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Fly Tying

spiralspey

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About spiralspey

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    Advanced Member

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  • Favorite Species
    rainbow trout
  • Security
    22

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  • Location
    Oregon's dry side

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  1. Fishing for salmon on the spawning beds is pretty poor sport, they should left alone to do their thing. If you're talking about chasing silvers that are heading upstream and are still in good shape then you're talking about a fine sport fish. I've always found pink to be a good color for silvers, and an all pink bead head wooly bugger is all I usually need. I find the the fish will eat anything when they're turned on, though, so the secret is finding fish that want to eat. The first hour of light in the morning always seems good, every fish seems willing. The rest of the day can be hit or miss, sometimes you can't keep the fish off your fly, other times they ignore everything. Most guys that chase silvers on top use wogs or wakers, often in pink. The most receptive silvers to surface flies will be those fresh out of the salt. Make a downstream cast at a 45 degree angle and pop the fly as it wakes across the surface, or strip it in short strips if you're fishing in slow water. It's a very low percentage game, way less effective than waking a dry for steelhead, but not impossible if you're in the right place at the right time.
  2. Last time I was in Wisconsin a guy in the fly shop in Brookfield recommended the Fox at Waterford or Rochester. Fish below the dams there, where you can wade and there's some current. I'd swing and strip a bugger or a crawfish pattern, there's some nice smallies in there. There's a lot of weeds drifting down the river from Lake Tichigan, but the fish don't mind. I grew up fishing the Milwaukee R, and several other rivers, a little north of the city. I much prefer the water in that direction.
  3. I loved fishing the driftless when I was younger, that middle photo brings back memories. Those are both brownies by the way, but I'd still like to see a photo of a brookie if you have one. I never caught very many brookies in Wisco as a kid, so it was always special when I did.
  4. Non slip mono loop or a surgeon's loop instead of a perfection loop. The perfection is a pretty weak knot.
  5. One from a couple weeks ago. The body hackle is BEP, followed by natural pheasant rump, and widgeon flank. I discovered I was out of bronze mallard for the wing, so I subbed with gadwall flank. I think it'll swing nicely either way.
  6. I had that rod, it's landed several small trevally and bonefish and handled the fish and the wind just fine. My son now uses it as a streamer rod in Montana. Redington makes some good products and the warranty is pretty decent.
  7. I'm out of practice. I crowded the head so much I didn't have room for the wing, so I left it off. My fault for wanting to put three different hackle colors on the fly I guess.
  8. I'm with several of you guys on this. I tie my buggers with bead heads and often add a few turns of lead wire underneath. I expect, and want my flies to ride hook up. I find I have a better hooking percentage, the hooks are in better places in the fish's mouth (corner or upper jaw), and there's the added benefit of less snags.
  9. I have never been, and hope to never be, "that guy" at the ramp. I try hard to get in or get out as quickly and smoothly as possible, but I've had a few less than smooth situations when pulling out. It's always been when there's a strong wind and luckily there has never been anyone waiting to use the ramp while I struggled getting things lined up. I've seen a whole lot of crazy things at the boat ramp, and I've learned to be patient. I've backed down other people's rigs, helped trailer up boats, shown folks how to use the trim switch, helped put plugs in boats while they started filling with water, and held onto boats with no mooring ropes while their owners parked. Sometimes you can't do anything but shake your head.
  10. If he's not using floatant it's going to happen no matter what tippet be uses. Even then the current will eventually pull your tippet under and pull the fly with it. In fast, complex currents even foam flies don't stay up for long. In faster water I'm happy if I get a few seconds of float, and in calmer flows 15 seconds can be pretty long.
  11. Why replace the whole leader, my leaders last a season or two? Just put a small loop knot at the leader/tippet junction and loop to loop on your tippet instead of a blood knot. You can still pretie and loop together 3-4 ft sections of tippet on a spool, then all you have to replace is the tippet, not the whole leader. Same deal with a tippet ring. You don't have to knot on the tippet, just use a loop to loop on the ring.
  12. I do a fair amount of winter fishing, and I've tried several different brands of extra heavy merino wool (75% or more) over the years and they were all pretty good. My favorite has always been smartwool, though. I like a polypro or silk liner to wick away the sweat, but wool will keep you warm even if it's wet, so I often forgo the liner.
  13. My favorite hackle for buggers is schlappen. It's very soft and webby, with lots of movement, which I like. It doesn't come in smaller sizes, though, so it's best for flies bigger than about a #6. Not a problem for me, I don't fish buggers in smaller sizes.
  14. Baetis hatches are one of the things that make winter fishing great. I hope some fish were feeding on top and you were able to hook a few with dries.
  15. I've never used John Montana's hybrid fly, but I know lots of guys love that pattern. John is a pretty good fisherman, I've fished for trout with him, and he's very fishy. He's a pretty good tier as well, and definitely knows a thing or two about carp.
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