Mike G

Beware. Illinois laws on this are Feudal in regards to access very different from neighboring Wisconsin. But I cannot wait to hear what the other guys say.

Member, Bterrill?, recommends a small crosslock snap for quick lure change. Beats lugging along another rod.

Here is a nice simple video on some basic fly tying considerations. http://midcurrent.com/videos/fly-tying-think-like-a-surgeon/ My comments: I am impressed with this guy's gear. That desk top Dyna-King Indexer vise costs close to $500. And I am sure that his scissors and other hardware are prime stuff also. So I have to add that tying does not have to be that expensive. A Dan Vise that cost less than $90 will serve exceptionally well as a vise. The tip about using different scissors for cutting materials is great. I would add that I will use Fiscar scissors left over from when the kids were in grade school for that task. Finally, I will add that I am surprised that the author did not mention gloves since the analogy is surgery. My tip is to get a box of food service gloves in your size. You only have to superglue your fingers together once to be convinced how good this tip is.

We are all jealous, Mike. Access to a private pond is like gold around here. The few times I have had the chance to fish a private or remotepound or lake, I was amazed how easy it was to catch the fish. I should saw most times. When they turn off they turn off.

Terry, Unlike the Apple which is threatened, it seems Kilbuck is under attack. It is good to see Jude on the case here since he is involved in water professionally so to speak. The EPA jumped to my mind immediately since they have been a good part of the reason why Rivers like the Dupage, Fox, and Rock are much cleaner than they were 50 years ago. But I would be in denial if I did not point out that the EPA is under fire from conservatives in Washington to limit its enforcement powers and cut its funding. You know the song, "All this regulating is hurtin' the small businessman and costs too much money." It is called the Tea Party Blues sometimes. To be more positive. Something as ugly as what you are showing us needs attention. Even a hobbled EPA should be able to do something about it. Also there may be some local environmental groups that would take this up. Maybe Jude can point out 1 or 2. As a Winnebago Co resident, I sure would hate to see Kilbuck permanently trashed. Since part of the Kish and Rock are affected by it, it is not an isolated problem. Please keep us posted on this.

Jack, You seem to have some special needs as indicated by a prosthesis that might keep you from wading. Let me say that I have caught a lot of fish on a fly rod while sitting in a boat or canoe not to mention fishing from shore. I will go out on a limb and tell you the one rod to start with. It will be fine for panfish and trout yet enough for bigger fish like bass and pike. Get an 8-8.5 ft 6 wt rod or more corectly stated a rod that will cast a 6 wt line. Make that a floating 6 weight forward. A tapered 7 to 9 ft mono leader that ends at about 6# test goes on the end of the line. Besides Cabela's, Farm and Fleet sometimes has combos like this on hand. It dont have to be an exercise in dollar power. $50-150 should get what you need to start. I cannot disagree with the idea of hitting a fly shop though it can cost a few extra $$. Just keep in mind that you can get started for $50-100; so the guy should prove to you why you should go higher.

It is especially fitting to post this notice right after Bill K's post about he great experience he had on the Kish recently. Going back, my first experience of big time fishing trips occured in the 60s with trips to the Boundary Waters, Quetico, and other fly-in waters in the Canadian Bush. At that time rivers like the Fox and DuPage were murky affairs that we passed over early in the trip as they were fishless or overrun with rough fish. We never would have believed that these two rivers and others in the Chicago area would emerge as jewels in the urban Smallmouth fishery that we have today. Two events in the 70s made all the difference. First in 1970 Richard Nixon created the EPA via Executive Order No. 3. Second, in 1973, Congress passed the ESA (Endangered Species Act). In tandem, these two items have transformed rivers and streams like the Fox and DuPage from industrial drains to quality fishing spots that provide recreation for thousands in the Chicago area. There are similar success stories like Ohio's Cuyahoga River once devoid of fish from Akron to Cleveland. BTW there were actually 13 fires on this river before 1970. Apparently, the current generation has forgotten how bad things used to be. At least the generation in Washington seems to have forgotten. Current legislation in Washintgton threatens to cut funding and limit enforcement power for agencies that enforce EPA and ESA issues. To find out who, how, and why follow this link. EPA ESA Link Maybe we should write someone also.

His hackles are priceless!

The story behind the Aracucana breed is a classic example of Darwinian survival of the fittest. A group of American adventurers settled in the Aracucana district of Chile around 1850. Since they missed the hunting opportunities they had at home, they introduced many north American game species including notorious egg steeling species like racoons. Over time the Aracucana chickens developed an egg with more iron as an evolutionary response. All that iron made it harder for the racoons to break the eggs. Ta, Dump, Dump!

Terry, Good report and good research. Seems like the problem is the fish's equivalent of a boil or carbuncle caused by a staph microbe. When our kids were in school, docs always swabed for staph testing when they had fevers. I also remember the notes we used to get from the schools when other kids came down,"Your child has been exposed to staphowhatever." A day or so of antiobiotics solved the problem and the kids could go back to school. They say our skin is crawling with the microbe though we do not get infected unless stress or illness lets the infection start. We and the fish have a problem that is similar. Figure the stress of spawning or water conditions lowers the fish's resistance and lets the staph take hold. Now, though I know the treatment for humans, I am not sure what the fish should do. Bed rest?

Rob, Thanks for sharing your information. The trick seems to be having the butt section amount to at least 1/2 of the leader. Since I have been having trouble finding 40# mono, I was glad to see that you think it may not be necessary. BTW the J Knot seems to work well for leaders. It seems to lie straighter than the Surgeon's. The video below shows the original knot for mono to mono connection. The diagram shows an additional weave (figure 4) for mono to braid connections. J Knot Video J Knot Diagram

Just a little followup here. Out of necessity this week, I made a 4-2-1 leader using 30#, 20#, and 12#. This gave me a 7-8 ft leader to which I added a 2 ft tippet of 10#. With a 9 wt bass taper line, it turned over some good sized bugs including a 5" Dahlbeerg Diver with a bunny tail. After a first trial I realized that the tippet goes fast. So I have added a tippet ring to the end of the 4-2-1. So what did anyone else come up with.

There's more. In case you really want to get into the topic, How to Prepare Neck and Saddle Hackles

Yes. Thanks for asking. They can be used. The hackles from the neck and saddle are best for flies. So ideally it would be best if you kept them separate from the rest of the feathers. But I wouldn't be choosy about this.

Colt, It is good to see you are an active builder besides a fly angler. Posts like yours always remind me that I owe it to my first build to post a few pictures of it on the net. When it came off the bench 50 years ago, we we had nets; but we did not have the internet.

Just curious Ed. I have been using a lot of 3X Cyberflex and Elaztech lures lately. I know they do not mix with plastisol stuff. Is there any way to recycle these?

Mike, Thanks for putting this up. I fear that, with the tea party so active, our waters may begin to look like tea or worse yet tea with cream over the next few years. This is one case where governmant regulation makes sense and has produced great benefits. Since the Prarie Rivers group is paddling upstream on this one, I encourage everyone to follow the link and follow up on some of the items in their notice. Signing the letter is especially easy to do.

25,000 is disgusting. The men of the square table were overserved middleaged guys played by over the hill actors and athletes. Who would ever want to associate with a group like that? ME!

A stranger to New York City has tickets to a concert that starts in 2 hours. He's lost. He spots a guy carrying a violin case, goes up to him, and asks him,"Sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" He answers,"Practice, son, practice!" I remember struggling to learn how to manage spinning without line twist bird's nests, baitcasting without backlashes, and fly casting in general. With practice the problems got ironed out though I still suffer relapses. If I were looking just for ease of use I would have stopped with a spincast outfit. But, even though pushing on to spinning, baitcasting, and fly casting took some effort, It is worth it to have the gear in my arsenal.

Rob, You had me worried. But as they say, "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a marvelous Christmas!" Awsome fish! You win the Diogenes prize for honesty in your report. IMHO that beats just getting the biggest one.

When it comes to volunteer programs, we can take a lesson from hospitals. Typically they have a small paid staff to co-ordinate the efforts of volunteers. I am just guessing but for each paid hour they probably get 100 or more volunteer hours. Call that the multiplier. That is why I am against cutting programs like the Chicago program. They can serve as stable focal points for volunteer efforts. So I am for both government sponsored programs and volunteer efforts.

Fly fishermen come in three flavors. Flavors sometimes clash. Just imagine Thousand Island dressing on chocolate ice cream. The three flavors of flyfishermen are recreational, business, and competitive. This article does a nice job of sorting out the different perspectives. For instance having the latest greatest umpteen modulus gear may not be top priority for the recreational guy even though selling it is very important to the fly shop. The competitor has to have that cutting edge gear to keep up. The competitor has to make the longest cast with the tightest loop and catch the most and biggest fish while the recreational guy wants to avoid that rat race. Can you see other ways these three could clash? http://www.flyanglersonline.com/articles/journal/2011/journal20110523.php

Joseph, For the last 3 years I have been in Davis 20 miles northwest of Rockford. I did a demo of a fly at the ISA tie in at Gander Mountain last year. I am really humbled by your assessment of my knowledge. That may encourage me to step up when the club does something out this way. As for the topic of your original post, do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing for the state to cut the $375,000 or so Chicago program? Can volunteers pick it all up?

For the month of June J Stockard has a good deal on the Danvise with extension arm for $89.95. The MSRPs are vise $85 and arm $20. I have been using one for a few years now. I can make two comments. The steel jaws give a solid grip on the hook. Some guys get wrapped around the axel about the plastic parts. The materials used for some parts are Derlin a far cry from plastic. The Peak Rotary vise, for instance, used a Derlin screw to set the tension for the jaw rotation. Other features are better covered in the review by Ohio Fly Fishing. Review I like the way what you get in the box can be reconfigured for special applications. First, here's the standard configuration holding a 5/0 Siwash hook. The opposite is the Midge configuration holding a #16 hook. The Clouser configuration gives you this popular new look. Renzetti sells adapters to switch their standard vises to Clousers for about $50. To convert a Danvise you have to drill one small hole. Finally the extension arm gives more clearance for longer wings. Al and Gretchen Beatty are the North American distributors for the Danvise. I have gotten good answers when I contact them directly with questions.

Interesting. Whatever happened to, "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." Too bad our outdoor programs are usually among the first to take the hit.