ironfly

Sun, in all of the links you provided, I see no real reference to the cause of the oscillation, other than some vague mention of "natural variability". More importantly, your links state that a + trend since the seventies will cause colder conditions in North America, yet we've been experiencing the opposite. Maybe I just don't have the educational background to understand. Could you please explain? Also, I'd like to point out that Wiki clearly states that there are no references or citations to a fairly prominent section of that entry.

Once the line is thoroughly clean and dry, apply a drop of zap-a-gap to the tip to seal the core. Get a paste floatant (I use Loon Payette, but Mucilin is very popular and effective) and treat the front 6 feet of the flyline, and the butt section of your leader, every couple of hours of fishing. Even on a $100 flyline, the tip sinks eventually.

I tried that. The test of time convinced me that it made very little, if any difference. I know a few old timers who quit smoking, and swear their numbers went way down. But most people figure the smell of cigarettes will drive fish to the other bank. But who am I to say? To quote the movie "Demon Knight", if it makes you feel good, do it.

I've had the Kreh knot, or whatever you want to call it, snap on me way too many times. On average I'd say for every fly that got wet connected with that knot, I had to tie it twice. Hard to say how many fish I've lost because of it. Like Crogg, I recommend the UNI knot. That one is a true 99% knot. I also agree with Dave Whitlock; the UNI knot is the only knot you need in flyfishing.

Tye lots of them. Contrary to what I read, I found cdc soaked up water pretty quick. I mean like ten casts or less. It didn't seem to make much difference whether I used cdc oil, Aquel, or left them natural. Also, get a larger fly patch, because once they're wet they don't shed the water with false casts, and even an Amadou pad won't make them fishable. They have to air-dry 100%. After a couple years, I gave all my cdc away.

This was almost 20 years ago, so maybe they don't do it anymore. It was awarded for 100 targets at 99%.

Ask your buddy if he's up for a longer boat ride. Depending on your horsepower, maybe an hour and a half north. There's a reason Trout Rock Lodge is so far up the North Arm. But don't go there for lake trout; there's a few, but very few and small, compared to the East Arm. Trout Rock Island was so named because the Dene used to set up their summer camps there and net the lake. Hence, not much for lakers these days. Big, big Pike though. I don't have the picture, I'll have to ask my sister if she still has it, where we're standing around the tailgate of the truck, and the fish's head and tail are hanging over the edges. That fish was over 5 feet long. It literally could've fit your head in it's mouth.

Props don't do anywhere near the kind of damage jets do. The jets set up a much faster, more powerful vortex in the water that continues spinning for a long time. So I've been told.

Whereabouts ya fishin'? If you can, head up the North Arm; there's some real monsters near Behchoko (Rae-Edzo), with a slight chance of Inconnu.

Is that just bravado? 'Cause I'm one of the best shots in the country (I have a Golden Bullet from the Forces that says so), and I'm not so sure.

Have you ever seen a charging bear? A perfect head shot? Never mind steely nerves, that kid's got a horseshoe where the sun don't shine.

Yeah Matt, you'll hear lots of talk about "more stewards to protect our resource" right up until you ask a question like that. I've been searching for spring creeks for a few years myself. No-one's ever helped me out. Then again, I don't exactly go out of my way to make friends on this board. Give Stauffer a go, for sure. I usually fish it half a dozen times a year, and I love it.

Dhx, have you ever heard of the 20/20 Club? To get in, you have to catch a 20" trout on a #20 hook. Not sure if it has to be a dry. Point being, very large fish can be landed on very small hooks, but it's not easy and takes a lot of practice to get that good at playing fish. Ultimately, with hooks you choose between bending and breaking. If a hook is tempered hard enough it won't bend, but will break. I did a bunch of bench tests a few years back, and Mustad ended up at the top of the list. Comparing equivalent sizes, styles and guages of hooks from various companies, I found that a Mustad takes more pressure to straighten out than is required to break most other brands. So not only is a Mustad hook one of the strongest out there, but if the hook that got straightened happens to be the last of it's kind in your flybox, you can bend it back and catch another fish. That's saved my day a few times. I had a foam beetle that I bent back and caught about 20 more fish on. I had to close the bend after every fish, and I kept expecting the hook to break. Mind you, these were Grayling, and weren't truly straightening the hook; instead of a "J" it was more of an "L". After sunset, when I was heading back to the car I straightened the hook by hand and it took almost no pressure to break, but I still wonder if I could have caught another fish with it.

MrBotangles, I used to do the same. The only time in my life that a CO checked me, I was on the far side of Wabamun Lake. I happily produced my license and he says, "How do I know this is your fishing license? Picture ID please." It was a very long paddle back to the car.

So when you learn to canoe, you practice a wet exit right? Same with kayaking. Just makes sense. Anybody done that with a belly boat, float tube, or pontoon boat? Or do you figure you should be able to handle it when the time comes? Or better yet, "It'll never happen to me."

Gee, I'm just shocked to encounter hostility, derision, and condescension on this board. I'm pretty familiar with belly boats, ruff; I sold them for a few years and have owned three different models. SamIam, maybe your experience with tubing is different, but most people spend plenty of time sitting up on the tube, with their feet in the hole. To me, this is actually more dangerous than float tubes; if your feet were to somehow get trapped, the little plastic tabs that connect the apron to the float tube would snap off easily. An inner tube has no such built in safety feature. Or have you never wondered why one of those tabs is always "broken" right out of the box? Besides, in order to get your feet trapped, realistically, you'd have to be wearing boots that resemble the ones Needles Tannin wore in Back to the Future. The bigger danger that I see (sorry if this counts as a hijacked thread), is the number of guys fishing out of drift boats with no PFD.

I'm a budget-minded man with a proud scottish heritage, so my vote is for Redington. Very affordable, good drag system, saltwater rated.

http://www.stripersurf.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15888 http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/sho...ad.php?t=490085 http://www.uky.edu/~agrdanny/flyfish/wading.htm http://www.mombu.com/fishing/fishing/t-wad...16115-last.html But I digress. Yes, when I say "tubing", I mean with an inner tube. No, we weren't fishing, but it puts you in the same situation as if you were in a float tube. Short legs? Depends on your point of reference. My inseam is 32". My point was that after about 1000 floats ( average of 10 people, repeated 100 times over the years), not one person required so much as a band-aid, let alone a rescue. Not to mention all the other groups we met and talked to. Yeah, the odd person snagged their foot on something and got flipped, but that isn't going to trap you. The real danger is getting pinned by water pressure against an obstruction, and that can happen in any type of watercraft if you don't know how to steer, or you're not staying heads-up.

Me and every friend of mine has gone tubing down the Pembina many, many times. Different river, but similar enough for the purposes of this conversation. To the best of my knowledge, none of us were drunk. Worst accident that ever occurred was my broken toe. I think the perception of danger is a little inflated. Even in a pontoon boat, most people put their feet in the water once in a while. After all, if you're hooked into a fish you still need to avoid obstacles, right? Are these the same guys that claim that you'll drown without a wading belt?

Thanks, dryfly.

That's always seemed contradictory to me. What happens to your rod when a fish jumps? Boing, it snaps back, because there's now almost no tension, just the opposite of what you'd expect from Lefty's logic that things weigh more in the air. It seems like a lot of people want it both ways. They say they lose more fish with barbless hooks, because the slightest amount of slack allows the fish enough play to throw the hook, unless the fish jumps, in which case slack is the only way to not lose the fish. Am I the only one this makes no sense to? Obviously enough people have unwaivering faith in bowing to the fish, or tipping the rod, that there must be something to it. From what I've seen, 9 times out of 10, by the time the angler reacts, the fish is already landing back in the water, so maybe the introduction of slack prevents the sudden increase in tension as the fish re-enters the water, and that's actually what makes the difference. All I know for sure is that over the course of a few years I got pretty good at bowing to fish, but found it made no difference in how many fish get the long-distance release. I no longer bother bowing or tipping, but have gotten a little more serious about setting the hook, and have found that's made a big difference.

Really? Probably the best advocate the fly fishing world has ever had, but you guys can't resist making derogatory comments? You know more people listen to her than the Queen of England, right?

Superfly has a product called "Spey Popsicle Marabou" which is specifically selected for palmering.

I couldn't disagree more about the purebred vs. mutt arguement. You couldn't pay me to take a purebred, under any circumstances. And I know half-a-dozen champion dog mushers who'd tell you the same. Also, a couple guys who work with search & rescue dogs, not to mention the lady I know who trains seeing-eye dogs.

Last year at the Fisheries Round Table I saw a pie-chart which illustrated where your fishing license money goes. The general revenue thing is a myth. All the goverrnment gets is a tiny admin fee and the GST. The vast majority of your $$ goes directly into the resource.