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Facebook is a tool. Like any tool, say a torque wrench, if you don't know how to use it, it will seem useless to you. Remember when email first came out? Lots of old-timers still think it does the same job as snail-mail, and can't be bothered.

x 2 Notice that all the Fenwick fans are talking about older rods. Everything I've seen from Fenwick for the past decade or more has been very disappointing.

What, no beetles?!?! Lacking that, I'll have to go with Salmonflies. Big, beautiful, and we're learning a lot about their occurrence up in Alberta these days. To be specific, the Giant Salmonfly, Pteronarcys californica, isn't very common or widespread up here, so most people don't fish them much. But it turns out there's a doppleganger, the American Salmonfly, Pteronarcys dorsata, which coexists with them, and is much more common and widespread. This trend seems to hold true throughout much of North America, so it may be that P. californica has historically gotten a lot of credit it didn't deserve.

It's not a very popular view, but I actually prefer using bronzed hooks in the salt. I read somewhere that a stainless or plated hook that was swallowed and had to be cut off to release the fish would cause more problems to the fish than a carbon steel hook which will quickly break down and fall out. The theory could be totally baseless, but it makes me feel better. I will admit there is one drawback. Maybe I'm not thorough enough, but rinsing in fresh water still leaves some salt in and under the body of the fly, so the shank rusts and discolors the fly.

Snowshoe hare's foot.

All thanks to the beard.

Two tricks will help with the hair catching on the gape- 1. After every turn of thread, stop and sweep the hair past the gape with a tool such as a bodkin. I use my scissor tips, as they're always in my hand. Only slows you down a little bit. 2. With a little practice you can trim the deer hair to just a little less than double the gape, and mount the clump right in the centre. Once flared it should spin freely.

I prefer to used bronzed, carbon steel hooks for saltwater fishing. I read an article one time that talked about the possibility of needing to cut off a hook that was too difficult to remove. The theory is that a stainless hook would take much longer to break down, and had greater potential to harm the fish simply by being in the fish's body for longer. Makes sense to me.