WJG

Nowhere does it say the spouse of the late husband is female.

I am curious as to why everyone is assuming she lost the rod & reel.

May 1 will be 5 years tobacco free for me. I can't say smoke free.

We have provincial and federal wardens here. Different jurisdictions but many overlaps. Lately some of the Provincial are carrying sidearms and humping body armour. (Mostly cop wantabe's) I am all for more enforcement of the rules, but some of the young bucks are too full of themselves. Over the years, complaining about not being approached on the stream, I have learned that officers see me much more often than I see them.

We call them corksuckers.

I was in the grade 8 rifle club. On Wednesdays we would take our .22 rifles and a box of ammo to school on the bus and store them in our locker until last period for a drive to the local indoor range with a weird geography teacher/club leader. Mostly Browning and Winchester bolt actions as I remember. They do it differently today.

For these little buck bugs I do use buck tail. They are packed fairly dense and trimmed small. Hair tips and butts never make it to the final product. Notice how the underside is trimmed closer to the hook shank as not to crowd the point or lessen the gape too much.

I like the more subtle green, but the trout and salmon seem to like the bright chartreuse green better. Red or red and chartreuse tags help. This isn't my tie, but an example of how I do tie them. Hackle facing fore or aft doesn't seem to matter for me. I use brown or orange hackle and also try brown or black deer hair. I pack them fairly dense and fish it wet. For fun with dries look into bombers or even better "Carter's bug" tied ala Bryant Freeman. (Just learned some bad news looking up the spelling of Bryant's name. He is no more. I was looking forward to seeing him again at an annual sportsman show. He will be missed by many.)

The green eyes freak me out. But I like it! Add a second knot to your legs and see if it helps. Thanks

That engine block is older than the nearby trees. Mother doesn't take that long to reclaim the natural areas. I once found a big cathode tube type TV about 1/2 mile from the nearest dirt road or snowmobile trail in the woods. Looked newer than the one in my living room then.

Love it! We call them Green Machines. Red and Chartreuse tag with brown hackle is killer for fall trout, steelhead and salmon here.

Sad health news to hear George. 3 years off the streams is indeed a long time. Never say never. Happy New Year to you also.

Oh, how we laughed. Caught our breath, then looked at each other and laughed again! 😉 You're a brave man. I think you have the direction you want to go already. Let it develop and morph it a system that works for you. Don't use permanent labels or stickers yet. Drop a tag into the compartment if you need labels for now. I would suggest buying 4 times the amount of storage boxes you think you will need. If this works out, the boxes you are accustomed to may not be available when you need more.

Bet you didn't know there are additional proteins in most blue berries also.

For me, late in the season, a #12 Green machine without tail works for big brookies, steelhead and salmon.

Fantastic photos TroutFodder. Thanks I am convinced I get a better hook up, more often, with the TMC scud hooks. I've also adapted many nymphs, emergers and some dry patterns to suit this hook.

I think I will start carrying a camera on the river again. This morning I landed a 14" brook trout who's beauty left me awe struck. It was a dull grey morning. The red fall spawning colours, fair size kype and the leading edges on the fins was so intensely white, almost opalescence. He hung out near on the bottom for a bit where I could watch him get over the experience. I still couldn't get over the beauty of the fins. I had to count them because he looked "over dressed".

Your rods have caught brookies larger than that. The same reason I asked you to put a thread wrap at 20". That's my line for brag worthy trophy size trout. Nothing prettier than a brook trout in the fall colours. Your 10' 3wt has also landed +20" steelhead in small rivers.

Happiness is wet wading boots. Mine go from the river to a cloth bag in the back of my car from April to December.

I stud my felt soles also. I use stainless steel hex head screws from the hardware store. Easier for me to find than Kold Kutters here. My Simms boots are 7 or 8 years old and had the soles re-glued to the uppers last winter using Marine Goop where they were starting to separate. If all goes right, they are never dry enough to attempt glue until January. Replaced studs 3 times and bought one new pair of laces so far. Still going strong but I am in need of a new pair. They have out lasted the Korkers they replaced. I never did use the other 2 pair of soles that influenced me in the purchase. The boa lacing system seems like overkill to me. Around here they are called fat man's laces (especially on work boots) and I'm still in denial.

So does everyone else. (Don't advertise to the utility you are using it.)

The moths or the rabbits?

It is good to have the time and space for little projects like this. I often have tails or wings drying out in the garage or pcs of hide tacked out to bleach in the sun. I am envious of the patina on that knife blade. I have the same knife but in 20 yrs it hasn't been used much. Think I will throw it in the tackle box or the truck kit.

Mark, Do you have any fly only water in your turf? And would a pegged bead be allowed on the fly rod there. The "fad" seems to have past here with the trout anglers but many Atlantic salmon fishermen still consider it flossing and not sporting.

I have some small to very small spun aluminum "spice jars" for the tiny and odd hooks I don't use much. Only keep them because I like the way they look on the corner of my bench. Most of my hooks are kept in plano boxes labelled similar to what cp or DF has. 4 tiers in a tackle box I was gifted years ago. My only addition to this thread is that I leave a trimmed label in the bottom of each tray. When the tray is empty, that label goes into a little zip lock with the other reminders of what I need/want on my desk, next time I'm visiting a fly shop. I write the price paid on the label and am not shy about asking why it's more now?