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I carry an inexpensive hydration pack made by a company called Outdoor Products. It holds 835 cu. in. of gear. I pulled the 2 L hydration bladder out of the bag and use the space to carry a load of gear. The price of the bag was around $20. It is well made. I have been using mine for approximiately 9 years. I believe the price has jumped to around 50 dollars for these packs.

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I’ve never laid eyes on a Scott rod. I’ve only seen videos. Looks like a great product. I’ve put owning one on my to do list.

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Once the supply is gone, the fad will end. I just don’t think that the hackle suppliers will be able to keep up with the demand. Especially if we see a move toward also designing accessories to go with the feather extensions. I’m sure we will see fashionistas substitute a variety of feather types before this all ends. For example, your partridge or guinea feathers could be a target too. Heaven forbid that someone decides to build a feather boa out of nice hackle and then we have to deal with the demand for that.

That said, a local fly shop here….The owner says that he has no hackle for sale. “If I had some, I would be selling it for $10 to $20 per feather”, he says. I’ve been in the shop 3 times to purchase hackle and always get the same response. Finally I just stopped asking for the stuff. I literally have 6 hackles for tying size 18 and 20 dry flies from Whiting 100 packs.

I’m in the parking lot after makinig a purchase of the usual small toys and assorted tying materials. I usually gop there once a week to pick up a few things I will need for tying etc.

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Douglas- Do you just mean that your D700 has just been used quite a bit? That D700 is a whole lotta’ camera if you ask me. That is what my wife packs around.

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Looks like it would move a lot of water. I’m thinking that it would be difficult to tie the line on the fly.

Looks like a good fly though. Nice and original.

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Could be that the fly naturally wants to rest on the flatter side. THe bulk of the wing makes it roll on its belly once it hits the water. I think slapping these flies on the water actually helps them land correctly. If you are too gentle in your delivery, they just float down and land in any old position.

It seems like the down eye hook is also part of the equation. I fish Chernobyl derivatives as an indicator often. IT is important to me to get the formula right so I spend less time having to recast because my fly didn’t land correctly on the water.

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Well James, I enjoyed your video. I posted a link to it on a Louisiana fly fishing forum. My wife is from Slidell and we currently live in North Louisiana. Lets just say that your fishing video made me feel right at home.

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I’ve got my kite string connections searching for a wholesaler of the orange gel spun 8 strand braid #20 and #30. He already located a black colored line and white also at an inexpensive rate. Think more like 6 bucks for around 1000 yards.

There are 4 strand variations that are fishing line that are inexpensive, but the line tends toward the lack of colorfastness. Eventually the color will wash out of the line. That also tells me that it could very likely stain fly line and our fingers. I’m avoiding this stuff at all costs.

There may be a good reason that the gel spun we see is expensive after all. Where you buy the stuff is a trade secret. I can not confirm that the line I am looking at on the web is the same stuff until I have samples in hand for inspection.

The good news is that I organized my fly tying area today. Now I can’t find anything.

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Hey Zach- I intend to find out for you guys. I know the dyneema (gel spun) can be purchased inl small quantities or in bulk at a comparably low cost. As for color fastness, I have had dyneema that is colorfast, and some that isn’t. It depended on the manufacturer. Dyneema does come in pound test break strengths. That means a system we are all aquainted with. – Let me be the guinea pig and order some of this stuff and get back to you all once I have seen it in person. – I’ve seen a lot of this type of line over the years, but for kites, I was buying it from 20 lb up to 300 lb test. I have some kites that are larger than school buses. I don’t think anyone will be needing 300 lb backing any time soon.

The real question for me is about the hand or feel of the braid. I want to be certain that the braiding is done the same way other fly line backing is braided. I don’t want a 4 line braid fishing line that is abrasive like spider wire fishing line. I want the soft stuff that won’t dig into an expensive reel. Maybe an 8 strand braided gel spun.

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A point and shoot, waterproof, copact digital camera is exactly what I need. My wife offered me her old Nikon D 90, but I just don’t have room in my bag for it. It surely isn’t a point and shoot and isn’t compact either.

The point and shoot digital camera I am currently using gave up on me during my last summer excursion. I had it in the internal chest pocket of my breathable waders. Sweat killed it.

I am hunting a replacement. I seem to recall that there was a newer model that has GPS. I think it would be nice to tag the photos with a location so I can recall where and when I caught particular fish. Using the camera as a record keeping device for upcoming trips has a certain appeal.

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I also wanted to add that he said the fly shops up there are fairly inexpensive. Fly fishing is just regular fishing for these guys. You might want to tell him he can easily stock up before he goes or buy some things off of craigslist in Alaska. My brother picked up a SAge rod and reel and fly line for a very low price while he was there. He bought it from a guy that was leaving the state off craigslist in Anchorage. Just sayin’-

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Let me give my brother a call. He lived in Alska for a few years. He fishes there with a motley crew of professional guides and pals around with a fisheries biologist on the Kenai river, in the salt out of Homer, and in Kodiak Alaska. He recently moved to Boise Idaho to work,

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James Shelton- Did you have a guide on your Louisiana trip? One of my friends is looking for a guide out of New Orleans on a redfish trip.
I lived down in that area for 11 years, but I have been away for over a decade and don’t know who is guiding down there right now other than the Orvis guys.

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I’ve found that a down eye hook on these tends to get the fly to sit right on the water. When tied on a straight eye hook, I never know if the chernobyl variations are going to land right side up or not. Is that what you have experienced as well? Just curious.

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We see the indian pipe stem plant in Louisiana but the color tends to be pink. I wonder if that is a result of the high iron content in our soil in north Louisiana.

My Dad has a minor in botany and zoology. He tended to spout off the names of plants when I was growing up. Monitropa uniflora was what I seem to recall him calling this particular plant.

I was fortunate to go on a lot of walks and hunts with a guy that knew so much about the wonderous world we live in.

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Found one and traded for one in Ohio- THanks guys.

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You could also look into some used gear on the forums.

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http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2010/12/21/dungeon/

You could always try an articulated fly like a sex dungeon. I think this is intendend to be a large sculpin pattern. Doesn’t seem like a very difficult tie at all.

I think this one would be fairly deadly on larger warm water species in brighter colors. You could also try articulating a fly like a clouser for kicks. My guess is that it would make a good cross-over pattern for the salt and largemouth bass.

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Ever try a jitterbee? It is typically a bream fly, but bass will munch them as well. (size 12 in charteuse and black is delicious apparently)Bass also like clouser minnows in chartreuse and white. They will also nail chernobyl ants. I usually fish them with an orange belly and black back with orange barred silli legs.- I tend to fish with a chernobyl ant as an indicator and drop a jitterbee or clouser minnow deep off the back end. I am using chernobyls tied on a size 6 hook. The large ant is big enough to keep the dropper suspeneded where I want it.

Typically, a particular bass will have its favorite haunt.

There is a very large bass that sits in a hole next to a location where water from a clear spring rolls into the pond closest to my house. The fish must be quite dumb because it keeps falling for the same tricks and same flies every time. I’ve caught her 3 times in the same spot. She is so predictable.

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There is a load of work in that tying desk. It is amazing to see exactly how much wood it takes to build something like this desk. The finished product looks very good. Pat your Dad on the back for a job well done.

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