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Be greatful you can still tie flies. Once I started wearing tri-focals, I found I had a real tough time tying anything smaller than a #14. Fortunately, two of my sons are better fly tiers than I ever hoped to be. As a result, whenever I need some flies, I just call in an order to one of the boys. They've been real super about it, too. They figured that inasmuch as they cleaned me out of my flies numerous times while they were growing up, it's the least they can do now.

 

Now, I have a tough time threading a #18 on a 6x tippet. I guess that comes with getting old.

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Threading them tiny ones on a fine tippet is my problem. I can still take off my glasses and tie

down to a size 18 but I prefer to use 16 or larger. Standing streamside and trying to tie on a new fly

is a problem below a 16. Most of my stillwater flies are 16 or larger though. Wooley Buggers seem to work well as well as Cary Specials and they are usually 10 or 12.

 

You got a fishing hole over in Utah, Slim?

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Threading them tiny ones on a fine tippet is my problem. I can still take off my glasses and tie

down to a size 18 but I prefer to use 16 or larger. Standing streamside and trying to tie on a new fly

is a problem below a 16. Most of my stillwater flies are 16 or larger though. Wooley Buggers seem to work well as well as Cary Specials and they are usually 10 or 12.

 

You got a fishing hole over in Utah, Slim?

Yep...got a couple. Have only lived here in Mendon for three months, but prior to moving away from Utah thirty years ago, I had a few good spots. Also, with two of our kids living in Utah, we've always gone back during the summers or for Thanksgiving or at other times. Each trip usually found me going fly fishing with one or all of my sons and son-in-law.

 

I fish the Provo, Flaming Gorge, and there's a neat little spot up Spanish Fork Canyon that's always nice. The boys and I have a trip planned this June in the Boulders for Tiger trout. So...here's the next question...when are you coming out, Badger? We'll plan a trip and wet a few flies.

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Whoo boy, I could hitch up the buckboard tonight and be there by Tuesday, BUT, and there is always

a but, Momma is going in for some surgery in early April and she needs some help till they get her

fixed up. As much as I love fishing, I love her more. So I guess I am going to have to hold off for a

while, Pack. But thanks for the offer. You know that the road runs both ways too. We got a few fish left up here in the wilderness.

 

I got to messing with my fishing equipment today, I got a couple of Hardy Zenith reels that I bought

back in the day, They quit making them some time ago. Why, I don't know, but I suspect that it has to

do with the brake systems on some of the newer models and the Zenith is a click and pawl set up with a wide arbor. It is part of their lightweight series of reels. Anyway, I bought them for steelhead fishing. Somehow I damaged the adjustment screw on one and had to send it down to Oregon to get it fixed. I just got it back a short while ago and I was looking at it today. Dang, that is a nice reel.

Looks like I am going to have to give the summer runs a go for their money this year. :)

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Dangit! You fellers have me half wanting to put a new cup holder and rod holder on the lawn chair and get out the ugly stick and untangle the line, buy a fishing license, dig some worms and go take a nap by a lake!

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I love Hardy reels. Almost got one about thirty years ago, but picked up a Fenwick World Class that had just hit the market instead. Wait a minute!!! It's not too late!!! Maybe I just found a good excuse to buy a new Hardy reel. "But, Honey, Badger's wife let him have several of them." :D

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I ran into a fellow on the stream when I first started flyfishing. He had a Fenwick rod and a Hardy reel.

He told me how wonderful his rig was, and I believed him. I am glad I did. I bought two LRH reels, and two Zenith reels, and a Fly weight and a Princess. I traded off the Princess for something or other.

I still have the other five Hardys. I also own four sage rods. What a treat they are. When I retired I bought a new 5 wt 9 footer. That thing will cast itself.

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If you fellows want any material, I am going through most of my stuff to see what I REALLY need and want and what I bought BECAUSE IT JUST LOOKED FISHY. Email me you needs and want and I will see what I have. I really am down to about a dozen different ties. Mostly in 12 to 16. Of course color is always an issue as well as size.

 

I got this brainy idea for a steelhead leader. I got me some 20# fluorocarbon leader material. I think I will cut me off about 6 feet, put a perfection loop in the butt end and tie on about a #4 streamer.

If that works out, I may go to a 30# leader. Breaking leaders on a long line line is my biggest problem. Those bruisers will bust 10# like spaghetti.

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BMC

 

Like you , I have cut down to where I tte about 10 or 12 patterans , in differant colors .

 

I carry everything I need in my shirt pockets a wet fly wallett , a small dry box , a spool of tippett , and a set of hemostats :)

 

If they will not bire on that , I will watch em swim by :lol:

 

CB

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I was just re-reading THE SOFT HACKLED FLY by Sylvester Nemes.

He mentions that the hackle should be complete and circumvent the body of the fly as to present

a uniform shape at any angle. I read that the late Charlie Brooks of Montana, who invented the

Assam Dragon wet fly, tied all his nymphs in the "round", so as to present a complete silhouette to the fish.

 

My latest hair brain idea is not so much an impressionistic bug, but more so a duplication of size and

shape of the real bug. Perhaps not the best idea.

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Badger, take good care of your better half. That's your top priority for now, as you well know. We'll wet a line together one of these days. Give Mrs. Badger my best, and tell her we're praying her surgery in April goes well.

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Badger, take good care of your better half. That's your top priority for now, as you well know. We'll wet a line together one of these days. Give Mrs. Badger my best, and tell her we're praying her surgery in April goes well.

 

Thank you and I will tell her. She will appreciate that. I think she is getting a little nervous about it.

 

I have never been to Utah and have always wanted to visit it. You can bet that I would take you up

on a fishing trip down that way. If you get to this end, I have three or four rivers and a dozen lakes to show you.

 

 

BMC

 

I have been tying the hackle in tip first on most everything , so it gets bigger as you palmer foward to the head of the fly , works very well with saddle hackle , seems to breath more

With drys I still tye in the quill first .

 

CB

 

Well, soft hackle flies have a very sparse hackle of partridge feathers. Two turns or three at the most. It is more of a spider type hackle. Drys, I use a dry neck.

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...this thread is causing me to get all my fly tying stuff together and set up a work bench just for that...

 

...thanks BMC

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OK. Fish story time.

 

My part of the world is home to "homey type mountain people". Nt as many as there used to be but still some. I heard a rukus out in the street a few years back. When I got out to investigate I learned that "Red" had caught a nice rainbow out of the river. I furthered my investigation which wasn't difficult as Red lived just behind my shot. I pursuaded him to bring the fish to my scales before he finished the filet job. Gutted it weighed almost 9 pounds.

The story?

Red was snagging for suckers with a good sized treble hook, braided line, old level wind reel on an old glass rod and a white button on the line. You throw the rig out into the stream and watch the white button. When it disappears you know a fish is between you and the hook so you jerk. Works!

He saw this big rainbow and attempted several times to snag it with no luck so he sent his grandson up stream to a little slough where he had seen an old bucket with the instructions to get the bucket and dip some of them little minnies out of the slough to bait the treble hook. The kids did as he was told. Red baited his hook and tossed it out in the stream. The big fish took it. The grandson's version was: "Granpa fit him and fit him for most an hour. Up and down the bank. And when he got him out the hook was just a straight as yor finger and nothing was holding that fish except the little thorn right on the end of that hook."

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...this thread is causing me to get all my fly tying stuff together and set up a work bench just for that...

 

...thanks BMC

 

Always glad to hep a friend, OKB. :)

 

What are you thinking of tying. I would guess the hatches are quite different there, as opposed to

here. I was reading Sylvester Nemes' book, The Soft-Hackled Fly, last night. Boy howdy that

will put you in the mood to twist some thread and fluff some feathers.

 

 

OK. Fish story time.

 

My part of the world is home to "homey type mountain people". Nt as many as there used to be but still some. I heard a rukus out in the street a few years back. When I got out to investigate I learned that "Red" had caught a nice rainbow out of the river. I furthered my investigation which wasn't difficult as Red lived just behind my shot. I pursuaded him to bring the fish to my scales before he finished the filet job. Gutted it weighed almost 9 pounds.

The story?

Red was snagging for suckers with a good sized treble hook, braided line, old level wind reel on an old glass rod and a white button on the line. You throw the rig out into the stream and watch the white button. When it disappears you know a fish is between you and the hook so you jerk. Works!

He saw this big rainbow and attempted several times to snag it with no luck so he sent his grandson up stream to a little slough where he had seen an old bucket with the instructions to get the bucket and dip some of them little minnies out of the slough to bait the treble hook. The kids did as he was told. Red baited his hook and tossed it out in the stream. The big fish took it. The grandson's version was: "Granpa fit him and fit him for most an hour. Up and down the bank. And when he got him out the hook was just a straight as yor finger and nothing was holding that fish except the little thorn right on the end of that hook."

 

 

Good story, Noz. But, and there is always a but, it would be better told over the campfire with a

cold libation in hand. :) Dang, I got cabin fever. Gonna have to talk to the SIL about a week end

get away to the lake.

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Perhaps, but I like a purple bunny or a pink marabou for summer runs. Size 4.

 

SUMMER RUNS!!!! Weenie!

 

Winter steelhaedin' is for men. Summer is for trout, or crappie, blue gill....bass.

 

Cowboy up Badgers and get your self hip deep in a river now!

 

 

EC

(Oh, and don't forget the Silver Hltons ;) )

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SUMMER RUNS!!!! Weenie!

 

Winter steelhaedin' is for men. Summer is for trout, or crappie, blue gill....bass.

 

Cowboy up Badgers and get your self hip deep in a river now!

 

 

EC

(Oh, and don't forget the Silver Hltons ;) )

 

They shut the local rivers down. ALL of the drainage into Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca are closed to fishing Until June 1. Steelhead are in real jeopardy here. Lots more pressure on

the other rivers and drainage in the area. No win situation.

 

I personally would like to seem them shut down ALL STEELHEAD AND SALMON fishing for about four years, clean up the nets and silt in the rivers, repair the shore lines and let the fish take care

of themselves. They seem to do a better job than man has. <_<

 

I played that FREEZE YOUR A$$ OFF IN THE COLD WATER, CHARLIE game. I found that I could

never win. So now I have a new game. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR SUN SCREEN ON, CHARLIE,

AND WEAR YOUR WIDE BRIM COWBOY HAT AND TAKE A COLD LIBATION WITH YOU. :lol:

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Well, soft hackle flies have a very sparse hackle of partridge feathers. Two turns or three at the most. It is more of a spider type hackle. Drys, I use a dry neck.

I had several nice Metz #1 dry fly necks that I gave to my sons when I realized their quality of flies was much better than mine.

 

After reading this thread, though, I'm almost tempted to start tying again. Of course, I'll undoubtedly have to limit my tying to size 6 and larger. :D

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I had several nice Metz #1 dry fly necks that I gave to my sons when I realized their quality of flies was much better than mine.

 

After reading this thread, though, I'm almost tempted to start tying again. Of course, I'll undoubtedly have to limit my tying to size 6 and larger. :D

 

Nothing wrong with that, Pack. I was looking at some leach patterns on another site this morning.

Fellow tied them with #4 hooks and another guy was looking for Mustad 9575 Size 2 hooks for a

certain pattern. Some really good quiet water patterns in some of the larger patterns. Another good

bet is the stone flies for streams. They come big as well as the October Caddis patterns. I like them

because they remind me of my high school colors. Orange and black. :lol:

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Dang, Badger, don't get me started. I think my wife was secretly happy when I quit shelling out the bucks for necks and other fly tying necessities. I had drawers, boxes, cupboards, shelves, and a variety of other containers filled with thread, yarn, hooks, necks, quills, Mylar, chenille, tinsel, floss, and who-knows-what...and I gave it all to the boys. In fact, I don't even have any of my tying vices left around here. What was I thinking???? :wacko:

 

But, after this thread, I just might swing by the fly shop later on this afternoon. :)

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...was over in my shop for about 3 hours, starting my reloading sessions; started looking around for a place for a fly tying w**k bench...

 

...it has started...

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YEP ................ YOU is

 

Maybe I will get something done today

 

Yesterday was a BUST , could not cut a straight line :blink:

 

CB

 

I hear that. Everything I did turned to crap. Have to re-do a thousand bucks or so of work.

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