Hoyt archery

I've seen lots of Steel drifter rods, and envy their new owners. I would guess his rods on average are far above what I'm looking to spend at this time. Maybe one day I can own 1 of his beautiful creations. The Aleka rods were just new to me, I hoped a couple more people had tried them.

I'm just interested in the rods. That's not something you type very often! Anyway, I use a TFO Lefty Kreh signature series 6wt for my carp fishing. But I would like a 8wt for a little more fish fighting power. I may stay with the TFO brand of rods, but just researching options.

The new Fly Tyler magazine has a full page ad for ALEKA rods. I don't have any experience with this brand of rod. I was hoping to hear some reviews. I'm on the hunt for a new 8wt, but would like to stay under $150 on the rod. Thanks for the information and insight. Drew

Those are so good I'm not sure I could fish them! Or just the fear of hanging one up in a tree. Really nice work.

Equal parts of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, & dawn dish soap. Mix it up, & use quickly. This will take care of the skunk odor. 2 other tricks you should know. 1 - dispatch with a .22, not a 12 ga. 2 - you can super glue the vent shut prior to skinning. 1 more thing while I'm thinking about it. A skunk's fur will be prime Dec - Feb, not now.

Skin more carefully around the back end next time ! Stinkers (skunks) are not hard to skin, but it is worth your time to go slowly until you know what you are doing. I hope you saved the pelt. Gland mishap or not, the hide is fine.

I'm really interested in some information on your clamp on lights. I have a peg board backer similar to yours, and I like those lights. The stool has some class as well !

I really enjoy getting to see your latest rod project. That one is a dandy. Outstanding work.

My experience with carp proves they are not easy to catch. I have made a great many perfect presentations, the carp were not impressed. They will react quickly to a bad cast however. Carp are very shy, so they can't know your there. The 2 carp I've recently caught both hit the fly hard. No question at all. One was caught on a carp pattern from this site. That same fly has also caught bass & bluegill. The other was on a bunny fur crawdad of my own creation. Since your water is dirty I would suggest a fly with several rubber legs for added vibration. Keep at it, carp are tough but well worth once you have one hooked.

A size 6 streamer for bass.

Ooops. Works better when I attach the picture. Same Bluegill fly, size 10 Mustad C49s

This is a Blue gill fly variation. Tied on a Mustad C49s size 10.

I caught this channel cat on Wed. with my trusty 6wt. I was bass fishing a local sandpit. Below the boat ramp, I could see this cat swimming around. I think it was protecting a nest. Since everytime I got my clouser near it, it would attack the fly. On the 5th cast, I finially got a hook set. This lovely Channel cat taped 26", and was 8 1/2 lbs ( on my scale). This is my first cat on the fly, but a battle I won't soon forget.

I've got 3 Whiting bugger packs, and couldn't be happier. I also tie buggers size 6 - 12. The number of feathers in a pack is high. You'll be able to tie a lot of flies with one pack. They really are what your looking for. My only complaint is I've only found them in variations grizzly. I'd like some solid colors. My luck with Chinese capes so far varies. The first one I got was really nice. I paid $5 and it was really nice. Good usable feathers, not extra long but long enough. And they didn't have a drastic taper. So I ordered 2 more in different colors, they were not nearly as good. Much shorter feathers, and have a steep taper. So they are very hard to use. Actually for buggers they are pretty worthless.

I have the 3 boxes I fish with. Then 4 of the big Plano boxes on the bench for stock pile. But the Plano boxes can go from full to empty quite often. I supply several people with flies. Gives me a reason to tie more.