shep

Nice fly FF. Looks buggy enough to me. Please let us know how it works. Cheers, Shep

Sparkleminnow, Your right. I should have specified my advise was for the common carp and not the Amur species. Sorry if this has caused any confusion. Cheers, Shep

Sty|Esox I've only recently started targeting carp on the fly but I can offer you what I've learned to date. I've found that the most important thing to be successful is that you remain unnoticed by the fish. This is critical. Hide behind cover if you can. If the carp see you, I've found they will not take the fly even if they don't swim to far away. Secondly, I've been more successful stalking carp, casting to fish I can see. Normal stalking rules apply. Wear drab, dull coloured clothing which blend into your surroundings. Be especially quiet when approaching the fish, avoid making any loud vibrations or sudden movements. Avoid false casting as the movement will often spook the fish. Use the smallest casting stroke you can to deliver the fly to its target when your close. I've found that the best spot to cast is slightly infront of the carp, within a 3-4 feet. The cast has to be delicate to avoid spooking the fish. My most successful fly to date has been the woolly bugger (black, brown, or olive) although I've caught them on other patterns like spring wigglers, stone flies, hellgrammites and zoo cougars. Since the fish are often in shallow water (less than 2 feet) and I want a delicate presentation, I'll use unweighted nymphs. The ideal goal is to get the fly to sink as slow as possible, right in front of the carp. I may add a little twitch but usually the sinking movement is enough. In my opinion, presentation is more important than fly selection when stalking carp. If you hook one hang on because they can really pull. Keep us posted. Hope this helps, Shep

Nice dragon! It looks really buggy. What size of mono (lb test) do you use for the eyes? I've got some 25lb and it seems to be too small. Cheers, Shep

Thanks Gopher, I'll give it a try.

I'm looking for a good fresh water snail pattern to use for trout fishing. I've heard that the Renegade pattern will work in a pinch. I've also seen variations made with strips of leather wound up to mimic the shell. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The size of snail I'm thinking of is quite small and its shell averages about half an inch in diameter. Cheers Shep

Here's a direct link to the movie: http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/western/na...almon_movie.mov I've been searching for that video for a while an hadn't been able to locate it. Thanks for sharing the link. Cheers, Shep

Thanks everyone. lthrnk: the hook I used was a size 10 mustad streamer hook and the body is made with a section of small super weave mylar (purple) Shep

Hi Everyone, I was reading an old magazine article (1999) that highlights Lefty's Deceiver. I can't beleive how good his pattern looks! I've tied up a few smaller versions, "Baby Deceivers", to try on rainbows this spring. I typically don't take the time to add eyes to most of my bait fish patterns but its cold outside so I thought I'd break out the 3D eyes and epoxy. In general I beleive more about presentation than immitation. Muddlers and other suggestive patterns still account for a large number of trout. Anyone have any thoughts on this, more specifically, do eyes really increase the effectiveness of freshwater streamers. Cheers, Shep

Thankyou everyone for the compliments and great suggestions for creating underbodies. I've never tried most of your suggestions (mono, felt, and emboidery thread) so I'll be experimenting at the vise. Rob I like that dragon you posted and also the link to the site. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Shep

Here's a couple of Dragon fly imitations I've created recently. I thought they turned out well but I have to find a better way to create the underbody more efficiently. Does anyone have any suggestions for quickly creating the hour glass shape? My method of using a dubbing/lead wire combo is too time consuming. It would take me too long to tie a dozen of these. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Ches P.S. The top fly was tied with olive dubbing; bottom fly with dark green and gold chenille.

Hi Radoslav, Here's a link that you might be interested in: http://www.waterwisp.com/patterns.htm Cheers, Shep

Feathers, I just remembered a couple more things. I use a high volume hand pump to inflate my tube. Its about 4 inches in diameter and inflates on both the push and pull strokes. As a result, it doesn't take too long to inflate (a couple minutes max). I've used the tiny compressors that plug into the ash tray as well. They tend to be high pressure and low volume (to pump up car tires). The electric pump was noisier, took longer, and I eventually burnt out a couple so I gave up on them. Also, be careful not to over inflate your tube, especially if your using a compressor as it can definitely blow a seam. This can also happen if you leave your tube inflated and throw it in your vehicle on a hot sunny day. The air in the tube will expand over time an may rip out the stitching. It best to deflate the tube slightly when travelling. Cheers, Shep

Hi Feathers, Congrats on getting your new tube. I'm sure you'll love fishing from it. As you'll discover tubes are generally light weight, highly portable and can give you access to a lot of water that can't easily be reached from shore. My advise is to be careful getting into and out of your tube when wearing your fins. I've had a few close calls and know of others who have fallen in the spring when the water is icy cold. If your fishing during a colder part of the season, avoid tightening the straps too much on your fins. The increased pressure from overtightening can reduce circulation and cause your feet to get cold quickly. I would also suggest avoiding windy conditions and fishing well sheltered bays or areas of the lake. Tubes are great for stealthy presentations and hands free operation but it takes a lot of work to go anywhere against the wind. Finally, have a patch kit thats works. I had several on hand once but all were faulty because they had frozen on previous trips. When the time came to use it, we couldn't and had to make a special trip back into town to find a substitute. Happy tubbing! All the best, Shep P.S. I think you will find the tube to be quite stable. I've never heard of someone tipping their tube under normal conditions. One last thing... avoid tubing for shark

I like that fly too. Thanks for sharing. Cheers Ches