tgoodmanii

I can go smaller. Size 6 sounds good to me.

I'm in. I've been tying up some Barr's Bouface Streamers in black, dark olive, and white rabbit strips on a size 4 Tiemco 200r hook. Are we keeping it to a max of 10 tiers?

Agreed. Thanks Tim.

I'm impressed! The flies look great and the post office delivered them in less than 48 hrs. The flies were waiting on the counter when I got home from work yesterday. Very nice job everyone. Can't wait to get out and give them a try.

That was my point. I always look local first before making a purchase. After two or three weeks of research I made a decision to buy elsewhere. Glad they are ISA supporters.

Thanks for the suggestion Tim. I'm two hours from ChiFly with good traffic. I don't work or fish in or near Chicago. When I think local, I'm thinking the town or county I live and/or work in. Or on a fishing trip the fly shop in that area. The outfitter I purchased from was not a big box store. Though I do shop at some. What does "local" mean? Remember that every day, you get to choose what kind of impact you have on your place. Make it good. When you spend, choose local first! When we say "local," we mean a business that meets the following three criteria: 1. Locally Owned The majority of the ownership of the businessthe people who have the biggest stake in its successlives right in the area. They tend to be proactively involved in our community, and keep more of the profits circulating in our local economy. With a few exceptions, publicly traded companieseven those that are headquartered hereare not locally owned. 2. Independently Operated The local owners have full autonomy to make decisions about their business, including sourcing, operations, distribution, marketing, and technology. They are empowered to adopt innovations that align with their personal, community, and environmental values. A locally owned franchise is not fully independent. 3. As Close to Home as Possible Local is relative. Often, you can find the product or service in your neighborhood or city. But if youre looking for something very specific, the nearest might be in another town or county and thats as local as possible! A good start is to ask, Is there a quality alternative closer to home? So in some sense ChiFly could be considered local to me especially with no fly shops close to home. What it comes down to me is overall value and cost of a product with good costumer service. Im going to look local first. But I'm not going to pay $20 in shipping and taxes so I can say I support a "local" fly shop. Nor do I feel I should have to contact a shop and bargin with them in order for them to remain competitive in the marketplace. For those who live within reasonable driving distance they should shop at ChiFly or one of the other locally owned independent shops in the area. That being said I do want to vist ChiFly and I'll probably purchase something when I do. But until then my fly fishing purchases will be online finding the best deals. Those companies are ran by real people in real communities too.

I ordered the new Simms Headwater Sling Pack and it arrived a few days ago. After looking at Fishpond, Patagonia, Orvis, and Simms slings for a few weeks I finally made the decision to get the Simms. Wanting to be more of a minimalist (read quit taking too much "stuff" with me), I settled on the smaller size of the two. It looks well made with plenty of room for the "stuff" I really need to take. I'll post a review later this year on how it has functioned and held up to some hard use. I was going to order from Chi Fly but I wasn't too thrilled on paying tax and shipping. Instead I ordered from an outfitter out west with free shipping (3 days) and no tax. No I'm not sharing the name of the outfitter. Do your own research or pay the gas or tax and shipping. http://www.simmsfishing.com/shop/vests-packs/headwaters-sling-pack-1.html

Cool! Thanks for the tips Tom.

I watch the videos at home. No gas, cheaper beer and food. Only $10 on amazon video to buy.

Finally got the Clousers in the mail.

Cool video. Very interesting.

Yeah it's usually worse than what they initially reveal.

Cool Tom. Let us know how the tube flies go. And post some pics. I've been want to tie some up. I like the options it gives you especially being able to use shorter hooks. The shorter the hook shank the less leverage the fish has to throw it.

We went back for dinner Saturday night. Food was great and the cheesecake was one of the best.

Nice! Congrats on the new canoe.

Good food and good conversations made for a nice start to the day. The guest was my brother Joe. Thanks for the material guys. Thanks for making the long trip Pat it was nice to see you again. For the the record we were talking about self inflating sleeping pads for our Sylvania trips. A place Terry is too "scared" to make with us. I'm tired of watching, reading, and talking about fishing. I'm headed to the river tomorrow dang it. I'm not coming home without catching a smallmouth!

Yes

I'll be there. Is anyone going to tying flies or are we jut swapping material? I'll tie if someone else is I just don't want to be the only one.

Works been a little slow lately so I've had plenty of time to tie. I'll get them sent out this week.

Just me a far as I know. Maybe my brother. Is Jude coming? I have something to give him. Mr. Graham might come up? That would be great. Terry still needs an autograph. Ha! A small creek I like to fish is starting to open up a bit. Might have to hit it up this weekend to see if I can get my first smallmouth of the year.

I'll be there.

My flies are done. Where do we send them? I actually finished them last week.

Since no one else is tying a clouser put me down for a clouser. I've been working on several subsurface flies over the past couple weeks that have turned out good. Haven't tested them so I'll keep it simple this time around.

Got the flies today. They all look excellent! Thanks for hosting Rob.

I'm in. I will let you know the pattern soon.Thanks for hosting.