fish

A half assed fix that might get you through a day or two is duct tape. I have never tried it on breathables but it did get me through a weekend with a big hole in an old rubber pair of waders I had.

That is a real beauty of a fly. I am going to try that on the brookies next year. I had great success with the CDC elk hair caddis in 2004 but I think your cdc caddis will be my 2005 go to fly. Have you had much success with it?

Just in early August this year, I fished my local stream for brook trout. The water was quite low and warm and I managed to catch a couple in a shaded pool under a bridge that were rising to dries. I then walked upstream over a long flat stretch of water less than a foot deep. I spotted a small log on the far side held to bank which managed to scour the bottom to perhaps 2 ft depth but it was shady there. I cast my dry just about 2" from the edge and the current quickly took it along for about 2ft when I got a hard strike and ended up releasing a nice little brook trout around 11". It was very rewarding because of the poor conditions and because I pulled a nice little trout out of place that many people (certainly the worm drowners who frequent this stream) wouldn't have given a second glance.

Now I think I am going to have to report you to the Environmental Protection Agency for getting within 50 yards of a whale. You know, lies are always going to catch up with you

steelheader69, you are too honest. I will make up a story for you: about a 15 lb (not sure because it was released) summer run steelhead on #20 elk hair caddis on a 3 lb tippet. The line got snagged in overhanging branches with the fly dangling a few inches above the surface, it was enough to entice the fish to take and pull the line off the branches. After about a 10 minute fight you broke the fish off so as prevent lactic acid buildup - a good conservation action. Me personally: well I will use the above story too. I know that on the Riviere Moisie on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec, very small flies are the norm for catching some very large Atlantic salmon.

I like old English wets or flies of that style. I like a little blob of robust dubbing (something like seal) just behind the soft hackle to bounce it up. The fly will sort of pulse then. UK seatrout flies often seem to be like that. I attached a scan of one I tied with some soft pheasant hackle, thin deep red body and burnt orange seal dubbing. I think the marabou tail should be changed to hair or soft webby hackly fibers.

I bought a set of 12 and they really are amazing pieces of work. Very realistic and robust. They seem to be awfully inexpensive for the quality of the flies. That said, I rarely use them. I caught a brook trout and a rainbow on them but I do not really like the very narrow hook gape because I find I miss hook-ups. Still, they are on good quality hooks and specifically designed for nymphs like this so perhaps others like them more. I would recommend anyone to buy a set. I do not know the tier, nor do I have anything to gain by their sale.

slightly off traditional but I have started using crystal dub to flash up some of my hares ear nymphs. I am not sure if crystal dub is a trademark or a common name. Anyway, it is standard rabbit dubbing with guard hairs and then a small amount of fine crystal flash added to the mix. Fish seem to like it and I sure do. Caught a bunch of brook trout last weekend with a bug-eyed hares ear nymph using the crystal dub.

Yesterday I bought some olive CDC - "cul de canard" or "duck ass" as I like to call it. It is kind of pricey, a little bag of perhaps 25 feathers was $3.50 CDN or $0.10 US (just kidding about $2.50 US). I kind of like the ephemerel bulk it adds to some flies I have seen in photos but I have never fished a fly made with it. Anyone else using it, what kinds of patterns, are there a special situations where it is particularly useful, advice on how to fish flies made with it?

This happens to me more often than I am willing to report, happened this weekend. Am I the only one? I have to take a leak so I leave the river, walk into the woods a bit, unsnap the wader shoulder straps... you have at least gone this far before I am sure. Anyway, I wrap back up again walk back to the river only to feel my pants slipping down on each step so that by the time I get to the river they are all down below my hips in my waders. Then of course I need to get all straightened out on the river bank and if anyone else is there they wonder what the hell I am doing with my arms inside my waders. Maybe it is because it is still so early in the season and I have buck fever so don't think about the two layers. Dan

That is a lot of good information, thanks. I am going to target them this spring. No steelhead around here and there is not too much happening until June unless you troll in some of the large lakes so targeting some suckers in streams sounds just right to me. I have caught them when I was a kid on bait in the summer and they do fight well for their size. It would be a challenge to catch a monster on light fly gear. Do you know if they will eat each others eggs during spawning? Do they have white eggs or the standard salmon egg colour? Dan

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by fish: bead butts

Anyone ever caught a white sucker or any kind of sucker on a fly. I know that people do it but from what I have read, it seems to be more a matter of luck than anything else. They spawn in the spring and I know that at the end of May they will be on the move here in Quebec so I would like to have a go at them. Any tips? Dan

I'd say this calls for the 10 wt and don't bother to pinch the barb

Dorsal and ventral views suggests we observed the same species, perhaps even the same specimen. I am intrigued by the small bright orange appendage on the head, do you think it is to attract mates or perhaps draw small bait fish closer?

This is the most action I have seen yet on the shad cam. What species is it anyway?

man, I have been watching that thing for about a week now. Quick glances a few times an hour and I have seen nothing. Did anybody freeze a still from it that has a fish in it? Next time you see a fish, could you keep a still of it (right click and go to save image or save picture) and post it here? Dan

How many days a year do you fsih? not many unfortunately, say 25 Do you keep every fish you catch? no. I do not keep any unless they are injured to a point where I think it will die anyway. That rarely happens though. What do you fish for? brook trout and Atlantic salmon, but rainbows and cutthroats and browns if I make it out to BC Whats your favorite fish to eat? haddock What is the best way to release any fish? leave it in the water if you can. Wash the deet off your hands before you touch the fish

for a trout bum you tie a mighty nice salmon fly

Thanks guys, a nice confidence boost. Dan

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by fish: silorbrown sewin

Just out of curiousity, do you think you know when a fly was tied by a left-handed or right-handed person?I cannot really but sometimes I think a hint can be the direction of winding ribs, I sometimes wind it in reverse though so it is obviously not a great indicator. A related question that comes to mind, is it common for most rightys to wind thread clockwise if you were looking at a fly eye-on and leftys to wind counter-clockwise? Dan

We have a family story that makes us howl with laughter. It probably has some element of truth but don't ask me how much. We knew a guy who lived on the Bras D'or lakes in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada who for one summer seemed to be the playmate of a local cod. You also need to know that if something weird was going to happen to somebody it was going to be this guy - he was a legend. When he used to swim, the cod would come up underneath and take nips at him. The cod bothered nobody else. It got to the point that his wife would go to the beach before his swim and beat the water with a paddle to scare away the cod. Alas, there are far fewer cod around these days.

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by fish: Dark Spruce