Mike G

Early bass gets the worm.

How come it took you so long to reply?

AC's article reminded me of the thrill of fishing and camping in the Quetico where having a night time visit from a bear is always possible and guns are not allowed.

I think the Native Americans would rename AC to Fishes with Wolves.

If a man brought home a $70K bass rig, the ol'Lady would serve up divorce papers.

But, if the ol'Lady brought home the same rig, the two of them may well be buried in the thing at a ripe old age!

Please send a picture of the boat.

Terry,

Not all dams are bad. rich and I think the ones that formed Shabbona Lake and Lake Summerset respectively are quite good. Shabbona formed when Indian Creek was dammed. Summerset formed when the South Branch of Otter Creek was formed.

Good idea about contacting the FPD. Their staff may tell you how beaver dams fit into the natural scheme of things. Long ago I enjoyed some great Brookie fishing in beaver dam ponds. Unlike the concrete structures men build, beaver works go through a cycle that enhances the environment. Anyway I would like to hear what the FPD says.

At the recommendation of someone at Flytying.com I bought some of these fine sterling silver closed jump rings to tie into the end of my leader from which I tie my tippet onto. Much less expensive than tippet rings sold commercially. I haven't had a chance to actually use them yet but they are tiny, and I can barely get a piece of 20 lb test and a piece of 10 lb test thru them. Just started tying up some leaders using them so I'll post a review later.

 

http://www.artbeads.com/ss-cjr-fa.html

I wonder how strong they are. Say you tied two pieces of 10# mono to the ring and pulled until something gave. It would be great if the mono popped first. As you said, the jewelry rings are less expensive. But is that at the price of literally having a weak link between you and the fish?

I got the E Edition yesterday and read it all. (E = early. E = electronic) One more fine job by the crew.

Here Tim Flagler sets a new standard for informative videos. Morals:

1. After all these years Barbie still has it.

2. Give Tippet Rings and Micro-swivels a try.

<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/77507727" width="500" height="281" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://midcurrent.com/videos/attaching-tippet-rings-to-leaders/?utm_source=MidCurrent+Fly+Fishing+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b37cd5591b-Newsletter_October_23_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8efbf3b958-b37cd5591b-18956357

John,

That is all good news for ISA. I cannot find a link to the broadcast yet. But I hope to see it soon.

An alien comes from a galaxy far away to study bass fishing. Since he thinks in binary code, he quickly deduces the "rule of two."

2, 20, 200 To catch a 2 pound bass, you need a 20 foot boat and a 200 horsepower motor.

2000, 20,000 It takes 2 thousand dollars to buy the basic electronics. Over his lifetime the weekend warrior will spend 20 thousand dollars on bass tackle,

200,000 The house lost in the divorce is worth $200,000 on average.

2,000,000 Typically a large company looses two million dollars worth of productivity due to employees day dreaming and BSing about fishing.

And so on...

Does anyone think it is not worth it?

The bug really got you.

Will my wife divorce me if I got a set of these?

Would that kill two birds with one stone?

http://midcurrent.com/gear/how-to-choose-a-driftboat-part-iv-canoe-edition/?utm_source=MidCurrent+Fly+Fishing+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b37cd5591b-Newsletter_October_23_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8efbf3b958-b37cd5591b-18956357

Here in driftless Illinois we get a few WI TV channels. Saturday AM I caught Outdoor Wisconsin leading off with a segment on Fly Fishing for Muskies. What do they catch? Big Smallmouths and big Pike. Deja vu!

The first Junco visited our feeder about noon today. These tough birds spend the Summer in Alaska and northern Canada and come here for the winter. Yes, cold time is here.

Ryan,

Guys use leaders like those all the time with bait casters and spinning rods. Rumor is that they catch Muskies. If it does not cause you a problem casting, use it. Who wants to loose a fish on a bite off? This assumes you can't get some Tyger wire before you go.

On the other hand I can see the argument for a "finesse" presentation using 40# FC if the fish are shy. (I never thought I would call 40# tippet "finesse" fishing.)

Right on time. Thanks Ryan.

Thanks for pointing that out, Tom.

Good looking fly.

We both seem to be using the same material for a photo background.

I DID IT FIRST

Thanks Scott. Since you are not a fly fisherman you are not caught up in all the nuances (AKA prejudices) of the method. Before I was 10 I witnessed my father using his fly rod in all kinds of unorthodox ways. For example casting a spinner and pork rind for crappies, lobbing wacky hooked night crawlers for Largemouths, drifting a minnow under a cork for Smallmouths... So we probably agree that a fly rod is just a tool. But for others it is something else.

Now that we have that settled, how about these Gummy things?

https://umpqua.com/products/flies/all-purpose-saltwater-flies/gummy-minnow

At $6.79 a copy

Goat Hair

http://www.leroyflytying.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=592&zenid=rlrrqueje6oqc16svhn9l13u64

Tie one up and wait till next year!

Define fly. That's important because of history. I have read reports that around 1870 certain members of the Orvis family refused to call the Royal Coachman a fly because it did not look like an insect. Around 1900 long rod fishermen distinguished wet flies, dry flies, streamers, and Bass bugs. Only the first two got to be called flies. Then came fly rod lures like the Fly Oreno, Fly Runt, Fly Tin Liz, Flicker Spinners, F2-7 Flatfish, etc. creating a fifth category.

So this is a streamer. If you consider a streamer to be a fly, it's a fly. There are long traditions of weighting and adding spinners to streamers. This one happens to have both. Now if it were made with a rubber skirt instead of the fur and feathers, it would be a Fly Rod Thumper.

In use some might tip it with a pork strip. Then what would it be?

What's in a name?

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/lateral-line/2013/10/new-hooks-shots-muskies-fly-minnesota-epic

Take a look. It is another chapter in the big fly book. Muskie guides call them bonus fish - bass and pike that take Muskie flies.

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:image.jpg

Here's my dumb question. What does pushing water mean? What pushes water? How does one fly push water when another one does not?

Deer season?

I mean if you look at Cabelas and Bass Pro adds, almost all you see is hunting gear. They figure that most people are in a cycle, or they want us in a cycle to sell more stuff. In the retail seasons, Spring/summer = fishing; Fall/winter = hunting and ice fishing. So maybe we get in that cycle unconsciously. On TV Outdoor channels have a similar cycle.

Your question is a good one. A lot of us are in fishing mode year round. So cool and cold water outings make sense for us. Just because the marinas are closed, does not mean fishing is over. Since our spring and summer presentations won't work as well, we have to learn some new tricks. That's all. Getting the hang of float and fly for example. Yeah, you have to dress warm too.

Tom

In the video Wulff says he is using 2 pound tippet. I figured if it was gut it would have been 1 or 2x which would be 8 pounds or more in today's nylon. So his feat is catching that fish on a 2# tippet; gut or nylon 2 pounds is 2 pounds. In an old book (1940) that I have, John Alden Knight (the moon phase man) recommends to an IFI line for trout fishing; that's a dt3 in todays specs. So I suspect Wulff's rod is a 3 or 4 wt.