ditz2

That reminds me that as a young pup he would occasionally get loose and make a bee line for the cow pasture and roll in the first fresh cow patty he could find and then come home proud as a peacock. I would immediately take him to the outside spigot and hose him off and them give him a good bath which he hated. It didn't take long and he gave up on the cow patty adventures.

I have a SOT yak that I enjoy fishing out of but I hate loading and unloading it and I haul it in the bed of my PU. No way I could car top it solo. Too heavy. If it must be car topped solo a Kevlar solo canoe would be much better but not cheap. Pedal yaks would be nice to fish from but they are well over 100# and would be best trailered at least for this old fat man plus they are in the $2500 area and like the a paddle yak your range is limited. I have been looking at gheenoe. Easily trailered and towed by most any vehicle. Ones fishing range is greatly extended and they are fairly cheap to operate and maintain. I guess they are expensive but not anywhere near what bass boat costs and much cheaper to own and they can be poled or use a trolling motor to ease along. The can be setup to your exact specs and quite versatile but they are not an open water boat but should be able to handle all but severe conditions in inland and intercoastal waters. For me they appear to be an ideal fishing platform.

I have tying materials and tools older than wsshmitt3's dad and yes I have been feeling the years for the last 3 or 4 years. Weaker, slower, less balance, and I can't figure out where my stamina went. I won't even talk about the eyes. I have yet to understand the golden years. I would much rather swing a 6' rod than a 9' one and these 2 and 3wt outfits are a godsend. Only my doctor worries about the 10# I gained over the winter.

Yea, Mike, that is exactly how I tie a fish catching shrimp pattern. Add some medium bead chain and whala! Specks seem to just love em. I also leave the long stuff in the dubbing loop.

Sorry Mike but I don't agree that dogs don't sense bad smells.......On rare occasions I have passed gas while my lap dog is on my lap and he always gives me 'the look' and then politely gets up and goes to another room. .....Of course he has done the same favor to me and then acts like all is well.

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is not only touristy but it is as touristy as it gets. It is a magnet for and 800 mile radius and it is 'the' vacation spot that many visit every year at least once and many several times a year. I have never fished the area but I would like to and I bet the smallmouth fishing is great since trout seems to be the main target.

Thank you!

Thanks for the help Flafly. This young man was a junior in HS and too smart to be 34 and still in high school. hehehe.......Maybe not, he sure enjoyed my stories on the Boundry Waters since he was planning to make the trip within a year or three. The other problem is you will notice that most seem to be too shy to post where they live. Afraid of hackers I suppose!......

And what sizes do you tie it in? and what colors?

A few days ago I was introduced to a nice young fella at Hobby Lobby while we were both looking for fly tying materials. If that young man sees this I would appreciate it if he would send me a PM. I hate that I have forgotten his name and I should have asked him for his user ID.

I was yet able to find the smallest popper. It is a red head and the body is slightly tapered like a bottle cork. I will run onto it one of these days and I will add it to the composite. In the mean time here is the two with the familiar profile.

Tidewaterfly....I am not a collector either. The Hula Pops I have are the ones I bought off of the retail shelf for fishing . My post was not very clear as it was interrupted so I could look up my old stuff. Arbogast actually marketed 3 different fly rod Hula Pops. The two largest had the familiar profile and the largest one had wire 'V' weed guard but the next size down did not. At least that is how mine are configured. The smallest of the bunch was shaped very similar to the Lefty style body but still used a rubber skirt like all the other Arbogast baits. I found my two larger versions but the smallest version did not show up. If I find it I will take a pic of all three for show and tell.

A report of you steelheading would be fantastic for us southern boys.

I had no idea of the size variations.

Hahaha.... Sorry! My Hula Pops are probably at least 40 years old so I assumed that anyone remembering them was old too. Just goes to show what assuming does to a person.

Some of the fellas up in the Northeast that fish for pickerel use a fly called 'goldie' and they seem to catch a lot of them.

Silver....I confess that I use some home made furled leaders mostly but I do have a question on your formula. I have never tried it but I very well my do so in the future and thanks for the explanation. My question is how does a bite tippet of 80# or wire fit into this formula?

Hey Salty might I ask where you buy them? I haven't seen them for years. I tried them years ago on my small poppers for sun fish and I did not care for them but I did think about them a while back and thought they might work OK on some of my bigger sub surface stuff and even the bigger surface baits and would like to try them once again.

well Rkayser .....I wished I could help. I am originally from east central IN and had a hankering to fish steelhead too but I could never get enough info to make the 3 to 4 hour trip worth while IMO. I even tied up a few flies for the occasion. I had read about a supposedly good streamer called a McNally smelt that was supposedly good for the salmon runs and I figured whats good for salmon should be good for steelhead. I still have the streamers in my box but they have never been wet. If the fly is good it should also work for bass and stripers. Anyway, I wish you well in your endeavor and hope you report back on what you learn.

Thanks for the response Blackwater.

If you other old farts will recall, many of the old Arbogast Fly rod Hula poppers were quite large also. I believe there was a smaller version that had a more standard shape more like your Lefty's popper but it also had a rubber skirt tail. I still have a couple of those bigger versions but the old rubber skirts are not in good shape. I think the big ones had a wire weed guard also. Now that I think about it there were at least 2 sizes that were the familiar hula pop shape and then there was the more standard shaped head version.

Nothing much simpler or easier to cast than a Schminnow. Pearl estaz and white marabou weighted or un weighted. I prefer unweighted except sometimes I will use some medium bead chain. However it seems that the bases have been covered quite well by the above posters. What a great bunch of guys. ..... just a couple of thoughts. You can probably shorten up your leaders as well as make them more simple. It will help when trying to punch your flies into the wind. Also don't forget to rinse your gear immediately after each exposure to the salt.

Yep, the Nashville radar has the same thing. Just ignore it. If there is rain it will cover up the balloons.

I too use loops on both ends of my home made furled leaders.

there is a knowledgeable tyer and guide on the salt water forum that says arrow fletching glue works very well. I have gone to it and so far I have not had any eyes come up missing. I don't fish streamers a lot but so far so good. The gentleman's name Capt. Bob Lemay.