water.   I’ll explain later if anyone’s interested.

What your car says about you – Ford Crown Victoria – "I enjoy having people slow to 55mph and change lanes when I pull up behind them" — Got questions?  Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

Response:

Mobees, also some ‘good’ reading on the subject here: http://www.bassdozer.com/articles.shtml What your car says about you – Ford Crown Victoria – "I enjoy having people slow to 55mph and change lanes when I pull up behind them" — Got questions?  Get answers over the phone at Keen.com. Up to 100 minutes free! http://www.keen.com

Response:

 My "light" duty setup is a Quantum flipping rod 7′6" with 50lb. Oldham’s braid.  My "heavy" setup is a Waterloo double wall tuna blank-8′ with 80lb. Oldham’s braid. 50lb. Oldham’s braid. 80lb. Oldham’s braid.

I have caught 100+ pound sharks..the meanest fighter pound for pound.. on 20 lb test around very sharp coral heads..much sharper than logs…I understand needing heavy equipment but heavy in the bass world is 20lb test… if you need 50 or 80 pound test for a 10 pound bass what would you use for a real fish? When i am land locked as i am now i use 6 or maybe 12 pound test and have done very well with bass.  It seems funny to me that you need heavier test than i have ever fished in the ocean with to catch bass… maybe you could email me and explain to me why the overly strong choice in test line?  The name , tuna blank, of your "Heavy" setup should have been the first clue that you are not correctly set-up for bassin’ Dave

Response:

I fish a jig and pig just like a plastic worm. I use a 3/16 or 1/4 oz black and blue jig (Strike King Bitsy Bug) with a Zoom swimmin chunk Sapphire blue trailer. Right now I am using 14lb hi vis mono, I have ordered 30lb test Berkley Fireline in the hi vis green. I too feel it’s very important to watch the line when fishing jig and pig and worms. I am trying the Fireline in hope of improving my hook set and maybe it will allow me to feel the bass bite. Once you catch a few bass on the jig and pig you become obsessed with it. Anybody want to buy 1200 powerworms. Also I remove about half of the fibers in the weed guard, I think it allows a better hook set. I have caught at least 12 bass on the swimmin chunk I have on now and it still looks good so you can one advantage it has over the worm. Stick with it you will get hooked

Response:

Mobees drank two pots of coffee, kicked the dogs off the porch, ran the kids off on the yard, sat down and decided the world needed to hear: When should i use differnet colors or weights of jigs? do you flip it in there, let it sit for a while? bounce it off the bottom? swim it? Or are there any rules at all?

Ok, I’m going to get probably ripped for what I’m going to tell you, that’s fine, if they’ve caught half the fish we’ve caught on a jig, I’ll listen to ‘em. There are no "rules"  I’ll tell you that right now. The only rule is figure out what’s working right now. Don’t ever be afraid to experiment with colors, weight, trailers, and combinations. Ok, I’ll give you a few things I’ve learned, and discovered. 1. Use a heavier jig when the water’s hot.  When the water’s warm, the metabolism of the bass is way high, so you need to match the speed of you lure to the fish’s aggressiveness.  We routinely fish with 1oz. jigs in less than 3′ of water.   I’ll explain later if anyone’s interested. 2.  Cast it into the MIDDLE of the cover.  That’s where they live. 3.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  We use solid white, purple, chartuese, and other goofy looking colors.  Try lot’s of different trailers.  We’ll use an entire 8" lizard on the back of a jig with much success.   4.  Don’t be afraid to vary your presentation.  Somedays they just aren’t on the bottom.  Someday’s they want it fast, someday’s slow, they’ll tell you when you figure it out. 5.  Be a sniper.  You need to learn to put that jig into places you wouldn’t send your rabbit hound.   6.  Upgrade your equipment.  This isn’t a slam on your new rod&reel pards, but that’s what I’d fish an open rock bank with.  My "light" duty setup is a Quantum flipping rod 7′6" with 50lb. Oldham’s braid.  My "heavy" setup is a Waterloo double wall tuna blank-8′ with 80lb. Oldham’s braid. 7. Upgrade your jigs.  Anything you buy with an American made hook is second rate.  Anyone who’s ever used one would agree the Oldham’s eye-max is the finest jig made.  512-847-9202   There is much more to fishing the most effective quality bass lure made, and we’ll continue this discussion if anyone’s interested. Pat Goff

Response:

Brain, I will try to answer some of your questions, and I’m sure there are other here that can tell you more than I can.  You will find that certain presentations produce more bass than others.  It depends on the weather, water conditions, mood of the fish (which is affected by everything), and also on what you feel comfortable with. Often times bass will hit a jig/pig combo on the initial drop.  These are the blessed times when you can ease along a bank, pitching or flipping a jig to cover and set the hook as soon as the bait starts to fall.  But they don’t always do that.  Sometimes they will not touch it jig if you are moving it.  They prefer for it to just lay there wriggling on its own, then the move in a pick it up.  You just have to try it one way and if it doesn’t work change.  I have noticed that on high pressure days, or in extremely clear water, the bass seem to prefer that the lure remain motionless, at least as far as your input to the motion is concerned.  I have also done well in these conditions by using a heavy jig head and getting the reaction strikes as the bait rips past them on the way to the bottom.  In murky water or flowing water bass seem to like to hit the jig on the initial fall. But, as I mentioned before… sometimes it’s just trial and error. Some things that you should follow as basic rules will help you increase your catch on jig and pigs combos.  Always watch your line.  Try to allow your bait to fall straight down on a simi-tight line; not so tight that the lure can’t fall straight down, but tight enough to remain in contact with the lure as it falls.  Always watch your line.  Place the lure into the water as quietly as possible, especially in shallow or clear water conditions.  Always watch your line.  Put you lure as close to cover as possible.  The clearer the water or higher the barometric pressure, the closer and deeper in cover they tend to be.  Set the hook fast upon detecting a strike, whether by site or feel, don’t pause at all like you might do with soft plastic lures.  And, always watch your line. I don’t know if this gives you a detailed enough outline of how to fish the jig-n-pig, but just as with any other lure, it’s always up to the bass to dictate how they will bite, we just have to figure it out. Good luck and always watch your line, Bassman Duane Knight

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everybody. I wanted to figure out how to fish jig n a pig style w/ 20 pound test on a heavier pole w/ a baitcasting reel. So i went out and bought a Shimano Curado and a lightning rod med/heavy 6′6" rod. thru on a 3/8 jig w/ a matching pork trailer…great. that’s the easy part….Now, I’m practicing how to flip it different ways etc…Okay…thats about as far as i got.    This is what i understand to date. You try to get it in the water next to or right in the cover making the least amount of noise you can. right? Sounds easy enough.     Here’s a scenario of a river we fish often. The edges of the river have thick weeds and brush back about 25 feet all seeming to be in 1-3 feet of water. NOW do i throw the jig into the brush? how far back do i throw it? OR do i just try to work the edges? I know i should just get out there and use it,use it and use it some more, but i like to understand things, before i go out and fish. When should i use differnet colors or weights of jigs? do you flip it in there, let it sit for a while? bounce it off the bottom? swim it? Or are there any rules at all? Does the same things apply here the same as in all other tackle? Or is it just a convoy mission to get in there, scare the crap out of the fish, so he’ll bite and then bring him on home??? I need help w/ this. If somebody could be kind enough to explain the point of Jig-n-a pig. It would make me(i bet a bunch of other people too!) understand it better. When jig hits the water does it really matter if it’s quiet or not? So many ?’s…..Anyway thanks in advance for any info you can provide me! Brian

Response:

Hi everybody. I wanted to figure out how to fish jig n a pig style w/ 20 pound test on a heavier pole w/ a baitcasting reel. So i went out and bought a Shimano Curado and a lightning rod med/heavy 6′6" rod. thru on a 3/8 jig w/ a matching pork trailer…great. that’s the easy part….Now, I’m practicing how to flip it different ways etc…Okay…thats about as far as i got.    This is what i understand to date. You try to get it in the water next to or right in the cover making the least amount of noise you can. right? Sounds easy enough.     Here’s a scenario of a river we fish often. The edges of the river have thick weeds and brush back about 25 feet all seeming to be in 1-3 feet of water. NOW do i throw the jig into the brush? how far back do i throw it? OR do i just try to work the edges? I know i should just get out there and use it,use it and use it some more, but i like to understand things, before i go out and fish. When should i use differnet colors or weights of jigs? do you flip it in there, let it sit for a while? bounce it off the bottom? swim it? Or are there any rules at all? Does the same things apply here the same as in all other tackle? Or is it just a convoy mission to get in there, scare the crap out of the fish, so he’ll bite and then bring him on home??? I need help w/ this. If somebody could be kind enough to explain the point of Jig-n-a pig. It would make me(i bet a bunch of other people too!) understand it better. When jig hits the water does it really matter if it’s quiet or not? So many ?’s…..Anyway thanks in advance for any info you can provide me! Brian

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Question:

Found a nice little local lake here in Idaho that has special largemouth bass regulations.  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences. Not hitting leaches or whollybuggers, only small bass.

Pass Lake; black body, white wing, in size 12 or 14.  On any given cast it is virtually impossible to predict whether it will be a dry fly or wet.  Doesn’t matter; gills love ‘em!

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  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences. Not hitting leaches or whollybuggers, only small bass.

Here in northeast PA the rivers and creeks are really high due to lots of rain so i’ve been hitting the ponds and small lakes.   Been catching alot of nice gills with a size 8 black and red wooly worm. minkaz

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Went to my local trout stream today and didn’t have any luck at all with the trout, but when I put on a muddler minnow I tied I immediately landed 3 small fish: one nice sized bluegill/sunfish (I was shocked to even see one in this stream), and 2 fish I have no idea what they were. One was dark gray on top, a light gray/white on sides, and the cool thing about it was, all of its fins were a deep, beautiful bright red. Pretty little fish. Anyone know what it is?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Found a nice little local lake here in Idaho that has special largemouth bass regulations.  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences. Not hitting leaches or whollybuggers, only small bass.

Response:

Went to my local trout stream today and didn’t have any luck at all with the trout, but when I put on a muddler minnow I tied I immediately landed 3 small fish: one nice sized bluegill/sunfish (I was shocked to even see one in this stream), and 2 fish I have no idea what they were. One was dark gray on top, a light gray/white on sides, and the cool thing about it was, all of its fins were a deep, beautiful bright red. Pretty little fish. Anyone know what it is?

Mark You didn’t say where you were fishing, but if it was Maine, it could’ve been a blueback trout – very rare. Cheers Visit The Streamer Page at http://members.home.net/pcharles/streamers/index.html

Response:

I ‘ve had luck with bumble/honey bee imitations….fished kinda wet with a twitch now and then……john – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Found a nice little local lake here in Idaho that has special largemouth bass regulations.  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences. Not hitting leaches or whollybuggers, only small bass.

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Would that be Crane Falls near Bruneau?  I caught a 17" bass there last week.  I was using a black beadhead bugger.  When after ‘gills I usually use popping bugs in any color.  Fished around the shoreline. Don Burkes – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Found a nice little local lake here in Idaho that has special largemouth bass regulations.  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences. Not hitting leaches or whollybuggers, only small bass.

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I am in Idaho also, Boise, if we are thinking of the same resevoir, I have done very well with #10 damsel nymphs.  Haven’t fished it this year due to shoulder surgery, but I have heard some good reports.   Clint

Response:

Went to my local trout stream today and didn’t have any luck at all with the trout, but when I put on a muddler minnow I tied I immediately landed 3 small fish: one nice sized bluegill/sunfish (I was shocked to even see one in this stream), and 2 fish I have no idea what they were. One was dark gray on top, a light gray/white on sides, and the cool thing about it was, all of its fins were a deep, beautiful bright red. Pretty little fish. Anyone know what it is?

Where were you fishing? What was the body shape? What did the mouth look like? From the colors, I’m halfway guessing it to be a redhorse sucker. Vegetables aren’t food. Vegetables are what the food eats.

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bass regulations.  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences.

Actually, I had a similar experience this past memorial day. We went to a private campground with several large ponds that have been seriously overfished (or so we were told) and caught several stringers worth of fryers, and a good dozen 6"-7"ers as well. (Not to mention a few crappies and small bass) The most productive flies were various dry flies, but most of the bigger fish hit on fuzzy bumblebees fished wet. Mine had rubber legs, but they liked the legless variety just as well. The only large ones we caught on top hit on foam spiders, and grasshoppers. I have caught a few large ones on poppers and buggers, but for some reason they love the bumblebees. — <signature <! impressive references and witty saying goes here </signature Before you buy.

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Found a nice little local lake here in Idaho that has special largemouth bass regulations.  I also found that this body of water holds bluegill that are larger than the bass. Most are using rubber spiders to haul them in.  Does anyone have any other fly suggestions/experiences. Not hitting leaches or whollybuggers, only small bass.

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"Bluegill Fly Fishing and Flies" by Wilson will have a lot of suggestions for you, it’s basically all about large bluegill on the fly. Regards, Jeff

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My favorites are: a McGinty, a black gnat, a coachman. In that order, all wet, all size 8-10. If I’m catching too many small fish I switch to a small streamer. I like a Mickey Finn or a simple silver tinsel body with a squiral tail wing, both size 10.    Jim * 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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Question:

If you fish lakes for trout and other species, this is for you. Whether a pro or a beginner the articles will be welcomed. Fly patterns techniques, how-to and all the pitfalls when selecting equipment and where to use it and when. Best of all it’s FREE!

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Ok it’s free, but where the heck is the site? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you fish lakes for trout and other species, this is for you. Whether a pro or a beginner the articles will be welcomed. Fly patterns techniques, how-to and all the pitfalls when selecting equipment and where to use it and when. Best of all it’s FREE!

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Ok it’s free, but where the heck is the site?

I can’t help you with the URL for the original poster’s magazine (can’t find it myself), but there is a decent on line magazine at http://www.fishandfly.co.uk , if you’re interested. Brian Cass

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Ok it’s free, but where the heck is the site? If you fish lakes for trout and other species, this is for you. Whether a pro or a beginner the articles will be welcomed. Fly patterns techniques, how-to and all the pitfalls when selecting equipment and where to use it and when. Best of all it’s FREE!

Try http://www.rural.escape.ca/angling_north/ and click on "fly fishing".

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Try http://www.rural.escape.ca/angling_north/ and click on "fly fishing".

And it will be well worth your time — set aside an evening for it. Bob Sheedy knows more about flyfishing for trout in lakes than all the rest of us put together, and I suspect he catches more 20+ inch trout before lunch on the average weekend than I have caught in my life. Be sure to get a towel to wipe the drool off your keyboard when you see the pictures of the trout he catches.  Bob, if you’re listening, you want to set up a Prairie Clave sometime? Kevin

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What’s the address dude?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you fish lakes for trout and other species, this is for you. Whether a pro or a beginner the articles will be welcomed. Fly patterns techniques, how-to and all the pitfalls when selecting equipment and where to use it and when. Best of all it’s FREE!

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Question:

Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent

–I vote that you drive the Columbia river gorge to the mouth of the Deschutes river.   It’s exactly 100 miles from Portland, it should take you 1 and 3/4 hours.  In the latter part of July the summer fish will be there….hang on and be ready to swim, these are some of the meanest steelhead around. Sharp Hooks, Pat Holdzit Fishing Products Inc. http://www.holdzit.com Before you buy.

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Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent

Trillium Lake for stcok trout or Hagg Lake southwest of metro area for smallmouth bass.

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<< Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent How far from the Metro area would you go? "Reality is an escape for people who don’t (fly) fish"

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… "Reality is an escape for people who don’t (fly) fish"

"Reality is the leading cause of stress among those who are in touch with it."                        -Jane Wagner- — Ken Fortenberry

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Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent

I  would make the drive to the Deschutes.  Or an hour closer is the McKenzie.  If you just want to kill an hour or two, head down to where the Clackamas meets the Willamette and catch a few warmwater fish.  If you feel like chasing steelhead, then the Clackamas, Sandy, Salmon are all good. Now if you would just like to sit back and cyber-fish,  click this link and see if you can figure out how to catch the trout swimming across your PC monitor… http://www.AquaHabitat.com/cyberquarium.html There is one other alternative: build your own lake and catch great fish  right out your backdoor. enjoy! Before you buy.

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Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent I  would make the drive to the Deschutes.  Or an hour closer is the McKenzie.

The McKenzie is an hour closer than the Deschutes from Portland??? Isn’t the McKenzie down by Eugene?      - Ken

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent I  would make the drive to the Deschutes.  Or an hour closer is the McKenzie. The McKenzie is an hour closer than the Deschutes from Portland??? Isn’t the McKenzie down by Eugene?      - Ken

Yeah the McKenzie is at the north end of Eugene,  it takes me about an hour and a half to get there from portland, if the cops aren’t thick! Before you buy.

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Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area. Thanks! Brent

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Anyone out here from Oregon?  Would like to know a few good spots for flyfishing in the Portland Metro area.

The Sandy and Salmon rivers to the east and the Trask and Wilson rivers to the west.  Some will tell you to go to the Deschutes, but I have a problem calling a 3 hour drive being in the Metro area. There are a ton of rivers within a 3 hour drive. Good luck,      - Ken

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Question:

First, thanks for all of the replies I received. Tonight I found at least one of the problems and heat makes it worse, not better.  The MCT finish I’ve been used is much less viscous than regular epoxies so it will run easily.  My first and second coats are great, smooth and even.  I should stop there but the third coat always ends up clumping up at either end of the wrap and thin in the middle, giving the wrap a dumbell look, not the the "bubble" look of a factory finish.  I now know why. Where the foot of the guide is ground down, a ramp is formed.  On the first and second coats, the epoxy grips the threads and everything is fine.  On the third coat, the wraps are now covered and epoxy has nothing to grip.  Consequently it runs down the ramp created by the ground down portion of the guide foot.  When the rod is turning and the guide is up, the epoxy runs away from the guide.  When the guide rotates down, it runs toward the guide – result, very little left in the middle.  I realized this when I noticed a blob of excess epoxy flow down the ramp as the rod turned. Who would have thunk it. Cheers Visit The Streamer Page at http://members.home.net/pcharles/streamers/index.html

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I’ve noticed something interesting in the past year or so. The World Wide Web has matured in the following sense. It’s become the primary source for research on many topics, from the mndane to the obscure. It’s been clear for a few years that this would eventually happen, but now it has, and the WWW is just going to become more entrenched and comprehensive. Everyone with Internet access now has a first-class library in their home. In a year it will be a world-class library. In another year it may well be the only library. If you doubt this just go to www.google.com (the finest search engine on the Web) and type in a flyfishing knot. If you can’t find it, don’t complain — make a web site. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/ something bogus to avoid spam)

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Peter try this if you want the bulbous look with MCT finish. This method applies equally to first or later coats.  I always put on two coats at a time.  Put a very thin layer of the stuff, of even thickness over the guide wraps.  The only way to get an even coat like this is to use a very small amount of epoxy so that it forms a film around your wrap (otherwise any thicker amount of epoxy will flow and self level or worse, it may work its way to the edges and you’ll get the dumbell effect).  I coat the entire rod from butt to tip in one sitting with a very thin film of epoxy, just to get the wraps wet.  Since it is thin, and since this epoxy has an evaporative solvent, it begins to thicken faster than the epoxy mixture you have sitting in your mixing pot.  Once you’ve covered all the wraps, go back to the first one and apply a continuous bead of epoxy around the middle of each wrap. The first layer will be wet enough so that you get a smooth transition between this second application and the epoxy you applied several minutes earlier (basically it breaks the surface tension).  Applying a bead of epoxy like this over a completely dried, previous coat will cause the bead to have a "shoulder" and not be smooth (think water droplets on a piece of wax paper).  However, the undercoating by this time has become more  viscous than the second coating you have begun applying and so this second coating tends not to run all the way to the edges of the wrap.  Thus the undercoating is wet enough to break surface tension of the second coat but dried enough to keep the second coat from flowing too easily. The "ramp" that you mention, which is caused by the guide feet under the thread is of course even more pronounced with guide feet for conventional tackle.  Using the above technique, I could easily get the bulbous look on a musky casting rod I built last year.  It took about 5 coats however. For typical snake guides, it takes about 3 coats (well I guess that’s technically 6 coats, but the setup and wait time is not any longer than for three coats since I am always applying 2 coats at a time). MCT’s web site has been down for a while ( 1 week or so ).  I hope they are still in business.  Otherwise I’ll have to start buying Dale Clemen’s Crystal Cote (www.clemenstackle.com). Mu

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Peter try this if you want the bulbous look with MCT finish.

For further clarification, for that "continuous" bead of epoxy, it need not be applied with one continuous stroke of the brush.  "Continuous" just means that it is a connected ring of epoxy around the guide wrap.  Also, when applying the "bead", don’t let the brush touch the undercoat, just bring the tip of it close enough (2 – 3 mm) to the rod so that the epoxy flows off the brush and onto the rod.  A drying motor of less than 10 RPM is preferable for use with the thin finish.  Don’t worry if the excess epoxy flows to the underside of the wrpas as the rod is turning. If fact, that is what you want.  The "ramp" only exits on one side of the rod blank – if viewed down the shaft of the rod, the guide foot might subtend an angle of only a few degrees, the rest of the 360 degrees is just rod blank and the turning will minimize the flowing down the ramp. Mu

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Peter try this if you want the bulbous look with MCT finish. For further clarification, for that "continuous" bead of epoxy, it need not be applied with one continuous stroke of the brush.  "Continuous" just means that it is a connected ring of epoxy around the guide wrap.  Also, when applying the "bead", don’t let the brush touch the undercoat, just bring the tip of it close enough (2 – 3 mm) to the rod so that the epoxy flows off the brush and onto the rod.  A drying motor of less than 10 RPM is preferable for use with the thin finish.  Don’t worry if the excess epoxy flows to the underside of the wrpas as the rod is turning. If fact, that is what you want.  The "ramp" only exits on one side of the rod blank – if viewed down the shaft of the rod, the guide foot might subtend an angle of only a few degrees, the rest of the 360 degrees is just rod blank and the turning will minimize the flowing down the ramp. Mu

I was doing something along the lines of this and as the rod turned, I watched a bead of epoxy roll around onto the ramp of the foot then flow lengthwise toward the guide.  The reason for the dumbell then became apparent.  I’ve also tried the double application with so-so results on a different rod.  I’m going to give up on the factory bubble and be satisfied with a sealed wrap.  After two coats the rod look great, after three it looked like shit. Thanks for the explanation, but I know when I’m licked. Peter

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Question:

If your Business or Organization is involved with products or services directed to those having interest in Fly Fishing topics, Rx F Fish will glady provide your company with a Free Business Listing on its pages for the benefit of its viewers.   This information is available to our viewers from our On-Line Searchable Database on the Site Information Page at Rx F Fish.  Our web site is located at: http://www.rxffish.com/ Some limitations apply as to the types of businesses our database will accomodate so, be sure to read the comments on the forms page before submitting the information.  The forms page is located at: http://www.rxffish.com/data_input.htm Just send us your information and we’ll handle the rest. Thank You. Trent Roberson Rx F Fish — For your good health, Fly Fish    A datasource about Fly Fishing Topics           http://www.rxffish.com           Free Business Listings Companies serving the Fly Fishing Industry      http://www.rxffish.com/index2.htm           Affordable Web Services   Site Design — Hosting — Image Editing           http://www.flashport.net

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Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I don’t know what you are flying but when flying my instructors Turbo Aztec, six full grown american people and topped off I can hold 15,000 on one engine, well, or as long as my leg holds out. cg It is most certainly feasible and is done all the time. Wether done single engine or twin is really no consideration. In some respects, a single may be better than a twin because in a twin you need to carry much more fuel to feed two engines. That second engine does not give you any more chances to remain airborne, if one should fail, until such a time that you are back down to normal weights. During the early phases of the flight you would be so heavy with fuel that one engine could not possibly keep you in the air. Reinhard

First off, I would have to see that to believe it. Secondly, to fly OAK-HNL in a Turbo Aztec (14 hrs plus 3 hrs reserve), you would carry a lot more weight in fuel than the load you described here. Reinhard

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I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James The two longest legs are Oakland to Honolulu 2100 NM and from there you have another long leg, either HNL to Majuro, Marshall Islands, or HNL to Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati, the latter one being a good stop, but almost again as far as OAK-HNL. After that you can choose your legs more easily and they are considerably shorter.

You could also go up to Alaska, across and down through Russia, over to Japan and then on to the South Pacific.  It is a much longer journey, but no 2000 mile over water legs. (I wonder how far the jump to Palau would be, I’ve always wanted to go there…) Brian

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First off, I would have to see that to believe it. Secondly, to fly OAK-HNL in a Turbo Aztec (14 hrs plus 3 hrs reserve), you would carry a lot more weight in fuel than the load you described here. Reinhard I only show from OAK to PHNL to be 2089 nm that would only be about 10 hrs in the air.

My rounded off 2100 NM was only a paltry 11 NM off from your very accurate 2089!! well within range 300 gal, 1800 lbs, but you would not be flying  more than 5 hours on one engine. cg

It is quite obvious to me that you are an armchair pilot who has never done anything like this before. Your numbers are all wrong, and I hope for your sake that you never try it. You would most certainly get your feet wet. It took me 13 hours in a Baron 58 and 15 in a Twin Bonanza. Your turbos in that Aztec would most likely do very little if anything for you since westbound to HNL most frequently you need to stay at 10K or below lest you catch the prevailing westerlies which are very strong at altitude. So you would do well to get 150K over the water. Reinhard

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I only show from OAK to PHNL to be 2089 nm that would only be about 10 hrs in the air. well within range 300 gal, 1800 lbs, but you would not be flying  more than 5 hours on one engine.   cg First off, I would have to see that to believe it. Secondly, to fly OAK-HNL in a Turbo Aztec (14 hrs plus 3 hrs reserve), you would carry a lot more weight in fuel than the load you described here. Reinhard

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First off, I would have to see that to believe it. Secondly, to fly OAK-HNL in a Turbo Aztec (14 hrs plus 3 hrs reserve), you would carry a lot more weight in fuel than the load you described here. Reinhard

I thought for IFR you only needed 45 min reserve.  – Doug  -  Kingfisher plans are here…Now, about that Garage… …cruising between 150 to 200 miles per hour… Greater cruising speeds are possible, but the size of the earth does not warrent greater speeds. -Igor Sikorsky in 1934

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It doesn’t matter a great deal what the legal reserve is.  Winds over the Pacific on that flight are usually against you.  If you go high at all to minimize fuel consumption the head winds increase.  The Aztec is NOT a fast airplane for its fuel consumption.   To fly that leg without considerably MORE than a 45 minute reserve, is to seriously invite wet feet.  The 3  hour reserve is not bad.  The 14 hours is quite optimistic, in my opinion.  I think I would use something like 18 hours for flight planning purposes in an Aztec.  Then I would add another three hours for reserve.  That looks like about 21 hours of fuel. I think you could get it in, but not without some pretty special ferry tanks!   John – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – First off, I would have to see that to believe it. Secondly, to fly OAK-HNL in a Turbo Aztec (14 hrs plus 3 hrs reserve), you would carry a lot more weight in fuel than the load you described here. Reinhard I thought for IFR you only needed 45 min reserve.  – Doug  -  Kingfisher plans are here…Now, about that Garage… …cruising between 150 to 200 miles per hour… Greater cruising speeds are possible, but the size of the earth does not warrent greater speeds. -Igor Sikorsky in 1934

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OK, so its been done before in factory planes, how about homebuilts?  I am considering the KR2, which has an advertised range of 1600sm, can this be extended with additional tanks to the 2100nm required to fly to HNL? James – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James James, It is most certainly feasible and is done all the time. Wether done single engine or twin is really no consideration. In some respects, a single may be better than a twin because in a twin you need to carry much more fuel to feed two engines. That second engine does not give you any more chances to remain airborne, if one should fail, until such a time that you are back down to normal weights. During the early phases of the flight you would be so heavy with fuel that one engine could not possibly keep you in the air. The two longest legs are Oakland to Honolulu 2100 NM and from there you have another long leg, either HNL to Majuro, Marshall Islands, or HNL to Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati, the latter one being a good stop, but almost again as far as OAK-HNL. After that you can choose your legs more easily and they are considerably shorter. Reinhard

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What did you assume that I would try it without any  preflight planning?? cg It is quite obvious to me that you are an armchair pilot who has never done anything like this before. Your numbers are all wrong, and I hope for your sake that you never try it. You would most certainly get your feet wet. It took me 13 hours in a Baron 58 and 15 in a Twin Bonanza. Your turbos in that Aztec would most likely do very little if anything for you since westbound to HNL most frequently you need to stay at 10K or below lest you catch the prevailing westerlies which are very strong at altitude. So you would do well to get 150K over the water. Reinhard

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First off, I would have to see that to believe it. Secondly, to fly OAK-HNL in a Turbo Aztec (14 hrs plus 3 hrs reserve), you would carry a lot more weight in fuel than the load you described here. Reinhard I thought for IFR you only needed 45 min reserve.  – Doug  -  

Surely you jest, Doug. Kidding aside, the special flight permit that you get for the overload condition and he temporary fuel tank installation requires you calculate in a 3 hour reserve on transoceanic flights. Things can happen while on such a long flight; the forecast winds can turn out different, you might have equipment problems that cause you to burn more fuel for less airspeed than you had planned, etc. I have had several a couple of occasions when I was glad for the extra fuel. Remember, there is only one time when you can have too much fuel: when you are on fire. Reinhard

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It doesn’t matter a great deal what the legal reserve is.  Winds over the Pacific on that flight are usually against you.  If you go high at all to minimize fuel consumption the head winds increase.  The Aztec is NOT a fast airplane for its fuel consumption.   To fly that leg without considerably MORE than a 45 minute reserve, is to seriously invite wet feet.  The 3  hour reserve is not bad.  The 14 hours is quite optimistic, in my opinion.  I think I would use something like 18 hours for flight planning purposes in an Aztec.  Then I would add another three hours for reserve.  That looks like about 21 hours of fuel. I think you could get it in, but not without some pretty special ferry tanks!  

How do you get 21 hours of fuel into an Aztec?  I’m not familiar with the type, but at an avg fuel burn of 8-10 GPH – we’re talking about 168-210 gals. Where would you put it all?  Another question springs to mind – how do you add oil in flight? I’ve seen club aircraft burn as much as a 1/2 qt/hr. The sump would be bone dry after 21 hrs with no additional oil.

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I think I would use something like 18 hours for flight planning purposes in an Aztec.  Then I would add another three hours for reserve.  That looks like about 21 hours of fuel. I think you could get it in, but not without some pretty special ferry tanks! How do you get 21 hours of fuel into an Aztec?  I’m not familiar with the type, but at an avg fuel burn of 8-10 GPH – we’re talking about 168-210 gals. Where would you put it all?  Another question springs to mind – how do you add oil in flight? I’ve seen club aircraft burn as much as a 1/2 qt/hr. The sump would be bone dry after 21 hrs with no additional oil.

If you stay below 10k feet, you will frequently find winds that are not too bad. You often find about 10 knots of help down low.. Under no circumstances would I start out with ANY headwind on that leg. Then you could make HNL in about 14-15 hrs in an Aztec. Taking a Baron to Fiji last year, I flew at 6K feet to HNL and did quite well. (13 hrs.) Fitting all that fuel into the plane is really not so difficult. There are professional tanking outfits that install ferry tanks in the cabin in a day. You are certainly correct when you adress the oil issue. It is absolutely essential that you know the oil consumption of your engines. And there is also a way to rig an oil replenishing setup to that you can add oil in flight. Reinhard

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OK, so its been done before in factory planes, how about homebuilts?  I am considering the KR2, which has an advertised range of 1600sm, can this be extended with additional tanks to the 2100nm required to fly to HNL? James

Well Jon Johanson has done it both ways (make that crossed the Pacific … ) in an RV-4 during his round the world trips. Check out his Web site at http://www.mag-net.educ.monash.edu.au/saaa/head.html. He has also published his autobio called "Aiming High", Wakefield Press, South Australia, ISBN 1 86254 424 7. Highly recommended reading for anyone building their own plane. Rgds JD   …… I’d rather be flying ….. John Duncan M.C.N.E.  PPL(A)  J.P.  AOPA(Aust)#42745 EAA#548147 J & J Network Services Pty Ltd P.O. Box 109 Minto N.S.W. 2566 Australia

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My tongue was firmly in cheek.  I don’t fly VFR without at least 1 hour reserve. — Doug  -  Kingfisher plans are here…Now, about that Garage… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It doesn’t matter a great deal what the legal reserve is.  Winds over the Pacific on that flight are usually against you.  If you go high at all to minimize fuel consumption the head winds increase.  The Aztec is NOT a fast airplane for its fuel consumption.   To fly that leg without considerably MORE than a 45 minute reserve, is to seriously invite wet feet.  The 3  hour reserve is not bad.  The 14 hours is quite optimistic, in my opinion.  I think I would use something like 18 hours for flight planning purposes in an Aztec.  Then I would add another three hours for reserve.  That looks like about 21 hours of fuel. I think you could get it in, but not without some pretty special ferry tanks!   John I thought for IFR you only needed 45 min reserve.  – Doug  -  Kingfisher plans are here…Now, about that Garage… …cruising between 150 to 200 miles per hour… Greater cruising speeds are possible, but the size of the earth does not warrent greater speeds. -Igor Sikorsky in 1934

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No idea about a KR2, but you might want to read Sport Aviation (past few issues) and look for the 2 part round the world story by the author and Burt Rutan, who flew their Long EZ’s around the world. Very informative (and nice pictures – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, so its been done before in factory planes, how about homebuilts?  I am considering the KR2, which has an advertised range of 1600sm, can this be extended with additional tanks to the 2100nm required to fly to HNL? James

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, so its been done before in factory planes, how about homebuilts?  I am considering the KR2, which has an advertised range of 1600sm, can this be extended with additional tanks to the 2100nm required to fly to HNL? James Well Jon Johanson has done it both ways (make that crossed the Pacific … ) in an RV-4 during his round the world trips. Check out his Web site at http://www.mag-net.educ.monash.edu.au/saaa/head.html. He has also published his autobio called "Aiming High", Wakefield Press, South Australia, ISBN 1 86254 424 7. Highly recommended reading for anyone building their own plane.

James, You are considering a monumental task here ol chap, this sought of feat requires a hell of a lot of homework and I would suggest you’re really stretching it in a KR-2. With a large amount of retro-fitting you could possibly carry out this adventure, however the stakes are extremely high! I would also endorse the above, ie read Jon Johannson’s book and while your doing that bare a thought for the planning both technically and enroute that goes into these voyages. You may also wish to contact the "Mick & Dick" of "Round the World Friendship Tour":- Sport Aviation Feb edition Pg 76. For a start, unless you’ve got heaps of "Bucks" behind you, just go build your A/C and enjoy flying it around the "States". Whilst I’ll admit, I don’t have an intermit knowledge of the KR-2 and its weight & balance etc, it is only small by any standards. Its payload excess does not go down well with the number crunching required when you consider such additions as fuel, extra redundancy systems req’d, and ESPECIALLY CONSIDER ENGINE RELIABLITY etc, etc. To say the least, 18 plus hours is a long time to spend in the close confines of a KR-2 cockpit, surrounded by custom built ferry tanks around your ears. I have two buddies that were involved in Ferry Flights across the Pacific in their younger days. One of them did get his feet wet mid Pacific (1200 Nm from nowhere & at night) when the nut on the Alternator pulley worked its way loose. Lucky for him he had spotted a fishing boat a couple of hours before and was able to back track and relocate it. All be it, he was now down to torch and compass. That was in a brand new production A/C as well. Glenn now does his long transcontinental flights the same way I do, the only way:-In style at 43,000 ft. James, whilst your challenge is a commendable one, the golden rule is to keep your feet dry. Best way to do that is travel the South Pacific the same way most of us do, In a 747, 767 etc, and don’t forget you can have the added advantage of sipping champagne or other adult beverages!! If you’re considering going on from HNL to other South Pacific destinations, then you have a hole heap more challenges in front of you. Regards Ray (Just my 2 cents worth) J.

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I don’t know what you are flying but when flying my instructors Turbo Aztec, six full grown american people and topped off I can hold 15,000 on one engine, well, or as long as my leg holds out. cg It is most certainly feasible and is done all the time. Wether done single engine or twin is really no consideration. In some respects, a single may be better than a twin because in a twin you need to carry much more fuel to feed two engines. That second engine does not give you any more chances to remain airborne, if one should fail, until such a time that you are back down to normal weights. During the early phases of the flight you would be so heavy with fuel that one engine could not possibly keep you in the air. Reinhard

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How do you get 21 hours of fuel into an Aztec?  I’m not familiar with the type, but at an avg fuel burn of 8-10 GPH – we’re talking about 168-210 gals. Where would you put it all?  Another question springs to mind – how do you add oil in flight? I’ve seen club aircraft burn as much as a 1/2 qt/hr. The sump would be bone dry after 21 hrs with no additional oil.

The Aztec would burn considerably more than 8-10 GPH.  Probably closer to 25 GPH.  So we are talking about over 500 gallons.  The Aztec is a rather slow twin with a pair of 250 HP flat engines.  It is Pipers upscale Apache, just as the Beech Baron is the high power version of the Travelair. John

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What is the availability of av-gas in Russia. I hear that it’s non-existant. D.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I think I would use something like 18 hours for flight planning purposes in an Aztec.  Then I would add another three hours for reserve.  That looks like about 21 hours of fuel. I think you could get it in, but not without some pretty special ferry tanks! How do you get 21 hours of fuel into an Aztec?  I’m not familiar with the type, but at an avg fuel burn of 8-10 GPH – we’re talking about 168-210 gals. Where would you put it all?  Another question springs to mind – how do you add oil in flight? I’ve seen club aircraft burn as much as a 1/2 qt/hr. The sump would be bone dry after 21 hrs with no additional oil. If you stay below 10k feet, you will frequently find winds that are not too bad. You often find about 10 knots of help down low.. Under no circumstances would I start out with ANY headwind on that leg. Then you could make HNL in about 14-15 hrs in an Aztec. Taking a Baron to Fiji last year, I flew at 6K feet to HNL and did quite well. (13 hrs.) Fitting all that fuel into the plane is really not so difficult. There are professional tanking outfits that install ferry tanks in the cabin in a day. You are certainly correct when you adress the oil issue. It is absolutely essential that you know the oil consumption of your engines. And there is also a way to rig an oil replenishing setup to that you can add oil in flight. Reinhard

Reinhard is exactly right.  You notice in the original post that I did mention that it would take some fancy ferry tanks to get the fuel in! When my airplane flew across the Atlantic from Brazil to Cornwall, they added a special fancy ferry tank.  A 50 gallon drum on chocks where the back seat goes, with a wobble pump to pump fuel up into the wing tank. They recommended that you run the wing tank down to less than a quarter full before pumping fuel up to it.  They said watch the gauges so you do not overfill it and pump fuel overboard.   The also recommended the long distance power setting of 1800 RPM and 23 inches of manifold pressure.  That was supposed to get the fuel consumption down to 14.7 gallons per hour.  That gave a little over eight hours in the air.  At that power setting, you get 100 knots! Still wouldn’t make Honolulu! John

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I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James

James, It is most certainly feasible and is done all the time. Wether done single engine or twin is really no consideration. In some respects, a single may be better than a twin because in a twin you need to carry much more fuel to feed two engines. That second engine does not give you any more chances to remain airborne, if one should fail, until such a time that you are back down to normal weights. During the early phases of the flight you would be so heavy with fuel that one engine could not possibly keep you in the air. The two longest legs are Oakland to Honolulu 2100 NM and from there you have another long leg, either HNL to Majuro, Marshall Islands, or HNL to Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati, the latter one being a good stop, but almost again as far as OAK-HNL. After that you can choose your legs more easily and they are considerably shorter. Reinhard

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I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James I think someone tried this in a twin.  Her name was Amelia something….. Sorrry, it was too easy to pass on  :-)

Like minds I guess, but I resisted.  Abacus.com has an add-on for MS Flight Simulator that follows her route.    It wasn’t/isn’t an easy flight. John J. Miller

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I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James

Da Plane, Boss, Da Plane! (sorry, just couldn’t help myself) John Galban====N4BQ (PA28-180)

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I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James

I think someone tried this in a twin.  Her name was Amelia something….. Sorrry, it was too easy to pass on  :-) Jeff Oslick

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I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James

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Check out http://www.calle.com/aviation/airports.cgi Allows you to specify departure, destination, range and speed, and displays a nice table and map of the results. Lots of material for dream flights… BTW you probably don’t want a totally deserted island; food, water, fuel, runway and women should be minimum requirements (the website allows you to specify 2 out of these 5 Eric – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have this fantasy of flying to one of them deserted SP islands (Robinson Crusoe Syndrome).  Has anyone tried this in a single engine airplane, is this feasible at all?  Which route would one take? Thanks, James

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Question:

GG whore-news-hounds like Bob Silie and Charlie Myers were taken there.  If GG you want to destroy a river or cathedral like this, simply write about it. I just love your writing style George and I believe you are right about these things most of the time. You know the water I fish from our conversations regarding John and Elna. I have recently stopped giving information in my posts which refer to the river I fish and live on. Hell, I may even stop referring to the entire State. My question, which is posed to you with the greatest respect for your experience, is simply:     1. Am I a selfish, greedy fool for not wanting my rather private party     crashed,          or     2. Have I been a loudmouthed fool for the many past years and posts I have     made inviting everyone I knew, and many I didn’t to come partake in the     pleasure? I have very mixed emotions about this, but I have seen what you are talking about here happen in so many places. Thanks for the shared experiences and cerebral pleasures your posts have brought me George. Dennis Vick … nfx v2.6 [C0000]  http://www.westonia.com/blueview/                      

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Thanks for the images Mr. Gink.  Again, I can only try and imagine.  By the way, that 10 pound cutthroat is swimming around Pyramid lake with a bunch of buddies the same size……JE

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How ravaged was she when 1983 came around?  My first meeting with this fine fair princess was not a solitary affair, but I know the 14 years since since then have been brutal, accelerating with every season.  Now, I can’t stand to see her.  The agonizing destruction brought on by her own, complex beauty hurts too deeply.  And the trout, tell me, give me an idea of just how much I missed.  In 1983 she seemed in good health, but I have no other version of her to compare, except her violated ugly present state.  Then, I thought I was still seeing at least a glimpse of what you two recall.  Now I can only imagine…

Of course, if the Denver Water Board had their way, it would be a great big recreation area now… — Chester Bullock Affordable Web Design and Hosting for Small Businesses http://www.black-diamond.com

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Comes now, thundering towards the lady, from over the horizon – the goat-fuckers of the Platte River. The crown jewel trout stream in the entire state. At least, I knew her when she was still virgin.  Unmolested, unbaited, with wild rainbows as big and as long as your leg.  Challenged, fought, released for another day.  The genes of yesterday, saved for my tomorrows, and for the tomorrows of children then, yet unborn . . . who want to come now and kill you and your children that play in dark, clear, secret pools.  From wheel-chairs, jeeps, skidoo’s, spinners, and campers filled with canning jars!   Let us strip her garments, her flowing gowns and dress away.  Strip her naked to be raped with drive up camp grounds so the goat-fuckers can cast from the seat of an open topped 4-WD, or float on down the center of the river in black, ugly truck inner-tubes, with rat-faced macdoogal, sun freckled rug rats screaming in your ears.  Who wants to hear those peeping Water Oozels anymore, or the cheer of the blue-bird, or the rattling of the great woodpeckers in the pines?  Its going to be more fun listening to those Coleman Electrical generators and some bitch screaming . . . "Didn’t I tell you to come eat these damned hamburgers?!!" Goodby, sweet Princess.  We knew, one day you were going to be murdered. We all must die, someday but some of us, in the quiet reaches of Colorado’s Outdoors, do it better than others.  Your death has begun and it will be a public affair attended by all of Denver this public hanging that has long been . . . overdue? Mr. G.

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Poignant, truthful and sad. Might as well build the Two Forks dam, just to put our mother out of her anguished misery.

You know, I’ve thought the same thing myself. Although I don’t consider the Platte my "mother" (that’s another river in another place far from here) she has certainly been a lover. Almost better to wipe it all away than see it get worse. </chaz

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Go back to 1968-1972 before the road was paved.  When the Denver Water Board had all of it locked up and then after that, the entire Lake above the Dam.  It was in the days when on a weekend only one or two other cars were hidden or parked on the path in.  When I could fish all week and never see another soul.  When you could look down into Anticipation Pool and watch Rainbows chasing another with a face full of green algae filimentagous moss full of caddis worms, trying to steal  it like a pack of puppies chasing the nipples on mother.  When I could sit on one of those huge basalt/sandstone boulders by the hour watching fish up to fifteen and sixteen pounds darting around like minnows!  Spunky, fearless, not knowing what ‘man’ was about and the depth of the pool protected them from predators, so they hid seldom.  It was water that had no brown trout in it then.  Those were introduced by the idiots at the Wig-Wam Club.  But once started, it hurt the fishery beyond imagination.  It was long before the outdoor writers of the Rocky Mountain News, and the Denver Post and the whore-news-hounds like Bob Silie and Charlie Myers were taken there.  If you want to destroy a river or cathedral like this, simply write about it. It was Brad Fort who first took me here.  It was Brad Fort who taught me that here, little was better and where literally, "Matching the Hatch" meant you took viles of samples home and you INVENTED the emerging caddis flies with the short-side duck-quill-tip wings, the fine gold ribbing, the beaver chest and the black mink fur head and the trailing wood-duck flank legs in sizes 18/2X and 16 hooks.  It was when you stood in front of a little shoot of water and forced yourself to believe that there WAS a fish THERE.  You fished with total focus, no indicators, you concentrated just on the leader where it entered the water.  If you can read water you must learn how to read the drift of a leader.  How it moves, in or out, fast or slows with the current, or how it may simply ‘pause’.  You don’t lift with each ‘guess’ but rather I snap the rod tip down towards the water for about two or six inches.  Its enough to move the mico-caddis offerings to touch a trout without having to come out of the water or off the bottom.  Few, if any other fly fishermen knew this trick I guessed at and was taught by this river to do.  And then the day came of all glorious days in my life.  I had been fishing her in secret for many years.  It was the only place in the west I knew of that had such large fish and so many of them.  Over 8,000 per mile. I began to dream of ‘a feat’.  A club I want to start, even to this day. But with the Rainbow, I think I am the only man in the world to do this feat, but I have not been able to do it with all the other species but I am near to completing it with the brown. It goes like this.  A sixteen inch trout caught on a size sixteen hook. This makes me a member of the 16/16 club.  With the Rainbow Species and all of them caught on the Platte River above Deckers.  I am my own member in good standing for completing all the fish and hook sizes.  They are:  The 18/18 Club, the 20/20, 22/22 and 24/24 Club and then a year later the 26/26 club, the 28/28 club and finally a 32 inch Rainbow caught on a size 32 fly slightly over-sized-dressed as a midge. With the Brown Trout, I have them all except the 26/26 Club and most of those are caught at the Miracle Mile and Big Horn River before the Indians opened it up to public fishing. In this world, on this planet, I don’t think there is a man alive that could spend a lifetime and get this far let alone do all four species on all seven hook sizes.  Such a man, would be remembered forever, I think. This idea, which is copyrighted by me is on the back-burner because the patches and certificates could be won by a little boy fishing a fly in an irrigation ditch such as the 16/16 inch Club Master with a Brown Trout.  As the years pass, the patches start to gather and it would not require killing fish to do it.  Just a camera and a witness.  Two witnesses after one gets over the 20 sizes. There is a man named Charlie Kroll who is the son-in-law of Fred Bear of Bear Archery fame.  Mr. Kroll (who used to be my neighbor in Blackhawk Colorado where I invented Gink) has done something nearly as marvelous and as difficult.  Catching a ten pounder or greater trout of each species on a fly.  He has them all except the Cutthroat.  By the time he got to Reno, the big Cutts had already been pan-fried and are gone.  I don’t think there is another 10 pound cutthroat left in the lower 48 but I think he can still find one in South America. That, remains to be seen. Mr. Gink – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How ravaged was she when 1983 came around?  My first meeting with this fine fair princess was not a solitary affair, but I know the 14 years since since then have been brutal, accelerating with every season.  Now, I can’t stand to see her.  The agonizing destruction brought on by her own, complex beauty hurts too deeply.  And the trout, tell me, give me an idea of just how much I missed.  In 1983 she seemed in good health, but I have no other version of her to compare, except her violated ugly present state.  Then, I thought I was still seeing at least a glimpse of what you two recall.  Now I can only imagine…

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How ravaged was she when 1983 came around?  My first meeting with this fine fair princess was not a solitary affair, but I know the 14 years since since then have been brutal, accelerating with every season.  Now, I can’t stand to see her.  The agonizing destruction brought on by her own, complex beauty hurts too deeply.  And the trout, tell me, give me an idea of just how much I missed.  In 1983 she seemed in good health, but I have no other version of her to compare, except her violated ugly present state.  Then, I thought I was still seeing at least a glimpse of what you two recall.  Now I can only imagine…

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Poignant, truthful and sad.   Might as well build the Two Forks dam, just to put our mother out of her anguished misery. — TimW Halfordian Golfer – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Comes now, thundering towards the lady, from over the horizon – the goat-fuckers of the Platte River. The crown jewel trout stream in the entire state. At least, I knew her when she was still virgin.  Unmolested, unbaited, with wild rainbows as big and as long as your leg.  Challenged, fought, released for another day.  The genes of yesterday, saved for my tomorrows, and for the tomorrows of children then, yet unborn . . . who want to come now and kill you and your children that play in dark, clear, secret pools.  From wheel-chairs, jeeps, skidoo’s, spinners, and campers filled with canning jars!   Let us strip her garments, her flowing gowns and dress away.  Strip her naked to be raped with drive up camp grounds so the goat-fuckers can cast from the seat of an open topped 4-WD, or float on down the center of the river in black, ugly truck inner-tubes, with rat-faced macdoogal, sun freckled rug rats screaming in your ears.  Who wants to hear those peeping Water Oozels anymore, or the cheer of the blue-bird, or the rattling of the great woodpeckers in the pines?  Its going to be more fun listening to those Coleman Electrical generators and some bitch screaming . . . "Didn’t I tell you to come eat these damned hamburgers?!!" Goodby, sweet Princess.  We knew, one day you were going to be murdered. We all must die, someday but some of us, in the quiet reaches of Colorado’s Outdoors, do it better than others.  Your death has begun and it will be a public affair attended by all of Denver this public hanging that has long been . . . overdue? Mr. G.

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  Comes now, thundering towards the lady, from over the horizon – the   goat-fuckers of the Platte River. The crown jewel trout stream in   the   entire state.   At least, I knew her when she was still virgin.  Unmolested,   unbaited,   with wild rainbows as big and as long as your leg.  Challenged,   fought,   released for another day.  The genes of yesterday, saved for my   tomorrows, and for the tomorrows of children then, yet unborn . . .   who   want to come now and kill you and your children that play in dark,   clear, secret pools.  From wheel-chairs, jeeps, skidoo’s, spinners,   and   campers filled with canning jars!   Let us strip her garments, her   flowing gowns and dress away.  Strip her naked to be raped with   drive up   camp grounds so the goat-fuckers can cast from the seat of an open   topped 4-WD, or float on down the center of the river in black, ugly   truck inner-tubes, with rat-faced macdoogal, sun freckled rug rats   screaming in your ears.  Who wants to hear those peeping Water   Oozels   anymore, or the cheer of the blue-bird, or the rattling of the great   woodpeckers in the pines?  Its going to be more fun listening to   those   Coleman Electrical generators and some bitch screaming . . . "Didn’t   I   tell you to come eat these damned hamburgers?!!"   Goodby, sweet Princess.  We knew, one day you were going to be   murdered.   We all must die, someday but some of us, in the quiet reaches of   Colorado’s Outdoors, do it better than others.  Your death has begun   and   it will be a public affair attended by all of Denver this public   hanging   that has long been . . . overdue?   Mr. G.  Dear Mr. Gehrke: I was lucky enough, one time many years ago to meet  you as I had watched you fishing above the Wigwam Club long before the paved roads were put in.  When that long grade down into the Platte Canyon could literally kill you.  When it was still wilderness.  I watched you fish the big, deep pools from a huge boulder high above and you were below . . . and I

Question:

About a month ago I asked for info about fishing in N. Georgia.  The response was very good and I thank everyone.   Well, we just got back from the trip to Ga., and I have to tell ya, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it.  I discovered the Chatooga River, infamous for being the river where "Deliverence" was filmed.  What an absolutely beautiful piece of water!  I thought I was back in New England.  Fast, cold (61), free stone, clear trout water. There was a hatch of very small caddis, but didn’t see too many rises.  In NE I use a cased caddis fly called the Strawman; just spun deer hair trimmed short.  Gink it up so it floats.  Ga trout like it too.  Only had two days on the Chatooga, but managed a couple of nice browns (10-14 in) down-stream from the Rt 76 bridge.  Caught a few small rainbows downstream and upstream from the Rt 28 bridge.  Great river.  I also tried the Chatahootchi ( The Hootch) below Buford Dam.  Super cold – like 53; no hatches.  But lotsa fog!  Dragged a nymph or two, and lobbed a few streamers, but got zilch.  The rocks on this river are the slimiest, most slippery I’ve ever encountered!  I checked out the Hootch above the lake (iat next trip.  Also, I’d like to try the Chatooga just below the NC border.  Anyone know how to get there? The roads in Georgia are also terrific, and gas was $1.07 a gallon (it’s $1.50 here in Mass)!  Georgia’s not NH or Maine, but it’s great!   Good drifts, Dave LaCourse

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[snip] The rocks on this river are the slimiest, most slippery I’ve ever encountered!

You don’t even want to ask what that slick stuff is! Also, I’d like to try the Chatooga just below the NC border.  Anyone know how to get there?

Go east from the river on Hwy 28 .  Hwy 107 will enter from the left. Take 107 north until you pass the state park on the right.  Start looking for the sign on the left for Burrells Ford road.  It’s a couple of miles down this road to the river.  When you get to the river the NC state line is about 4-4 1/2 miles upstream.  This part of the river is mainly brown trout water and is not stocked.  A good trail goes upstream on the east (South Carolina) side of the river. You can fish on the South Carolina side of the river with a Georgia license, just don’t go up any feeder streams.  As an alternate go west from the river on hwy 28.  Take the first gravel road to the right. That will bring you in to the opposite side of Burrells Ford. The roads in Georgia are also terrific, and gas was $1.07 a gallon (it’s $1.50 here in Mass)!  Georgia’s not NH or Maine, but it’s great!  

We don’t tax gas heavy but did you check the price of beer and cigs? Got to make those sinners pay! See ya, John Johnson Atlanta, GA

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