Terry Dodge

Being a new guy I've already offered my services on March 6 at the Rockford Outdoor Sports Show, the same day as the Blow Out.

I'll be at the Blow Out next year and am looking foreward to it.

As far as the outings, I'll be PMing people about that.

The float & fly thing on the Kish has my interest as I have never done this float & fly thing before.

Looking foreward to good times.

I got my first issue of the "Bronzeback Bulletin" and was very impressed!

Then about two days after that I got my "New Member" package. WOW!!

I feel a sense of pride being part of such a great group of people. It's one of the

best things I've ever done. The real kicker is, now that I'm part of such a great group

I plan on doing even better things in the days, months and years to come.

I only have one question.......

I work 2nd shift so I wont be able to attend all the meetings. At night I get home and the wife has my

dinner all dished out for me on a plate and I warm it up in the microwave and sit alone eating, thinking the

whole time about what stretch of river I'm going to fish, what fly am I going to use to land that big smallmouth,

where is that big smallmouth hiding at and on and on.

My question is.......Am I in the right spot?

Loving the ISA

Thanks!

~Terry

Okay, so I ran out to Hobby Lobby and they still had some on hand. It's called Gilt Eyelash by Yarn Bee and they had three types in stock.

"Night Fire" which is the gold flashy stuff, "Chocolate" which is like a dark bronze color and then a light tan color with gold flash they call "Sun Sparkle".

The cost is $6.99 + tax and you get 125 yards. I bought the Chocolate because I liked the dark bronze color and it also looks as if it has just a hint

of a dark red in the flash.

So to sum up; Yarn Bee - Gilt Eyelash in colors "Night Fire", "Chocolate", & "Sun Sparkle"

I really don't recall the name. Like the idiot that I am, I must have given the packaging that it came in the toss in the bucket. I'm planning

on heading back over to Hobby Lobby this weekend to see if I can find more in different colors. Don't worry I plan to use my brain a bit

more and take a sample of the "gold flashy stuff" with me to see if I can find a match or show it someone who works there that may

know what it is and order some more if need be. Sorry I don't recall the name but I'm working on it.

Last January (the one in 2009) I stopped in at Hobby Lobby to look for something different to use as fly tying material.

I ran across this gold flashy stuff that ended up being the make or break factore of the "09" fishing season for me.

I started tying it on as a collar to my Thunder Creeks

Then I used it as a body wrap for some Hopper imitations

But the hot fly for me last year ended up being this thing I call The Golden Dawn Retriever.

It's a bead-head with wraps of lead around the shank covered by black floss then wrapped with the gold flashy stuff

and ostrich herl as the tail. This is also real nice with a conehead.

I picked up about 100 yards of this gold flashy stuff for like 4 bucks! If I was half-way smart I would have picked up

other colors. Live and learn I guess.

Wow! I loved it! Can I read it again?

That is one fine news letter you put together there.

Just wondering........Do you have copies of those on hand at the outdoor shows?

It just seems like a real good promotional devise.

I guess I'll find out when I help out at the Rockford show.

Again, real nice job.

Thanks.

This is getting silly...............

Groundhog Season. Season open for the next 6 weeks.

If it's part of the tour I'll keep an eye open for it @ the Rockford show.

That's what I call "living".

I used the self adhesive foam and it really don't want to stick to the felt-like inside of the case.

A couple lines of some kind of glue to the back of the foam is going to be needed.

I found an old eye-glasses case lying around the house and decided that it might be a good idea to

take a sheet of craft foam and trim it and hot glue it to the inside of each side of the eye-glass case.

Well I did and this is what I ended up with....................

I find it to be pretty handy. As a matter of fact, I've got about 6 of these now.

Just something to help pass the time during the winter.

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I'll be dropping in on my next trip to the Mad City.

Anyone happen to know the address of any nice little fly shops in the Madison, WI. area?

I have to go up that way to the VA Hospital every couple months and just figure I should

try and find a nice little shop, as the Rockford area don't seem to have any that I know of.

If I have to drive up there I may as well try and get some enjoyment out of it.

Night shift, that's me. Been doing it for about 20 years now. Can't wait to use a vacation day and be around some fishin' folk.

Is it going to be warm out there at Gander Mnt.?

Count me in. I got a vacation day set aside to burn and I miss our river. So I may-as-well burn it and talk about our (my) river.

Is there a magazine that is dedicated to fly fishing for smallmouth bass?

I pick up magazines when ever I can, when I see that it may have an article on fly fishing for smallmouths but all

the magazine are mainly trout magazines. I would think as popular of a sport that chasing smallies with the fly rod is

there would be a magazine dedicated to the sport but i have yet to see one.

Anyone?

Does it comes down to skill-levels?

Is it more skillful to catch a 20+ inch smallie on

a 5 wt. compared to an 8 wt.?

If a person can constantly catch big smallies tossing big flies

on an 8 wt. then as fly fisherman, shouldn't the goal be to

fool the same big fish with smaller flies and lighter gear?

I must say that all the reading I've done on fly fishing for smallmouth bass over the

last four years it was never, let me say that again, never mentioned using anything

larger than 5/6 wt rod for smallmouth bass. Now I will say that probably the books/articles

that I have read may be out-dated as fly fishing for smallmouth bass I think has become

one of the fastest growing sports in the country over the last 10 years and I'm quite sure

that it's people like you that's going to rewrite the books for future anglers.

It sounds to me like the people who use a 5/6 wt and the smaller flies lean more towards

the trout fisherman's traits while the folks who use the big 8/9 wt lean more towards the

rubber tossin' spin fisherman traits. Either way this has been a great topic with a ton of info

from a bunch of great guys. Don't stop! After I get this all to process through my thick head

I think I'm going to be able to step into my river a little bit smarter someday. Thanks!

Oh and again.......Don't stop.

Thank you very much Mr. Riendeau.

I'll be reading that post a few more times.

I have read that the smallmouth bass is a homebody. It picks an area

and never strays too far from home. Does this sound right? I've always

figured that fish just swim all over the place. I mean what else do they

have to do besides eat.

With that being said, I've often wondered if there is a time for a

fly rod (summer months) and a time for the spinning rod (early spring & fall).

For some reason I have to grab that fly rod. So I do.

I want to catch that nice smallie on a fly rod.

I've never and will never fish for trout so I don't have those bad trout habits.

My main problem is I'm a self taught fly fisherman that has never fished

along side another fly fisherman.

If anybody took my "grandma" comment the wrong way I apologize.

I just thought that was the way fly guys were with the spin-heads.

Thanks for all the input.

Steve S. said................"There's really no competition other than with myself; I strive to live up to my own expectations."

Thank you Sir Steve.

Is there something going on here with the "fly guys" and "spin-heads"?

I am on BassBuggers right?

My grandma can spin fish.

Thanks for the info Jonn.

I'm fairly new to fly fishing. I've been chasing the smallmouth with the fly on the Kishwaukee River for four years now.

My question is.......When the bite is slow and your searching for that one fly that will do the trick, how often do you

change flies? How long do you toss a fly before switching to another? If you're not getting any results no matter what,

do you pick one fly and stick with it with the frame of mind that if they're going to hit then they should hit this fly? Or

do you just pack it up and head for home? I don't like to head for home.