SALMONATOR

Adult dragonfly patterns are my #1 hands-down fish catcher for smallies (and bucket mouths) in the shallows. I discovered them a few years ago fishing my grandfathers lake when I tied on a silly looking experiment of a pattern and on my first cast into the pads, the second it hit the water I saw the wake of a nice fish making a b-line for my fly from 10'-15' away and then crushing it. I remember seeing several smaller fish trying to mug him durring the fight. There must have been 8 or 10 of them on his ass the whole way to the boat. I've cought more bass since then on draggons than all the years prior to that discovery on any fly I've ever tried. Bass magnets. Great thread BDH. Al

How 'bout now? I'm gettin' worried. Al

QUOTE I have been talking to Marc KF2 about the aquatic structure on his river and it's basically caddis. Every log is covered with case builders. I have found this to be true on just about every ditch with flowing water in it Ralf. Not necessarily trout streams, and even with little to no evidence of a hatch. Under every rock you'll find caddis though. Not as picky as mayflies or stones. If the water moves, there will be caddis. The Paint is a prime example. Al

I don't know if the subject has come up before, but I really like the idea of new flies to the database being posted in their respective forums and the big pics that sre shown when added. Why is it that you only get a tiny photo if you click on a particular fly in the database though? No offense intended, but the fly photos in the database are pretty much worthless, especially when guy's are showing 2 or 3 flies on the picture rather than a close up of one fly. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Just a suggestion. Al

Here's one I tied up a few years ago with the intentions of doing some river small-mouth fishing. I still haven't gotten out for smallies in any river, and I'd suspect somthing with a bit more action (like in the links above) would be the order for lake fishing. Might be worth a shot though. I'll post the recipe if anyone's interested. Al

Ever thought about a kit boat? This is one my brother and I had considered for a winter project. Price doesn't seem too bad either. Check it out. gregboats Al

You get 'em yet Red? They went out Tuesday. Al

As of right now I'm still planing on making it (don't know about wich day) and would love to hook up with some of the fella's from the site, but the way the weathers shaping up here lately, there's an increasing chance that I may just find myselfe ass-deep in the Pere Marquette river that weekend. Al

Al

981 so far. Good luck. Another penguin game Al

I usually don't sweat small stuff like that too much. I tend to use what I have on hand and substatute as needed. For instance, I tye alot of Adams flies and weather I dub them with antron or rabbit, hell, as long as it's grey it doesn't seem to change much about how well the fish like them. There are very few materials I've found that there just is no substatution for, like peacock hurl for example. Maybe this special yarn is one of them. I don't know. I'd try to tye some with what you have on hand and let the trout be the judge. I've never used this yarn you speak of, but to tell you the truth it kinda' sounds like a promotional ploy for the stuff to me. I could be wrong though. Wouldn't be the first time. Good luck either way, and let us know how it all works out. Al

I like UNI-thread okay, but My favorite is UTC ultra thread 70 for smaller flies and Gudebrod 3/0 for deerhair and foam. Al

Welcom Scapegote. A brows through the fly database should give you a ton of fly's (with recipes) to choose from, and the forums will answer alot of questions you may have. Don't be shy. If there's something spacific you have questions about, post away. I'm sure someone here can help. BTW, I'm very familiar with your area. I have alot of family and friends just down the road from you in Ovid and I spend alot of time there. Where do you fish mostly? Locally, or do you travell around? What types of fish do you target? Al

Absolutely sickening!!! Thanks for the pics flyfishenvy. Al

In the last year or two I've gotten away from the standard wooly bugger and ESL patterns and now lean more toward the rabbit strip (bunny leach) style for both flies. I find them just as quick and simple to tye, cach just as many fish, have every bit as much (if not more) more action in the water, but most importantly to me, much more durable in comparison. Good luck. Al

Damn!! Now I'm really bummed I can't make it!! After seeing those frogies though, I'll jump in and plug this one too. Fella's, If you like bass or pike fishin', deer hair spinnin', or frogs, and you ain't seen these yet, you owe yourselfe the trip. You think you can spin some deer hair? You ain't seen shit. If you've got the time, I'd go if I was you. Love to see some pics and/or reviews if anyone here makes it. Al

Welcome Mike. We've already met on one of the threads you started a few days ago. You deffinately hit a gold mine when you surfed into this site. From what I've found here so far, everything you ever wanted to know about fly-fishing can be found here. Welcome aboard, and don't be shy. There's always room for more info. Al

If you're looking to catch some of the tyers or speakers, the additional time may be worthwhile to you. As far as just hitting the floor for the deals/shopping, a couple (2-3) hours would probably safice. It's a good time though, and there are a few bargains to be had. I seem to fall into an offer that I can't refuse every time I make it out there. Have fun. Al

Has anybody else noticed this? Maybe it's just me, but I found the list of fly-tying tools saverely lacking in one particular area. BEER!! How do you tye flies without it? Standing in your shoes, I'd take back the "whip-finisher" thing (you can do it with your fingers with a little practice), and the hackle guage (you don't even have hackle listed in your materials anyway) and grab 6-12 of the finest lagers your money can afford. Get those creative juices flowing man!!!! As a general rule, I like to limit myselfe to 1 beer/fly when I tye. I usually don't acomplish mutch, but it has increased my enjoyment of tying flies tenfold since this rule was implimented. There are the rare ocasions when I've tied 16-18 flies/evening under this rule, but usually I find that only about half of them are fishable. In general, I find that a solid dozen/sitting is sufficient, and beyond that your effort is mostely as wasted as you are anyway. I just wish I were lucky enough to get such advise when I first began tying. Good luck!! Al

Me too! Nice fly. Al (I'm with steelie, it's just so nice I had to say it twice!!)

Me too! Nice fly. Al

LOL!! I was just kiddin' with that last post bud,.......Kind of. Most of the flies I mentioned are pretty standard steelie patterns where I fish. Even the funky colored maribou flies they use out west have a place in many a great-lakes steelheaders box. Some guy's will swear by certain flies. I've just had my best luck on stoneflies in the past, and they catch fish with the most consistancy for me, but I've cought fish on most of the afore mentioned flies, as well as a few others. Ask ten different steelheaders and you'll probably get ten different answers, but I'm bettin' the good ol' stonefly makes the top three for most of them. Also, I sure wouldn't want to lead you to believe I'm some kind of steelhead "guru". Truth is, that fish in my avatar is the first (and largest) steelhead I ever cought, and it was only a few years ago. I still have alot to learn about these fish myself. Sure is fun though. Best of luck to you. Al

flyfishenvy, Do you work at that shop? Nice place. I go there every once in a while when I'm in town. Those frogs you're talking about, are they the ones in the display case up front with the spun body, and spun leggs and all? I noticed them a couple weeks ago when I was in there and thought they were amazing. I wish I could make it this weekend, but I've already commited to a fishing trip. I'd like to check it out another time though. Keep us posted please. Al

I'll tye up a few for the ladies. I've also got a bunch of trout flies from swaps over the last year or so that I can donate. I haven't fished these flies. I use them for models and tye up my own to fish, so they're all brand new. I'll pick out all the good ones I've already copied and send them too. Put me down for probably 3 dozen or so In a wide assortment. Good luck. Al

Off to rip some lips on my favorite little steelhead river this weekend. Hopefully I'll have some fish pictures to show you guys when I get back. Good luck to everyone else. Al