dryfly

This will give you some idea of the color ranges available in greens-yellows. These are half sheets available in a kids' craft kit at Wally World. There were 80 (??) half sheets for about $5. I took the dozen colors I wanted and donated the rest to the grandkids' craft box. The Darice sheets are bit stronger and larger but there is a limited color range. The foam is good for: ant, beetles, hoppers, caddisfly wings, emerger floatant balls. (I support local fly shops rather well, but we are all better off to shop for some things elsewhere for selection and cost. Fly shops charge [wot?] $4 for two half sheets of black ant foam and they don't carry a range of foam colors. Foam pike-fly popper and slider heads cost $1 each at fly shops and you can cut 50 or more from a $2 gardening kneeling pad or perhaps 40 plugs from a $2 foam flip flop sandal.) Oh yeah, the Darice sheets (and others) come in pale tans, tans, browns, pinky orange, orange ... perfect for tan hoppers, October caddisflies, salmonflies. This is a crappy picture of a crappy salmonfly (the pattern is great--thanks Guy...this fly is just a little skinny....) tied with foam strips:

Great blue heron ... .. bet on it.

Nice work MTB--most inventive. Thanks. I like the "strip and wind" results ... but sure like your body shapes. Wally World and Michaels (or any craft shop) have great selections of foam colors. The Darice sheets are 8 by 11 inches and cost about one buck. Nice colors too: tans, yellows, ant red and ant and beetle black.

Access to the Livingstone is currently closed and expected to be next week unless it rains. http://albertafirebans.ca/ Have fun in Cow Town.

MrB and Lynn: Nice work telling the folks. Good thing they were cooperative. Just amazes me just how !#$%! stoopid people are--and their lack of respect for the land and forests. People just don't get the "outdoors" and how fragile it can be. (We saw one "cigarette" roadside fire on Friday near Pincher and I talked to a guy yesterday who did a long road trip yesterday and saw six--count 'em, six--roadside fires ... probably from cigarettes.) Several years ago we were camped at Dutch during a fire ban. We happened to be camped within view of the firewood pile--back when it was free. A truck pulls up with two adults and two or three teen gals--we'd not seen their truck in camp before--and the cg was all but empty. They load up their truck with firewood and leave. Moments after they pulled away, a F&W officer pulls up with another "forestry" vehicle and at that very moment the folks who scarfed the firewood drive up the logging road on the N side of the cg. So we told the F&W officer that 1) they'd just stolen firewood and 2) reminded the officer there was fire ban on. She gives hot pursuit and 20 minutes later the perps return and unload the contra firewood. The outcome? SFA!! The officer did not charge them with anything. Charging them with the firewood "theft" required going to court and she said at that time the fine was $50 at most and it all was not worth it. She also said that the perps were embarrassed, apologetic and cooperative, versus antagonistic. Unfortunately she could not risk waiting until they started an actual campfire and charge them with that -- during the ban. (Had a real fire started as a result, she'd have been in doo as she was aware they were going to start a fire.) A few people are just idiots nd make life miserable for the majority of sensible folks.

Pretty decent discussion .. NOT read all. MTB wrote, "If you ask the question whether or not fishing is humane or not, and saying that sometimes you feel guilty, I believe that you do feel it is not humane and should not be doing it." If WE don't ask the question --and sort it out in our minds -- then OTHERS will ask if for us. And if they ask (say) politicians then we stand a chance of losing. RabbiEE's original post is totally relevant. And in any case if we do feel some concern then that makes us better anglers. Cheers all! Clive

Good one pacres. GB: "You don't have to drink more to make the fish look better. " Yeah, but fish seem to grow and grow with each telling and with more beers.

Whatever CKUA is playing. Saturdays on CKUA is cosmic after 9 AM .. all day till dark.... Dead ends and detours (Gateful Dead stuff) Then some country...then some jazz...then Baba's groves (best show on the air) ..TD Mulligan show...it's all good.

Nice post. Thanks. I ponder this sometimes too and it is a tough question. One rationale (and it IS arrogant) is to consider ourselves as the "hall monitors." We are keeping an eye on things in our river systems and that comes at some cost. Thus your question: is FF humane? If it means that more effort is made to protect the streams to ensure continuance of trout and trout streams, then the answer is, yes. However, on the surface C&R fishing could be argued to be inhumane as we inflict some trauma on creatures for our pleasure. Your question is sort of a koan. I do know that it is our job to attempt to make sure our grandkids can get out and wander streams as we can. Take care, Clive

NM...pike will eat a lot of stuff including scuds. But most of us have settled into large flies from 6 to 8 inches...which pretty much precludes "throw double streamers for pike?" It would fall under the general heading of "bad idea" And yes, yellow, is the general color of choice, but always have other colors too as they seem to have their moods (... don't forget the large pike are always female ) and some days prefer orange, red, and whitefish colors too. and some days it just does not matter. We had a slower pike season this year (cold all of April and May--hard to believe right now), but still managed a few good days.

bbt mentioned foam-bodied flies. Foam-bodied flies

If he was standing in water past his junk, any indecent exposure charges could be dropped due to "lack of evidence"! Or not even standing that deep ...

My wife has one of those fancy embroidery sewing machines. After a little incident on the Crow a few years ago, I thought I should have this sign sewn on my vest..I never did, but a guy needs some sort of sign to flash at the assholes. (I just try to find quiet places and times and avoid the morons. Unfortunately like most other groups, it is 1 or 2 percent of anglers who are idiots and the rest of us are rather decent sorts.) Grizz wrote: "Take your pants off and fish with your junk hanging out and no one will come near you! You'll have the run all to yourself!" 1) WAY too much information! The graphic image is scary! (But THAT'S the point, right?) 2) You might find yourself answering to a judge. News item: Police arrested a man today at Fish Creek Park for alleged exposure of his private parts. Joggers called 911 after seeing a man fishing naked on Sunday evening. It is not clear what the man is charge with, but sources say one charge will be illegal use of bait."

Thanks FA. The natural colors are all over the map. And each individual has two or three color blends in the body section with the top being darker. Belly colors from near black..dk brown ... reddish..greenish ..bluish..pinkish and greeny-pinky cream....loads of color variation which reflect natural variations in one species...several species maybe. Male v female...age..food...natural surrounding colors (i.e. vegetation) ...

Very nice flies FA .. thanks for posting. Clive

My dog (such as it was classed as a dog...shoulda had his DNA tested I guess) was seduced by a cat in heat once. She was all over the poor hound. He turned blind when he was 8 years and now I can't remember if that was BEFORE or AFTER he become blind. Hell maybe it caused his blindness.

Yeah, work well in late spring through early summer and sometimes in winter. There are a lot of these net spinners in our rivers. I'd never hit the Crow without a few of these on board. KF .. the kicker with this pattern is the black lead head-thorax. Serves two purposes...imitates the body parts and gets the fly down. I've tied with two beads: one small and one larger ... or just with one lead bead and just used more darker material for the thorax. Funny part is that I decided to create this fly from scratch based on my pictures ... and was most pleased with the results and thinking I am some hot shot SOB for being so bloody inventive. HA HA HA. That is, until I did a search for net spinner patterns. The Europeans are all over the use of net spinner patterns and have some fancy ties. Do a search.....

I friend sent it to me. Whether or not the ad was real at one time or 100 % fake, I don't know. It is rather funny tho. (The zip code is correct for Farmington.)

Net spinning caddis larvae are a fave trout food in our rivers. Instead of the shellback you might just try some Hard as Nails or head cement. I darken the backs with sharpie markers. Net spinning caddis larva

1) You want the fly to drag...just not too goofy fast. 2) Fish downstream of possible into new water. Plan your attack. Clive

Hey Dave ... hope yer not thinking of selling the crotch rocket.

Here's how I do it. Get above the risers and cast down to them quartering downstream at about 45° or so--maybe a bit higher. Try to get the fly to swing through the general area of the rises. Since it is dark, I'd advise some 6-, 8- or even 10-pound fluoro tippet as the hits can (not necessarily) be wicked. So you are swinging a tight line. You can pay out line and mend to get the fly to sink. You don't want it swing too fast in front of the fish. You can figure that stuff out. If the fish are hugging the bank, this can be difficult to impossible. You then may have to fish from below the risers and strip toward you -- near the bank. Depends. Flies? It's dark, so pattern is not likely going to matter too much: bead Prince, caddis pupa, EW-like critters or soft hackles. I've had some decent success swinging a caddis pupa in this manner--both in daytime in evenings. I've fished this way on the Crow at near dark. Sometimes fussy fish -- that would not look at anything 20 minutes ago --will hit just about anything on the swing. Works well in slick water in daytime when approach is difficult and the fish fussy for dries. In daytime you'll want some extra leader...12 feet or so. This caddis pupa is one of my best friends--works well on the swing. SIMPLE TIE ... and effective. Just ask Miss Piggy here ... From TEGTFF ...

Nice pictures Brian. Fun stuff.

Nice pix....also 40 Mile pix...nice iggle.