vicrider

Mine went out yesterday. I have the tiny version for CO guides to argue with and also a CDC variant of the Warrior I saw on the net. Everyone says CDC on nymphs adds lifelike qualities and is not just for floating flies so I have one of those in there. Now, about your smallmouth fly. I would not take it personally if you want to strip it or burn to get the links and the hook. I have really been trying to get a decent zonker type articulated streamer in the game changer style and believe it or not after four flies tied the one I sent you is the best of the bunch and it won't win any rewards but just may do the extra movement as an articulated pattern that could entice a few fish if you decide to give it a try. Nick

I should get them out tomorrow. Trying to get one decent bonus for your smallmouth box but they're not coming out well. Have those little ones I pictured and one I saw on youtube with a 16 wide gap hook.

Yeah Mark, that one is a Zebra I tied just to do an easier one that fighting the wrapping of the flash. I think I have one or two I did with Pearl Mylar but that stuff was a disaster. The fine version curled up so bad when you cut a piece from the spool my shaky fingers just couldn't do the Mylar wrap called for so I went with the flash. My flies are always experiments in tying and then I figure out what looks good and concentrate on a limit of those.

And they're coming along...#20 hook, 1.5mm Rainbow Tungsten bead, Coq de Leon tail, Rainbow flash body, #16 Veesus Florescent Orange Thread and collar.

The beginning is here...

I'd grab the women and run like hell for the hills if I saw you leading a bunch of Vikings onto our shore. Looking good and you are a very ambitious. You spend almost as much time on your various side projects as Mark Knapp spends hunting and fishing.

Thanks for a great answer Swamp Fly. I would have included you in title but wasn't familiar with your name or location. That's because I mainly spend time in and out of the swapping section where you should join in with us. Sounds like most of the fish are okay to eat and it's a shame that mercury and other pollutants have damaged the eating safety of so many fish in so many rivers and lakes in our country. Now it's found tire runoff from a compound used to inhibit UV damage is killing salmon and trout around the salmonid areas of the states. "Unfortunately a lot of fishermen feed them to gators (the animal not the University of Florida fan ). Ultimately that is a death sentence for the gator since they will eventually start approaching humans begging for food." I was reading an article about exotics in FL and the article finished with "You must learn to land fish quickly since the splashing of you catch by the bank is like a dinner bell for gators who hear an easy meal". This kind of discouraged me from making that bucket list to FL exotics since gators, crocs, sharks, grizzlies, and venomous snakes are high on my "To be avoided" list. Most of the shows I've watched with the air rifles and Iguana shooting were hired and licensed teams working in golf courses and private residences. They had lots of shooting and getting paid for it to boot. If health allows this old man one more major trip FL exotics are high on my list and would love a chance to meet some of the members on here from FL if I went down there. Having COPD and limited lung capacity I need oxygen if air this out so most of the western and mountain trips I'd love to make are out but OK to FL with stops in some of the bayous along the way to fish for sac-a-lait and trip to the shore for redfish. Maybe someday...

I read a lot about the exotic fish available in the FL canals and in the Keys. What I wonder is which of these various exotics are edible to the extent they are decent table fare and which are not. I think of various Cichlads, Snakeheads, and whatever is available in the canals. I also have watched several Youtube videos of high power air rifle shooting of Iguana. I have read or heard these are edible and "taste like chicken". I guess what I'm wondering is what the exotics taking over so many waters and lands down there add to the culinary skills of the good old boys. I know that there are people who eat gators and crocs, snakes (I've had rattlesnake meat), and other strange to me things but I'd be game to try almost anything that is listed as safe to eat. A lot of the things I've eaten or sampled over the years would make some people cringe but one thing I won't do is raw fish (sushi is out).

Damn Mark, you lead a tough life. Must be awful boring for you. Did you get any 4# shellcrackers on your spring trip to Havasu?

Mark, instead of a bunch of similar flies let's see the unusual one instead of the regular one. The only one I know of and what I'm THINKING WL means is this or similar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfEQB6f7uWg

Let's hope with me in here we get enough to make it worthwhile. Enough variety in Rainbow Warrior variations and materials to make it an interesting group for the box.

Just got back to this thread. As soon I read Liberty Mutual my skin started to crawl. They overcharge and underpay as much as possible. They used lowball figures to get us signed up for house and car insurance then kept raising prices ever 6 months. When he finally had a claim they fought us every step of the way under they finally barely covered the minor damage we had. All insurance is a actuary game that very similar to Vegas the house always wins in the end. Not wanting to get into politics, especially as a mod, but the weather patterns we are experiencing thanks to weather changes of UNKNOWN reasons the country is being treated to multiple disasters destroying homes, towns, and lives. The way we get insurance coverage on our property is to divide all this up and give everyone their fair share of the pain. I am old enough to really consider saying the hell with the cost of home insurance and just staying in the house if we do get a tornado and get it all over with. Car insurance is basic coverage and we have to insure the Subaru for full coverage but as soon as that's paid for it gets liability only like the truck. Time to just take our chances and put that insurance money aside if needed for repairs or replacement.

Free hotmail.com for years. It is now outlook but still answers to hotmail.com for use early subjects. I've had and used this for so many years I'd hate to change now in my senior years. I also have a gmail acc't I check and delete a bunch of junk every now and then, plus a yahoo acc't which I probably should look at one of these days. What I have found over the years is that almost every scam and con game that has come at me uses gmail. I don't know why this is unless it's easy access and easy to get multiple names but the gmail has been consistent in it's use by scammers. I know a lot of people are legit but just my experience. Another thing I like about hotmail.com is that when I make the mistake of giving out my email to one of those sites that then sells it a hundred outfits selling crap I can throw a block the sender on them and not have to deal with them again. They go right junk mail and that saves me a lot of BS.

The sound I've learned to hate is the clunk of the bobbin hitting the vise base when I carefully trim a feather or hackle and hip the thread. AARRGGHHH