Mike G

Thanks for sharing the story. That took some courage on your part, but it lets us all learn from reading instead of drowning. It always happens unexpectedly. Here's an irony. the tree that knocked you in saved your life since you were able to hang on to it. Go back and give that tree some Job's Tree Spikes. Next time? I do not know if you were wearing a PFD or not. A while back I admitted to myself that I cannot swim out of every boating mishap. I bought Sospenders which I wear all the time when I am in any boat. (I do not want to think about life vests that I might take off if they got too hot.) Some day the Sospenders will save my life. The lure that catches fish is the one you have on your line; the PFD that saves your life is the one you have on.

Great Tie. It reminds me that grizzly is an old family favorite and that I have some Hobby Lobby eyes and some silver Gilt Eyelash that will fill the materials bill when I sit down to tie some. I was wondering if those hollow plastic eyes might add some buoyancy. It looks like they did and adding some wire to the body might be the solution.

Dana, You tipped you hand here. Have you been holding out? What are the other better lures like a Scrounger? I say this because my experience is that a chatter type bait is a first rate producer. You can see that since other companies have "covered" it with their own design like the Booyah Boogee and the Gambler Swim Blade. DIY guys can also get the components from sources like Netcraft and make their own. You can get the original in sizes from 1/16 oz to over 1 oz. That reminds me of the ever popular Flatfish available in sizes from the 1 inch F2 to the 6 inch T6. So I will get some scroungers. If they are better than Chatterbaits, that is saying a lot. But what are the even better lures like a Scrounger?

It could save your rod. Here’s the problem: The male and female section ends of rod ferrules can become loose after repeated casting. The ferrule is the part of the rod that joins the sections of the rod together. The hollow (female) portion at the end of a rod section receives the male end of the next section. After a time the male end can slip to the very edge of the female end and when enough pressure is applied (like a hard cast), it can actually crack or “blow out” the blank wall, resulting in a broken rod. Here’s the solution: Many manufactures actually give you a little package of paraffin wax to help keep your rod pieces together when you buy a rod. Take this wax before the first time you use your rod and apply it to all of the male sides of the ferrules. If the manufacturer doesn’t provide you with any, simply get a candle or chunk of beeswax and gently brush it forward towards the top of the male ferrule, coating the entire piece. If your rod is old and has been used bunch remember to clean out the female side with a Q-tip or something similar before applying wax. Now your rod pieces should hold together much longer and tighter, minimizing the chance of a silly rod break. http://midcurrent.com/2013/04/30/quick-tip-wax-your-ferrules-to-avoid-broken-fly-rods/?utm_source=MidCurrent+Fly+Fishing+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8fa242f263-Gear_Newsletter_May_10_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8efbf3b958-8fa242f263-18956357

Ever try a chatter bait? I wonder how they compare?

Jonn, There are 3 size bills and 4 weights of jigs. Which one or ones were you using?

Nice! How long is that bird?

Outside! is a name my dog would relate to. Not ticks however. The article is good but hard to get to without a link. http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/science/Feeding-Frenzy.html Don't let the sub-title Feeding Frenzy fool you into thinking it is about hot fishing.

We don't have the fanciest web page, but it is the only one in Illinois with a Fly Fisherman right on the top. - http://www.lake-summerset.com/

Jonn, In case anyone wonders what a Scrounger Head is. I took a long hard look at these several times. They remind me a lot of the Chatterbait and some of its variations. Now the Chatterbait is a proven fish getter. So I suspect the Scrounger would be the same. Both have the bill on top. With the Chatterbait this means the blade provides some lift. That is an advantage when you fish a retrieve from deep to shallow. Not so good when you fish shallow to deep since it is harder to stay on the bottom. I use grubs as a trailer on my home made chatterbaits, and the blade provides a lot of action. I thing the scrounger lip would do the same. The paddle tail on a swim bait might be overkill. It is your Nickel. So we all want to hear about it if you try it.

Is that the river with the dinosaur bones in it?

I see a lot of guys itching to spend some $$$$ (4 figures) on the new fishing Kayaks and looking for some ideas on comparative models. Here is my long view on the topic. I will start with a saying from a kayak review, "If you want to loose weight, weigh yourself on a scale at a kayak factory." Some reviewers are, shall we say, skeptical about the manufacturer's suggested weights. Though we think of a kayak or canoe as carrying us on the water, we have to carry it on the land. How far is it from the parking spot to the water? What if you want to portage it? That is where weight comes in and factors larger and bigger over time. Even the manufacturer's weight of most of the fishing model kayaks is around 80 pounds similar to the 80-90 pound aluminum and fiberglass canoes I used for many years. Equipped with a yoke I portaged them a mile or two on some trips. And even at that weight they are easy enough to lift to the level of racks on a car top. But then... My long view says that things will change over time. First I changed, and carrying 80 pounds got to be more of a challenge though I can still do it. Then cars changed, and solo hoisting that 80 pounds up to the top of an SUV is not as easy as sliding a canoe off your shoulders to a waiting car top. There are two solutions to the problem of weight. One is buying a fancy roller rack for the SUV. The other is Kevlar. A little over ten years ago a bought a 15 ft, 35 pound (UL) solo canoe. Besides being easy to lift, the Wenonah model I bought is lightening on the water. That equates to more time fishing and less time paddling. Too bad they did not have the kayak version back then. So the long view comes down to this. Over the long haul an extra 45 or 50 pounds is going to get to you and limit your range. There are Kevlar kayaks like the Canak, that cut the weight in half and can truly become a lifetime craft for you along with being something your wife and kids can manage. In the short view they are more expensive; in the long view they are a bargain. http://www.wenonah.com/products/template/product_detail.php?IID=245 PS if you gotta stand, there are always sponsons.

Our favorite source for fake fur has added some more fly friendly colors. Their Extra Long Fur now comes in Sage (light olive), Dark Brown, and Camel (tan). Though not as long as Sparkle Fur, I have found a lot of uses for this size on smaller flies and jigs. http://www.distinctivefabric.com/fabric.php?product=EXTRALONGFUR1

Baby T. Rex. Iowa has not existed for millions of years.

There's the best tip. Try one. Up near Rockford Paddle &Trail, Loves Park, is on a small lake where you can test paddle I suppose any time.

Being on the e-copy distribution for the bulletin let me get an early look at the latest edition. It really is spectacular starting with the cover. (Compare it to the cover of, say, the June 2012 issue, and you will get what I mean. Move over Eric ) Full color in the hardcopy has to really help. This bulletin would definitely be a hit at the outdoor shows this winter. I am proud to see one of my photos made it. Good job to all.

Correction: Make that "Reel Men." BTW are we getting paid to run this survey?

Maybe there's 4.

"I seen the light!" In effect Orvis is bringing their source for line in house similar to how Sage bought Rio a while back. " Incidentally SA and Rio are two of the big 3 US fly line manufacturers. Many other companies including Sage, Wulff, Orvis and more have their fly lines made by these big 3. Sage was with SA and is now with Rio which was purchased by Sage’s owners last year. Orvis is made by SA." http://ozarkflyfisherjournal.wordpress.com/tips-tricks-and-ideas/fly-line-primer/ PS Looks like the third of the big three is Air Flow.

None of the above. Real men paddle camo, green or tan in a pinch.

Interesting.

Fish on the pill? They have been finding egg sacks in male Smallmouths in the Shenandoah watershed for some time blaming it on chemicals from birth control pills. The cycle is known. The chemicals are excreted normally and are not removed from water by the standard water treatment process. It was minimally reassuring that the problem was limited to high population areas like the Chesapeake watershed though it left me wondering about the Fox many of its tribs being treatment plants. BTW downstream towns that use treated river water as a source for drinking water don't remove the drugs either. So they can make another cycle through humans one or more times. "Better living through chemistry." Now this. Fish in low population areas are not immune to similar problems since many state of the art agricultural drugs and chemicals have reached concentration levels in ground water to the point where they do some damage. Being in the vanguard on research makes Minnesota the bearer of the bad news unfortunately. But just because Illinois does not have the research does not mean it does not have the problem. Another chemical we will will hear from in the future is Atrazine, the preferred agricultural herbicide in the midwest for over 50 years. The same smarties in MN have found out that it does not break down completely as once thought. "Funny looking" frogs and turtles show up in waters that contain this former "friend of the farmer" once thought to be a near perfect herbicide that did the job and decayed immediately. The natural instinct is to blame the farmer though this would be a gross error. Since they live off of the land they have always been the top supporters of the research done by the state Universities. Hoping to pass the land heritage on to their children, they voluntarily adopt sound conservation practices and are the current leaders in cleaning things up. Tim, a grudging thanks for the link to a good article. Since we all drink water, we all should be reading up on the other things we are taking in our water. .

I didn't have to buy one because my wife had one. After recovering from sticker shock on the Monomaster, I looked for alternative thingies with bristles on them. My wife had some of these. They cost $1.00 each. I found a prescription bottle to carry it in. This post is dedicated to Craig whose signature Bullfrawg in made from a sponge hair curler, to rich who uses Sally Hansen's and hair spray on his flies, and to the women in our lives without whom we could not tie flies or fish.

Don't tell Terry there's a 22 incher in the visitor's dugout.

Thanks for all information. Based on everything said, I found a light source that finished off the curing process. That's Old Sol coming through the patio door next to my tying desk. I still finish off with a coat of nail polish. FYI the stuff I am using is McNett Aquaseal Ultra-Violet Cure Adhesive. BTW it has been a while since I had the problem of worm burn from soft plastics on my hardbaits. The cure I used then was to coat the gooey spot on the lure with two part epoxy. If that happens again I can try the UV stuff. Thanks again.