DWSmith

33°F here this morning with 59°F the expected high today.  Back to seasonal temperatures.

Was in the 80°F''s last week.  Low humidity so we didn't have to turn on the AC, just opened the windows.  Very pleasant.

Nutty weather but I'll take it.

These work too.  It's a table top tripod.

14 hours ago, chugbug27 said:

And getting close enough to get that Q-Tip in their ear is challenging as well.

I'll bet it's even more challenging/dangerous during mating season.

Thanks chugbug27!  Good information.  👍

It certainly beats tracking down 10 year old or older Tibetan male yaks.

Earlier I found the directions that others are posting and thought there might be something better someone here would recommend.

I don't like the idea of using olive oil because it will go rancid but in the comments someone said they were going to try mineral oil instead.  Seems like a much better choice than olive oil.  I know woodworkers make their own paste wax with beeswax and turpentine.  Less turpentine than for paste wax might be satisfactory.

I have no idea what refined beeswax is.  I have plenty of beeswax I've taken from my little girls' (worker bees) hives, melted it, and filtered it through paper coffee filters.  That should be as 'refined' as needed for dubbing wax but can't be certain.

I found two cakes of cello rosin (my wife and son used to play) that I can use.

Seems like more trouble than it's worth but I have the ingredients and the time so I might play with it sometime.

Thanks for the replies guys!

2 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

Seriously though, most if not all waxes are a combo of rosin, bees wax and oil

I have paraffin, bees wax, and carnauba.

1 minute ago, chugbug27 said:

I use ear wax from tibetan yaks 

Males?  Females?  Or does it matter? 

Being in Louisiana I'm surprised you don't collect ear wax from bull alligators while they're sleeping.

Do you know what is used to make dubbing wax?

Do any of you make your own?

Not sure I'd make my own but I'm curious since I have access to a few types of wax.

Happy Birthday!  I hope someone had a fire extinguisher handy.  Looked like a brush fire. 

Last night I saw some well known artist tying parts for her jewelry on a fishing fly rotary vise.  She does nice work but it's nothing compared to what all of you guys.do.

You guys do AMAZING work!  I'd never fish with most of the stuff I see here.  I'd display it in a cabinet in my living room or office.  I'm stunned.

Is much of the stuff I see here for display and not for fishing?

Yes, I only use a cell phone and I've gone off on some phone scammers too and I liked it. 

 It's a Stevens 87A (gill gun).  It was my Dad's rifle that I inherited.  I shot my first squirrel with it when I was 8 years old which was around 60 years ago.

This is a photo from the internet of the same model.  I don't have a scope on mine.  It's a .22 that operates as a single-shot for S, L, R, and LR or as a semi-automatic with LR only.

16 minutes ago, flytire said:

this is about scam calls on my cell phone not facebook. thats a different thread all together

I broadened out to SCAMS of whatever kind.  SCAM callers may want your money, your Medicare information, SSN, or other personal information for identity theft.

Yeah, FB is a somewhat tangential but related topic.  I'll stop writing about it though.  Enough said! 

I thought about it a little more last night.

Facebook asked for; my name, my location, my date of birth, my phone number, my digital photo.  They can look up my address from several sources.  What else do they need to create a phony ID of me?  Are they going to be asking for my SSN next?

Is it identity theft if people willingly give them this information?

I've seen a few people say that Facebook is evil and I think it's true.

Sort of changing the subject again but Facebook demanded my phone number for 'security reasons'.  Really?!?!?!  Two-factor authentication for a half-baked social networking site of little or no monetary value to me?  Okay, I'll play the game.  I gave them my number so I could visit with my out of town relatives.  Was that enough?  Noooooo!  Then they wanted an up to date photograph of me for 'security reasons'?!?!?!  How is that ever going to help with security on that website???  I gave them an image of Bob Keeshan, a.k.a., Captain Kangaroo.  Now I'm permanently banished from Facebook and proud of it!  Bite me Facebook! 

This is a bit different but I bought some monthly medicine for my dog for tick, flea, heart worm, etc. from our veterinarian.  Along with it came instructions on how to get a rebate.  I started filling it out around noon and by the end of the day I had received 4 emails from the pharmaceutical company trying to sell me a bunch of other stuff.

I'm getting my dog on some other medicine when this runs our.

1 minute ago, Steeldrifter said:

All kidding aside..... I honestly don't think there is anything that will get rid of the majority of spam calls anymore. Now a days they have a way to clone numbers and make it look on the caller id like it's your local area code even when its coming from friggin India.

And don't ever return a call you missed unless you know the person.  You might call a local number and it's gets transferred around so you get charged $5 a minute or whatever.

3 hours ago, gadabout said:

I’d go with 10 and 12.  My “go to” bluegill fly is a #12 McGinty.

Thanks!  👍

Many times I tend to overthink things like this.  Overthinking is fun but it can lead to analysis paralysis.    So I asked you guys for your opinions.

So far all I've bought are #10 hooks.  I thought about getting some #8 hooks but I read that there may not be enough difference between #8 and #10 to make it that worthwhile so I was thinking of getting some #6 hooks.  At times I get tired of the dinks so #6 would help with that but #6 may be a bit big for the average Bluegill.  Maybe I should have picked #8 for the size.  (See what I mean about overthinking???)

Anyway, #10 is probably a good enough place to start.  Besides, I doubt any fish have read the books I have read.

Here's what the book recommends;

Bluegill          #8, #10

Crappies        #8, #10

Yellow Perch  #6, #8, #10

Rock Bass       #4, #6, #8

#8 is common to all of those but I hardly ever see any Rock Bass (a.k.a., Goggle-Eye) around here so I chose #10.

Thanks for your input guys!  Sounds like I'm on the right track.

Good idea!  I'd use some tape on the teeth of the channel locks to prevent them from cutting into the vise adjustment knob.

Another possibility is a 12-point box-end wrench if you can find one that fits nicely.  You could dedicate it to this use, cut down the handle, and grind off the sharp edges.

In general, which sizes of hooks do you find best for panfish flies?

In one of my books it has recommendations for hooks by species so I purchased some hooks based upon those recommendations but I'm getting ready to place another order and I want to know what you experts recommend.  (I did take notice of hooks sizes for some of the flies shown in this thread just to let you know.)

Thanks,

Dan

37 minutes ago, flytire said:

pay for what?

i'm old but not on welfare

Whatever they're selling is my guess then they'll think you're so poor that they can't get any money out of you.  Just mess with them until they hang up on you. 

I've done that now and then but it got boring after a while.

2 minutes ago, SalarMan said:

Understood...and I hope it is a good Irish whiskey. Despite how much I enjoy it...Single Malt Scotch tends to give me a headache.😎

Jameson, Wild Turkey 101, and Bulleit 95 Rye are my choices these days.  Nothing fancy but all are good enough for me!

These days I don't answer any calls I don't recognize unless I'm expecting a call but don't know their number.

I figure that any calls I ignore will leave a message if it's important.

I'll be 69 next month.  Some days I feel like I'm 40 and some days I feel like I'm 95.  That's okay, I'll take whatever I can get. 

Wine sounds good but make mine a shot of whiskey please.  It's been quite a while.