JobyKSU

Missed this thread the first time... I have the Sage 1650 and it is a fine reel. I usually play my fish by hand, but the drag is there when I need it. If you are trying to keep your budget and don't plan on using the setup that often, I would guess that the reel would be adequate. I talked to one of my steelheader friends, and all of his suggestions were a significant step up in price (at least $150 total). His suggestions on a budget: #1 Ross Cimmaron Large arbor ($185) #2 Lamson Konic ($150) #3 Tioga Large arbor ($150) Asked him what he fishes, and he actually uses a Sage 3400. Once you load it up with line, the stinkin' thing costs more than my first car.

I realize it is not the easiest job, and I couldn't do better. None-the-less, Fox needs a new crew. Green Bay vs. Seattle: 1st play from scrimmage Green Bay fumbles the ball and it is returned to the 1 yard line. The announcers comment? "Well, that's a terrible start for Green Bay." You think? Way to add to the conversation there, friend

Maybe we should think twice about leaving our pups at home when fishing? I've seen master anglers that "make it look easy" but nothing matches good ol' mother nature: Wolf in Alaska

Hello all, I have been looking for a rod that I borrowed when I learned to fly fish. Does anyone have a Sage LL or VPS-Light rod (or more fantastically, a blank) that they would consider selling or trading? I'm looking for anything from the 279 to the 490. If so, drop me a message! Thanks

A member of another site I belong to has come out with a couple of kids books for those of us with "the habit." Olive the little wooley bugger has a couple of children's books that looks like they will start them out right. I thought that those of you with children (or those like me who just want to corrupt my nieces and nephews early) might be interested. Tight lines!

Earlier this spring a gentleman (you know who you are, even though I don't) showed me the orvis tippet know while at Parker Bend. When you examine the knot, it is basically a double-surgeons knot in form, but the tippet exits where the tag end would normally be. This prevents the knot from pulling against itself. I have never had a problem with this knot, and it is easy and quick and purportedly a bit stronger than the surgeons. The Orvis website has a demonstration here. I tie mine by putting each end through once rather than one end twice, but you end up with the same structure.

My comment might qualify this thread for "geeks anonymous" but here goes anyway: For those of you looking for photo editing but do not want to drop money for photoshop, there are a couple of fantastic options if you are comfortable running Linux on your computer. Specifically, the Gnu Image Manipulation Program is free and is nearly equal to anything photoshop has to offer. It does have as steep of a learning curve as photoshop, and just as many features. To be honest, the free Picassa download from Google works for most of the digital touch up/manipulation/color fixes needed for the average person, but there are good free alternatives for the tech savvy.

A couple of things will help give a better answer: First, what kind of epoxy are you using? I prefer the threadmaster lite, and I usually use two coats. It is easier to get a nice smooth finish and wicks of nicely with alcohol and a rag. As for hand turning, go light with the coats and turn the rod about 1/3 turn every couple minutes for about the first 90 minutes. Then you can spread it out to every 15 minutes for the next couple of hours, followed by every 30-ish minutes, etc. If your rod is drying in 70-80 degree temperature, then it should be good after about 10 hours I believe? I like to go with as few coats as possible. More epoxy = more weight = "mushy" rods. If after the second coat of lite (or the first coat of one-coat) you can't feel any bumps across the wraps from the thread, then you should be good to go. Let it dry for at least a day then check it out on the water! This is what worked for me on the only rod I hand turned, I bought a low-rpm drying motor for cabelas after that and it has made it a lot easier, although not necessarily better finish.

I'm a huge fan of the Sage Launch. See some previous discussion HERE. It has great backbone and fairly soft tip to protect tippet. It is nice and light, and has definitely become my go-to rod. I think everyone should cast one before they purchase anything else. I personally am not a fan of the TiCr. I just don't like the fast action fly rods. I have fished the Avid and I like it, but it doesn't hold up to the Launch in my opinion. If you are looking for a replacement for you the Lamiglas, I would definitely cast before you by. If the close-in precision offered by the Appalachian is important to you then you might need to look elsewhere. There are some really superb small stream rods out there, but I'm not sure any of these three qualify.

Have him check out Free State Fly fishing club in Lawrence. I have spoken to a number of anglers that were fairly active with them. They do tons of warm-water fly fishing and have a bunch of activities. It looks like they even have some beginner classes starting monday. Check them out

I haven't chased anything in the Llano, but gar on the fly is a blast. I've chased them a bit at Rocky Ford in Manhattan, KS. I've found two good ways to get em to bite. #1 - Good baitfish imitation (such as articulated shad or gummi minnows - it may be important to match the size of the naturals). #2 - The tried and true bright-streamer-to-piss-them-off method. Guess how it works? Mix your retrieve methods until you find one that works. I've had most success searching the slack water for them. Don't even think about going out without toothy-critter or stainless steel leader. Also, bring a heavy glove or some other method to handle the fish. You'll know it when you get one. A good gar fight will give smallmouth enthusiasts something to wonder about. Another thing to think about is what to do with the fish. In my experience, gar seem to be more willing to fight themselves to death than other fish. Consider taking a couple home, cleaning them, then pressure cooking or smoking them. Gar is light, white flesh and will hold the flavor of whatever you want. A lot of people don't know this, but imitation crab meat is often made of giant alligator gar caught from the reservoirs of Texas. Addendum: Depending on the size of the fish, consider heavier gear. A 12 lb longnose gar will put a nice bend into an 8wt, I'm not sure how it would go with a 4 or 5 wt. Also, be ready for disappointment... gars get away. Good luck and tight lines!

They'll pick up 7 with 2:26 to go against Mizzou's third-team.

This year I picked up a pair of the therma-bands. They basically hold some of those pocket warmers against the inside of your wrists. They work surprisingly well and I haven't needed to use any gloves on the days it gets down around freezing. I haven't tried though below 'bout 27 degrees yet though. It would be really simple to make some. Just get a pair of wrist bands and some pocket warmers and combine. If you wanted to wear some gloves over them you could try that also.

Ok, that comment just offends me. I've seen my aunt Sally (who helped introduce me to fly fishing) wear mismatched wading boots because grabbing the matched pair took too much time away from the stream, and "they're a-risin'!" Runway indeed Disclaimer: While the comment was sarcastic, the story is true!

The situation is not yet crystal clear, but a group of activists reportedly representing the Lakota Sioux appears to have withdrawn from the US. While the politicians and lawyers work this out, hopefully a useful national conversation can take place. Read about it here:USA Today You can also get an idea for the huge chunk of land in question here: Sioux.org For those of us that enjoy hunting, fishing, and wildlife, many tribal lands are located in areas that are key to the continued survival of species (ie. Pacific northwest and Washington Steelhead). Hopefully this doesn't begin a rift which leads to a lack of cooperation on conservation efforts nation wide.

Ok, I'm not sure if some people on this thread are being serious or not, but I'll put in my thoughts. Beaver tailwater is great. It really is. The problem is, you need to spend some time getting to know the water. The flow is really slow and a bad drift will hurt you. Get the right spot and a good drift, and there are some nice fish to be had, but not fish that you couldn't find in any one of the other waters. I guess it comes down to this: If you're looking only for the fish, stay with Taney or Roaring River. If you're looking for the fishing experience and the variety, then come to Beaver.

I'll second that. Beaver tailwater is home for me, and I love it. If you're only interested in size, then I'd stay elsewhere. BTW does have some hogs down here, but they're few and far between. The average fish is definitely smaller, but once you learn the river you'll get some high-number days. One thing I will say about fishing Beaver: it will teach you to mend and get a drag free drift! Otherwise you're stuck with stockers all day.

In that case, how about some of the sterilized Saugeye? They seem to do pretty well in reservoirs, are a blast to catch, and tasty to boot. Throw on a bit of 'toothy critter' and the fly guys can chase them too.

Stripers and Pike would definitely chow down on fish, as would muskies. Sturgeon will eat whatever they can get into their mouth. Otherwise you are looking at introducing a species that would compete for scuds and aquatic insects (whether it is one of your target species or the threadfin). The abundance of these are one of the keys to Taneycomo as a fishery. Further, many of the species would be able to reproduce in Taney. Those are the ones that I worry about. Once you put them in, if they do out-compete any of the existing species, there isn't much you can do about it. So, I may be wrong, but the choice is to introduce an apex predator or fish that can reproduce in Taney? Either way, it will change the way that Taneycomo fishes. It may seem like the "trout guys" are against it, but thats because we like the way that Taney fishes right now. We've seen a number of fisheries drastically changed because of introduction of a new species. Sometimes trying to increase variety doesn't work out like you think it will.

Hrm... where's the button for "Leave 'em alone"? My brother-in-law worked at a dude ranch in Wyoming and was paid a bounty on any lake trout that he could harvest. They were the result of a failed experiment to introduce fish for anglers - but they started eating all of the cutthroat. Woops. I say Taney fishes just fine now... and I'd be afraid to let loose new species that might shake up the balance.

Whew... power's back on at the Manhattan, KS homestead. Total damage includes deck railing, about 8 feet of cedar fence, and 10 assorted tropical fish. The aquarium isn't a complete loss. My nephew won a little comet goldfish about 5 years ago which quickly outgrew the 2 gallon "tank" that it came with (those things should outlawed for anything other than betas). He wasn't ever extremely happy with the 75 degree water, but he survived the drop to at least 38. I may still have two plecostomus (plecostomi?). They haven't shown themselves, but I'll go searching for them later. The most depressing loss was an 8-inch texas cichlid. He was almost 10 years old and had a great fish personality (I know he was just looking for food, but still!)

There is a very similar hoax. This summer a real virus showed up in the same guise, however. It doesn't delete 'sector 0' however, but instead is a typical trojan horse. Any decent AV covers it now, though.

I bit the bullet and bought chasing silver earlier this year. It is absolutely amazing. I warn you though, watching this show on a cold winter night will definitely make you think about packing it up, moving to Florida, and buying a skiff to go after Tarpon. I've seen the preview for Location X. It is essentially more of the same excitement with bigger fish! Seriously, why haven't I caught anything over 100 lbs on a fly yet?

Whenever I see numbers like this, I picture all of those deer standing together, minding their own business, and think: "Thank god somebody is keeping them off of the highway!" Even with these high totals, it seems like on my trips up and down 71 this year I've seen large numbers hit on the side of the road or the tell-tale streaks through the lanes. I'd hate to see it if the anti-hunting folks had their way. Thanks for keeping my insurance down, guys!

Power at the house in Manhattan, KS is still out (48 hours). As of yesterday morning there were 16,000 without power (after the storm). As of this morning, it was over 17,000. Doh! They replaced two transformers within sight of the house, and one of them blew up about 4 hours later (pretty blue and green lights for Christmas). Checking Westar's website, they currently have gotten the number down to about 11,000 without. I'm pretty certain that I'm about to lose the aquarium. Air temp in the house is under 40, and you can only stir the water so much to get DO levels up. Neighbors have started to get power, but we're not so lucky, yet.