Mike G

The umbrella with 5 baits to heave is a lot. I wonder if a smaller version with 2 or 3 smaller baits would be the ticket for lighter tackle.

Between the rig and five swimbaits on the clips, you probably would have close to $50 invested. Anglers are advised to use heavy braid like 80#. With that, if you snag, you can straighten the hook or lift the snag. It is not a light tackle rig. Legality is an issue. It would not be legal at sites like Shabona that have two pole-two hook regulations. I am not sure how the Michigan Nine-point rule would apply.

It come from Alabama. AKA the Alabama rig. Here's a nice test for Ockham's razor. The AL rig fishes 3-5 lures on a spreader. It is meant for casting. What say ye?

“And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul?” “Surely,” I said, “fishing is the food of the soul.” -Plato

Personally I really am amazed at Lefty's technique for bundling hackles for the wings. We also saw it in his demos of the Deceiver and 1/2 and 1/2. In the past, I have spent a lot of time matching feathers for flaired and knife blade effects which I am sure really appeal to fishermen. Now I wonder if the fish care, I have got to see how these bundled wings produce.

Boat and shoreline. For casting applications I use a medium action 6' baitcaster with Curado reel. Spooled with 12# mono, it casts 1/4 oz and heavier baits easily. Back to the rules of the thread, for smaller baits, I "goto" a 6' med light Garcia spinning rod with a US Reel Supercaster 180. Though I would like to use my longer rods more, the six footers are really so easy to transport in boat or car that I frequently forgo the adavantag of an extra foot on the rod.

I completely missed the announcement. Let us know when the date is set for Feb. BTW I see Feb. 17-19 as dates for the Rockford Outdoor Show. Will ISA have a booth this time?

Good point. The two pole reg is location specific in IL. It does not apply everywhere. Since many forest preserves and parks have the rule, it is a good idea to check before you try anything.

Nine point rule. The old law in MI limited the number of hook points fished to nine. That is why a lot of fishing lures were made with three trebles. It also meant that fly fishermen could fish an array of nine flies using droppers. I understand that some did. It must have had some advantages. Why aren't we doing it more.

Master Yoda ties his Red/White. Pay attention. RedWhite http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&template=video.cfm&cat=Fishing&subCatID=77&connectionSpeed=broadband&videoID=942&startRow=0&videoType=prodcutdemo&option=2&cmid=OLPHVIDEO_942_HIGH PS I need a Jedi to tell me how to plug in videos.

Nice rod. The Fiskars in the background look good too.

I have not seen the Clacker in a while. I assembled a few a while back but never used them much. I will dig them out for next year.

Perhaps a small sign at our booths should say, "As mentioned in In-Fisherman." Or should In-Fisherman brag that we mentioned them in this thread.

Thanks, Scott. Now I know why the answer is,"No." Next time I buy a lure I will explain it to my wife...and keep my fingers crossed.

Hooah!

Fishing lures should not be multiplied without necessity. William of Ockham This proposition makes a lot of sense. When I come home with another new lure, my wife probably has this in mind when she asks,"Don't you already have enough lures?" The answer is,"No." But I am not sure why. Sure I remember the simple kit of 6-7 lures I used to pack in to the Canadian Bush for a one week paddle: Dying Minnow Rapala 100 U20 Flatfish yellow Muddler Jig with Jig Spin Red/White Spoon #3 Mepps Bucktail I guess fishing was simpler then.

From reading about trout fishing, I understand the concept. One tries to fish a dry and a wet at the same time. There is always the questiion of whether one achieves either presentation very well. In bass fishing there is another similar concept represented by the Front Runner lure. Adopting this scenario to fly fishing for bass, I would put a small streamer in front of a larger streamer or whatever. I have not tried it because I have never been convinced that the tangles that come with a tandem rig are worth the bother. Since you brought it up, however, I might.

Could you use a centerweight bobber with a centerpin reel? Seriously, I was surprised how easy it was for me to convert a weighted Wally bobber to a centerweight Coan bobber. You can even do it with the cigar shaped floats. To get the most out of Float and Fly fishing in lakes this kind of float seems to be a must. Even on rivers it may be the little extra needed to detect those rising takes.

Terry, The live chat is something that I have not seen yet. Where did you find it. I'll make coffee for everyone

Thanks. That modified bobber is interesting.

I echo your sentiments, Terry. Even some of our officers give us little or no information about themselves. I do not claim to be a hero there myself, but I do give some basics like location, interests, occupation, and Birthday. It is a mystery to me why others do not spend some time filling out the forms on that page. Your page is great by the way.

My 2 cents. Unweighted Muddlers have covered a lot of ground for me with smallmouths. Of course they worked when fish were feeding on hoppers in Wisconsin. A big one tied on a #4 3XL hook served to imitate a huge mayfly that conveniently hatched one week in the Quetico. Unfortunately a 20" Northern shredded my only one about 1/2 hour into the morning leaving me in mourning. I think a foam bodied fly might have survived. Due to the Muddler's fragil constitution, EVA is in order. I was going to recommend the Chaos Hopper a pattern I saw some tine back. But my Google found this one which loooks even better. "Improved" Chaos Hopper END you don't have to by no stinkin' cutters.

KB, That 6# fish, Bass or Cat, is respectable. Do you use those backwards Tenkara flies? Tom, Thanks for the link. That 35" pike at estimated 10-12# seems to have exceeded the Tenkara limit. Is there a Twentykara rod for bigger fish. It sounds like an enjoyable way to fish.

Just when I had fishing gear nicely classified into fly, casting, and spinning, I got my first look at a centerpin outfit. Like Frankenstein it combined bits and pieces from each category. The rod looks like a Spey rod or long spinning rod. The line is what I would use on a spinning reel. Though it looks like a single action fly reel, the reel sports precision ball bearings typical of a baitcaster. For all its oddness, Frankenstein delivers a drag free drift and earned a place as a new category on my gear list. Then along comes Tenkara—the Bride of Frankenstein. Though it casts a fly, it too defies traditional boundaries. The line is an overgrown furled leader. The telescoping rod looks like something you would use to dunk minnows for crappie. There is no reel. If you want to know more about the new kid on the block, there is good information out on the net. Here’s a video and a website. Video Website Final thought, would this work for small stream Smallmouths? The max cast with this outfit is about 30 feet since the rods average 15 feet and the lines are also 15 ft. It is a perfect incarnation of Bob Long Jr’s third rule of fly fishing for Smallmouth Bass, “Make short casts, 30 feet or less.”

True Wisdom consists in knowing that one does not know how to fish. -Socrates I should comment here that these sayings work because philosophers capture truths that apply in many areas of life. All I do is substitute "fishing" for some other term. The results often shed new light on old topics. In this case Socrates' was advocating approaching problems with an open mind. In fishing, this cannot be done with a mind loaded with preconceptions about what "will work today." "Knowing that we do not know" is a good antidote to making hasty assumptions that could spoil a good day of fishing. After all, Heraclitus said, "A man cannot fish in the same river twice."