DFoster

LOL- for the record a lot of us are still angry with summer for murdering Frosty the Snowman Mike! Thankfully as Americans we are free to choose the climate we prefer (at least for now). A lot of born and bred Northerners will tell you they hate winter and by February I too have had enough of grey, white and cold. I usually get a call from my wife saying "Pack your sh#t were going someplace that has isn't frozen and has green trees and I don't mean Christmas Trees". Interestingly though roughly half of the people who move to warmer climates return. Despite having to clear snow in sub zero temps and generally high taxes there is no place like home.

A lot of people use the name "River Herring" but that actually can describe a few different species. According to our Fish and Game web site they are Alewife or Blue Back Herring or possibly a small Shad. There are several species that require a more trained eye than mine to tell apart. In our small local streams that I love to fish they don't get much larger than the one in my hand. They're a hard fighter for a small fish and are generally found in the same fast shallow current that Brook Trout and Fall fish are located. A lot of fun on a light tackle.

Paradise? Autumn in New England is Paradise my friend-

Pete for over 34 years I've worked weekends as professional upright bassist- until Covid hit. I have struggled with CTS on and off for years. It goes with the territory for musicians along with hearing loss which sadly I also have to deal with. There are threads on the bassist forums just like this one with the exact same advise. My symptoms come and go so I deal with them with braces and the same methods listed on this thread. There are some minimal risks with the surgery and I will make that decision if my condition degrades. Surprisingly it doesn't bother me during gigs but afterwards it will wake me with numbness or pain in my forearm and hands while sleeping. It's a strange sensation to have your hands numb and stinging both at the same time. With respect to fishing I've only noticed it while tying knots. Pinching tippet between my finger and thumb will cause numbness if I hold that position too long. I wish you the best with your treatment.

Welcome to the site! Florida eh? Here the view from my office on this beautiful Massachusetts Friday!

You have some beautiful Brookie water in Michigan. Last year my wife and I fished the Platt in Honor and it was a Brook Trout heaven! The funny part was that being June several home owners came out to tell us that the Steel Head were NOT running. I think they thought we were confused or they didn't understand why we would bother chasing 10" Brookies. There wasn't a soul on the river but us and we had a great time.

As a Grandfather of 6 (5 of them girls) I love to see littles with a fishing rod in hand. I have an 5' 9" 3wt small stream special and it's also a nice size to use when teaching small children. Plus it's inexpensive so I don't mind handing it to a crumb cruncher. A word of caution - I can't tell from the photo but please have her wear eye protection and you as well. A 4 year old with a fly rod is a threat to unprotected eyes. Then again so is a 55 year old. A few weeks ago a lapse of concentration combined with perfectly timed gust and I managed to bounce a fly off of my own cheek.

Wonderful documentary of the legend-

Thanks gents, fortunately we had some rain and it made a huge difference in flow. The Fly is an old English classic and is a simple tie using a a pheasant neck feather. At a size 12 with a really large, oversized hackle it's a giant compared to most of the offerings in my soft hackle fly box. Friday was the first time I used one and the fish were absolutely crushing it- Surprising since the river I was fishing is notorious for "small flies only". It floats like a cork and is clearly visible at a distance. I'm thinking it should be effective on any water where terrestrials are available, it really looks like a dead spider once it gets wet. Here's the link to Robert Smith's video.

Here are some Brook Trout I caught on a #12 Red Clock north country spider. I also was catching a lot of Herring between the Brooks.

Yep - same here, the bass like them but I have yet to get a trout on one.

All just a quick update. It took half a tube of Aquaseal and multiple attempts but I'm happy to report that I stayed dry after an outing yesterday. There's enough Aquaseal on them to make me question how breathable they are now- but they don't leak! The holes were fairly easy to locate and seal but I was still getting wet legs. After many hours of close examination and chasing leaks I could see areas with dime to quarter size "wear spots" that allowed water to seep through. Not a hole but enough to make your clothes damp. With a dozen wear spots and many hours in the water damp becomes wet which then becomes wet and cold. Up to this point I have always worn jeans under waders. I know, I know the experts told me not too, well it turns out the experts were correct. So from here on It's soft athletic or flannel pants under my waders.

Almost all of my nymphs are weighted as I prefer not to use split shot. So the few that are not weighted I keep together in an area of my nymph box. I'll usually fish soft hackles/spiders/emergers if the trout are feeding near the surface and save nymphs for bottom water fishing. That said I've recently been digging around in my unweighted nymph section due to the skinny water resulting from the drought here.

Nice fish and truly difficult to bring to hand with 6lbs tippet. That took some skill to land.

I've never even seen one-

I tied a few hundred flies on a Renzetti Traveler and it was as reliable as a steel anvil. I paid $180 for mine, tied on it for 5 years and sold it for $130. Great vise and probably the most popular $200 vise in the U.S.

Tough fishing these days here in Mass. I hooked and lost a Rainbow on Saturday while wrestling with drought conditions - my only take in 8 hours of casting. Today I caught a dozen or so small Fall fish Again on really skinny water. On the way out I snagged a nice bramble bush with my right thigh. Lots of new character for my waders. Time to forget 2020.

Because of the bramble infested small streams I often fish it doesn't take long for a brand new set of my waders to get "character". 😁

Yep that about sums it up. I added more aquaseal last night- we'll see how comfy I am this weekend.

I ran across this video on youtube. It would seem if your tying large flies this is the way to go, provided that (1) you have another vise for smaller flies and (2) you're going to tie enough large flies to justify the purchase. Good Luck!

I've always been fascinated with these style flies and fishing them. There's something cool about a spey rod and carrying a fly wallet with only 6 or 8 well crafted flies. I don't know if people fish for salmon with these types of flies anywhere here in New England? I certainly haven't seen anyone casting a Jock Scott. I wish they did because it would give me a reason to learn this part of the fly fishing craft.

I think I would place fly tying as a "craft" myself since the ultimate point is to craft an object with a purpose. As with any craft, elite workmanship can certainly cross over to the point of being considered art. Art itself, by definition doesn't have a purpose beyond an creating an emotional response. I know that's splitting hairs but it's interesting to think about where the line is, much like is Golf a game or a sport?

Nice work!

It's a tough crowd Mark. As I've posted before my tying desk is in my wife's home office and I'm required to keep it clean and neat. How many of you dust and vacuum your tying areas regularly? Well that's the price I pay to have natural sunlight and heat. A lost hook finding it's way into my lovely bride's foot would be catastrophic, much like working with explosives- one mistake and 💥! I never knew a neat tying area made me a more knowledgeable fly tyer though? So that's a win win!