DFoster

Family commitments pinned me down and I only managed 2 hours of stream time this weekend. I got 3 eats from 3 strong fish but I have no pictures to post because I lost them all. 😫 2 of them out fought me, eventually spitting my flies and the third one left me with that nauseating little curly Q at the end of my empty tippet. The 20 minute car ride home was a long one - lots of second guessing myself and that feeling of throwing the game losing interception. They won this round but I'll be back, stupid fish!

There is definitely a certain amount of sticker shock that comes with quality gear but sometimes you can get stuff on sale. This weekend I bought a pair of replacement Muck boots. My old pair of Mucks had zero tread left which made them very slippery and dangerous on steep inclines. They also had several wear holes which I plugged with JB Weld and Goop so it was time. I paid $89 for them 4 years ago and wore them almost daily. What are basically the same boots now retail for $159. Friday Cabela's was running a sale and had them for $119. I wasn't planning on buying them just yet but saving 40 bucks made the decision easy.

Awesome picture and fish George!

My point exactly- this year I'm going to force myself to look more at quality outdoor wear and less at rods and reels, tempting though they may be.

5 fish on, 3 stayed on and made it to the net. All on wet flies (Pheasant tail soft hackle, Irish Mayfly and a Hamlin winged wet).

Thank you. I prefer to tie traditional flies with natural materials. However, I have no bias against synthetics. When I saw these posted online I thought those look like they will catch fish. The original post called for a size 10 hook. That may be a bit large on my local waters so I dropped it to a number 14. We’ll see how they work.

HOLGRAPHIC BUZZER HOOK: #14 HEAVY CURVED THREAD: #70 BLACK ABDOMEN/BODY: BLACK THREAD RIB: SMALL RED WIRE. U.V. RESIN THORAX SIDES: UTC HOLOGRAPHIC RED TINSEL - MEDIUM THORAX BACK: PEARL MYLAR- MEDIUM HEAD: BLACK THREAD NOTES: COVER FLY WITH U.V. RESIN

It's taken time but through the years I have acquired a lot of fine tackle, top quality wading gear, a premium vise and my fly tying bench is well stocked for the types of flies I tie. This year I've decided to use most of my fishing budget on items to make my time on the stream more enjoyable. After years of using super cheap Walmart polarized sunglasses last week I finally replaced them with a reasonably decent pair. They have definitely improved my ability to see the bottom. Sometimes the streams I fish are small and don't require waders. A pair of calf high water proof boots like Mucks work just fine on these small streams. But in my area I always seem to have to trek through brambles and briars to reach the spot I want to be in. I've been fishing these areas in jeans and I typically end up with bloody/stinging legs by the end of the day. My son in law recommended that I look into a pair of brush pants made for bird hunters. I ended up buying a pair from Cabela's and tried them out yesterday. I have to say they worked perfectly at least against the type of briars in my area. I was able to walk right through without any trouble. I still have to watch for the taller ones but these pants are a huge improvement from what I was used too. They are essentially a pair of heavy denim jeans with some canvas covering the front of the legs. For $60 they seem really well made and feel like a normal pair of jeans when I wear them.

😁

Thanks Norm- what a wonderful article.

Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was beautiful and I got out after work. These 2 were at the bottom of the deepest pool on the stream. It's tough to detect strikes when fishing deep on a 12' leader so there may have been others. This pool is one of the spots they spend the winter at. It's about 8' deep, wide and the water slows. So far they don't seem to have moved out of it. I fished other prime but more shallow locations yesterday. I did have 4 hits that were likely small Fall Fish or Herring but no fish in the net.

That’s wonderful Kevin I’m glad for you and your boys. I’m sure you agree totality was spectacular. Despite the miserable traffic on the way home, my oldest daughter was the impetus for all of us going, and I couldn’t thank her enough for forcing me to make the effort. I have to say almost everyone stuck in the traffic was courteous and made the best of it. I didn’t witness any one lose their temper, which was really nice.

My family made the drive to northern New Hampshire to be in the totality zone. We found a spot in fishing/hiking access area of the Androscoggin river. Had I known we were going to land there I would have brought my gear. We had 2 minutes and 20 seconds of totality and it was truly breathtaking! My niece is a professional photographer and captured some great photos! Photos courtesy of Wave and Willow Photography https://waveandwillowphotography.mypixieset.com/ I spoke with this guy while we were waiting for the show to start. He stayed in the water straight through and if you look close you can see the odd dimness of the sky. How many can claim to have fly fished through a total eclipse? Then the downside- The traffic was beyond horrible. It took my wife and I 4 1/2 hours on the way up. 12 1/2 hours heading home. One particularly fun location required 7 hours to travel 7 miles. 🤬 We left the area at 3:45 PM and arrived home at 4:13 AM. Both of us have work events today that we could not miss, so were working on 2 hours sleep. For me math is going to be a problem. We did get to see a Sasquatch on the way home, so there's that. 😁

As far as I know- A member of our church retired and was moving out of state. He told me that he tried his hand at fly tying back in the 1970s but it wasn't for him and he sold off most of his stuff. Prior to moving he handed me a shoebox full of materials (what remained of his materials). The contents were old and most were still in that wonderful old style packaging that I remember as a kid growing up. Anyway the items were fairly common but the box did include a very small patch of polar bear and a piece of fur hide that had the words "badger or wolverine" written on the leather. I can't really be sure but the color on the hide is a coffee brown that to my eye looks closer to wolverine than badger. My "expert" opinion being based on internet photos 🙄 Anyway, whatever it is, the undercoat makes wonderful dubbing. The fur itself is about 2" long and soft. I use it mostly for wings and tails.

Hi VC, for me there’s really no point in ice fishing. I don’t keep freshwater fish, never liked the taste of ‘em. Besides around these parts It’s mostly a drinking sport and as a professional musician I already get my share of “beers with the guys” time. For serious fly fisherman, the weather here in March and April is always a test of our mental wellbeing. Here it seems like anytime it’s clear and warm, the wind starts to gust hard enough to make fly casting impossible. If you want to fly fish you’ll need to wait until the wind is at a more reasonable level- usually that will be the next cold, rainy day. It can be maddening after a long winter, but the beautiful month of May is coming! I could never move to a state without wild trout streams-😲