Houdini

I'm trying to get a line on the Canadian Fly Fishing Forum show in April up in Burlington, Ontario. That's about the closest that you're going to find to Rochester. I live outside of Buffalo and I have been hoping for a close show too. I went over to the Somerset Fly Tying Symposium and if I had known you were interested, we could have worked something out. I'll drop you a PM if I hear anything. The Winter Hatches symposium looks interesting if you don't mind a three hour drive!

OK, I'll slum it and go to Roscoe next June - but I'm still interested in the Canadian show. I live closer to that than I do to Roscoe.

Can any of you Canadian types steer me to some information on the "show" - which Flytyers Magazine says is in April 2008? Additionally, when is the TU show in TO?

Hey! I was serious. Condoms make great bodies. I usually build up the body with dental floss and then wrap it with a slice of condom. Because you get to cut across the roll, the cut is nice and even and it beats having to cut latex sheets. If you cut on a slight bias, it makes it easy to taper the body. Seriously, try it. Of course, you can't used the lubed ones.

You can always use condoms. They work very well and if you cut them across the roll, they make nice abdomens. The only trouble is convincing the wife....

I don't know how many of you knew Mark or had visited his shop in Pennington, NJ but I just heard that Mark died, aged 50 of heart failure associated with amyloidosis on November 4, 2007. Mark was an avid flyfisher and tying instructor. He was one of the most knowledgeable flyfishers I've ever met. I benefited from his skill at teaching flytying and had the experience of fishing with him. He will be missed. Donations can be made to the Dana Lynn Dettmer College Bound Fund and sent c/o Dettmer, 58 Hamlet Ct., Skillman, NJ 08858. http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?...711060403/1094/

I'm planning on showing up.

A man was on the water for his weekly fishing trip. He began his day with an 5-pound bass on the first cast and a 6-pounder on the second. On the third cast he had just caught his first ever bass over 7 pounds when his cell phone rang. It was the doctor notifying him that his wife had just been in a terrible accident and was in critical condition and in the ICU. The man told the doctor to inform his wife where he was and that he'd be there as soon as possible. As he hung up he realized he was leaving what was shaping up to be his best day ever on the water. He decided to get in a couple of more casts before heading to the hospital. He ended up fishing the rest of the morning, finishing his trip with a day like he'd never seen, with 5 bass over 5 pounds each and the heaviest at almost 10 lbs. He was jubilant. Then he remembered his wife. Feeling guilty, he dashed to the hospital. He saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about his wife's condition. The doctor glared at him and shouted, "You went ahead and finished your fishing trip didn't you! I hope you're proud of yourself! While you were out for the past four hours enjoying yourself on the pond, your wife has been languishing in the ICU! It's just as well you went ahead and finished, because it will be more than likely the last fishing trip you ever take!" For the rest of her life she will require 'round the clock care. And you'll be her care giver forever!" The man was feeling so guilty he broke down and sobbed. The doctor then chuckled and said, "I'm just pulling your leg. She's dead. So...What'd you catch?"

I have one. And I handload. What do you want to know?

I had a hard disk crash and fortunetly, had backups. The problem is that aftert I did a system restore, the program asked for the registration code. At the moment, I have about a cazillion boxes from the last move and the disk is somewhere in one of them. So, is there a file that I can look in on the backup that will have the number? I know it displays when I initialize it so it has to be there somewhere - I hope. I'm not looking forward to looking in boxes right now.... Any suggestions??

I think it depends to a great deal on what happens on the trip. I once had a guided trip on the Mosquito Lagoon where the guide was hung over and brought his kid with him - who fished too. He didn't bring the promised bait and 'had' to stop before we hit the Lagoon at MickeyDees for breakfast for his kid. We gave serious thought to canceling but went anyway. It was a waste. And we didn't tip him. The first guided trip I ever took was on the Delaware with a guy that acted like we were going fishing with him and paid no attention to us at all and in fact, ignored us generally. Bad news. And then there's the good ones - and I had no pause tipping them. A 100 fish day on the Susquahanna and a lesson in fishing besides with Bob Clouser. So in my mind, tip when appropriate and appropriately. But I think the scale is $0 to 15%.

Mokai, the trees must grow funny where you live. Here, they tend to grow straight up!

I'm looking for that thin foil that you can apply to crease flies. I believe Bob Popovics used the same sitem on some of his surf candy ties. Anyone know a supplier (and what it's called)?

I'm a WNYer too. But I'll be home opening day. I got tired a long time ago with the mob scene and resultant poor manners all to obvious on the day that all the people who don't seem to fish the rest of the year go fishing. No, I'll take a pass on a repeat of that particular experience - I can wait a week.

Michael was a Down's child and died of complications from that. He was , I believe, in his early thirties.

Bob sells the book on his site. Why not help him out and order it directly from him. He'll sign it and throw in a fly. http://www.clouserflyfishing.com/flforsminria.html

Be glad to have some mallard. Thanks!

Aside from my initial reaction to the question, (which was 'frankly I don't give a damn'), I offer the following: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/10/1044725683181.html

Over the years, I've ordered lots! It's a great place. And their return policy is superb! That is, on the off chance you don't like what you get. I recommend them every chance I get and no - I have no connection.

Consider buying it directly from Bob instead of a book retailer. It helps him and he will usually sign it. His last book came with a fly as well. It's not on his site yet, but here's the URL: http://www.clouserflyfishing.com/

Whitetail (Chris Helm's site) has a fly tying sissors sharpening service that I've used and loved. I don't want to mess up my good sissors and they do fast turnaround and an excellent job.

I'm really starting to look forward to this! Such a wealth of places to visit! I've added Rodney's Oyster House and the MEC Store to my list as well. Now with any sort of luck, I can get a nice single malt at the duty free on the way up and really enjoy myself. I'm going to have to extend my stay, though.

Well, Fergus is a bit furthur from my route than I had planned this time. I think I might save that for the next time I go to the Scottish Festival there or when I'm headed for Stratford or to Kitchener for the Octoberfest. This time I'm headed for the Le Parc up in Richmond Hill. It looks like the metro shops this time. Thanks for the help.

When they first came out with it, I kept a film container of it on my bench. After I tied a dry fly, I dunked it in and left it until the end of the session or until the can got full. Then I spread them on a paper towel and let them air dry. It worked very well.

I presume there are some decent shops in TO - I just haven't had time to find them. And I'm going to TO next month and have some spare time. I'm one of those guys who can usually pass anything on the road BUT a fly shop! Can one of you Canadians suggest a couple I shouldn't miss?