beartooth

I got a regal spring-loaded clamp vise as a demo item from a fly shop locally and love it. I think I paid like $50 for it or so. I really like the squeeze action vs. the cam tighten of most vices. My .02. KD

If you don't have a UPS already, I'd suggest one, they have good surge protection built in. Also, if you did get a big storm fry, check your home owner's insurance policy, most will cover the cost of the computer, and data loss/recovery as well. KD

BTW, bad news for me, FWP says it's illegal (as you guys expected) to mess with pheasants or other licensed-hunt animals, no matter how they were killed. I'd have to get a license for the season and then get them from hunters. Technically, it's actually illegal to take them from hunters as well unless I have a license to take them. So, guess I'll be buying my hackle like everyone else.

I'm awaiting FWP to get back to me regarding my legality question, so we'll see what they say. KD

I carry a couple of garbage bags in the Jeep all the time (hiding dead bodies, giving CPR if needed, that kind of thing,) so I figured I'd just use those, and take the necessary precautions from a sanitary/disease standpoint. Call me a dummy, but I didn't consider the gaming laws for road kill. I live in Montana in a pretty rural area, so I'd figure it wouldn't be an issue, but I will be giving FWP a call to see what they say, thanks for the heads up and the links, I'll check them out. Guess I'll have to be careful when the mrs. goes out to the freezer for a pound of ground chuch, eh?

Hi there. I live out in the country, in an area where lots of pheasants get hit on the road. Seems like a waste to just let the scavenger birds mess up the hackle. My question is this...is there a good way to harvest any decent hackle from a phesant, assuming it's just been "hit" and not "run over"? What parts and what's the best way? Thanks. KD

Get fish or starve? How about this: #10 Stick of Dynamite (bead head or not, that's optional.)

Deer hair has worked well for me. One thing to note when getting the hair, though is that there are varying "seasons" of hair for deer, elk, and moose, depending on the season, there will be variances in the weight/feel/thickness (due to the coat at the time), and so the float might vary on it a bit.

PMD, parachute adams, caddis, muddler, varying patterns of wooly buggers (maroon seems best), bead head hare's, grey wolf, and a variety of green/grey simple patterns with light wings. Most of the spring creeks around here require 20-24 sized flys, but you can do 16 and 18 on the rivers. KD

I know it's boring, but here in MT, I've had the most success on both rainbows and browns with the plain old bead head hare's, seems to be the most reliable, consistent, and above all, easy to tie. I also just started tying a little brassy one that consists of just a brass wire wrapped body with a peacock herl head (couple of wraps). You can add a bead if you want on that pattern as well. Seems to work on the smaller spring-creek sizes (20-24) really well. Have fun! KD

You might put them in groups of 10 or so in ziplock baggies, then put those in the foam peanuts, that should help them keep from getting too squashed, otherwise, you could put them in plastic containers in groups of 10 (better), but that's more costly. Insure for sure, though. KD

Thanks, here in MT, the fly shops sell a pink pattern, light pink "egg" with some flash around it. It's pretty well all trout here, Rainbows, Browns. Any experience with the pattern above and those fish? The patter looks easy enough, so i'd like to try it. KD

Thanks, some good ideas there. KD

Just looking for an easy egg pattern. Can't search on the forum by "egg" it's too short. Thanks a lot! A link will work fine. KD

I've heard the 5pcs don't have as good of action as the 2 pc. Do you find that to be true? Something to do with more joints or something.

QUOTE (Hunter333 @ Mar 4 2004, 11:38 AM) Hey Bear..... I just got the Prestige combo from Cabelas but have yet to fish with it. I am currently planning on buying some of their DryPlus G2 waders this weekend. Just thought it funny that someone else is looking at the exact things That is funny. Let me know how you like the combo. I've got a while to decide on those. My G2's are awesome and the lite boots are as well. They feel a little "cheap" because they are so light before you put them on, but they are pretty confortable and are holding up well. One note on the waders that I learned. I'm about 6'1, and I ordered the "tall" version. Well, I need to be about 6'3 to get the most out of the extra material. I like them to sit really high, and I like the extra leg room for climbing, but something to consider if you're looking at them. These sit just under my armpits when I'm wearing them. Good luck!

Red: That's on my shopping list (maybe a few months), with one of the higher end reel combos. Based on these replies and other feedback, it seems like a good way to go. I'm waiting for my Ultralight wading boots and my DryPlus GII breathable waders to show up, so if anyone's interested, I'll give a report when I've used them. KD

Do you find the action on the multi-peice rod as good as others? I lean more towards the 2 piece, just becuase it seems the more finneals you have, the less predictible the action is, but I haven't used these stow-aways, though. KD

Thanks, they seem to have some great rod/reel combos, and I might wait a while and save up for that. I would love to have a another $600 rod (I have a donated Winston), but I'm finding it hard to convince myself it's worth the money. KD

Thanks for the feedback, guys, appreciate it. It sounds like the lower price reels can give some good performance, so it's worth shot, I suppose. Thanks. KD

Hi there, this is off-topic, but I'm looking for anyone who's used any of the Cabela's brand fly reels. Looking at the construction, they seem good enough, well constructed, etc, and I've had good success with other cabela's off-brand products. I don't have the cash to spend on a $250 reel, and I'm looking to get a reel that I can use both 5wt and 7wt spools on, which shouldn't be a problem with these reels. Here's a link to the cabela's reel page: Reels I'm looking at the Prestige and Drake Models, possibly the graphite models. Thanks for your input! KD

Thanks for all the ideas. I like the hanging flash idea as well. I'm still working on building my collection of material, so organizing is easy for now. Here's a pic of my work area. I have a cabinet above and 3 drawers below, which share space with my other hobby (rc trucks), and I picked up a little rubbermaid container with drawers for the small stuff. They have different sizes, and they stack, so this might be a workable solution. I like the spool holder I got as well, works pretty good,and there's no stacking of material. As you can see I need some more spools... . Thanks again, take care! KD

Thanks guys, I like those ideas. To start with I found a 3 drawer rubbermade thing that stacks (for when I need more). They should hold some fairly long feathers and other stuff, and should at least be a start for getting things organized. FWIW, I also found a great spool holder at wal-mart for $8. It's in the sewing section and will hold 60 spools. It's designed to be free standing, but my wife has one for her sewing stuff and I mounted it on the wall. Thanks again! KD

Hey there, been tying for about a year now, just got a new office with a great area for my tying bench. I have some drawers and cabinets around, but wondering what you guys have done to get everything organized. Tools and hooks, beads, and stuff are pretty easy, since they're small. The main thing I'm interested in is the hackle and other assorted hairs, feathers, etc. Any advice would be great, I was thinking of just finding some plastic organizers at the craft store or something like that. I saw one post with zip loc's and a reference to rubbermade containers, but this seems about the same as shoving them into a drawer. Any anal-retentive people out there to help me out? Thanks in advance. KD