kjackson

I just finished re-reading Brewer's book on his do-nothing technique, and one version he mentions is the "reverse" do-nothing--where you cut off the tail of the worm and thread to head portion of the worm on the jig. That is very Neddish...and something that dates from the '60s. There are many old methods of finesse-style fishing that aren't talked about any more but still work. It's all marketing and popular perception. I love the hype on the "Damiki rig", for instance, again, it's marketing.

So here's a question-- does it matter to the white bass where the eyes are located? I know that if you tie the eyes forward toward the hook eye you get a jigging motion, but when you tie the eyes in further back toward the bend, you get more of a glide.

I've fished out of Venice half a dozen times and am going back in March and probably again in October. When a bull redfish hits, it's like being shocked with 120. They are incredibly strong...and I've been out for tuna three times. The first two were OK, but the last one had me moaning. We got into blackfin near a shrimp boat, and after catching two on spinning gear and a Rat-L-Trap, I was worn out. Then I thought I'd try one more cast and hooked the largest black of the trip. I've always gone with a group, but this time I'm staying an extra day and getting a guide to show me some areas that I can access for trout and reds that will work for my boat.

It does. I was in there waiting for a meeting to start elsewhere, and it was better than I expected. The guy behind the counter was busy talking to a customer, and he seemed to know what he was talking about. The prices on materials were fly shop prices, so I'd go to the local shop first.

Nice; it's always rewarding to see your creation at work. I have some of the Northland jigs that have the prop blade, but they are made for a grub body, and the hooks aren't premium, at least on the ones I have.

Thanks; I only need to size it for #2 hooks. Do you just use one sheet of 2mm? I cruised around the Hareline Dubbin website for an article I'm writing and saw that they have a set of cutters for crease flies. The wholesale price was, um, high. I've not checked with any online fly shops, so I don't know how much they retail for. I can see if you were tying hundreds of them a year that a cutter would be a good idea. I'm wrapping a couple of rods, so I will have epoxy left over.

I'm leaning toward the deep-vee in an aluminum hull. That style of boat is what I'm used to setting up for what I want to do. I really like the idea of a jon, especially for fly fishing, but I can adapt.

Back to poppers, or at least crease flies. The only sheet foam I've found--besides the quarter-inch stuff-- is two millimeters thick. Is this thick enough? I am thinking of taking two sheets and then gluing the buggers together before cutting the pattern. Will that work?

I've been dithering about buying a boat because I want either a walleye-style vee hull or a mod-vee jon. Every time I figure that it's time to get off the fence, I change my mind. I really want both, but, well, I'm married. It's much easier sneaking a new rod in the house than a second boat. My problem is that I will do the standard casting-from-the-front deck thing but also need to troll. I also have a couple of requirements because the lake cabin is on a cob-rough road.

Nice...quick question on the prop jigs: How did you get the bead to stay in place?

Thanks! Will give him a call.

As part of my decision to fish more, I'm looking for recommendations for dock repair in the upper end of the lake. Is there anyone I should contact first/ Thanks.

There's an old series of double-hook steelhead flies--Ant maybe?-- that are supposed to wobble on the swing. I tied a version of Haig-Brown's Steelhead Bee that had great movement on the swing after the idea of the old flies. I used deer hair wings and cemented the base so that they would stay straight up. Cast down and across and swung, the fly would wobble on the surface. Caught my largest season on it the first day of using it.

My list starts off with "finish the kitchen". Next, I need to buy a new boat and get the old one ready to sell. Then I need to bite the bullet and find someone to do some repair work on the dock at the lake place. After: Get back into fly fishing and fly tying. Find walleyes in LOZ and Truman Find some decent bluegills--and chase 'em with a popper Get dialed in on whites and hybrids Fish Montrose and the strip pits near town Start decluttering my fishing gear piles...

My understanding is that the fly with a hanging hook is lighter than one tied with a long shank. Also, when you have fish that spend a lot of their fight in the air and the rest of it twisting and somersaulting around, the shorter hook on the trailer doesn't give the fish the leverage to twist off the hook. I can't testify to the latter. For the trailers I've tied, I use a short-shank octopus style, so it is lighter than a long shank hook. On tube flies, you simply replace the hook at will...a good thing when fishing in rocky streams where hooks take a beating. A set of tube flies are very easy to store as you can dump them all in a little box, and the hooks in another box. There are no tangles like you would see with regular flies treated in that matter. I've only played with tube flies a bit before we moved to Arkansas, so my "experience" with them is primarily online.

Started sorting through my stacks of gear, looking for foam sheets and found a stash of popper heads that I used for Miyawaki beach poppers (really a slider and not a popper). The next box turned up some fly boxes with beach stuff from Washington. Found quite a few Wog flies, poppers and some sample poppers designed for coho in rivers. It will be interesting to see how/if some of the salmon designs will work on our fish. I know the Gurglers will. The Miyawaki poppers (https://fridaynightflies.com/friday-night-flies-miyawaki-beach-popper/) are tied on a hook shank, with the gape and hook point cut off (after the tie). A short length of braid is added to the shank with a second hook tied on. The idea is that the fish wouldn't have the leverage of a long hook to work against. It's an expansion of the tube fly design, something a lot of steel headers buy into. Never did catch a coho on one, but they did work on cutthroat. Any surface fly was a hoot for those fish.

Off to Wally World today to pick up a couple of things I don't have, then it's off to Crease Fly land. Poppers may take a bit longer to start on. I've been thinking about trying to modify those plastic wine corks as bodies. Has anyone had luck with those?

This looks like a fun project to add to the 417 other projects on my plate for this winter. What size hooks are you using? I've not found a ton or largemouth where I've been fishing the most part, but I'd think a popper might work on white bass as well.

I've yet to touch a walleye in Cole Camp, but I'm not saying they aren't there. One of my two fishing goals for the coming year is to at least get a handle on walleyes in the upper end of LOZ. My guess is that the main channel will be where most of the 'eyes will be found, with the possible exception of the bottom end of the creek arm now until early March. My experience in the West says that walleyes will be found in deeper water, out of the current but close to it. They should be moving up toward where they will spawn and then holding in the deeper, soft water before the spring push. Whether that is the case for the 'eyes in LOZ is debatable. Where do you live on the creek? We've got a place in the Brickley Hollow area...

In the right colors on a leadhead with a short section of crawler, it would be a dynamite walleye bait. White, chartreuse with a lot of flake...

⅛ to ¼-ounce football head.

I'm working on getting back into fly fishing; it's been a decade since I was serious, but it's time. I read the thread about the flies that you know how to tie without having to be reminded when the topic of UV materials came up. As it happens, I've written at least two articles on UV in relation to fish and did some research and have my own ideas as well. I thought it might be interesting to see what others think. First, the ultraviolet spectrum of radiation is just a higher frequency wave than visible light. The vast majority of humans can't see it-- a few folks can, though. You might be able to see the edge of it in "optical brighteners" that make whites a bit brighter as it gives them pop. From what I've read, UV-reflecting finishes really became popular in the Pacific Northwest when it became apparent that certain Japanese hoochie lures were better than traditional colors. These artificial squid became very popular with commercial salmon fishermen. Then sportfishermen began using the same Yamashita (I think that's the brand) hoochies for salmon. The UV trend then moved into trout, steelhead and kokanee. The science behind it is relatively simple: UV-reflectance just makes those things more visible (to critters that can see it); it's not a silver bullet as a rule. UV is more visible under low-light conditions and in dirty or stained water. I can't remember the figures, but the increase is substantial. The kicker is that not all fish can see UV. There's been little research done on which species can and can not see that spectra. Some fish, salmon (but apparently not all species) especially, see it in the early part of their lives but lose that ability once they hit the ocean--and regain it once they return to spawn (and this goes against the idea that UV lures are more attractive to salmon in the ocean). Stream trout seem to be able to see UV, and some insects reflect it-- which makes sense for fish to be able to see their food. So in theory, using UV materials in your flies should make them more visible to trout. It's also interesting to note that some natural materials reflect UV. European jay is one bird with feathers that do reflect it, and fly patterns tied with natural jay supposedly do better than the same patterns using fake jay in the right color. There has been virtually zero research done on other species of fish as of two years ago. However, a friend of mine who works with soft baits for Berkley, adds UV enhancement to the grubs he uses when he fishes for walleyes. He also adds it to the white colors in some of the Power Bait grubs' range as an optical brightener. I was fishing with Ted Takasaki once when I was using Bomber minnows with a UV finish that were being made for the Russian market. I caught walleyes, and Ted didn't on his preferred baits. He kept the Bombers when I left. Also, I've caught a lot of crappie using lures with a UV finish. I've also caught them on similar lures without it. So go figure...but I tend to pick the UV lures first. TIghtlines-UV is a bass-lures company that holds a patent on UV use in fishing lures. Currently, the company is suing Damiki (think that is right) and Berkley over their use of UV in lures, according to releases. Dr. Keith Jones (Berkley's development person) said that bass don't see in UV or at least not appreciably as I recall. What experiences have you guys had? Good? Bad?

What are you asking for the boat?

Two members were kind enough to let me know they were selling their boats before they went public, which I appreciate. Unfortunately, after a trip to Wisconsin and back, it became apparent that a new vehicle had priority. Got that accomplished this past weekend, so I'm looking for a new boat again--but this time with a significantly reduced budget...sigh. My problem is that like a lot of people, I really "need" several boats but can only have one...so the search goes on.

TUF Line Indicator XP is still being produced in 6, 8 and 10-pound tests (as well as heavier weights), according to its website. Having said that, the company recently sold, so who knows? It changes color ever 10 feet, though.