Ken S

I have no problem accessing the web site. In case anyone does not have the address already, you'll find the site at http://www.greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com/

Well said. Thanks for posting a customer service story with a positive ending. It is not uncommon to see a posting when someone has a bad customer service experience. The positive stories are less common, but I find them to be more valuable. When someone is upset about the service they get, they sometime exaggerate or distort the image they paint. When someone has a good experience, they tend to tell a more accurate story. Finding the companies that do care to take care of their customers can be a challange. Finding the companies who believe that the customer service department is the first place to start cutting budgets is all too easy. Thanks for sharing your experience, Ken S.

My first pair of boots were "seconds". It was a name brand, but I got them cheap, supposedly because the pull tab on the back of the heel (to help you get them on) was missing. It was a manufacturing oversight, so they were "seconds". I later found out that that manufacturer had lots of problems with that model year of the boots. Losing soles was part of that years problems. (I'll never buy based on price alone, ever again). I came out of the Fox river one day near the end of that first year and one felt sole was missing entirely. I visited the local fly shop and they were kind enough to order me a set of replacement soles. I thought that was nice of them, since I had bought the seconds via a discount on-line shop. The soles came with a special tube of glue, supposedly made for this purpose. But wanting to be sure I fixed these right, I took them to the shoe/skate repair shop in downtown Glen Ellyn. The shoe expert told me to keep the "special glue". He used his own glue and he sewed the soles to the boots. The rest of those boots fell apart before those soles wore out. In summary, you can order replacement soles. Just use the best glue you can find. If you want to pay the price, have a professional sew the soles on. But I ended up paying more for the boot repair then I paid for the replacement soles. I had not even thought to ask what the cost of the repair would be when I dropped off the boots. With good glue, those soles probably would have outlasted those second rate boots. FYI, my next pair of boots were the Simms L2 boots with the AquaStealth soles. No studs and no felt. Those boots work very nicely in the streams and rivers of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. And I really like that they don't get all mucked up with goose droppings, like my old felt soles did. One could never get the stink out of those felt soles after walking up the shoreline of any local river. OMO. YMMV. I am now in my third year with the Simms L2 boots and quite happy. And I highly recommend working with a reliable dealer. Yeah, you may save a little buying on-line, but the lack of local service and advice is just not worth it. I hope all this info helps. Good luck. Ken S.

I will second Stuart's advice. A few years ago, I went into a fly shop to take a class on tying. I had a cheap borrowed vise with me. I used one of their vises which I thought I might even buy. I found I did not like it. I tried another vise. I bought that second one before I left the store. And it is still the vise I use most often. FYI, the vise I bought was a Renzetti Traveler. Yes, it is a rotary and I have the pedestal model. I highly recommend that vise. But "your milage may vary". I strongly advocate "try before you buy". If you can't try it at a dealer, visit a tying session and check out the other vises around the table. Ken S.

So to truely get in some decent fishing, I had to really get away from work (I left the pager at home). I got out last week while on vacation with my family down in Sarasota FL. I know, who goes to Florida in early August? Well, I got a deal that was just too good to pass up. I went out with a local guide, Capt Rick Grassett. We started before sunrise, fishing lighted piers for Snook. The first one I hooked up spooked badly when I got him close to the boat. One mighty shake of the head and he shredded the bite leader. So Rick tied on a heavier leader and the next one came all the way into the net. My first Snook ever and it was about 23", caught on a 6 wt fly rod with an intermediate sink tip line. Once the sun came up, we fished grass flats and sand bars. I caught several nice Ladyfish and a juvenile grouper. The thrill of the day was seeing an 80 lb Tarpon (Rick's estimate, not mine) jump out of the water while it was chasing Ladyfish. I shifted from the 6 wt to my own 8 wt rod and Rick tied on a bite leader and one of my own Clouser Minnows. Two inconsiderate guys in another boat slipped between us and the tarpon, so we never had a chance at it. They were throwing bait using spinning rods and were not even after the Tarpon. They were chasing the Ladyfish and Seatrout. We did make a valiant attempt at a nice Tripletail. These fish float right next to marker bouys or the bouys on crab traps and look like just more stuff growing on the bouy. They hide there waiting for baitfish (aka. breakfast) to come along. My first two casts were not close enough and the third one hit the fish on the head. Apparently he did not think that was very friendly because he promptly left the bouy he had been hiding next to. It was a great outing. I learned a couple new knots. I am more convinced then ever of the value of a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. This was my first experience with a sink tip line, and I know I am going to go out and get a spool set up with some for my own use here in Illinois. I also picked up a great book on Fly Fishing in Saltwater by Lefty Kreh. After a very warm morning on the water, I drank Gatoraide, took a cool shower, and then took my son to a movie at a nicely air conditioned theater while my wife and daughter went shopping at a mall. More later, Ken S.

My work schedule has made my chances for fishing somewhat limited. When I do get out, it is usually very short notice and often just a quick hour before work. And I don't like posting much about what's biting at work since the water I spend most of my time on is not publicly accessible. Tom C and I were able to get out for several hours last Sunday. We drove out to the Kishwaukee, west of Genoa. I think we spent five hours waving the long rods in the river and our grand total was one decent bluegill. The water was pretty cloudy, but it is never overly clear in that stretch of river. We each got practice tying knots since we were changing flies often to try to find something that would work. I showed Tom a couple holes which I very rarely find empty. We must have spent 15 mins taking turns at one hole. I think Tom said he saw something in there, but we could not get it to bite. We gave up on the river and went to spend a quick couple of hours over at a new spot I found near work. We got a mixture of Smallies, a largemouth and several large Bluegill/sunfish, mostly on topwater deer hair flies. I have had some nice fish this month, in my spotty outings, but not the best of luck. I have lost several good flies recently due to bad knots, sharp teeth and just plain clumsiness. The third section of my 4 pc Sage 5 wt snapped right in the middle about 10 days ago. It has been sent in for a warranty repair/replacement. And then the first section (handle piece) of my 4 wt St Croix rod broke just below the ferrel on Thursday evening. I'll need to check to see if I can get that repaired or if I just need to replace that rod. I have had many good years with that rod and it was truly painful to hear that snapping noise. That rod is 5 years old this month. I know that they are doing remarkable things with the latest fly rod designs, so perhaps I am just due for an upgrade. I have been fishing my 30 yr old fiberglass 6 wt once in a while lately. Casting that old heavyweight for any amount of time is a real workout. But the six is a nice weight for some of the windy days we have had over the last several weeks. I'm finally going to pick up a reel for my eight weight rod this week.

I would agree that my Go-To smallie fly would be a Clouser Minnow. But this early in the year and in fairly cold water, I would think you want to stay small. The M&M is somewhat similar to a small Clouser. It is made with Marabou feathers rather than Bucktail. The other difference is that the M&M uses bead chain eyes while the Clouser uses dumbbell eyes. Woolly Buggers are a good standby. If you can get your hands on some of Tim Holshag's HHF (Holshag Hackle Flies) those are good for smallies, but it might still be early in the year for them. Stop by a local fly shop if you need flies quickly. If you can find a local shop where you are going (I think Steve suggested one) then you should get some good flies for the water you will be fishing. It is really great that you are going out with your Dad. Enjoy the trip. Tight Lines, Ken S.

I have an older 6wt fiberglass rod. I have become spoiled by my Sage XP which is quite a fast rod. I have often referred to the old fiberglass rod as my "wet noodle". It is quite a challenge to cast, but having learned fly casting on that old rod, I believe it has helped me more quickly adapt to the different rods I have cast since. I guess it is something like when I taught my wife to drive. At that time she was still my "bride-to-be". I taught her how to drive on a 1976 Mercury Marquee Brougham. I think it was the third largest car on the road at the time. She did very well while learning in general and even mastered parallel parking that monster. When our first child arrived, we traded that monster in for a Ford Escort. She laughed at how easy that was to park. She is quite comfortable parking just about anything now. I guess I don't recommend fiberglass for a beginner, but if that is what you have, I am proof that it can be done. The real key will be making sure you have a good quality matching line on the rod. Ken S.

I use a very basic "clamp on light on an arm" that I used to use on a drafting table. This light has served me through so many hobbies. I like the flexibility of adjusting it to different positions and heights. And the price was right. I grabbed it up 20 years ago when my wife said "I'm not using this any more. Should we throw it away." I have looked at the lights you mentioned, but have no experience with either. I'm anxious to see what those on the forums can share. Maybe I need to put one of those on my Christmas list. My current light works, but if folks say these are that much better, maybe I need to enter the 21rst century. As far as the magnifying glass. I tried one of those for a bit. I found it terribly awkward and felt it was more in the way than helpful. My eye doctor told me I might find a very low power pair of drug store reading glasses to help me deal with fine print. Those are 1.25x magnification and they are actually helpful for tying. But I did pick up a much higher magnification (2.25x) pair that I often use for fly tying. The glasses do not get in the way like the magnifier does and they do work very nicely. My only advice is to get some of the low profile ones. They look like just the bottom half of a pair of glasses. They work well for the tying and you can quite conveniently look over the top of them when you are talking to the guy across the tying table or picking your bench-side reference book off the shelf over the tying station at home. Ken S.

Thanks Bob, That looks like it is not too tough to tie and I can imagine that it would be quite effective. You listed the weight of the jig/hook. But I'm having trouble visuallizing the size of this fly. If you had included a coin in the picture (for size reference) would you have used a quarter or a dime? If I were to use say a 2x long Nymph hook, about what size hook would it be? If the jig is that light in weight, I imagine it casts very much like a a fly tied with a cone head. I like tying cone head flies, but I sometimes find that if I rush or if I'm not careful, the cone get's loose over time. Sometimes it takes a long time, but often it takes less time than I would like before things get loose. By tying this on a jig hook, one does not have to deal with that weight getting loose on the hook. Thanks again, Ken S.

Michael, How would you rate the difficulty of tying this pattern. It is obviously not as difficult as those Deer Hair Poppers you are getting so good at. It must be more diffcult than a Woolly Bugger. Is this more or less difficult that a Clouser Minnow or compared to a Stimulator. Perhaps we can ask you to demo this one at a 4th Monday session some time. Ken

I'll get that loaner DVD back to you on Monday if you can make it to our 4th Monday session. I actually have two of yours. I agree that it is encouraging to hear the "pros" say that they are still learning things and tweaking their techniques. It all comes down to practice. Michael's deer hair flies are as good as they are because of the amount of practice he has put in on them. I have not made time for tying a priority lately so I feel like I am falling out of practice. I finally have my tying bench area organized well enough that I should be able to pop down into that corner of the basement and tie one or two patterns if I can set aside just 30 mins. It was difficult to tie when I had to set everything up on the dining room table, do some tying and then put it all away. Can't do much of that in 30 mins. The other day, I was able to leave a fly half done and then come back to finish it hours later. I don't recommend this as a standard practice, but it is nice to have that option. The point being, I hope to be able to plan more time to stay in practice and keep my skills honed. When I took my first formal tying class, the instructor suggested going home and tying at least a dozen of the pattern we learned. The first couple were no so hot, but by the time I did the last one of the 12, I was pleased with what I could tie. Now I just have to make tying practice a priority.

Hi Chris, First off, at that price, I can't see much harm in giving it a try. Realize that you will need the rod, and then something to hold your line and then fly line. Whatever you try, do not try to cut corners on the fly line. I'm not saying you need to have the top of the line $60 Clouser line, but don't buy a no-name bargin basement fly line. I really like the RIO lines myself. People have been arguing about reels for years. It has to hold your line. Beyond that you want something that you can strip the line off of simply while you cast and it has to hold all the line and backing you need. When fishing for the littler trout, you will use your line hand to handle "drag". When you get into larger smallies and such, you may be wishing you had a reel with a smooth working drag. And it may seem like a little thing, but I have been really anoyed by reels that click very loudly when you are stripping line to make a cast. When you allocate your budget, I recommend prioritizing line, then rod, then reel. Now I must say I had never heard of a fly rod from Eagle Claw. I checked the web site you suggested. I was unsure about this when the description listed a spinning reel seat. But the photo looks right for a fly rod. My other concern is that it is described as an Ultra-light rod. That may work in really small streams fishing for small trout. I'll advise caution using an ultralight rod while fishing for river or stream based smallies. I tried a google search to see what else I could learn about this rod. Cabela's does not carry that rod at all. Bass Pro Shops had it listed at least. Personally, I would not buy this rod sight unseen based on the descriptions I have been able to find. I recommend you get your hands on one and I would highly recommend you cast it before you buy it. Even casting in the back yard behind some fly shop is better than buying it unseen. Like I said up front, at that price, I suppose it is worth a try. But I am rather uncertain about a fly rod described as being for 5-6 wt line and also described as ultralight. Where you will fish and what you will fish for means more in your buying decision than advice based solely on product descriptions. For smallies in moving water, I can't say I would recommend this one. I know you said you are on a budget, but the best advice I can give you is to visit a full service dealer. The dealer will not only explain everything, they will let you try different combinations and they will help you ask all the right questions to get the equipment that is right for you. He want's you to be a happy customer who comes back again. Some guy on E-bay or a small mail-order place wants to get your money and send you what he is peddling. The dealer will do his/her best to sell you what you need as near your budget as possible. If they can't sell you what you ask for near your budget, then you need to think hard about wether the budget buy you found elsewhere will meet your needs. Let us know where you are located and someone can point you to a local dealer you can trust. One More Cast in Countryside is a supporter of the ISA and is very centrally located for Chicagoland. I'm sure you have seen postings on these forums from Joseph. If you are farther North or South, perhaps someone knows a local option for you. Ken S.