Steve S.

Nice!

Looks good Jonn.

Thanks Ed and the ISA for the treat. Good to see you and the others - its been too long.

Spent many nights there after HS basketball games, and also watched lots of Hawks games there. They have great pizza. I'm hoping to make it out; save the white zinfandel for the spinning guys! (Wait, I've been using my spinning gear last couple of times out ).

Just spooled up my baitcaster with Spiderwire Invisibraid; 15 lb test/4 lb diameter. So far so good, casts a mile and has great sensitivity. I can cast my Sammy just as far as I could with my spinning gear, which is now spooled with Fireline 10 lb. The jury is still out as I only have about 4 hours of use thus far. As for line watching, perhaps there is an even trade-off between decreased line visibility (I think they may have some more visible superlines now) and line sensitivity. The superlines are by far more sensitive than any mono, copolymer or fluoro. Still haven't found a fluoro I like, though I never liked superlines/braids before now either.

Who cares about 20", look at how solid it is! There are many 20 inchers caught that wouldn't thrill me one bit. It's an overrated stat IMO.

I'll withdraw my earlier vote and cast it for the Sammy - its my favorite lure to throw by far!

Still thinking myself.......... I'm not only inclined to think about its fish catching abilities, but also how its casts, how it fishes, maybe even how it ties. I've tried to narrow my selections down recently, not only to reduce the amount of gear I carry around but also to focus more on learning to fish select patterns. This past Sunday I got somewhat "burned" at the K3 as the bass went on a mayfly slurping craze (admittedly most seemed on the small size). Still, I wanted to get one so I practiced casting to them while rising. The Boogle Bugs I had did not seem to interest them one bit; even smaller sizes and different colors. I thought of the Chernobyl Ants I had tucked in another box at home along with a simple mayfly pattern I'd always wanted to try. Clouser Minnow.........yes, what could be more fun then hitting your fishing buddy in the back of the head with one of these on a windy day! I have to go with a diver of some sort. Lately it has been a 1/0 Whitlock's Swimming Baitfish. It combines a little of both of my favorite characteristics: semi topwater for the junkie in me and big, erratic "come and eat me" action.

Just for fun, what would it be?

They're actually pretty ornery little buggers that can deliver a painful bite! But they are non-venomous as Paul said, and relatively harmless if you let them be.

I don't have them (yet) but I have heard the same complaints. Shouldn't affect the ability to wade rivers like the Fox, DuPage & K3. Their riverbeds are predominantly coarse rocks, gravel, sand and sediment and the Vibram type soles should work well as opposed to some of the rivers in WI & MI, which we liken to wading up a flight of greased stairs.

The only factor not mentioned is the current speed. Three feet of fast current could pose an issue, at least as I experienced this past weekend. The bass weren't on the seam either; they were right in the current sitting behind obstructions or in depressions. Still had to battle the current to get to them. I tried slightly weighted flies, sink tips and longer leaders/tippets. I got some but not as many as the spinning guys and their plastics. I just couldn't slow it down enough to keep it in the strike zone. I'm still learning.....

I've often thought of getting one myself. I've spoken to Ron about coiling the line in my stripping hand. I still haven't perfected it; he's right - it takes a lot of practice, just like all the other facets of fly fishing. I'm certainly not opposed to a basket as I believe they would help, but my preference lately has been to scale everything down. The basket would seem too bulky to me. I'm down to my sling pack, a few tools, one fly box, a few sink tips, leaders and tippet spools. It's all about comfort and staying functional to me.

What does a red/white daredevle mimic???

Another frustrating pattern that shows itself from time to time (and a lot this season for some reason) is the one time blow-up on top, then nothing on the follow up, regardless of what is presented. IMO, the old adage about following up with something different doesn't work any better than following up quickly with the same presentation. Perhaps that has something to do with the downtime in switching lures (or flies). I think that's where that 3rd Grip comes in handy; get right back at the bass ASAP with something pre-rigged. Something triggered that bass to strike the first time. Get right back at her quick before she thinks about it too much. If she doesn't take again, move on to the next one. You can always work your way back. In the end, I think it all comes back to confidence, so stick with whatever gives you that mental edge.

10-4, or is that 420?

I have a pair of the old Simms Freestone boots. I have practically worn the felt off of them and just a tiny bit of the toe of the sole is finally releasing. Most of the outside is plain, smooth synthetic uppers with just stitching at the seams. I think the basic design has contributed to the longevity of the boot (about 3 seasons). I'd certainly buy them again, except I think they're being discontinued.

I can smell them from here.

I have the Konic for my 8 wt and it works just fine. If you search around, you can sometimes find discontinued Lamson reels at great prices.

I bought a tie-fast knot tyer for those nail knots/blood knots and it works very well and is really quick. I keep it on one of my zingers. It was well worth the few bucks and I have a lot more confidence in the knots I tie with it.

Do you know what kind of zinger fits in that sleeve? ITC

Used to go up there a lot when my brother still lived in Illinois. I believe the boat ramp access is on the west end / west half of the lake. From what I recall, the east bay is shallower and we didn't fish it much. Started trying out Pewaukee because it always showed up in the In-Fisherman Master Angler awards every year. It is the lake that we both got hooked on musky fishing after losing numbers of spinnerbaits and large plastics (I think they liked the 5" and larger Mar-Lynn Reaper Worms on swim heads) one day while fishing for largemouth. We used to catch some nice bass in the neckdown area between the two bays. In Fall, we seemed to raise a lot of musky along the north shore, drifting back and forth from the neckdown area to the boat ramp. I can honestly say that although we raised and fought quite a few musky, we never got one to the boat, though I think we caught some small pike. Good luck. Its always fun trying out new waters. Try searching the internet a bit for more tips. I'm sure you'll come up with more than I could offer.

Norm I think you're right on with your guess of a common map turtle as they are indigenous to that county.

Thanks Norm!

Did you tie this?