SALMONATOR

I'm sure you're a fine fisherman Jim, more than likely, far better than I am. I guess I don't have any real "hands-on" insight into the means by which the tackle industry goes about making a buck that could compare to the first hand knowlege you have, and I'm sure that what you say is true, but...... QUOTE As far as loosing fish with barbless hooks, that's bull I guess I'd just say we just disagree on that point and leave it at that. I've fished both barbed and barbless hooks, and will continue to do so depending on the situation, but from my own experience with them, I've learned one thing for sure: When that day comes that I have the fish of a lifetime at the end of my line, I sure hope I chose a fly who's hook has a barb on it. Al

QUOTE I am no trout guru Perhaps you should consider becoming one SH. Nice fly. Al

Good point SD. QUOTE the hook penetrates the fishs mouth easier without the barb so thats why some people say they seem to miss less fish I'll buy that, BUT hooking fish and landing fish are two different things. That's the only point I was trying to make. Al

I'll agree it's probably less damaging to the fish if you catch it with a barbless hook, but I find it hard to belive it would have a positive effect on your hook-up/landing ratio. The way I see it, It's got to be cheaper and easier to produce hooks without a barb, and if they cought fish as well as barbed hooks, surely the manufacturers would have picked up on this by now. I'm sure everyone who's ever fished in a river has experienced those fish who take you way up or down stream and then decide they want to go the other way shooting back past you way faster than you can reel. Keeping constant pressure on a fish with a mind of it's own is not always as easy as it sounds. I'm not against fishing with a barbless hook by any means, but I wouldn't say it doesn't make a difference. Al

QUOTE use strong thread, at least a 3/0....lighter threads will break when you try to tie in the foam nice and tight. I agree. Good tip BDH. I was tying up some foam draggons the other day and broke the thread a few times, so I ended up trying out a new spool of Gudebrod 3/0. Man is that stuff tough. I'd origionally purchased it with deerhair in mind, but it worked great on the foam too. One word of caution though, watch your tension. That stuff will cut right through foam before it breaks. I haven't tried it on the deer hair yet, but I would suspect it'll cut that too. Al

While pike, musky and carp all sound like an absolute blast to have at the end of a fly-line, I wouldn't know. Some things I've always wanted to try though. I guess for me it would have to be smallies. They've always picked up the slack durring the long, hot, dog-days of late summer when the trout don't really want to play. Al

Right on OSD. I use all types of hooks, but I've never been let down by a Mustad. I don't buy hooks in large quantities (ususlly 25's or 50's), but I've tried most of 'em. Partrige, Timeco, Diiichi's, Dai-Riki's, etc. I have my favorites from each brand, but I've never had a problem with the strength of a good ol' Mustad as compaired to other brands. Mustad makes quality hooks as far as I'm concerned. Al

FishyNutz, I Know of a nice little rustic campground just west of Baldwin with a huge beaver pond about 300yds. away. Did a couple of "cast & blast" trips up there last year durring the early goose season and the salmon run. Might just be the perfect time/place to introduce the boy to the shotgun. Fun stuff. Always welcome to join in. Just something to keep in mind. Al

I missed the "live" boob-shot, but saw the links already. Guess I didn't miss much. Gotta' say though, that was the best super bowl I've seen in a long time (and I don't even like football either). The field goal at the end made it for me. C'mon, 8 seconds left and the game is still tied??? That was a FOOTBALL GAME!! best I've seen in a while. Blow-outs suck!! Nice to see a real good definsive match-up, especially when they both actually score on eachother a few times . Both teams played they're asses off, and the best team won. Great game IMHO. Al

No problem man. I recokns' I kin' toss in a extry 'er two fer's y'all. Al

I like that "Singapore Sting" alot. Looks like a trout fly. What do you guys use them for in Singapore? Al

Yup. And some serious eyeballs. What size are they? Al

Ah, I forgot about that Woodward Ave. thing you like to do. Hay, that reminds me.....You prommised me a ride in that goat you were working on last summer. What's up with that? Al

Ain't it great to be sinlgle when you're a fly-fisherman SD? 50-75 sounds about right to me. It's a shame you're not a hunter too. What the hell do you do with all that free time? We gotta' get out this summer dude. Mio? Shoot me a mail sometime. Al

Awe, what the hell...... Look at me!!! Al

.....and if you didn't think that was tough, try this one.: mini-putt2 Now, get your ass's back to work!! Al

Couldn't get that one to load Will . Dug up another one though. Good luck. mini-putt Al

Great link. Thanks Peddler. So far I'm up to 544.7. I'll have to share this one. 92.29 on the mouse game. Al

I'm sure some of you have seen this, but I got a kick out of it and thought I'd throw it out here. Enjoy. Fishin' ain't so bad.... Al

You 'da man SDH'. My best was 323.4 on the penguins (how the hell did you get 576?) and only level 3 so far on the CurveBall game. Al

Cool link. I didn't do so well. Here are a couple others. penguin game Alcohol & Ammo Never posted a link on this site, so I hope it works. Enjoy. Al

Yet another sweet fly Ralph. Do you ever run out of great ideas? I planned on experimenting with something along those lines trailing a dry myself durring the hatch this season. Al

I'm running a swap on another site right now, but I've deffinately got time for another so I'm in. Not sure what yet, but probably some big draggonflies or the like. Top water stuff. Al

Thanks for the warm welcome fella's! Redneckfisherman, Both I guess. I hunt ducks, geese and pheasant with my lab. Haven't scored on a 'yote yet, but I always have my eye out for 'em durring deer season. Al

Hay Dan. I've not fished that exact pattern, but I "invented" some very similar to that a few years ago. Pretty much the same thing, just different color combinations (chartruse/black, chartruse/orange, hot pink/orange, etc.). I've had some sucess on them in the spring when the steelies are running, and salmon seem to like them too. Very easy tying. Only thing I've noticed is they work alot better when the river has some color to it. I tend to stay away from the funky colors under clear conditions. You know how spooky those PM fish can be once they've been pounded a while. Good luck. Al