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This is a great fly that really works well in the streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Joe

Hey fly tying folks! I have been out of the loop for a while due to covid and general life happenings and have not been fishing or fly tying for quite some time, thus I have been off the forum. Now I am back and hope to contribute from time to time. Joe

Let me know. Joe

Hey chugbug27. I have been out of the loop for a while, covid and other life happenings got in the way of fishing, but I am back now and am hoping to fish quite often. Tennessee is treating me great. I love it here in the Smokies. I'm only three miles to the GSMNP entrance and the trout fishing pretty good in the park, though somewhat difficult at times. I have to find easily accessible spots as I can no longer wade (72 years old) and i have slowed down a lot, but over all I can't complain. Joe

Has anyone ever heard of or fished a Batman nymph? A while back I ran into a man and his son fishing in the GSMNP on the Little River and they were catching fish after fish on a nymph they called a Batman nymph. Being it was mostly black and purple I can understand the name. I tied some up and thought I would give them a try. I haven't tried them yet but I will pretty soon as the weather gets nicer. Anyway the nymph has a body of purple ice dubbing, brown goose biots tail, two black goose biots wings, and sparse black soft hackle. A cool looking fly, should imitate several insect nymphs. Joe

I feel the same way about my fly rods. You can have my fly rods if you can pry them from my cold dead hands. When fly rods are outlawed, I'll become an outlaw. I will not ever give up any of my fly rods without a fight to the death. Joe

When I moved from central Florida to east Tennessee, I sold most of my guns to have some extra cash for traveling expenses, etc. Also, I just didn't want to travel across a couple of states with a truck load of guns. And, I had a lot of guns. I used to do a lot of reloading and target shooting, but a few months before the move to Tennessee, I lost interest in shooting. At the local range, there were just too many irresponsible shooters. A guy was accidentally killed there and I was there when it happened. That pretty much soured me. Also, there were too many guys who shot AR's and other such semi-autos who would load them up and blast away only concerned about fire power and caring nothing about accuracy. They never used a brass catcher or screen and empty brass would fly everywhere hitting other shooters and putting nice scratches in other shooter's guns. I did keep three or four of my nicer guns just to have in the safe, but I haven't shot them in years. I guess I have turned my swords into plow shears so to speak and have gotten deeper into my two main hobbies of fly tying and fishing, and watch collecting. You guys with the AR's please enjoy them now for they might not be around too much longer. Joe

OH boy, you are quite the card. Joe

I guess watch collectors are few and far between in the fly tying and fly fishing realm. A few years ago I had quite an extensive watch collection, especially vintage automatic and mechanical hand wind wrist watches. I had an interesting and profitable hobby going. I gradually lost interest in all the wheeling and dealing so I sold a many of them and kept the ones I really liked. I have quite a few Seiko and Orient automatics and Citizen Eco-Drives (solar powered). These are my favorites. My latest interest in watches has been the new and vintage Russian Komandirskie hand wind mechanical wrist watches. They are relatively simple, built like a tank, extremely rugged, keep good time, inexpensive and there are enough dial designs to enable collecting and to keep my interest. And, you don't have to order them from the Russian Federation (these watches are of course made in Russia) as there are enough dealers here in the USA who are happy to sell them to you. Joe

I had a small collection of pocket watches and sold them when I needed some extra money for our move from Florida to Tennessee two years ago. Joe

If so, tell which ones do you collect and why do you collect them? Joe

I guess I do. I have collected various things ever since I was a kid. My one mainstay in collecting has been my collection of fly rods and fly reels, and even fly lines. I have been collecting (and selling a few along the way) fly fishing stuff for many years. At one time I collected rifles and shotguns, but completely lost interest in them a few years ago and sold most of them. I was heavy into watch collecting for a while but lost interest and kept only a few. I also have a nice though modest collection of pocket knives. I know a few guys around my age and older who collect fly fishing stuff (mostly bamboo rods) and never even fish. My feeling is that if collecting brings you joy and you don't spend the grocery or rent money on your collectables, then go for it. Joe

In my world, it's called collecting. Joe

Only had the insulated bibs and a jacket; all were binding to work in, uncomfortably ill cut for the size they claimed to be and the bibs shrunk when washed and wore out quicker than less costly brands like Berne or Walls. My advice is to buy Carhartts two sizes too big and find a smaller guy to give them to. Oh and the price is not quite comparable with the quality. I suspect the price raised my expectations beyond their ability to provide, but bibs should have legs larger than yoga pants and the bib should come up over my chest and the suspenders should not be at maximum length for fellow of average height. Carhartt made their name by building canvas pants in a denim market, canvas should outwear denim, if you don't consider that one is an apple and the other is a pear. Yet in working construction side by side with a Carhartt wearer Big Smiths lasted longer. As to them selling boots and underwear, I don't buy cake from a butcher nor meat from a baker, why would I buy boots from a tailor or pants from a cobbler, a company that sells both probably buys both from another source. Makes all their products suspect, imo. flytire, I don't think you have missed out by not giving those brands a lot of attention. I have an unused gift card from Duluth Trading, twice through the store and I suspect that card will remain unused. Hey tjm, sorry to hear about your bad experiences with Carhartt products. I am kind of surprised, though. I never worked construction so I can't reference anything to that. Being a little guy I am hard to fit yet the Carhartt jackets, vests, and shirts have always fit me very well. I had a Carhartt jacket (can't remember the name of the style) several years ago and I wore it for several years. When I put on a little weight and didn't like the tight fit, I gave it to me son-in-law and he wore working construction and is still wearing it and it has yet to wear out, it is just very well broken in. I had a couple of Filson jackets a few years ago; one in their tin cloth and one in their shelter cloth. The tin cloth was so stiff, I never did get it broken in after several years so I sold it. The shelter cloth wore out after four years of wearing it almost daily. I always thought Filson was the very best (at least they are the priciest), but I am soured on Filson stuff and won't buy anymore. As for boots, I only wear Courteney boots. They are expensive, but they are light weight, water proof, and extremely durable. After wearing one pair almost daily for ten years, they finally wore out and I bought a new pair. I suppose the old pair was repairable, but I needed an excuse to but a new pair and that was about ten years ago and they are still going strong. I guess only tow pair in 20 years is a pretty good testament. I don't work for Carhartt and have no other interest other than I like their products and they have worked for me. Just curious about what others thought. Joe

So what is it specifically you don't like about them. Elaborate please. I am curious. Joe

Mike, if you are using them for work can't use use them as a tax deduction? Like I said, there are often there are often closeouts, sales, irregulars, promotions, etc. so you can usually find them at very affordable prices. Compared to other brands, I never thought them to be priced too high. BTW, they seem to last forever so you don't have to buy Carhartt clothing very often. Joe

So how many out there in forum land love, appreciate, and use Carhartt products? I have become a fanatic I suppose as just about all I wear anymore are Carhartt brand clothing. I have one of their "Detroit" jackets and it is great for the fall and winters here in east Tennessee. Their suede leather vest is perfect for the between seasons when it is not too cold nor not too hot. Most of all I like their three button Henley pocket tee shirts and I am currently trying to obtain one of each color they carry. As far as rugged clothing goes, Carhartt products are reasonably priced. Many web sites carry "close out" and "irregulars" at discounted prices. The one product I cannot really comment on is their boots. They look good but they don't offer any in my size. I am kind of a little guy and the smallest boot size they have is 8. But that's OK as I only wear Courteney boots anyway. Joe

They sell it at my local fly shop in Townsend, Tennessee, the Little River Outfitters, but in packages, not in a roll. Joe

Hey Mike, are you in the path of the on coming hurricane? Please be careful my friend. Joe

Where I fish in the fast streams and pocket water of the Smoky Mountains, the actual line I use is of little consequence. I throw mostly leader anyway and very little line. My maximum cast is about 15 feet or so. My line doesn't even have to match the rod as far as line weight goes. I can't believe the extremely high prices of modern lines. And then there are the specialized lines for all the so called various specific fly fishing situations. If you need a line that will only cast on a Tuesday while standing in no more than 18 inches of water and only when the water temperature is exactly 63.5 degrees, you can find it if you want to pay the money. Talk about marketing and targeting inexperienced fisher persons, the fly line companies are really doing it. I am in total agreement with mikechell, but I'll even go him one better. I not only buy my lines from eBay, I buy USED lines from eBay and often pay less than $10 for them including shipping and many of them have never actually been used, but are NOS. Being a collector of vintage fly reels, I have obtained many reels that have perfectly good lines on them and these lines were free. To answer the OP's question, you don't have to buy expensive specialized lines to be a successful fly fisherman. Joe

There might not be such a thing as a purple caddis, but that fly would definitely work here in the Smokies. Yellow has always been a standard productive color, but purple is really hot right now. Joe

Nice score Steve. I'm really happy for you. Joe

Great find. I love new old stuff. I have lots of fly rods and fly reels that fit into that category, but no vices (I guess that comes from clean living). Joe

Do you take PayPal? Joe

I use the small grey cylindrical boxes with an attached snap lid (the kind that diabetic blood test strips come in) to carry small split shot. Joe