Question:

During the height of "hummingbird season" I use 10-15 lbs of sugar a week to make the solution. Can I have your "recipe" please?

I’ve never measured sugar to water, but an approximation would be about 1/2 cup sugar to about 3/4 cup water.  Heat water, stirring, until sugar dissolved, add a drop or so of red food coloring, and cool in fridge.  Makes about a qt. Once the birds start lapping up the solution I make about 3 qts at a time. This solution has about 2 – 2.5x more sugar than the commercial powders, and so hummingbirds have to make the trip to the feeder a little less often (which was the point of revving up the sugar).  I had checked with an ornithologist where I work, who blessed the enriched solution.  It can be made even sweeter with no harm to the birds. Note of caution…..I don’t know if beet sugar is sold in the UK, but thru trial and error I discovered that the birds reject a solution of beet sugar (or did mine anyway); I use only cane sugar now. Mac

Response:

This is when a hawk or other predator approaches and smaller birds band together in a planned attack to drive off the intruder. I have seen hawks dive bombed this way by a bunch of starlings.

<nodding   A few years ago I heard loud, continuous bird screeches in back of the house and went to find out what was happening.  A number of birds were attacking an eagle, dive-bombing it and had driven the eagle to flying about 4 feet above the ground.  In a matter of minutes it  had flown off.  I was happy for the escape of any potential prey but I missed a great opportunity to photograph the scene. My hummingbirds have not arrived as yet here in Pa.

Not all the hummingbirds leave this area during the Winter….since it’s a cold "Northern" winter only a few days a season.  A few birds are back at the feeder; in a few weeks, there’ll be a clan gathering of multiple generations. During the height of "hummingbird season" I use 10-15 lbs of sugar a week to make the solution. Mac

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I think cats are the lords and ladies of the earth.  :-) So do the cats. (Hi, Mac … )

Good morning, Arjay.   Small point of order … Fossey worked with _mountain_ gorillas.

When I read over what I had typed, I thought there was something "off"  (blush, blush).  Thanks. Again, a number of species that form families or troops for survival  also develop within the "family" strong sibling and mother-dtr ties, hunting for one another, caring for one another’s offspring, looking out for orphans, protecting one another. That applies in many species.  Look into the behaviours of many social animals: African elephants may be the most striking example.

Yes. If the wolves’ territoriality were unique to the species Tacon’s conjecture would seem stronger.   Mac

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – "DawnoftheForest" wrote … Mcc6050 wrote … Dogs rule Hmmmm….I think cats are the lords and ladies of the earth.  :-) So do the cats. (Hi, Mac … ) Interesting article…some comments: Tacon said modern man’s strong territorialism is not shared by other primates. I don’t think that’s all that accurate.  The work by Goodall and Fossey showed that troops/families of chimps and low-land gorillas are territorial. Their findings were, IIRC, mostly confirmations of things suggested by the earlier work of Konrad Lorenz. Even when developing the concept of "imprinting" Lorenz made some passing comments on the apparent territoriality of geese, and I seem to recall he expanded on those comments in _Das sogenannte B

Question:

I recently moved to Glendora, and I know of the west fork in the San Gabriel Canyon, but I wanted to know if there were any other close spots to fly fish. Also if any parts of the SG river have smallmouth bass or sunfish in them. Thanks alot.

Response:

You can fly fish in many spots, the further you go NORTH or in ALTITUDE the better your chances of good fishing.   Try the Kern wilderness, the Big-Bear area and also the San-Bernardino Park system. You can find more info and links at www.troutworld.com Good Luck, Jeff Gray – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I recently moved to Glendora, and I know of the west fork in the San Gabriel Canyon, but I wanted to know if there were any other close spots to fly fish. Also if any parts of the SG river have smallmouth bass or sunfish in them. Thanks alot.

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Question:

 Went up to the Housatonic in Connecticut this past weekend with a bunch of friends.At first we were all a little bummed out about the high water.I guess all the rain had brought the level way up.It was tough to wade and difficult to find all of the usual holding places.I had brought a sink tip line that I had purchased about three years ago and never had the occasion to use.I used a two foot leader and a black wooly bugger.On the second morning my buddy and I went to a long stretch that another friend had recommended,I think it was the "meat hole",where the water was slightly calmer.     I realized that with most of the structure hidden from view that I was not going to be able to fish in the way I was accustomed to.I remembered some advice that I’ve seen mentioned here and many other places that a good way to fish a large river is to break it down into a smaller section and deal with it the way you would fish a stream.I worked my way out about twenty feet from the shore and I began to work the bank and any pocket water that I encountered within the "stream"that I had picked out for myself.I was taking my time,relaxing,almost zen-like,and I was hammering smallies with the occasional brown.     Although it wasn’t like the phenomenal low water fishing of last year,I felt that the river had something to offer if one was willing to be openminded about the possibilities.How often do you get to fish for browns and smallies during the middle of the summer?    What lessons did I learn?What it feels like to freeze in a panic as you watch your friend bobbing like a cork in a whirlpool(he eventually gained his footing).Sometimes fish like drag:during the white fly hatch I was getting no takers until I started to skitter the fly.I am not invulnerable:I fell in several times,but fortunately I didn’t take on any water.Some of my friends wanted the water to be the way they expected and fished it accordingly.They didn’t have much luck and went home kind of pissed off.I had a great time and call me crazy but I really enjoyed all the challenges that the high water was throwing my way.I also have a pretty good idea now why it’s important to pack a wading stick and next time you better believe I’ll have one. Tight Lines All, Shawn

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This is the challange and satisfaction of fishing. It is why some people catch fish most all of the time, while others are shut down.  Great report. Mark Faulkner – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –     I realized that with most of the structure hidden from view that I was not wanted the water to be the way they expected and fished it accordingly.They didn’t have much luck and went home kind of pissed off.I had a great time and call me crazy but I really enjoyed all the challenges that the high water was throwing my way.I also have a pretty good idea now why it’s important to pack a wading stick and next time you better believe I’ll have one. Tight Lines All, Shawn

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Question:

Hi All Have a look at our club site at http://www.gibbboyd.freeserve.co.uk and let me know what you think and what you would like to get from a flyfishing site. May the fish be with you Colin

Response:

I’m proud to announce the beginning of the OutdoorFocus.com Online Photo Contest. This is a new concept in online contests.  Beginning January 1, 2000, all visitors to the OutdoorFocus.com website will have a chance to view contest entries and vote for their favorite photo.  Votes will be tallied each week, and a new winner will be selected. Winning photos will be removed from further participation in the contest, but all others are automatically re-entered for the next week until the end of the month, when the contest topic changes. Each month, the topic for the photo contest will change.  January 2000’s topic for the photo contest is Muskellunge Fishing.  All entries must be related to the contest topic to be considered.  Entrants must read the contest rules before submitting a photo.  Rules can be found at http://www.outdoorfocus.com/contestrules.htm

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Question:

Good story Mike, I often wondered how you got your expertise. Ernie Harrison

<snipped an good fish tail – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Apparently as soon as I had left the table the gentleman who had been standing there watching all the time had asked him who I was, and whether I was one of the more well known dressers there.  My friend had told him that this was indeed the case, and that I would be back later to continue the demo. "Oh, I don’t need the demo", the gent replied, " I don’t know who the bloke is, but he must be a genius, I only showed him how to tie some of these patterns at my stall in the flea-market shortly before the show started, and he sat and tied them here even better and faster than I can, I was just amazed that someone can learn so fast", and he then left the scene. Mike Connor

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says… <Snipped for berevity Very heartening story… I spent the better half of the evening trying to tie a variant of the yellow stimulator pattern that looks a lot like the one a friend from work showed me. I now have a new foe to vanquish and elk hair is thy name!!! http://www.troutflies.com/flies/yellowstimulator.htm I also need to work on gauging how much to cut and put on. Also keeping it from sliding around is a real challenge! Needless to say I got tow four tied. Two abortive and two looking like frankenstiens brides… I need to start building up a good collection of good quality hackles. Trying to tie dry hackles with saddle feathers is making me mental. I am also deathly afraid of going into fly shops as I am spending altogether too much on gather supplies! Tonight I managed to improvise a dubbing twister from a garbage bag tie. It works but it aint pretty! I think I shall prevail upon Tom at work to show me that pattern again at lunch! I’d love to visit one of those shows. I’ll have to keep my eyes open when one comes around my area. — Michael Era

Question:

– Now booking inshore fly fishing wading trips for stripers for the 97 season. I supply all tackle and flies as well as casting instructions if needed. If you don’t score stripers, I don’t get paid. Fair enough? $125/single $200/two anglers for a full day wading trip. Email me at http://www.flyfishing-the-salt.com. Good fishing…Ted Bobetsky

Response:

– Now booking inshore fly fishing wading trips for stripers for the 97 season. I supply all tackle and flies as well as casting instructions if needed. If you don’t score stripers, I don’t get paid. Fair enough? $125/single $200/two anglers for a full day wading trip. Email me at http:www.flyfishing-the-salt.com. Good fishing…Ted Bobetsky

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Question:

May your Christmas Present be an Orvis Bamboo with a Guide missing! Mr. Gink — MZ

Response:

May your Christmas Present be an Orvis Bamboo with a Guide missing!

Oh yeah ?!?!?!? Well…may you get the same thing, and break it when you drop your "Tickle Me Elmo" on it, which breaks as well… TimW

Response:

   Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly    Organization: Fly Fishing Products Manufacturer    May your Christmas Present be an Orvis Bamboo with a Guide missing!    Mr. Gink AND, that you live in a climate where you can’t use it for growing tomatoes! cheers,         -tgades

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Question:

Harrison River in British Columbia has lots of big (to 25lbs.), strong (I’ve broken at least one reel) salmon.  Chums are not great to eat, but for us catch & release people they can be fun.  Small pink marabou flies fished deep can be great.  Downstream from the bridge is a favorite spot. Help!  I’d really like more information on this fishery.  Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks!  :-) P.S. Please E-MAIL me your response (I am usually out fishing, so I don’t have time to MONITOR this bulletin board…but email gets to me no problem).  Thanks K Lawson

Response:

I’ve fished the Harrison for a number of years. You want chums try flour red or orange glo-bug yarn with a tinsel body. Dead drift with a type 4 sink tip. For a change of pace try cutts part on the east shore. More my style. I find the big dogs  (and if you’ve been fishing in BC as long as me you’d call them dogs) kind of boring after getting over the initial novelty of big fish on the fly. But lots of people enjoy these hard pulling fish and if that’s you’re cup of tea – you know where they are. Should continue into Nov. Try the chehalis just up the Morris Valley road by the Sasquatch Inn for mondo dogs and lots of coho. Good cutts in Dec and steelhead show in late Dec- Jan. Gets very crwoded tho’ Best of luck!

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Question:

Has anyone ever been up to Packer Lake in the Sierras? It was mentioned along with Upper and Lower Sardine Lakes.  I’ve been to those.  Stocked regularly… boats with electric motors… cabins next door.  Is Packer the one over the ridge and down in the valley? I think probably a couple mile hike.  How does it fish? jeff — Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering  PHONE: (510)486-5348 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory              FAX: (510)486-6900

I would fly fish the Gold lakes basin in June or Oct. In August the fish are usually pretty deep. William Kiene Kiene’s Fly Shop Sacramento,CA,USA

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Fished Packer Lake several years ago. Tough lake to fish unless youi know it well. Stay with lower Sardine in the evenings. Stocked with lots of nice trout and a beautiful lake.

Response:

Has anyone ever been up to Packer Lake in the Sierras? It was mentioned along with Upper and Lower Sardine Lakes.  I’ve been to those.  Stocked regularly… boats with electric motors… cabins next door.  Is Packer the one over the ridge and down in the valley? I think probably a couple mile hike.  How does it fish? jeff — Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering  PHONE: (510)486-5348 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory              FAX: (510)486-6900

Response:

Sorry I’m brain-dead this a.m.  These lake where mentioned in "FishFirst"’s report… Sorry for the confusion.  It’s Friday and I’ve only had one cup of coffee (so far) today. jeff — Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering  PHONE: (510)486-5348 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory              FAX: (510)486-6900

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Question:

I have an Orvis PM-10 8wt with a Ross G-4 reel and would like to gear up for a shooting head/shooting line. I’m planning to buy an xtra spool for the G-4, load up a couple hundred yards of Cortland Spectron 35lb backing, then attach the shooting line and finally shooting head. My questions are:

I do a lot of striper fishing and use shooting heads almost exclusivly. The realy nice thing is you can travel very light. I tend to grab a rod, a box of flies, some leader material, and a couple of shooting heads (floating and  sinking) and put everything in my pockets. Here are some thoughts from my experience.        1) what is the best shooting line to use for steelhead and/or          saltwater? My choices seem to be braided nylon or light level          fly lines. (i.e. in the 2-3 weight category.)

First. Everything is a compromise.  I haven’t used the braided lines, (someone told me they are very hard on your hands) but I am thinking about giving them a try. I have used "amnesia" mono line and found it to be a real pain. It tends to blow around and catch on things pretty easily (I tend not to use a shooting basket, which might solve these problems). But with mono, you sure can cast a long way and a sinking head will sink very deep. So that leaves level fly line, which I’ve been using for quite a while. The biggest advantage to fly line is it floats. I use a fast sinking shooting head quite a bit and floating shooting line makes it much easier to pick up the line for the next cast. If you do use flyline, before you start fishing, stretch it. It will lay in nice coils. Also I found that spraying a rag with some silicon and running the shooting line through it works great. But don’t silicon a sinking head. This year I also decided to mark the shooting line every ten feet with a permenant black marker. This give me some idead of how much line I have out.       2) what is the best way to attach the shooting head to the shooting          line? Do loops work well, or is a direct connection much better?

Again it’s a compromise. If you attach the shooting line directly – ie with a needle or nail knot – it will be easier to shoot the line through the guides. In theory, the shooting head should be outside the tiptop before you try to shoot any line. In practice, this is rarely the case. (BTW, if you make your own rods, use an oversize tiptop, it solves a lot of problems.) I use loops, because it makes switching shooting heads very easy. You don’t have to reel everything in and switch spools. Instead, you just unloop one head and loop on another. I haven’t used the braided loops that are available, but I probably will give them a try next year. Making loops is easy:    a. You need a razor blade, very fine thread (preferably in a bobbin),   and three kinds of glue, "Super glue", Duco Cement and Pliabond.    b. Begin by shaving the end of the fly line down to the center core for    a couple of inches.    c. Lay the shaved part back on the standing part so you have a loop of about 3/4 of a inch.    d. Stick the two parts together with the super glue and let it dry.    e. Wrap the glued part with thread and finish with whip finish, just   like a rod guide.    f. Coat the wrap with Duco Cement. Let it dry.    g. Coat that with Pliabond. I use the same three glues over a needle knot for attaching leader butt material.        3) what kinds of shooting heads are best? (i.e. the pre-made ones          available from Sci Anglers, Orvis, etc. or by cutting a section          from a double-taper flyline or some such.)

I’ve had both. If you make your own you can get two heads from one double taper, but a double taper line probably costs about twice as much as a store bought head. One advantage to making your own is you can tailor the length (and thus the weight) to match your rod. Start with a length of 35 feet or so. Attach it temporarily to the running line and try casting with it. If your rod loads well and casts easily, go ahead and finish it. If it’s not right keep trimming a bit of length. If your are making it from a double taper, it’s probably best to trim it from the rear (where it’s attached to the shooting line.)        4) should I use a shooting head sized for a 9 or 10 weight? I’ve          seen some text which seems to imply that using a size or two          larger than the rod is rated for is appropriate. Is it?

This all depends on the rod. All things considered, if you buying instead of making, you would probably do best to start with a head rated one size too large. I hope this helps — P.O. Box 409 Cambridge, MA 02140-0004

Response:

Quoting templin from a message in rec.outdoors.fishing.fly     should I use a shooting head sized for a 9 or 10 weight? I’ve     seen some text which seems to imply that using a size or two     larger than the rod is rated for is appropriate. Let me answer your question on line weights.  I was listening to our local Southern California radio fishing talk show this morning.  Their guests were Lefty Kreh and Flip Pallot.  They are in town for the annual Marriott’s Fly Shop Flyfishing Fair.  The same question came up.  Lefty said if you are using a shooting head to use a line one weight heavier than your rod weight.   He added that if you are using a sinking line, like a HI-D to go 2 sizes heavier. Jim in Southern California

Response:

1) what is the best shooting line to use for steelhead and/or    saltwater?

I use Cortland’s 0.031" diameter running line – looks like fine fly line.  When using a shooting head setup, you’ll spend lots of time handling the line which is why I would recommend against mono or braided lines. You can find other diameter running lines, but if they’re too thin, handling is tough and the line wears too fast, and if too thick, the head won’t be as able to pull the running line out for good casting distance. 2) what is the best way to attach the shooting head to the shooting    line? Do loops work well, or is a direct connection much better?

You want some sort of loop system to allow exchanging of heads. I’ve tried a ‘double nail knot mono loop’ and a braided loop.  Either works, though I have more confidence in the mono loop.  Just use some 30lb mono.         ___        /   ___vvv The "^^^" nail knot is done first, and not pulled tight until the second "vvv" nail knot is done.  The mono going back to the second nail knot runs under the loops used in forming the first nail knot. Since the PVC cover on most fly lines can pull off the braided core, I usually like to put a knot "+" in the core and sug the nail knots up against it.    3) what kinds of shooting heads are best? (i.e. the pre-made ones      available from Sci Anglers, Orvis, etc. or by cutting a section      from a double-taper flyline or some such.)

Depends on what you’ll be fishing for.   For salmon and steelhead in Oregon, 3, 4, 5 and 6 foot sections of 850-grain Deep Water Express is the norm.    4) should I use a shooting head sized for a 9 or 10 weight? I’ve      seen some text which seems to imply that using a size or two      larger than the rod is rated for is appropriate. Is it?

Many of these setups are *not* tuned to any rod weight.  I use 8wt and 9wt rods when chucking heads, and suspect a 7wt would do. Thomas Gilg

Response:

      1) what is the best shooting line to use for steelhead and/or      saltwater? My choices seem to be braided nylon or light level

I use two kinds; an Orvis shooting Line made for the purpose and a monofile nylon line from Berkley called XL Solange in 0.50 milimeters thickness. The Orvis is good, comfortable and easy to use. The Berkley casts longer, but is harder to handle. Some of my fellow fishermen tried braided line with good luck, but I find it rough on the fingers.    2) what is the best way to attach the shooting head to the shooting      line? Do loops work well, or is a direct connection much better?

I use loops with great success. They’re easier to make and make experiments (see later) much easier. But direct connection goes smoother through the rings, and feels a little better in the cast — more directly connected, if you’ll excuse the pun. If you use mono line for shooting line, then use a real nail knot for the joint. One where the mono goes inside the fly line. If you use level line or ‘real’ shooting line, remove coating from both lines, splice in some way, and cover with aquaseal or the like.    3) what kinds of shooting heads are best? (i.e. the pre-made ones      available from Sci Anglers, Orvis, etc. or by cutting a section      from a double-taper flyline or some such.)

I always made mine from DT line a class (or even two) heavier than the classification of the rod. I cut them in half, which makes them much too heavy, but with a loop system, it’s very fast to find the right weight (that is: length) of the head. Start casting, and cut small peices of the line, until you get the right weight. It’s best to have someone familiar whith shooting heads to help you the first time, if you’ve never used a shooting head before.       4) should I use a shooting head sized for a 9 or 10 weight? I’ve      seen some text which seems to imply that using a size or two      larger than the rod is rated for is appropriate. Is it?

See above. Normally one class above will be OK. But use very inexpensive DT lines for experiments, and remember; there’s always the other half if you cut too much…. BTW: cut off most of the front taper of the half DT line. It’s not much good anyway, and a good knotted or tapered leader will transfer movement better without it. Regards Martin Joergensen Copenhagen, Denmark

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