fishinwrench

I have no doubt that it would draw a crowd, but I question the motive. The info and product is already out there, easy to find for anyone interested in either getting into FF, or looking for something to serve a specialized need. Plus there are clubs and forums for comaraderie,outings and sharing of skills and experiences. Leave the product showcasing to the retailers in their shops. It is my opinion (and I'm sure this is going to rub a bunch of you the wrong way) that FF is being somewhat overly promoted. Sure FF is a great sport, but it is also at a pretty good balance point already. I watched Bass fishing (as a sport) go completely stupid with "pro staffers" and "reps". In Bass fishing nobody buys much from smaller retailers anymore because EVERYONE knows SOMEONE who's father, brother, or best friend is a "rep" or a "pro-staffer" and can "get them a deal" or better yet, the holy grail...a sponsorship It is rediculis and I see FF headed in the same direction. Lately it seems that everyone that is into flyfishing is agressively promoting something, and frankly (to me) it is starting to get an old familiar smell to it.

I use the no-knot barbed metal pins in my 6 and 7wt. sink-tip lines, and just tie on 3-4ft. of 4x usually. The way I look at it.... the less knots between me and the fly, the better.

Are we talking "above" the lake, or below ?

Nine-point balsa streamer, I bet

As a general rule A good catfish lake doubles as either a good Bluegill or Crappie lake....one or the other, but seldom both.

Starting to see bass on beds, in the little protected sub-coves. (no longboats around those spots) Pitch a tube or lizard at them and you should get some action. If you are opposed to sight-fishing bedding bass you can drag carolina rigs, or pitch jigs to shallow docks and brush. It's almost hard to NOT catch bass right now. Crappie are beginning to scatter, they should be on the beds full force by the time this front passes.

Nice mess. I'm not sure why, but they taste better when you catch them on flys.

Thanks. Well, the wind settled down this afternoon and I caught a dozen eating sized Gills, several mediocre Crappie and a few Bass....no more Redears. Flyrodding ponds is a blast ! Had a run-in with a pissed-off beaver...I think she had babys nearby. She smacked a few times then headed straight for me...GROWLING... and went underwater about 30 feet from where I was standing knee deep in hip boots. I leaped back up on the bank like Spiderman

Anything less than a 9 for 7 and I feel handicapped, when targeting smallies. Some of the flys I throw push a lot of wind, and others are like casting a wet dishrag. I require a rod like a 7wt. St.C LU to throw tight loops with bigger flys.

I hit my favorite bluegill lake this morning, I had caught several 8-9 inch gills and then set up on one that felt like a record-buster...turned out to be a big Hybrid Redear....talk about a fight on a moderate action 5wt. Several casts later, to the same stump, another one (as big or bigger) broke 4X and jumped to throw the fly. I would have hammered'em today I think, but by 12:30 the wind got to be too much. I'm hoping it will lay down a few hours before dark today.

Yeah, I've seen them on fish before, just thought it was odd (and a little disturbing) that the only fish in the creek that had them were the Smallies (10 to 13 inchers). I couldn't believe the size of some of the green Sunfish I caught... they were pounders, big enough to inhale a 4 inch fur strip muddler on a #2 hook

Hit a creek today that was kinda choked up with algae (cow farm upstream). I caught Smallmouth, Largemouth, and some really big green sunfish. All the Smallies had little black specks in all their fins and tails and a couple had small leeches attached to their gill plates. They seemed healthy as far as color/size/weight, but I don't understand why the Largemouth and Sunnies were clean of the parasites. None of the LM's or Sunfish had a single speck on them....but the Smallies were pretty much ate up with them. Any ideas ?

How's the Dairy farm fishin' ? I hear tales of dinner plate sized Bluegill..... Real or urban legend ?

I was told by a old MO.river Rat (and it has proven true so far...) that the best wing-dike action comes from the dikes that are just downstream from big sand bars. The area from Portland access down to where the Katy trail turns away from the river is really good, and you can access several good dikes on foot, although a bicycle or a boat helps. And BTW, that little pub in Portland serves a mean tenderloin sandwich

I had a pretty good afternoon on the river yesterday (Fri.), Caught 6 Rainbows, one was a real pig, and missed a lot of bites. I was swinging Muddlers on a sink-tip. I'd give it a twich about mid-swing and they'd hammer it. No locational pattern really, I got bit in the riffles, tailouts and pools. It seemed like the fish were scattered everywhere. Saw a pair of guys doing pretty good throwing spinners and spoons also.

Holy Crap, 30 feet from you, and then there was nothing to be found ? Did it leave a hole ? Myself and a buddy were at a MDC lake in montgomery county (many years ago) and three BIG objects aparently fell from the sky into the 15 acre lake. Made a hell of a splash and all three hit the water at the same time, two fairly close to each other and one on the opposite side of the lake. Like you the first thing we did was look up....but there was no planes or anything. We've told that story a dozen times and everyone accuses us of being really stoned......but we weren't. There's definately 3 things on the bottom of Marshall Diggs lake, each one the size of a V8 engine block. I would say "meteor"...but 3 OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME ? No Way!

Cricket, That one looks pretty sweet, more a leech imitation though. For imitating guts you want something more like this... You can dead drift it under a bobber if you want, but the most productive and FUN way is to sight fish it. Hook: mustad 3399 12-14 Thread: 6/0 uni-thread (white or red) Weight: 7 turns of .020 lead wire Body: sheepskin chamois from Bob Gaston (only one I know of that has the right stuff)

The Chamois fly (tied about 2 sizes larger than the ones you can buy at the flyshops) is about the best "gut fly" there is.

I have seen it printed from two different sources, that it takes 18 gallons of water to produce 1 gal. of ethanol. See what I mean about conflicting info? I don't know what to believe.

At one time I thought I had a good understanding of it, but now I'm not sure. I keep getting conflicting information that personally doesn't compute in my brain. LOL I was first taught (or at least it is what I thought I was taught) that higher octane fuel burned faster than low octane fuel. Then I was corrected and taught (by someone that really should know) that it was the other way around...(low burns faster than high) which made more sense when I thought about it. But then for awhile there is was a conflicting thing happening: Alcohol was being added to fuel to "boost"? the octane. But wait a second here....alcohol burns slower than gasoline, and any vapor particles in the combustion chamber that do not burn still serve to take up space within the combustion chamber which would have to....increase compression, right ? So which is going to give you more power per stroke of the piston, slow burning fuel that may not burn completely out... Or fuel with a faster flashpoint that burns completely WHILE LESS COMPRESSED ? Which could truly be considered "more efficient" in a 2 stroke engine ? ......I really don't know. And neither did my instructors. They just stated that running higher octane (slower burning) fuel in a 2 stroke, in which the burn has already been slowed down considerably by the addition of OIL to it, was not recommended. Not that it would do any harm whatsoever...but that it simply "was not recommended". I remain totally confused and clueless to the chemical qualities of the "fuel" that we get at the pumps these days. And unless I'm forced to, I have no desire to try and understand it any more clearly than I do. I have read all the BS on the internet that attempts to describe and explain it...but there are many little details that just don't jive... so I just work with the understanding that I have and leave it at that.

15" on Browns....and boy are they scarce.

Everyone is into adding Stabil and Sea-foam to their fuel, all the time, and I'm sure the manufacturers are loving you for it, but according to MMI (Marine Mechanics Institute) where I get my training, it is entirely pointless, and sometimes detrimental. I don't want to get into a huge fuel additive debate (stabil, sea-foam, octane enhancer, heet, ect.) but I will brief you on how fuel stabilizer works, and what I have been taught. First off, many additives are heavy in alcohol and even though most hoses,seals, and pump diaphrams nowadays are resistant to alcohol...it still is not recommended if other options exist. Stabil increases fuel life by forming a barrier on top of a fuel storage tank, isolating the fuel from the environment and sacrificing itself to evaporation which preserves the fuel below (for a while)....like a floating "seal". Once all the stabil evaporates...then the fuel below is once again exposed to the outside air. Fuel stabilizers can only do their job if the fuel tank is sitting still (not being shaken up). Mixing Stabil into fuel that you are planning on using up within the next few weeks does absolutely nothing except cost you money. And it has been known to throw off oxygen sensor input, confusing ECM's of EFI/DFI engines. IOW: additives can make the engine run rich by fooling the ECM into thinking it needs to dump more fuel.

Gavin, That only flys if it has never been registered. If there IS a title floating around out there somewhere, it is like pulling teeth. The WP "inspection" consists of him looking at the model/serial numbers. Your county Sheriff (supposably) can do it too if a WP officer is too far away, which they always are. Good Luck ! In my experience there is ALWAYS a title on record....somewhere. The crap that they will run you through over a few bucks worth of taxes is more than I can stomach. And the folks at DMV seem to get a real kick out of it.

Cricket, First off let me say, Sorry about your Papaw I can help you with restoring the little Johnnyrude but you will need a title if you plan to register and use it....And that will undoubtedly be a real PIA. The state DMV will not give you any cooperation or even tips as to the best way to clear it up. All they want is the matching papers and they will just treat you like you are wasting their time if you don't have it. That means "probate" if the motor has ever been registered before / or filing for a lost title if it hasn't... and often times it just isn't worth it. When I come across restorable old motors without titles I usually get them running, clean them up and auction them off on Ebay. There are a couple of groups (clubs) up in Wisconsin/Minnestota that pay top dollar for motors in that year/hp class.....as long as ALL the parts are there. If you PM me the Model number I can tell you (for sure) what year and model it is. Later, Wrench

Beautiful Brown. That's a shame about the Gig Scar.... looks like he lived through it ok though.