chiasson

Catskill style flies, I do believe, refer to a style of dry flies that originated in the Catskill mountains of New York state. More info here: http://www.terryhellekson.com/catskill_dry_flies.htm

The sole came right off one of my Korkers as well. A shoe repair guy charged me 12 bucks to fix it and they're back in service. I love the fit of Korkers.

My heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy. As others have said in this thread, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. After a very scary incident that occurred while I was wade fishing alone about a year ago, I slipped on a bank and was under water before I knew what had happened, I vowed to myself to wear a PFD at all times. At first I thought I would hate wearing it but the one I got is designed for fishing, is very functional and low profile. After I wore it a few times the idea of not wearing it just seems scary to me. Consider it.

A subjective question. With dry fly rods I think the two things to consider are the average size of fish in your streams, if they are less than a pound consider a 2wt. And, wind, if there is any amount of wind a 3 will be a PITA to cast effectively. I have the ZXL 386 and love it for dries, and wets even, but when the wind is up I prefer to fish a 4 or 6. My personal opinion is that a med action long 3wt makes for a versatile dry fly rod. Such a rod would also be great on the Bow. I hear the #3 Sage Launch is sweet.

I don't have any personal experience with those particular rods but, assuming that your fishing trout, I would suggest a 5wt, maybe even a 4 depending on the particular rod and the weight of flies you fish, for the applications you mentioned.

Thanks for sharing!

The Anvil Atlas is a quality vise for a reasonable price. I think I paid about a $150 in Calgary a few years back. Great value in my opinion. Built like a tank. Give er a look. http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%2...0-$150.htm

Was hoping someone could recommended one for general FF needs. I had a bit of a close call recently and am looking to invest in an angling specific, i.e., low profile, neutral color PFD.

Since your looking for both a nymph and streamer rod, perhaps consider a 9'6" 6wt or even a 10' as some have a suggested; however, depending on the action of the rod, 10' may be a bit long for overhead casting streamers. I have a 9' 6wt Z-axis, it's great for what your looking to do, big streamers aside. However, for bigger water like the Bow, having that extra length is very nice, especially when on foot. For Bullies I would think (I have little experience in fishing for Bullies) you would need something bigger than a 6, some of the rigs guys have shown me are pretty bulky and those fish can get BIG. I read somewhere that the Sage small mouth rod is a popular AB Bull Trout stick.

Congrats on your new waders. I can't wait to get some new ones myself, I'm a few seasons away from needing them though - I have a 5 year old pair of Simm's guides that are still going strong. However, when the time comes I'm definitely going with a zip up model like those made now by Simms and Redington. If I was to offer any advice about keeping them tip top. A simple and not so obvious thing you can do is don't step on the stocking foot with your opposite foot and then try to pull your leg out of them when taking them off, the seam between the leg and foot will fail prematurely. It's much better to carefully work them off your feet with your hands. When I bought mine the guy at the shop told me this and it seems to be working. Also, make sure to hang em to dry after each day out, if your not going out the next day that is. As well, don't leave your waders and boots in your car on a hot day after wading in the Bow, it's a mistake you'll only make once .

Straight eye hooks are for bait and tubes

That sucks about the Simms boots, it doesn't sound like them to overlook something like that. Everything I've bought of theirs has been top notch. My wife and I between us have two pairs of waders, one pair of boots (hers), a pair of their sandals and a guide vest. It's all bullet proof, so far at least. My boots are Korker guides, I like em a lot. They fit me perfectly and have held up amazingly well but they're not as sturdy as the Simms wife has though. I'm surprised that Simms hasn't came out with a replaceable sole boot.

Someone should film this and send me a copy, or perhaps FT could broadcast it live online

Some intruderish shrimp flies I'm tying for a salmon fly swap. I wonder if a trout would take em on the swing.

Hairwings