ness

Dayum! ness, ness 2.0 and ness 2.1 will be down again this year! We want big browns.

Wayne -- yeah, Whiting bough out Hoffman a few years ago and has been working on improving the stock since then. I think they're better than they were. They've got a bunch of new designations now -- Gold, Silver, Bronze, Pro, and some other stuff. Also bought the Hebert stock that you used to occasionally see around. No clue what Euro is -- it's not currently listed as a product on their site.

That's interesting. I wonder if huge lips will catch on too? Well, I don't know how quickly you can ramp up chicken production, but if flysmallies ebay link is an indication, I'd be feeding those roosters a little Viagra with their chicken feed.

But -- anybody actually having trouble finding hackle? I'm good on my stock, so I'm really just curious about the effects of the fad on our hobby. The guy at Cabelas made it sound like there wasn't a feather to be found anywhere, but they had Metz on their site when I checked. None in the store though, which really isn't that unusual since I usually leave there without something I went in for. I hope the hackle suppliers ride the wave as long as they can. Like all fads, it will die though and things will settle back to (the new) normal.

So I was in Cabela's over the weekend, and noticed a couple ladies in there that didn't really seem like the fishing type. More like college kids. I overheard them talking to the guy about hackle and it turns out they were there for feathers. After they left, I talked to the guy. He said there was no hackle in the shop, and hadn't been since January. Also said that they weren't expected to get any for a year. I asked him if that was the case everywhere, and he said yes. He also said the hackle companies were getting twice the normal price, and when the fad was over they said they were going to maintain the high price to the tackle sellers. Now, I'm not surprised there's a hackle shortage, but this frankly smelled a little like BS, especially the part about the hackle suppliers announcing they'd keep the price high. Has anybody had a discussion with a fly shop about all this? Phil/Tim -- can you shed any light on the situation? I checked Cabela's website, and they seem to have hackle available there.

I'd love to hear more about this trip. I've always wanted to get up there, and have done basic research, but wasn't aware there were pictographs. That's very cool! So, did you do a multi-day pack and camp? Did you use an outfitter or strike out on your own?

Best place to fish it is right along the Danforth's stretch. Ignore the no trespassing signs -- just tell his goons ness gave you permission.

Well straw hat, don't believe everything you see on the internet

Heh heh -- Yep. Think post think edit!

Holy smokes -- what an adventure! Thanks for sharing it.

FWIW, I got your point. Lotsa folks out there without common sense or common courtesy.

We've stayed there a couple times. We rented the pool house and relatives took the smaller cabins for a reunion, so we got to see both. We liked it a lot, and the people are absolutely great, but we've got little ones in the group so we didn't like being right on the highway. Seems like we always had a frisbee or football going out in the road. Other than that, we'd definitely go again.

Jim, I get your point. That guy is clearly a knucklehead out to protect his little spot at the trout park or where ever, and doesn't mind being an a-hole to accomplish it. You did the right thing just letting it go -- taught those kids a valuable lesson. Teach them another by just going somewhere else next time. Lotsa places out there.

I think you're right there, Eric. I personally only use non-fly tackle about 10-20 percent of the time, and when I do it's with a spinning reel because that's what I know. I'm not proficient with a baitcaster, and have never really cared enough about it to get there. I never really knew what the pros of baitcasters over spinning reels are anyway.

Welcome ladies. I hope you'll feel welcome to contribute your perspective to this forum. It gets a little salty at times, but we've all got hearts of gold. You just gotta chip away the stone to get to it sometimes. Ms. McCloud -- how'd you happen upon that nickname?

Since the F5 earthquake the other day, the river is running uphill into the crack, where it goes dry. Dead and dying trout everywhere. I always knew the Newburg Fault was gonna be the first one to go. Spread the word. Thanks buddy.

May I suggest you downgrade back to a spinning reel? I've got no time for hassles, and I don't see any significant pickup from a baitcaster over a spinning rig, so I have given them to my children. I told them they must suffer the backlashes in order to become a real fisherman. It's just part of the deal. Grandpa Clyde got my uncles up at 4 AM, deprived them of their much-needed slumber and made them untangle every ####### birds nest he created, just to toughen them up. So, I have passed this ######### down to them so that they can experience the suffering a real fisherman must endure in order to respect the ####### #######! I mean, #####!

Hey Phil -- I like the new software, but can you turn it up one more notch? It's not filtering out all the bad stuff.

Liberal!

dung!

Looks like a lot of fun. Congrats on giving the fly rod a try. That's a big door you opened up there -- hope you enjoy it.

A big crack opened up, and sucked all the water and trout away. Oh well, there's always Bennett Spring. Please spread the word.

I don't worry too much about knots, but I know a lot of folks do. Nail->surgeon's loop->surgeon's->improved clinch = no worries. Catching fish since 1993.

Glad to hear you had some success. Given the early date, and big snowfalls in the Rockies this winter, it could very well have been a total bust. I'm hoping to get a purely-fishing trip to CO scheduled in July.

I keep my eyes open, and they need to also keep their eyes open too. I'm fine with people trying to get around me, and will do what I can to accomodate them. A time or two folks have camped right behind me chewing the fat, and didn't move when they were aware of what was going on. Then I'll give 'em a little excitement.