kjackson

Thought it might be worth mentioning that the Tri-Lakes Fly Fishers' Expo has some changes. The biggest is that it will start on April 10th, Friday, at 1:00 PM until 4:00. And on Saturday, the show starts at 9:00 AM. This is the first time the event has been held over two days. Also, there are twice the vendors this year as compared to last year, for a total around 50. And it might be worth noting that the MDC is having a Learn to Fish day long event at the Clinton office on Thursday the 10th that has a focus on fly fishing--casting, equipment and tying flies. I just filed a preview article on the Expo to the Clinton Daily Democrat that should be online this coming Thursday if you'd like more details.

A birthday fishing sounds like a dream. Glad you had fun, and Happy Birthday!

And now here's snow on the ground...

12 dead at this point from last night, but there's tonight's storms in SEMO. Clinton had maybe 20 minutes of thunderstorm that knocked a few limbs down and washed the 4Runner enough that the following winds blowing smoke and dust covered it.

It does look good. For me, I'd have to pay homage to my PNW roots and add a turn or two of pheasant rump behind the eyes as a nod to the Carey Special. You, or I anyway, couldn't tie a dragonfly nymph pattern without pheasant rump.

Thanks for the insight. folks. I will stick with the deep vee hull idea (found one I'll look at next week), and I also will be picking up a smaller craft fairly soon. There are a lot of places around here that are perfect for something small. After a few discussions and running the program by the person who looks at expenditures, I'm thinking the Pond Prowler 8 will work well for me. It's stable, has a high weight capacity and will fit in the back of my truck. Another plus, it looks like it will be light enough that I can easily load it myself. I'd almost rather have a pram, but stability and safety are key selling points. I'm too old to swim back to shore any more.

Report from Windsor was -21. And Subby on his weather talk this morning said the long-range forecast was for a storm to hit west-central Mo to hit March 5th and 6th with potential to get nasty--followed by a chance of snow. I'm thinking coastal Oregon is looking pretty good right now. There you only have to worry about tsunamis.

Our "official" temp is -12...

Another question, which I could answer myself if the water wasn't so hard-- I have quite a few of the up-eye, black Atlantic salmon hooks. If I tied on those, the flies would have a down-turned eye. How would that affect the retrieve? Would there be too much downward pull when the fly is stripped? It's not that I don't have other hooks to use, but I would like to use the 36890s for something.

I love these posts; I get fired up to tie a bunch of whatever pattern works well. After reading this yesterday, I headed down to the basement stash to pick up a couple of items--I'm in the middle of tying crappie jigs-- and pulled out some fly boxes to check colors of Clousers with an eye to what was lacking. I was surprised to find what is, probably, a three-year supply left over from fishing for searun cutthroat and chum salmon. I'm thinking I may need to add some local colors and sizes, though. What sizes are you folks using the most? Colors beyond chartreuse/pink/blue that I should add to the boxes? Olive over tan sounds good, so that will be in line over the next two days of being housebound. Thx.

I think I'd need one already tied to the tippet for a #20. Back when I kinda cared about chasing trout, I ran into the PR director for Daiwa who was an avid fly fisherman--Rex Gerlach. He could tie a Royal Coachman on a #28.I wouldn't buy it, but then it was confirmed by someone else.

That was an interesting morning. I wasn't able to find the box/boxes of divers, with the exception of four. The two reds are 0 size, and I have one other without the ring as well. The large silver is the original size. I added two jet divers as well. The fire tiger is a 30 side that is supposed to run 30feet, and the clear one claims 50 feet as its running depth. The interesting part came when I uncovered three boxes full of plastic flashers and several hundred trolling spoons and a large tackle box loaded with pre-Rapala Magnum Wiggle Warts. I think it's time to start unloading stuff.

Great. Will post images later today and see how many and in what sizes.

Before I drag 'em out and take pix and so on, I thought I'd ask first. I have quite a few divers-- Dipseys with some diving rings, Deep Sixes and some Jet Divers-- all Luhr Jensen products. Since around here they are mostly used for spoonbill snagging, I wondered if someone here was interested in them. If so, I'll find out what and how many I have and post 'em. I like the Jet Divers used on a sliding rig for depth control while trolling, but the rest I'd like to get rid of. Thanks.

Geez, Louise-- It makes me glad I'm not into trout fishing any more. But I can't help but wonder if an Octopus-style hook wouldn't work as well. They certainly would be a lot cheaper, and the two major differences would be the barbed point--easy to fix--and an up eye. I guess that hook price goes along with what I've noticed recently. I did a quick look at an Orvis catalog the other day and was astounded at the prices I saw. Over $1,000 for a fly rod? Really?

Just read a report on Newsbreak that says there is a split in the polar weather system and a vortex may be heading our way, which will result in another plunge into the freezer about February 10th. Of course, that is a weather prediction, and that means it also could be a load. Time to stock up on bread, whiskey and toilet paper before it all disappears. I usually like winter, but this one hasn't been fun.

Yeah, it takes up so much storage space on my driveway...

Thanks, Marty. I have a Minn Kota that's been loafing and needs exercise, plus a Motor Guide bow mount that could be converted if someone doesn't get it first. I'm thinking I;l try to pick up a Pond Prowler or similar boat fairly soon. I like prams and have owned one, built another beast of a pram, but building another one would not happen anytime soon, and there are fish to be caught. Don't forget I have that lead waiting for you as well.

I really appreciate the feedback from all you folks, and I thought I'd give an update with a new set of questions. Update: There are a number of boats available right now that look good, and if I wasn't so lazy, one would be sitting in my driveway right now. But when the freezing rain and ice hit, I pretty much curled up in a ball and stayed inside. I still have a sheet of ice in my back driveway, so I'll probably wait a bit longer. And to add some confusion, I've started thinking about a mod-vee jon boat as an option--something like the Grizzly 1648 with a side console might work. We'll see...If you have experience with this boat or have a better suggestion, please let me know. Moving on to the second question: I need a small boat of some kind to keep in town because there are quite a few places nearby where a small boat would be perfect as well as some of the strip pits where you can't use a gas-powered boat. While I could bring a kayak back in town from our LOZ cabin, that takes planning and effort-- I'd like to have something that lets me get a wild hair, load a boat or whatever into the truck and go fishing at a moment's notice. I grew up fishing out of a pram, and I can see a 10-footer as being something that would work well. But it's slower than a kayak--more stable, too-- and would require that I build it. Most stable kayaks cost a bundle new, so I am not sure I'd do that. But what about a Pond Prowler or one from that category? Are they as good/functional as they appear? I have no experience with these and could use some input. Thanks in advance for your help!

Haven't fished Idaho much, even when we lived in Spokane-- just Twin Lakes, Coeur d'Alene, Hell's Canyon and the Clearwater, all neat fisheries, but nothing that would lure me back. But I lived in the PNW for decades, and the chum/searun/steelhead fall chaos was a blast when you hit it right. I do miss that, and may be heading back next summer to see Number Two Son. It won't be the time for chum, but kings in the salt might make up for it. I fished Lenore shortly after the state planted Lahontans, and there were a lot of fish, and some big ones. The largest I landed was in the 8-pound category; I did see one--I think I still have it on a slide somewhere-- that hit the scales over 10. The DOW blurb on the lake indicates that big fish aren't common any more, which is a shame.

A trip I'd make would be a fall trip to Washington, and it would be to hit searun cutthroat and chum salmon in the fall. Time it right and fish the right river and you could add summer-run steelhead to the mix. Chum, aka "dog" salmon, are are strong fighters. Way back in the day, Gary Loomis wouldn't warrant his rods if you broke one while fishing for chum... And if I needed to another fishy hit, I'd head over to the east side of the state and hit Lake Lenore-- it has a good population of Lahontan cutthroat, the only fish that can live in its alkaline waters.

Nothing quite like a plywood duck blind to kill hearing...

'Twas 2 this morning in Clinton and 13 at 10 am. Might have to tie a few crappie jigs today.

I've a few of the older Rapalas that I still use, but right now, I've one of the newer models with the coating-- it mightt be teflon-- on the blade which is my primary knife at the lake. It seems to hold an edge well. But I was rooting around in some of my stuff the other day and ran across an old Buck fillet knife that I used mostly for saltwater fish back in Washington. That one will get a good sharpening and then it will replace the Rapala.

I'm thinking jig hook, but...