vicrider

Works for me.

I got me a Bad Boy zero turn mower a couple of years ago. Like you mine mows our 1/2 acre, the neighbor widows 3/4 acre, my kids yard, and the neighbor on the other side that is vacant but I don't want it growing into a brush fire hazard. It is actually my kid who does most of the mowing with it and he just replaced the bearings and blades on it and it's good for another couple of years. It is the smallest zero turn they make and mows waste field grass with no problem in the alley behind us and when I bought it it was on sale for about $2K. Just checked on another one for the heck of it and the price today is $3,600. Guess I keep this going for awhile and it will probably outlast me.

MFG, you are in one of my favorite areas in the whole world when you're above Stillwater. A few friends of mine and I used to spend as much time up there as we could though fishing the Big River (Mississippi) above the Crow River was high on the list of planned outings. The great thing about the St. Croix was the variety of fish that could be caught. When throwing streamers and buggers with the long rod it was mostly limited to smallies and northern pike and if you hit it right White Bass on every cast. Going over to jigs and fatheads (yes, we did that) would bring us channel cats, flatheads, sauger, walleye, saugeye, crappie, freshwater drum (sheepshead), mooneyes, an occasional largemouth, and the variety was fun just being there and enjoying the beautiful scenery while he drifted down through the runs. Man I miss that river and the country up there but don't miss the winters anymore.

I have been following some of his work on Youtube. He is very sure of himself and does beautiful work and I really like some of his flies BUT he has a world wide source of materials and when he specifies Egyptian Goose Biot and monkey fur for the fly that definitely leaves most of us out. I don't like when his face fills the whole of my TV either. I would definitely prefer a shot of him from the desk up rather than a full face shot.

Beautiful work. PM me with what it would take to add one of the one handled beauties to my small collection.

Nothing personal Norm but I don't think this swap is for you. Seeing your work over the years I find it hard to believe there is a "Swap of Discomfort" for you to submit. If there is I'd love to see it.

So, the one everyone laughs about using is the one better than all the overpriced formulas (formulae) developed just for us fly fishermen. I wonder though, did you try any of the UV formulas in your experiment? They definitely leave a hard glossy finish on the head, especially nice on streamers, but I doubt they penetrate at all and when they chip the threads are just exposed. Since thread coming apart is a very small problem even without a glue I like the UV on streamer heads. On other flies I just use a super glue dabbed on the threads on the last 1/2" before I pull the whip finish tight. I think I will put Sally Hansen's on the list for pickup though. Used to use but ran out or wife stole it.

I was in last year of grade school when that movie came out. Loved it. Wrote a story based on the film and teacher said it was great but verging on plagiarism. Got an A with a warning to make sure I write my own words and don't copy the movie too closely. Maybe they need a guy running from the theatre on a walker for realism. Nice bunch of blobs Fruitrollups. Now find any lake with stocked trout and you're ready.

I don't know if it's climate change, vacations, or people tired of trying to get on and get the " TImed Out" message but it seems like we can't get the activity we used to get on the board. I have done a 1/2 dozen winged Yellow Sallies I'm not proud of but are as good as I can do. Not doing more until we know if this swap is really going to make it or not.

Had to look up Grackle but it sure seems like a good bird to put on the nuisance list. When I thought you were going to mention air rifles in the yard I figured it was going to be Iguana. I have watched them on Youtube shows popping them off with precision air rifles and looks like fun. I'm not much of a hunter and the only thing I ever have hunted in past were pheasant and grouse with an occasional woodcock but my average on partridge was about 3 birds per 5 shells. My average on woodcock was maybe 1 bird per 5+ shells. Back in my youth I did a little precision shooting with .45 frames bought in the days when their were surplus handguns from the army around for next to nothing. We'd tear them down and replace things to bring them into some shade of accuracy. As they came they were pretty worn out but after working them they were good for range shooting. Had a .22 of some brand I can't remember now but it was a competition handgun that was fun to shoot, more accurate than the shooter was capable of, and a whole lot cheaper to burn up ammo than the .45. Haven't done any real target shooting for years but the few times I've been out showed me that for personal protection I'm now in the "bad breath" range of accuracy. My plan now is to live in a small rural town where a weapon for "defense" is far less likely to ever be needed than an inner city location.

Capt. Bob, do you have messaging turned off or are you full? I know your email is on your profile but I can't get a message to you either on the site PM. Nick

Okay, I am just a poor boy whose intentions are like yours...but you guys seem to able figure trips without taking altitude into consideration. My COPD pretty much caps my time to areas less than 3,000 feet above Sea Level. I am planning a bucket trip right after school resumes. Like a friend of mine who planned all his motorcycle trips in the fall it was because at that time of year all you have to contend with are the newly weds and the nearly deads. I'm not a newly wed so I will join the other crowds out there. My plans are hooking up with a few other members of a couple of boards and doing a trip through the stocked waters of Missouri and Arkansas. A cyber friend named Barry on another board has sent me pics of the Roaring River Park in MO that has great access for handicaps like my walker and plenty of places to rest and fish in clear water to sight fish trout of all sizes with lots of stocking. While in MO I may have to get a drift boat trip on Taneycomo, another river/lake stocked but has a lot of carryover fish. After that is dropping south to Arkansas to explore some of the fishing in the White River, Norfork, and since I have a handicap pass for Dry Run Creek that runs into the Norfork and is the channel used to put fish in from the hatchery located at upper part of Creek. It is a youth and handicap only fishery, all barbless and catch and release but TU has worked on providing access to many of the areas on the river for walkers and chairs. Woodenlegs from board has volunteered to help me fish Dry Run if he's available at time and would love to meet him anyway. I have read and heard a lot about the Little Red River south of White River area and may try to add that to the trip. Most of this time will be with guides and boats since wading is pretty a thing of the past for me and it's going to set me back a lot of money but like flytire said, this is bucket list time and may be the last major trout trip for me. I am going to fly fish as much as possible but I also have a host of mini-lures for my UL spin equipment I really enjoy using. When you consider that the normal guided trip involves throwing a heavy nymph or two hanging under a bobber it is as much or more fun to me to be throwing tiny spoons, spinners, and lures on 2-4# lines on rods even more flexible than 4 and 5wt fly equipment. If I can do this trip I'm darn well going to make use of all the baits, flies and equipment I've been accumulating over the past few years and never using. Lots of fly swap flies I'll be tossing out there too and as silly as it sounds every time I catch a fish I'm changing fly or lure to a different one. Nick

Great set in the mail heading for a box. Thanks guys and Woodenleg for the swap.

Now that's funny because I was thinking of a Muddler and a White Wing Miller with duck wings.

I'm in. With shaky hands these days almost any fly qualifies for me but I have a few I especially struggle with.