jack

Yup. Smoooooooth as a baby's butt, when they worked. They are the Swiss watch of the fly reels, unfortunately all those fine, precise bits and pieces tend to be a bit finicky, sort of like a 1960 Austin Healy. Tinker with it all week so you could use it on the weekend. After two years, sold it. j

I can confirm all of those categories from personal research. j

Alinden: Some advice from a bit of a stillwater teacher: -Read everything that Brian Chan writes -Read everything the Phil Rowley writes Track down a book called "The Gilly, a flyfishers guide" edited by Alf Davey There is no such thing as "reading water" like on streams. There is such a thing as reading structure. Rule #1: Fish feed where there is food. Simple, right? The depth of the water and the nutrients in the water determine where fish will feed. Nutrients are dissolved solids in the water, those solids support zoo plankton which feeds bugs, which feed fish. Productive waters are usually reflected in a slight alkaline content(whitish chalk/marl bottom) and clear water. Want to know if a lake grows fish worth going after? Take the first 10 minutes and walk along the shore, turn over logs or rocks in the water, if bugs scurry away, you know there is fish food. Cat tails on the shore are good. Wide stretches of white marl shoal is great! Bugs grow in water that is penetrated by sunlight(up to 30' depth), so bug eating fish remain, for the most part within 30' of the surface, in order to feed. Best place to fish: The drop-off: The area where a shallows drops off into the depth of the lake. The shallows grows lots of big bugs, but is not safe for fish, due to predators. So, the big(wise, surviving) fish stay in the depth, about 10' down and come up to the edge of the drop off to grab continuous snacks of the larger bugs at the edge of the shallows. Note: Larger fish will come up onto the shallows in the cool and dimming light of dusk, to feed, but they will be spooky. So, study the structure of lakes you may be interested in. GoogleEarth is a fly fishers best friend. Do your homework, study the underwater structure that you can see from GoogleEarth, it will show you the areas to target. Target the drop-offs with nymphs: dragons, caddis, micro-leeches and emerger patterns. Floating lines, long(9') tapered leaders with 4' of tippet attached. Get a tube at least. j

Islanders. The open cork/polymer drag should not require dunking. What it does require is some TLC, once a year. A very light smear of SuperLube synthetic grease on the face of drag is all part of the annual cleaning/maintenance. There is nothing better than fighting a Northern Coho on a coastal river for 10 minutes, and then having some guy come up to you afterwards and ask: "Is that an Islander?" Yeah, they make some noise, love 'em. j

"unless you include Bow River water! " Ohhh well! All warranties are void then! PM sent. j(Korkers whore................ and a whole bunch of other stuff)

JayVee: So these soles are under a year old with no contact with solvents or anything like that? If that is the case, I will PM you an address to email the complete description of the problem and photos if you can. Been wearing mine since the new sole style came out, No problems at all. And yeah, those new winter rock/ice lugs/rubber soles are just incredible! Love the studded felts too, spent 4 days on the Elk and 3 days on the Blackwater last summer, not one slip. "Korkers guru" ? That sounds soooo foreign!! j

I've used both the SA Nymph Taper and the Rio Nymph extensively. But, never for "nymphing". Those are my preferred lines for chironomiding with long leaders and strike indicators. For actual nymphing in spring and fall, on the stillwater shoals and drop-offs I prefer the SA XPS. For sinktips, I build my own from a Floating Braided PE Mono shooting line and various lengths of T-14. j

Fighting butts on "beginning" rods will also assist new fly casters to establish proper casting technique by holding the butt against their forearm. j

Been Type II for 8 years. I exhibited none of the usual symptoms prior to diagnosis. Totally controlled with metformin and glucanorm tablets. 13.7 is not real bad. If indeed you have type II, it should only take pills, proper diet and exercise to get it down to 5.5 j

I just checked the "open" BC rivers that are closest to Calgary and it looks like all of them would be in the early stages of spring freshet by the third week in May. BUT, Vic Day is early this year(18th) so you just might get away with the N. Thompson, from Blue River, South to Avola. Lots of access from the highway and side roads. As time gets closer, just keep an eye on this website: http://scitech.pyr.ec.gc.ca/waterweb/hydroPortfolio.asp North Thompson at Birch Island is the station to pay attention to. j

I finally got rid of my "windshield bifocals" and got the more modern dainty-sized progressives. "Small" Cocoons fit over them very nicely. Amber polarized. j

Ricky55

Canadian Tire is blowing out last year's Maxuums for 50% off. Max 40T for $189 j

The critical point that many people miss is the design and engineering parameters that a parent company dictates to the off-shore manufacturer. Korean, Chinese, Malay, Indian factories will manufacture anything you want, at whatever price level you want to pay. When a parent company orders half a million gizmos, they set specific parameters, such as metal composition, hardness, % of chrome in the stainless, yada yada. The manufacturing entity will, in turn, quote it's best price for the gizmo. Now, if parent wants it cheaper, it will get it cheaper, but it will not be as good as the initial "best price" gizmo. And that is what parent companies have to be extremely careful of and what consumers should be aware of. It's not Korean or Chinese junk, it's the junk that the parent company asked for, so they could make better margins. j

Salmo, BC. In the W. Kootenay. A few minutes away from 3 of the best kept fly fishing secrets in the world. Moderate winters, minutes from the border and an hour and a half from Spokane, 30 minutes from Trail, Castlegar, Nelson, on a river, on a creek, near a lake(reservoir) and quiet.

I think I would be inclined to put the horse back in front of the cart. As has been asked, 4wt for what and where?. What "rod action" is applicable? Any fast action for small streams just does not apply. What is the actual purpose of buying "a high end rod" ? Quality? Warranty? Function? Or "the name" ? All but the last one should be reasons to try everything that is "out there". If you are going to lay out that kind of cash for a fly rod, get one that fits YOU and whatever application you have for it. Go to every shop you can find, take masking tape with you and cover the "brand", line it, wave it, pick one that feels best, for you. Pick your reel, then spend time attaching it to different rods. j

I'm a bead body fly fanatic. 10/0 glass czech seed beads are the greatest thing since hooks. Not so much a metal bead head guy, but use single glass beads as nymph heads also. Mostly stillwaters where rocks and flow don't come into play, however, I do use 6/0 glass beads behind a steel bead for salmon flies. Bead-bodied micro leeches are my "thing". Couple of Brian Chan's killers: and stages of stillwater caddis: j

That's about as wide an application as one could ever imagine for a single weight rod. If you drift the Bow, you could certainly get away with a shorter rod, but walk and wade really requires the "long gun". The applications also dictate entirely different actions, a rocket for the Bow and a smooth, moderate action(and maybe consider a 3wt) for the small streams. My advise is to get a rod that applies to the majority of the fishing that you do. And budget for a second one(and peripherals, of course!) down the road. "Compromises" very rarely work well. Whichever length/weight rod you decide, do yourself and your style of casting, a favour: Take some masking tape and cover the "name" on the rod. Try as many as you can, and buy the one that feels the best in your hand. Your decision should be influenced by end price(of course), by the cost of the warranty(both included in the purchase price and the post purchase "fees"), but after those considerations, the deciding factor should be the performance in your hand. Make it fit "you". j

Had a bud spend around $500 on a decent solar charging system for his boat battery, during extended trips. Battery was flat dead in 3 days. Told him to quit trying to charge it over night !! j

Soft Hackles are some of my most productive flies, on streams and stillwaters. My very first "go to fly" on a new chunk of water is a product of my imagination : A stillwater and stream favourite(especially on the Columbia River and the Blackwater)Partridge & Pheasant: And the Elk River "killer", last year, the #14 Dusty Miller: j

Don't know if Colin(CDone) would be too busy with his extraordinary custom rod work, but you could ask: http://kodikocustomrods.com/index.html j

Haven't got a clink(that's half a clue), Tung. I've been using the same one for 5 years and the price of batteries has varied like crazy during that time. It was $135 or so, "back then".

Tried to post on this last night and my big, expensive, dual everydamnthing IBM computer took a dive because of a $25 router, go figure! If you are going to troll on lakes, get a motor with Maximizer. MinnKota Endura does not have it. Look around for a Maxuum 40(last year's discontinued model) or when Costco has them on sale a Maxumm 33(I think). Without getting techno-weenie, at slow trolling speed a Maxuum equipped motor will extend your battery life by 4 to 5 times to that of an ordinary non-Max motor of the same thrust. Get the most thrust that you can afford and will be a reasonable weight on that pontoon. You do not want to be sucking for thrust when you really want it. A Max 40 will move you very slowly at dead slow and will move that pontoon on the river, fairly well also. Batteries: There are two kinds, consumer and industrial. The absolutely very best battery for a 30-40 ft/lb motor is a Group 27 deep cycle industrial gelcell. It will charge(cycle) under 3-4 day a week use in 7 month seasons for up to 5 years. Done it. And I do have a Maxuum40. If you have a "Polar Battery" in town, go see them. The gelcell is heavy, higher priced and does not spill. Put it in a carry box with 3/4" styrofoam underneath to absorb shocks and bumps and to insulate it from the cold deck or boat bottom.

What is the total loaded weight? Where are you going to troll(I assume lakes?) I was on MinnKota's pro-staff for 3 years. There is no reliable, practical conversion from ft/lbs to hp. An electric is essentially a "work" drive and an outboard is a "speed" drive. No real comparison. j

Which is what we want for "you know where" ! j