Mark P

I've seen alot of personal touches to flies but haven't seen glasses until now. Hilarious.

I will agree that tapered leaders are needed to develop casting skills. I will also state that a welded loop, similar to those on Rio lines also helps with the "turnover" process. The loop is stiffer than the tip of the line without it and gets the leader butt section moving much quicker. As for accomplished fly fishers throwing straight mono as their leader, I think that would apply only if you are using sink tips or Deep Water Express heads and then you would only need 4' or so. You can't turn a fly over effectively with straight mono. I've fished all over the place and with some, if I may use this term, "big names" in our sport and all of them used factory tapered or hand tied tapered leaders, without exception. With this in mind, even furled leaders are tapered, albeit a bit more difficult to cast than a mono leader, require more line speed but lay down the fly more gently due to the wind resistance. Also, why would one want to blood knot a tippet section to the leader? I'm not saying this is wrong, but it seems like alot of work to tie in this way when a double or triple surgeons knot is just a good, has a smaller profile with less wind resistance. I want the smallest possible knots used the closer I get to the fly. I typically fish for large salmon and steelhead using a loop to loop connection at the line/leader and a double or triple surgeons knot at the leader/tippet and have had the line break (not at the knot(s)) due to fraying. The line test I use is no different than what I know a number of you use, no more than 10 lb at the tippet.

There is too much to read through on the above posts. Here is what I do. I purchase and attach the Cortland loop connectors to both ends of my fly line. After heating the shrink tubing, hold it flat and straight and apply a drop of super glue. I've never had one come off. Instead of a double surgeon, try a triple surgeon's knot. Make sure the knot is wet (as should be the case for all knots) before seating it. Tippet to fly knot - the 16/20 knot for everything but streamers. I won't use anything else. 99%+ breaking strength of line test rating. Mark

I shouldn't have looked....

Hand tied leader formulas are about as diverse as the flies we fish. I think I offered this previously to all my fellow Bass Buggers. I have an Excel based program that I could email to anyone who wants it that shows the formulas for all types of fishing and across the spectrum. Send me an email and I fire it off to you. Mark

Jim: I'm a Division VP for a very large contracting firm and have endless resources. I could even put some of our carpenters/siders on it. Call me at 847.639.8400 x232 and well talk specifications and the process for pricing. Mark P.

Nice tie Mark! Great creativity with the flexament move...

Tighten up that loop!!!

If you're purchasing a rod for Smallies, get a fast action. Over-lining is not an issue then. I purchase only fast action rods in everything from 5wt. on up. I have medium/fast for my trout rods and one 3wt that is a medium action for dry fly fishing only, which allows for a more delicate presentation. Most of my trout on a dry have been caught within 30' from my casting position...

The line will become twisted, as mentioned when spooling it up while the shipping spool is laying flat. Use the pencil technique. For every turn off the shipping spool when doing it wrong will put 1 twist in the line resulting in approximately 90-100 twists total. Strip all the line off the reel, put a cloth around the line and pinch down as you respool, it will take the twist out. If you just make long cast to get it out, you'll still have the running line (level) portion on the reel that will remain twisted and eventually work its way forward. Yes you can stretch fly line, which I always to at the start of the season. However, I would recommend being careful when stretching it outdoors when cold weather fishing. I have seen guys crack the coating when stretching line before getting out after some Steelhead in December.

Fish will become "conditioned" to specific hatch times and will position themselves in feeding lies in anticipation of them. (i.e. in the riffles during hatch time and at the tailout during the Spinner Fall, where there are easy pickins'. This takes quite a while to become established and usually involves trout and some anadramous species. If, as you say, the "hatch" is at a different time than at times past, it is probably that the Smallies haven't become conditioned to the timing. I wouldn't worry about the fish not being hungry because... the bigger fish (as with trout) will only chase/feed forage that is equal to or exceeds the amount of energy that they have to expend to get it. Most of the Smallies feeding I'm sure are on the small side. The larger fish typically don't bother with such small offerings, but will station themselves with the other fish that are feeding and should be targeted. What I do during these blanket hatches is to throw a fly that is completely different than what is present. Usually a searching pattern like a #10 Royal Coachman or Wulff pattern which at most times has work exceptionally well and at times - not so good.

Welcome. You are venturing down a path that will bring you only pleasure. Hope to see you on the water. Tight lines. Mark

A roller blade out of the Fox. I believe it was the right boot. Mark

The hatch cycle is in two phases, the Duns which emerge typically in the morning or evening drift in the current and work their way to the streamside vegetation. Mayflies are not like Caddis which you will see everywhere in the air and on the water during their hatch/emergence. The hatch for mays is somewhat subdued and you see a few here and there because Mays hatch over a very large area they aren't concentrated like Caddis. When you are there next time, check the slack water and eddies and look for concentrations of Spinners. If you don't find any than given all of the variables of water and air temp, it could be possible that a hatch is coming off at night and much later than normally anticipated. Like I said, other than the Hex, I don't know of any other May that hatches at night. This does sound like the "White Fly" hatch though. Have you ever been in a full blown Caddis hatch??? You have to fish with you teeth clenched to keep them out of your mouth and you have to button your shirt to the neck to keep them from crawling inside your shirt. The Duns hang out in the vegetation and molt into Spinners which return during the evening a day or two later and at evening/night to mate. The flies will fly in a up and down elliptical path through the air during the mating process. Break out the fly rod and have a blast. I wish I was there with you when this was going on!!! Mark

Almost all May Fly species hatch during the daylight hours, with one exception, the Hexagenia Limbata or more commonly known as the "Hex". The Hex's are typically much larger than 1/2" though. What you are probably is a Spinner fall of some May Fly species, where the flies return to the river to mate over the water, the females drop their eggs and they die afterward, all typically done at dusk/night. Mark

Brian: You fish the same setup as I do. 8wt. RPL+ (its very fast) and a Rio Clouser Line. Even with the largest flies, I'm out there 65-70 feet with no problem. Try using the Ultra-Suede material for the tail. It has great action in the water and when it dries, it doesn't get stiff. As for the comment about fishing with an 8 wt. being a bit much, how else could you cast oversized/big bushy flies? That is unless you want to use a 5 wt. and fish them at your feet...

I believe that the flows are measured the same way as a wind gauge works. Faster flows makes it spin faster and give you the reading in CFS. The height is measured by a float. Both are on a designated gauge station monitored by the USGS. I'm surprised that there is only one on the Fox up here. I guess I'll have to make more drive-bys to check the flows rather than reading the gauge datum. Mark

I tie them on a TMC8089 (sometimes on the stainless steel hooks) in size 2 and 4. You will need an 8 wt to cast them. I typically fish large flies to minimize the number of dinks. On a side note: a buddy of mine just got back from Lake of the Woods, Ontario and caught a 5lb Smallie on a Top Raider. The TR is a topwater Muskie bait and is about 7" long. That must have been something to see...

Anybody ever try mouse patterns? I tie the Chris Helms style of hair mouse and can't keep the bass off of it.

If you look at the readings at the roll dam, you'll see them pushing 3000 cfs, but... When you get to the river, the water height and flow is more realistically that of around 800 cfs. and is completely fishable. You can't wade fish at the levels shown. Wonder if the gauge is stuck?

Rich: Have you even given any thought to putting the chenille on a bodkin secured in your vise and weaving with two different colors so you get green/brown on top and white on the bottom to look closer to the real thing? You could use the same weaving techniques used in some of the weaved nymph patterns. You might also consider cutting the foam on top to a length where you could just bury the hook point in the edge, making is weedless. Mark

Ron: I usually fish by myself and wet wade as I go and get pretty slimy. I usually don't bring the digital because of that. Mark

With the river being the way they are, I'm fishing ponds for LMB. I C&R'd the following in less than 1 hour the other night w/my Sage XP 5wt w/3x tippet. 1 - 5lb 2 - 4lb 3 - 3lb and around 15 in the 1-2lb range. That would be a 26lb bag for you Bass Master fans. Do that for 4 days in a tourny and you'll make some money. All on a #10, black, BH, Mohair Leech pattern (tied somewhat sparse). The 5 ate it as soon as the fly slapped the water. Crazy!

As a follow up to my initial post. My son wanted me to give him a casting lesson last night so we went to the same pond and caught several nice size gill's and sunfish on a #6 Gartside Gurgler (yellow) because we weren't looking for the dinks. We also caught one sunfish which was without a doubt one of the biggest I have ever seen. It looked like some kind of a genetic anomoly. It would easily cover 90% of the surface of a 10" dinner plate. I actually lipped the thing when I landed it and you could have fit a roll of silver dollars end-wise inside its mouth. There is an existing pond that is connected to the detention pond via. a culvert. I'm thinking it had to come from there. These ponds get literally no pressure, have been there for years and the fish are more than willing to come to a fly.

Went to a small detention pond in my subdivision to fish for some gill's with my son. Brought my 3wt and fished a 5x tippet along with a #16 Griffith's Indicator Gnat. Caught a gill on every cast. Saw some movement to my left about 2' off the bank. Cast the fly, which sunk and started a long slow strip and out of nowhere comes a 3.5lb largemouth that inhales it. He rushed it with his mouth wide open... Caught and released despite the barbless hook. Went home got a bigger rod and threw an intermediate ghost tip with a #6 Chewbacca Bugger and landed a bunch in the 1-2 lb. range and another #3. When some people saw me release the 3's and asked why, I told them they'll be 5 lbs. next year. They have alot of forage to feed on. Think I'll try some surface patterns tonite... The pond is about a 30 second walk from my front door. Mark