Tim A

I believe I catch fewer fish when my line is more visible. And I believe I have enough evidence that this has consistently been the case for me. And I will use whatever I am comfortable and confident using. Fish don't have to know what line is to be turned off by its presence.

Forgot to mention, if you go to BPS or Cabelas, the wire should be near the musky lures and stuff, not with the filler spools of line. The beads are often with the trolling lures, lure tape, eyes, etc. And TyGer is far overpriced. You don't need fancy stuff for this task.

Like Mike said, Amazon is a good place to find the Surflon at a decent price. I found a similar product at BPS by a company called Malin. They had both coated and uncoated...and I honestly can't think of too good a reason to avoid uncoated. So if you find that, I say you're fine to go with it. I use the 60# for musky flies, but 30# works well for bass sizes and you can go smaller for trout. I do use beads over my wire most of the time, although its not necessary. It's actually a pain in the butt, but I like the bit of color and added anti-fouling protection beads provide. For the musky flies, get big plastic beads (6-8mm or bigger) with a big enough hole. Glass beads break and are heavy. They are fine on trout flies for additional weight but musky flies don't need any more weight, right! So here's why beads are a pain in the butt: To ensure that the rear hook doesn't ride out of line with the forward hook, the wire loop must remain vertical. But when the legs of the loop pass through the bead, they like to cross one another. So just be really careful and don't tie it down until you've double checked it's right. To keep the loop vertical, I take the length of wire (you'll probably need 7" or so to work with on musky flies), pass it through the rear hook eye, slide the bead(s) over the ends of the doubled wire, and make sure everything's aligned. Then begin tying down the wire onto the SIDE of the front hook shank near the bend, working your way up. As you get halfway or more up the front hook shank, pull the tag ends of the wire on top of the shank and continue wrapping. If you have enough wire, once you're near the eye, fold the wire tags under the hook shank (one on each side) and secure. Then go over the whole thing again with thread and make sure it's all covered. Then coat it in some kind of glue--liquid fusion, some super glue, head cement, CCG, whatever. Don't use your good thread for this; it'll blow through your thread. Use a color you regret buying or something you have a lot of. It won't ever show anyway.

One, I like to have a length of lower-visibility line in most (clearer) water conditions. Two, as Mike G suggested, the line is so slick that connections to lures often slip. Three, because with some species, I need a bite-tippet to guard against chafing.

Sounds good, Ryan. I wasn't sure how stiff or dense the material was. If it falls away from the hook when held upside that is definitely far from a problem. I actually haven't messed around with tying articulated flies with the pre-made shanks yet--all my articulated patterns have been tandem hooks. I use 60# Surflon coated 1x7 steel to connect them. What are you using for connection materials? Tom, I certainly have learned this lesson and am moving this direction with my own hook choices. That said, I've found it's really about certain characteristics of the hook model more than brand. My recent muskie tying (and catching) has been primarily on Mustad and, believe it or not, Bass Pro hooks. Finding a large enough (gap) hook that is sharp and isn't super heavy gauge is tough. I used the Mustad black nickel jig hook 32768BLN 6/0 as the front hook on my jiggy things, and a Bass Pro 5/0 straight shank hook for the rear. The Mustad 32608 is also a popular one for musky or so it seems. These hooks take a sharpening well after a few hours on the water, too. While the TMC 600sp's are sometimes worth springing for, it doesn't seem you have to blow that much $ on a hook for musky, for instance. Plus they don't take to sharpening (they are ridiculously sharp right out of the box, but the wild cutting edge point is impossible to hone after it bites into a few rocks). Also, the short shank length on the TMC 600sp is not ideal for many muskie flies. That said, the 600sp is an awesome albie and striper hook. So I've found it's really about looking at each hook model and it's qualities and assessing their characteristics. For anyone who is wondering, here are some hook basics to think about: -Sharpness out of box -Ability to be resharpened (and is that necessary) -Gap between hook point and shank ("purchase") -Keel height (I call this "gape" but that could just be me) -Shank length overall -Wire gauge/tensile strength overall -Tensile strength at point (unfortunately can only be assessed on the water) -Shank shape (curved, straight) -Inline vs offset/twisted -Hook eye gauge (can I fit my tippet/bite tippet through) -Rust resistance -Color -PRICE! Maybe I missed a few. Let me know what other ones you think of. All of the above are variable--each of them is a spectrum. Where the perfect hook for a job lies is a product of a lot of factors, including target fish species, fish size, materials used on the fly, fly action, fly depth, orientation of hook (point up or point down), salt or freshwater, tippet size, presentation (long distance swing; short distance nymphing; can I strip strike? Will I be trout-setting?), etc. I just thought I'd sketch that out while I had a moment. I know Tom and Ryan you guys know all that stuff already.

The NanoFil isn't new. Been around at least 3.5 years now. They did expand it to 2 colors and 14 & 17lb test strengths about 1-2 years ago. It is sweet line for a spinning reel. I don't use my spinning gear much, but NanoFil is all I use on all my spinning setups from ultralight to inshore saltwater. It is so small and slick, it easily adds 10 yards to my cast over equivalent strength PowerPro. The only caveat is that you have to modify your knots because the Nano is so slick. Since I always use leaders with all gelspun or fused lines, I connect my fluoro to the Nano with a loop-to-loop joint, where the Nano gets a 4-turn surgeon's and the fluoro gets a perfection loop.

Ryan, The fly looks awesome. And I share your irrational obsession with tying musky flies. My only concern with your pattern is that the hook is so hidden. It seems like exposed hook points and good gap are important features for musky flies, especially given the species' odd behavior of simply "mouthing" the fly until boatside. What size/type hook are you using?

These are pretty hard to beat, but only if you're using big flies (like pike/musky fishing): http://www.tacticalanglers.com/products.html They don't make it smaller than 50# break strength.

I think the articulated Beuford is the winner. No doubt that'll get eaten!

I'm excited for this year's show!

Are you not going to pass a Cabela's or Bass pro on the way up, where you could pick up some coated/tyable wire or some single strand for haywire twists?

Ryan, I don't think they're a terrible idea, as an idea. In practice I have seen the snaps come open after long periods of casting or pulling on a snag. That's bad enough, but I'd hate to see one open up on a fish. There are some good snaps out there if changing flies in a hurry is your preference (check out Tactical Anglers clips online sometime--I realize you can't get them now). I don't know why you'd use a loop knot to attach fluoro to the swivel on these. A direct connection would be better--the snap will allow fly to move freely. While I understand your logic in not wanting your one fish of the day to bite its way free, another way to look at it is that if you're going to wear yourself out casting all day, don't you want the most chances at fish possible? I'm more of the latter persuasion, and I plan on using 80# fluoro. I'll try not to let the line cross the fish's mouth as much as possible. I fish for bluefish fairly often and yes they are often way easier to come by than musky, but they are notorious for biting off flies. Yet, I continue to use 25-30# even when I know they're the only fish around simply because wire turns them off so much, even at night. Only time I'd consider wire is in a full on blitz or when I'm soaking bait (which I never do anymore).

Thanks for sharing this, Tom. I think the magazine looks great, and I am very proud to have Tiffany's photos included in the premier issue.

Wide loops on a 10wt. Much of the length is flash and a little kinky fiber, so all the water absorption will be in the front 4.5". We'll see how these fish. I might trim the craft fur hides thinner next batch--they're about 1/2" wide and 2" long right now. And there's a rattle in there somewhere...

Tied this in a few colors for upcoming attempts at Muskie. It combines the features of Granato's "Chupacabra" and Jared's "Outlaw," both renown fish-catchers. Its mostly flash and craft fur (still on "hide" like a fat zonker) with an EP brush head. This one is 9" long on a 5/0 hook.

By "push," I mean "displace," but not just in the static sense (at rest). In a dynamic analysis, the object not only takes up space but generates a pressure wave around its forward half as it moves. Think about sneaking up on fish in shallow still water in a kayak versus a canoe vs a deep-V walleye boat--when you are in the one that displaces more water, you are "louder" to the fish, and a larger pressure wake will arrive upon the fish long before you do. And, with the fly that has a wider/rounder profile and less bulk underneath, this pressure wave itself will be more dynamic (changing shape), giving off a broader range of sounds than a narrow and more stiffly-constructed fly. This is just thinking about sound and feel. As for looks, the hollow-tied fly is far more "breathable" underwater than traditional (a la Lefty Kreh) tied materials, appearing more realistic and requiring less work to impart action.

Cool find.

That's one heck of a good-looking, bugger, Rob!

It actually pushes more water becuase it gives a bulkier profile. The beauty is it does this while drastically reducing weight. This one isn't mine but it demonstrates my point:

Nice fly, Ryan!

No worries, Ryan. The store was packed the whole day--I'd never seen it like that. Actual turnout for the presentations (counting people sitting in our fold-out chairs and standing around watching) was decent--probably 10-12 people. Unfortunately, with the store so busy, I was unable to watch but a few seconds of each talk. I would have loved to chat more with the Robs! Tim

You missed a good one!

This is super important. I second Ryan's advice. I wear Orvis myself. On that note, White River is Bass Pro Shops' house brand, and Bass Pro doesn't even pretend to care about customer satisfaction or standing behind their product. Cabelas, Orvis, and LL Bean are the best to work with and make explicit claims to guarantee satisfaction, with the latter 2 being better at customer service in general than Cabelas.

Okay, for real this time, I assure you, Orvis in downtown Chicago is having Rob Tomes, author of "Muskie on the Fly," the bible of muskie fishing, in the store to discuss these awesome fish and to sign your books (we have the book for sale as well). Mr. Tomes will share his fishing secrets from 11AM-12PM. Following Mr. Tomes will be flyfishing filmmakers Robert Thompson, creator of such renown films as "Musky Country: Zero to Hero" and "Heart of the Driftless," will be share some never-before-seen footage from his upcoming documentary, "The River," about Michigan's famed Au Sable. Mr. Thompson will present from 12PM-1PM. Also in the store from 11AM-3PM will be Eric Hauser of Double Gun Cigars with samples from his top cigar lines, as well as the folks from As Good As Gold Golden Retriever Rescue. If you give a $5 or greater donation to this great group, we will give you a $10 Orvis credit to be used that same day. These events are part of our "Orvis Days." Refreshments will be served throughout these events. It's also coupon season, so remember to bring in those $25 off $50 coupons we send out by mail and email each season. If you can't find yours, I might be able to find one for you. I don't think I need to say any more...if you're a local fly angler or an Orvis fan you should come check out this awesome event. If you have any business to do in the city, just make a day of it and be sure to stop by and see us. I'd love to see some familiar ISA faces there. P.S. Sorry for the late notice. I was out-of-town on a fishing trip last week.

I use loop-to-loop systems to add sink tips to floaters and intermediates all the time. An intermediate running line with sink tip gives you the best connection to the fly (less steep angle between line portions) but floating running line is easier to manage (e.g. mending). In either case, you sill have to roll cast the sinking portion to the surface before aerializing the backcast. I wanted to add that there is a performance difference between buying premade tips and custom making your own (as Ryan explained): The ones packaged by Rio, Orvis (we call them Polyleaders), et al. are tapered, while the custom ones are completely level. When you get beyond 5' sink tips, a tapered one will transfer energy noticeably better than the custom ones. But you can only get the tapered ones in the prepackaged lengths...unless you trim them down... And where someone mentioned that they don't sink a big fly very well, that is a seriously oversimplified statement. 1) It's not the bigness of the fly but the buoyancy that makes it difficult to sink, and many musky flies that push water have buoyant spun deerhair or flared bucktail heads. These can be trimmed down or avoided all-together in favor of a fly using different materials but of equal dimensions (EP, for example). 2) Not all sink-tips have the same sink rate. In general, all else equal, a faster sink rate will obviously sink your fly faster, which is not only useful for getting deeper, but getting to the same depth as quickly in faster water. (3) The length of the sink tip matters, because the whole tip is sinking cumulatively. So, sink rate being equal, a 4' sink tip will have more difficulty sinking a buoyant fly than will a 10' or 15' or 20' and so on of the same sink rate. Finally, (4) leader/tippet length from sink tip to fly matters. Shorter tippets will allow the sink tip to act more directly on the fly. Typical lengths are 18"-6'. If you use a standard 9' leader after a sink tip, the sink tip is only affecting the butt section of the leader, not the fly.