Mike G

I risk repeating myself. The one topwater for me would be my Streamer Stealth Bomber. It is a 4-in-1 fly. Depending on how you work it it will slide, dive, pop, or rise and fall (on a a sinking line. Favorite size is #4 Mustad 3366 shown here. The legs are optional. PS on the rise it has a nice wobble. 4wayPopper by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

F&F is selling it for 159 again. Hurry while it lasts.

On again; off again. the Angler is back to 299. Sorry. F&F is quick to flick the switch. The sale could come back any time. To catch it one will have to check their add daily.

The sale is on again as of this A.M. $159 for the Angler. Same model without rod holders $139.

Eric, Thanks for reminding me of the Gallo Plopper. Rototail by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr I should be able to do some head to head comparisons when the topwater bite is on. Now I am not sure about comparing modern lures to cell phones. Can I test Uber on a Whopper Plopper?

Rich, A simple R/W would work and put the cost under $8 hooks and all. 2 for the price of one 4 3/8" Wopper plopper.

Scott, Part of the equation that makes this work for me is that I like to tinker with lure building. Thus my time is not a problem ,and I already have the rings hooks and tools to finish the lure left from other projects. I could have gone with a simpler paint job. I splurged $2 on the jig skin because I wanted to see how they work. It also leaves me with a lure that compares with the $16.99 4 3/8" Perch finish Wopper Plopper. BTW the skin is fairly easy to put on and really tough. I used a brand new Xacto blade for some minor trimming around the shrink. It still required a lot of pressure to cut the stuff.

Terry is on track, I think. Our old place in LaGrange had a round catch basin made of brick and mortar. But it was buried. In this case, I speculate that there was a house up on the bluff once. Over time it washed into the creek. No bluffing.

Who would have thought that Poe Lure’s 8” Awaker would inspire a Bass bait half its size? Who would have thought that the bass bait would cost almost as much? Since Dahlberg’s Whopper Plopper is firmly established as a fish getter, I was glad to see a lower cost plopper appear in Barlow’s lure lineup. If you are handy at basic lure building and painting, you can get in the plopper game without taking a second mortgage to cover the $15 cost of the Dahlberg model. It comes in 3.5”, 4” and 5” sizes for $7.00, $7.50, and $8.00 respectively. You do have to finish the body and add hooks. Since clear baits have become popular, you might consider just painting on eyes and gills. For the one I built, I decided to try out the new Jig Skin system-a sleeve that slips over the lure body and shrinks tight over the body when dipped in boiling water. I used their Perch pattern. Here’s what I started with. PartsA by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr Here is the lure ready to go into the boiling water. Readytoshrink by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr The results. FinishedplopperB by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

Google Booby Fly, and like magic you will get all the info you need. From the images that come up it looks like, you replace the hour glass lead eye with a section of cylindrical foam and, if you like, paint eyes on the ends. I see all kinds of patterns, streamers, buggers, bunnies... mostly using marabou wings and tails. Hats off to you as casting a sinking line is not for the faint of heart.

Length?

Rich, after fasting and abstaining from no-alcoholic drink, I got the same vision you had. Substitute an eyelash leech for the complex Zoo Cougar body. Brilliant! Tom Enlightening! I never knew you could fluff up eyelash like that. Now I hope I can find my old suede brush. The blue shoes are long gone. If I don't find the brush, I will use rich's trick. Mike's trick: when wrapping eyelash on a body, I keep a cup of water near the vise. I constantly wet the fingers of my off hand and stroke the fibers up and back to avoid overwraps. Flies usually look great when they dry though you can primp and groom more. Where can I get a tiny hair dryer?

rich, told me about this new video and asked me to put it here. My tip: Wrap your finished bundles of fiber in Wax Paper instead of magazine paper.

This is a great and endless discussion. Sit In, SitONTop... How did we get so far into the discussion without mentioning SUPs like this one? You can see this one is well equipped. The micro power pole is frosting on the cake. With the board going for $850, I see about 2 grand in equipment on board.. You guys that are more into it can comment on the need for electronics, like sonars and trolling motors. I admire this angler's use of the traditional paddle.

John, This looks like a good deal. A boat with MSRP of $300 going for $159. It might not satisfy all the items on your wish list, but you will have some money left for your son's college text books. https://www.google.com/shopping/product/3251280582588915820?lsf=seller:6583990,store:15748444081696496845&prds=oid:15504562982251758637&q=farm+and+fleet+kayak&hl=en&ei=0HjcWtebOaXVjwS5r6Yo&lsft=gclid:Cj0KCQjw5fDWBRDaARIsAA5uWTjxvIw5_R196onaat3tdGTEBQgBbt-X8uSsjF6T1gU1w7rVY7YFg0AaAhWQEALw_wcB

Like! Though I am more a fan of the website & forum approach, others find Facebook more attractive. Hah, the Russians seem to like it a lot.

Are Stealth Cougars addictive? Something made me do it. In a whole bag of Guinea I found just two that were right for the job. BTW I am beginning to think that the White one is a good snowflake imitation. BlackStCougarsv by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr BlackStCougar3 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

Sounds like a great fly. Please get some pictures. I can't make the event.

UV cure glue would work. Actually the UV cure glue I use on flies is marked as a wader repair product. Then, logically, 2 part epoxy would also work since it is similar. I never used shoe goo as a patch.

Are we there yet?

Great Idea to name your boat. I have a homemade canoe named after the African Wildebeest, the Gnu for short. Two other boats came with the name already on them-Wenonah and Lowe. When you get a faster kayak, Terry, name it Liquor, because "Brandy is dandy, but liquor is quicker."

We owe a lot to Lefty. He is up there with all some great outdoor writers like Ray Bergman, AJ McClane, and Tom McNally, all of whom kept my interest in fly fishing alive over the years. Lefty did so much that it is hard to put it all in a nutshell. He put it in his Bug. Lefty’s Bug LeftyBugOrig by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr Here’s what it says. This is a bug you can make yourself with easily obtained materials. Lefty came up with it when he was a guide on the Potomac. He needed a bug that beginners could handle and cast all day. You do not need a Black Belt in One Handed Skagit Casting to catch bass on this one. Fly fishing is for e everyone. I forgot to mention that Lefty is also an internet star. A Google search will call up countless articles, blogs and videos. Recently I rediscovered the link to the classic video of Lefty tying his signature Deceiver, showing above. I think this song fits.

I will be watching this since I have built a few in my time. I never gave it much consideration as a way to get rich quick. Millions of Americans, Canadians, Europeans, and Asians know how to build rods; so you are competing with the world market. For the three Gs - grass, glass, and graphite - the niches are overflowing. Unless you can come up with a miracle rod material or a miracle gadget, Ronald's is a better choice.

Quote me on this, "A bottle of wine is too good a thing to be enjoyed just once." Once the wine is gone give the bottle a new life as a candlestick. And more importantly give the cork a chance to enrich your fishing life. I am just beginning to see the possibilities in the corks I used to toss out. The new synthetic ones are especially intriguing. Elsewhere I have already exhibited my Prop Popper. Here's my new 2018 creation-the Roto-Popper. Rototail by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr If you want to get into this, here are my insights so far. Dark Day, dark wine cork; Light Day, light wine cork. Contrary to the opinion of French Chefs, red wine corks work very well on fish.