DFoster

Gene, I'm a musician and on occasion I've had a my fore finger lock closed from what I took to be over exertion. I was told by an RN who was a show when it happened that it was a sign of dehydration. I prefer beer and bourbon at gigs so she may have had a point. 🙄 It takes a few minutes of relaxing my hands to get it to unlock. I can't say it's ever happened tying flies though.

Maybe- next outing I'll wear some thin socks under the wool and see. I still need to address the leaks in the shin area.

For what it's worth I wrote a previous post about my recent experience with Orvis waders. Long story short after my new pair of $300 Orvis waders started leaking after roughly 4 outings they offered to upgrade me to their $600 pro waders for short cash. I took the deal. While the wader material on the Pro's is definitely heavier than the $300 pair the neoprene booty's seem to be the exactly the same. After my 4th outing in the "Pro" waders my I noticed that my socks were damp, not soaked but damp. Is this normal? Last week after my 6th outing I found some small quarter size wet spots on my wader pant's just below the knee of both legs. Again not soaked but these waders list for $600 bucks - there should be zero issues after 6 outings right? I have not been "bushwacking" in them and have "babied" them in every way possible. I never kneel down on gravel to cast (like they show in their promo photo). After every outing they are hung on a coat hanger and the only thing I have worn under them have been cotton pants. I'm sure Orvis will replace them but considering the prices companies are charging for waders they should last a hell of a lot longer than a few outings. I get that all waders will leak eventually and I'm prepared to fix holes from time to time but It seems like the price is irrelevant to how water proof a pair of waders will be or for how long. Here' and idea, how about just waterproof? I don't give a damn about "breathable, sipper front, extra pockets, D rings, fly patch" blah, blah, blah because none of that matters when they leak. So to Mad Duck's point I'll stock up on aquaseal, buy cheap and replace when needed.

I've said for years that spring in New England is just a less severe version of winter. This wind needs to stop.

Steve I have not owned Frogtoggs and can't offer an opinion about them. A local blogger and guide mentioned on his blog that flexseal spray (available at Home Depot ect.) will stop neoprene booty leaks. It might be worth a shot? I was recently listening to the Orvis podcast and the topic of finding holes in waders came up. Tom Rosenbauer said the way he finds them is to turn them inside out and wet the leg/booty with dish soap and water. He uses a shop vac setup to blow to inflate the leg just enough for bubbles to show the leak. The same concept as finding a slow leak in a tire or inner tube. I have been chasing leaks in waders for years and never heard of this method until now but I intend to try it when needed. LL Bean offers waders and they might be worth looking at because they often offer discounts on line and their warranty is good. If you have a store nearby you might be able to check them out in person.

My personal best ever Rainbow came on a #14 Royal Wulff and my last Bow of 2021 came on a Royal Coachman winged wet I always carry carry a selection of Royal Wulff's and Coachmen dries and wets. IMO the Coachman's/Wulffs are part of the "Fly Perfection Club", along with the elk hair caddis, the pheasant tail nymph, The hare's ear, Stewarts black spider, the partridge and orange, the Adams and the wooly bugger. All of who just work anywhere in the world they are used.

I use them also. I got my most recent ones from a hunter friend but I have seen them in fly shops on occasion. Craft web sites may offer them as well.

Great looking water and it's a great thing that your teaching your nephew! I think silver is correct about the water temps keeping the Brookies sluggish, I would add that wild trout are tough mark for anyone especially a novice. I think you're correct about Stocked trout being his best chance and if you can time it to be there within a day or two of the stocking they will be better still. Just a thought (maybe you've done this already) but when the weather warms I'd bring him to some flowing warm water and target the Fall Fish and Bluegills. They are far less picky about a perfect drift or flies. The time I spent catching Bluegills early on was a great way for me to hone the fly fishing skills I needed to catch trout. Still is, I lost a couple of nice Browns last autumn after the reflex of setting the hook on down stream take came back out of no where. I addressed the problem by fishing for Bluegills with a downstream presentation. After catching 30 or so I felt I had trained myself out of that particular temptation and my first Trout of 2022 came on a downstream take. I think everyone would agree that Bluegills are really fun on a fly rod and having fun will only increase his enthusiasm.

Nice tie Norm. Orange has always been productive for me late in the year here in Mass

Thanks!

My kind of water!

This is a wet fly I've been tinkering with I call it a Blue Bird. BLUE BIRD HOOK: #16 STANDARD NYMPH THREAD: #70 MEDIUM BROWN TAIL:BROWN HEN OVER WHITE HEN FIBERS- COVERED WITH ENGLISH JAY FIBERS ABDOMEN/BODY: BROWN HARELINE DUBBING WING CASE: ENGLISH JAY HACKLE: BROWN HEN OVER WHITE HEN FIBERS- TIED LONG HEAD: S.H. HARD AS NAILS BROWN HEN OVER WHITE HEN FIBERS

BISSET HOOK: #10 NYMPH 1XS HEAVY WIRE THREAD: #70 BLACK TAG: YELLOW FLOSS ABDOMEN/BODY: PEACOCK HERL, NATURAL 2 STRANDS WING: GOOSE PRIMARY- SLATE BEARD: GUINEA HEN- NATURAL HEAD: S.H. HARD AS NAILS

That's really nice work!

Thankfully most don't get it- 😃

Nice Brookie! lots of #16 stones this spring.

My father in law has a wonderful tradition with our grandchildren (his great grand children). Each spring he takes them around his farm on the tractor so they can clean out the last years nest from his many bird houses. At the same time he has them hang dozens of 12" pieces of string in the nearby bushes that they cut from a spool . "Two by fours for the birds" he tells them. In their fall wanderings they're able to find many nest low in the trees that include their string. The following spring's bird house clean out always reveals some of last years pieces. It's a simple thing that produces great memories and they learn something about the natural world.

Good for you Steve. My wife was a 2 pack per day smoker for 25 years. 16 years ago she made the decision to quit when our first Grandchild was born. She had a couple of relapses early on but is now free. I remember watching a show years ago where they were interviewing people who had successfully quit hard drug addictions and or a very serious alcohol problem but still could not quit smoking. Yes it is that tough to overcome and my hats off to anyone who has that kind of will power. You should be proud of yourself sir.

Wow nice fish- My personal best Bluegill was 10". I had no clue that there were no Bass or Walleye either. Well it looks like you make up for them with Rainbow Trout, Salmon and Grayling from what I've seen in your post.

Hey Mark it looks like a great trip! Just curious do you not have any sunfish in Alaska? Here they are everywhere.

Honestly George- I'm not a photographer. Those pics were taken with my IPhone factory settings - no editing. The water shots we're taken about an hour after sun up so that's the reason for the lighting. The Brookies around here (and I believe in PA as well) really turn their colors up a notch in the fall. I still remember the first one I ever caught. It was in the Autumn and I couldn't believe a fish with that type of coloring actually swam in our streams. I thought maybe he'd gotten lost off a coral reef somewhere? 😜

Thanks Skeet-The photos we're all taken with my IPhone 6 with just standard settings, so nothing special. I was in Asheville NC a few years ago and the Blue Ridge mountains reminded me very much of the Green mountains in Vermont and to a lesser degree the Berkshires in Western Mass. Yes you do have Brook Trout and they are gorgeous! I follow a youtuber named Derek who fly fishes the SE. He's often in the Smokies and like me he generally avoids the larger stocked rivers in favor of wild fish. Mostly he's on the small tribs. His blue line techniques are very much a mirror of the kind of fishing. Even the water he fishes looks really familiar.

Welcome to the site Helen! I would say either the chalk streams of England or the rivers of Scotland because of the fly fishing history associated with those areas. As others have said I'm not much of a destination angler. I know anglers who love "adventure fishing" - getting on a plane and going to some other part of the world, hiring a guide and fishing. I understand it but I've never felt the need. I suppose it's all about how a person defines great fishing? I truly love small stream fly fishing for wild trout here in New England. I love the challenge of reading flowing water then quietly and hopefully undetected moving to a spot, where I at least have a chance of making a cast between or under the overhangs to give the fly that I tied a shot. If I get it right my reward just might be the privilege of getting to hold a Massachusetts wild jewel for a few moments before sending him on his way and for me that's great fishing.

I've been out 4 times so far and I'm still dry.

I wonder if he rethought his approach of dealing with the general public after that?