FishnDave

After a number of seasons of having too many bass break my 8lb test mono tippet when flyfishing with poppers and larger streamers, I switched up to 10lb test. That helped, but still had too many breakoffs. I've switched to 12lb Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon tippet when fishing for bass with 6wt or 7wt rod. Its helped tremendously. Now broken tippet and lost flies & fish are very uncommon.] Although Fluoro sinks, I still like using it, even if fishing poppers. Sunlight doesn't degrade the fluoro line like it does monofilament line, and fluoro is also much more resistant to abrasion. A side benefit is Fluoro is also less "stretchy" than mono, so I think I get better hookups. It took me years to figure this out, so I'm hoping some less experienced fly anglers here might shorten their own learning curve.

@fishinwrench Those look great! Maybe I've asked this before....Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the heads from spinning around the shank, even after gluing? Maybe its not a problem? In addition to blockhead poppers... I've have really good luck with Howitzer head poppers. You can get the heads from Flymen Fishing Company website.

Same!!

Not so much for trout, but flyfishing with an indicator about 18" above a 1/80th oz microjig has caught me a LOT of crappies, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, and a surprising number of bass...even ones 20" and over... from local public city ponds. Its a great bass technique especially when the water is below 55 degrees. I've even caught some carp that way. I didn't want to fish that way, until a flyfishing buddy started outfishing me with that technique. Just depends on where you are fishing and what you are fishing for.

I've read articles about how fish caught deeper than @ 30 feet often die when released....either immediately or delayed. Anybody have any experience of this? https://www.echopress.com/sports/outdoors/4616332-DNR-warns-against-pulling-fish-from-deep-waters

Nice weekend, right? Despite it being nice on Saturday, the local ponds remained iced over. By almost dark, there were a few small openings, probably made by waterfowl. Fortunately, the temperatures remained above freezing overnight, and so the ponds opened up at some point and were fishable on Sunday. I picked a pond and fished it in the afternoon. Very fun! I caught 50+ crappies, 2 bluegills, and 2 bass. Most of the fish were caught on a flyrod float-n-fly (microjig and indicator). I also caught a bass and some crappies on a Micro GameChanger, which was pretty awesome. Great outing to end the open-water season!

The Man From Snowy River Sixteen Candles Ferris Beuhler's Day Off Better Off Dead Breakfast Club (big fan of John Hughs, obviously)

Last day of November, 2019.... 38 degrees, windy, cloudy, drizzling.... Fished 2 public ponds, caught one bass, one crappie, and missed 3-4 other good strikes where I actually saw the fish turn under the water, but I failed to get a good hookset.

Nice fish...and a lot of 'em! Good work!

I still love that 80's music... The list is long, but some notable favorites are (and some might be late 70's bands, technically): ABC, Blues Brothers, Boston, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Go-Gos, Green Day, Howard Jones, Icicle Works, Madness, Madonna, Modern English, New Order, O.M.D., Primitives, Pet Shop Boys, Phil Collins, Prince, Quiet Riot, REO Speedwagon, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Survivor, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, Wang Chung, Yaz, ZZ Top...

My buddy Jay and I flyfished some local public ponds yesterday. Pretty nice day to be outside. I caught 5 bass, 6 crappies, and 11 bluegills.

Right? These things get really angry at (or hungry for?) icefishermen up here. And while I'm fabricating stories, dozens of ice anglers are pierced each winter while sightfishing down an ice hole. Also, why are there no barnacles on the Narwhal tusk/tooth/antler/horn/lightsabre?

As soon as I manage to fulfill my goal of catching a Narwhal on one of these....I will send you the rest. Deal?

Here's some more I've tied recently:

I'm often tying up Microjigs in gold (for trout), silver (sometimes for trout), black (for Redears), and chartreuse (for bass, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, and crappies). They catch a lot of fish, and eventually the hooks tend to break. For Largemouth Bass, its blockhead poppers or Howitzer head poppers, and Gamechangers. For Smallmouth Bass, its blockhead poppers, Gamechangers, and Pearl Shiners, and bh chartreuse mylar buggers. For White Bass, its chartreuse over white marabou Clousers. For Hybrid Striped Bass, its 2-tone standard Clousers...colors vary. For Carp and Smallmouth Buffalo, its John Montana's Hybrid Carp Fly and variants. For Hybrid Sunfish, its #10 or #8 black woolly buggers or simi-seal leeches.

Thanks for posting this @top_dollar .

Thanks fellas! I may take you up on your offers of help. My wife's company is also supposed to provide job-finding assistance for me as part of the relocation package. I've been with the same company for the past 18+ years, so my resume isn't updated at the moment. I'm thinking of making a career change when we do the move...but I haven't figured out what it is exactly that I'd like to do. I've enjoyed what I've done, I just feel ready for a change. I'm a "desk jockey"....I've done mostly Cadd work, some surveying, some minor construction observation, for civil engineering companies for the past 24 years or so. Because I have B.S. in Biology. 😏 I do like number crunching.... is there on-the-job training for newbee/wannabe accountants? In other news...I drove by 4 ponds on my way to work this morning, they were all 100% iced over. It was 1 degree F.

"Ding Ding! Fries are up!"