Philip Smith
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You guys should read that article in the Billings Gazette about the team that got trapped in the wildfire last week. Amazing story.
I’ll be out there on the 27th (Big Sky area). Sure hope that some of the smoke has died out by then.
I wish Z. I’m too tight. Those are el cheapo Wal Mart 400 speed Kodak. All ‘cept the one of the Alexandra fly, which was my cheap point-en-shewt digital camera.
This guy has been my greatest inspiration…
Not much that I can add to this, but I have to throw my mouth into it. That’s what I do. The name is not “Trout Unlimited so long as it’s about ME”. I think that’s a little selfish. I have no problem with local chapters getting involved in access, and don’t believe that National TU should necessarily issue an ultimatum that chapters cannot do so, but I do believe that TU at the chapter level has strayed too far away from real habitat issues towards fishing issues. I for one, believe that TU should be more in line with orgs like Nature Conservancy that work to protect species that the public will never be allowed to see…for the good of the species. Heaven forbid someone advocate for trout and not for themselves.
Maybe my perspective comes from being heavily involved in TU in a state where access isn’t even remotely the hot issue. (while it is indeed an issue, in WV many land grants predate the formation of the USA and the language grants the landowner rights to the surface of the water…same as Virginia). But in WV, TU is the ONLY advocate for coldwater resources. Unfortunately, many of our own chapters in our state have strayed a bit from the mission statement doing things like throwing fingerling brown trout into native brook trout streams. As I type; coal, timber, agriculture, development, land moguls, etc. are planning their attack on our Antidegradation laws for the upcoming legislature. There are over 1000 individual wild trout streams in this state (and countless miles), but these industrial interests are poised to eliminate all but 130 from the Tier 2.5 Antideg list. Making it legal for them to degrade the streams at will in the name of economics. The legis. and the governor are ready to rubber stamp the proposal. In my mind, access is the absolute bottom feeding last thing on the planet that TU national should be concerned with when there are issues like WV’s, and there are many many more just like this in other states, to be dealt with. Habitat should be priority 1 through 99. Fishing comes in after 100.
No, the lime they use is special ordered. A couple of the biologists that I know there have spent the past 10 years perfecting the mixture to the most efficient sized particles so that it dissolves well and remains in the watershed for at least a year. It’s actually a pretty scientific process up to the point where they just dump the stuff on the bank. They like to do like the picture and dump it partly in the stream or right beside the stream, but in federal wilderness areas, it is illegal to restore a stream this way (the major negative side to wilderness designation). So for instance in the Cranberry Wilderness Area they found some roadside ditches on the ridgetop of Black Mountain where they’ve been dumping the stuff. This is way up above the stream as far as you can get…but the lime is making it into the water, and quicker than they’d thought! It’s actually pretty scary to make that connection concerning runoff of other stuff that goes in our ditches. Anyway, I don’t know the effect that ag store lime would have. The percentage of Calcium Carbonate in lime varies. Be careful of great deals, as some ag stores and other outlets will purchase limestone sand from processing plants that use it to filter junk through. This stuff can sometimes have some nasties in it and may not be all that effective. If you have any questions about limestone (or fertilizer) that you’re about to buy, especially in bulk, contact your state department of agriculture. I know that in WV they will come and test it free of charge for you.
Here is a video clip that I made as a bonus to go with the DVD Vandalia Angler that I recently produced. Enjoy.
http://www.hook.tv/MediaPlayer.aspx?contentItemId=340938
If that doesn’t work, try this:
See, from my p.o.v. those kinds of pics are more interesting. The goof up pics tell a better story IMO. Here is one of mine..
Bowman, you have to upload your photos to an online site. Then in your message body just click the icon that looks like a picture framed (third from left, first row) and insert the URL in between the brackets.
Don’t know why I didn’t see this thread sooner. I’ll chime in with 5 fun pics from 2006…
That photo was taken on the headwaters of the Oconoluftee in GSMNP. I set the camera on a rock. It was featured on the back cover of the recent Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture action plan.
My wife had never gone fishing with me before. She agreed to go on a trip for native brookies near Summersville, WV for our 6th anniversary. This was her first painted trout.
I took my brother in law on his first trip for southern WV coalfield wild trout. I was actually photographing the ducks and didn’t realize what was in the shot until later. Pretty dang cool.
A WV native brookie stream
One of my Angling Ghosts shots that I liked.
Fitting Fluid…Deschutes Brewing Co. on the Deschutes Riveroops, is that 6. I can’t read.
Something to think about are the elastic binocular holders that keep the camera right against your chest. The first thing you’re going to protect in a fall is your face and hence your chest. That being said, I’m a dice roller myself. I usually put the camera on a tripod and set it down somewhere safe when I begin to fish a section and return to it. It’s a pain.
My video camera bit it bigtime last year. I’d gotten a full year’s worth of filming done with no incidents until last fall. I do the same tripod thing with my camcorder. This time I was transiting the camera to the next hole and was wading through about 10″ of water on a flat rock when I hit a particularly slimey section and my feet went one way, my body the other and the camera flew perpindicular to the fall landing
right in the water. It ended up having a fogged lens and is scrapped. So last month I finally made enough cash off of my first DVD sales to buy a new video camera and I’m back to filming. This time I bought the $140 2 year no fault warranty. Hopefully I can crank out enough footage and sales from the next DVD’s to have self made insurance for the next fall. If you have windows xp there is a windows movie maker program that is the berries. I made this video on it the other day…
I see the noggintops site was already posted…awesome site. Just to add some more unsolicited b.s., I love my Orvis no-sweat hat. They don’t make them anymore, but they are a classic looking fishing hat made out of the Silver label breathable wader material. I know that Evergreen Fly Shop in Clarksburg, WV has several in inventory right now if you are interested, I’m sure they could ship one.
Most of the time I’m ballcapping it too, but in rain or on long sunny days I prefer the no-sweat hat.
No way, not me, not again.
I’m not a leisure angler. In other words, I cover a lot of ground while fishing. Also, I can’t chew gum and walk at the same time so concentrating on smoking a cigar and fishing/wading is a bad combination for me.
Case in point: I was fishing a small stream about 3 years ago when the mosquitos started driving me crazy. I remembered that I’d put a cigar in my vest a few days earlier that a friend gave me after the birth of his daughter. The only cigars I usually smoke are in the company of a campfire and several longnecks so I’m not a seasoned cigar afficionado. I hooked a nice 14″ brown and it did what most browns do…head for cover. I was wrestling with the fish and forgot about the burning dog rocket in between my lips. In my excitement I clinched my teeth, tightened my lips, acclerated my breathing and…well…you can imagine what happened next.
With a 14″ fish on the end of my line, my eyes rolled back into my head, I fell over, gagged and came an ace from blowing chunks all over the creek. I did land the fish and I did keep the skeeters off of me for a short time, but I vowed to never again smoke a cigar while fishing. I do sometimes carry a pipe with me, but I suck so bad at smoking a pipe that I can’t keep the damned thing lit most of the time so it’s a moot point. More for something to play with than to actually enjoy smoking.
-Phil
Z man,
I just wanted to compliment your articles. I haven’t been on here for a while (been busy), but I saw your ugly mug with the beautiful carp and had to drop some props. The midge article was real good too, nice penwork and quite honestly, better photowork. I dig some of your midge patterns and will be giving them a whirl this year in WV.
Keep up the great work,
Phil
I’ve rebuilt a few rods. I just cut the wraps off with a razor blade (carefully). Take the cork off with a box cutter (just chunk it off taking care not to cut all the way to the blank, then sand off the remainder with sandpaper…it doesn’t have to be completely clean, just so the new cork will go on). Then you can probably take off the old reel seat w/simple heat. Put a ziplock bag around the reel seat and put it down in boiling water periodically take pliers and try to gently twist the reel seat. If they used epoxy it should heat up and pop right off. Just don’t twist with too much torque or risk shattering the blank. It should come off easy once the epoxy gets hot enough. I’ve also taken off reel seats with a heat gun. Just turn it over the gun until the epoxy starts to bubble and then slide it off. If they used PU glue to install the reelseat you’re screwed. A daisy cutter couldn’t blow the reelseat off the blank.
Cabela’s sells a kit that you finish out the net yourself. Stain and varnish it then put on the net bag and clip. It’s an awesome c&r net with the square opening. Approx. cost is about $25 and you have the pride of having finished it yourself.
I’m with flybum. When I saw the thread topic I thought of almost the exact same sites verbatim. Especially ctrods and Jenkins. I like crisp, clean web pages like Jenkins.
There’s been a ton of discussion on this on Clark’s board as well as on flyfisherman.com. I’m 98% positive the new Diamondback bamboo rods are made in China as well.
On a similar note. Glen Brackett and the entire Winston bamboo rod crew resigned and walked off the job last week because of Winston’s new embracing of Chinese crap. Not sure if Winston will pimp out their cane to the chinamen or not yet, but the Ibis series are imported and that got the proverbial ball rolling.
Chinese made rods.
You can find American made handcrafted rods for the same price if you look hard enough.
Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that this thread was very informative to me. I’ve got a cheap point and shoot 2.0 mp camera that I’ve been trying to get to take acceptable pics of flies for some time. I used the elevated glass approach and tripod and went to work. I’m not gonna go all out and make a light diffuser (at least not now), but I did use a desk lamp close in for ‘as good as I’ve got’ lighting.
Anyway, here is what came out. Not as good as y’alls, but at least now I can tell what the heck I’m taking pictures of.
AuSable Wulff Parachute
My version of the Partridge & Orange
The famous Hot Hayne Parachute (HHP) a local fly that works like hell across the nation. Particularly during sulphur hatches.A friend of mine fished there this spring. He really wasn’t all that impressed with it just to be honest. He caught fish, but said it wasn’t worth the hype. Don’t let that get in your way, it was just his one time experience. I’ve been on several streams that my first impression was really bad, but gave them a second chance and they impressed me.
