JSzymczyk

It's been a few years but we have stayed at the Navy Lodge on the NAS a few times, it's on the mainland side of the bay. Walking the beach in the mornings with my 7 weight I caught lots of ladyfish, a few blues, and a few flounder. Off the breakwalls at the Coast Guard station I caught blues, ladyfish, small redfish, flounder, and a big spotted sea trout. I hooked and lost a massive redfish off the beach in the cut at the state park at the end of the penninsula too. Ladyfish and blues will destroy flies in a hurry and are not picky, so take lots of simple streamers- I caught lots of them on size 2 and size 1 streamers which were nothing but a hunk of silver and pearl crystal flash.

you and I agree 100% on these.... I go one step further and say that insurance should not cover one dime of medical for injuries sustained in a crash if a motorcyclist isn't wearing boots, pants, jacket, gloves, helmet, and eye protection--- nothing is covered for active duty military members in that scenario (at least not for the several years before I retired in 2008, and I never had a problem with it... rode 27,000 miles in three years in Florida and Alabama so all the sissies who complain about the gear being "too hot" can go pound sand) and same for boaters who by their own stupidity drown because of arrogance. No law should be on any book regarding these. PFDs are a huge debate point in the kayak fishing world. My avatar should leave no question where I stand on the matter. If you don't want to wear a PFD in statistically dangerous conditions, that's fine with me. When you die I'll go call on your (former) wife and buy your gear for cheap. Maybe I'll just give up fishing and kayaking and fly tying all together because it's so dangerous.

you really should be wearing safety glasses whenever at the tying bench. I've had hooks break under force, others have had hooks fly out of vises. bits of material fly off when clipped, drops of CA glue splatter when dropped, etc. UV is only one hazard, and an infrequent one compared to others.

Put an EGA badge on it and I guess it would be ok.

Mikechell, we will be seeing you on HGTV soon with your new interior decorating show?

I know a couple western Pa "native" streams which flow into bigger waters, which I've caught brookies up to 14" in the fall. Totally incredible, these are small streams which are not part of any brookie-stocked watershed. I haven't fished them in several years but the colors are amazing in the fall and really have to be seen to be believed.

the older I get, the more useless s##t I find out I don't know. I just think it looks cool. On someone else.

If I got up and nothing hurt, I'd think I was dead. Glad to hear you're doing well and recovering. Pain sucks.

very nice selection! a thing I have learned is: just when you think you are "finished", you will find something you absolutely must have...

Nice!!

#12 tan/brown Stimulator for a dry, and a #10 black/grizzly woolly worm for a wet/nymph. It would be boring, but I could catch enough fish to survive the rest of my life on just those two flies. If I wanted to get all complicated I could add a #14 Stimi and a #12 woolly worm to the mix.

I've been told, and it seems true, that Gink is repackaged Albolene... you can get a 12oz tub of Albolene at the drug store for about $13 vs $6 for a small tube of Gink. Plus Albolene has many other uses...

You probably got more UV exposure from reading this thread on your computer screen than you would from curing 100 UV fly heads.

this comes up once in a while here. I must be getting old. I've been told by two knowledgeable people that to make enough tiny parts to be worthwhile, lead eyes need to be "injection molded", not just poured like jig heads and sinkers. Obviously if you want to just do it yourself for the sheer fact of doing it yourself, you could go through the trouble and expense and time to make a mold and pour a few at a time.

If you are tying an established PATTERN (recipe), then yes follow the accepted procedures. Pick one of any time tested, well known, functional patterns- I don't know, say a White Wulff dry fly for example. Each element is present for a specific purpose. The colors are established. Yes there is a correct way to tie it. Don't tie some variation of something and call it by an established name. Your interpretation of a well known pattern is not THE well known pattern... Don't tie an Adams with a purple body and oversize hackle, and call it an Adams. If you are tying a STYLE of fly with variations and modifications from the established pattern, still don't call it something it's not. Take for example my favorite example of this- the Clouser Deep Minnow. It's a style instead of a pattern, because it can have all variations of colors and even materials to a point, and still be a CDM, IF certain design elements are kept (eye placement, "belly" material placement and tie in method, etc). There are about five million fly tiers (maybe more) though, who put lead eyes on a hook, and whatever else happens they call their creation a "Clouser". To me that is disrespectful of the originator and all the R and D that went into perfecting the style. So yes, there are wrong ways to do things. If you are being creative and coming up with things on your own, or modifying certain elements of patterns or styles to see how they work, then NO, there is no wrong way to do it- ASSuming, as Mike said above, the stuff you are fastening to your hook stays put.

bioquip.com has everything anyone could ever want for entomological study, as well as materials to make your own equipment. Their prices seem a bit high but there is really no comparison shopping to do... it's a niche market. I have not purchased anything from them in several years, but the quality of their gear was always great. In my experience, collecting insects with a tiny little net is aggravating as hell.

Amen to that.

Kind of like the Yellow Breeches here for me... all famous and historical and hallowed water etc etc. Been there, done that, now I'll go somewhere else.

very well put. my flies and lures perform the way I want, look good, and catch lots of fish. Like others I don't have the perspective of "it took me this long" because I have been tying stuff on hooks since I was a little kid and now I'm creeping up on being old. No internet, no videos, just books from the public library and harsh critique from some grumpy old neighborhood men when I learned the basics. Contrast that to guitar playing- I've been goofing with that as a hobby for years and I still suck. I could have personal lessons with David Gilmour and Eddie Van Halen and I would probably still suck.

sounds as if you know the answer. Use decent hooks and give them a chance to dry out. That's all I have ever done and I don't remember ever having a problem with corrosion.

White rods are right next to white-rimmed sunglasses. In other words, WTF are you thinking?

Kayak will be on top of the car. No room for a carrier too. I'm an ET, I'll put a passive IR alarm inside the tent.

I like that a lot. I've been considering doing something similar. I'm thinking of taking my small tent and using it for gear storage while I sleep in the car. I really like the window screen idea!

possibly. So far I haven't fished any of the flies I've tied with it. Hopefully soon.

So apparently I lied when I said I wasn't going to mess with it- I bought a package of it in white. I've tied quite a few CDMs, and other "bucktail" streamers with it so far and I still am not sure I like it. I also don't much like Veevus 6/0 thread, but in this case, the two materials work well together. The texture of the thread grabs a clump of this material better than flat thread which I normally use. Other posters are correct in that it has zero compression when tied in. Tiny drops of CA glue are your friends when working with this material. It does LOOK nice, more translucent than natural white bucktail. It is definitely stiffer than most natural bucktail. In my opinion it will be better suited to large, long flies. It is interesting, but it's not going to replace the real thing on my bench.