Karlin Bilcher
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Even if all the fish die, the river will eventually come back in a few years. Besides, it isnt like it would be the loss of a natural and native fishery. Lets hope for the best. [/quote]
I love that river and have been fishing it for as long as anyone. She will pull through, the creation finds a way…
Mike L – See title – “Brook Trout”, by Nick Karas and another study of the mitochondrial DNA of the the brook trout of the Savage drainage – they date back to the recession of the Wisconson Glacier. Basically, those brookies have been there a real long time – natural and native.Dave,
Keep us posted. I love that river (As if I hadn’t mentioned that before).
Mark, next year…. we will make that trip.
Mark Who? Too small and not enough frog water for his “forked stick”…
Scott,
Dave Z nailed it – the first step you should take when considering rod choice is application. Like they say about real estate – location, location, location. Well, the same applies here – application, application, application. Forget about the numbers printed on the rods and think about what you want to do with the rod first and formost. Where do you want to fish your new rod? What do you want to throw with your new rod? What fish do you want to pursue? Once you answer these questions, your options are smaller. You have a nice chunk of change to put into this rod so you are going to end up with a great stick however it shakes down. I wish I had your problem! Good luck and let us know what you go with.
Peace,
Kb
I’ve never fished the Moffit System. I’ve talked to some folks who have, with mixed reviews. Seems a little gimicky to me. Pegging a bead for steelhead is killer for different reasons than what Moffitt is talking about and I don’t need “the moffitt system” to peg a bead effectively.
A very respectable fly tying mentor of mine once told me that trout are not inspecting our flies for “negitives”. If that where the case all fish would obviously be turned off by the steel hanging out the back end of all of our flies. According to my mentor – The goal of effictive fly tying is this – “How many positives can we proportion on the shank to achieve the desired imitation and strikes from fish?” (size, shape, color, foot print, flash, floatablity, tracking, swimming, riding in the water, etc.) That is what matters most, not the presence or absence of a hook. Over the years I have found this school of thought convincing and helpful as I build different patterns.
Does Moffitt expect me to throw way the millions of flys that I have aclumulated over the last 20 years? Will we even be talking about this in 2 years? What is it costing Moffitt to run those ads on every other page of Fly Fisherman mag?
I love the Loop gear. If my data is correct there is only one shop in the US that functions as a distributer, I think it’s in ID. So the stuff can be hard to get. Our shop is set up as a Loop retailer, however sometimes it can take 6 weeks to fill an order or get back a repair.
Loop seems to me like the opposite of the classic sporting gentleman type of line – no tweed or elbow patches, if you see what I am say’n. Loop comes off as inovative and edgey and often they hit the mark. The Opti Reels and Multi Series rods are kick ass.
DLD – I can ship you anything you want to check out, PM me if interested.KB
IMO studded felt provides the best traction. Though not without it’s drawbacks – environmental concerns, snow build up and the studs are no good in boats. I’ve got another pair of sticky rubber and they are OK but inferior traction wise to studded felt.
Exl – Sorry to hear about your boots. My guess is that your experience is the exception, being far from the rule. In terms of your comments about Patagonia’s guarantee – what is there to complain about “Iron Clad”. In my experience they stand behind everything they make – lifetime.
http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/includes/ironclad_guarantee_pop_up.jsp?OPTION=SAR&assetid=2082&ln=25
What does this say about Simms and their dealer services?
Korker Cross Current – great boot, men sizes down to 6.
Chota – just about all of their boots are available for men and women.Or you can wait until the end of August and maybe get your boots from Shamms.
Good luck.
KBGreat stuff Zach.
You put into words a lot of what I have experienced and thought about as I have been working my way through graduate school at a mom & pop urban fly shop.
My conclusion after reading your post is this: some of this burden must be dealt with at the retail shops. 1. educating the customer base 2. telling the truth 3. as best as possible being more concerned with providing the best gear for the given customers application over $$$ in the register.
Stop the insanity!
IMO – The brick and mortar retailers ought to have a greater voice in what is produced by manufactures. We are the ones interacting with customers forty hours a week. And don’t get me started on sales reps…a van and a catalog doesn’t mean anything to those of us who spend our time “on the floor” talking to customers.
My first trip from the East to the West bumming around with highly educated / experienced guides and what not opened my eyes to a lot of what you described – me on the retail end of things while they are on the “fishing” end of things.
Anyway, thanks for your insight. Very helpful.
KBilcherI’ve spent some time in the one person version of the one posted above. It’s great to fish from. Very stable and tracks relatively well. Being able to stand on the platform and cast from the toon is super cool.
As compared to the other pontoon that I have which is small, super light and I can’t stand and fish from it. The benefit is that I can fit it on top of my sedan. Verses the Scadden which is pretty heavy and needs a big pick-up or a trailer to transport.I fished the J twice the last two weeks. Good sulfers. Fish eating the dun from 3-6. You guys should be in for a treat. I was somewhat surprised to see fish on them like they were the first time (around May 5th). But after speaking with a friend who guides that part of the state he said he saw a couple on the J April 28th. Good Luck.
KbI didn’t read much in Alan’s post that seemed consistent with his self definition as a contrarian. Un-matching the hatch, fishing attractors, up-sizing your fly, swinging wets, it’s all been said and done many many times before. Lots of ink has been spilled regarding the intersection of art, science, sport, entertainment nexus of fly fishing.
If Alan needs a cause to fight for / against I think it should be weeding out the snob / elitist that lies within. I hope Alan sticks around, he might learn something. If nothing else, he might become a bit more message board savvy.
😉
My buddy was at Augusta on Wenesday. He called me Wednesday night to tell me about his day –
On the par three course they have one of those small TV cameras attached to a wire that hangs over the water to track the flight of the ball. Like the ones the NFL uses. He said that as the camera reached the middle of the wire it would sag fairly close to the water. No kidding, he said he saw a huge largemouth make a move for the camera! Maybe the bass thought it was an enormous dragonfly.
This thread is confirmation for me that I am not the only nutcase out there. I played four years of college golf and one of my biggest regrets from college (other than Kim :() is that I did not do more fishing!
Kbilcher
Reasons not to use a braided loop:
-On light trout line they are heavy and will throw off your casting loop
-They add significant bulk to a fly line that is designed with a very specific taper
-They collect dirt and grit and will begin to fray
-Depending on how much you fish they don’t last long.My recommendation:
Take a piece of stiff mono (20-25lb test Maxima or better yet Amnisia) and nail knot one end to your fly line. Leaving a short section (3 inches) tie a perfection loop. Done! To take it to the next level you can coat these knots with a dab of Knot Sense and they will slide gracefully through your guides when landing a fish on a long leader.
Good luck.KBilcher
