wschmitt3

I like it best in a split thread dubbing loop.

Here are a few I'm playing around with. Ill also be tying up some poppers for salmon, gurglers for Dolly Varden, mice for rainbows, and insect imitations for greyling

I got a little bit of a start already BCT. but Im only about 20 flies in. I plan on tying a couple dozen of each of a bunch of flies making an order right now actually. Ill post pictures as tying moves along.

forgive my ignorance... why would I want to be spending lots and lots of hard earned dollars on a guide who learned to fish for the target species only six days before I arrived? I can learn as much in one day as most people can in six days. I don't get it. I've done a lot of stuff in my life, and exactly none of it took only six days to become an expert. If I were ever to book a guide I'd expect them to be an expert at whatever situation was at hand. Congratulations, but damn... hope it worked out for you. Jszymczyk, It worked out great, I had very happy clients and lots of fish were caught by all. Your question is a valid one though. Guiding well, I think and most seem to agree, is equal parts fishing ability, waterway knowledge, teaching ability, hospitality, companionship and safety. The fishery I worked at this summer and will return to next summer is an amazing fishery and I got lucky enough to land my first guiding job during a huge run of highly aggressive fish so putting people on fish was pretty easy most days. Because of this my main concern was safe boat operation, casting/fishing skill instruction, rigging and hospitality and being a good tour guide and photographer and keeping my fly boxes stocked. My clients, unless they insisted, never had to rig their rods or change flies, use their own flies, land or net a fish and I processed and packaged their catch for them at the end of the day. You never know J maybe I am a super human like you and I can learn as much in 1 day as most can in 6 that would have given me the equivalent of 36 days worth of experience in 6 days. Even though I am not I did get a pretty thorough schooling on how to fish for salmon and how to navigate the river from some amazing guides and that combined with my already pretty well honed fishing skills I did as good as any other first year guide. It was an amazing experience and thanks all for the encouragement and congratulations. Below are My first Coho, a couple client fish on the stringer and a pretty good one I got on my 7 weight

Thanks all, I'm crazy excited. It's all about being outside every day for me Mike. I actually really enjoy helping others catch fish. Honestly probably as much as catching fish my self. Plus getting paid to spend a month in remote Alaska is a pretty good incentive.

I was hired by Good News River Lodge in Alaska yesterday! I am very fortunate to have been hired by such a top rate outfit and I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity.I am heading to Boston early this morning to catch an afternoon flight to anchorage. This time Friday I'll be there learning how to fish for silver salmon. Next Thursday I'll be taking my first clients out! If any one is thinking about perusing a career in fly fishing I highly recommend going to Sweet Water Guide school. It was an awesome learning experience and attending was instrumental in getting this job. Now back to packing.

that looks like a pretty good day of fishing Mike.

Tide water did you tie all of those? If so well done sir. Those foam hoppers, bombers and mice are sick!

That's a good point. I didn't think about the DO, there is so many things that can kill fish, it is amazing to me some times that there are any for us to catch.

Did I draw it? I don't get it Mike. It was super blurry because there wasn't much light. It was a killer fish though probably 13-14" and it had to be 6" from the center of the very fat belly to its spine, I have no idea how much it weighed though. You broke your fly rod? How did that happen?

You are correct it will wash down stream, I don't know about faster than soil though and humus does lower pH but (bear in mind this is purely theoretical thinking) when I have wet ash in a fire pit or seen wood stove ash piles get wet I have found that it makes a dense sticky paste and I think it would be more persistent than soil and would fill nooks and crannies in the stream bottom and effect pH for at least a little while. I am thinking of worst case scenario here, like a total burn right down to the roots over a large area in a head water mountain stream not a higher order river. In addition to the pH effecting osmoregulation and oxygen/carbon exchange in the fishes gills ash clogs up the gills and chokes them out I would think that this would happen very quickly. Also a very high pH like +11-12 I think will kill fish very very quickly. I don't know though I'm just spit balling here, I would think you would be the expert, I only have taken a a couple semesters worth of classes towards my environmental science degree, you spent 3 decades as an environmental scientist.

Ash from burnt trees and grass in water makes a caustic or alkaline solution.

Hog. Nuff said. Well one more thing. Terrible picture, sorry.

Not volcanic ash silver, from forest fires, I believe that wood ash will make the water alkaline.

I second what artimus001 says. I do this so I dont have to pull the nail knot and possibly, depending on the rod, a loop though the first guide.

Very true flafly,

Now that's really reaching Mike. Let us know how your fishing was today.

Mike is probably right. If the burn was really destructive there will likely be lots of sediment and ash washed into the river and with the next rain it will probably raise temperatures, reduce oxygen and make the water too alkaline (if memory serves) and it will possibly kill quite a few fish but nature has a way of coming back so it will probably bounce back in a few years. There was a really good story about fires and streams in the Summer 2015 Fly Rod and Reel titled "The Survivor".

Carpflyguy, Why would a barbless hook or a hook with a crushed barb make a bigger hole? That just plain doesn't make sense to me. If all other things are equal (i.e. diameter of wire, ect...) what would be the difference? Re-phrase: Why would a barbed hook wobble less than a barbless one. Dont you think that removing the hook with a barb would cause more damage to the fish than the expansion due to fighting?

Messing around at the vise a little today and Tied up this fly . I was looking to make something that pushed water and had some sparkle for dirty water. I tied up a black one also and it came out all messed up I dropped it in my scrap bin before it was cured (to make a long story short) Caught this little rainbow on the white one on the first test cast.

Mike, Just out of curiosity why are you so anti-barbless or pro-barb how ever you choose to look at it? I often fish with the barb crimped especially with bigger hooks (I do sometimes forget) and notice no noticeable difference in number of hook-ups or lost fish.

All have been said here already but I think your "next to tie list" should really include... Zebra midge in black/silver, red/copper, olive/gold - beads to match wire Very simple and effective Kaufmann's Stone in black, brown and yellow - a must have, kinda on the hard side to tie well for a novice tier but once you get it right it isn't that bad Red Fox Squirrel Nymph (RFSN) - just a killer fly and easy to tie Guide's Choice Hare's Ear - also a killer fly a tiny bit more difficult to tie than RFSN but very similar skills involved Don't know if you have one but a Hungarian partridge skin is a must have for the nymph tier. It is great for soft hackles spider style flies and flymphs. I love flymphs. they rock as emergers with a tiny bit of floatant. Plus adding a soft hackle to just about any pattern like the flashback pheasant tail or hare's ear gives it so much more life.

Artimus, Update- I've saw him out fishing the other day I kinda spied on his fishing for a few minutes, I think I may have to show him a little about casting and presentation next time I see him out on the stream.

Mike, It has been said before but I would call and check with the wardens ahead of time, I have been in places (not fishing just hiking through) where possession of barbed hooks was not allowed when fishing and I've also been places where the as long as the hook on the end of the line was barbless you were good.