DFoster

Nice Steve! I'm glad to see you got out. No clue on the snake, not my thing.

Too funny!

I keep all of my materials sealed up in the zip lock bags they came in. Feathers and furs that are given to me by hunters are stored in sealed bags with Borax powder. Thankfully after 15 years of tying I haven't had a problem with moths or any other bugs.

50/50 over the weekend, I hooked 10, 5 made it to the net. I lost a really nice bow on Friday. After a long hard fight he managed to wrap my 5X around an exposed root at the river bank. And that was it- oh well.

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.