Paul F

Well I guess I am going to give the clouser line a go ahead then... I was thinking about making some 3-4 feet sink tips for my 5wt anyhow so I will make a few extra for this setup too. As far as overlining... I overlined my 5wt setup but that is because I was a beginner and everyone I talked to recommended it, I didnt know that it was so popular even amongst experienced fly rodders. Perhaps some 7wt Clouser line along with some various length sink tips for fishing deeper water is exactly what the doctor ordered. Thanks for all the advice and insight guys.

Thanks a bunch mike, I have never fished an all sinking type line and I was kinda concerned about the pick up. I am not afraid of a sink tip, as most of the line will be ontop of the water. This new rod feels kind of stiff and I'm worried that using line with a less agressive head on it will not load properly. How well does that Clouser line seem to load up your rod(s)?

I recently bought a new 6wt rod and I now have a reel to go with it. Now truthfully, I really didnt need this rod but I was looking for something with a little more backbone to throw larger and heavier streamer patterns. Now it would seem that fishing with floating line is the easiest but I feel that it is a weak link when trying to fish streamers in any kind of water deeper than say, 2-3 feet. I have been thinking about trying a sink tip line or an intermediate sinking line, but my concerns are that they will be too hard to manage. I have been looking at the Scientific angers streamer express line along with Rio Clouser. The SA line is an intermediate sinking type, whereas the Rio is a floating type. I am really leaning towards the Rio Streamer tip line, as it seems like an awesome product and will be easy to handle. I guess I am just looking for some advice regaurding sink tip lines versus intermediate sinking type lines... Or am I ok staying with a WF floating line?

Whats wrong with casting with one hand and switching to the other? I fly cast with my right hand, yet I fish all spinning gear with my left hand. And as far as bait casting goes, I honestly believe that a baitcaster is a superior fishing tool all around... But thats just my opinion, Spinning reels have their place but for a majority of the fishing I do I find that baitcasters are my "go-to setups." Having control of the spool along with a typically higher retrieval rate is a big plus in my book.. Because after all, Its always easier to slow down your retrieve than it is to speed it up.

The guy I bought my Konic from also had a litespeed 3.5... And it was broken, And he claimed he had hardly ever even used it being that he had it on an 8wt. If I had more money, or could even justify spending that kind of money I would pick up an ULA Force SL by lamson... Hands down one of the best looking reels I've set eyes on in a while. You should check out the Guru and the Velocity by Lamson, They are both good looking and even better performing according to my reads about them. The price is still up there in my opinion but it is what it is I suppose.

Even at the risk of sounding ignorant I am going to ask this question... I was reading about furled leaders just a few days ago, And I honestly do not understand the point of them.... Now I am fairly new to fly fishing but I have been using a 9 foot sections of Flouro and tying loops into the ends of them and running that straight onto my fly line... Some people I have talked to told me that was pretty standard and some other people could not believe that I was not running a tapered leader with 4-6 feet of 4-6lb tippet. So ultimately, my question is: Would a furled leader replace a tapered leader then? And If one were to decide to use a furled leader (or a tapered for that matter) how would they go about adjoining the two sections(leader & tippet)?

Thanks for your help guys, I felt a little uneasy applying that much force to remove the spool but after I got it on and off a few times it became a little more easy. From there switching it from left hand to right hand retrieve is a no-brainer. This is a very good looking reel and it weighs nothing, I cant wait to get out and play with it!

I picked one of these things up cheap, but without an instruction manual... I cannot figure out how to get the spool off to change it from left hand to right hand retrieve. Any help out there? Thanks in advance!

I have an old school 4wt bamboo orvis rod I'm kinda looking to sell... Its in excellent condition and is still in the original alluminum rod tube. Might be more than you are looking to spend but it is a gorgeous rod... PM me if interested.

I cant imagine fishing a 1wt rod... It must be like fishing with a cooked spaghetti noodle!

You will be fine with your 5wt setup. You will probably find that you will have a hard time loading your rod with 4wt line. I am actually running 7wt line on my 6wt rod because the 6wt line I had on it simply made any kind of short distance casting very difficult. On the othe hand though, the 7wt line is hard to control on farther casts. I guess you should do as Ron says and try the 4wt line out to see if you like it.

Hidden lake is five minutes from my house, I can take pictures but I need to know who to email them to. Let me know..

Ahhh, I see now. You have to buy a dozen and a dozen is automatically added to cart.

I spent nearly all of my 2010 fishing season taking the time wading and fishing about 20 miles of river near my home. Using printed images from google earth, I would explore a new section of it each time out. I now know all my hot spots and good access points, It was actually extremely enjoyable and I plan on doing the same thing this season.

I floated the galena river a few years back... Its muddy and shallow, Didn't catch a single fish either. You'd be better off fishing the mississippi if you are looking to fish from a bass boat. I personally want to float the apple from the dam in hanover out to the mississippi, But the locals in hanover tell me it is too much for one day. I have relatives that live in eagle ridge so all I would need to do is call for a ride and there would be someone there to pick me up in 20-30 minutes, But I would have to paddle like a madman to get it done in a day... If it were even possible.

Thanks for sharing Mike... I had a lengthy conversation with a co-worker of mine over lunch just about a week ago about the effects of catching spawning bass. My argument was that they probably do not return to the nest, And apparently I was partially correct. Usually out of principle I will not fish for them while they are spawning but now I have solid evidence as backup. For whatever reason, In all these years I have been fishing I never really thought to read up on the effects, I just figured it was unsportsmanlike and left it at that.

Never seen one in the DuPage river, but I occasionaly find one stuck on my leg when I wet wade in the vermillion river.. Either way, If it has good action in the water something will eat it. I too used to fish the berkley power leech in ponds that I knew had no leech population and yet the bass were slamming them with a vengeance.

Thank you, I did some googling before I posted this but various mixed suggestions had my head spinning... Mike, Thanks so much for all the info. I think I am going to stop and pick up some borax on the way home from work tomorrow... But how much of the flesh do I need to try to remove? What is the best method to remove fat and excess flesh on the hide? I really want to go all out on this thing and keep all the good stuff I can use, It adds to the whole element of things (shot the deer, tied fly with hair from deer, Caught monster smallie on said fly) My dog helped get some of the fat off of the inside of the hide for me already since I would not feed her the precious meat and she had to make do with the fat and small pieces of meat left on the hide... Truthfully I really only want the white hairs for tying clousers but I will also keep some of the brown body hairs for poppers and whatnot. Unless of course, Anybody else wants some?

I got a deer on friday and if I can, I would like to use the tail for tying purposes... What would I need to do to be able to preserve it for tying purposes? I am sure there is some sort of hide tanning that must be done or the flesh wil rot, correct? If it is not too much work I would be willing to give away some of the body hair to anyone interested... Any guidance would be appreciated!

address and deadline?

Recipe? Looks fairly straightforward.. What does the body consist of?

Looks like only 4 people so far..

Rich, I want in.. I think. I am fairly new to tying but I think I can pull it off. I am slightly confused tough, Are we (Participants) going to all tie the same exact fly? If that is the case then I would need to make sure that it is a fly I could tie... Please let me know, Paul.

I wanted to ask the same questions but you beat me to it.. I would gladly try my hand at tying something up that might lure a wintering bluegill into biting.

Where can I find a stripping basket like this? Does cabelas sell these?