greg mitchell
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I check the generation tables and schedules pretty frequently for Taneycomo, the White river and the norfork. They have been generating heavily pretty much all fall and winter. When that will stop is anyone’s guess. When they are not generating the wading is great in the winter. When they are you need a boat.
The flies you mention work well. I would add zebra midges and mohair leeches too.
Greg
I fish mostly trout. Closest trout water for me is Taneycomo – about 45 minutes. Several other options about an hour away. The Arkansas tailwaters are about 2 hours away.
I consider myself pretty lucky.
Greg
I like the Orvis Mirage fluoro better than anything I’ve used so far. Very consistent quality and less $$ than Rio or Seguar.
I’ve done some nonscientific testing of fluoro vs regular mono tippet on the picky fish of my homewaters (a tailwater). The fluoro seems to always get more strikes. So that’s what I’m sticking with for now.
Greg
I’ll be interested to see the Sage Launch replacement. Love the Launch. It’s one of the few moderately priced rods out there with a sweet moderate/moderate-fast action. I hope Sage keeps that action in the new rod and does not make it too fast.
Greg
Adam
I’ve been looking at lanyards lately too. I ordered one off of ebay recently for $5. Haven’t gotten it yet. But do a search on ebay for “fly fishing lanyard” and you’ll find quite a few handmade one of a kind lanyards at what seems to be a good price.
Greg
Here in MO we have both browns and rainbows. And in most areas the bows outnumber the browns about 10:1.
I have not found a specific technique or fly that allows me to target one species over the other. BUT the type of water does make a difference. I almost always catch the browns that I do catch in the calmer stretches of water that I fish. Long, slow deep pools, eddies, etc are sure to hold browns (at least in MO).
Greg
I agree too. Got a friend that has an RPL and it casts pretty similar to my Launch. But with nicer hardware.
Greg
Thanks Greg. I have wanted to go there for years, and now I will get my chance, but during winter. I did find some info. yesterday on The Pan, and I may try to drive the two hours or so for a day trip if my brother is willing. The dilemma, though, is the decision to fish or shoot. I will only have one day to do either. I want to catch the fish there, but I also want to bring back a few dozen gigs of images. May have to go back in the summer!
I hear ya about the wife; mine has been trying to get me to some resort since we married six yrs. ago.
Who is your guide, Greg?
D.
We used Estes Anglers. The guide’s name was Mike. Very nice young guy. My 14 year old son was having a tough time getting onto fish at first and Mike really spent a lot of time and was very patient with him.
Greg
Dusty – I’m not an expert on RMNP as I’ve only been there this one time. But the owner of my local fly shop was just telling me today that there are parts of it that are fishable in the winter. He said he’s been there in the dead of winter several times and done really well. I’m just repeating what he told me.
Thanks for the kind words. It was a great trip. It took some convincing to get MY wife there. She’s more the beach type (LOL).
Greg
I did cast one a while back (a 5 wt). I did like it and it’s a pretty good looking rod too. But I personally like the Sage Launch much better for about the same $$. It seems significantly lighter and smoother to me.
Greg
My wife has had the Freestones for several years. They have held up well. I have the Simms lightweights and they’ve held up really well too. I don’t feel you can go wrong with Simms – gore tex or not.
Greg
I’ve cast one. Love the shootability. I even like the sound. What I don’t like is the need to wear a glove or some type of finger protection to avoid cuts which I really think you need especially if you are going to strip streamers. Other quality lines are good enough for me without having to wear something extra.
Everything has trade offs I guess.
Greg
That is so tough to lose a beloved dog. We lost our 16 year old Corgi last year. He was one of the family and helped us raise our 2 kids. We had to have him put down when his arthritis got so bad he wasn’t able to walk very well. That was one of the toughest and saddest days of my life. We were all 4 with him at the end though. I feel for what you are going through.
Greg
With handling I also meant stripping line.
Obviously, when fishing streamers you strip a lot faster (and more frequent) than say fishing dries or nymphs. But nonetheless if you fish the whole day with dries and/or nymphs (I fish 99% of the time with nymphs) there’s still a lot of stripping involved. Not as quick & jerky as fishing streamer.
In fact, there are times you need to react to a quick take and you’ll strip a short distance of line pretty close to striking a streamer take.
If you are streamer fishing all day, with any fly line, you will have finger cuts. Wet hands and PVC running over your fingers when under pressure equals cut fingers. That is why companies have been making gloves and finger guards for years. So for those of us who are used to casting a big ugly to the bank, every 5 feet, for a 7 -8 mile float, cut finger protection is an old issue.
I just don’t agree. I’ve done a lot of streamer fishing sometimes for 8 hours or more at a time and I have yet to get a cut with my regular SA line. I’ve cast the sharkskin line. I agree that it casts great. I even kind of like the sound of it zinging through the guides. But I refuse to fish with one because I just don’t want to wear “finger protection” when I fish when there are so many good lines out there that don’t require it.
Greg
I think any of the name brand ceramic bobbins are very good and will last many, many years. I have several from Dr. Slick and a Griffin. They work very well and never cut the thread.
The cheaper bobbins that have a flared tube at both ends work OK too. I had a couple I used for many years – but they did eventually (after years of use) develop a groove or burr and started cutting thread. I now only use ceramic bobbins.
Greg
If you are looking for a true rotary then I just don’t think you can beat the peak vise. It holds hooks extremely well, rotates smoothly and looks to be built for a lifetime. I love the “positive stop” cam action too. I have the standard jaws and I’ve tied up to a #1/0 with no slippage. It handles #22 hooks well too.
My only complaint with the Peak in the past was it was not very height adjustable – it wouldn’t go low enough for me. But I recently talked to the owner (Kurt) and he has fixed that issue with the newer clamp. He sent me a new c clamp for a reasonable price a few weeks ago. Perfect now (at least for me). Personally I would take the peak over even the most expensive renzettis. I just don’t care for the design.
I also like the HMH spartan vise and the apex anvil. But while they are rotary they are not true in line rotary like the Peak.
Greg
I’m probably going to get ripped for this, but hey, it’s Christmas …
Anyone have any experience with the Snowbee Waldron?? Yes, I know, at sub 2K it’s not a bank-breaker, and you get what you pay for usually.
I like (from pics) the fact that you can adjust the “arms” to accommodate really big hands, or just to “flatten” out the whole vise, but still keep the correct plane for when you user the rotary function.
Also a nice Tube attachment available for it …
http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/tube-flies/pic.php?id=4102Looks like a really nice vise. Why would you get ripped?? My experience has been that most vises over a certain price point ($100) are pretty serviceable and durable. At over $100 or so it’s just a matter of finding a vise that fits your needs and tastes.
Greg
I never really understood the fairly widespread animosity towards Orvis. Seems like most fly fishers either like them or hate them. They do make quality gear and they seem to stand behind it. In particular I like their reels. Good quality and moderately priced.
Greg
