Question:

Wow, I just had a great time fishing in front of the school on the Lielupe River! Thanks to you guys here on ROFF (whatever that is..). I was headed home after work, glanced over at the usually rather full fishing spot, and not one local was there, probably because of the overcast skies and promise of rain. The space with the clear zone for a backcast was wide open, and as I stood there thinking about it, 2 big old rises appeared <right there.  Easy decision: tossed the briefcase in the car, peeled off the shoes and socks, stepped into my mudboots, and assembled the 4-weight. Strolled over to the bank and watched for a minute. The skeeters were there, but so were these tiny little black flying things and the perch were rising for them all over. Not the big thrashing rises from the other day, but some respectable rises nontheless. And lots of them. I tied on a 6x tippet, gave myself about 1 meter of lead, and looked at my flycase. I recently bought a nice old Soviet cigarette case at a junk shop and lined it with foam as a nymph case for my 4-wt, and saw a fly that looked interesting. Its a type of caterpillar, I think, with a palmered hackle around a yellow-orange body on a #12(?) hook. Looks like a wolly bugger without a tail. I was thinking about what Mike said about colors, and how Perch nip at the tails and to use a wolly with a short tail, so I tied this on. Also, the water is getting shallow, and this fly can float if you lay it out gently, so I figured it would work for presentation practice, too. First cast was short and easy, as someone suggested here. Then I gradually stretched out my false casts farther and farther, thinking ‘back and UP’, and as someone else suggested, watching over my shoulder for the line to straighten. It was a LONG wait…the line would do a sort of ‘double tug’ at the end of my backcast: once when the tailing loop of the backcast would hit the far end, then again when the entire line was laid out up there. Dunno how the line can defy gravity for so long waiting to stretch out taut, but it does. Then, I swept it forward firmly and sharply, pointing it like a sword (as someone else suggested), and was amazed at how my casts were straight, long, and perfectly presented. First cast, fish on! Of course, it was some little 6-inch thing, but hey!, it was just what I wanted. I brought it in with the line, not bothering to spool up the reel, and let it go with my heartfelt thanks. Then I cast out again, watching the line behind me and waiting forever for the backcast to load up. The forward cast and watching the fly stay ‘above the line’ as Jarmo suggested made total sense, and it felt just right. Second cast, fish on! Too cool! This guy was a bit bigger (6.1 inches, probably), but I got that feeling that it was working just like it was supposed to! All those tiny details were making sense, and it was great. Then the skies opened up and it started to rain. I remembered the thread about how fish seem to bite better at one time or another, and figured the Perch seemed to like to hit just before the skies open up. A few minutes later, when the rain stopped and the sun broke through, there were no rises. As the clouds covered up again, the rises came more and more regularly until just before it rained again. At some point, I decided to experiment with flies as the caterpillar was getting soaked and starting to snag on the muck at the bottom. I took it off and tied on a very tiny yellow thing I have; I think its a #18 yellow Comparadun. Anyway, I was laying it out there exactly where the big rises were and letting it lie there, but no takes. Finally, I decided to head home and started retrieving it slowly. Wham! it got hit and spit out. Wham! it got hit again. Ahhh, so THATS the secret! So I spent the next half hour casting and gently retrieving it, hauling in fish with almost every cast. Great. Of course, these were no great monsters, and I realize that perch are pathetically easy to catch, but at least now I have a baseline to experiment with, and grow from. I know there are some BIG perch in this stretch of water, so I’m ready to start learning how to aim for them. All in all, it was a great way to spend an hour after work, and I was thinking of all the tidbits of advice from folks here about everything, from how to cast, to the effect of cloud cover, to what color and type of fly to use, to knots, to everything. Thanks, guys!! riverman (happy boy)

Response:

Wow, I just had a great time fishing in front of the school on the Lielupe River! Thanks to you guys here on ROFF (whatever that is..).

Congratulations!    Just one point though, catching small perch may seem "pathetically easy" sometimes. The larger ones can be quite a challenge. Even a medium sized perch will give you a good run for your money on a #4 wt. If you only seem to be catching small ones, try fishing a streamer anyway, occasionally, a large perch will be hanging around waiting for one of his smaller brethren to make a mistake. TL MC

Response:

Question:

Looking for a site that talks about the basics of saltwater flyfishing for stripers (especially if it mentions the New Jersey coast). Am interested in trying it this summer and would like to learn the basics. Thanks!

Response:

Looking for a site that talks about the basics of saltwater flyfishing for stripers (especially if it mentions the New Jersey coast). Am interested in trying it this summer and would like to learn the basics. Thanks!

Hey Mark,         SoJersery Fly Fishers will hold some courses on this topic this year. I’ll see if I can find out more… I am gonna go to their meeting this Thursday… — Michael Era

Question:

You want to explain this one. When did  O’Meara let Tiger’s friendship start dictating his tournament schedule? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – O’Meara respects his good friend Tiger way too much to show up at Hilton Head this week.

Response:

You missed all those NAACP folks picketing outside the Worldcom? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You want to explain this one. When did  O’Meara let Tiger’s friendship start dictating his tournament schedule?

Response:

O’Meara respects his good friend Tiger way too much to show up at Hilton Head this week. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I happened to be in line behind Mark O’Meara and 2 of his fishing friends this morning at the coffee and bagel store this morning. They were ready to head out and do some fly fishing.  Don’t know about their mental state, though.  Who would want to go wading in a freezing river in 30 degree weather with snow showers when you could be in warm and sunny Hilton Head! He has a place up here in Park City, UT. I’ve seen him around town every now and again. Kitty

Response:

I happened to be in line behind Mark O’Meara and 2 of his fishing friends this morning at the coffee and bagel store this morning. They were ready to head out and do some fly fishing.  Don’t know about their mental state, though.  Who would want to go wading in a freezing river in 30 degree weather with snow showers when you could be in warm and sunny Hilton Head! He has a place up here in Park City, UT. I’ve seen him around town every now and again. Kitty

Response:

Actually, my son got me up in Montana once and the trout were rising throughout the snow showers.  After the first bite, I didn’t notice the weather at all.  Heck, you are standing in 34 degree water all day anyhow! — regards,  RichG .

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I happened to be in line behind Mark O’Meara and 2 of his fishing friends this morning at the coffee and bagel store this morning. They were ready to head out and do some fly fishing.  Don’t know about their mental state, though.  Who would want to go wading in a freezing river in 30 degree weather with snow showers when you could be in warm and sunny Hilton Head! He has a place up here in Park City, UT. I’ve seen him around town every now and again. Kitty

Response:

Question:

Today I finally found the time to head up to Boone and fish for trout. It had been nearly two months since my last visit. Fortunately, I was able to bring along an ex-ROFFian celebrity guest which had the added bonus of providing Waldo a bit of motivation to join us for the day. I think I can safely speak for all of three us when I say that we had a great time. After taking care of a few errands in the area, Celebrity Guest and I met Waldo at his house at about 9:30am and headed to the Watauga. We decided to fish the delayed harvest section for a while as we waited for the sun to come out and (hopefully) bring the fish to the surface. As it turns out, the fish never did really get into the swing of taking dry flies, so we (well, those of us with no scruples anyway) were relegated to fishing with nymphs. The stockers were unusually picky and much more of a challenge than normal. Not a bad thing at all, but in the end we did manage to catch a respectable number of fish. At about noon we headed to a wild stream that has quickly become one of my very favorite places on earth to fish. The water was running high and *cold* but relatively clear. I was actually glad that I had let Celebrity Guest borrow my nice breathable waders and that I had chosen to wear my neoprene backups. We fished some absolutely stunning stretches of water. Despite the fact that I’m practically only half the age of my fishing partners, I was the only one to take a spill. I didn’t get wet, but I did manage quite a shin shiner. Once again, dry flies did not produce (although Waldo and Celebrity Guest stuck to their dry fly guns with seasoned determination) but a few fish could be had here and there in the deep pools with small Prince nymphs and a couple of–ahem–sinkers. It’s interesting how different things are at this time of year than they were last year at this time. The water is much higher and colder which has likely delayed the dry fly action by several weeks. Or maybe that has nothing to do with it; who knows. Despite the predictions of rain showers, the weather was great. An almost eery cold front pushed its way into the area right as we were breaking down our gear (at about 3:30pm) and by 4:00pm it was butt cold outside. A good day on the stream and the company was most excellent. Can’t wait to do it again… –Steve

Response:

  Um, I need a ruling on the above: is it White Fish that he’s fucking, or is he a White Fucker who preys on fish?

Jeff preys on white fish.  What he did with them after that is still his little secret <g HTH. — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

Response:

Sure, but just in a sarcastic manner…. Shut up  white fish fucker!

Um, I need a ruling on the above: is it White Fish that he’s fucking, or is he a White Fucker who preys on fish? /daytripper (Thanks in advance

Response:

So if I designate myself as the "Best fly fisherman to ever live" will you guys start referring to me as that?

Sure, but just in a sarcastic manner….

Response:

Sure, but just in a sarcastic manner….

Shut up  white fish fucker! — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

Response:

Ya really think Zimbo’s breathables would fit the dwarf?  

Maybe they cut one leg off of Waldo’s old waders and made him hop from boulder to boulder. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/

Response:

Well hell’s bells, are you going to tell us who it is? It was Vern Ursenbach.

Cool! I always thought Vern was perfectly proportioned to fish those little NC streams. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/

Response:

Ya really think Zimbo’s breathables would fit the dwarf?   (You wouldn’t believe how many times I had to rewrite that to avoid some sicko double-entendre.   e.g. Do you think Vern would fit in Zimbo’s

waders?) I am sure he could reside in one leg of Zimbo’s waders very comfortably <g — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

Response:

"Paul Goodwin" wrote I do believe that if he was goint to tell us he would have.    So it must have been the dwarf.

Ya really think Zimbo’s breathables would fit the dwarf?   (You wouldn’t believe how many times I had to rewrite that to avoid some sicko double-entendre.   e.g. Do you think Vern would fit in Zimbo’s waders?) Joe F.

Response:

Charlie Wilson: "Paul Goodwin" wrote I do believe that if he was goint to tell us he would have.   So it must have been the dwarf.

<splork  But I missed the computer!!! <g Dave

Response:

It was Vern Ursenbach. You are joking right? Hell yeah he’s joking. It was the American Sportsman.

Oh, you mean Curt Gowdy

Response:

It was the company that I help start (The American Sportsman’s Club" OR it is "The American Sportsman’s Series" that was directed by my good friend, who recently died, Burr Smidt who lives on Manasee Road in Sarasota Florida.  He has done a lot of production works that were outstanding, especially those done with his wife, Renee’ Valenti Smidt. The American Sportsman was a popular Television Series twenty years ago. Guests included Bing Crosby, and many other Hollywood American Sportsmen.  It was THE PREMIER Outdoors Program all others try to top. None have done it to date Warren. George     Hell yeah he’s joking. It was the American Sportsman. WhoTF is the American Sportsman? — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

– (C) George Gehrke 2001 http://www.gink.com/shopcart/index.html     fine bamboo flyrods & blanks

Response:

GROSS! George was using that tag for a while last year. So if I designate myself as the "Best fly fisherman to ever live" will you guys start referring to me as that? Why does it remind me of the old saying "You can hope in one hand, crap in the other and see which one gets filled first" ?.?.?.? — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

– (C) George Gehrke 2001 http://www.gink.com/shopcart/index.html     fine bamboo flyrods & blanks

Response:

    Hell yeah he’s joking. It was the American Sportsman.

WhoTF is the American Sportsman? — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

Response:

George was using that tag for a while last year. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –     Hell yeah he’s joking. It was the American Sportsman. WhoTF is the American Sportsman? — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

Response:

George was using that tag for a while last year.

So if I designate myself as the "Best fly fisherman to ever live" will you guys start referring to me as that? Why does it remind me of the old saying "You can hope in one hand, crap in the other and see which one gets filled first" ?.?.?.? — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

Response:

It was Vern Ursenbach. You are joking right?

    Hell yeah he’s joking. It was the American Sportsman.

Response:

It was Vern Ursenbach. You are joking right?

You’ll have to ask Mr. Wilson about that… –Steve

Response:

"Paul Goodwin" wrote I do believe that if he was goint to tell us he would have.   So it must have been the dwarf.

Somehow I doubt Mrs. Dwarf would let him roam that far. /daytripper (My money’s on wayno…)

Response:

Well hell’s bell’s, are you going to tell us who it is?

Response:

I do believe that if he was goint to tell us he would have.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Well hell’s bell’s, are you going to tell us who it is?

Response:

"Paul Goodwin" wrote I do believe that if he was goint to tell us he would have.

   So it must have been the dwarf.

Response:

Well hell’s bells, are you going to tell us who it is?

It was Vern Ursenbach. –Steve

Response:

It was Vern Ursenbach.

You are joking right?

Response:

<snipped nice TR for space? Glad you had a good time.  Perhaps you can broker a deal for their extra water to help fill up our rivers and resevoirs to keep California in electricity this summer. Was Wayno the celebrity guest? <g — Warren Findley "The vice or virtue of any form of angling lies not in the method but in the man." Author Hugh Falkus

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Question:

I am going to try my hand at some Salmon fishing this year.  A friend of mine recommended that I get some running line for my reel.  He says that you can split in in half and make two running lines.  Questions:  1) Is this true?  2) What are the properties of a running line and what makes it different than other conventional fly lines? 3) Reputable brands?  Thank you in advance.

Response:

I am going to try my hand at some Salmon fishing this year.  A friend of mine recommended that I get some running line for my reel.  He says that you can split in in half and make two running lines.  Questions:  1) Is this true?  2) What are the properties of a running line and what makes it different than other conventional fly lines? 3) Reputable brands?  Thank you

Your friend may have meant to recommend backing, e.g. 30 lb. test braided dacron, to fill up the fly reel under the fly line.  This is needed for strong fish like salmon which may take out more line than the 30-35 yards of the fly line. "Running line" used to be sold by Scientific Anglers (perhaps still is) and was a thin level fly line (0.029 inches diameter) used by people who liked to splice their own tapers, e.g. with a shooting head.  (British reservoir anglers used to use heavy mono for both backing and running line.  Perhaps 20 years ago British mono curled less than American.) — |        Carlsbad Springs, Ottawa, Canada        |

Response:

Question:

Tom , My friend your singing to The Choir .   Harry – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – :  #17-Outlaw all types of fishing in any of the river so reclamied. : After all it’s about the fish …right? You bet, Harry. I’m with you on that one. Rather than proposing to make it pure C+R, why not have a 1-weekend season? Hunting seems to work rather well like that. If the fish can handle pure C+R, they can handle some harvest. Why bias the policy against the vast majority of fishermen who like to keep some fish? : : 15.) Bill nations with an exorbitant military service fee for resolving their : wars with our military. This huge windfall of trillions of dollars would fund : the government. clean up the environment/save the wild fish and lower our : taxes. Should this be taken as "I’m not willing to pay for it myself"? Of course, sending a bill doesn’t mean you actually collect money. Do you *really* think we’d reap a "windfall"? No, if they have the money, rather than pay us, they’d keep that money and raise their own army. Then we’d be back to square one. It is in our own interest for these nations to not keep large standing armies. That’s what gives us the title "superpower". If a country had the money to build a strong military, it probably would not need US aid to protect itself from other nations. For example, England would not need US intervention in the foreseeable future, but Kosovo will. Meanwhile, the US spent over a billion dollars on Kosovo and we never see that money again. The US will end up fighting over there again without compensation because of Milosevic or some other tyrant and we will spend billions of dollars to try to solve a problem that will never be solved without 50 or more years of commitment. As far as I am concerned, the US environmental problems are more important than Kosovo. Congress whines "a Billion dollars has been spent on the salmon in the last 20 years….", but is a happy camper whenever we blow billions of dollars in a few weeks to try to rectify a problem that has existed for 1000’s of years in the false hope that we can make things better in a month of bombing when the Serbs and Kosovars have been intolerant of each other for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A few years of peacekeeping will not make things better and the US will spend more on Kosovo, a place more than 3000 miles away from America than it will on fixing our environmental problems in the next few years. When was Kosovo a part of the US? Is it the 51st state? It is wrong for the government to spend more money on Kosovo than it does for many states. I bet the people of Wyoming are pleased that the citizens of Kosovo get more Wyoming taxpayer dollars than the people of Wyoming. If Kosovo wants our help, they better pay their share of the taxes. Whenever Americans need improvements or protection, Americans pay their government for those services. Why should another nation who uses our Governement to solve their problems be absolved from paying for the services that they used? Anyways, the *real* question is how much are *you* willing to have *your* taxes increase to fund all of your points?  If you are not willing to pay for it yourself, then it’s all just hot air. no, I am willing to pay my taxes even with an increase, but the government should be efficient with the money it collects from taxpayers. It is not right for the government to spend billions of dollars on the problems of other nations while we have so many problems at home to solve. If the government is going to spend money on other nations, the government should demand payment for services rendered. I pay to fish by buying a license and that money is used to manage fisheries. My payment pays for the management services provided by my state. Why should the military be any different? If a country has a problem that has to be resolved by the military and they ask for our help, that US military aid should be paid for by the country that is asking for our help. What’s wrong with paying for services delivered? It’s ridiculous to let our tax dollars be spent without demanding compensation for what has been done. Spend the money on the salmon/steelhead, forests, waterways, educational system, infrastructure and technology instead of throwing money into a fire. Tom JonCook.

Response:

Are there any other rivers in the lower 48 states that a summer Steelhead will take a fly on the surface?   I’ve had many days of ten fish on the Deschutes river in Oregon skating fly’s on the surface for Steelhead.  Wonder why they take a fly on the surface on the Deschutes, and not on other rivers? — Sharp Hooks, Pat Holdzit Fishing Products Inc. http://www.holdzit.com Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

Response:

At the right time and place they’ll take a dry on any water.

Response:

I believe wild fish come to the surface more readily than planted fish. I know that Bill McMillan swears by surface fishing for steal head in his book Dry Line Fishing For Pacific Steelhead.

Response:

I believe wild fish come to the surface more readily than planted fish. I know that Bill McMillan swears by surface fishing for steal head in his book Dry Line Fishing For Pacific Steelhead.

Hi All, There are two ways to dry fly fish for steelhead. Waking or skating dry flies and dead drifting dry flies. We met an old English angler on the Bulkley River in B.C. who said that the only tasteful way was to dead drift dries. I think wild fish are preferable. Sun off the water and 60 degree water temperater also can help. You are looking for water that is less than 10 feet deep, moving at a medium speed and with a pretty smooth surface. Maybe late September, early October? There are less Steelhead than ever, but if you want to work hard enough for them, they can still be found.

Response:

There are less Steelhead than ever, but if you want to work hard enough for them, they can still be found.

Why do you think that is, Bill? I mean, why are there fewer steelhead than ever? — something bogus to avoid spam)

Response:

says… There are less Steelhead than ever, but if you want to work hard enough for them, they can still be found. Why do you think that is, Bill? I mean, why are there fewer steelhead than ever?

Excessive commercial fishing pressure, improperly designed dams, water pollution, destruction of habitat and improperly managed sport fisheries….. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text — something bogus to avoid spam)

Response:

If you catch enough steelhead, the nonsense about a difference between hatchery and wild fish becomes obvious.  I have always found steelhead come up for dries best in the tail of a pool, usually on a side.  Probably just less water overhead and that they usually are found in this area at the start and end of the day which probably means they have not been disturbed for some time.  If you spot a fish in such a location, a little skate when the fly is about 2 foot above the fish’s lie helps. Fred – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I believe wild fish come to the surface more readily than planted fish. I know that Bill McMillan swears by surface fishing for steal head in his book Dry Line Fishing For Pacific Steelhead.

Response:

There are less Steelhead than ever, but if you want to work hard enough for them, they can still be found. Why do you think that is, Bill? I mean, why are there fewer steelhead than ever? — something bogus to avoid spam)

I started fishing steelhead in the 60s in northern California. It was still pretty good fishing then, but the older guys really saw it in it’s ‘hay days’. I have fished with an old group of anglers that fished for them heavily from the end of W W II till just recently. Mostly, they are too old to wade and secondly in the last 10 years they have lost interest. We still have a pretty strong younger group that travel up and down the northwest coast of North America. I have listened to them tell the stories of fishing 50 years ago on the great un-damed rivers of North America. The mighty Russian, Eel, Trinity, Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua and on up through Oregon, Washington and the great rivers of British Columbia. It is a crime what we let happen to our great rivers. We mostly wipped out the wild steelhead in the 1900s. Bad logging, too many dams, de-watering and agriculture have lead to the loss of habitate for the might ‘Iron Head’. Commercial netting up north in BC is to blame also. If they could just start working on some of the good rivers that are left we could save some wild steelhead stocks. I have been thinking about this for the last 10 years. Take a few rivers and turn them back to wild rivers with no hatchery fish. Close them for 10 years and build back up a good population. No logging on the drainage. No dams. No more roads. Steelhead should all be wild and all be catch and release. If you have caught wild steelhead on a fly rod with a floating line and dry or unweighted steelhead fly, you can understand this kind of thinking. Hell, if you caught a wild steelhead on any kind of tackle you would understand. Rather than complain all the time, we should try to save what is left.

Response:

says… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – There are less Steelhead than ever, but if you want to work hard enough for them, they can still be found. Why do you think that is, Bill? I mean, why are there fewer steelhead than ever? — something bogus to avoid spam) I started fishing steelhead in the 60s in northern California. It was still pretty good fishing then, but the older guys really saw it in it’s ‘hay days’. I have fished with an old group of anglers that fished for them heavily from the end of W W II till just recently. Mostly, they are too old to wade and secondly in the last 10 years they have lost interest. We still have a pretty strong younger group that travel up and down the northwest coast of North America. I have listened to them tell the stories of fishing 50 years ago on the great un-damed rivers of North America. The mighty Russian, Eel, Trinity, Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua and on up through Oregon, Washington and the great rivers of British Columbia. It is a crime what we let happen to our great rivers. We mostly wipped out the wild steelhead in the 1900s. Bad logging, too many dams, de-watering and agriculture have lead to the loss of habitate for the might ‘Iron Head’. Commercial netting up north in BC is to blame also. If they could just start working on some of the good rivers that are left we could save some wild steelhead stocks. I have been thinking about this for the last 10 years. Take a few rivers and turn them back to wild rivers with no hatchery fish. Close them for 10 years and build back up a good population. No logging on the drainage. No dams. No more roads. Steelhead should all be wild and all be catch and release. If you have caught wild steelhead on a fly rod with a floating line and dry or unweighted steelhead fly, you can understand this kind of thinking. Hell, if you caught a wild steelhead on any kind of tackle you would understand. Rather than complain all the time, we should try to save what is left.

I think the steelhead and salmon could come back to historic proportions if the following things were done: 1.) All remaining undammed rivers are allowed to flow freely for eternity. 2.) Cities built near spawning habitat should be forced stop all development     near the spawning habitat. 3.) Ban commercial fishing for coldwater fish in the sea or freshwater. Catch     and Release only for wild stocks and certain hatchery stocks should be     maintained to create fisheries for the average angler while saving the     wild fish with prudent management. Seafood farming (the planting and     raising of seafood)would be implemented instead of commercial fishing. 4.) Train and pay former commercial fishermen to help study and protect the         fish stocks.     5.) Create tree farms for necessary lumber and ban logging in pristine         forests. Hire loggers to log the tree farms and use their expertise to             assist in the reclaimation of logged forests. Train loggers to fight         forest fires, maintain national parks and use their forestry skills             /training to help wilderness areas. 6.) retrofit all amenable dams with fish ladders to allow fish migration. 7.) breach all dams that cannot be retrofitted to help the salmon/steelhead         migrations. 8.) All hatchery plantings be restricted to planting native river stocks only     and augmenting the hatchery stock by a yearly infusion of native river.     stocks. 9.) Ban all logging, development and restrict access in sensitive areas. 10.) Reward organizations and industrial firms by giving huge tax breaks to companies that actively seek to help the environment by complying with the environmental regulations. 11.) Punish (15,000% tax rate)all firms that show wanton disregard for the environment by heavy taxation. 12.) Punish firms that try to leave the US in effort to circumvent the rules with a 20,000% tax rate. 13.) Punish (100,000% tax rate) rogue firms that try to lay off workers to offset financial punishments due to environmental callousness and ineptitude. 14.) after implementation of rules 10-13, all firms will be in compliance as it will be unprofitable to intentionally pollute. 15.) Bill nations with an exorbitant military service fee for resolving their wars with our military. This huge windfall of trillions of dollars would fund the government. clean up the environment/save the wild fish and lower our taxes. 16.) With the 15 rules above, the salmon, steelhead and other wild stocks would be saved, fisheries for the average angler would exist, the environment would be cleaner, the old growth forest would remain, wars would cease, loggers would still be employed, development would be carefully controlled, taxes would be lower, the military would be superpowerful/well funded and we would have enough money to enhance America’s future and resolve many of our problems.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – :  #17-Outlaw all types of fishing in any of the river so reclamied. : After all it’s about the fish …right? You bet, Harry. I’m with you on that one. Rather than proposing to make it pure C+R, why not have a 1-weekend season? Hunting seems to work rather well like that. If the fish can handle pure C+R, they can handle some harvest. Why bias the policy against the vast majority of fishermen who like to keep some fish? : : 15.) Bill nations with an exorbitant military service fee for resolving their : wars with our military. This huge windfall of trillions of dollars would fund : the government. clean up the environment/save the wild fish and lower our : taxes. Should this be taken as "I’m not willing to pay for it myself"? Of course, sending a bill doesn’t mean you actually collect money. Do you *really* think we’d reap a "windfall"? No, if they have the money, rather than pay us, they’d keep that money and raise their own army. Then we’d be back to square one. It is in our own interest for these nations to not keep large standing armies. That’s what gives us the title "superpower".

If a country had the money to build a strong military, it probably would not need US aid to protect itself from other nations. For example, England would not need US intervention in the foreseeable future, but Kosovo will. Meanwhile, the US spent over a billion dollars on Kosovo and we never see that money again. The US will end up fighting over there again without compensation because of Milosevic or some other tyrant and we will spend billions of dollars to try to solve a problem that will never be solved without 50 or more years of commitment. As far as I am concerned, the US environmental problems are more important than Kosovo. Congress whines "a Billion dollars has been spent on the salmon in the last 20 years….", but is a happy camper whenever we blow billions of dollars in a few weeks to try to rectify a problem that has existed for 1000’s of years in the false hope that we can make things better in a month of bombing when the Serbs and Kosovars have been intolerant of each other for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A few years of peacekeeping will not make things better and the US will spend more on Kosovo, a place more than 3000 miles away from America than it will on fixing our environmental problems in the next few years. When was Kosovo a part of the US? Is it the 51st state? It is wrong for the government to spend more money on Kosovo than it does for many states. I bet the people of Wyoming are pleased that the citizens of Kosovo get more Wyoming taxpayer dollars than the people of Wyoming. If Kosovo wants our help, they better pay their share of the taxes. Whenever Americans need improvements or protection, Americans pay their government for those services. Why should another nation who uses our Governement to solve their problems be absolved from paying for the services that they used? Anyways, the *real* question is how much are *you* willing to have *your* taxes increase to fund all of your points?  If you are not willing to pay for it yourself, then it’s all just hot air.

no, I am willing to pay my taxes even with an increase, but the government should be efficient with the money it collects from taxpayers. It is not right for the government to spend billions of dollars on the problems of other nations while we have so many problems at home to solve. If the government is going to spend money on other nations, the government should demand payment for services rendered. I pay to fish by buying a license and that money is used to manage fisheries. My payment pays for the management services provided by my state. Why should the military be any different? If a country has a problem that has to be resolved by the military and they ask for our help, that US military aid should be paid for by the country that is asking for our help. What’s wrong with paying for services delivered? It’s ridiculous to let our tax dollars be spent without demanding compensation for what has been done. Spend the money on the salmon/steelhead, forests, waterways, educational system, infrastructure and technology instead of throwing money into a fire. Tom – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -JonCook.

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 #17-Outlaw all types of fishing in any of the river so reclamied. After all it’s about the fish …right? HM – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – says… There are less Steelhead than ever, but if you want to work hard enough for them, they can still be found. Why do you think that is, Bill? I mean, why are there fewer steelhead than ever? — something bogus to avoid spam) I started fishing steelhead in the 60s in northern California. It was still pretty good fishing then, but the older guys really saw it in it’s ‘hay days’. I have fished with an old group of anglers that fished for them heavily from the end of W W II till just recently. Mostly, they are too old to wade and secondly in the last 10 years they have lost interest. We still have a pretty strong younger group that travel up and down the northwest coast of North America. I have listened to them tell the stories of fishing 50 years ago on the great un-damed rivers of North America. The mighty Russian, Eel, Trinity, Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua and on up through Oregon, Washington and the great rivers of British Columbia. It is a crime what we let happen to our great rivers. We mostly wipped out the wild steelhead in the 1900s. Bad logging, too many dams, de-watering and agriculture have lead to the loss of habitate for the might ‘Iron Head’. Commercial netting up north in BC is to blame also. If they could just start working on some of the good rivers that are left we could save some wild steelhead stocks. I have been thinking about this for the last 10 years. Take a few rivers and turn them back to wild rivers with no hatchery fish. Close them for 10 years and build back up a good population. No logging on the drainage. No dams. No more roads. Steelhead should all be wild and all be catch and release. If you have caught wild steelhead on a fly rod with a floating line and dry or unweighted steelhead fly, you can understand this kind of thinking. Hell, if you caught a wild steelhead on any kind of tackle you would understand. Rather than complain all the time, we should try to save what is left. I think the steelhead and salmon could come back to historic proportions if the following things were done: 1.) All remaining undammed rivers are allowed to flow freely for eternity. 2.) Cities built near spawning habitat should be forced stop all development    near the spawning habitat. 3.) Ban commercial fishing for coldwater fish in the sea or freshwater. Catch    and Release only for wild stocks and certain hatchery stocks should be    maintained to create fisheries for the average angler while saving the    wild fish with prudent management. Seafood farming (the planting and    raising of seafood)would be implemented instead of commercial fishing. 4.) Train and pay former commercial fishermen to help study and protect the         fish stocks.         5.) Create tree farms for necessary lumber and ban logging in pristine         forests. Hire loggers to log the tree farms and use their expertise to             assist in the reclaimation of logged forests. Train loggers to fight         forest fires, maintain national parks and use their forestry skills             /training to help wilderness areas. 6.) retrofit all amenable dams with fish ladders to allow fish migration. 7.) breach all dams that cannot be retrofitted to help the salmon/steelhead         migrations. 8.) All hatchery plantings be restricted to planting native river stocks only     and augmenting the hatchery stock by a yearly infusion of native river.    stocks. 9.) Ban all logging, development and restrict access in sensitive areas. 10.) Reward organizations and industrial firms by giving huge tax breaks to companies that actively seek to help the environment by complying with the environmental regulations. 11.) Punish (15,000% tax rate)all firms that show wanton disregard for the environment by heavy taxation. 12.) Punish firms that try to leave the US in effort to circumvent the rules with a 20,000% tax rate. 13.) Punish (100,000% tax rate) rogue firms that try to lay off workers to offset financial punishments due to environmental callousness and ineptitude. 14.) after implementation of rules 10-13, all firms will be in compliance as it will be unprofitable to intentionally pollute. 15.) Bill nations with an exorbitant military service fee for resolving their wars with our military. This huge windfall of trillions of dollars would fund the government. clean up the environment/save the wild fish and lower our taxes. 16.) With the 15 rules above, the salmon, steelhead and other wild stocks would be saved, fisheries for the average angler would exist, the environment would be cleaner, the old growth forest would remain, wars would cease, loggers would still be employed, development would be carefully controlled, taxes would be lower, the military would be superpowerful/well funded and we would have enough money to enhance America’s future and resolve many of our problems.

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

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

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

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

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

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Anyone know a decent flyshop in the Berkshires…for local advice and flytying materials.

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If you are in the northern Berkshires, you might try the Smith and Morey shop on Route 2 in Charlemont.  The proprietor is a friendly guy and, along with one of his buddies, gave me some advice on the Deerfield last weekend.  The shop is a combination of hunting and fishing supplies, so the flyfishing/tying merchandise is not dazzling.  He said he would only be open on weekends after Christmas, but you can also check his main outdoor store (same name) just off of Route 2 in Shelburn Falls on the main street about a block away from the bridge crossing the Deerfield. Good luck! Rob Foster

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That’s true. Starting with the RPL+ rods, at least that’s what my flyshop guys said. Gerhard

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"Sage rods, reels and blanks carry an unconditional, original-owner guarantee. Regardless of cause, Sage will promptly repair or replace any rod, reel or blank that is defective or damaged free of charge. In addition, we promise to give you the best service and repair in the industry and we will return ship your rod, reel or blank within 7 working days" That is right off of the back cover of the 1996 Sage catalog. The same warranty also applies to Lamson reels. Clay

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Summary: Sage Unconditional Lifetime Warrenty?  A tackle shop guy told me that next year Sage rods will have an unconditional lifetime warrenty. So if your dog chews up the Sage years from now Sage will fix or replace it free with no questions asked. Can anyone confirm or deny this statement? -regards Wayne V Ohh.. the tackle guy also stated the price will be increasing 7%.

Wayne, your source was correct.  The rods will have an unconditional warranty.  Prices are going up and they have a new series of rods the Rpl +.  They look really good.  We have found that they cast better with more control than the Rpl’s.  The Rpl 4 pieces have been dropped so if you want one better grab it now. Ken

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That’s true. Starting with the RPL+ rods, at least that’s what my flyshop guys said. Gerhard

I’ve also heard the warranty applies to blanks as well. Very good news. Bob Petti Endwell, NY

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(SNIP) That is right off of the back cover of the 1996 Sage catalog. The same warranty also applies to Lamson reels.

Which are now owned by Sage, right? Bob Petti Endwell, NY

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   The "lifetime replacement guarantee" on the label doesn’t tell the whole story. Most manufacturer’s will replace a broken rod for relatively little money.    We break many rods in our flyfishing classes. For fun we sent back a broken rod each to SAGE, LOOMIS, FENWICK, WINSTON and SCOTT. We used a friends letterhead and return address so the companies wouldn’t have incentive to treat us any better than their regular rod repair/replacement.    SAGE: We sent the rod in on Monday and had a new one on Thursday (Blue Label UPS). We have broken several Sage rods, and all of them have been replaced within a week. Incredible service like this should be rewarded.    LOOMIS: They sent us reciept of our broken rod and had us verify shipping address. Total turn around was 8 working days and cost was $30.00 for a new tip.    FENWICK: They sent us a new rod in three weeks but it was the wrong rod. We called them and they arranged for us to pick up a new one off a local dealer’s shelf.    WINSTON: This was the only rod sent with a defect (The internal ferrule fell out). They took 6 weeks to repair the rod then charged us $30.00. We made a complaint on plain stationary and they stood by their charge. We made a second complaint on our flyfishing school letterhead and they not only reversed the charge but sent us a couple of hats.    SCOTT: It took 5 months and two phone calls to get the rod back. I hate to say this because I love Scott rods and am good friends with many of their staff. Tight lines, Ralph Cutter —

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  A tackle shop guy told me that next year Sage rods will have an  unconditional lifetime warrenty. So if your dog chews up the Sage  years from now Sage will fix or replace it free with no questions  asked.  Can anyone confirm or deny this statement?  -regards  Wayne V  Ohh.. the tackle guy also stated the price will be increasing 7%.

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Well in that case I would like your opinion about it. I have tried it myself, when I ran out of my usual ‘oily-rings-on-the-water-stuff’, and man was I disappointed. Sure, it worked beautifully. For a couple of seconds. But when the fly once been drown, it stayed submerged. I followed then instructions to dry the fly and put some more of that powder on, but this time the fly didn’t even seem to notice the surface. I think the name of the stuff was ‘Dry n Shake’. Bloody expensive too…     Gink forever…./ Hans

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Well in that case I would like your opinion about it. I have tried it myself, when I ran out of my usual ‘oily-rings-on-the-water-stuff’, and man was I disappointed. Sure, it worked beautifully. For a couple of seconds. But when the fly once been drown, it stayed submerged. I followed then instructions to dry the fly and put some more of that powder on, but this time the fly didn’t even seem to notice the surface. I think the name of the stuff was ‘Dry n Shake’. Bloody expensive too…    

I’ve tried Dry Shake this summer and found that it worked fine when fishing in calm water. In moving water the powder  rinsed away to fast. I found out that you must make the fly as dry as possible before putting the stuff on it again. It worked for me. But I’m only using Dry Shake in  calm water. It is very expensive though  (100 Skr for 25 gram).. I’m still looking for the ultimate dry fly floatant! /Mikael — Mikael Andersson                        Ericsson Telecom AB Phone: +46 8 7190794                    KK/ETX/T/BDH Fax:   +46 8 6812626                    S-126 25 Stockholm

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writes: Well in that case I would like your opinion about it. I have tried it myself, when I ran out of my usual

‘oily-rings-on-the-water-stuff’, and man was I disappointed. Sure, it worked beautifully. For a couple of seconds. But when the fly once

been drown, it stayed submerged. I followed then instructions to dry the fly and put some more of that powder on, but this time the fly didn’t even seem to notice the surface. I think the name of the stuff was ‘Dry n Shake’. Bloody expensive too…     Gink forever…./ Hans

If this is the same "Shake’n Dry" stuff that I use, it isn’t meant to be a floatant, it’s supposed to dry off a drowned fly. You have to reapply your favorite floatant after it’s dried. By the way, this stuff is ordinary silica gel dessicant. You can get the same stuff for about 5 bucks (US) a pound at hobby shops. They use it for drying flowers and such. One pound will last you for a lifetime (or get together with some of your fisherman friends and split the cost) the only other thing you need to get is a suitable container (but you already have one since you bought Shake’n Dry). This stuff also works great for cul de canard flies, since you can’t use floatant on them. Darryl

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Have you tried the powder dry fly floatant?   Nntp-Posting-Host: eplu04 Organization: Erisoft AB Umea Sweden Lines: 9 Well in that case I would like your opinion about it. I have tried it myself, when I ran out of my usual ‘oily-rings-on-the-water-stuff’, and man was I disappointed. Sure, it worked beautifully. For a couple of seconds. But when the fly once been drown, it stayed submerged. I followed then instructions to dry the fly and put some more of that powder on, but this time the fly didn’t even seem to notice the surface. I think the name of the stuff was ‘Dry n Shake’. Bloody expensive too…     Gink forever…./ Hans

I have had a similar experience with the dry powder. However, I have found a flotant which is superior, for me, to Gink or Dave’s…. I do a lot of my fly on backpacking trips in the High Sierra of California, where it is pretty cold in the morning. I find Gink, etc. to be VERY viscous to the point of not flowing. I have found some silicone based flotant in Andy Puyan’s fly shop, Creative Sports, in Pleasant Hill Califorinia, which was developed by one of Andy’s fly tying students. The student was a chemist at Dow in nearby Pittsburg, CA. This stuff is the consistency of honey at any temp between 25 and 105 degrees F. I’ts called Andy’s flotant & it works really well for me. Rick Najarian

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I do a lot of my fly on backpacking trips in the High Sierra of California, where it is pretty cold in the morning. I find Gink, etc. to be VERY viscous to the point of not flowing. I have found some silicone based flotant in Andy Puyan’s fly shop, Creative Sports, in Pleasant Hill Califorinia, which was developed by one of Andy’s fly tying students. The student was a chemist at Dow in nearby Pittsburg, CA. This stuff is the consistency of honey at any temp between 25 and 105 degrees F. I’ts called Andy’s flotant & it works really well for me.

Can you give an address/phone number? — Rick

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I do a lot of my fly on backpacking trips in the High Sierra of California, where it is pretty cold in the morning. I find Gink, etc. to be VERY viscous to the point of not flowing. I have found some silicone based flotant in Andy Puyan’s fly shop, Creative Sports, in Pleasant Hill Califorinia, which was developed by one of Andy’s fly tying students. The student was a chemist at Dow in nearby Pittsburg, CA. This stuff is the consistency of honey at any temp between 25 and 105 degrees F. I’ts called Andy’s flotant & it works really well for me. Can you give an address/phone number? — Rick

Dear RW, The shop is: Creative Sports 1924 #C Oak Park Blvd. Pleasant Hill, CA 94253 (510) 938-2255 P.S. "Andy" is Andy Puyans of the "A.P. Nymph series" & this is his fly shop. Naj

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FYI, the guides I’ve talked to in Montana and the Eastern Sierras swear by "Aquel" by Loon.  It seems to hold its consistency well in the heat.

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