cornmuse

20ft isn't a problem. I've fished to 35 in Dale Hollow. The trick is a density compensated full sinking line. Weighted flies are useless - go with a normally weighted clouser or an unweighted streamer or large nymph. You'll need to make somewhat long casts. Example, there is structure in 20ft. of water in front of you. Anchor the boat so you are at least 25 feet from the target structure. Remember that the fly will angle up as it approaches the boat. Plus you'll need to account for the lines sink so to hit that 20' deep spot 25' away you'll need to cast at least 25' beyond the target and allow the line to sink without tension. Using a Type 6 with a sink rate of 8" per second, 20' will take 30 seconds - use a watch to time it, it's longer than you think. Fish a 7wt or 8wt, any lighter and you can't get a line to sink fast enough. Use a short leader - 3' is plenty. Use flourocarbon, level 10lb test works for me. With patience this is not out of the fly fishers range. Good luck and give us a complete report. Joe C.

QUOTE (fcflyguy @ Jul 17 2005, 10:18 AM) I was wornding if any body had a good river shiner pattern thanks Fcflyguy Lew Oatman's Golden Shiner is a beautiful and very effective featherwing streamer. It's been a great producer of smallmouth bass for me. Also, the Thundercreek series by Keith Fulsher has imitations of several shiner species including sand shiners and emerald shiners. When you say "river shiner" I'll assume you're talking about the largish silver shiners that sometimes take a nymph and are often thought of as good bait for catfish. Those are often striped shiners or other larger species such as the one in the attached image. To imitate those baitfish I like to use a Lefty's Deciever in white with plenty of flash material and a thin peacock herl back. Make sure to use a holographic eye - you can see how prominent the eye is on these species. Joe C.

Okay guys: I know that internet marketing works by association of business "opportunity" with key words. These words are often termed "search words" Many businesses employ an Internet Marketing Manager who spends a large part of his or her day bidding on promising search terms, tweaking metadescriptions for better search engine organic placement, and finding other ways to drive "click through" to the targeted web site. I'm past the point of being offended that every fourth word on a web page is a hypertext link to someones web site. It's just business and the Internet is the last, great frontier. I noticed several paid placements in the right column of this web page, no surprises there. But I have to wonder if someone made a miscalculation in associating the following ad with a fly fishing site - Fishy Vaginal Odor? "How To Smell Fresh At All Times" 68,000 Women Already Know www.enzara.com/Guarantee Also, while I'm on a roll - Has anyone actually clicked on this fellow's site? this guy is the Ron Popiel of fishing writers. Guarantees a 97% improvement in fishing quality. Whiter whites! Straighter casts! I hope the copywriter got paid by the word. Oh, and it's cheap, too!!! Attention Nymph Fishermen Strike indicators miss most strikes Here's what the pros won't tell you Nymph-Fishing.com One of these days I'm going to lose it Joe C.

Jason T (catchandrelease) is really the guy to ask about this hatch, but AFAIK the nymph isn't all that important. They simply aren't available prior to the emergence. Spinners and duns are on the water simultaneously and there is a tremendous similarity in the two. Add to this the fact that most WW fish aren't extremely selective (assuming you're fishing warm water) and the total number of patterns needed is pretty modest. My own selection includes White Wulff dries in sizes 10 and 12, a quill bodied parachute in all white/cream in sizes 12 and 14, a white Kinkhamer style emerger with a tan Antron tail in size 10 to 14, and an all white "BiVisible" (CompletelyVisible?) in size 10 on a 2xl hook that I'll skate to capture the attention of piggish smallmouth bass. Now all I need to do is find my way to the Susquehana during the first weekend in August and life will be sweet... Your mileage may vary. Joe C.

Two Wheately boxes, Four C&F Design boxes (soon to be many more - best in the business if you ask me), Ten or so generic plastic Plano style boxes, a few Okumas, and a couple hand made what-ever boxes. I don't even want to know what the flies in them are worth. I have a big gym bag that I keep all my loaded fly boxes in and it weighs about 30lbs full! joe C.

QUOTE (Fla. Panfisher @ Jul 10 2005, 11:17 AM) Got a new 5-6 wt and need some line. What would be a good choice for large bass flies here in fla. thanks conrad One of the very best fly lines I've found for bass and panfish is the Headstart line by SA and the equivalent Clearwater line from Orvis. Both lines retail for about $30 and feature a rather radical wf design that helps load the rod quickly so beginning casters can feel the rod load. A by-product is that they behave very much like the RIO Clouser line and are excellent warm water lines! The lines are about 65' long, so they are short lines which is fine - its nice to cast to the backing every now and then! My $0.02. Joe C.

QUOTE (Dble Haul @ Jul 5 2005, 01:42 PM) Get a large comb and put the dumbell eyes between the teeth. It's simple tips like that that keep me reading this forum! Great idea Joe C.

I'm thinking this may be an absolute killer bluegill fly! Thanks!!! Joe C.

This is a very nice looking fly. I'm looking forward to seeing the tying steps. One thought - it has been well established that smallmouth bass and other game fish select for smaller crayfish, and especially for those with smaller chelae (claws). A study done in NY and quoted in Will Ryan's excellent book on smallmouth fly fishing, determined that the largest smallmouth bass will select for crayfish between 1.5 and 2" long and with small chelae. The smaller chelae typically denote a female or juvenile. You might get a better response if you downsize the claws on your fly. Just my $0.02. Joe C.

QUOTE (VirtuallyTied @ Jun 17 2005, 12:43 PM) For a real treat, get some Pearsall's silk thread. It's a pleasure to tie with, and the only problem with it is that it's wasted on the fish. (So a lot of people use it for display.) I agree re Pearsall's. It is quite nice. I'd disagree about being wasted on the fish, though. Pure silk thread gains a wonderful translucency when wet. It's an effect that is almost impossible to duplicate with any other material. In so much as good imitations are more effective fishing tools, then I suggest that Pearsall's (especially on soft hackled wet flies) can help a tier to make a more effective fly. Now the downside. How do you handle the Pearsall's miniature sized spools? Midge bobbin? Crush the wire arms of a bobbin in to fit? (if so, don't use that bobbin for a standard sized spool or you are right back where you started). Respool the Pearsall's onto an empty full-sized thread spool? I'm looking for answers to this one for certain - I'm a soft hackle fanatic! Joe C.

QUOTE (TroutBum @ Jun 12 2005, 09:54 AM) Danville's Flymanster 6/0 for salmon flies, Uni 6/0 for most everything else. Why? What is the practical diff between Danville and Uni that would make you select one over the other? Inquiring minds want to know I've been using the UTP 70 and 140 and love both for certain apps. I alsu use Uni in the 8/0 for small flies. And Danville A+ for bass flies. I'm only using different brands because I have spools left over from previous purchases. Joe C.

Black Deceivers from 4" to 6" long or Double Bunnies in the same sizes. My guess is the number 1 baitfish is gizzard shad and some of those will get to 12" or more in length. A double bunny tied with olive on the back, white on the bottom and a silver mylar body, using large 3D eyes will work nicely. Always works for me on Lake Fork! Also rabbit strip Dalbergs fished on a sink tip will work wonderfully. And I wouldn't go without at least a few Calcasieu Pig Boats tied on 3/0 hooks or larger. In black and purple, fwiw. Take pics and post them when you return! Joe C.

QUOTE (Caddisfly @ Jun 8 2005, 09:02 PM) If you haven't tried the C&F boxes, you're missing out. Yes, a bit pricey, but worth every penny! For what it's worth, Caddisfly Best on the market. Absolutely look at C&F. Joe C.

QUOTE (Blueman89 @ May 31 2005, 06:00 PM) Hey guys, just got the new Outdoor Life and on page 143 they have an article called The Dirty Dozen.It has 12 flies that they say will get the job done.Here they are: 1)Royal Wulff 2)Conehead Muddler- Yellow Marabou Version Pictured 3)Light Cahill 4)Tan Elk hair Caddis- CDC Legs on Pictured Fly 5)Yellow Humpy 6)Black Foam Ant 7)Bead-Head Soft Hackle Hare's Ear 8)Conehead Woolly Bugger 9)Parachute Adams 10)Yellow Stimulator 11)Weighted Black Stonefly Nymph- Double Gold Bead Thorax Pictured 12)Bead-Head Pheasant Tail Nymph Well, first of all these are mostly trout flies. While trout are fun, I occassionally like to fish for big, mean animals like smallmouth bass, rather that focussing all my fishing time on "fancy bait" That said, I'd suggest that a universal fly selection would have a very different look. Here is what I consider to be the dirty dozen one should always carry in assorted sizes: 1)Clouser Deep Minnow, chartreuse over white 2)Traditional tie Muddler Minnow 3)Adams dry fly 4)Tan Elk hair Caddis 5)bead head wooly bugger - peacock herl body, olive marabou tail, grizzly hackle 6)Foxee Red Clouser 7)Gray Ghost streamer 8)Tap's Bug - yellow and red 9)Marabou Muddler - white w/ conehead 10)Sawyer style Pheasant Tail 11)Partidge and Orange soft hackle 12)San Juan worm YMMV Joe C.

Do these tie wraps have a paper covering? Are you just using the wire core? I can see where a soft steel wire could work quite nicely! Great idea! Any chance of a pic? Joe C.

Hexagenia mayflies. They are about this big and very light gray in coloring prior to emergence. Joe C.

QUOTE (Dble Haul @ May 23 2005, 11:21 AM) Actually, I was indirectly answering Will's question about whether or not the smallies were spawning. You can tell by the eye coloration, plain and simple. I've asked a noted Ohio State fisheries biologist this question and the answer surprised me. The red eye on a smallmouth bass does not indicate spawning activity. Nor does it indicate stress. Nor does it indicate age. It is a genetic trait much like our own eye color. Some smallmouth bass will have red eyes, others will not. Further, you will find smallmouth with red eyes at all times of the year - spring, summer, autumn and the dead of winter. I've certainly caught them with red eyes during all seasons. Smallmouth bass will begin to spawn once the water temps reach 62 to 64 degrees and are stable. Yes Will, the smallmouth are JUST starting the spawn in our area (SW Ohio). They will be "one the beds" for about the next three to four weeks. Some smaller creeks that warm faster will already be in mid-spawn, other larger waters just starting. The Great Miami River was NOT at spawn as of last Wednesday. Twin Creek and Todd's Fork are mid-spawn. The biggest danger fishing during spawn, assuming you release your fish, is the danger to the eggs and fry once the male is off the nest. If you are fishing creeks, just don't cast to fish obviously guarding a nest. On Lake Erie the round goby will devour all the eggs within a nest inside of two minutes so removing bass is very bad on that watershed. On local creeks the damage is less intense. Spawning females should be played quickly and immediately returned to the water. Excessive stress will affect their ability to spawn. Do your creek a favor - fish for rock bass for a little while! Joe C.

Use dyed squirrel body fur dubbing - it's very spiky and buggy. Applied, it looks a lot like the image of the fly. Rabbit soaks up too much water. joe C.

QUOTE (FL H2O @ May 18 2005, 08:07 PM) ...it's ribbed... Oh, how pleasurable!

Instead of using 20lb mono, try using 20 or 30 pound dacron trolling line or fly line backing. Its just a tough but a lot more flexible - the action you'll get is incredible! Joe C.

On that color chart - is the color on the right the result of dyeing over the gray wool instead of white? Am I understanding that correctly? JC

I searched the site and the web for more information and got some good stuff. In the past I've seen a matrix that showed which flavors of Kook Aid to mix to make golden olive, charteuse, etc... I can't seem to locate that information on the net or in this forum. Anyone have some color mixtures they'd care to share. Any experiences or tips to dying with Kool Aid I should consider. I'm trying to dye some red fox body fur to a blueish tint - already got the blueberry mix! Joe C.

Definitely a bad idea You should have made SURE she wasn't coming home till the flies were dried! Joe C.

There are a few tricks to properly packing deer hair on a spun fly. First, don't cover the shank with thread. You should attach your thread at the tail tie-in point. Spin the hair on a bare shank - it will spin AND pack better! Second, I like to use a drop of head cement before I tie on each bunch - the glue acts like a lubricant making the hair spin easier and pack tighter. Last, only use as many thread turns as you need to flair the hair and secure the tie - I use three wraps to flair and then two to anchor. Then half-hitch. Finally, pack tight with a proper packing tool. It works for me! YMMV Joe C.

Beautiful pictures and a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing with us. Joe C.