Kilchis

When all else fails cure the resin and go after it with a single-edge razor blade, like you would to remove a sticker from glass.

If you are a Pacific slope trout fisher getting ready to buy your first neck, reconsider and maybe pick up a saddle instead. Most necks out here end up with a narrow band of hackles stripped off for use and 80% of the rest never get used because they are too big. You'll get better bang for your buck with a good saddle or 100 pack. If you are tempted to scarf up some roadkill to add to your material stash, put your harvest in a sealed plastic bag and stash it in the freezer for 6-9 months to kill the cooties lurking thereon. If you put a dead animal, or parts thereof, in your freezer, WARN YOUR WIFE! Life can take an unpleasant turn if she thinks she's grabbing an ice cream bar out of a bag and instead finds a frozen little paw in her hand...

Apologies for the hijack, but Idaho what is that "D" shaped tool between your scissors and the head cement bottle in your photo in post #20?

I frequently tuck my waders into my float tube and pack both in to back-country lakes. Instead of heavy boots I put a pair of diver's slippers over my wader booties to keep my fins from chafing them, so that cuts weight. If I am going to bushwhack along streams and fight salmonberry and devil's club I just wear my jeans over the waders to provide a layer of protection. There's no law that says the waders have to be outside the pants. Peeing can be a bit problematic though.

I purchased a pair of Redington Sonic Pro waders last May. After about 21 days of float tubing in them I can't think of enough nice things to say. I could not be more pleased with the product, especially when compared to my previous "Guidewear" atrocities from one of the big American sporting goods houses.

In answer to your first question I would find my closest fly shop and buy a Thompson vise, a decent bobbin, a spool of black 8/0 Veevus thread, a spool of small gold wire, a decent pair of fine-tipped scissors, a whip-finisher and a bodkin. The fine-tipped scissors are for thread and soft materials ONLY! Go to a fabric store and buy a cheap pair of embroidery scissors. The crappy scissors are for wire, metal tinsels, hides, dirty deer hair, and the like. Go to a department store and buy a bottle of clear Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails nail polish. It's cheaper than head cement and as good or better. I would not buy a flared-tip bobbin, but that's just personal preference. I find them hard to work with sometimes. You can get by without a bobbin threader. Just introduce the thread into the bottom of the bobbin tube and then suck hard on the other end. (I've been tying since the latter 60's and have used my threader maybe 4 times.) I wouldn't buy Ultra Thread, though it seems to be all the rage right now. I find it nasty stuff to work with as it shreds with a dirty look or a rough finger tip, and you will have random fibers spiraling off of your fly. Starter materials like hooks, feathers, fur, hair, dubbings, beads, etc. sort of depend on how and where you expect to fish and for what. Dry or wet? Stream or stillwater? Trout? Bass? Kokanee? Bluegills? Inconnu? Swordfish? Pick a style of fishing, pick a fish, and tell your vendor you need materials to tie one simple fly for starters. For wet trout, maybe a gold-ribbed pheasant tail (PT) nymph. When you get that down, up your game and try a flashback gold-ribbed pheasant tail nymph, adding one more material to your pattern. Then maybe a beadhead gold-ribbed flashback PT nymph. Then maybe a beadhead soft hackle gold-ribbed flashback PT nymph..... You might get sick of PT nymphs, but by this point you have learned to fasten a bead, thread, tail barbules, gold wire, flashabou, thorax material of choice, and a feather all on one little hook. Anyway, those are some of my thoughts. Good luck and good times to you.

In response to an earlier question in this thread, the Umpqua "U" series of hooks are offset. You can see a package in the Swap Meet Score thread also on this site. I have not noticed any twisting from either casting or retrieving.

The scuds in post #20 may very well be the most remarkable flies I have ever seen........and I started fly fishing in 1966.

I use 2, 1 and 1/0 red Gamakatsu octopus hooks. I slightly (and carefully) increase the offset. They are extremely sharp right out of the package. The largest Chinook I have taken on a fly was 36 pounds, but i have taken two over 50 on gear outfits. You want a stout hook.

You might look hard at Redington rods. I have both Sage and Loomis 4wts, but the 4 that ends up in my hand most trips is a little Redington Wayfarer that I bought for about $160. It is a delight. If you like a slower action, the Redington Classic Trout rods are fun, reminiscent of older full-flex actions. Redington was bought by Sage and the posts on the Washington Flyfishing forum indicate superb customer service. If your tastes run more to rocket launchers, Loomis rods will fill the order but they are ridiculously expensive. I agree with the above poster that you don't need an expensive reel for trout. You might look at Echo reels, or Orvis Battenkills. If you buy a moderately priced reel you will have money for a spare spool and line. Personally, I would avoid the Cabelas Prestige series. I have had very bad luck with the drags sticking at start-up resulting in snapped tippets on the strike.

I prefer pedestal bases. I covered the bottoms of my bases with foam so they neither mar furniture nor skid when I am really reefing on kevlar ties. If I want to change the viewing aspect of a fly , I just nudge the base into the new position rather than having to unscrew a clamp and tighten it back up. I found out the hard way that a screw clamp can destroy the finish on good furniture. Mostly, I guess I like pedestals because I am used to them. I have used pedestals for about 40 years. My 2 cents.

I voted for the chinook salmon, (aka king). I have never found any fish quite like a tidewater chinook fresh from the ocean and still speckled with sea lice. You are stripping a sunken fly and suddenly your retrieve just stops. You give a jerk with your rod tip while simultaneously strip-striking and.............nothing happens for a moment while you wonder if you just barbed a sunken log. Meanwhile, the fish mulls over the situation. Then it decides that perhaps there is a problem and the world explodes while 30 pounds of angry muscle shreds the river and tries to tear the rod out of your hands, maybe intending to beat you to death with it. My largest fly-caught chinook was 36 pounds. It took a Pixee's Revenge tied on a 6-foot straight 12lb leader attached to a 9wt Cortland Salmon/Steelhead line strung on a St. Croix Imperial 8 wt. The reel was an STH casette model. I didn't notice Chum, also called Dog, salmon on the list. Deep-bodied, they are the aquatic version of street thugs skilled in martial arts. They generally run into the mid-to-upper teens, but if they got as big as Chinook nobody would ever land one. Many, many anglers have left the river with blood dripping from their knuckles after trying to grab a reel handle being spun by a 10lb Chum. But brookies ARE beautiful, aren't they? Nothing out west compares. Too many choices.....

I found this website while doing a nostalgia search for the Crane Prairie Special pattern, and Google took me to this thread. I used to tie some CPS's back in the early 80's for a friend who lived near Smith Rocks. The fly is a streamer. It was unweighted because Crane Prairie is fairly shallow overall and littered with thousands of submerged logs. Except for two excursions in 40+ years, I didn't start fishing Crane until last year, so back in the day I never actually used what I tied, just gave them away. The fly was a big 'un, tied on a #2 Mustad 9672. It was black. The materials I used 35 years ago were: Thread - Black Nymo (Yeah, I'm that old!) Tail - Black fibers, tied sparse. Variously used saddle barbules, mink, whatever was at hand and straight. Rib - Silver, that nasty articulated flex stuff over a thread core. When wrapped the silver weave opened up. Mylar hadn't come on the scene yet. Body - Black chenille. The old kind, no sparkles, no sprinkles, just basic black fuzz. At thorax build a knob to help flare the wings. Wings - 4 narrow black saddle hackles well flared, extending just shy of hook bend, two to a side and angled at about 20 and 45 degrees above horizontal. (Twenty degrees is about the angle between your index and middle finger when spread apart. Hackle - Black saddle slightly swept back.. Head - Tying thread. Does this sound familiar? I will be heading to Crane in late May or early June and in the next week will be tying up a few similar to this pattern, with more contemporary materials. j