charlie kreitler
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The green thing on the vice base is a magnet that was given to me at a conference to hold on a name tag. It’s a great and cheap addition for keeping hooks where they’re supposed to be and away from the floor and my kids feet.
Zach, three years ago I made the same upgrade and never looked back. For me the jaws are 95% of the equation. I found the Traveler (c-clamp with cam-locking jaws) was fine for hooks from 2/0 to 16. I mostly tie saltwater patterns, though, and at 2/0 the hook would start to slip with pressure. The Barracuda simply doesn’t have that problem, and I use 6/0 hooks a lot. Not a great quality image, but you get the idea.
Finished product… and yes, that’s my ruler.
I regularly use the bobbin cradle. Do you whip finish by hand? If so, throwing a half-hitch onto the fly takes less time than saying “half hitch”. A handy trick. I actually find the more annoying thing to be that after using the cradle I have more thread out of the bobbin than I want and need to rewind it a turn.
I still have the Traveler as a backup– its easier to travel with. 😉
Returning to this post after some time… Zach, thanks for sharing the Lamson link. I had no idea of their connection to Headshok and Ketchum release. A good read.
I tie knots that I can tie fast, consistently, and preferably in the dark. I’ve boiled it down to this:
- Backing has a bimini twist large enough to pass a spooled fly line through for easier line changes
- fly line loop created by doubling over the line and whipping (nail knot) three spots together, sealed with pliobond or knot sense
- short piece of 30-lb mono tied to the fly line with a nail knot, and a perfection loop in the other end.
- leader connects to this via perfection loop
- connecting knots in the leader are triple surgeon’s knots (my blood knots suck and they take too long)
- fly is connected via non-slip loop (for streamers), improved clinch (tippet over 8-lb), or Orvis knot (tippet less than 8-lb).
The Orvis knot is supposedly 100%, ties small, and is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. However, fishing in the dark or with very cold hands I stay with a clinch. I seem to remember hearing that a well tied clinch is over 90%, and that’s good enough for me.
I’m not going for IGFA records, so if I’m really concerned about breakage, I use flourocarbon and upsize the leader.
Failures usually occur somewhere this side of the cork handle. 😉
Two books that I like for my fishing here in the northeast are “Pop Fleyes” by Bob Popovic and “A Perfect Fish” by Ken Abrams. They aren’t pattern books, showcase two different philosophies on tying flies for fishing in salt water.
Rob, terrific pictures. When you can avoid the crowds, the Salmon River is a terrific place to go. Seeing your photos has me drooling over an upcoming trip I have.
Here in Connecticut we have lots of options:
Saltwater destinations between 5 minute walk from the house or as far as we want to drive (usually 20 minutes, occasionally two hours)
Stocked trout within a 20-minute drive (excluding the town pond that they stock for kids each spring)
Nearest bass pond is about 10 minutes.
Outstanding trout fishing within 1 hour 15 minutes in CT, or a bit over two hours to the Catskills in NY.
Five and a half hour drive to steelhead and salmon on the Lake Ontario tributaries.
There is also lake fishing for trout or even muskie, carp fishing in rivers, and more, but those aren’t my thing. I must say having the salt so close makes me lazy.
I think the main benefit of the bucktail is its natural buoyancy. The buoyant wing of bucktail keeps the hook tracking point up, not the location of the lead eyes. You can certainly use other materials, but the fly will ride differently through the water. Check out a Popovic conehead jiggy for something similar constructed out of synthetics.
Gary,
[BrownNose] I always enjoy your column. [/BrownNose]
One of the places that is near and dear to me is the Adirondacks in New York. A century ago this was a brook trout and lake trout paradise. However, the particular area I go to in the west central Adirondacks (not near the well known Au Sable River) has poor trout fishing as a result of decades of acid rain. There seems to be some very tentative signs of recover, but like the damage it will probably take decades.
How does the acidity of the water affect trout? What is a reasonable expectation for recovery in those regions that have been affected by acid rain? The waters look gorgeous, but for the most part are still empty.
Charlie
Pretty cool stuff. However, until they resolve what I shall refer to as “the bathroom problem”, digital media will supplement but not replace my well worn paper copies of the magazine. 🙂
We use the Neutrogena while sailing. It’s pricey, but it’s great stuff. One application lasts 6 hours of high sun exposure and reflectivity with no problems.
CK
I am a man of too man hobbies, all of them outdoors to some degree. All of the sports that I do are seem to be in various states of a long-term decline in participation, fishing among them.
However, when things get a little tough in the economy, people tend to look for things to do closer to home. We still want leisure activities, but aren’t willing to part with the same number of dollars to do them. I’ll be curious to see if my favorite spots have a few more people at them this year.
Somehow that seems better than some of the power plants and DEP Super Fund sites that I’ve fished at!
Bob nailed it. I’ll add that while line combinations are subjective to the caster, a good caster will be able to easily adjust their cast to any common set-up. For starters, any line matched correctly to the rod weight will do. Become a great caster with that setup before investing anything more other than time.
I regularly fish saltwater flats in the Northeast, and I prefer to overline a fast action rod (9-10 wt line on an 8wt rod, or 10-11 wt line on a 9wt rod). I false cast once and easily throw 100′, which is different than the style Bob described. However, I bet Bob and I could switch rod/line setups and both cast very comfortably, although we’d each adjust our casting style accordingly.
After you develop strong casting skills, then worry about fine tuning lines. Or don’t. 😉 With line’s costing what they do, it’s nice to be able to switch rods/lines with friends to see how they feel.
Zach, I love it. I primarily fish for stripers, and most striper fisherman around here are nocturnal creatures for much of the year.
No advice on catching them, but as they say, an ounce of prevention…
1) Don’t leave anything valuable there. Hide or secure what you leave.
2) Insurance if practical– some cabins it’s not for fire reasons
3) Put a large, highly visible bear trap in the middle of the room to make them wonder what else you’ve left for them. 😉
CK
