flysmallie

I do a lot of fly fishing for bass and also used to be one of those Bascar guys. The reason these 7' 11" rods never caught on in bass tournaments is because very few of these guys have any idea how to fly fish. Rod companies were trying to create a market that didn't exist and since most of them have no idea what goes on in a bass tournament they did a poor job of it.

A couple of years ago I was able to pick up a 7' 11" 8wt rod at a ridiculous price. It's now my favorite rod and I have never fished a tournament with it and never plan on it. I'm not going to say it's better that a 9 or 10 foot rod because everybody has a different style. But for me it is better than a longer rod for many reasons. I will never give it up.

In a hundred years it will be like it never happened.

I agree with you. The tightly packed ones are beautiful to look at but the less dense, ugly flies fish better. My thoughts always been that it you have it so tightly packed that it's really no different than foam, then why did you just use foam. Deer hair to me is used for flies you want to ride lower in the surface film. Like a frog.

They like soft hackles a lot, but they like everything a lot. It will be a challenge to catch a bigger one but those smaller ones will keep you entertained on your journey.

Hobby Lobby is your friend.

Fly, true about the inks. However, in my experience with these inks, they are fading without exposure to neither natural or unnatural light; that is why I was wondering if it was the pearlescent undercoating. I'm not going to experiment with different combinations for light colors, I have light colored bugs I painted twenty years ago that still have their color; I'll just use the Copic inks for the dark colors and red, which seems to hold up good.

Light is the only thing that can cause it in paint. The pearl undercoating shouldn't have anything to do with it except that it might speed up the process due to the way it refracts light. I've been in the automotive coatings business for 25+ years. I understand it. No idea about the inks though, that's why I have stayed away from the Copic. It could even be the solvents in the epoxy that are destroying the pigments.

What pearl coating is it? Is that part of the Copic system?

Brighter colors, especially fluorescent colors are quick to fade. Inks are going to be quicker to fade than paint. Epoxy doesn't have any UV protection at all so it really doesn't help. An automotive clear will help because it has UV screeners in it.

Bigger is always better. But having a backup/spare card is always a good idea. If I had to choose I would go with the bigger capacity card. But you have to pay attention to the class of the card more than the size. I wouldn't use anything below class 10. That's going to give you nice useable video.

HD Hero 960 detailed specifications:

• Memory: SD card, up to 32GB capacity (SDHC)
• Average recording times with 32GB SD card:
• 960p (30 fps): 5 hrs. 26 minutes
• 720p (30 fps): 8 hrs. 9 minutes
• WVGA (848x480 60fps): 8 hrs. 9 minutes

• Battery Type: Rechargeable 1100 mAh Lithium-Ion
• Battery Life: Approx. 2.5 hrs
• Charging: via USB to computer or optional power adapter
• Charge Time: 80% capacity after 1 hour with optional power adapter; or 2 hours with a computer’s USB port

Other than that ... nothing else has been of note.

But what about the wonderful animation? Actually that's the part that torques me off the most. Lots of room for improvement.

Garbage !!! Pure, unadulterated garbage.

 

 

Well you are watching TV. What did you expect.

I watch it from time to time and it's interesting, but I never believe anything I see on TV as being the absolute truth. It's only the opinions of those that create it. Liberal or conservative doesn't matter. They ALL bend the truth to push their agenda.

I think the "Strike King" polarized glasses at Walmart are up to 14 bucks a pair. They work great, but only for about half a season before they start getting a little cloudy. But at $14.00 a pop, you can buy a new pair every 6 months for the next 5 years and still not spend as much as one pair of expensive glasses.

 

Oh, and when you drop a $14.00 pair of glasses in 20 feet of coffee colored water ... you just say, "OH well." and forget about it. You won't have quite the same reaction when a $400.00 pair goes for a swim !!!

I'm of the same camp. Use the $15 Berkley's from Wal-Mart. After going through several pairs of expensive ones I gave up. I never lost any but they would get smashed or even one day I had a lens blow out on a $300 pair of shades running across a lake in a bass boat. And no they wouldn't warranty that.

Hell if I have to buy a new pair of Berkley's every 3 or 4 months I'm still ahead. Plus I can afford to carry a couple of extra new pairs with me.

Buy a cheap 7wt line. It will be a lot better than trying to throw a 10wt line on a 7.

http://www.basspro.com/White-River-Fly-Shop-Hobbs-Creek-Fly-Line/product/1202220500584/

I've seen a lot of bad ones but I know a lot of good ones too. Bass guides, trout guides, salt guides. There are a lot of good ones out there. You can't base everything off of one bad experience.

I know one in particular, a trout guide, and if he guided your kid you might not feel obligated to tip but I bet you wouldn't walk away without tipping him. There are some real classy guides out there that will try everything to make it a great experience.

One of my good friends is a guide and he regularly receives 10 to 20%.

You might try pushing a small ball of craft foam into the hollow face to open it up a little and to leave it concave to get more 'pop' on the retrieve. I had a good source tell me that he has trouble getting a hook-set with a crease fly and he never uses them for that reason. Keep us posted on how they work out for you. Some crease flies that I have seen do fill too much of the hook gap IMO.

If you do it right it shouldn't take up any of the hook gap. Maybe the thickness of the foam, but that's it. If you join the edges of the foam together right underneath the hook you ensure that you have protected the hook gap, it also helps in keeping the face of the fly open.

But sometimes they like a flat one.

If you decide to part with it let me know.

More light with help with the grain, focus would help a bunch too.

I like glass a lot. Still fish a lot of graphite but the "slowness" of fiberglass works great for me when casting bulky type flies. Yeah I know you would think it would be the other way around but I learned to slow down and give the rod and line time to work and things fly beautifully. I don't have the distance that I do with graphite but my accuracy is better. I like the way they fish. It's supposed to be a relaxing sport.

If you can get me a 6' or 6'6" one piece in a 5/6 then I would be interested.

Does a polarizing filter act like polarized sunglasses and allow the camera to "see" through the glare on water?

Yes it does.

Do you have a rotisserie for a bbq grill? Those are perfect for epoxy.

I don't have one, but I think I read somewhere you could use the motor from a BBQ rotisserie for a drying unit.

I've been using one of these for several years, works great. You can usually pick up a new one for around $20. All you need is the motor and then build from there.

I shoot almost everything in Manual. Not saying it's the best way, I probably should spend more time in one of the priority modes, but manual is where I feel comfortable. Just make sure you understand how to use the controls to change the settings without having to search around for what you want. If you can quickly change on the fly then things become a lot easier.

I also shoot everything in RAW. It's easily converted to jpeg and it always makes sure that you have the purest file of that image. It may be the purest form of crap, but at least you have as much control as possible over how it is processed.

I'll second the recommendation on Lightroom, great product. Photoshop Elements is no slouch either for the beginner but it's not much of a savings over LR.

I'm liking your videos. Very nicely done.

This is my all time favorite midge pattern. And don't take this as a knock to your pattern but in the original Charlie used Blue Lagartun Wire. It probably doesn't make a difference but the color is noticeably different than anything Ultra Wire offers. But either way, it's a great tailwater midge.

I just drag mine around like a bum. Hard on waders, they spend a lot of time in the trunk. I haven't ever had any problems but I buy good quality waders so I don't have to worry.

The only thing I wouldn't do is leave the hanging or laying out in the sun. Be careful about leaving them in the sun in your car/ truck. Even tinted windows may not block the harmful UV rays.

Those are nice. Can you use that head on a hook?

Single edged blades are actually fairly easy to find. Painters use them in scrapers, so Home Depot and Lowes usually have them in their paint department.

Yes they are but they don't work like a double. A single is made of thicker metal and won't flex like a double. The singles will just break. Plus they don't hold an edge nearly as well.