rusty

Real nice job. The body's a little short because you've used a 1X hook instead of a 2X, but some people like that because you get a small body and a nice wide gap. The pheasant tail is generally tied in so that the tips of the feather barbules are at the end of the fly. Looks like you may have cut them off. Remember that a natural mayfly nymph has a very sparse and slender tail, which is represented well if you use the tips. Excellent job though - good proportions and it looks like a very neatly tied fly. The thorax is perfect. It would undoubtedly catch fish anywhere.

Din, your mice look great and I like the lighter color at the head. Curious though as far as Dr. BT's comment goes - how many people shape with a razor vs. scissors? I've only ever used the latter but have heard a lot of talk about the razor.

All a guide is going to provide in that area is spots and some basic techniques - and you can get that info here. In fact, if your buds started reading here now and you pointed them in the right direction, they'd be further ahead than with a guide. Bullshead is better as a DIY. Bring waders, a long net, and a metric tonne of Bloom Leeches and Weevils in size 10-16 and hold on tight. Depending on the time in summer weeds may be tough at BH. A day there with Tim or some of the other regulars would be better than with a guide. I would strongly recommend guided fishing for the Bow or Crowsnest, but if you're talking Liv or Castle country I think the $2-3K you'd be looking at spending for guides would be better spent on books, maps, beer, gas, and camping. Having said that, Maxwell on the board here guides and I don't think you could beat hiring him to get you into fish.

Two Torontonians die and go to hell. Satan's having a busy day, so it's a few hours before he can check on them. When he finally tracks them down, they're sitting in a couple of lawnchairs remarking how nice and warm it is down there. Figuring that he'll fix their attitude, Satan cranks the heat a little bit. When he returns, the two guys are playing volleyball and laughing their heads off. Having had enough of them, Satan decides to throw the switch the other way and freeze the place completely. An hour later, he comes down to find the two embracing, crying, and jumping up and down. Completely astonished, he asks the pair why they're celebrating. Triumphantly, they exclaim "Haven't you heard? The Leafs won the cup!!" Honestly - the Leafs would be a lot better off if they stuck to Toskala instead of playing Raycroft every time Toskala has a bad game. The other night against Phoenix when they pulled Raycroft after two goals when the D didn't show up, you're sending the wrong message about confidence in your goalies. Toskala has amazing potential and he just needs to not have to worry about whether he's going to be yanked after one or two goals. The Leafs-Habs game last night was good hockey though.

A Bic pen with the insert out of it makes a great packing tool.

Patagonia gear is bombproof, functional, comfortable, and damn sexy too. Good to hear they have such awesome service.

You can't miss with "What Fly Do I Use" by Darren Banasch. Darren runs Hook and Hackle and ran Russell's for a while. This is a small, easy to read book that gets right to the point. It's easily the best value you could possibly find in a flyfishing book - and it's very locally oriented.

I bought a Canon ZR60 MiniDV cam a few years back because I was too anxious to do the research. I've been generally happy with it but had I looked around a little more, I think I could have got a better cam for the money. I would recommend chatting with the folks at London Drugs and The Camera Store before you make a decision. Have found that you rarely get steered wrong there as long as the salesperson knows the score. I have found tapes to be a pain in the ass sometimes - but if you shoot on the highest quality settings then you are losing no information at all. Don't really see the point of shooting in HD only to immediately compress it to DVD format.

Just a short and curly shy of an MSc in Civil Engg. Got my BSc in '03 in Civil as well.

10-7 Riders at the half!

Damn right Dustin. There is no good flyfishing whatsoever there. Don't go looking either - it's a waste of time. Riders all the way - there will be a shortage of Pil in Cowtown tonight!

I have Simms Guides with 300 days on them and they're pretty good - but they shrink like a bastard when they dry and the walk to the river is never fun. Was never a factor when the boots never got dry, but now that I'm a weekend warrior I'll be going with those Korkers without laces.

You're not kidding...I moved to Cranston and within 2 months POW. My little brother moved a few blocks away and three weeks later POW. Something in the water indeed.

See that brown in Max's avatar? That's why I take him seriously. I fail to recognize the correlation between shelling out $40K on metal and fibreglass and being a good fisherman.

Great pics Glen! Thanks for sharing, and hopefully it's a great trip. Winter's arriving here now so you aren't missing much.

Looking like I will be in town for most of the winter - so I will be there as well. It's a great atmosphere and if you bring a select set of materials and set a goal for tying you can hammer out most of your bugs at these sessions. If the R&C isn't available maybe we could see about a venue a little further south.

Like Max and others have said, the stones have been awesome the last few years around then. If the river is still high and dirty you can float it and bomb the banks with streamers and clean house. There are very few people fishing it and it's the best time of year to nail a big brown (though they don't compare to Jurassic fish).

1 - My mom used to make the wickedest mincemeat tarts but now we make a few of our own things - buttermilk cinnamon buns, for example. We go through 8 pounds of butter in two weeks with all the baking. Saturated fat anyone? 2 - No way. No Christmas decorations before Dec 1. 3 - Exactly 15 minutes after it shows up in stores (ie: two weeks ago). 4 - 10 weight reel for an Alaska trip next June, and maybe some toys to go with the new SLR. If the weather's good I'm including a two hour trip down to the river on Christmas Day.

Best of luck Lynn! Hope you have a speedy recovery.

You'll love that reel. I have a 2560 and it's awesome.

Wow...thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive response. Was starting to lean towards the Olympus but I'm pretty much settled on the Nikon now. Are there any specific things to watch out for buying a DSLR or lenses on Ebay?

Ok, so I've narrowed my selection down to two cameras - the Nikon D40x and the Olympus E-410. Both cameras are 10.2MP and look like they would be way too much fun. I have the following questions: 1. Both cams come with basically an 18-55 and a 75-300, 18-55 only, or just the body. Are the kit lenses worth picking up or would I be better off picking up the body and a good third party lens? 2. What's the main difference between the 18-55 and the 75-300 and just a single lens with a wider range (like 18-200)? 3. Someone in the know told me that Olympus is not a great choice because of the lack of third party lens/flash support. How big a deal is that? How do Olympus lenses compare to Nikons (or Sigmas or Tamrons)? 4. I know that the Nikon has a 1.5X crop factor while the Olympus has a 2.0X. Is this a big deal? Will it affect macro or close shots enough to tell? I like the Olympus because of the Live View but my laptop has a built in SD card slot so the Nikon is attractive as well. Would really appreciate any feedback on these models. I'm planning on doing a fair amount of outdoor as well as some indoor lower-light stuff too.

I would vote for the Simms Guides - I've had mine for a year and they're fabulous. Very comfy and tough as far as breathables go. My last pair were Simms Lightweights - and I got 250 hard trips on them before they gave up the ghost. Jamaican - most places will do custom sizing, including Springbrook right here in town.

That is a spectacular fish - just beautiful chrome.

I carry 2X-5X in mono and 3X-5X in fluoro on my lanyard, as well as spools of 14lb Trilene and 30lb Maxima in the vest.