Glenbow

Bobloblaw, My therapist's number is 555-1212. Just in case you need it.

You don't have to drink more to make the fish look better. Personal experience? I'll never tell.

Nice Max! Beauty fish. Some wicked shots there.

Nice work Dave, well deserved. Will you autograph my copy of Fusion?

Rickr, I'm definitely not qualitfied to use y'all, nor is the fly selling business going well enought to finance this shenanigan. I finally decided to try to use all those points I've accrued over the years & use 'em all in one shot. This is the shot. I also have mostly free accoms over there (friends) so, all in all, it's a cheapy holiday. I wish I were a rich man & could tell you different, but alas, I am me (but I am happy). It's been a long time comin', & I'm gonna love it. Y'all.

Y'all, I booked me a ticket last night to go to New Zealand for a week & Australia for 3 weeks after that. I am arriving in Aukland on Nov. 21, and I'm wondering if any of you have any contacts/insight/experience as I'd love love any assistance with where to fish, a guide(s) to use, etc. I hope some of you have some contacts or experience to share, as I really want to make the best of this trip. Thanks in advance, Glenbow

Never enough time, never enough gear. I hope I always feel this way. And Lone Fisher, I'm gonna maximize the time I get to *try* to out-fish you just so I will always have it to remember! MMWWWaaaahahahahaah. Speyghillie, thanks a lot for your input to this forum, it is most valued and appreciated. Also, I will pay you to show me a few tricks that will allow me to out-fish Toolman just once!

I choose to believe what I believe, and I love to fly fish. I do not choose to enter debate on what I believe versus what others believe as I see it as a no-win situation. Others will agree and others will disagree and in the end it is still up to me to decide for myself. I respect all others' views, I just figured I'd add a different perspective to this without actively seeking to engage the subject.

Rusty, I'm into my rig for about $400. You can expect to spend from $400-500 to get started. Speypages.com is an excellent forum for info, but like everything else, nothing teaches like experience. I don't know virtually anything other than some basic info & I can get the line out, but with more practice I will learn more & be more adept at the casting. It's pretty fun though!

SJW, no, it means you will have to get 2 new rods.

Johnny Lang Booker T & the MG's Mark Reeves (he's a personal friend, sings Folk/Roots/Blues from Winnipeg) Keb Mo Delbert McClinton Supertramp Good Stuff.

I stand corrected Toolman. The Deer Creek is what I now covet. Lone Fisher, you friggin' liar, you will have one of these by next week once I let you try it out. I will out-cast you at least once! By the way, the longer you don't buy one, the happier I will be and the more fish I will catch I advise you to invest in Pork Futures or something for your retirement so as to provide for yourself in later years & let me out-fish you once for a change.

LL Bean 7/8 wt 12'6". Kinda already want the 6wt TFO Pro Series. It casts really nice. Consider my hand up.

Gordon, Thanks for your input and support, your experience will be most valuable and appreciated. Glen

Wait for me there, I'll be about 45 seconds behind.

It's good to hear that there's respectful floks out there. It's not all bad.

Lornce, I'll fish with you any day, and give you first crack at all the nicest water. You just have to agree to chat with me & give up some of those hard-earned secrets over the years.......... Besides, I need some new Spey friends!

I am in for the course. I am also stoked that I have the first post EVER in this new section of the Forum!!!! Woohoooo. For those who are still unsure, trust me, you won't regret at least trying it. I also made a point of mentioning in my post the total cost of my rig, which is not a ton of $$. At least give it a try with either Toolman, Silver Doc or myself who I'm sure would take the time to demo the technique & let you try it out to see if you'd like it. Remember I only have had 1 demo day so I'm no pro & will not be for a long time, but at least you get the idea.

That's my favorite short story ever. I heard it before, & I laugh every time I think of it.

Nice to hear you had a good time & got into a few nice fish. Sometimes, FFing is not the beest fish catching method - but it most often is. Pretty hard sometimes though to out-fish live bait. Using bait & keeping fish is NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG as long as the rules allow it. Don't feel the need to apologize (although I probly would have too). Have fun down home, brother!

Good to see the training wheels are finally off!

Could you provide any idea of cost/date/# of slots? I might be interested in attending.

I got a nice piece of paper declaring my freedom, acquired because of those words.

I finally took the plunge & bought myself a Spey rig. After a long time on the forum & meeting a lot of folks from here, I began to wonder about these "Spey guys" & why they loved this method so much. I decided that with such respected fellows on here like Toolman & Silver Doctor extolling such virtue for this style of fishing, I knew I had to give it a try. I went out today for an introductory Spey lesson with Toolman. I was completely blown away. I can't tell you how cool Spey feels - It opens up my fishing envelope so much, and is a unique form of grace that is totally different from the single-handed grace of fly fishing that so many people, including me, think about. Today was a real eye-opener for me, and I really appreciate the time that Toolman took to spend with me. I realized today that I now have about 100% more water available to me to fish, with absolutely no downside. For example, today for the first time in my life I laid out about 85' of line with no back cast. No problem. This is such a unique form of fishing with (IMHO) every bit as much grace & finesse as single handed casting that I can hardly believe it. I knew that when guys like Toolman & Silver Doctor (& others) were so into this that there had to be something to it. I had to find out. Boy, am I ever glad I did. I already know MANY pieces of water that I always longed to fish & couldn't cast there single handed, that are now open to me. Even left handed (I'm a righty). So, in 1 lesson, I've cast almost 90' repeatedly (remember, no back-cast & 1 rod motion), upstream, downstream, right & left handed. I now know what I've been missing, & I highly recommend this style of fishing to anyone who may be interested. My rig only cost about $400 (rod, reel, line, backing) & it has opened up a whole new world. I feel like Jean-Luc Friggin' Picard. I am eagerly going to practice what I've learned & can't wait for my next session to learn more techniques. If any of you are thinking that you might like to give this Spey thing a try, feel free to PM me - I'd be only too happy to tell you more about my experience. I encourage any of you who are sitting on the fence (like I was) to at least give this a try - I know you won't regret it. Here's to catching more fish! (Thanks again Toolman)

A couple of nights ago a buddy & I went to fish Policeman's, & there were too many guys fishing where we wanted to fish.....so, instead of butting in, we went elsewhere & got skunked - the moral being, we respected that other guys were in the spots we wanted to fish & we left, and we also tried some new stretches for us. Although we didn't get fish, we could tell that we would sooner or later in these spots so we chalked it up to experience & 'fishing' in general & had a decent time anyhow. There are lots of folks around that are either ignorant or don't know any better anywhere you go.