DFoster

4 hours ago, partsman said:

 Very nice Dean!

Mike.

Thanks Mike!

HYDROPSYCHE CADDIS LARVA- BROWN

HOOK: #14 3X LONG CURVED SHANK

THREAD: #70 UTC MEDIUM BROWN

UNDER BODY: .015 WEIGHTED WIRE

TAIL: PHEASANT UNDER FLUFF

GILLS: OSTRICH HERL- GREY, RIBBED BELOW WITH BLACK THREAD.

ABDOMEN:  VINYL RIB – CLEAR.  OPTIONAL BROWN SHARPIE MARKINGS

RIB: BLACK THREAD

WING CASE: THIN SKIN - BROWN SPECKLED

THORAX: LIFE CYCLE CADDIS DUBBING – 60% BROWN  40% GREEN - PEACOCK ICE DUBBING

HEAD: S.H. HARD AS NAILS

10 hours ago, niveker said:

Whew, good ending.  For a minute there I thought banjo's were gonna start playing.  

9 hours ago, DrLogik said:

Years ago when I was solo backpack fishing deep into Nantahala forest in North Carolina for 5 days I handn't seen anyone, not even hikers.  I remember a backpacking buddy of mine saying that because the area traverses the NC/TN border that most of the Wildlife Officers are also U.S. Marshall's and have cross-State authority anywhere they go. 

Anyway, I was fishing on a nice quiet stretch of the stream when I hear a voice behind me say, "Hello, can I see your fishing license?"  I nearly jumped out of my wading boots!!  He chuckled and said that he didn't mean to startle me.  I figured, well, maybe he's gonna be ok. 

I produced my license, he asked me to empty my pockets (I was a young buck back then...), scrutinized me for a minute, asked a few questions and then said, "You know, a scruffy Hare's Ear nymph is killer on this stream".  He told me to be careful since I was backpacking by myself and left. 

BTW, he was right about the Hare's Ear nymph.  I tried one earlier with no luck but it was a freshly tied fly.  I scruffed it up some after he left and presto!

Cool guy.

I would imagine that game wardens are probably relived when they check people who are doing it right.  Confronting lawbreakers alone in the wilderness who are likely armed with at the minimum a knife has got to be stressful.  It's not a job that I would want.

On 3/24/2022 at 3:09 PM, niveker said:

Poor Vinnie, he was never the brightest bulb.  LOL

LOL- he's probably spent years trying to explain!

HYDROPHYCHE CADDIS LARVA

HOOK: #14 3X LONG CURVED SHANK

THREAD: #70 UTC OLIVE

UNDER BODY: WEIGHTED WIRE

TAIL: PHEASANT UNDER FLUFF

GILLS: OSTRICH HERL- GREY, RIBBED BELOW WITH BLACK THREAD.

ABDOMEN:  VINYL RIB – CLEAR.  OPTIONAL GREEN AND BROWN SHARPIE MARKINGS

RIB: BLACK THREAD

WING CASE: THIN SKIN - GREEN SPECKLED

THORAX: LIFE CYCLE CADDIS DUBBING -GREEN AND BROWN - PEACOCK ICE DUBBING

HEAD: S.H. HARD AS NAILS

On 3/26/2022 at 7:58 AM, Capt Bob LeMay said:

Most fly fishers won't ever end up in the salt - and those that do have concerns about their gear.  Here's how I maintain my gear that's in hard commercial service day after day... 

After a day in the salt or brackish waters every rod and reel gets a freshwater rinse (hose at fan setting - no hard jet of water...).  Fly gear has the line stripped off down to the backing and gets that same thorough rinsing including special attention to each guide, etc.  Once it's all rinsed off thoroughly the line is wound back on the spool wet, the drag is reduced to zero and the rig is stored upright with the reel cover up on the rod - not over the reel, until it dries... That's it folks...   Any time I'm asked about warm water, warm soapy water, etc I point out that any detergent will remove essential lubricants from your reel...  I don't like any detergents on fly line either since they might attack or degrade that plastic coating on the fly line... Modern fly backing is always synthetic (dacron - or the newer super braids...) so there's nothing to rot although mildew on your backing is very common - it only affects the appearance of your line - synthetics don't rot...  The only thing I ever do to my fly lines is use a scrubbing pad (the one that Scientific Anglers sells), when the line is wet... Once it's dry a bit of line dressing (also form SA...) thoroughly rubbed in - then carefully polished off with a dry cloth (the slightest bit of extra dressing attracts dirt and grit like a magnet...).

As for that reel, every now and then (maybe twice a year) I'll break down my fly reels and add a tiny drop of oil on the spool shaft, handle pivot, etc.  Parts that rub together might get a tiny bit of grease -no more... and they just seem to last forever... Reels with the new sealed drags get returned to the manufacturer if service is needed - but that's almost never with my Nautilus reels.  Reels with a cork drag get a bit of neat's foot oil on the drag surface and that's all... 

Hope this helps

I think the key for anyone in the salt is being disciplined enough to do your cleaning routine after each time out.   I'm not a salt guy but once on Cape Cod I looked at some reels at a yard sale, sadly the salt water had turned the little gears and moving parts from a mechanism into something more like a lump of coral.  

On 3/23/2022 at 6:14 PM, skeet3t said:

Not necessarily. Louisiana got hit by tornadoes. South part of our town got hit by a tornado. Sad part was a part of town where the people couldn't afford insurance. Photo is a good reason th live on the Pacific coast. Like the fires out West. They will rebuild in the same place.

Sad, my experience with insurance is they will always make it painful even if your covered- 

I don't know for certain how true this story is but it certainly seems plausible.  I worked with a guy who's parents had a tee shirt shop on the South East coast, I think it was Myrtle Beach.  Anyway a hurricane came in and destroyed the beach front including his parents shop.  The insurance refused to pay because they were able to show that the hurricane produced a tornado and that's what did the damage.  He said that his parents didn't have a specific tornado rider (I guess required for coastal property?) even though they were insured for hurricanes and floods.  Cute-

10 hours ago, Steeldrifter said:

True Greg lol that is the best.

I'm just so amazed tonight. I honestly have not heard silence in a year. Yet if I turn off everything, I hear no sound. It just sounds so weird lol. Very happy, but just odd.

I feel so happy today about this I can not even tell ya. Anyone that has dealt with tinnitus, I know a few here have, they know how bad it makes life. But tonight after I got home from the ENT. I thought it felt better so I sat back in the bed room, turned everything off, and listened. And for the first time in a year, I heard silence 😁 I can't even tell you how happy that makes me to say that!

Glad to "hear" your doing well!!

13 hours ago, partsman said:

Glad to hear the news for you Steve, I told my wife today I need to make a appointment for a hearing specialist today, and that is a big step for me. Any kind help for my hearing would be great, and I’m taking Dfosters recommendations into consideration to be discussed with hearing specialist. 
Thanks, Mike.

Mike ,Tinnitus and Hearing loss are 2 separate issues and either alone or in combination they can make life miserable at times.  I have no affiliation with Bose- I mentioned their hearing aids simply to make you aware there are reasonably priced aids out there should you need them.  Keep in mind the life span of hearing aids is about 4 years and most insurance pays zero.  If your a veteran you can get them through the VA.   If it turns out you have hearing loss and depending on your personal situation a set from Bose may work and potentially could save you a lot of money.  You have 90 days to return them for a full refund if they don't work for you.  In my state hearing doctors are not allowed to sell hearing aids, Massachusetts views that as a conflict of interest.  Just be aware that some states do allow the doctor that's diagnosing your hearing loss to sell you on a hearing aid purchase.  

In 1988 my ears starting ringing after a show and haven't stopped since.  I was 23 and I'm 57 now.  I got diagnosed with 70% hearing loss in 2012. Both are self inflicted resulting from being a musician.  

  I truly hope  the doctor has good news for you.  

Dean

2 hours ago, niveker said:

It's unfortunate that they're ignorant of the significant revenue and resultant benefits of that revenue that hunters and fishers provide, and not only on a state level.  Or perhaps they  don't care.  

I have no use for poachers or the meat is murder crowd, it's a toss up as to which I detest more.  In this case the enemy of my enemy isn't my friend. 

If you haven't seen this -

12 hours ago, upnorthtier said:

moose wing thunder and lightning

 

 

 

thread- uni 6/0 black

hook- size 10 mustad 36890

tag- flat gold tinsel

butt- bright yelloe floss

tail- golden pheasant crest

body- black floss

rib- small gold oval tinsel

throat- blue over orange hackle

wing- moose body hair

Wow- that's a lot of time at the vise!

12 hours ago, skeet3t said:

Do the Greenies have a lot of influence in government?

They think they do.  Some of them are people who seriously think exterminating a colony of termites for eating your home is a "genocide"  and that it is perfectly fine to burn SUV dealerships to save the planet.  They made the mistake of breaking the "Thou shall not ever interrupt the state revenue stream" commandment by attempting a coordinated effort to block deer hunters a few years ago.  Immediately following the state made it illegal to interfere with a sportsman and from what I understand the penalties are substantial. So the greenies don't seem to have the influence they thought they had.

On 3/17/2022 at 9:03 PM, partsman said:

Keep us updated, I’m looking for some relief, I’ve had tinnitus for several years and it comes and goes in intensity. The last few weeks have been the worst I have ever experienced and really it’s enough to drive a person crazy. I’m thinking about hearing aids with some sort of aid for tinnitus. If only I had known how much quality hearing protection may have been beneficial after 30 years at GM and cutting fire wood maybe I would be dealing with this now. But such is life, so I have deal with it. But I really know what your talking about and I hope you find some relief.

Mike.

Mike there are many sound therapy vids for tinnitus on youtube and they do work for some people.  You may need to try a lot of them before (if) you find one that works for you but don't need to go anywhere and they are free so It's a good place to start.  I listen to them with headphones at work.   I wear hearing aids and wrote this post last year about the new Bose Hearing aids.  If you have hearing loss along with tinnitus as I do you might want to consider them.

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/95575-hearing-loss/&tab=comments#comment-805724

At the time the retailed for $850 (financing available) for a pair and Bose will mail them to your door.  No doctors appointment needed.  They are controlled from an ap on your phone that works exactly like a stereo-  volume, balance, bass and treble. They even have a mute button for those of us who are married. 🙂.  10 months later and my pair are working fine.  They won't cure tinnitus but if you have hearing loss they will help you hear.

I hope this helps.

On 3/21/2022 at 3:51 PM, flytire said:

Cheap! Hurry wont last long!

Have you ever noticed the most expensive places to live are also the ones with the highest risk of a natural disaster wiping out your house?

16 hours ago, skeet3t said:

DF, it was a "D" weight which I found was about a 7 weight. I still fish it for funsies. Yes, it is heavy. BTW, 8 ft., three piece so it's eay to transport.

Nice-  I've done research on understanding what line to put on old bamboo, because a lot of them are not marked.  Lacking information from the maker it really comes down to dead reckoning- trying different weight lines and seeing what the rod likes.

Oh yeah back to topic-  I own 4 reels good quality fishing reels which are engineered to get wet (freshwater) without too much potential for a design failure.    Still for me there is something counter intuitive about deliberately dunking them so I just don't do it.  Accidents are another story.  If one falls out of a ring style reel seat or gets soaked by the rain or I simply stumble and fall in with my rod I rely on the engineering and don't to worry to much about it.   I finish my day and simply make sure the reel is dry before sealing them up in a their reel case because I never really know how long they may be in there.   

Salt water is another story.  I don't fish salt but I have read that just using a reel for salt, let alone submerging it, requires an immediate soaking after use with freshwater followed by a thorough cleaning and drying (or bad things WILL happen).  Being a New Englander I know what salt does to cars.  I had an SUV that the previous owner used to back his ocean going boat into the sea with.  The salt destroyed everything it touched.   

6 hours ago, SalarMan said:

Going off subject for a moment...could we PLEASE stop with those idiotic abbreviations like OTOH or LMAO or FYI.

The language is made of of words, not that tiresome nonsense.

George I have to admit I had to google OTOH (LOL) 😆

22 hours ago, WWKimba said:

I see the problem and it's been corrected - I mixed pineapple on my pizza!  Sorry for the confusion, Norm!

Kim

Confused or no I'm tying that one, It looks like a killer dry!  

17 hours ago, Bryon Anderson said:

 

It is well worth noting that the COs who arrested this low-life were tipped off to the presence of the illegal deer by his neighbors. When COs are spread as thin as they are here in MI, I believe it is the responsibility of all law-abiding citizens to report offenses when we see them. So many people don't report offenders because they don't want to "get involved", or because they believe it won't do any good. We need to remember that, even if the offenders aren't caught for the offense we see or suspect, reporting the offense contributes to a trail of evidence that CAN result in violators being apprehended and brought to justice down the road. If you see something, say something.

As a resident of state that has a lot of shall we say "tolerance" for criminals and serious crimes, It's interesting to me that crime against wildlife or the environment still can and will get the book thrown at you. 

On 3/21/2022 at 11:41 AM, Steeldrifter said:

Problem here in Michigan is they only have a small number of CO's for each county. So you don't see them that often here because one CO has to cover and entire county which is quite large. I wish they did have more of them because I would like to see them out there protecting our fisheries more than they are.

Here in Michigan (not sure about other states) but here a CO has the same powers as a regular police officer.

12 minutes ago, Bryon Anderson said:

Couldn't agree more Steve -- I've been fishing in Michigan for 25 years and in that time I have encountered COs only twice while out fishing. Once on the Pere Marquette during the height of spring Steelhead insanity, and he was checking everyone's license and creels (this was when you could still keep fish on the flies-only water). The other one was just last summer; a CO drove by as I was packing up to leave the river. He wanted to know where I had floated down from, and how many other boats I'd seen on the way. Apparently they were looking for someone and thought they might be in a canoe on the section I had just floated. 

I'd really like to see a lot more funding go to the DNR for additional COs. Unfortunately--in my opinion--there are way too many hunters and anglers here who view our woods and rivers not as "our resources" but as "my personal free meat supply." I have nothing against the legal harvesting of fish and game--I do it myself--but there are a LOT of guys out there who seem to feel that there should be no limits on anything they do. Again, just my opinion, but based on many years of observation. 

Here in Mass the consequences for not playing by the rules can be very severe.  The Environmental police have the power to seize meaning not to be returned any gear used to poach game.  This includes size and bag limits on fish as several people find out the hard way each year.  What a lot of people don't know is that the term "gear" is be defined to include not just your tackle but everything else in your possession including your boat and the vehicle you used to tow your boat to the scene of the crime.   

I'm still filling empty spaces on the nymph side of my box.  This pattern caught my eye.

PEACOCK RIVER NYMPH

HOOK: #14 CURVED

THREAD: #70 CHARTREUSE AND #70 BLACK

UNDER BODY: CHARTREUSE THREAD

TAG: CHARTREUSE THREAD WITH LOON FLOW U.V.

ABDOMEN: PEACOCK HERL -2 STRANDS

THORAX: HARESEAR ICE DUB- PEACOCK/ORVIS DUBBING – DARK OLIVE.

HEAD: BLACK 2.8MM BEAD AND BLACK THREAD

9 hours ago, Philly said:

I've been tying up some Stimulators, not sure whether they would be consider trout or panfish flies.  More likely I'll use them for panfish, since we don't have any giant stonefly hatches around here.

Hook - Ahrex Traditional Shrimp hook, size 6(only curved hook I had

Thread - black, orange or chartreuse 

Tail - deer hair(from a deer's mask)

Body - Senyo Laser Dubbing

Body Hackle -brown

Wing -deer hair(from a deer's mask) 

Hackle-grizzly or brown grizzly

Fine looking group-  Stimulators work well on newly stocked trout even if you don't have the large stonefly hatch.

I have a V6 2020 Jeep Cherokee with less than 26,000 miles.  On Friday I brought it in for the scheduled oil change and told them that the check engine light had been on for a week.  The dealer called me back and said "You're getting a new transmission under warranty, would you like a loaner until then"?   That seems a bit extreme as the vehicle was driving fine but if that's what the scan is telling them it needs  then Ok-  They gave me a Grand Cherokee with a V8 to use.  So while gas has dropped a few cents my personal fuel cost situation has not improved.  In fact it's probably gotten worse-🙄

On 3/18/2022 at 1:19 PM, skeet3t said:

Great story and report on equipment. Sometimes spending lots of $$$ doesn't always guarantee top quality.

My bamboo rod cost $10 about 1965. Probably about $50 for the rebuild 20 years ago.

I agree-My other 2 Bamboo rods are left for dead rebuilds.  The first was given to me by my father in law and is a south Bend 9' 7 weight?  Not sure about the weight but I can tell you it's heavy, way to heavy for the fishing I do.  I think it was probably meant to throw bass, larger salmon or pike flies.   I spent $20 in a Maine antique store for the second one which had no markings of any kind on it.  It's a 7'6" and seems to like a 5 weight line.  Some internet research told me the South Bend was 1945- 1955 and the unmarked one was from the early 60's based on the style of the components it had on it.   I spent a little of $100 for the rebuild components for each and I use the 5 weight fairly often.

On 3/18/2022 at 3:54 PM, niveker said:

Great report, DF, makes me jealous.  Sounds like you're well prepped for the season and that rod sounds sweee-eeet. 

Water was prolly a bit high too, which doesn't help this early.  

Thanks- I've been out behind my house twice and so far the new gear is working really well.  I have confidence in the boots lasting a really long time.  Hopefully the waders will as well.