Steve S.

Excellent job everyone! Thanks for all your hard work at the Blowout and throughout the year!

I fished pearl tubes downstream in early March, right after his presentation at the Blowout. I was holding the tubes tight to the remnant water willow clumps along shore in decent current and I was rewarded with a couple very nice smallmouth. It was a nice way to start the season.

I fly fish 95% of the time now, and I mostly fish whatever way I can. I guess it didn't stick, but thats not to say it isn't effective.

Merry Christmas to all!

That was really cool!

DuPage Fly is like 10 minutes from home, which is not so great for the savings account.

Jeremy is awesome. Good call!

How did you do?

That was in my plans as well but they fell thru last minute.

I love football season as it frees up the local waters somewhat with college on Saturday and NFL on Sunday. Vikes vs Pack will create more ghost towns out on the rivers and lakes. Take advantage!

Ed

I've heard these are the best too! Rats, I play hockey Wednesday nights. One of these days I will meet Tom!

I would suggest going to a fly shop and bringing the rods with you. They will match the line to the action of the rods.

I like the idea of an upstream paddle but I can see how downstream would be the more practical option when access points come into play if the distance between them is lengthy.

actually it is easier on larger (Rock River size) rivers. I like to find a half mile long rip-rap bank, start at the downstream end of it , and work my way upstream. I rest my foot on a rock at the side of the water and cast upstream for awhile then paddle further upstream and repeat to work the whole rip rap bank eventually.

 

Generally if you stay near the shore you can paddle upstream just fine. (especially when the water levels are relatively low). l I like to stay near shore anyway to avoid powerboats.

 

ericg

It would seem quite difficult to take an upstream approach in higher gradient stream/rivers that have heavier current flows. I suppose floating downstream covers more distance but not necessarily more water, but it can be effective.

Eric

Would you say that works best on smaller waters? I couldn't imagine going upstream on larger rivers.

One option is to simply float downstream and use an anchor. For the kayak, two to three sections of 16 inch logging chain attached with clasp.

Besides slowing down the drift, the chain works well to keep the kayak tracking straight.

Just saw a couple girls kayaking with their Dad a couple weeks ago. I thought to myself, how nice to see kids enjoy something other than an iPhone! Kudos to that Dad and the girls.

Good stuff!

I always park there and never had a problem; guess it depends on who is there that day? Space never seems to be an issue and I always park closer to the road.

All I know is a "gentleman" would never toss a Chug Bug. End of story.

Ha ha I love that one

Wish I could go Austin but I have a bid due early Thursday AM.

You'd be a fool to pass on this!

UGH, not good at all!

I used to throw divers a lot when I first started fly fishing. The ones I used had slightly longer (rabbit strip) tails. Solid white and solid brown were what I primarily used.

Mine also had a loop of stiff mono tied off the back shank to keep the tail aligned and discourage it from wrapping around the hook.

They really work well for smallies and the toothy fish like them a lot as well.

Congratulations Bart!

Nice calendar Pat

First member I met from the ISA was Mark K.. Seems like his name has been mentioned a few times on this thread.

I was leaving the K3 and he was arriving and we struck up a conversation and eventually shared that we were both ISA members. We proceeded to have a great talk about his ISA experiences while I watched him practice his fly casting. I had fly fished as a boy and watching him inspired me to move over to the dark side once again. Now I have a 4 weight, a 5, a 6, 2- 7's & and an 8. I'm also broke.

Thanks Mark

Yes John, part 2 airs today at 9:30 and then again Wednesday at 11:00

My Comcast has the replay on Tuesday this week.

Yes, I was excited when I heard the news. Much better than driving into the city, especially since I live in Naperville!

I've used the Rio product as well in two different weights. They're almost a must when fishing any diver pattern to get the nose down.

I'd say they're effective for rivers, but if you're looking to fish still water the intermediate lines would be better.

Awesome fly patterns!

Cool!