Kingfisher

That's great information Charlie; I prefer to fish streamers whenever possible, and will tie several to match the smelt. I'll be sure to tie a few extra in case the three of us meet up on the river.

QUOTE (TroutBum @ Oct 15 2004, 09:33 AM) ...I would discourage making a compromise because of price, if you can't afford the one you want, wait and save up for it. Everytime I've compromised on something I've regretted it in the end. Very true, particularly when it comes to buying a new vise! For me, the Dynaking Barracuda was the best choice; the engineering, size, and range of hooks it accomodates were perfect for what I wanted the vise to do.

Holy crap! That's a lot of stuff; Denise would kill me if I ordered that much stuff at one time. I've never heard of Integra before.

Actually, an Acura

Now here's the question: do these fish feed on smelt or other forage fish, and will streamers be effective (and I don't mean classic streamer patterns necessarily, but more realistic imitations)? If so, give me an idea as to the size of the forage fish so I can tie accordingly.

Thanksgiving in the States is Thursday, November 25th this year.

I've ordered from them before; great people and a really neat rewards system. I'll definitely be entering this competition!

Anyone interested in this? Flies would be tied to target steelhead, salmon, and large trout. They can be classic patterns or something new if you'd like; feel free to tie on salmon or streamer hooks, or whatever your desired pattern calls for. Let's keep this to the standard "no more than 12 participants" rule; first 12 on board closes it unless we don't get that many; we'll give it to next Friday the 22nd to close sign-up, and patterns will be due by Thanksgiving. Any interest? So far, we have... 1. me 2. sdnz13 3. Mako 4. geozip 5. TroutBum 6. tidbit 7. Pat Carroll 8. mcfly 9. Steelheader69 10. mmarkey ... 12. DFix (c'mon Dave, I know you want to do this one!) ONLY 1 SLOT LEFT; GET IN ON THIS TYING EXTRAVAGANZA WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!! If we go over on the number of participants wanting to get in, I'll sell my spot to the highest bidder j/j of course

This is all very interesting; niether marabou nor rabbit affect me, however I have on occassion had massive congestion and sneezing after using deer hair. The thing is, I tie at least 75% of my streamers with deer hair, so as much as I'm around it I'm happy that it's only the occassional patch that seems to elicit a response.

Charlie - Thanks for the info; I'll certainly let you know what my plans are. Can you tell me what sort of fare the SH are feeding on during that time of year? I kind of prefer to tie my own stuff to "match the hatch" (with a couple of "classic" SH patterns thrown in for good measure) without knowing specifics about the names of patterns typically used. I have a couple of good steelhead books but I wondered if you knew specifically what the SR fish are likely to be doing.

Wow! Great job Mark! I wish I could read it, but I have yet to receive my first issue... At any rate, looking forward to reading it when it arrives!

Thanks Chip; I'm undecided as to whether I want to do the steelhead thing or head out to Montauk over the weekend of my birthday (23-24 of Oct.) for the stripers. At this point I'm more interested in the steelhead. I'm going to place a few calls to the shops in the Pulaski area and see what they have to say. Will post again once I have some information.

It's the method of tying the fly that is patented, and frankly I think that if someone has come up with a way to do something that represents a significant break-through (regardless of how well it's received by the community) in tying it makes sense for them to protect themselves from being under-sold by competitors. I also believe that most people in that situation would act accordingly and be sure to protect their discovery from exploitation. So the style of tying may not catch on (I've heard very few positive comments re: this particular tying style), but the person who (we hope) created the style has protection just in case. What does it really matter, anyway? Most tiers will stick with the standard catskills technique.

Hey all, I'm kicking around the idea of heading up to the SR on the weekend preceeding Thanksgiving and wondered if anyone had some advice about whether or not it's likely to be worth the 6-hour haul from NYC. Any thoughts?

Cool! I'll have to tie a few of those myself...

Very pretty!

I tied my first fly when I was 14 or 15 out of a small bait hook and some yarn my mom had stuffed into a drawer. Unimpressed with my creation, I forgot about fly tying again until about four years ago when I "got the bug", and like Mozes quickly invested a huge pile of cash fortifying myself with stuff I will probably never get through. Of course, that doesn't stop me from buying more material , but I think I spend more wisely now... that is, unless someone advertises a 50% off sale on materials that are already rediculously cheap (awaiting my massive order as we speak). When I look back at some of the flies I first tied (when I became serious about tying), I just laugh. Man, they were really... bad. I like to think I've come a long way since then...

QUOTE (tightlines @ Oct 11 2004, 05:35 AM) http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingtips/archive.html Good grief! It's going to take me hours to look through that site! Thanks for posting the link...

Well, you guys are probably right. I don't mean to fly off the handle or anything, and I'm not implying that my profession makes me any more sensitive to the extinction of species than anyone else, it's just that it infuriates me when this kind of thing really does happen. I hope I didn't upset anyone, assuming the whole thing was a joke. Just my "over-sensitive" side showing through...

QUOTE (Steelheader69 @ Oct 12 2004, 03:07 PM) Kingfisher, use both. Makes some very nice patterns. I just don't use the kreinek braided material. I use the braided with floss (make sure the sizes are almost similar, not too much difference in diameters). I've found it really adds some life to some older patterns. SD69 - Will do.

It's not an issue of being a pest, whether or not that's true. The issue is that this is a species under heavy pressure and likely to be erased from existence due to overfishing and poor habitat management (the reasons for the problem are really secondary to the greater issue), and that there are those who are apparently urging others to pursue these fish "before it's too late", meaning before they're gone for good. Sorry, but it's no different than fishing something like golden trout to extinction. I don't mean to be rude, honestly, or come off as a jerk, but the issue is the continued existence of a species or the extinction of it, regardless of which species it is or what types of problems it poses to those that pursue gamefish. Perhaps the good captain should be reminded of that.

I believe that Harrison Steeves uses braided krenik in one of his sinking patterns. I'm going to play with braided floss bodies and see where that gets me.

Actually, I feel much more strongly about it than my post let on, but I decided to mind my manners...

Very cool; I'll have to try some of those in the upcoming months...

Russ, Welcome to the forum; glad to have you with us. You and I are in the same neck of the woods, as I believe West Point is only a short distance from the city. Maybe we can get together some time to chase a fish or two.