Question:

This past summer, my wife (god bless her) brought home a mint-condition model 1498 Pfleuger Medalist from one of her garage-sale sorties. It is loaded with backing and line in what appears to be unfished condition. Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step. Thanks Joe

Hi Joe, A 1498 was the biggest Medalist and was for rods from #9 and larger. It might have a shooting head on it? If you pull it off for about 20 feet you will notice that it is either a level line or has a front taper for the first 6 to 12 feet. This means that it is a tapered line and if it is a light color, then it is probably a floating line. At about 30 plus feet, but before 40′, it gets smaller again, then it is a weight forward. If it stays large for more that 40 feet it is probably a double taper. If you go  back to about 20 feet from the front and measure the diameter with a micrometer, you can get a pretty good idea what size it is. If I remember right, about ~0.048" is a 5 weight floater?  Email me some more info or put it on the group and we can determine what it is. PS: If that is an old Pflueger that was made in the USA and is in good condition, it would be great for some heavier fishing. Bill Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA 800/4000FLY www.kiene.com

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Sorry to hammer the point one more time…… It’s NOT the LAST 30′ (unless of course its a double taper, in that case you can weigh either end) It’s the FIRST 30′ ( the end you tie your leader to,……. but don’t weigh the leader!) David

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David, First and last is not a good description because either end can be first or last depending on whether you are talking about going on or coming off the real.  The end you tie your leader to is a meaningful description. — Ernie Harrison Fly Fishing Books, Blood Knot Machine Wading Boots, Making Rods, Fly Tying Box Go to:  http://users.ccnet.com/~emh – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Sorry to hammer the point one more time…… It’s NOT the LAST 30′ (unless of course its a double taper, in that case you can weigh either end) It’s the FIRST 30′ ( the end you tie your leader to,……. but don’t weigh the leader!) David

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Joe, all the handling characteristics of a fly line are determined by the line’s plastic coating. Based on what we’ve seen with Cortland’s LazerLine, I’d have to guess that good ‘printability’ and good handling are not common in the same line. I’d expect the 1498 to be spooled with 7wt or higher. Try casting it on an 8wt rod and see how it feels at 30 feet.

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Thanks for correcting my error Don and Dave all the rest of the sharp eyed readers, that’s what happens when you buy a cheap keyboard. — Ernie Harrison Fly Fishing Books, Blood Knot Machine Wading Boots, Making Rods, Fly Tying Box Go to:  http://users.ccnet.com/~emh – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step. Thirty years of experience suggests either it is not simple or there is insufficient market demand. Weigh the last 30" of the line. That should be the last 30′ (not ") excluding taper. Most people find it easier to try the line on a rod of known type and see how it feels. — |  Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs,  | |        Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734         |

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 Weigh the last 30" of the line. — Ernie Harrison Fly Fishing Books, Blood Knot Machine Wading Boots, Making Rods, Fly Tying Box Go to:  http://users.ccnet.com/~emh

I think Ernie means " the FIRST 30 FEET" David

Response:

This past summer, my wife (god bless her) brought home a mint-condition model 1498 Pfleuger Medalist from one of her garage-sale sorties. It is loaded with backing and line in what appears to be unfished condition. Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step. Thanks Joe

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Hi: I had a similar problem when I found a full shoting head when steelhead fishing last winter.  I took into my local fly shop to see if they could help.  The owner simply weighed the line and checked a catalogue he had to identify the weight.  Give this a try. Chris Brown – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This past summer, my wife (god bless her) brought home a mint-condition model 1498 Pfleuger Medalist from one of her garage-sale sorties. It is loaded with backing and line in what appears to be unfished condition. Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step. Thanks Joe

Response:

Weigh the last 30" of the line. — Ernie Harrison Fly Fishing Books, Blood Knot Machine Wading Boots, Making Rods, Fly Tying Box Go to:  http://users.ccnet.com/~emh – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This past summer, my wife (god bless her) brought home a mint-condition model 1498 Pfleuger Medalist from one of her garage-sale sorties. It is loaded with backing and line in what appears to be unfished condition. Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step. Thanks Joe

Response:

Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step.

Thirty years of experience suggests either it is not simple or there is insufficient market demand. Weigh the last 30" of the line.

That should be the last 30′ (not ") excluding taper. Most people find it easier to try the line on a rod of known type and see how it feels. — |  Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs,  | |        Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734         |

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This past summer, my wife (god bless her) brought home a mint-condition model 1498 Pfleuger Medalist from one of her garage-sale sorties. It is loaded with backing and line in what appears to be unfished condition. Question: Is there any way I can figure out the weight of the line? There are no markings on it. Why don’t line manufacturers mark flyline anyways? It would seem to be a simple manufacturing step. Thanks Joe

Send me your shipping address and I’ll send you a bottle of PZ Line Dressing.   This is A MUST!  Do not attempt to cast this line until you dress it with PZ and get the placticizers back into the plastic coating. After you do this, you simply need to put it on a six weight fly rod which is the average weight used today and try it. Next, after you determine the weight fly rod the fly line is designed for, (and many times you can tell by when you have the fly line stretched out between ’stops’ so you can clean and recondition it.  (Let it set over night so the dressing has time to work before whipping it down and reloading it on the reel) Take an Indelable Marker Pen and a foot above the butt section ON the fly line, (if it is a seven weight for example) put a wide marker band for the number 5 and two narrow dot bands for the number one and then two add up to SEVEN.  I will try and use this key board to show you an example:  ___ _ _  = #7 WT  ___ _  = #6 WT   ___ = #5 WT  _ _ _ _ = #4 Wt Going the other way:  ___ _ _ _ = #8 WT If you want to remember if it is a DT or a WF fly line you can simply assume it is a double taper unless it has, six inches up the line another mark   _  to indicate Weight Forward because the extra mark is forward of your line wt.code. As you may well know, marking pens have a wide felt tip and a pointed one. But you get the idea and frankly, if you do this from now on, it is a system that will never let you down. Hope you like it.

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Question:

I’m a newbie to this NG so please forgive me if this question has been asked before but here goes.  I live in Southern California right next to the beach and regularly enjoy surf fishing and would like to try fly fishing in the surf.  My father used to do it a LONG time ago before fly fishing became hi-tech.  He said that he got some lead-core trolling line and put it on a fly real and used a 6 WT rod.  Evidently there were no 9 or 10 WT rods back then so he really tore up his shoulder trying to shoot the lead-core which was necessary to keep the line from being tossed around by the waves. Anyway, I know that surf fishing is much more common nowadays and better equipment is available so my question is this, what equipment is needed?  What weight rod, line, etc?  Is the lead-core necessary? Can anybody recommend any good books or web sites?  Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. DM

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< SNIP Try this URL, some great info on surf fly fishing there. Including a very good introduction. www.marco-island-florida-com Hope this helps ! Tight lines ! Mike Connor

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The authors name escapes me but there is a great book out there (Jim Shewey?? maybe) called Trout & Beyond that chronicles in part his surfperch fishing. Maybe that will help.  Try amazon.com for it… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m a newbie to this NG so please forgive me if this question has been asked before but here goes.  I live in Southern California right next to the beach and regularly enjoy surf fishing and would like to try fly fishing in the surf.  My father used to do it a LONG time ago before fly fishing became hi-tech.  He said that he got some lead-core trolling line and put it on a fly real and used a 6 WT rod.  Evidently there were no 9 or 10 WT rods back then so he really tore up his shoulder trying to shoot the lead-core which was necessary to keep the line from being tossed around by the waves. Anyway, I know that surf fishing is much more common nowadays and better equipment is available so my question is this, what equipment is needed?  What weight rod, line, etc?  Is the lead-core necessary? Can anybody recommend any good books or web sites?  Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. DM

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I was watching a PBS station that was showing a film about Nantucket lighthouses on the East Coast last night.  In one shot they showed a picture of several fly fishermen lined up along the beach surf fishing. Does any one know what type of fish they were fishing for? — Ernie Harrison Remove NOSPAM to send E-Mail Selling my Fly Fishing Books Go to: http://users.ccnet.com/~emh – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – < SNIP Try this URL, some great info on surf fly fishing there. Including a very good introduction. www.marco-island-florida-com Hope this helps ! Tight lines ! Mike Connor

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They were probably fishing for striped bass, Ernie. Homey – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was watching a PBS station that was showing a film about Nantucket lighthouses on the East Coast last night.  In one shot they showed a picture of several fly fishermen lined up along the beach surf fishing. Does any one know what type of fish they were fishing for? — Ernie Harrison Remove NOSPAM to send E-Mail Selling my Fly Fishing Books Go to: http://users.ccnet.com/~emh

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I was watching a PBS station that was showing a film about Nantucket lighthouses on the East Coast last night.  In one shot they showed a picture of several fly fishermen lined up along the beach surf fishing. Does any one know what type of fish they were fishing for? — Ernie Harrison

Probably stripers and bluefish.   (and in the fall, Bonito and False Albacore)   The coasts of NY, MA, CN, and ME are famous for the great striper fishing.  Plenty of easy access, plenty of willing fish. If you haven’t tried it, you should!   I live inland, but started making a two-week trip to the coast (Cape Cod) every year after my first trip. Imagine a 25lb. saltwater brute on an eight or nine weight.   Yee ha! Bob Scott

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His and Her Fly shop in Newport specialize in fly fishing the surf. There are many Fly Fishimg clubs in Southern Ca. that can help. Check with Bob Marriot’s Fly Fishing Store in Fullerton. Their fall show , the week end before thanksgiving is usually loaded with world class saltwater flyfishermen such as Nick Curricone, Dan Blanton, Lefty Kreh,Bob Popovics and Bob Clouser. If they can’t help no one can.

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Probably Stripped Bass.

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Probably Stripers or possibly Bluefish Steve – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was watching a PBS station that was showing a film about Nantucket lighthouses on the East Coast last night.  In one shot they showed a picture of several fly fishermen lined up along the beach surf fishing. Does any one know what type of fish they were fishing for?

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Question:

______ The burning question Philip is, "Was it caught fly fishing?" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – A new world record coho salmon was caught in Lake Ontario off Oswego County today, Aug. 13, 1998.  The catch was examined and confirmed by officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish and Wildlife Division. The coho was caught by Stephen M. Sheets Jr. of Woolrich, PA.  He was fishing with Capt. Mike Stilin of Fish Tales Charters, Oswego, NY. The 33-pound, 7-oz. coho beats the previous world record by three ounces.  The previous record was also set in Oswego County by angler Jerry Lifton while fishing the Salmon River in 1989. More complete details and photo will be placed on the Oswego County Tourism Web Site (www.co.oswego.ny.us) tomorrow, Aug. 14, 1998. Philip R. Church Public Information Officer County of Oswego www.co.oswego.ny.us — Philip Church www.co.oswego.ny.us

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A new world record coho salmon was caught in Lake Ontario off Oswego County today, Aug. 13, 1998.  The catch was examined and confirmed by officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish and Wildlife Division. The coho was caught by Stephen M. Sheets Jr. of Woolrich, PA.  He was fishing with Capt. Mike Stilin of Fish Tales Charters, Oswego, NY. The 33-pound, 7-oz. coho beats the previous world record by three ounces.  The previous record was also set in Oswego County by angler Jerry Lifton while fishing the Salmon River in 1989. More complete details and photo will be placed on the Oswego County Tourism Web Site (www.co.oswego.ny.us) tomorrow, Aug. 14, 1998. Philip R. Church Public Information Officer County of Oswego www.co.oswego.ny.us — Philip Church www.co.oswego.ny.us

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Question:

Well, I spent about 4 years there and I found a plain small bright neon green plastic worm drove the small mouths wild. — Eric From the Grand Canyon State. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am going to Star Lake in the Adirondacks later this June.  Also will visit nearby Cranberry Lake.  Both are in the northeast corner of the Adirondacks.  I am told the most common catches are smallmouth bass and trout, with occasional rock bass as consolation. Any advice for these lakes?  How about nearly streams?  We will be both fly fishing and spinning.  What kinds of flies, lures, or live baits? Techniques? Many thanks! Michael

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I am going to Star Lake in the Adirondacks later this June.  Also will visit nearby Cranberry Lake.  Both are in the northeast corner of the Adirondacks.  I am told the most common catches are smallmouth bass and trout, with occasional rock bass as consolation. Any advice for these lakes?  How about nearly streams?  We will be both fly fishing and spinning.  What kinds of flies, lures, or live baits? Techniques? Many thanks! Michael

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Most of my fishing is done in the Adirondacks. I have a web site with lots of advice regarding lure selection. Check it out. Email me if you have any questions (remove the nospam in the address) Matthew Carter "Fishing with Matt" http://www.albany.net/~buzzbait/fishing/index.htm

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Question:

A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go? Dave ps please respond to the group and to email, it is easy to miss when only posted to the group!

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A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go?

try "50 Hikes in Central Washington"  published by The Mountaineers. -p — Rural Health Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.

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A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go?

Hey Dave — that’s a pretty desolate area.  Don’t know about hiking there, but for fishing, try Dry Falls Lake.  It is the epicenter of the massive flooding that we had in the area in the last couple of million years.  It is a geologic mecca.  This lake is very well protected and is not stocked — no motors at all, barbless hooks, and a one fish limit.  It is prime for canoes/kayaks/float tubes.  I’ve taken some large trout there. Do not take an inflatible raft or inflatible kayak there — the winds can get you big time.  I have an entire gut wrenching/leach infested arms/ lost gear story about that.

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A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go? Dave ps please respond to the group and to email, it is easy to miss when only posted to the group!

Dave, I spent 5 years at CWU in E-burg and enjoyed the solitude provided on the Tanum (ridge) and especially behind the airport on the Monashtash.  For fishing (and duck hunting)  I used to go across the Vantage bridge toward George and attend to the "potholes".  The Yakima river was always a great resource and fishing was often good (back in the 60’s and 70’s).   All in all, Ellensburg is a great jumping off point.  I have only good memories of the place.  Perhaps someone can provide trail info for you but I just bushwacked in the low brush forest.  Careful though if you do that.  It’s easy to get lost in this country. Bill BTW, the road up to Monashtash used to go through toward Wenachee but even in the 60’s it was a poor wagon road.  It may be one fantastic trail by now.  You should smell the aroma on a warm spring day!

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A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go?

Try the Greewater River off Hwy 410.  The end of the road trailhead offers a well-marked trail paralleling a 20′ – 30′ wide river ideal for fly-fishing.   Jeffrey Olson

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A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go? Dave ps please respond to the group and to email, it is easy to miss when only posted to the group!

Hi Dave, Please tell us your definition of "Central Washington".  Do you mean the goegraphic center of the state east of Wenatchee, or do you include the Central Cascades?  If you include the Central Cascades, I suggest you pick up a copy of "100 Hikes in the Alpine Lakes".  It is published by the Mountaineers and contains info on many great dayhikes and backpack trips in the area (the Cascades Mountains between I-90 and Hwy. 2). Also, if your range extends a little farther north, there is another volume, "100 Hikes in the Glacier Peak Region". Kerry

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A buddy and me want to do a little hiking, maybe a little fishing this summer. We don’t know ANYTHING so we are looking for easy well marked trails. Any ideas of where we should go? Hey Dave — that’s a pretty desolate area.

Hey, Gary….there’s over 1 million people in eastern Washington.  Is that your definition of desolate??

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Question:

I purchased  9′ #6  4- piece rod early this summer and have loved it….however  it not a sage or an orvis…but at a  better price…

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Check the reel seat. I purchased 2 rods for my grandsons a few years ago, and the reelseats failed in 6 months. the metal formed ring that holds the reel broke on both rods had to tape the reels on. While they don’t cost as much as a Sage, or Orvis, if you do a lot of flyfishing buy a rod that will give you years of service not 6 months. I have been flyfishing for 50+ years and have seen them all. Buy good blanks, build your own. Use snake guides, rather than single foot, as single foot bend, and snake guides don’t. Tight lines Art

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I purchased  9′ #6  4- piece rod early this summer and have loved it….however it not a sage or an orvis…but at a  better price…

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Check the reel seat. I purchased 2 rods for my grandsons a few years ago, and the reelseats failed in 6 months. …While they don’t cost as much as a Sage, or Orvis, if you do a lot of flyfishing buy a rod that will give you years of service not 6 months.

You could have returned the rods to Bean for repair or refund;Bean has a 100% guarantee on everything.  So really a Bean rod should be able to give you years of service. You might also take the time (if you can) to visit the Bean store in Freeport, and check the workmanship on their different rods.  The $400+ rods are nicer than the $100 ones.  You get what you pay for, eh?  On the other hand, *all* their rods are guaranteed, no matter the price. BTW, I agree that the best value is in building your own. Russell Gelinas

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Question:

I agree with whoever said test test test. i know testing helps me feel better knowing what my sugar is. I also think it’s an individual matter for each to find. I know it’s been like that for me. I try to raise my blood sugar before my workouts (aerobic classes usually) so that I don’t have to worry about it during and after the wrokout. I usually have juice or fruit and it works to raise it enough so I don’t have to worry, and then i usually have dinner after. When I go out for bike rides alone I do the same thing. If it helps, I kept an article about managing blood sugar that i read in the magazine Diabetes Self Management. I thought it was a very good article that gave lots of examples about blood suagr during exercise and what to do about food and insulin. It was in the November December 1996 issue. The title was Balancing Blood Sugar and Exercise by Richard Weil. I don’t know if this is in the library, but there is a number in the magazine that i guess you could call to request a copy or maybe a back issue. The number is 800 234-0923 (that’s the subscription service). There’s also a number for advertising [212] 989-0200. I would try both numbers. The article really cleared up some things for me so I recommend it to you. I don’t work for the magazine, but I do think the article was helpful. Good Luck, Tina

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There are also all too many stories of a lone person who goes out into the woods never to return.  Diabetes is rarley a factor in these stories. Bears, Clifs, Falling rocks, Pitfalls, Snakes, Ect, Those are factors, Diabetes almost never.

Much more common are:   Falls causing sprains/broken bones: you lose your mobility, then you’re in trouble. Happens even without ‘cliffs’.   Inadequate clothing and/or shelter (exposure, hypothermia).   Insufficient food intake/food supply (starvation).   Insufficient water. – - – The root cause of these problems is usually foolish overconfidence. The one which is highly affected by DM is insufficient food intake,   which I have suffered a few times. Test often! Take lots of extra food, extra drugs, an entire extra test kit.   Experience is critical. DON’T try a 5-day in the middle of no where until you have a lot of solo overnights and 2-nighters under your belt.

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   Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes    Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer    on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on    vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. Actually you have answered your own question… You said "ALONE" The simple soultion is as follows 1: Always have a ready source of "Quick" glucose (Cake Iceing tubes)    Gluco gell, Gluco Tabs, Regular (not diet) pop,  Orange juice 2: (And this is perhaps the more improtant) always have a partner who    KNOWS you are diabetic and KNOWS the signs of HYPO in you. Now if you happen not to be a diabetic (As many are not) Then #2 is becomes #1 and delete all after PARTNER.  That is right… Man was not ment to be alone, Man was ment to be partnered (No this is not a religious or moral statment)  but there have been many, many, many stories of a couple of people who went out in the woods and one became injured.  The other saved his/her life.  There are also all too many stories of a lone person who goes out into the woods never to return.  Diabetes is rarley a factor in these stories. Bears, Clifs, Falling rocks, Pitfalls, Snakes, Ect, Those are factors, Diabetes almost never. So the easy answer is DO NOT HIKE ALONE,  Take a main squeze or hiking partner "Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your business" A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep. Net-Tamer V 1.08X – Registered

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

When you know let me in on the secret.  Last winter I went out one weekend alone to go hiking and waterfall viewing.  One time I was about 3 miles into a lonely trail when it hit.  I had taken extra carbo before the hike (granola bars), and luckily I had a sack of candies.   The entire walk back it was one candy after another.  I must have injested over 100 grams carbo by the time I got back to civilization.   So what’s the answer?  Eat as you go?  Doesn’t sound fun to me.  Less insulin?  I’ve read that you should actually take a little insulin before you excercise, to make sure your body doesn’t starve of glucose and start keto.  Maybe both…..  Trial and error seems the only way for now.

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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?

You are talking essentially about exercise so I have attached my standard exercise answer.  There is tremendous variability in diabetics response to exercise and the response is also affected by your type of diabetes and medication.  Some people can get along with only minor adjustments in their routine and some of us have to do quite a bit of compensation.  The more you learn about diabetes, your particular flavor of it, how the body normally works, and how a diabetics body works, the better you will be able to adjust to abnormal situations be they changes in activity, diet, workshifts or whatever.  Diabetics can do pretty much what ever they want to.  The first diabetic to swim the English Channel was just in the news. That doesn’t mean, however, that it you don’t have to put extra effort into it to deal with the effects of having diabetes.  When I think about doing things with diabetes, I often remember the old joke about Ginger Rogers.  She did everything Fred did, but backwards wearing high heels. — Charles Coughran Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="EXERCIS5.TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="EXERCIS5.TXT" The best way to deal with problems associated with diabetes and exercise begins with understanding of what goes on in the metabolic system of normal people and what the differences are for diabetics. Only with such understanding can you make intelligent choices about pharmacological tactics. Relying on rules of thumb can cause more problems it solves because of the wide variability of individual responses and the wide variety of diseases that fall under the rubric of diabetes. Not to mention, I have seen postings where the rules of thumb were clearly misunderstood. While the following is intended for those who take insulin, it may assist those on oral medications as well. Exercise in this context means extended aerobic activity, say a minimum of 20 minutes of jogging. This is a somewhat simplified account but I think it captures the most important aspects for exercise related bg control. Comments encouraged. When a normal person starts to exercise, the insulin output of his pancreas goes down. At first blush, this seems backward since the muscles are working hard and therefore require more glucose to be transported from the blood into the cells. There are two reasons more glucose can be transported with less available insulin. The first is that during exercise insulin becomes much more efficient. The mechanism of this effect is not fully understood, but it helps overcomes the reduction in circulating insulin. Second, exercise activates non-insulin mediated glucose transport pathways. These pathways are not sufficient to handle the load in the absence of insulin, but do increase the effective insulin efficiency. When insulin levels decline relative to the counterregulatory hormones — glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol — the liver is stimulated to release stored glucose. The blood glucose that is being transported into the cells is replaced by that from hepatic stores. It is this hormonal balance system that keeps the levels of blood glucose in the normal narrow range during exercise. For those of us who inject insulin, the first problem is obvious. Our circulating levels of insulin do not react to exercise. Absent any correction, when the muscles demand glucose and insulin becomes more efficient our blood glucose plummets and we become hypoglycemic. This is the reason for a commonly encountered prohibition to not schedule exercise when your insulin is peaking. The higher the level of circulating insulin, the more pronounced the effect. One solution is to reduce our circulating insulin levels by reducing insulin intake. Here specific advice starts to be difficult due to the wide variety of insulins, regimens, and individual variability. The spectrum spans from a Type II who takes a little NPH to help his beta cells out to a c-peptide free pumper. I have spoken to diabetic runners whose tactics would put me in an ambulance, even though our situations seem to be very similar. You see a lot of advice of the form, "reduce your insulin 2 units for every hour of strenuous exercise". This kind of advice ignores real world variability and is sometimes much worse than useless. Clearly, someone who takes one shot/day has a much more limited ability to adjust circulating insulin levels than someone using multiple injections or a pump. The other approach is to increase blood glucose levels by eating carbohydrates timed to arrive at the blood stream in the form of glucose when it is needed. The easiest way to do that is usually to eat fast acting carbohydrates during or immediately preceding exercise. Again, there are rules of thumb around about so many grams of carbohydrates for a particular length of exercise at some defined level. Again, they seem to be swamped by individual and circumstantial variability. Some of us do a combination of both and pump up our bg levels somewhat before exercise and reduce insulin levels to keep things on an even keel. The bottom line is to make careful adjustments and test, and test, and test, to find out how things work for your particular body. So much for too much insulin. What happens when the circulating insulin level is too low? When levels are so low that even the increase in insulin efficiency doesn’t overcome the defect, glucose isn’t transported into the cells. Worse, since insulin levels are low the liver continues to pump glucose into the blood. The result is bg levels rise with exercise. The muscles get stressed due to lack of fuel and the metabolism of fats kicks in, ketones start being produced and the danger of ketosis or ketoacidosis looms. This is the basis for another rule of thumb which is often misunderstood. The rule is usually stated "don’t exercise when your bg is above 240 mg/dl (13.3 mmol/l) and ketones are present in the urine". This makes sense because those are signs that you have inadequate insulin supplies — that’s how many of us got diagnosed. Exercise in those circumstances will make things worse, not better. On the other hand, if you are 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/l) because you just drank a large regular cola by mistake with lunch, exercise is a great way to bring that bg down in a hurry. Why your bg is elevated is just as important as the fact of the elevated level when deciding whether or not exercise is contraindicated. The 240 is also a somewhat arbitrary number. Some people start throwing ketones at significantly lower levels. In short: avoid exercise if your insulin level is too low. Do exercise if you are sure your insulin level is adequate but your blood glucose is too high. Exercise also produces effects at longer time scales. Sometime after exercise, there is often a take up of blood glucose by the muscles to replenish depleted stores. This most often occurs an hour or two after exercise, but has been reported in the range of 1/2 hour to 48 hours. Again, as is the case during exercise, artificially high insulin levels will lead to hypoglycemia. The last rule of thumb is to watch for hypoglycemia after exercise. *SPECULATION BEGINS HERE* A problem some of us encounter from time to time is a post exercise bg spike. Blood glucose readings will be reasonable after exercise but sharply elevated a few hours later. It is my speculation that this represents circulating insulin levels that were adequate to deal with exercise induced blood glucose demand with its attendant insulin efficiency increase, but too low to deal with the post exercise demand when insulin efficiency has lowered somewhat. It has been my experience that post exercise elevated bg levels respond to much less insulin than would be required in a more normal situation. It appears that insulin efficiency falls off after exercise at some rate and you can be on the correct side of the curve during exercise and the wrong side after. This hypothesis is the best of a couple I have come up with. *SPECULATION ENDS HERE* Regular exercise over time scales of weeks or months can reduce overall insulin requirements. In addition, as muscles become trained and improve their internal storage, it feeds back into the amount of glucose demand present during exercise, and thus into the entire control cycle. Diabetes makes exercise, and almost everything else, harder. But, hey, if it was easy it wouldn’t be any fun There are two very good, readable books from which you can get more information. The better is Campaigne and Lampman, _Exercise in the Clinical Management of Diabetes_. Almost as good is _The Health Professional’s Guide to Diabetes and Exercise_ edited by Ruderman and Devlin and published by the American Diabetes Association.

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Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"??

Frequent testing is not necessary.  I engage in all types of strenuous and active things (skiing, hiking, bicycling, snokling, rock climbing, etc.) with no testing at all during the activity. My method is this:  take into consideration your level of activity, adjust your insulin accordingly, and bring along lots of sugary things to compensate.  Of course, this only works if you are relatively good judge (like I am) of when your blood sugar is low. For example, when I go skiing, I’ve found that after eating a regular breakfast and taking a normal dose of insulin in the morning, that I can eat lunch without taking any insulin during the day’s activities. Then I eat dinner and take a normal dose.  It so happens that the decrease in my blood sugar corresponding to my increased activity is almost exactly balanced by the lunch I eat (usually it is not a very large lunch, though, because the ski food prices are so high). I should say that I am on an ultralente/Humalog regimine (I split the ultralente dose into morning and evening, and then just take the required amount of Humalog right before I’m going to eat something). Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?

When I do something like this, I just don’t take any of the regular insulin (but keep the ultralente the same).  Often I still go low and need to eat something. If you can’t tell when you are getting low, then you are screwed and this easy method (make sure you have enough insulin so you don’t go hig and just eat when necessary to prevent lows) won’t work. keith

Response:

Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

Response:

You got it test test test…. experience experience  you can do anything if you are willing to do what it takes to know your body every step of the way.  Include your wife in everything…this should boost her confidence that you as a team can handle anything.  I have been diabetic for 20-years and have never let it stop me from anything I really wanted to do.  it just takes work. Good Luck, M.H. Moman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, me again, needing advice. It seems that this is my first summer on Insulin. After my expirience with that nasty hypo seizure on vacation, I’m leary of engaging in certain outdoor avtivities alone. I love to hike into the woods and go flyfishing. Or sometimes go to isolated rocks on the ocean for some surf fishing etc. Is the simple answer like this: "We’re diabetic, we can do anything,…if you test every hour or 2"?? Also, how do some of you handle… ah let’s say mountain climbing? Your metabolism goes from slow to maximum? How do you carbo load enough to handle that? Trial and era maybe? Test on the trail every 20 mins? My wife is also a bit nervous everytime I leave the house on any journey (after witnessing my seizure). I’m having a tough time because I have an very avtive life and find this area of insecurity intensly frustrating. Thoughts?                                         Terry Weir

– The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.                   -Frances Willard

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Question:

Ralph Cutter has asked me to pass on the following regarding the successful reversal of a watermaster’s draw down plan on the Truckee river which would have seriously damaged the fisheries.  His access is temporarily blocked for technical reasons. Our effort started with an e-mail message from Ralph last Sunday afternoon.  The word was spread via e-mail to lots of fly fishing interests and fisheries biologists.  The next day the watermaster was deluged by phone calls.  The first reaction was stonewalling and the claim that nothing could be done.  By 4:00 p.m., the watermaster had completely capitulated to our request.  Shows what can be done by an intelligently directed and effective effort.  Ralph’s note is copied below: Congratulations! We did it!! I just spoke with the Federal Watermaster Gary Stone and he has developed a revised ramping schedule as follows: 3/17  5:00 pm  1,850 cfs to 1,400 cfs 3/18  7:00 am  1,400 cfs to 1,100 cfs       10:00am 1,100 cfs to 800 cfs       2:00 pm 800 cfs to 500 cfs       6:00 pm 500 cfs to 300 cfs 3/19  7:00 am  300 cfs to 200 cfs       10:00 am 200 cfs to 100 cfs    He asked me to "tell all your flyfishing friends they can stop calling me now."    As you recall the original plan was to cut flows from 1,950 to 1,000 cfs then six hours later cut that to 100 cfs. This morning Gary relented and added a third cut. After all our pressure (and substantial arm twisting by DF&G biologist Stafford Laird) he sat down this afternoon and did what was right.    You saved a fishery. On behalf of the trout, thanks.   -Ralph

Response:

Nice story Dick, Ralph.  Good one! Cheers — Erik Poole

: Ralph Cutter has asked me to pass on the following regarding the : successful reversal of a watermaster’s draw down plan on the Truckee : river which would have seriously damaged the fisheries.  His access is : temporarily blocked for technical reasons. : Our effort started with an e-mail message from Ralph last Sunday : afternoon.  The word was spread via e-mail to lots of fly fishing : interests and fisheries biologists.  The next day the watermaster was : deluged by phone calls.  The first reaction was stonewalling and the : claim that nothing could be done.  By 4:00 p.m., the watermaster had : completely capitulated to our request.  Shows what can be done by an : intelligently directed and effective effort.  Ralph’s note is copied : below: : Congratulations! We did it!! : I just spoke with the Federal Watermaster Gary Stone and he : has developed a revised ramping schedule as follows: : 3/17  5:00 pm  1,850 cfs to 1,400 cfs : 3/18  7:00 am  1,400 cfs to 1,100 cfs :       10:00am 1,100 cfs to 800 cfs :       2:00 pm 800 cfs to 500 cfs :       6:00 pm 500 cfs to 300 cfs : 3/19  7:00 am  300 cfs to 200 cfs :       10:00 am 200 cfs to 100 cfs :    He asked me to "tell all your flyfishing friends they can : stop calling me now." :    As you recall the original plan was to cut flows from : 1,950 to 1,000 cfs then six hours later cut that to 100 cfs. : This morning Gary relented and added a third cut. After all : our pressure (and substantial arm twisting by DF&G biologist : Stafford Laird) he sat down this afternoon and did what was : right. :    You saved a fishery. On behalf of the trout, thanks. :   -Ralph — Burnaby, BC

Response:

Ralph et al on Phones: Well Done!  Once again, Ralph wrestles a python… S.N.

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Question:

NOTICE!  NOTICE!  NOTICE! This is just a heads-up that the Mid-Willamette Fly Fishing Club of Corvallis, Oregon, USA, is holding its monthly member meeting on Tuesday, February 4th, 1997.  The meeting will be at CH2M Hill’s facility, at King’s and Walnut, in Corvallis.  We meet at 7:30pm, with a social dinner opportunity at Pizza Hut, across the street, starting at 6:00pm. You don’t need to be a member to attend.  This month’s program will see Keith Burkhart, of The Vally Flyshop, in Salem, OR, demonstrating rod building. Hope to see you there, Charley

Response:

Gee, too bad I didn’t see this yesterday.  I’ve been playing catchup. -Burton – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – NOTICE!  NOTICE!  NOTICE! This is just a heads-up that the Mid-Willamette Fly Fishing Club of Corvallis, Oregon, USA, is holding its monthly member meeting on Tuesday, February 4th, 1997.  The meeting will be at CH2M Hill’s facility, at King’s and Walnut, in Corvallis.  We meet at 7:30pm, with a social dinner opportunity at Pizza Hut, across the street, starting at 6:00pm. You don’t need to be a member to attend.  This month’s program will see Keith Burkhart, of The Vally Flyshop, in Salem, OR, demonstrating rod building. Hope to see you there, Charley

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Question:

Those of you who have more mobility than mere wading but without a Mako, Whaler, or Hewes: what is your preferred way of getting away from shore and why? Darren Lew NYC

Response:

If you don’t have a boat and fish during daylight hours, consider renting a skiff.  Long Island has a number of fishing stations that do so.  The shallow-draft boats they feature would be fine for fly casting–stable with shallow-water capability.

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<<Those of you who have more mobility than mere wading but without a Mako, Whaler, or Hewes: what is your preferred way of getting away from shore and why? I am currently strictly a wading FFer, but my next toy will be a kayak. There is a whole new breed of ocean-going kayaks, some which are sort of hybridized canoes with open cockpits, some with a bit more beam for stability. I’m told that a good sized striper can give the kayaker a "Nantucket Sleighride". If anyone wishes to advance me $700 – $1,000 I will be pleased to report in more detail on the effectiveness of the craft.

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Those of you who have more mobility than mere wading but without a Mako, Whaler, or Hewes: what is your preferred way of getting away from shore and why? Darren Lew NYC

Depends. If we’re talking back bay low light. Canoe. Almost anywhere else a small (Carolina skiff ?) GLASS boat (12-14 ft) with a Honda engine. I have never tried a kayak. Perhaps it would be great in the surf ? I prefer glass to tin for less noise, better long term durabilty and more inertia for waves to overcome. "The true angler is always content to fish alone" Brian Di Carlo

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I get around Gardnier’s bay in a poke boat which is a cross ,between a Kayak and a canoe, but more to the kayak side of things. Its great becauuse its so portable, but very hard to fish from. You can’t even kneel in a  kayak and that makes it tough. If you’re using it to get from one flat to another then its good, but not too swift as a fishing platofrm itself. Ira Clair

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