Zach Bearden

Looking at getting some new layering cause the old sweats aren't quite doing the trick these days. Don't particularly want to pay $50+ on a pair of glorified sweat pants. Anyone got something they've found is a cheaper alternative?

Nick, just any deep holes you find. Stripers aren't guaranteed to stay in a hole overnight. If you catch a couple one morning and you go back to that same hole, good chance they aren't there. They just don't like to stay still. I've seen a few 2-3 pounders this year while catching whites.

I'm looking at setting up a spoonbill/catfish rig and what I've got so far is a 12ft Meat Hunter rod and an Abu Garcia 7000 reel. The reel has a capacity of 325yds of 17# mono. Clearly this line isn't spoonbill ready so I've been looking at Braid instead. I'm looking at about 60# braid for the strength (obviously) and I've read that braid is easier to cast since it's not like weed-eater cord. Is braid a bad idea for either of these applications? Also, I'll be fishing super muddy rivers so seeing the line isn't a problem.

Cool, thanks man. I'll check that out.

Hi guys, I'm going to Wyoming this year as a fishing guide on a Dude Ranch and want to buy a nice camera to take with me. Not only for my own memories, but also to provide pictures to my clients. So here's my question. Would it be better to have a more manageable Point n Shoot or have a bigger one with interchangeable lenses? I have used both and personally prefer the manual focus. I would just go ahead and buy that for sure but I'm scared that it's a bit too big and I won't be able to find a water proof pack for it. I'm looking at the Nikon D3100 in particular. Any suggestions?

Tim, I understand that the wire can make the flies sink rate less or whatever. But, I would be really skeptical to tie a bugger on a light wire hook. I know you're able to catch large trout on a light wire hook but I feel kind of bad doing that. Can you give an example of which dry fly hooks you're using? The lightest I usually go is about a tmc100

Olive is big and so is plain white. I like both. I've never used multiple hackles on a single fly but if you wanted to give a contrast in the fly I could see that being a pretty cool idea. As for purple, I know it shows up really well in muddy water and instead of a fish just seeing a bunch of black things float by him there's suddenly a bunch of color. Something new to try. Also, rather than using the plain old colors, I like to throw a hot spot on there. Try putting a bright bead on or maybe a streak of color through the tail.

When you go to T&M just take the right road when it splits. Park there and walk down. They don't care. (At least they've never said anything to me)

Go for a more stout monofilament. Something like Maxima. Of course, the different hackle will definately help. I like a webby hackle on my streamers because it gives more movement.

Went down there before church this morning and it's down to just two generators! Should take all that moss and junk off the rocks for a good fall for you guys! Still really muddy though. I saw a bunch of people fishing but never saw anyone pull anything out of the river. No surprise there. lol

I was at the Strawberry Festival last weekend and saw a booth set up. They would put 3 feathers in your hair for 15$ Supposed to last like 2 weeks?? Absurd.

To see a whole boat load of other flies Loren has originated or ties go to www.flyguysoutfitting.com They are some of my favorite tutorials.

I apologize for being so late to respond. I live right here on the river and I wouldn't put a boat on it. Unless I was fishing off a barge.

Just a quick note, this should be changed to "Accepted". Someone could read this and be quite confused.

I agree with Al on the better angler. In FIPS Mouche style events we score all fish over 20cm (~8") and they give 100 points. For each centimeter over the given length, the person is given an extra amount of points. In 2007 (I think) the world event was held in Wyoming. While most people went down the river and tried catching big fish out of the heavy water, the French team went to marginal water and caught a bunch of "dinks". The French did quite well with this style. I'll be honest, I don't like the idea of snapping a photo, I realize it's the best way to verify something but not all people have a digital camera to do this and it would take forever to verify 50 peoples score sheets. Especially if they caught a large amount of fish. The best thing I can think of to score a fish out of is what we use in comps. Take a large piece of PVC pipe, cut it in half, put a cap on one end, sponge on the cap to place the nose of the fish on and a tape measure at the bottom of the trough. I can give you a picture if you'd like. Here is an electronic copy of all the rules we have. http://teamstonefly.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/competitionrules2009-english.pdf If I were you I would look at Article 9. There is a lot there, but it's the best thing I can think of. I think I found the best thing to describe what I'm talking about. http://www.theamericacup.com/info.measuring.html Very informative.