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What were you wanting to find out? I've fished there a number of times, over the last decade, but it isn't one of my favorite places to fish. I prefer the Tuckasegee R. near Sylva or the Nantahala R. in Macon Co., a bit further west off US-74. There are a number of fly shops and guide services that cater to all the area streams.

Bucktails are cheap, relatively. Pitch it and buy new ones. Odor indicated decay, and you just need that around. For the flies, fresh air, borax, baking soda, charcoal, they'll all absorb the odor. On the other hand, the little bit of odor that is on the flies won't put off fish. Just go ahead and fish them.

The Herbert Miner capes and saddles come from a different flock of chickens with different blood lines than the regular Whiting feathers, which come from the old Hoffman flock. Tom Whiting owns both flocks, but is keeping them separate, at least for now, to preserve the genetic diversity. I have one Herbert Miner cape, that I really like. Long feathers, good barb count, great color, flexible stems, there's no need to apologize for it.

I've been using Australian 'possum for years. It tends to be a little coarse, and a bit spiky, that's all. Once you dub the body, trim off any offending guard hairs, and go with it. With a good coat of floatant, it should work as well as anything else. My preference for dry flies, is beaver, but hare's ear and 'possum are both in my fly box.

Cree is over-hyped, over-priced and UNDER-defined. Variant and Cree are often indistinguishable, although there is a technical difference. Most necks I've seen sold as "Cree" would be better described as "Variant," but I have no wish to get deeper into that argument,... ...But basically, you can use cree or variant anywhere you would use brown, ginger, grizzly or any combination of brown/grizzly, ginger/grizzly. Feathers with more white can be subbed for grizzly, feathers with more ginger can be subbed for ginger. The barring gives the wound hackle a bit of shimmer that makes them look more alive in the water. Personally, I feel that using barred hackles gets me more strikes than using solid hackles would, but that's purely subjective, and there's absolutely no way I can prove that. Your mileage may vary, etc., etc.

That's pretty cool, I like it. I'll have to give it a try. I'll bet it's not as easy to do and he makes it seem, though....

In thinking this over, and reading others replies and reactions, there's one thing that hasn't been said. That is, you are probably fishing with too light a rod for the size of the fish you are catching. A 9'4wt, any 9'4wt, is going to bend double if you are trying to land a 20" brown, whereas a 6wt would probably handle it OK. Of course, on the other side, the 6wt is overkill if most of the fish your are catching are 10" to 12" stockers. It's simply a matter of matching your equipment to your expectations. Just as you don't hunt deer with a .22, (nor do you shoot squirrels with a 30-06,) you shouldn't chase trophy fish with light weight rod. It can be done, of course, but the result with be many more lost fish, and much higher stress levels on the fish you do manage to bring to net.

When fighting a big fish, I usually try to beach it. Once they are in shallow water, they can't fight effectively, and that takes the load off the tippet. A fish that is flip-flopping is easy to lead into the net. Basically, though, I have to agree with Fishinguy, you need a longer net, or at least a longer handle on your net.

...at some point it isn't a muddler any more.

Dave Scadden, at North Fork Outdoors, has a new line of inflatable kayaks that look pretty good. They have a floor that is basically a SUP, so you can stand, or sit, and the center of the boat doesn't sag under your weight, like older inflatables did. He's got videos on his site, so check them out.

Heck, you could use a bit of yarn, combed out, or flashaboo.... Any stranded material. Just pick a color and texture you like.

Agreed, I use barred ginger almost exclusively for brown hackle. The barring isn't sufficiently noticeable, when wound on, to alter the overall coloration, but the slight variations of color make a more attractive fly.

The Fly Fishing Show is coming to W-S this coming weekend, Feb 5-6. I'll be there at the IFFF Learning Center both days, teaching kids how to tie wooly buggers. If you get a chance, stop by. This year's flytiers will include the usual celebrities, but will also feature NC tiers Anthony Hipps and Steve Yates, and SC tier, 13-year old Trad Little. If you've never seen Trad's flies, you really need to check him out.

Usually, they only stink for a week or two. You can also sprinkle them with borax (a laundry product), which will help kill bugs and dry it out. I do, sometimes, remove the bone, but it's attached with sinew about 1/3 to 1/2 way out, and it is often difficult to strip the tail past that point. Always wash the fur with shampoo (I use dog shampoo, but I don't suppose it matters) before trying to do anything else. Those little buggers can get nasty!

I swapped emails with Will last week. He had to change the WEB host, so the WEB page, while it has the same name(s), has a different IP address. That can take a few days to propagate through all the name servers. Just be patient, and your access problems should clear up in a few days.

I did a presentation on using yarn for flies a couple of years ago. No one seemed particularly interested. I guess it wasn't exotic enough, but it really does handle well and looks good in the water. And colors ...! I may dig that out again and work on it some more....

I see I'm not alone. Well water, with a splash of lemon, on the rocks. I want it as cold as I can get it without freezing. Take a sip and let it cool my throat while I contemplate my next move.

You're right, they are well tied, although I can see a few points that the "experts" might criticize. They are all good quality fishing flies. It is interesting, to me, on the coffin fly that they used teal flank for the wings, instead of mallard, and the hackle is a bit longer than I would have used, but a nice example of what the fly should look like.

There are lots of breeders of "fancy" chickens, and several that specialize in fly tying. Two that come to mind right off the top are Bill Keough and Charlie Collins, but there are others. Both of those gentlemen produce high quality hackles that will stand up in any competition. In addition, there are hobby growers of just about every kind of game bird you can imagine, you just have to figure out how to get in contact with them. Search the WEB for local associations and growers. The birds, like Golden Pheasant or Lady Amherst Pheasant, aren't particularly expensive in and of themselves, but the preparation of the skin adds significantly to the cost. Also, if you are looking for a full skin, including head and tail, you will pay a lot more for it. The heads can be bought for $10-$12, and the body plumage can be had for about the same. It's the tail feathers that get expensive. Lady Amherst tails feathers are one of the more highly prized (not just by flytiers) feathers, so they command a premium price.

I have to agree with most of what's been said: 1) There is no substitute for real Jungle Cock 2) Jungle Cock isn't necessary. Flies tied without it work just fine. I have some, but I waited over 50 years to buy it. Now I can afford it, and it's nice to have, but when you are starting out, don't bother. There are better uses for your limited resources. Leave something for the future.

Moose body hair is just like deer body hair, and can be substituted anytime you feel like. Like you, I have a largish patch of moose body hair, that I got from a taxidermist. Because of it's dark color, I find it to be of limited use. It would make a pretty good muddler minnow head, and might be OK for a bullet head hopper, or a Letort cricket. You just need to look around to see where dark brown deer body hair will work.

In addition, you need some good image processing software. Picassa, from Google, is "free", sort of, and is an excellent tool for this. It allows you to edit the picture, trim out extraneous details, enlarge the area of interest, and enhance the color. It won't make up for a poor photo, but it can greatly enhance an average photo.

Glo Bug Yarn will work, but not nearly as well as McFly Foam. I use a size 14 scud hook, and 6/0 Uni-Thread. Uni-Thread is stronger, for it's size, than most other threads, so you can pull it tighter without a lot of bulk. I use two 1/2 inch long pieces of yarn, one on each side of the hook shank. I bind them down with 6 turns, letting them spin around the hook as much as they want - usually about 1/2 a turn. I bring the thread forward, between the 2 pieces of yarn, and tie it off behind the hook eye. That is the only place I put any glue. To shape, I gather together both ends of one piece of yarn, pull them up, and snip straight across, at about 1 hook gape length. I then gather the other piece of yarn, pull it the opposite way, and try to snip it off at the same length. Then, I just fluff it a bit with my finger tips. Often, but not always, I have to snip off a few stray tufts to get the final shape I want. It may take slightly more than 10 seconds (more like 30), but it is a quick and easy tie. I have tried the pen trick, and it does work, but isn't necessary.

a 3906B is a great size for a beadhead nymph. The extra length just about makes up for the bead, and the heavier wire adds a bit of weight to help get it down. In my opinion, shared with several others, is that the 3906B is too short for a woolybugger. My preferred hook is a 9672. Of course, the 9672 is standard wire, so it needs a bit more weight added. Since switching manufacturing to China, Mustad has trashed their whole line of hooks. All of the numbers and specifications seem to have changed, and I rarely buy Mustad anymore. For buggers, I have been happy with Green Caddis 5262 hooks, in sizes 6 and 8. Unfortunately, Will seems to be a bit low on stock, right now....

Czech Nymphing, along with Polish Nymphing and Euro-nymphing (etc., etc.) is one of several aggessive nymphing techniques used by competitive fishermen to rack up big scores in competitive fishing events. If you are good at it, you can catch dozens, even hundreds, of fish per day. Did I mention that it is an aggressive technique? Is it worth learning to do? Probably. It can save your day, when you can see the fish, lying on the bottom, but you can't entice a strike with normal methods. Generally, if you can bounce a nymph off their nose, the fish will nip at it, and if they nip, you can catch them. You don't have to go to the extreme of a 3 nymph rig, though, just make sure you have enough weight on to get down to where the fish are, and concentrate on getting your fly to drift through the feeding lane at the right depth. Since most of us go fishing to relax, it's not really how we prefer to fish.