skjordan

Kens right on the money about the magnifier and the reading glasses. One tip, take a wolly bugger or smaller fly with you to make sure you get the magnification you need. I normally wear 2.5x for reading but I use a separate pair of 3.25x to tie with, the extra magnification comes in handy on smaller patterns and seeing those base thread wraps. The granny type glassses are also a great idea.

Fall smallie on an inline spinner. Dave Franklin starting a float trip on the S. Vermilion. The willows here are awesome. My favorite lunch stop.

Ahh you cant fool me. I know thats a cold morning and thats just Cory's breath.

Last week, before the warmup, I fished the South Vermillion and had a really good day after it heated up. I was throwing a 1/4 oz buzz bait and getting short strikes.. I started following the miss by swimming a 4 " curley tailed worm and that worked for me. For some reason the spots were on big time, all in one area, must have schooled up. This was the largest of the group and he had alittle rash going on. This smallie was a brute. I dont know if the picture is out of focus because may arms are to short and I was shaking or I needed my flash on because of low light conditions.

After all the slim I had on me and my equipment after foul hooking and landing one I dont think they will ever be on my menu. Yuckee!

Jonn, I like to take an old beat up rubber worm and cut off about a half inch and stick it on the tip of my spinner and buzz baits. It helps keep them sharp and I dont impale myself when I reach into the bag to retreive one.

A nine footer will suit all your needs listed. The eight weight, while doable, does seem a bit much for smallies. I use a 5 weight, that puts me on the light end, for smallmouths and trout then jump to an eight weight for largemouth and light salt fishing (reds). The 5 wt does a respectabe job throwing those "chuck and duck" items and can sill handle a size 16 caddis fly when needed. Personnal preference does count for a lot in choosing your weight of rod.

I like to use Stimies this time of year (grasshopper?????) and I pre-treated them with Water Shed for the first time. I like it. Yes elk hair floats, but these seem to float higher, for longer. How do you like Water Shed??

Sorry Rich, I wasnt very clear. I have the recipe and the instruction sheet.

Can someone help Jim out with an online recipe? If not I can snail mail you a xerox copy that we used at the class.

Fished the South Vermillion River system last week with fellow member Chuck Kolesar and managed to pick up this nice fat smallie . My fishing partner had just thrown his plastic worm at a root ball about six times when he turned away remarking "no one home there". I had been busy tying on a hairy fodder and decided to put a cast behind the rootball. Turned out there was a hungry 19 1/4"er living in that hole after all. Chuck is still telling me I caught "his fish". After we photographed and released the fish I took a picture of my fly, looking at the image latter I didnt recognize the fly as any I tied. It was rather crude and was not tied with any of the color patterns I used. As a matter of fact it was plain old butt ugly. It dawned on me later that it was the first Hairy Fodder I ever tied, which happened at One More Cast during a tying seminar I attended last winter. So thanks to Joseph and the rest of the guys that taught all the patterns we tied that day. This smallie taught me a lesson. While its nice to tie perfect patterns, just like in the books, smallies are not all that picky. Well..... most of the time

Well said Bob. Thanks for the thoughts and keep swinging that yellow twister tail.

Thanks for posting the press release, we would never have seen it covered by our local media.

It was a very enjoyable day working with the kids and talking with Mike and Mark. I will be on board again next year if Iam needed. It might be worth noting in this picture that there is a pair of very large fir like trees in the background and about 25 % of our casters made it into the said trees. Another 50% went into the horticultural display and lemonade stand on the right. It amazed me we only lost one casting plug (you know those things can really smart when you catch one right between the sholder blades ).

I know there was a thread last spring in the forums about a new digital camera that could take a good soaking. Iam now in the market for a new camera and would like to hear if you are still satisfied with the preformance of that model. Or, if anyone else has purchased a similar camera and would like to share their likes and dislikes about their model so we all wont have to go through the same learning curve.

Another suggestion, look at the Wenonah line. They can be found on the internet at "wenonah.com", they are made in Minnesota. Great boats with hull designs for all needs. Royalex is the material of choice for river boats. I have a double, 16', Adirondack which can also be used as a solo and is still very easy to move around on small water.

What a great read!! It made me laugh on a Monday morning. Thanks.

I dont know if the Third Grip is configured to hold a fly reel or not. However, the thought of carrying a nine foot fly rod around where I cant see it kind of gives me the willies..........especially on the small streams I fish. I think I would be untangling it from brush and limbs more than I would be fishing. John Graham could answer that question for you he sells the Grip. If you want to talk to him I could PM you his phone number. Let me know.

All good tips. Especially having a plan before you hook the fish. My personal release plan is: Always pinch the hook barbs, I like to do this before I put anything in my tackle boxes. Wet my hands. Cradle big fish while removing the hooks or if they are small I will pick them up by the lower lip. Put them gently back in the water, dropping or tossing a fish from the standing position is a pet peeve of mine. Now if anyone sees me on the water not following my plan they have my permission to whip me with there rod.

Done!

If thats a bruise remind me to give Herons a wide berth on the river

I caught this smallmouth in Sugar Creek last week. It fought hard, like normal, but when I brought the fish to hand I noticed the startling discoloration extending from the middle of the fish towards the rear. Upon further investigation I found two vertical marks about 2 1/2" long extending from the backbone down..........Im assuming a heron bit off just alittle more than it could chew. Is the color change a bruise or maybe worse????????? Chances for suvival????????

How cool was that.............thats what fishing is all about, you just never know what great thing is going to happen next.