Mike G

If Smallmouth Bass is the key variable, an 8 wt is the answer with a 9 wt in the running if Largemouth and Pike are in the equation. 8 will give you the power to beat the wind on the big river, and the power to chuck big bugs and flies, and the power to handle the big fish. You do want big fish, don't you? That being said there is no one rod weight for every situation. I use rods from 6 wt through 9 wt. I just lean toward the 8.

If you are at all handy, go ahead. Th basic process is simple. I have built several in the past. They are great functional rods though they may not have the bling of fancy hardware, elaborate wraps, and decals of "fine" custom rods. I favor KISS in rods. The kit idea is a good one. Later you may want to customize your choice of components. It may be a good idea to economize on the first one you build. On the other hand you do not want to put all that labor into a low end rod you will not use a lot. If you have not done it yet, read up on the process; or watch videos. There's no need to buy a book or video with what we have on the internet. These are just samples of the good stuff out there. Mudhole http://blog.mudhole.com/build-custom-fishing-rod/ Hook & Hackle http://www.hookhack.com/html/rodbuildinginstructions.html If you think you can handle the process, go ahead. What kind of rod are you going to build?

The horizontal lines of the fly imitate similar lines on baitfish making the general design very effective like the black nosed dace Mark mentioned. That being said, in the day, the Mickey Finn was all we needed for smallmouths in the Boundary Waters. I imagine that red and white would also be effective. But you might not have those colors. What colors do you have?

Likewise, I already tied my 13 trout/panfish figuring the rest will go to the blowout. My take is that most of the crowd are not bass purists and there will even be a lot of trout guys there. BTW I am sure they'll take more donations. Who is collecting them this year?

Yes. There's a corollary. Some people give fishermen WAY too much credit. I just watched a TFN show on the finals of the Canadian Thousand Island Tournament-a three day two man team event with a 5/day bag limit. The winning team had 15 bass, mostly Smallmouths, with a total weight of 79 lbs 9 oz. How many Bruti in that bag? Wacky rigged Senkos in shallow water was the ticket. It must have been early season.

Good fishing all year long!

"The angler has been casting for hours going through every fly in his box while fish rise all around him. Even going to a 7x tippet on a 15 ft leader and casting from a prone position make no difference. He takes a break for a smoke. After the last puff, he tosses the butt into the stream. A 24" Rainbow engulfs it immediately." Our literature is full of stories like this. The authors speculate about why this happens proposing a variety of reasons. It could be the natural drift of the butt, its size, the ability of the fish to see even the finest leader, the buoyancy of the filter material, its color, the solunar period, residual fumes on the flies from the cement the tyer used, BO, etc., etc. ... The solutions are equally varied. Improve casting to get a better drift, cast a butt fly made from a noodle mop, use "invisible" flourocarbon, etc., etc. ... My favorite is rubbing your hands and and flies with Red Owl cat food. (The economy can, green label, not the premium, red label.) So I am sticking with this thread to see what you guys come up with. It should get us to the ice out in March.

Terry, Update is not the word. A lot of site members do not even have profiles. Add/ update your profile. But, how do I do that?

The eyes have it!

Merry Christmas, Fellow Buggers! Here is my Christmas Gift to you. If it were just an illustrated book on fly tying, I am sure that would be enough. If the authors of this book were Gretchen and Al Beatty, that would be more than enough. Gretchen and Al might be the best English language writing duo when it comes to fly tying and photography. If the subject of the book were the last unpublished flies of the iconic Gary LaFontaine, that would be even more than enough. My present to you is all three of these. LaFontaine’s Legacy Fly Patterns The last unpublished flies by the master angler, Gary LaFontaine. This book was adapted from the original hard-cover book published in 2007. By Gretchen & Al Beatty Copyright © 2017 by GAB Publishing. All Right Reserved. Maybe you are holding back because LaFontaine is a trout guy and you are a Bass guy. There a number of patterns like the Marabou Worm, an articulated Dragon Fly, and an articulated Craw that are right up Bronzeback alley. Here’ the fine print. You need to have a Kindle or the Kindle reader app (free from Amazon). The book is a free read for Amazon Prime members. Otherwise the EBook is a reasonable $7.99. (Original hardcopy $24) Get it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6HK3SX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482583904&sr=8-1&keywords=lafontaine%27s+legacy Merry Christmas!

Tan

We're over half way there.

FFOhio still features rich's Shannon Minnow on top of their home page. The fly fisher's take on a soft plastic stick bait, this is one fly that you need to carry this season if you're looking to get into bass! glad to say I knew him when.

Mark, I have no experience with that product though the combination of light and dispenser looks convenient. There are over 1000 reviews of it on the Amazon site. It seems pricey for the amount of glue that you get. I wonder whether it solves the tackiness problem common with UVs. rich, Does that Solarez have a problem with tackiness? Rob, CCG is getting hard to find. I use a Brand X UV cure. I will deal with the tackiness by sealing the work with clear Sally Hanson's till I use up the stuff. Then I will be in the market for something.

I guess they are afraid of the competition;.)

Son of San Juan, #10.

Trout are good pan fish. I'm in. Unlike rich I am not worried about too few tyers. The swapmeister has the ability to split the group at a certain point. I don't want to tie more than twelve flies. I like these suggestions for swaps. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?12466-Important-Swap-Items

No. Thanks for your information on size.

I see Stockard has a new house brand line of hooks. http://www.jsflyfishing.com/j-stockard-fly-hooks?utm_source=Nov+2016+Spotlight+Intro+hooks&utm_campaign=20161109+New+Hooks&utm_medium=email Has anyone tried them? The 60 deg jig hook looks interesting in sizes 6 to 16. You don't see those in small sizes like this often. Where can I get a mold for #16 jigs?

Don't use that mitt mop for dusting. http://midcurrent.com/videos/how-to-tie-a-mop-n-glo-2-0/?utm_source=MidCurrent+Fly+Fishing+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8460acb9f2-MidCurrent_November_2_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8efbf3b958-8460acb9f2-18956357

Though I enjoyed all the articles the last issue of the Bronzeback, rich’s resignation caught me by surprise. I was sorry to see that. Some old sayings come to mind: “It had to come.” “All good things come to an end.” So I pause to acknowledge some of his accomplishments. rich is humble; he never capitalizes his first name. He has served a long time as an officer for the ISA supporting all its activities. He has been a great support for the NW Region and its activities. He was instrumental in getting a western region going. He was a regular in the booth at outdoor shows which he often personally set up the night before. That’s a few things. From my point of view, I am especially impressed with his Bass bugger activity. Our connection through fly fishing antedates my membership in the ISA. We co-hosted a fly fishing forum on Jungle Jim’s long gone Angling 101 site. Eventually that led to me joining the ISA-a really good move thanks to rich. rich shared his fly tying passion through local events and via the Bassbugger forums on the website. He is generous in sharing his new patterns and new discoveries in materials. He introduced me to bohemian chenille for starts. His Gabe Frog, Shannon Minnow, and Ultimate Worm got national attention. He aint done yet. I am hoping his retirement from office frees him to create new fly designs and discover more innovative materials all of which he will share with us.

These rods have a lot going on. Besides the telescoping butt, they use Microwave guides. Has anyone used a rod with these? Then there is the price with the platinum at $190. That is pretty ultimate. http://manleyrods.com/pages/our-rods

Some time ago I quit thinking I could just swim ashore if I fell in. I bought sospenders to wear anytime I am in the boat. It would probably be a good idea idea to wear them wading too since the one time may be the only time. It is a $100 life insurance policy. http://www.go2marine.com/go2_structure/mfr/stearns/inflatable/inflatables.shtml

Our prize fish is seen in a different light on the west coast. It is at best a nuisance, at worst a serious threat to the Steelhead fishery. This is reminiscent of the effect Smallmouths had on the Landlocked Salmon lakes o in Maine in the 40s and 50s. The Maniacs got over it by touting the great bass fishing they had to offer. http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/index.ssf/2016/08/deschutes_steelhead_give_way_t.html#incart_river_index On the brighter side, here is a tip. Take a fishing trip to the Deschutes. You will catch a lot of Bass and may even get a Steelhead.

It takes Kelly almost 38 minutes to tie one in this video. He won't get rich if he does not pick up the pace some. Actually the Cougar is just a launching point for discussing his philosophy of tying from starting the thread to avoid rushing the head, to setting body wraps for a durable body, to spinning and trimming the head. I am beginning to like his take on setting collars too. Lots here.