mikechell

Some nice chunks, Gillage.  Pretty bass, Squeezy.

14 hours ago, Mark Knapp said:

The Cutting Edge, "Never a dull moment"

Excellent info, Mark ... but 🙄 on the pun.  😃

Welcome to the site.  You don't have anything in your profile, yet.  Where are you hailing from?  Are you new to fishing, fly fishing or fly tying?  Are fillet knives your main passion?  Tell us a little about yourself, please !!!

🙄

😁

Fillet knives, in my opinion, are one of the few knives that aren't "brand" specific or better.  They need to be flexible, which means they can't hold an edge as well as stiffer knives.   As long as you can keep put a good edge on to begin with, any fillet knife will slice through a dozen or two fish before it needs to be stropped/sharpened again.

As Philly stated, the Rapala knives available from Walmart or Amazon for less than $25.00 will do well for several years.

Love his "Oh, What a Wonderful World" 

On 8/7/2022 at 12:03 PM, Mark Knapp said:

We don't use any cleats because we use a lot of rubber boats here. It's against the law to use felt because of fear of spreading invasive species. Those are the only two drawbacks to living in Alaska that I can think of. ( Mike Chell). We have calks we can slip over regular waders when we are wading.

😆

Oh ... I can think of hundreds more !!!

😉

The only time I've ever fished specifically for trout.  My Dad took me to "Miracle Mile".  Caught about a dozen Rainbows and half a dozen Browns in less than two hours.  It's not "in" Caspar, but it's not too far to drive and spend a morning fishing.

https://wyomingfishing.net/fishtails/ft_mmile.htm

Welcome to the site, BillD58.  There are no stupid questions.  There ARE inappropriate questions, like asking spaghetti sauce recipes on a top water popper thread.  But even that wouldn't be a "stupid" question if you truly wanted an answer.  So please, ask anything.

I've been through Mass.  But haven't spent any "quality time" there.  Looking forward to your flies and the fish caught with them!!!

Nope.  His music's okay ... but I wouldn't go see him in a concert even if they paid me $5000.00.  I always have to laugh when people play or listen to "Born in the U.S.A." and think it's pro-American.

Nice cyclone.  Can't wait to see the finished system.

There are still people who have faith in their fellow man ???  I think I lost that faith about the time I started school, maybe not until the second year ... first grade.

If they're brittle from bleaching, can't he soak them in a wet paper towel, like biots, before using them?  Won't that help make them supple enough to wrap?

Would've made a great 63rd birthday gift yesterday ... but I didn't win.

Really pretty waterway.  nice fish.

It's not a matter of "desperate" ... but I'm not going to stay off the water just because some species or another is in spawning mode.  I still have to work for a living, so my days available for fishing are limited.  I'm going fishing when I get the chance.  I don't "target" bedding fish, but as I said before, I'm not going to avoid them either.

Welcome back Mark!  How'd the fishing trip go?  Er ... no need to reply here, but I'm glad to see you're back.

No need to convince me ... I drive that barbed hook home with pleasure every chance I get.   And I'll set the hook on a bedding fish just as readily as any other fish that hits my lure/fly.  I just don't fool myself that either act is ethical nor non-ethical.  Ethics are also a human condition.

Good luck to all of you ... especially you, vicrider, since you started this thread.  I'm taking the residual maintenance meds since my heart operation.  My blood numbers keep coming up good with "bad" numbers falling every test.  So far, diabetes hasn't been mentioned.

I've got two.  An old one from the military I wish I'd never gotten.  I got it while stationed at an Air Force base ... and one driving force for getting it ... I figured it would start a fight or more.  Didn't.  Once they lost my loyalty by "laying me off" in a reduction of force bulls##t after the first gulf war, I almost got it removed ... but I couldn't afford it.

I've got a dragon on my chest that I wish I'd never gotten.  Got it in London.  It's never been sunburnt, but the colors have blended and it's hard to tell what it is at this point.

Had I the knowledge then that I have now, I would not have gotten any tattoos.

It's a personal decision Steve.  If you feel the need/desire/want to get a tattoo, consider it very carefully. 

1)  Why?  What's the purpose/message you wish to convey?  Do you want to declare your patriotism for the patriotism, or to piss off "non-patriots"?

2)  When do you want it seen?  If it's for others to see, or for you to see, it needs to be done on different areas of the skin.  I once got into a fight on a Navy ship when I questioned a sailor why he had a beautifully done nude woman on his back.  His reply, "I liked the picture and wanted it on me."  I said, "You can't see it on your back.  The only reason to have that on your back is so your buddy has something to look at while he's pile driving your a---  (That's when the fight started)

3)  Jennie has a one, and she wishes she hadn't because it's also blended to the point of unrecognizability.   She says, Have a T-shirt made.  It's cheaper, less painful and you can always get another one with a new message when you tire of the original.

4)  And yes, they are painful.  Obviously, it's survivable.  As stated above, it's worse in areas of less fat/flesh.  Take a small pin and just lightly poke yourself is various areas.  Now, imagine hundreds and thousands of those pinpricks.  Tattoo needles need to penetrate about 1/16th of an inch.  Then there's the healing time of salves and clingfilm wraps, etc.   If you're going to do it, put some serious thought into it first.

Your opinion, my opinion, their opinions.   We all have them, and everyone thinks the only one that is right is their own.  Just because many people have similar opinions doesn't make THAT the ethical behavior.   That way of thinking has led to almost every war in history.

Bed fishing isn't listed on this site.

http://www.ethicalangler.com/the-code-of-ethical-angling.html

My point is that catch-n-release fishing COULD be considered torture to the fish you catch.  In fact, it IS considered torture to a large portion of the populace who follow PETA, Greenpeace or "BlackFish".  To say that it's ethical but catching fish off the bed isn't is a rationalization to suit ones own feelings of right and wrong.

Again, let me iterate, all the above comments are MY own opinion, not a denigration of anyone else's opinions.

For me, wrapping away from yourself across the top allows for an easier trapping of materials.  I've tried both directions, because I thought seeing the material I am tying on while trapping it under thread would be better.  It wasn't, for me.  I can say that both directions are easy for me.  I've come off of figure 8s on eyes and realized I'm wrapping the "wrong" way.  Had to unwrap back to the eyes so I could continue wrapping clockwise.

Okay ... first and foremost ... HOLY MOLY and WOW !!!  That's fantastic !!!  I really mean it.

But, one ... oops?  Where are the kids in the upside-down car?  He was trying to lead the T-rex away because it was going after them, no?  Honestly, it's been so long since I've seen it, I don't remember when they actually got out of the vehicle.  But I'm pretty sure it was turned over and they were getting muddy.

Females remain on or near the nest for much shorter times than males, typically less than 2 hours. It takes 10 to 11 days for eggs to hatch and grow into fry and subsequently disperse from the nest (Carr 1942).

If you're catching BIG females off the bed, they probably haven't laid yet.  If they are treated well, they will return to the nest and lay after they've been released. 

I'm truly not trying to disparage anyone's opinion, but all this talk of "unethical" behavior ... well, it's laughable.  There wouldn't be any catch and release angling if ethics was foremost in anyone's mind.  Hooking a fish in the mouth (sometimes gills etc.) playing it until it's exhausted, hoisting it out of the water ... is any of this "ethical" behavior?  Ask PETA people and you'll get a resounding NO.

I fish for fun, mostly.  I fish for what ever will hit my fly.  I'm sure fish have died after I've released them.  I don't particularly care.  I try to release them as "unharmed" as possible, but I'm not fooling myself by believing that anything I do is the "ethical" thing to do.  Fishing is unethical.  So taking the occasional fish off a bed is only more of the same.