Question:

Steve, I have a set of Hodgman neoprene waders and wading boots and they work fine for me.  The only problem I have with them is that I sweat like a pig in them.  I cannot wear any clothes under them that I plan on wearing later as they get soaked.  I just returned from the Pit, McCloud and Burney creek and did not feel cold in the waders at all. Just my $.02, Dustin – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

Response:

Personally, I doubt if I could get more than 3 seasons out of a pair of waders no mater who made them. Having used all varieties, I am sold on breathables for all weather conditions until it is warm enough to wade wet. In winter (you know, snow and ice) I stay warmer in breathables…. Does anyone get more than 3 seasons?….. john

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

Response:

"asadi" < Personally, I doubt if I could get more than 3 seasons out of a pair of waders no mater who made them. Having used all varieties, I am sold on breathables for all weather conditions until it is warm enough to wade wet. In winter (you know, snow and ice) I stay warmer in breathables…. Does anyone get more than 3 seasons?….. john

I got a whole season out of a pair of breathables last year and they have three holes patched. They may get me through this coming one as well. I would presume I do a lot more hours on the water than most, wouldn’t know how to work out what that equates too, but it would be at least three seasons I’m guessing. Clark

Response:

I’m 2/3 thru year 4 on my Simms Guide boots and waders. Never applied a patch to the waders and the boots look pretty spiffy considering. My trick is that I hose down my gear every time I fish and then hang it up to dry. This may sound a little obsessive, but I do the same with my fly lines and rods/reels and they’re as nice as the day I bot them. Also, it pays to be careful when putting on your waders and boots not to track sand and gravel on your feet. These are hell on wader feet. IMHO. -bh Boulder, CO

Response:

Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

I am hardly new to flyfishing but use similiar waders myself. Also have cheaper model Hodgman boots. After using rubber/canvas and then neoprene waders this style seemed quite nice and light. I think its a good deal. Breathable waders are probably more comfortable but from all the complaints I’ve seen here concerning the cheaper ones it seems that you are looking at at least 200 bucks to get a good pair. A little steep for my taste, but of course I AM cheap (admitting you have a problem etc. etc. etc.). Geo.C.

Response:

I have a pair of hodgeman breathables, I can’t recall what model off the top of my head but I paid about 150 for them three years ago. I do allot of walking through brush to get to water and keep them in my car trunk all summer long on 90+ degree days witch can’t really be good for them, but they have yet to spring a leak and are very comfortable. I also bought there cheaper canvas felt sole wading boots. It ran me 200 total but for the abuse I put them through I think it was a good investment. I had some cheap rubber waders that were beyond uncomfortable and sprung a leak after a few trips crawling through the bushes on the edge of a stream(gota be stealthy some times, people give me silly looks when they see me crawling around in waders with a fly rod). So in the long run I think it’s worth spending on one good set then buying 4 or 5 bad ones through the years. Well that’s my 2 cents, well more like 5 Tim Apple

Response:

Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

I found the nylon non-breathable Wadelites. Personally, I think these would be rather warm and uncomfortable. But then I’m "big-boned" <g and perspire a lot anyway. — TL, Tim

Response:

I purchased a pair of the bantam weight hippers and a pair of the bantam weight chest waders from their outlet store and used the hip waders this summer.     I now know why breatheables are so popular but other than perspiring quite a bit, the waders worked great.   held up pretty good during a week-long trip, no leaks, etc.    I don’t know about the boots, had a pair of 11 yo hodgman boots that worked ok. so, I thought for $50, i got a pretty good deal on the waders, i don’t get to fish much, but now have all waters covered… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

Response:

Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

It depends on how much you fish, and what type of fishing you do. If you’re going to be doing some small mountain creeks or upper lakes, then these are probably NG. I have a pair of Cabelas non-breathable cheap waders which are fine (with or without underlying insulation…depending on season) for late fall/winter/early spring (late spring for the ocean) fishing around here.  Once the weather warms up, I don’t use full waders, I either use hip boots, or wet-wade, with a couple of exceptions. When I’ve gone up to some of the bigger water (Ausable, West Branch of the Delaware) I could really have used the breathables. So, the answer is "it depends". — Rob

Response:

Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

Response:

Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

The Wadelite models are all breathable, according to their website. I’ve got a pair of the felt-sole Caster boots, and they’re decent for a starter set, although the felt is two-piece with the shank uncovered. This can sometimes cause stumbling problems if you’re not careful because the heel catches on rocks. — TL, Tim

Response:

Greetings from Northern California.  In shopping for my first pair of waders (I’m new to fly fishing) I came across the Hodgman closeout site.  The have Wadelite non-breathable waders, suspenders, and Caster Boots for the low price of $49.99.  Is this a deal or am I just pissing away Fifty Bucks?

Don’t know anything about the boots, but I bought the same waders for a quite a bit more money four years ago and they haven’t let me down yet. Sounds like a good deal to me. Wolfgang

Response:

Question:

<SNIP Good for you. Here’s a bit more. Don’t call a perfectly reasonable post by a valued contributor "horse crap" and don’t try to justify a clueless and moronic scold of same by citing every friggin’ fish you’ve ever hooked as your bona fides.

<SNIP Thanks for the support, it is most appreciated. Some things are indeed not worth wasting time on though, and I would hate for you to get flamed on my account! TL MC

Response:

… I would hate for you to get flamed on my account!

Thanks for your concern, if I ever got flamed I’d be like SO devastated. — Ken Fortenberry

Response:

… I would hate for you to get flamed on my account! Thanks for your concern, if I ever got flamed I’d be like SO devastated. — Ken Fortenberry

I don’t understand why this is even being discussed. With Ken’s mild-mannered approach to other’s feelings, I can’t imagine anyone contemplating even a slight flame. Tim (yeah, I know, I’m a fuckin’ moron)

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – SNIP So I guess there’s more than one view  around here. Gary Oh there are lots of views around here. Big game fishing sounds very attractive, but it is unlikely that I will ever do any. Like some other things, bonefishing, or stalking flats or mangroves for various exciting fish. My back would in any case almost certainly not be up to it. I have enjoyed reading about it, or hearing various reports from time to time though. I fear dry-fly fishing is a much more sedate affair. Just as exciting and interesting in its own way though. I hope you get the opportunity to do some.

Hi Mike, you are right about dryfly fishing being just as exciting as saltwater flyfishing.  I remember my first trip saltwater flyfishing: 3 weeks in Grand Cayman and a lot of small tarpon to 25lbs.  As the trip was drawing in, I started cringing as to how I would be able to get back on terms with the 1lb wild brownies in my local stream.  Lo and behold,  after 20 mins on the stream I had completely forgotten the saltwater battles, as I was totally immersed in fishing the dryfly.

Response:

… I would hate for you to get flamed on my account! Thanks for your concern, if I ever got flamed I’d be like SO devastated. — Ken Fortenberry

That

Question:

Willi writes: Didn’t know fly fishing required discipline. I’m not a very disciplined person.

Nor am I.  <g  By "three disciplines" I mean dries, nymphs, and streamers ( I consider an emerger to by a dry and a wet to be fished like a streamer or nymph). Dave, You don’t live in Maine do you? Just found a piece of heaven there?

No, I live in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts.  I have found *several* heavens in Maine and it is the main reason (no pun intended) that I bought the RV. Dave

Response:

1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff

In my corner of New England it would be: 1. June 2a. (quantity of fish) June 2b (size of fish) October George Adams "From the rockin’ of the cradle to the rollin’ of the hearse, the goin’ up was worth the comin’ down." ___Kris Kristofferson "The Pilgrim/Chapter 33"

Response:

Forgot to add, Willi: We have *big* brookies in Maine.  The largest caught on the Rapid was 27 3/4 inches (on a #12 Goddard).  If you know where they are and what they want, 3 – 5 pounders can be common (remember the iddybiddies that Bruce H. tied at the SJ Clave?? <g)   Also, there are some landlocks that are just plain hawgs.  I took one on the Kennebec this past October that was only 22 inches long, but it had to be around 5 pounds — it was thick around the waist, not unlike me.  <g Dave

Response:

…well, not to be a contrarian little big man, but i’ve yet to discover an unfavorite time of year for fishing the backwoods nc streams…still, to the point, imo and limited experience, the best catching is in april-may and in my birth/re-birth month of october… jeff – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff Willi

Response:

Forgot to add, Willi: We have *big* brookies in Maine.  The largest caught on the Rapid was 27 3/4 inches (on a #12 Goddard).  If you know where they are and what they want, 3 – 5 pounders can be common (remember the iddybiddies that Bruce H. tied at the SJ Clave?? <g)   Also, there are some landlocks that are just plain hawgs.  I took one on the Kennebec this past October that was only 22 inches long, but it had to be around 5 pounds — it was thick around the waist, not unlike me. <g Dave

For those that have not been to the Rapid River, don’t bother! I was there, courtesy of the nefarious Pirate of ROFF, earlier this year. The accomadations are paltry; the scenery pedestrian; the fishing, just so-so, and the company, well, let’s not go there… Suffice to say, the fewer people ripped off by spending their time and money on this place, the better for me and Dave…err… I mean… well…err.., the better for them all!!! <GBOSEG Danl See you there next year, Dave….

Response:

Willi In Maine on the Rapid, it would be late May to late June.  The first main hatch has come off when the water temp hits 53 degrees.  It is usually only in the mid 60s by the end of June.  However, if it get above 70, fishing is iffy. Fall fishing would be September on the Rapid, and October on the Kennebec.  All three disciplines can be used successfully. Dave

Same as Dave – late May – early June and September for trout – June for pike – mid-summer for smallies and panfish – fall for chinook, late fall and early spring for steelhead but mid-winter as well when temps permit – mid summer for largemouth – mid summer for carp – like I said, if the water isn’t hard . . . Peter Visit The Streamer Page at http://home.cogeco.ca/~pcharles/streamers/index.html

Response:

William Loehman wrote… 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing?

1st choice, Late Aug. thru Sept. out west (Rockies) during hopper time. 2nd choice, Anytime out west. 3rd choice, anytime anywhere. 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing?

Anytime except during a really long hot spell in the midwest.   Joel Axelrad **DFD**

Response:

My favorite time in this part of the Rockies is the fall…usually mid-late September and into October.

<snipped a bunch Tim,  where do you live again?  Colorado? — Warren www.geocities.com/troutbum_mt

Response:

My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff

Where I live (central Idaho, in the Sawtooth Mountains) the fishing season begins in March and April for steelhead. Very unethical, but lots of fun nevertheless. Fishing is closed in May on the running water, but you can catch some nice bull trout at the inlets of lakes. June is runoff season. The specific time and duration varies wildly, depending on the snowpack and the weather. In late June and early July you can get very good cutthroat fishing, with suitably sparse salmonfly hatches. The cutthroat are moving into the headwaters to spawn. I suppose that fishing for them is unethical, as well, but so be it. This continues into August, depending on the weather. As the summer progresses the fishing becomes more problematical. The past two years have been low water, high temperature drought years. Finding the fish can be hard. They tend to be found downstream of cold-running springs and tributaries. Starting in late summer the chinook start running. We haven’t had a chinook season in Stanley for a few years, but there were a lot of them this year. The word is that we’ll have a season this year, so I’ll probably try it. Frankly, I prefer trout. Very late summer and fall is the season for the high lakes. It’s a butt-buster to get there, but often enough it’s worth it. After about the middle of October I have to travel somewhere else to fish.

Response:

during years when there is lots of water, i like late august on a certain stream i know when the isonychias start coming off and every big trout in the stream waits for the bugs in shallow water…wahoo!!!…mostly may/june is best here under normal conditions…i love september for trips to the mountain west…the colours are best, the crisp temperatures suit my temperment and the trout are plenty active…. Eugene somewhere in ontario

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff Where I live (central Idaho, in the Sawtooth Mountains) the fishing season begins in March and April for steelhead. Very unethical, but lots of fun nevertheless. Fishing is closed in May on the running water, but you can catch some nice bull trout at the inlets of lakes. June is runoff season. The specific time and duration varies wildly, depending on the snowpack and the weather. In late June and early July you can get very good cutthroat fishing, with suitably sparse salmonfly hatches. The cutthroat are moving into the headwaters to spawn. I suppose that fishing for them is unethical, as well, but so be it. This continues into August, depending on the weather. As the summer progresses the fishing becomes more problematical. The past two years have been low water, high temperature drought years. Finding the fish can be hard. They tend to be found downstream of cold-running springs and tributaries. Starting in late summer the chinook start running. We haven’t had a chinook season in Stanley for a few years, but there were a lot of them this year. The word is that we’ll have a season this year, so I’ll probably try it. Frankly, I prefer trout. Very late summer and fall is the season for the high lakes. It’s a butt-buster to get there, but often enough it’s worth it. After about the middle of October I have to travel somewhere else to fish.

Response:

during years when there is lots of water, i like late august on a certain stream i know when the isonychias start coming off

I’m bad on Latin, is there a common name for the fly? Is the hatch restricted to that given stream? and every big trout in the stream waits for the bugs in shallow water…wahoo!!!..

Nothing more fun than a hatch that moves the big fish into shallow feeding stations. Willi

Response:

… for fishing the backwoods nc streams…best catching is in april-may

Been there.  Done it.  Concur. and in my birth/re-birth month of october…

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. jeff

Late November through early March, I prefer NZ or Chile. Wolfgang

Response:

1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing?

Here in Tennessee, I prefer now through the dead of winter.  I think that time provides me as good fishing as any other time…mostly because I suck so bad at it, so I don’t see a difference!  Seriously, I’d take now through February over any other time here. Bruce Thomsen

Response:

1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My answer for both 1 & 2 (for trout & summer steelhead in Oregon, Washington & Idaho) is September and October.  I often wish that the conditions of early October lasted 6 mos.

Bob, I wish you’d quit telling people this.  I know we like to kid that there’s no good fishing here, but if you actively disseminate this sort of misinformation, it could cause real harm.  Some poor Floridian or Californian might spend all his hard-earned vacation money to come here when you "recommend" and miss the really good fishing in, oh, say, February. JR (who is speaking ONLY about Oregon and understands the Sept/Oct fishing in WA and ID really IS fantastic) http://www.visitid.org/   Idaho Tourism ("Great Potatoes, Tasty Destinations") http://www.tourism.wa.gov/ Washington Tourism ("A Little Trip to the Extraordinary")

Response:

My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing?

Well now, that is an excellent question.  Willi?  I cannot name just one time of year, because it depends so much on what major fly fishing celebrity I’m fishing with and upon which continent I am on.  Also, weather fishing bamboo or not effects the answer. One of my fondest memories is flying Lee Wolf down to Argentina in my MIG-27.  We went in October because the autumn time is so beautiful in Argentina in the fall.  It was one of HIS last seasons and he asked me to do him this little favor and of course I obliged, my good friend. My fly had become tattered from catching so many large browns (they have teeth like crocodiles down there) that I killed and field dressed a cockaburra with my Swiss army knife, given to me by my deer friend George Harvey Oswald.  I cut urine-stained fur from this female, and this natural fiber orangey-gray shade is the ONLY color and material that the fall-spawning large browns down there will hit on.  I redressed my fly. Most people don’t realize you can do this, but I have done things you can only dream about.  And you know?  On the very first cast I landed a huge hen on 11x tippet.  (Several months ago, with the decreasing diameter tippet they were making now, I predicted they would come up with this, and they did.  It is too difficult to work with for most fishermen though, we don’t recommend it for normal fishing.) Lee looked at me holding that fat trophy and he said to me "George" he said, "I think that is one of the largest, most beautiful native browns I’ve ever seen, if not a record."  As I returned the 36 lb. monster safely to her home, I noticed a look of contentment and serenity on Lee’s face that I had never noticed before.  I now knew he would die a happy man, and this journey had been worthwhile.  It must be said, fall, is my favorite time.  That is all the time I have to answer your question at this time.  Good question Willi.  We enjoyed the diversion.

Response:

My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing.

Good for a laugh. Missing George already are ya? Willi

Response:

My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing?

I like spring, because everything is headed in the "right direction".  Water is cold but getting warmer, days are getting longer, hatches are getting more heavy.  The whole world is waxing rather than waning.

Response:

<awesome gibberish snipped aruhdean, izzat you?  Just don’t go so far into GG’s head that you can’t find your way out.  Leave a trail of bread crumbs, or something. Kevin maybe a trail of gink…

Response:

Fall fishing would be September on the Rapid, and October on the Kennebec.  All three disciplines can be used successfully.

Didn’t know fly fishing required discipline. I’m not a very disciplined person. Dave, You don’t live in Maine do you? Just found a piece of heaven there? Willi

Response:

My favorite time in this part of the Rockies is the fall…usually mid-late September and into October. The weather is cooler, and the fish are pretty hungry before the winter. There are bwo hatches. With the water low and clear, it can be pretty technical and challenging. But, we catch fish on dries even as late as mid-October. As far as the best fishing…..usually I find it is best when the water clears just after runoff, about early July. Less technical due to the higher and faster water, but the water is still pretty cool so the fish are active. But, to be honest, we can allways seem to find times and places when the fishing will be good. Tim Lysyk – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff Willi

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff Willi

In the GWN, anytime the water isn’t hard. Peter Visit The Streamer Page at http://home.cogeco.ca/~pcharles/streamers/index.html

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Willi writes: My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff Willi

In Maine on the Rapid, it would be late May to late June.  The first main hatch has come off when the water temp hits 53 degrees.  It is usually only in the mid 60s by the end of June.  However, if it get above 70, fishing is iffy. Fall fishing would be September on the Rapid, and October on the Kennebec.  All three disciplines can be used successfully. Dave

Response:

My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing?

1. Definitely fall (okay, indian summer) 2. For me personally? I do pretty good in pre-runoff also, usually the March Brown and/or Skwala hatch as well as streamer fishing before the melt hits. I do think that early July has some of the best fishing of the year around here (only around 3000 to 4000′ MSL). Usually, PMD’s, Green Drakes and plenty of caddis as well as reasonable thunderstorms to provide some cloud cover so it’s not just constant bright sun (man, I hate that). — Brian D. Nelson Diamond N Outfitters, Missoula, Montana www.diamondnoutfitters.com

Response:

My thread on September weather has caused a debate about Fall fishing. Here’s a question for everyone. 1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing? My guess is that there will be some regional differences and differences depending on the species. My answers: I fish mainly in Colorado for trout. 1. Fall  2. Late prerunoff Willi

Response:

1. What time of year is your favorite for fishing? 2. What time of the year provides the best fishing?

My answer for both 1 & 2 (for trout & summer steelhead in Oregon, Washington & Idaho) is September and October.  I often wish that the conditions of early October lasted 6 mos. Bob Weinberger

Response:

Question:

"John Beowulf" wrote… Well, I don’t know about that but last Sunday this kid was fishing in San Francisco Bay and caught, well uh, (gross alert) a human skull. Maby its the old bad boy of the teamsters!

What did he catch it on? –Steve

Response:

I think he was just dead weight, at the end of the line. PatK I thought using chum while fly fishing was considered unsporting??:) Lloyd Heilbrunn

* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

Joe Fleischman writes: I think he’s in my son’s room under his bed.

Uhuh.  He  was found under Tammy Fay Baker’s make-up! Dave LaCourse

Response:

Dave LaCourse wrote Joe Fleischman writes: I think he’s in my son’s room under his bed. Uhuh.  He  was found under Tammy Fay Baker’s make-up!

The worst part is…he was buried alive! —                                                       -dnc-

Response:

Peter Charles wrote I’m not too sure Hoffa had any *chums*! — Opie     **Psychic To The Recently Deceased** but I’m sure he ended up as chum.

Ironic.  He started out as king.  I knew a morphological change occurred in the life cycle, but I didn’t think a species change was part of the deal. —                                                       -dnc-

Response:

Nope.. concrete waders. That’s where Orvis got the idea for their ‘Bulletproof’ wader series. Herman  Hoffa was pardoned by Nixon in 1971 and disappeared in 1975. wet wading? — Rusty Hook Laramie, Wyo Before you buy.

– Cheers, Herman Herman Nijland Daytime webmaster Lifetime flyfisher

Response:

I know this is away off topic but—.Saw am movie last night about the life of Jimmy Hoffa.Now I am not a student of American history north or south but I was alive and kicking during the Hoffa years.Am I correct in thinking that Hoffa was dead long before Nixon became president so could not have been pardoned by aforementioned president?

Well, I don’t know about that but last Sunday this kid was fishing in San Francisco Bay and caught, well uh, (gross alert) a human skull.  Maby its the old bad boy of the teamsters! -John

Response:

I know this is away off topic but—.Saw am movie last night about the life of Jimmy Hoffa.Now I am not a student of American history north or south but I was alive and kicking during the Hoffa years.Am I correct in thinking that Hoffa was dead long before Nixon became president so could not have been pardoned by aforementioned president?

Response:

Am I correct in thinking that Hoffa was dead long before Nixon became president so could not have been pardoned by aforementioned president?

No. Hoffa was pardoned by Nixon in 1971 and disappeared in 1975. — Charlie…

Response:

No. Hoffa was pardoned by Nixon in 1971 and disappeared in 1975.

I think he’s in my son’s room under his bed. Joe F.

Response:

 Hoffa was pardoned by Nixon in 1971 and disappeared in 1975.

wet wading? — Rusty Hook Laramie, Wyo Before you buy.

Response:

I thought using chum while fly fishing was considered unsporting??:) Lloyd Heilbrunn

Response:

I’m not too sure Hoffa had any *chums*! — Opie     **Psychic To The Recently Deceased**

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I thought using chum while fly fishing was considered unsporting??:) Lloyd Heilbrunn

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I’m not too sure Hoffa had any *chums*! — Opie     **Psychic To The Recently Deceased**

but I’m sure he ended up as chum. Peter

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I know this is away off topic but—.Saw am movie last night about the life of Jimmy Hoffa.Now I am not a student of American history north or south but I was alive and kicking during the Hoffa years.Am I correct in thinking that Hoffa was dead long before Nixon became president so could not have been pardoned by aforementioned president?

Was that the movie starring Jack Nicholson as Jimmy Hoffa? Excellent. — visit my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~royalwulff/ something bogus to avoid spam)

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Question:

Considering a 3-day solo (not counting dog) backpack trip mid june somewhere in the sierras.   Anyone with good experiences or heard of good areas for fishing and scenery?  Remote is good. thanks eric

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Hi Eric-    I agree, remote is good; however, with only three days remote won’t be very. For most of the range the season will be on your side. You’ll find lots of snow, many lakes will be frozen, and not many people will be hanging out.    Try the southern Sierra northeast of Bakersfield. Hike into the Golden Trout Wilderness near the Quaking Aspen campground and hike up the Kern River (either fork). Probably not much snow, nice scene, the fishing is okay and the terrain is easy enough to cover some distance in three days. Take a snake bite kit, I was bit while fishing the area a few years back and was greatful for the kit.    -Ralph Considering a 3-day solo (not counting dog) backpack trip mid june somewhere in the sierras.   Anyone with good experiences or heard of good areas for fishing and scenery?  Remote is good. thanks eric

Ralph Cutter, California School of Flyfishing. http://www.flyline.com

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Question:

Eventually inevitable aspect of all forms of fishing, including dry fly. Chuck it back and fish on…clip your leader if you want, but if the fish is really bleeding you might as well save it (the fly that is).  If the fish is a wild brookie and legal, cook it like a marshmallow on the spot with a small twig fire…Oh man… I think I’d stop fishing this spot with small flies and start pulling a big streamer through the waters and see if old Ms. Brown isn’t around somewhere. TimW

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Recently went fishing with a friend on a small but productive stream.   The average trout was probably 5 inches.  With barbless hooks, I was able to release many of the fish successfully.  However, two small ones really sucked down the fly [size 14 adams].  For the first one, I tried to use my pliers to pull it out, but no success. The fish didn’t make it.  I catch and release all fish, so I was bothered that this happened.  The second fish took the fly through the gills and it was deeper in its small mouth that the first fish.  I knew I couldn’t have got the fly without doing lethal damage to the fish.  After a short struggle, I decided to cut the line and swim the fish back to life.  I did so and it took off, with a size 14 in its throat.  I have a feeling that fish might be a goner too.  Then again, I have heard that fish have some kind of biological mechanism that pushes hooks out over time.  Is that true?  Is there anything I could have done differently?  Or, should I just have recognized the inevitable and kept these non-keepers for the cats?

if you encounter such a situation again, your best bet is to snip off the fly and release the fish…fish (and most other animals) have a remarkable ability of ridding themselves of foreign objects.  In any case, the fish’s chances are much better than if you try to worry or twist the hook out. tight lines

A recent Field & Stream article(June ‘96, Conservation by George Reiger) reports that this is not quite the case. 1) Most importantly is returning the fish to the water immediately. It stated that a recetn study showed for trout every *second* counts. Especially for fish played to exhaustion on light lines. Although it makes a great story to play a fish for 45 minutes until it makes that final flop and submits to capture, it is not likely to be healthy for the fish. Fish kept of of water just 30 seconds faired worse than exhausted fish left in the water. Fish held ot of water for 60 seconds were likely to die within 3 days(72% died). 2) Swallowed hooks lodging in the lower throat are likely to kill the fish. It was stated that this area contains the vital organs including heart, liver and head kidney. 3) Hooks left in can cause problems. Fish naturally form a cystlike scar, just as they would if naturally injured by prey. This can make the fish more susceptible to decline or death if conditions(food, stream temps) become adverse. This article made me think. Even releasing fish is no good if you lay them out on the bank and measure, photo, admire or whatever for a period of time. I have been guilty of this. I thought I was doing okay by releasing fish. I wish that these findings were posted in regs or on streams. Be sure to use barbless hooks, find a good, quick hook dislodger(let me know if you find a good solution!). regards, Joe Webb Atlanta Mac User Group (AMUG)

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Recently went fishing with a friend on a small but productive stream.   The average trout was probably 5 inches.  With barbless hooks, I was able to release many of the fish successfully.  However, two small ones really sucked down the fly [size 14 adams].  For the first one, I tried to use my pliers to pull it out, but no success. The fish didn’t make it.  I catch and release all fish, so I was bothered that this happened.  The second fish took the fly through the gills and it was deeper in its small mouth that the first fish.  I knew I couldn’t have got the fly without doing lethal damage to the fish.  After a short struggle, I decided to cut the line and swim the fish back to life.  I did so and it took off, with a size 14 in its throat.  I have a feeling that fish might be a goner too.  Then again, I have heard that fish have some kind of biological mechanism that pushes hooks out over time.  Is that true?  Is there anything I could have done differently?  Or, should I just have recognized the inevitable and kept these non-keepers for the cats? Thanks — Aaron Wyatt Mark Morris High School English Department http://www.teleport.com/~awyatt if you encounter such a situation again, your best bet is to snip off

the fly and release the fish…fish (and most other animals) have a remarkable ability of ridding themselves of foreign objects.  In any case, the fish’s chances are much better than if you try to worry or twist the hook out. tight lines

Response:

Recently went fishing with a friend on a small but productive stream.   The average trout was probably 5 inches.  With barbless hooks, I was able to release many of the fish successfully.  However, two small ones really sucked down the fly [size 14 adams].  For the first one, I tried to use my pliers to pull it out, but no success. The fish didn’t make it.  I catch and release all fish, so I was bothered that this happened.  The second fish took the fly through the gills and it was deeper in its small mouth that the first fish.  I knew I couldn’t have got the fly without doing lethal damage to the fish.  After a short struggle, I decided to cut the line and swim the fish back to life.  I did so and it took off, with a size 14 in its throat.  I have a feeling that fish might be a goner too.  Then again, I have heard that fish have some kind of biological mechanism that pushes hooks out over time.  Is that true?  Is there anything I could have done differently?  Or, should I just have recognized the inevitable and kept these non-keepers for the cats? Thanks — Aaron Wyatt Mark Morris High School English Department http://www.teleport.com/~awyatt

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Question:

I have updated my homepages with more fly patterns, info about the 20th Canadian Fly Fishing Forum, and links to TU and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.  Have fun. Bob Lundy IWFFC Mississauga, ON

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I have updated my homepages with more fly patterns, info about the 20th Canadian Fly Fishing Forum, and links to TU and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.  Have fun. Bob Lundy IWFFC Mississauga, ON

brendan

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I have updated my homepages with more fly patterns, info about the 20th Canadian Fly Fishing Forum, and links to TU and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.  Have fun. Bob Lundy IWFFC Mississauga, ON

Sounds great, I’d like to visit. What is the URL? I rented a table at the IWFFC convention a few years ago and enjoyed meeting everyone. Anne Harnack http://home.earthlink.net/~ecoedit/flyprints.htm

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I have updated my homepages with more fly patterns, info about the 20th Canadian Fly Fishing Forum, and links to TU and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.  Have fun. Bob Lundy IWFFC Mississauga, ON

Bob: What is your site’s address? Stefan M. http://rampages.onramp.net/~smarc

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Ever have one of those days when you find out later you’ve had just too much coffee?  I clearly left off my URL on an earlier post:    http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rlundy/ Sorry about that… Bob Lundy IWFFC Mississauga, ON

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Question:

Did anyone catch a Namaycush on a fly (wet or dry)?

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: Did anyone catch a Namaycush on a fly (wet or dry)? I fish lake trout quite frequently on the fly, in the spring, just after ice-out.  I normally throw a sink-tip or sinking line.  If the laker population is largely piscivorous (fish-eating), I start near an inflowing stream where they’ll probably be gorging on baitfish in fairly shallow water.  In Switzerland, I expect bream and perch are likely forage.  In these conditions, I’ll go with some kind of a flashy streamer.  With planktivorous lake trout populations (those feeding mainly on invertebrates), some kind of an emerger pattern, matching the activity you see in the water, is usually a good bet.  I’ve never caught a _really_ big one like this, but I can assure you that a 4 kg fish on a 4 weight rod is certainly a memorable experience! In my area, flies are pretty much out of contention by mid-June, unless you’re fishing a really smal, spring-fed lake, wherein you might be able to use a fast-sinking line and get them all summer long!  Oh joy; oh bliss! Hope this helps.  Tchuss! —                                 | Dave Fluri                      |       "No me agaro ya de nada, para North Bay, Ontario, Canada      |        asi no tener nada que defender."                                 |               -Carlos Castaneda                                 |

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Question:

Geez.   One extremely well-written post about the impact of campfires and 4 sub-posts about how rocks can explode.  Seems like the point is being missed. I agree with Rick.   Everything we do has an impact of some kind.  Unless we’re willing to completely vacate the backcountry,  arguing about fires is truly splitting hairs. In high backcountry I continue to obey a self-enforced policy of no fires.  I agree with those who say that you’re more in touch with nature without the glare of flames.  At the same time, there are times a fire is a natural and morally acceptable practice, and a welcome companion on a cold or wet night.   I say, use your own judgement.  If you have none, I’ll spend a bit more time cleaning up after you.  It’s a small price to pay for the wilderness. Jim Stallings  - Seabeck, Washington "Concrete is heavy; iron is hard – but the grass will prevail"   Ed Abbey

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Scott Stuart) writes:   NOTE- I don’t think I have to say, but just in case….  DONT use rocks   from the lake in your fire ring, they will explode, and send deadly   shrapnel and hot coals everywhere.   What’s all this about exploding rocks? Believe me, THEY DO EXPLODE! One time I was backpacking with my friends and we had to make a small camp site (we couldn’t find any on the trail).  I used some of the larger rocks near a small stream to make our campfire ring. It was 1-2 hrs after we got the fire started, that one of the rocks cracked (from steam preasure inside). Nobody was hurt (suprised though) but next time I know better where to find my campfire rocks! Kurt

Nah, let them NOT believe you and see it for themselves.  It’s the only way some people learn.

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:    NOTE- I don’t think I have to say, but just in case….  DONT use rocks :    from the lake in your fire ring, they will explode, and send deadly :    shrapnel and hot coals everywhere.   : What’s all this about exploding rocks?  While packing in the Porky’s in the UP of Mi we built a fire ring with  rocks from the creek. Well never again,after sitting down to a meal  the damm fire blew up in our face. As luck/fate would have it no one  got hurt but several in our group had holes in there clothing from  flying rocks. In short don’t use wet rocks since there have retained  water in them and when heated steam builds up in them which means  pressure builds up in them and you get the picture by now.  Hopes this helps  Ike Grill somewhere in Wisconsin and still have sight.

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  NOTE- I don’t think I have to say, but just in case….  DONT use rocks   from the lake in your fire ring, they will explode, and send deadly   shrapnel and hot coals everywhere.   What’s all this about exploding rocks?

Believe me, THEY DO EXPLODE! One time I was backpacking with my friends and we had to make a small camp site (we couldn’t find any on the trail).  I used some of the larger rocks near a small stream to make our campfire ring. It was 1-2 hrs after we got the fire started, that one of the rocks cracked (from steam preasure inside). Nobody was hurt (suprised though) but next time I know better where to find my campfire rocks! Kurt

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(Joseph Scott Stuart) writes: What’s all this about exploding rocks?

"Creek rocks!" – (I’m sure someone will correct me if I get this wrong) Yes, exploding rocks.  A rock that’s been submerged (particularly   something porous like sandstone) is soaked with water.  If you put it in a   fire, it heats up.  If it heats up, too quickly for the water to escape   (which is a likely condition) the rapidly expanding water vapor inside the   rock will cause it to "explode" – marvelous "fun" about a campfire for   those so inclined… but something I would prefer to avoid. – Mark

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   NOTE- I don’t think I have to say, but just in case….  DONT use rocks    from the lake in your fire ring, they will explode, and send deadly    shrapnel and hot coals everywhere.   What’s all this about exploding rocks?

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        In light of the most recent rearing of the ugly head of anti-campfire zealots, I feel compeled to post what I know about minimizing campfire impact.  But first, an introduction and a caveat.         I don’t dispute the fact that fires do quite a bit of damage to the environment.  Allowing campfires in heavily-impacted areas is very often a mistake, due to the many problems associated with both the combustion process and the act of building the fire itself- such as trampling around the undergrowth and scarring (most often permanently) fire ring rocks.  I support fire bans in high-use areas for these reasons.  I would include nearly all well-known back-country areas stateside in my list of fire-ban areas, since they get alot of use.  Moreover, nearly any high-country worth backpacking is fragile enough to make a fire ban neccessary.         BUT, fire bans are NOT appropriate in all areas.  Zealots like those who posit that all fire-builders are selfish are being incredibly short-sited and self absorbed.  Not everyone limits travels to a) backpacking, b) heavy- use areas, c) the USA, and d) trips of short duration (read: less than one week).         A few posters have noted that they, like I, rely almost exclusively on fires for trips in Far northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  By far northern I mean north of the Churchill river- and my favorite area- the Wollaston Lk, Cochran River area.  This is heavily wooded (although 50 or so miles south of the tundra), heavily forest-fire burnt (every area has evidence of fire within about 30 years), and rarely traveled since the voyageurs used the rivers as fur trading routes.           These trips are over thirty days in length, making it totally impractical to carry fuel.  You couldn’t carry enough of it, for one. You wouldn’t want to risk a spill when there are weeks of paddling in between even native settlements.  And, you generally wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of the fuel.  Moreover, cooking for six people over a stove is futile for heavy-calorie meal prep.   Not to mention the fact that I never had to stray  more than twenty feet from the site to find bone-dry driftwood laying either on the beaches (in the north) or on the rocks (on the shield), in enormous quantities. Presented with the above, in addition to the impact of burning the fossil fuels and inevitable spills of fuel on VERY fragile Caribou moss, I opt for the fires.  Any arguments to the effect of the "more efficient burning" of stoves or "quicker boiling time" are just splitting hairs. Anyone who has been in a similar situation with similar numbers is welcome to disagree.  Theorists can continue to theorize…  ’nuff said.           The Impact of fires, given the above, needs to be minimized.  Any traveler who manages to GET to this area cares enough to want to preserve it.  [Ask me sometime about the two day all dirt road trip to my dropoff point on Wollaston.]  Part of the joy of this area is the feeling of solitude that comes from such a pristine wilderness- and anyone who is there is immediately faced with the enormous responsibility to preserve it.  Many of the natives and non-native fly-in fishing guides and non-native camps pollute their nests with "shore lunch’ fires using HUGE chunks of driftwood left half-burnt on shore,  toss fish innards all over the place, and generally behave with the abandon of 19th century humankind when they were faced with the seemingly endless ocean- and treated it like a bottomless wastecan.           Ok. So if you DO get up there- or you DO make a decision to use fires- what do you do to minimize the impact?  I’ll do it point by point: 1) Gather only fallen, dead wood.  Never break off branches (even from "dead" trees still standing).  Walk at least 100 yds away from the campsite before beginning to gather. 2). Know your woods.  Pine burns fast and hot- birch slow and cool.  Pine and hardwoods are better for starting fires, which can then be maintained with bigger, slower-burning woods like birch.  LOTS of wood is wasted by people trying to start fires with the wrong wood.  Moreover, the right wood on a proper set of coals will burn very efficiently, indeed.  And with little smoke. 3) Fire rings-                 A). Always used established fire rings where available.  If none are available:                 B). Sod turning technique:  Clear away duff.  Cut out a rectangle about 4-6 inches deep in the earth.  Build the fire in the hole.  Make sure (as ALWAYS) that the fire is OUT COMPLETELY, then replace the rectangle back in the hole.  This technique’s advantage is that it is VERY low-impact, but if you like to burn dishwater or food scraps, you run the risk of critters unearthing your cinders.  You can line the hole with rocks, but they will be scarred black and unsightly.  If you do use the rocks, you can either bury them or "lake" them when cold.                 C). Flat Rock Technique:  This was my favorite on the shield.  Find a flat rock, and build the fire on it.  It scars only that rock (or any others you use as wind shields, depending on conditions) which you can "lake."  Meaning, of course, that you toss it, when cold, into the lake, where mother nature will turn the scarred rock into dust in a few millenia. NOTE- I don’t think I have to say, but just in case….  DONT use rocks from the lake in your fire ring, they will explode, and send deadly shrapnel and hot coals everywhere.   4)  Size- Limit yourself to "cooking" fires- about the size of the bottom of your skillet.  And limit the size of your fuel to the diameter of a silver dollar.  These fires are plenty hot when well maintained- even in the June snows of Saskatchewan. 5) Try not to pollute other people’s environment- remember, a fire from across the lake is a reminder than you are not alone.  Some people like to feel alone.  So keep the fire small and as much out of site as is practical. 6) Consider using "fire sticks" or similar firestarters to cut down on kindling needs, especially on wet days. Hopefully this is useful information for the teeming masses.   ANY trip into the wilderness implies a gentle balance between impact and enjoyment.  To have any enjoyment by being someplace means that you have to, first, get there (by burning fossil fuels) and then, move around (trampling the underbrush or trail).  Not to mention the equipment most of us cart around.  If you want to get under a Patagonia Rep’s skin sometime, ask about the vats and vats of caustic slop that is left over after making out synchilla such pretty colors.  How about the boots? Either we kill off a bunch of cows, or we boil a bunch of dead dinosaurs and make a Texan rich.   One campfire isn’t going to do anywhere near as much environmental damage as the dye and industrial waste used to produce just ONE piece of polarfleece.  If we are serious enough to split hairs over campfires in the terms that we are using here ("all campfires are always bad and the people who make them are all selfish, we should all use stoves"), then I hope that we are serious enough to have educated ourselves as to the impact of the crap we cart around and the crap that we put on our pathetic, fragile, human bodies when out in the wild.  [BTW I mean ALL humans have fragile, pathetic bodies.  We don't fare well naked above the tropics or at altitude.]         In short- welcome to the real world folks- there is no such thing as zero impact.  This is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is reason to minimize impact, not to give up and merely enjoy other people’s video travelogues (using electricity and plastic, but I digress…).  Minimizing impact may sometimes mean choosing the lesser of two evils, and reasonable people may differ as to the best choice of those evils.  There are about 5 different ways to walk through a mountain meadow, any one of which will garner the ire of adherents of the other 4.         Educate yourself as to the choices, and make what, in your judgement, is the best choice for your situation.  When the choices are close, don’t make the call for somebody else.

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Question:

Watch out for the new toilet rings they are not the old beeswax kind and are to soft and oily. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Try Test clips from Radio shack, they are a lot cheaper than those from the fly shop.  Also,  Wax Toilet gaskets make about the tackiest dubbing Arrrrrrg!  THE WAX TOILET GASKET.    What a great idea.  I thought this thread was dead.  We  were just ready to put together kits and start tying.  We would have come up short.  But saved by the toilet gasket.    What can we use to store all this great equipment?  Maybe we should go to a pot party and buy some Tupper ware.   Nah!  We are doing such a fine job.  Throw the plastic out.   I’m a river keeper, too!      .

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Thread sucking is a method…

And here I thought that I had invented this.  Oh well, another delusion of grandeur blown all to bits… <grin regards, John — Dr. John G. Hardie Indiana University Cyclotron Facility

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Thread sucking is a method…

      Sounds a little like Blondie’s definition of Dagwood as a fly tyer: "thread-sucking-leach." —

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writes: I would like to start a new thread on fly tying tools and paraphernalia, specifically, home-brew tools or modifications to store-bought ones.  I am afraid of this hobby going the way of many others, where the manufacturers (and peer pressure) convince everyone that they need to buy things that are easily made at home.  I offer a few here to get things going: Who wants to add more? Dave

Here is another one for the bench.  You can make an inexpensive dubbing teaser by asking your dentist for a root-canal pick.  Epoxy them in a wood handle and you got yourself an Awsome Dubbing Teaser. Nick

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I use a selection of cartridge cases instead of an adjustable hair stacker.  Short = 9 mm Parabellum, Medium = 357 Mag, Long = Sawed off rifle case. — Keep your stick on the ice.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I think there is a point where using home grown flytying tools vs. store bought tools is more trouble than it’s worth.  Hackle pliers are just not that expensive.  Working with good tools designed for flytying is going to make the whole experience more enjoyable.  Sure you can save a few bucks over the long run is it really worth it. On the other hand, several people advocated the use of bobbins with ceramic inserts.  Has anyone really come up with a good estimate about how long it takes to wear a groove in the tube of a bobbin with a metal sleave?  For the cost of a bobbin with a ceramic sleeve I can buy a couple of cheaper steel sleeve bobbins.  So it wears out after five years or so.  I would have save a lot of time over those years because I didn’t have to thread a bobbin (I use the thread sucking technique too and it works well for me) everry time I changed threads.

This is a very valid point.  I think the choice of tools follows with the depth of one’s tying.  Do you tie 100 flys in a sitting or just 3 or 4?  Do you tie for yourself only, just for friends to give away, or hundreds to sell to others?   I find that with the limited amount of tying I do — just for myself and a few friends — I can get by with the cheaper steel bobbin.  I have yet to wear a groove in one that I bought for 25 cents on clearance.  Hackle plyers are cheap.  Why spend hours grinding one smooth?  Or for that matter…. Why spend $125 or more on a vise?  If I made a business out of tying flys, however, my attitude would change drastically.  I would then want the best tools money can buy.   I enjoy hearing about the better tools and I have tried them out from time to time, but I tend to weigh their price with their advantages over my rather limited private use.   I feel the same way about rods and reels.   Bob

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Try Test clips from Radio shack, they are a lot cheaper than those from the fly shop.  Also,  Wax Toilet gaskets make about the tackiest dubbing wax you’ve ever seen.             Tom Loveday   Keizer, OR                I’d Rather Be Fishing

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Try Test clips from Radio shack, they are a lot cheaper than those from the fly shop.  Also,  Wax Toilet gaskets make about the tackiest dubbing Arrrrrrg!  THE WAX TOILET GASKET.    What a great idea.  I thought this thread was dead.  We  were just ready to put together kits and start tying.  We would have come up short.  But saved by the toilet gasket.    What can we use to store all this great equipment?  Maybe we should go to a pot party and buy some Tupper ware.   Nah!  We are doing such a fine job.  Throw the plastic out.

For that matter, while you’re shopping at the hardware store for toilet items, pick up some lead wool.  It’s cheap and it makes great lead weight for flies. Jamus – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   I’m a river keeper, too!      .

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:  What is the Thread Sucking technique for preparing a bobin? Aaron,  He’s refering to the practice of allowing some slack in your tying thread, placing the tip of the thread into the end of the barrel of your bobbin, and giving a sharp intake of air (i.e. "Sucking") to the other end of the barrel of the bobbin.  This pulls the thread through the barrel unless there is too much wax buildup to allow the thread in or you’re like me and insist on getting that slack you allowed wrapped around various parts of your anatomy and gumming up the works! Charley (been tying for my friends for 22 years!)

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Working with good tools designed for flytying is going to make the whole experience more enjoyable.  Sure you can save a few bucks over the long run is it really worth it.

I don’t use tools specifically manufactured for fly tying to save money.  I do it   for the same reason why I don’t watch drag racing.  Most drag racing, and other   "sports",  have come down to a competition of machines and equipment as opposed to   man.  I enjoy tying flies with as little manufactured tools as possible because it   becomes a question of what is making the fly that catches the fish, a skilled   creative person or equipment.  I still catch plenty of fish. —

Response:

This is an old one, but many people use electronic test lead clips as hackle pliers.  They come in a variety of sizes and can be bought at places like Radio Shack. I’ve also heard of using the (hemostat or tubing?) clamps from a medical supply store for hackle pliers.  File the teeth off of the clamping surfaces.  (I’m not in the medical profession, so I probably have the exact type of clamp wrong.)  

I think the proper medical term for those kinds of clamps is "roach clip" I think there is a point where using home grown flytying tools vs. store bought tools is more trouble than it’s worth.  Hackle pliers are just not that expensive.  Working with good tools designed for flytying is going to make the whole experience more enjoyable.  Sure you can save a few bucks over the long run is it really worth it. On the other hand, several people advocated the use of bobbins with ceramic inserts.  Has anyone really come up with a good estimate about how long it takes to wear a groove in the tube of a bobbin with a metal sleave?  For the cost of a bobbin with a ceramic sleeve I can buy a couple of cheaper steel sleeve bobbins.  So it wears out after five years or so.  I would have save a lot of time over those years because I didn’t have to thread a bobbin (I use the thread sucking technique too and it works well for me) everry time I changed threads. — John Fereira "Guru of Miscellany" Pleasanton, CA "Ask me about my vow of silence."

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And here I thought I was one of the only ones to show up at the local welding shop with a set of new (slightly modified) Vise-Grips and a length of steel rod, asking for them to be welded together. It’s just about the only way to handle big saltwater hooks! JL 8-Wt Editor

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And here I thought I was one of the only ones to show up at the local welding shop with a set of new (slightly modified) Vise-Grips and a length of steel rod, asking for them to be welded together. It’s just about the only way to handle big saltwater hooks!

An HMH vise with a super magnum jaw will handle the largest hooks. Mark Miller

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On the other hand, several people advocated the use of bobbins with ceramic inserts.  Has anyone really come up with a good estimate about how long it takes to wear a groove in the tube of a bobbin with a metal sleave?

For those of us who tie large bass bugs and use Kevlar thread, you can tear up a steel tube in short order (less than a season). The ceramic tubes hold up much better when Kevlar is you spinning thread of choice. JL 8-Wt Editor

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This is an old one, but many people use electronic test lead clips as hackle pliers.  They come in a variety of sizes and can be bought at places like Radio Shack. I’ve also heard of using the (hemostat or tubing?) clamps from a medical supply store for hackle pliers.  File the teeth off of the clamping surfaces.  (I’m not in the medical profession, so I probably have the exact type of clamp wrong.)  I don’t know, however, if this alternative is cheaper than the ones from fly tying supply stores. Dave

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Couldn’t agree more about exercising good home-grown common sense inventivenes to accomplish just about everything promised by the gadget-floggers.

Very true.  And, although this observation drifts slightly away from the subject of home-made tying tools, the very best tools a fly tier has are his or her hands.  I try to rely on mechanical tools as little as possible, tying as much as possible with the fingers.  This saves time otherwise lost in locating, picking up and putting down the tool each time a fly is tied. Laying out your tools and materials in advance, and then tying with less fiddling with unnecessary tools, allows you to swiftly and smoothly tie a dozen flies of the same pattern, and they’ll be tighter, better flies. Woods Hole, MA   USA

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My father-in-law has made me several hair stackers out of copper and brass pipe scraps and end fittings, using sizes which just fit inside the next.  I then glued rubber on the bottom so they don’t rattle when tapped to stack the hair.  He also made me a vise, but nothing can substitute for my HMH. A bic pen with the guts removed is possibly the most useful tool for pushing back piles of spun deer hair, and also half hitching. You can often thread your bobbin by starting the thread and then sucking it through, that is if the wax is not built up too bad. The ultimate in homemade tools, the mouth!

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A spent shotgun shell can be used as a hair stacker. I made a "bobbin hanger" (not sure if there is an official name) out of a wire coat hanger.  I have seen fancier ones made from a piece of rod soldered to a small metal tube that slips over the upright rod of a vice.  Before wrapping hackle, you half-hitch the thread, then extend the thread out off of the eye end of the hook and over the bobbin hanger.  The thread is now out of the way for winding the hackle. Dave

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The front end of a ballpoint pen casing makes a find half-hitch tool. Different pens yield different sizes of hole in the tool.  (Is there anyone who doesn’t Who wants to add more?

I have not seen it lately, perhaps to a lack of looking around, but back in the fifties I use to see people using vise grips for fly tying vises.  It worked great, depending on the fly, at times you lay the VG on it side, adjust the jaw closure to be proper for you size hook and have at it.  I think it would probably work for any fly if you build a modest little stand out of wood and hold the vise up off of the table or what ever.  When we used to tye the flys out on the boat, we just stuck the jaw part over the edge of a table.   I just remembered a local tyer in Annapolis, Md also used a vise grip.  He did not cotton to a lot of foolishness,  but his flys sure worked. George,

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Couldn’t agree more about exercising good home-grown common sense inventivenes to accomplish just about everything promised by the gadget-floggers. But Dave, I think you’re a little late. Look in this year’s catalogs and you’ll see there’s everything from fly steam-cleaners to special brushes to re-align plume barbs. (sigh!) The gadgeteers have alread won. Still, we don’t have to buy, do we? If you can get your hands on some back issues of American Fly Tyer and Angler, there’s a regular series on the sort of thing you’re talking about.  Have fun. — David A. Calderisi

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I would like to start a new thread on fly tying tools and paraphernalia, specifically, home-brew tools or modifications to store-bought ones.  I am afraid of this hobby going the way of many others, where the manufacturers (and peer pressure) convince everyone that they need to buy things that are easily made at home.  I offer a few here to get things going: A potter’s needle tool is a cheap alternative to a dubbing needle. You can make a dubbing needle from a sewing needle and a piece of wooden dowel rod.  Glue the needle into a hole drilled in the end of the dowel.  If you break the needle across the eye first, the two jagged ends can be jammed into the bottom of the hole for better holding power.  (Be careful and protect your eyes when cutting/breaking the needle.) Dental floss threaders (available at drug stores) can be used as bobbin threaders. You can make a bobbin threader out of piano wire.  Bend a piece of wire in half, drill a hole in the end of a wooden dowel rod, and epoxy the two ends of the wire into the hole. I suspect you can also make a dubbing fur winding tool in a similar fashion. Nail polish works as head cement.  I’ve had Sally Hansen’s "Hard As Nails with Nylon" in nude (i.e., clear) highly recommended.  Pull out the bristles from the brush and replace with a (broken off) sewing needle, instead.  The needle applicator will allow you to apply a drop at a time without needing to grab your dubbing needle or a toothpick to do it.  (I’ve seen other people use this trick, but haven’t done it yet myself.  I am not sure if you need to epoxy the needle in place or if it will stick there on its own.) The front end of a ballpoint pen casing makes a find half-hitch tool. Different pens yield different sizes of hole in the tool.  (Is there anyone who doesn’t know this one already?) Who wants to add more? Dave

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