Goose77

Hey Terje, u da man. Very pretty. Are ya thinkin' about the end of the season...it kinda looks like that. Thank you as always and cheers, Ed

Hey add, have a great time. Cheers, Ed

Yeah vcrider, I agree. Back in the day, I don't remember sticking myself as a major problem...now I draw blood every couple days it seems. For sure I never used to get stuck bad. Recently while teaching deerhair, I ran a Gamakatsu SP-11 through the side of a finger...all the way through. I was stuck to an untrimmed bug. Nuts! Anyway, I took my scissors and trimmed the finger off the bug. Kinda fired those young folks up..."did you see what that dinosaur did?" Oh well...cheers, Ed

I have tied the AK Best idea...went right out and bought a pair and put the needle in straightaway after reading his book long ago. It didn't work for my style, but I'm a believer for those that like it. BUT I'm totally miffed at vcrider for admitting he made a mistake! C'mon...you're a guy. You're NOT supposed to EVER admit to that. Cheers, Ed

Hey Eide, as always...beautiful. Thank you. Cheers, Ed

Hey bulb, welcome to the site. Your flies look good. Cheers, Ed

Maybe it's a good thing to live in Iowa...hmmm. Ed

The work of people here is certainly amazing. This is essentially a daily occurrence. Thank you. Ed

Thanks you guys. Ed

Hey Steve, beautiful rod. Thank you and cheers, Ed

Hey Bulb, great looking flies. Thank you. Here are some examples of what my wife and I use: popper, flashfly, floatin' minnow, deerhair slider. Cheers, Ed

Hey Nick..."heavy flies." You're going to be in a boat? That means wind...especially in bay type waters. There's no high banks to cut the wind, can't hide. Given these conditions, I'd strongly consider a 9. Many say a 10 is too heavy for search type casting...I don't know. I like my 10 but my wife and I only fish 1/2 day at a time. Another thing to consider is that some good pike flies don't have to be real heavy. Bunny flies get heavy [i don't use them], but some of the more modern/progressive flies are long but shed water well. I'm admittedly a deerhair/popper guy...and these can get pretty heavy though. Neat problem to have. Oh yeah, Steeldrifter has some "big fish" blanks he said...you might talk to him. I would cuz he seems very well thought of, and the work is beautiful. Good luck and cheers, Ed

Hey Jake, welcome to the site. This is an interesting problem/question. Bob Popovics wrote a book [with his buddy] called "popfleyes." In this book it was claimed that the wing of material was the most important factor in whether the hook point rode up or down. The wing/materials act as a parachute. Mike shows this in his above flies. Weighted eyes can influence this also, but the wing/materials bulk is the most important factor. Also how much material and hook weight/gap influences things. Putting alot of material on a light hook or one with a narrow gap can result in some pretty poor fly tracking. On a lighter hook going sparser with material helps. I don't know if I've said this well, but the wing bulk and bouyancy will face upwards and overall have the major effect on fly tracking...regardless of whether the hook point is up or down. This idea has helped me alot. Goodluck and cheers, Ed

Hey Smallie, thank you very much for showing that. Pretty profound. I forget the sacrifices others have made on my behalf...seeing reminders is a good thing. I get to help with Healing Waters in St. Louis this November. Thanks to you I have a better idea about what we're trying to do. Oh Lord, help me do my best. Thanks again and cheers, Ed

Hey Carlos, Welcome to the site. Cheers, Ed

Hey Ontheriver, welcome to the site. This is a great place to learn and have fun. Thank you for joining. And Flafly, you and Mike, leave my [your] sister out of it. Cheers, Ed

Hey Nick and Dan...u the men. Nice work and thank you. Cheers, Ed

Hey Steve, the whole thing is just plain cool. Neat pictures of beautiful water, great fish, and a happy guy having a great time. Thank you...and u da man! Cheers, Ed

Hey Mark, very, very nice. Wow, and thank you. Cheers, Ed

Hey Nick, those are cool. good for you. Cheers, Ed

Hey Diggs, welcome to the site. Flafly, Mike, and BCT have given you some good tips...and DO keep those flies if you can avoid the temptation to fish them [not sure I could]. This is a good place to learn and have fun too. Cheers, Ed

What kind of tying are you going to do? This makes a big difference in the selection [i believe]. Cheers, Ed

Thank you. This sort of article is a fun read. Cheers, Ed

Hey Nick, thank you for your note. I hadn't thought of clothes hanger wire...good idea, there's plenty of that hanging around here. For flytire: I haven't had much trouble [some though] with the foam spinning on the nail...there are nails with little ridges. A light touch on the sanding is all that's needed. Cheers, Ed

Hey jm, welcome to the site. Cheers, Ed