[Mike L.]

As the rod is meant as a backup to a backup, just buy whichever has a better warranty.  If it gets to that point, chances are good your luck is going to keep on that road so youll want an easy experience with replacements.  ha ha

[Mike L.]

I run marathons in these shoes.

[Mike L.]

If you are truly after the look, why dont you simply shoot and process your own film?

[Mike L.]

Im allergic to improperly prepared fox hair.

[Mike L.]

Id fish that!

Great fly and photo.

[Mike L.]

Hi Allan,

Like I said, your fly looks really good and will fish well, but ya asked for comments so I obliged.

[Mike L.]

Hi Allan,

Traditionally, the wing of these flies should be made in 3 layers.

[Mike L.]

Ya, the river is ok.

[Mike L.]

Mine is nothing special, especially compared to some of the others here.  Its just a shot I took on a new (by new, I mean 55 years old) rangefinder while I was shooting a ‘test’ roll to make sure there were no light leaks, the shutter was firing properly, and the focusing was on target, but it was a nice surprise.  The camera ended up being the only one I used the remainder of the year.

[Mike L.]

I always use yellow when I am shooting black and white film which is pretty much all the time.

[Mike L.]

You can get it for free just by emailing the ASR (go to http://www.kharlovka.com for an email address).

[Mike L.]

I didnt realize you were in Europe, nor did I realize you werent really in the market.    ;D

Anyway, my opinion: If a bamboo rod isnt practical, then neither is a $700 Scott rod that is stiff enough it could be used to beat off a mountain lion in a pinch.  Its just trout fishing.

There are guys using bamboo for other things.  Check out Bob Clay and his bamboo spey rods:

http://www.riverwatchrods.com/

Ive not cast one of his rods, but I did fish an old English bamboo spey rod on an Atlantic Salmon river just this spring.  It was made in Alnwick by an ex Hardy guy and had the locking Hardy ferrules.  The thing is 50-60 years old.  I only spent about an hour with it because it was a consignment rod that I was just ‘borrowing’, but I could have fished it all day.  It picked up and cast a 65 foot belly floater with ease.

[Mike L.]

Jay,

Bamboo rods are like any other rod.  My 4wt, general purpose, bamboo trout rod is now out of commission for good because of a bad re-wrap of a ferrule (performed by me instead of a qualified professional) that let in water.  When it broke (just recently) the wood in the ferrule was mush.  Oh well.

But I digress…

A bamboo rod is like any other rod.  I fished it on large rivers, small creeks, with splitshot or streamers, with dry flies, and in any conditions you can imagine.  It fished well and with ease from 5 feet out to 60+ feet.  I liked that these rods are handmade with care, I like way they look, and, more importantly, I like the action.  For the purposes of 99% of stream trout fishing, there are no disadvantages to fishing a bamboo rod.  

The only caveat is that you need to practice better handling of the rod when putting it together or taking it apart.  Four of the five breaks Ive experienced with a bamboo rod have come when carelessly putting it together for the day or carelessly breaking it down at the end of the day.  These four breaks were easily repairable.  The fifth break was due to my own bad repair job on what should have been a routine repair.  

My advice, should you decide you want one, is to get in contact with any local builders you can find.  Cast their rods, then should you like them have a rod specifically for your specifications.  

And check out the Clarks forum.  Youll get a ton of good advice on there.

[Mike L.]

I agree with the guys who disagree with Zach.  

Zach seems to be thinking of bamboo rod builders like they are tackle companies.  They are not.  There is absolutely no reason you need to spend anywhere near $2500 to get something special.  As Jay says, when you start getting upwards of $1500 you are paying for nothing more than a name.

[Mike L.]

To remove the stickiness/tackiness you do one of two things:

1) Give the fly a once over with Sally Hanson Hard-as-Nails.

2) Squeeze a bit of hand sanitizer–such as Purell–in your fingers, then rub it over the fly.  

The tackiness is a bonding agent so you can build up a layer, cure it, build up another layer, cure it, etc.  You can build lips and bills and whatever else this way (just be sure not to rub the sanitizer on it should you want to add another layer  😉 ).  

[Mike L.]

I took this photo with the intent of posting it in this topic.  Unfortunately, it was taken on my third string camera, and I didnt finish the roll nor develop it until just yesterday; but I am bumping this topic anyway, knowing full well the contest is long finished.   😛

Edit: Oh yeah, and I realize it isnt even on topic so Ill add one from the same outing.   ;D

[Mike L.]

Did you see Blizzard has issued a retraction statement regarding this policy?

They will not be adopting a first name, last name policy on the forums, but your forum account will be tied to your Battle.Net id (or something) to remove all the alt accounts (or whatever).

[Mike L.]

Hey Aaron,

As I said, this policy is perfectly fine in the context of this particular message board.

[Mike L.]

Zach,

This is a double edged sword, and I do not agree with your point of view.

Your policy is fine for this website.  A lot of the guys here have an interest in getting their name out to the public, or at least the flyfishing public, in order to promote themselves…their photos, blogs, webzines, whatever.  And this is perfectly fine; its works for the soul of this site; and it does promote civility.  

Now let me preface the coming with a couple points: 1) I am NOT a privacy, “everyone is out to get me” freak.  I have nothing to hide, and I will give my full name to any member of this site (everyone of you has shown a maturity and decency a step above the majority of other flyfishing BBs); but this is a forum open to the public, anonymous lurker, and I am simply not comfortable having my name out there for all to see.  And 2) I had a brief, couple month stint in World of Warcraft.  Being in the tech field, its difficult to get away from colleagues saying, “You should give it a try; it really is fun.”  It is somewhat enjoyable, but in the end its a big timesink and waste of time (though no more than our passion in the eyes of outsiders).  This second point has no bearing on my coming argument, but I thought Id get it out there.   😉

This ReadID stuff Blizzard is pushing is not new.  It is in place with any of the social networking site, Facebook, Myspace, etc.  These places started with a good idea of linking friends together, but they have warped into nothing more than a money making, marketing scheme.  

Take a look at Facebook…they are now sharing your personal information with their ‘partners’.  This personal information is more than just your likes/dislikes to generate advertisements on the page that might fit your interests.  Things such as you name, marital status, spouse, hometown, even birth date, income and much more are now considered public domain simply because you are a member of their site.  Even your friends information is linked to you–as is your information linked your friends–and shared with these ‘partners’.*  There are actually sites out there that crawl these social networking sites, compile this information and store it for the general public to see.**

Now Blizzard is going to require full names to participate on their site.  What is you are one of those professionals–a teacher, for instance–heavily restricted on the type of “internet presence” you are supposed to maintain?  Should you have to make a choice between revealing personal and private information to the entire internet – IN a context that will make it easier for your current or future employer who would get a negative impression easier to find you…just to get the full range of services, including forum assistance?

What about one of the couple million young users under the age of 18?  What if you are one of the woman gamers who are already subject to unnecessary harassment?  These groups are already prime targets for web stalkers.  What if you have a stalker on the internet just looking for extra clues to find you?

Privacy issues abound. If you have a unique or very uncommon name, Google can lead straight to you. More common name? Someone who’s never even heard of the game could get harassed in your place, just for being the unlucky #1 search result on myspace or facebook. And should you need to get help in a tech support forum, much of the information requested there for help–such as traceroute and ISP provider–could help lead someone right to your door.      

In this day and age your identity is simply not safe.  Identity theft is a rapidly growing crime, and any pieces to the puzzle just make it easier for the criminals to get what they need.  On top of that, corporations (and these social networks do indeed fit that description) are using and sharing information you willingly and often unknowingly give them to make their profits.  I, for one, honestly do not think the driving factor of Blizzard’s move to require real names is to combat trolling; I think it is more about moving towards a new business plan to generate even more of the almighty $$.

There are downsides to web anonymity, but, in my opinion, the upsides greatly outweigh them.

I guess that’s it.  I realize this probably isnt a very well formed argument as I just read your post and type what I could thing of instead of doing the research, but I can come back later when I have more time with a better argument.

*Ive had this conversation and debate before.  It shouldnt be too difficult to find the information (it is everywhere, though you might have chosen to ignore it), but I will find it for you should you not wish to look yourself.    
**I will give you a link or two tomorrow when I can get them from one of the guys at work.  I cant remember off the top of my head.  Needless to say, youd be surprised at what they can tell you about yourself…

[Mike L.]

If you are overhearing conversations about Aunt Martha’s gall bladder surgery on the river, then you should try not fishing right on top of other anglers.

[Author]

Posts