bryan hulse
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I second Zach. I’ve not done it in about eight years, but then the boat ride over to the Hazel trail was about $50. There is a campsite at about two miles and another at five or six, easy level hiking. The trail back to the car is 13.
Bryan
Several of the N Georgia streams are private waters with hefty rod fees–like $200-300/day, angler access is limited to only a handful of fishermen each day, and only on certain days of the week . The fish are fed on a schedule from automated feeders. They are the Kobe beef of trout. I believe that most of the waters Flyfishing Masters fish for their tournaments are private.
There are some excellent public waters in GA that grow large fish, in fact I think I’ve read that Georgia has more miles of trout streams than TN and NC combined.
Rusty,
I’ve owned some Simms, Bean’s Aquastealth, better Orvis boots, and presently working through a pair of Chotas, but I’ve got to say my all time favorites for fit and comfort were a $40 pair of Orvis packable boots. The nylon uppers were supple enough that they could be comfortably cinched around ankles and negate the need for gaiters. The soles were durable enough to protect the bottoms of my feet from rocks, but forgiving in that they would conform enough to bottom contours that I always felt stable. They were light on my feet and in a pack, easy to hike in–just all-around good boots. I got four good years out of them and ceremoniously burned them at the conclusion of a trip in to Hazel Creek.
As for the others the Chotas have been good boots, reasonably comfortable and I like the teflon-like felt they use for the soles. I have the STLs and have used the removable cleats for trips to bigger water where they have proved themselves on several occasions. Unlike several of the other posters on the board I did not care for the Aquastealth soles. They were much better than felt out of the water and on muddy or silty bottoms, fine for pebbly riverbeds, but I had no confidence in them over cobbled stones or boulder strewn bottoms similar to those found in the Smokeys–not a lot of traction there. Simms are boots for pragmatists–simple, reliable–practical. They were good for three seasons but not so easy on the feet that I felt compelled to buy another pair. The other Orvis boots I owned were comfortable but the felt began seperating from the soles after one season.
It would be a pain in the behind, but if fit is your biggest concern I’d take your waders and whatever socks you wear under them for a test drive. Most waders are built to accomodate a range of body sizes and feet; wearing your stuff would give you the most accurate picture of how little or much room the boots will need to offer.
Something I did this year, and I’m glad I did, was buy another pair of boots for wet wading. Much more “sure-footedness” and more comfortable than wearing the clown shoes that are my wader boots.
Bryan
Phil,
Thank you for answering my question. What I was really getting at doesn’t have to do so much with the quality of a photograph, but–and still using the same snook article for reference–if an editor is put in the position of having to decide between the lesser of two evils why choose the one that is most obvious.
Wedding bands on the wrong hand and reversed lettering are easier to spot than text copied on the left hand page and a subject pointing towards the fold. It violates a design rule, but I would guess fewer people can identify an good layout exception like that as opposed to a flopped picture.Thanks again,
Bryan
Zach,
I still have the same question I asked of you a couple of months ago. It seems to be common practice among all of the fly fishing magazines to flip pictures. The most recent and obvious occurrence was AA’s spring issue that featured snook fishing in SW Florida. It was a poorly shot, direct flash picture that should have been deleted from the photographer’s card, but was instead flipped and used as the lead photo for the snook article. I ask because I think more readers can spot reversed pictures than can identify bad layout design.
Thanks,
Bryan
Paul,
I’ve started tying all of my EHCs with foam since seeing your post a few weeks ago. Talk about quick and easy. Thanks.
Bryan
Great stuff, Drifter. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest. Pictures, regardless of how well they are done, do not do justice to the immense size of Denali.
On a similar note, one thing about fishing for salmon that isn’t captured in the documentaries, pictures, or conveyed through the fishing shows is the awful stench that thousands of dead and dying fish produce.
Thanks for sharing.
Drifter,
I’ve had that one for about a year. It does keep camera, wallet, keys, etc. dry, but as a camera bag it is a pain in the ass. The bag originally came with an interior zip style bag that tore after just a couple of months. I don’t miss it, though. It was entirely too much work to open both bags and extract the camera for a quick grip and grin.
If you carry a camera to the stream to record flora, landscapes, and the occasional picture of friends and their fish it is ok. But doesn’t work well for someone traveling alone, trying to keep a fish on while fumbling to unsnap the buckles, pull the camera out, secure the strap to your wrist, and all that stuff.
It would be an awkward, if not impossible, fit for you guys carrying DSLRs.
Bryan
Zach,
Have you cast a T. L. Johnson rod and if so what was your opinion of its performance and workmanship?
Thanks,
Bryan
Kid,
I use a simple pattern that is very effective and easy to tie. I use a #12 2x or 3x long streamer hook, then palmer either a black, purple, olive, or combination of the three marabou blood quill from the hook bend forward (stroking the barbules back) until the stem gets too thick. I clip that, whip finish, and repeat to the eye. There is no need to worry with covering every square inch of the hook shank. Like Mike said use a tungsten or brass bead/cone for weight, especially since park regulations prohibit lead wire under wraps.
Both of my children were home from school this week with diarrhea. Enough said.
How far up Slough did you go?
Bryan
The fly I tied is a picket pin. It is similar to a crackle back in that it can be fished as a streamer, wet fly, or dressed and skated on the surface.
The flies were tied on size 10, 4x long Daiichi streamer hooks.
Tail – pheasant breast fibers
body – holographic tinsel (original recipie calls for a bubbed body) and palmered brown saddle
hackle
wing – white rabbit (original calls for calf)
thorax/head – black ostrichI used Uni 8/0 orange thread.
Flybug,
How does Z-lon differ from antron or any of the other synthetics? I’ve noticed that it is considerably more expensive.
I don’t know that I can say there is anything that has changed my fly tying. One product I like a lot, but only use it for warm water and salt water applications, is sof-tex. I think it imparts some bite appeal to those types of flies.
A couple of things that have been a complete bust, in relation to all the hype, are Marc Petijean’s Magic Tool and siliskin (or whatever it is called that is used for gummy minnows). The Magic Tool is a more expensive dubbing loop tool. As for the siliskin–it’s easier to get gum out of toddler hair than to work with that stuff.
Splitshot
