Gavin

Well it refreshing to finally see people who will congratulate this fisherman. I already have on another thread from facebook. Unfortunately several others kicked this poor guy in teeth for not releasing this fish. I really dont think they could care less if he released it, as much as they were not the ones doing the catching. One rather outspoken one was a guide of somesorts so he claims. I dont recall all of his name, but part of it sounded like some pizza co. like dominos or something like that. I do not know this fisherman, just wanted to say thanks for the nice comments.

It's not hard if you know how stocked fish behave. They tend to suspend instead of hug bottom and they look up for food. Keep your candy at our slightly above their level and drift it naturally and darn near anything will work. Fish below them and you won't get a bite. The fresh ones are conditioned to look up for food. Use it to your advantage.

I have a couple dozen spools of silk thread left if you want to add some color. Silk thread comes in a variety of sizes. Pearsalls Gossamer is super thin and hard to handle...usually used YL100 instead and it will still clear out easily with spar varnish. Its a tad thinner that most Size A silk or nylon.

The thinner threads clear out better than the larger sizes, and a thinner finish penetrates the thread better. Do some wraps on an old blank our dowel and perform a few finish tests with spar varnish & epoxy before you apply to your new rod. Good luck.

That creek is pretty small. Maybe 150 CFS worth of flow on the lower end. Often not floatable in the upper reaches. I'm sure that a Riverpro could run it, but why? It's a short haul to ramps up our downstream on the Big.

Glad you had a nice trip. The Ned works well because of its buoyancy, lack of profile, and small size. If fish are active you want to fish something else. Usually go with an 1/8oz head with a wire guard on the river. Bite me hunter ball head, or the stand up head. Great hooks, good weedguards, and they don't snag up much. Its not the T-rock preferred head but they work for me. The hooks are a bit larger so cut your worm a bit longer. Don't think that a Ned wont catch big river smallmouth...Best to date on it is 19.75" plus a couple in the 17-18.5" range. I'd rather fish a jerkbait though.

0zark does a great job with that class. Definetly worth your time if you want to get started with fly tying.

Cheaper in terms of time to buy the stuff. Plus I've never seen a chartreuse deer on the side if the road.

Guess I'll have to find $50 worth of stuff to buy from TW. Shouldn't be too hard right?

Wish I could help, but will clean up some stuff closer. Little Piney always needs some, Vida & The Forest Service spot at Milldam mostly.

I'd go with 20-21. Seems to fit with normal grip & reel dimensions. Nice Catch!

That's the tampon fly.

A few goals. Teach my 7 year old to fly cast well enough to catch fish this year and tie her own knots. Teach my 5 year old to cast and retrieve her spin cast with less input from Mom & Dad. 5 family float trips instead of 3 last year. That's it.

Have no time for this...but I've audited hundreds of Government programs over the years. Payroll is almost always the number one expense, even on major infrastructure projects. Nothing else to add, and not worried about a dead bill in the legislature. Happy New Year. Time to load the canoe and get my camping stuff together! Carry on!

Have no time for this...but I've audited hundreds of Government programs over the years. Payroll is almost always the number one expense, even on major infrastructure projects. Nothing else to add, and not worried about a dead bill in the legislature. Happy New Year. Time to load the canoe and get my camping stuff together! Carry on!

Shannon steamer uses the same material. I call it the tampon fly. It works. 3 bucks for 75 yards.

Thanks for the info. The boaters should be reasonably happy with that. Think it will be on their website later this week.