troutguy

Nice fly

Adams is a forgotten fly it seems anymore. Not that bad to tie.

It makes the absolute best Thunder Creek black nose dace

How could you forget Gar? The first I saw someone catch one it was a four foot Gar a bass fisherman caught on a large minnow. He cursed as soon as it hit. It took almost every bit of his line. I sat in my kayak and watched him land it. It took at least 15 minutes. I could not believe that this guy was upset with catching a huge fish that fought like crazy. Being from the north, I had never seen a monster like this. I just had to catch one. I have heard the mono rope trick and have never tried it. I figured that my luck I miss a great bass or striper while I had no hook on the fly.

Blue gills are nice... A guy down here in South Carolina showed me how to make a hatch for carp by thorwing out handfulls of frozen corn and then fishing the hatch with yellow egg patterns or just plain nymphs and small crawfish patterns (size 10 or 12). Bass are king with most in the south. I love striped bass! I fish the Saluda and the Catawba in the spring. The is nothing like hooking a striper, but GAR! Holy #$%^! These alligator looking things grab stunned minnows below the dams on the Catawba. I fish for them from my kayak. Their mouth is real bony. I use a stout circle hook streamer that looks like a shad/alewife.herring. I sharpen the hook with a small file often. They range 24 to 48 inches long! When you get them they just try to swim south like a freight train. They don't jump until they are close to the kayak. Be careful taking them off the hook, they bite worse then a northern pike or bluefish.

I echo the comments of others. The vote favors certain flies. Wet flies need a vote. I fish wet flies first and nymphs or streamers second when fishing for trout. The dry fly is last unless I walk into a stream with an active hatch on. The wet either classic or soft hackle mimics so many life stages. I like a Picket Pin: it can be fished actively as an emerging mayfly, caddis or stonefliy, a crawfish, dace or sculpin. You can dead drift it to be a fallen fly post hatch allowing it to slip between surface and sub-surface. This same technique is too with so many wets. My grandfather fly fished at the turn of the century on the Beaverkill and Willowemoc in NY. He would say that someone who fished drys first were rich tourists or beginners letting the fish control the event. He said that a fly fisherman progressed from the easy dries to nymphs, wets and streamers as their understanding of the trout grew. His passion was night fishing with size 2,4 and 6 wets. He would go out at 10PM and come in at dawn. His wet flies were huge. I grew up fishing those rivers. Right before he died his influence convinced me that the only trout rod I needed was a 7 wt 9 foot with a wet fly/streamer action. The night fly fishers pal for really large brown trout. I still fish this big fiberglass antique. It's 40 years old. My favorite patterns are the Catskill, Picket Pin, partridge and orange and the Muddler Minnow. Now that I live in the south, for bass and gar, I love a mouse pattern. For white bass and striped bass, an alewife pattern streamer and for bream, wet flies of course.

I sent two emails on Friday. I have not heard anything. Does anyone have a fly in the scud or steelhead contests?

I agree and thanks. Please email Dave Hughes the editor at [email protected] Or write him at Frank Amato Publications PO Box 82112 Portland, OR 97282 Or Kim Koch at [email protected] Thanks to all who have read this post.

Hey is anyone else aware that the Patent patterns contest is ending in Flyfishing and Tying Journal? Not sure why. I called the magazine twice and got a different reason each call. They did tell me to email the editor. His email if anyone else is concerned is [email protected] The last call said that Jim is doing other projects........ (not sure if that rang true) If Jim is really doing another project, they should have someone fill in. I like JimSchollmeyer, hope they did not force him out.

I live near Charlotte. I always wondered do the tyers pay to be there? Some are selling items, others were not. How does that work? The Charlotte show has changed over the years. At first there were a lot of materials for sale, now it appears that guides and destinations out numbered the booths selling fly tying materials. This past year there were mostly rod building booths. I was disappointed in the show and I got in for free, I could not imagine how I would have felt if I paid. Moving to the new location should lower some costs to the show and parking should be cheaper for us. I hope that the show comes back. The main fly shop display was one of the local stores. They are overpriced and snooty normally, at the show, you all get the leftovers at the original price. My friend and I felt bad this past year, when you have more tying supplies then the booths selling tying stuff, your wife words about having too much stuff starts to ring true. Nah! Hey if you come to Charlotte, drive an hour south and fish the Saluda for some surprisingly great winter trout fishing. I'm going to give them one more year to see if it improves.

Just a quick PS. Get some aluminum flashing scrap and you can cut out spinner propellers in any size. Drill them and bend them (Dremel tool). Don't forget to sand them smooth. I use 800 autobody for polish and to debur the edges. For better spin, mount them between glass beads. The beauty of the flashing or any other light aluminum (like cans) is that they are light enough for fly casting.

The flies are nicely tied. George Herter tied that fly in the fifties. It works well. Herter's book shows us that there aren't many new ideas, just different materials.

If I'm in please send address. The Thunder Creek I will tie is a great emerald shiner imitation. Also works for most dace. I'll tie the during the holidays. Let me know if you move the due date up from January 2007.

My 12 Tennessee Coachman went out today Priority Mail. Size 12 they make a great low light searching fly.

Is there still an opening? I would like in if there is. I would tie a small olive/brown/white

Put me down for a Tennessee Coachman. I never heard of it until I moved down here (SC) from upstate NY. The fly is a coachman with chartreuse instead of red.

Thanks, I e-mailed them. It looks kind of close. The question will be if they have 1 inch diameter size. Googling never worked, tried it before posting here. Any places you know will be appreciated.

I need some large diameter corsair to tie some saltwater patterns. Does anyone have an idea where to get it? I called a lady in MA that Jack Gartside told me about and she never called back. Any clues?

I used a c clamp vise I got from the Darbees for years. I thought that I wanted a pedestal. What a mistake. I bought a Renzetti Traveler Cam. I can not get them to make good on the warrantee. I can't get them to return emails or letters. I like the pedestal since I can tie on any table. I would caution you about buying a Renzetti. They have several parts that are planned to fail. Anyone on here have a contact at Renzetti please let me know.

I bought a Renzetti Traveler Cam about 9 months ago. The small bolt/screw that adjusts the hook size broke. I am not happy with Renzetti. I emailed them and have asked them to send a new one under the warrantee five times. I can not get them to send one. They want me to buy a whole kit of replacement parts. Now I can not get them to respond to my emails. I was undecided between that vise and a Regal. I should have gone for the Regal. Some people I have met at TU said they are prone to small part breakdown. Has anyone else found that? I never saw that in any magazine review. I have been tying for over 40 years on either a Thompson B or a vise I got as a gift from the Darbees when I was a kid. I wanted to jump into the 21st century and get a rotating vise like everyone else. Well I voted Renzetti, but I certainly don't endorse it.