Mike G

All I know is what I read on the net. These guys did a great job of covering the range of vises available. http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%2...e_Shoot-Out.htm FYI, I use a Herter's #9 bought years ago for about $12. Sooner or later I will replace it. Due to my Herter's mentality, the Danvise looks like the one to get if you don't want to mortgage the ranch.

Thanks for putting that up, Mike.

Great ties, Joe.

Jonn, Just to make it interesting I will take exception with Joe D about how hard it is to create a new fly. For perspective, some of my old books on flies and fly fishing date back to around 1940. The basic flies are standard wet flies, dry flies, and streamers. (Around that time Gapen was tying his first Muddler). Flies like the flies you tied were not even around then. No Clousers, no woolly buggers, no Fodders. So in a generation or two we have seen alot of new entries. Part of this is driven by new materials. Yet, on the other hand, flies like the Dahlburg Diver use traditional materials in a new creative way. So what will lead to your 21st Century breakthrouh in SMB flies? First I think you are in agood position to do it because you have the knowledge of the fish and experience with the lure behaviors that work. Now how do you put that into a fly, as, say, Bob Clouser did with his Deep Minnow? It surprised me to hear that the Rapala inspired Clouser to creat the Deep Minnow. He was looking to recreate the diving-rising action of the Rapala. Though the fly looks nothing like a Rapala, it has the behavior that Clouser wanted-rising and diving. So, ask yourself how you want the fly to behave. What successful spinning or casting lure behaviors can you put into your fly? What is the fly rod version of a swimming jig? PS I want one.

IMHO, al you need is the kit and instructions. That is provided you know how to mix 2 part epoxy and understand a whip finish. With that much under my belt, I have built a few rods for myself and helped a few friends through the process. It is not rocket science. Contact me if you need more.

ISA website. Being a fishing website junky, I naturally found out that way. A personal invite from rich through another site sealed my decision.

It is a good one. I have not seem much notice on this one. As usual I read it from cover to coner within a day or two. It was good to see Rich's Wonder Worm demonstrated. I appreciate its value for a fly rod though I wonder about using it on spinning gear. Wouldn't the traditional plastic do as well? Brenden Terrill's piece made me re-evaluate my use of snaps. I have avoided them because I want to be in the habit of retying often. It avoids worn knots that big fish break off. However being able to change baits quickly is a major advantage. One just has to remember to retie often. Besides, I have just re-read Buck Perry's book where he recommends about the same snap for Spoonplugging. The snap allows for free action and quick changing. Buck wrote that 40-50 years ago. Since I had heard there might be an article on sun glasses, I have been holding off my thoughts on the ones I use. I will post something on that soon in the equipment section.

Great work, Joe.

Sufix like Spider Wire is a brand. They both produce monos and braids. Siege and Elite are monos which, I assume, do not need backing. Sufix makes Performance Braid which probably needs backing to keep it from slipping on your spool. Next question, given that the prices and catalogue descriptions are the same, what is the difference between Seige and Elite.

#4 hook about 3" long. This is my take on Kent Edmonds Stealth fly. Though I thought one of Rich's chenille worms would be the ticket this year, this one has turned out to be my best producer. When I first saw the pattern, it looked like a great alternative to a spun hair diver. Even Bob Clouser prefers foam to time consuming spun hair bugs. ("I would rather spent the time fishing.") It dives on the strip and wobbles to the surface which action LM bass up to 17" seem to like. Smallies should like it too. For clear instructions and more variations, see: http://www.flyfishga.com/stealth.htm

Maybe I did not get the terminology right. It is endoscopic surgery, one or two small incisions, not the traditional 1" cut. See: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/carpa...tunnel-syndrome

Jonn, Get well soon. Judging by your recovery time, you had the new orthroscopic surgery. That beats the old open incision they did 15-20 years ago. Since I have battled CTS on and off for close to 20 years, I am interested to see how the surgery works for you because I keep thinking, "Someday... ." Others in my situation may be interested in this. Though the problem has not gone permanently away, I have had good luck using good posture practices, exercises, and wearing a wrist brace at night. For me the keyboard was the culprit. To take some of the keying load off of the right hand, I switched the mouse to the left side It is amazing that the left hand naturally mirrors the right hand actions. At work I used one of those curved keyboards to keep the kinks out of my wrist. The exercises stretch and relax the muscles in the forearm. The brace keeps me from resting my chin on my right hand (with wrist bent 90 deg) while I sleep. When I forget to do these things, pain gets me back on track. Just some thoughts.

Ron, For about the last 10 years Eric's reports have been getting me off the dime. There's more. When I was snoozing, 10-15 years ago, thinking that I had to go to WI in June for fish, Eric's reports on local ponds and creeks woke me up to what was in my back yard in Lombard. You remind me what I should have done many times. Give Eric a line of credit for his unselfish posts. He could have kept it a secret, and we would have missed a lot of great fishing. Thanks for 10 years, Eric!

Ken, This is kind of like picking a fly rod. Do you want a 6' 1 wt or a 10' 10 wt or something in between. The answer is similar too. Start with the fish you are going after, the waters you are fishing, and the flies you will be using. Example 1: SM Bass in small creeks. You choose a 7' 4 wt rod to get in under the brush and avoid spooking the fish in skinny water. 6 or 7.5 ft leaders will be in order because your casts will be short 20-30 feet. you need a little line out to get some load on the rod. Example 2: SM Bass in a large river. You choose a 9' 9wt to throw larger bugs and get some distance. 8-9 ft leaders with an additional 1-3 ft of tipit will be in order for clear water. If the water is weedy or dark you could go to a shorter 7 ft leader since it is easier to cast and visibility is not a big issue. We have already seen examples of using short level leaders with sinking lines and sink tips. Bob Clouser boils it down to this, "Start with the flies you are going to use."

Yes indeed! It will be interesting. You maybe had a rod with stainless guides before, AKA a Snoopy Rod. Stainless guides are some of the least expensive you will find for rod building. I assume they are less durable. Therefore I speculate that they might easily abraid withsome lines. Back when all my rods had stainless guides,mono did not hurt them. Now I am interested to see if Fireline causes any problems for you in case I want to resurrect an old warrior and string it with Fireline.

Sounds great. But good old Fireline does that too though it gets funky looking after a while. I like to hear about the new stuff though I like to use something I am used to.

Thanks for the comments. Craig's comment made me realize that I asked too simple a question for the 21st Century. Sinking lines (sink the line: float the flie) make 3-6 ft leaders a real consideration. There's more. Back when flies were fur and feathers a single type of leader might do. Now we have the fur and feather kind and a bunch of other models that come with various amounts of lead, brass, plastic, synthetics, and glass built in. Add absorbent materials like bunny, wool, and Bohemian Chenille. I reckon some of these creations weigh close to 1/16 oz. soaking wet. Mine seem to carry a lot of momentum on their own. And the subtleties of a tapered leader may be lost on these projectiles. So I gues for day to day fly fishing a 9 foot tapered leader will alow me to cast the widest range of flies though if I am going into a non-traditional application a level leader might serve as well. PS Clouser's Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass, page 174, made interesting reading on the topic.

Let's bring back George as soon as he gets out of prison. Face it! We are on hard economic times. The state can't afford the luxuries of the past. Rod is doing what he can, but the cards are played by King George, GWB. The cards are dealt by GWB. So leave local pols out of it including the one in prison. We need a new dealer.

Eric seems to get by on two lures. If you are spinning or casting, I will let him fill you in. If you are into flies, it is about the same. Top water, mid depths, and bottom are where you want to fish. There are thousands of lures and flies in each category. All you need is a few of each. PS There are no magic lures.

I just saw this in an F&S Blog. Next time you hear thunder... Here is the full article. http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/flytalk/20...ning-struc.html

As Jonn gets into fly fishing, he will find that the leader is an important link in the chain. So your response to this will help us both. Let me begin by saying that my bigest SM Bass was on a fly, 4.5#, 20". The leader was 7 feet of 10 lb. test mono nail knotted to the end of a WF 6F line. Nothing fancy there though it was a while back. In some fly circuits yesterday and today, there is quite a bit of "lore" around leader length and design. A lot of that comes from the trout side of fly fishing. I was wondering what, everyone else is using for bass these days. Tailor made name brand knotless? Home made tapered? Formulas like 4, 2, 1? Level monon or FC? Do you change up for sinking vs floating flies? Just wondering?

Great news, Jonn! Soon you will be decorating the stream side trees with $$ flies. As long as you will be buying rods, think 5, 7, 9 weights or 4, 6, 8 to cover the normal range of warm water fishing. No one rod covers all the bases just like spinning and casting. For stream bass the 6 or 7 would be a good starter for casting medium streamers and bugs. 4 and 5 for panfish. 8 and 9 will get you into Pike, Muskie, and light saltwater. PS the flea rods-1, 2, 3-are, IMHO, micro rods for micro fish. I would rather catch a whale than catch a bluegill that feels like a whale.

Rich and Ron, So you do not have to reinvent the wheel, here are my experiences with weaving Bohemian Chenille. First, Rich, don't feel bad because you missed Stuart's session. I was there and learned the hook weave. It turns out that this weave does not work well on our Bohemian Chenille. But there's hope. The Tiger Weave does work. I used it on this fly. See: Another site has good instructions on it. Here's their picture. Good instructions are here. Note that the secret is to never let go of the ends of the chenille once you begin weaving. Maybe you can work it out from the instructions as I did. Or one of the Buggers' sessions will take it on. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/advanced/part1.php

The worm has turned into a frog

Great. The pictures speak volumes. I can see how the plants will stabilize the shoreline where it is starting to erode. The work of a few will benefit thousands in the future.