Mark K

Go to PC Pitstop and run the diagnostics. If I were a betting man I would say you have a virus or spyware sucking up all your virtual memory. Also try downloading Mozilla or Opera see if they work better as a browser. I totally dig Mozilla Firefox.

Well, I'm not sure what Stradic means. Stella is latin for star. Calcutta is a city in India but I think it also refers to some sort of boat and i think Curado is latin or spanish for cure (cure backlashes??). Yeah the naming system is peculiar. Sahara. Okay it's named after a desert Shimano also makes really nice bicycle parts. They have even goofier names. I think Shimano should rename all their reels. Mothra, Rodan, Ghidra and of course Godzilla!

I work with a lot of Japanese fellers. The guy I asked was highly amused when I told of the interest American anglers have in japanese tackle. He asked if japanese lures caught more fish, to which I responded "No, only fishermen."

I was curious as to what the names were in English. They are: Ga: Moth Ageha: Butterfly Nokogiri Kuwagata: Saw Stag Beetle Hirata Kuewagata: Flat Stag Beeetle Tamamushi: Irridescence Kanabun: Drone Beetle Shima Kamakiri: Striped Mantis

Mike- Pick a day on the Kank. Summer, with good clarity of at least 2 feet. Bring a buzzbait or almost any topwater...and that is it. I have fished entire days with nothing but a buzzer or a popper. Why would you want to fish anything else when they are hitting on top? I found a topwater, particullarly a buzzbait to be as good of a searchbait as anything. Regarding the original question. I don't think I can answer it. Lure choice would be dependent on conditions. I fish mainly in summer and mainly in the Kank. In summer with good clarity 2 or 3 feet or more and good wading conditions, I would fish a topwater, probably a buzzbait maybe a popper. The buzzbait will pull fish out their little haunts. So I would try to cover a lot of water and fan cast. The great part of a buzzbait is it will free you from peeling dinks off a bunch of ultra sharp trebbles. The sub 12 inch fish seem to get weeded out. The best buzzbait for this is an 1/8 th ouncer. A beefy 7 foot rod with some kind of super line will give you distance on a cast and have the cajones to set the hook a mile away and turn a hawg in current. Long casts are critical and if you can't make them I would say you are seriously handicapped. If you hook a biggun' with too light of tackle it will take too long to land in high water temps. I might also give a Fluke a whirl too- unweighted, texposed. In dirty water < 2 feet of clarity and wadeable. I would use a spinnerbait with white blades. Quarter cast in current and let it "hang" in the current as Eric has often described. It's a killer technique. In '03 I had very little free time. So I would run out to the kank for 2 or 3 hours. Almost every outing I got one over 16" using nothing but a spinnerbait. Eric fishes smaller water and typically target casts (masterfully, I might add. I don't think he realizes how good he is at it), while I used it more as a search bait idiot fishing. It was usually in water that has a lot of underwater structure and was below some heavily oxygenated water. Rattle baits work too and so did something called a "Zip lure" , but they are no longer made. The spinnnerbait would be choice #1 without a doubt. I used to fish a lot of plastic, but kind of lost interest. Dink magnets in the Kank and overall too slow for me, except in winter. In which time I would most likely fish a tube or an ika. Black and blue if I had it. Okay so there is 3 or 4. In '06 I left the conventional stuff at home in an effort to learn to fly cast. Succesfull baits were Clousers and Rabbit strip flies. I don't consider myself knowledgable enough to offer furthur advice though.

I think I just peed my pants laughing.

After furthur thought the Pinto/ Ferrari comparison was a bad analogy. Comparing Safety Glasses to Maui Jims is like comparing a forklift to a Ferrari.

Safety glasses. Aye, aye, aye. The safety Nazis at my work force us to wear them. I can't wait to take those miserable mother !@#$ers off every day. The only positive note is that once the headaches cease you become desensitized to the blurred vision. I hate them with my whole soul. Safety glasses are designed to withstand MAJOR IMPACT and to be cheap enough for factories to GIVE them away. Have you ever read what that impact standard is? Don't quote me, but it's something like 2 kg dropped on them without breaking AND a pellet at 100 fps. And for those two criteria one pays a price in optics. In no way do they compare to MJ's, Costas, Hobies, Smith Optics ETC, designed for exceptionaly clear optics, superior polarization and glare reduction.. especially those with glass lenses and those that are coated on both sides. It also should be said that a pair of high end shades is something that you come to appreciate with time, like a really nice high end fishing rod. After having it a while and picking up another rod you immediatly notice the difference in weight and sensitivity. I've tried on the shades at walmart, the quality is laughable by comparison. I paid something like a 150 bucks for mine. If you have them for 10 years, thats 15 bucks a year. A small price to pay for something that will truly enhance your outdoor experience...especially if you fish clear water. Furthurmore it should be mentioned that my MJs did break at the hinge. I sent them back to Peoria and they reset them in new frames for free. If you are too clumsy (or drunk) to hold on to something like a pair of glasses (I don't understand this either as most people would chew their kids asses for losing a pair of glasses) or you just can't afford them, then fine, seek an alternative. That is understandable. Do what you have to. Any polarized glasses are better than none. But make no mistake there is a mighty diffence from a pair of walmart shades and some high end polarized shades. That is why they cost big bucks. In no way are they the same thing. On some products you pay for a name. Like designer clothes. Other products you pay for a name that has gained a reputation for exceptional quality, workmanship and or warranty. Names like Loomis and Simms come to mind. That is the case with Maui Jim. Though a Pinto and a Ferrari basically perform the same function a Pinto will never be a Ferrari no matter how much you imagine it to. All that said, you will look like an uber-dork wearing safety glasses in public. IMHO, Safety glasses are for work and only work, not play. Here are some deals on fishing glasses: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/d/4374_Sunglasses.html

Not enough entries to get specialized. How about a madtom imitation? Some of my biggest smallies in the Kank had a mollie jammed in their gullet. It's a common smallie food so the winner should see some water time.

As a 7 year Maui Jim owner I second Joz's opinion. You get what you pay for. If I had cool 300 bucks laying around doing nothing (and I don't) there would be a pair of Oakley Half Jackets sitting on my nose. Now that is one bitchin' pair of shades! I was rumaging through the attic the other day and found a pair of Oakley Factory Pilots (circa 1985), one of the very first if not the first glasses Oakley ever made. Retro, baby!

Is the same Columbia River? http://www.boats.com/boat-articles/Catchin...ronze/2098.html How long have smallies been estabblished?

I would agree with you for the most part but just to play the devil's advocate.... "Catch and release is for native fish, not invaders" By that logic, one would not practice C&R on smallmouth bass in the BWCA or Quetico or, if I'm not mistaken any of those Canadian lakes. Right? An if Chester comes to visit, kindly ask him to leave his filet knife at home. ;-)

I made it. 40 miles one way.

Oh my God, that tiger mousie is one of the most wicked flies I've ever seen! Did you tie it?

The lure swap would not draw me to a meeting but it would not keep me away from them either. I'm with Eric on the food thing. The meetings I most had fun at were at Pal Joey's ( a pizza joint in West Chicago). Personally, I could live without a speaker unless it pertained to club business. The main thing that has kept me away from the meetings is a 2-3 hour daily commute and the locations and times never quite seem to work for me. Not much anybody can do about that. Can't please everyone.

Fingerless are out of the question. I was thinking about those glacier gloves. Think I have a better shot of tying knots with mittens on than my fingers when they are exposed to cold. It's gotten flat out painful and my fingers are so stiff I can hardly move them.

I am having terrible problems with my hands in cold weather and it hasn't even gotten that cold yet. Any paticularly good gloves out there?

I propose an amendment to this law based on irrelevance. Most of these vehicles are extinct. The only vehicles exempt from fishing transport duty are economy cars fitted with oversized mufflers. Furthurmore owners of said vehicles fitted with aerodynamic wings should be reconsidered as fishing companions. Man Law #-- Under penalty of ridicule, no vehicle, regardless of value shall be exempt from gravel roads/muddy roads. Said vehicle, shall perform transport duty as any other. Transport duty is defined as: Transportation to fishing destination, as close as possible regardless of road conditions. Transportation to second fishing destnation (without complete removal of waders and or wading boots). Return. Vehicles returning without mud, gravel chips and/or peculiar odors should be considered suspicious. During said transport it is recommended that all gravel roads be approached at a very high rate of speed, regardless of conditions with an expression of exhuberance from the driver. An orange '69 Charger would be a desirable vehicle for said purpose.

What I had in mind was an insect imitation of some sort a strike indicator all on a fly rod. Winter bites are often very light almost undetectable. Seems like it might be worth a shot.

HA! I was there too.

I've spent a pretty fair amount of time winter fishing for smallies. Typically I fished conventional tackle, usually tubes and other soft plastics. I usually fished slower stretches of the Kankakee with a lot of down timber. In that time I was suprised to see insects flying around and what appeared to be fish feeding on them. Cold blooded critters buzzing around in the 30's and 40's ???? There was a LOT of slurpin' going on. I strongly believe that some of those fish were carp, others smallies. Tim Holschlag discusses using Float and Fly techniques in his book. The thought of bringing a flyrod out at the time crossed my mind. But at the time I was not very clear on the concept of a "strike indicator", which is pretty much a glorified "bobber" or "float" if one drinks their tea with a pinky raised. Any hoo. I'm just tossing this out for discussion As a side note, I was highly impressed with the book. It was cool to see ISA member flies listed in there.

What a cool site! Search "Smallmouth Bass" on You Tube. Pretty cool: I like this one: Smallies on a Mayfly hatch. This happens on the Kank. Same Mayfly. I'm carrying around a dryfly just for the occasion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MByG-n86_UE Scott and all you other music lovers- Search your favorite band.

I read some of his stuff in Boundry Waters Journal. It is good. Didn't know he lives in Mauston. Maybe I need a guide.

Steve, Hustler is a tiny little town located on the Omaha bike trail nestled right outside of Amish country. It has a very handy little convenience/general store called "the Hustle STOP". Hence it is a popular stop for cyclists. I have not visited the Hooterbowl yet just noticed the sign passing through. I too, was intrigued by the name. However, I suspect "Hooter" refers to one who "hoots" as in "a hootin and a hollerin!" rather than mammalian protruberances. I think it is just a bowling alley/restaraunt and gathering place for the locals. Every year Hustler holds "Hustlerfest" complete with tractor pulls and a chicken toss. I can never seem to get out there when it's going on. This years slogan was "All Jacked Up", in reference to a popular country song (I'm told) and suspension modification of a farm tractor used in competive pulling. Talk about a slice of Americana. how could you not love such a place. And if that isn't enough about Hustler CLICK HERE Jack-Thanks for the feedback a few of the books echo what you said about Black earth being a very challenging fisherey. Excellent website. I like that Madonna. Gonna give it a try. Mark

A few weeks ago we were on the way home from Wisconsin. I decided to take the scenic route. I had a book about wisconsin trout streams with and decided to check one out. Black Earth Creek, a half hour out of Madison. Looks like it has easy access and it's quite pretty I might try to hit it come spring. I've never caught a stream trout in my life, and apart from what I read in books am pretty clueless on the subject. Anybody fish it or have any comments? I've also read a lot about Mt Vernon Creek nearby as well as the Mecan River. A stone's throw from the place I stay up there is Fountain Creek. Right outside of the exciting town of Hustler (Home of the Hooterbowl). I've seen fish in there, nice ones I might add but they were out of season. I've appreciate anything anyone can throw out about these streams or any other or just the Wisconsin trout thing in general. Gracias.