muha

6-8' of 30lb fluorocarbon and 3-4' of 20lb Rio bite wire. Albright knot to connect two section, perfection loop for fly line end, and for securing flies. No problems so far. Keep your wire leader in check, if it starts to fray, shorten it or change for new section.

I don't know much about welding, tackled a few minor jobs, that's about it. You sir have a whole different view on this, very informative, thanks for the input.

Instead of welding it over old joint, could you maybe locate a t-sleeve of some sort ( chain link fence, city bus hand rail....), clamp that over broken joints and tack weld. Should keep you on water few more seasons.

I have not tried it, but I think there polyurethane/silicone tubing on the market. Think that might help you out if you're hitting rocks a lot.

You could always exclude cone, and just put it on tippet before you tie your tube fly.

Another + for hot sauce.

Spent whole last season with 3wt fiberglass. will definitely build more glass rods for myself in future, 2,4,5 wt and perhaps one in 8-9wt for pike and such. My casting has improved in a big way. Slowing things down does help in my case.

I use softbait worm hooks, straight shank. 1/0-3/0, plenty of shank to tie on as bulky as you want, good keel, keeps flies swimming true, large eyes to tie on whatever tippet you want.

Really enjoyed this thread, thanks for the trip.

Crack is a hellova a drug! My shop got broken into just past new years eve.About dozen break ins since '99.

Redington drift 2/3 fits great on short rods. I used a nautilus 1/3 size but after a while switched back to Redington. I like it. It just fits and feels right with a 6'6 fiberglass.

Nice hook pincher!

EP is a little stiff, polar hair (coarse not the Super fine stuff). Material is a lot more mobile and has some taper to it, where EP is same diameter. For salt water it works, for fresh water you have to tie hollow technique to get the most out of EP, and sparse. Nice ties! Get a velcro patch to comb out and form EP. Comb out your dubbing loop before you wind it on. Good rule of thumb for eP is to use half or 1/3 of what you actually think you need. I would personally omit ep from patterns like intruder, it's is better used for over wing streamers.

I'll post some when I get home. hope this helps.

You could palmer some schlapen up to the eye, then make a dubbing loop and spin some polar hair, you can throw in some arctic fox guard hairs in the mix as well. This will give you a nice bait fish profile once you comb it back. Pushes plenty of water and moves like natural Fibre. It does not get waterlogged like rabbit.

GGP those are amazing. How you assemble different colors and toppings with such precision and detail is truly something.

If you ever get a chance to observe suckered spawn, you'll notice distinctive dark backs and light bellies, yet when you pull em out of the water it is not so obvious.

Olive zonker would make it a perfect sucker.

Got a great view from NW Calgary this morning, a bit of cloud cover but still amazing.

Nice. That place fishes great at the right time. Not very picky either.

Just saying there might be another dump, Glenmore is filled to maximum.

They are pouring concrete structure of some sort right below Glenmore dam, guess they need clearance.

Would love to build on epic glass blank, it is a bit pricey but seems like it's worth it. Whom ever got one loves it. 8'6 4wt seems to be the choice for many. I bit the glass bug After building a 6'6" 3wt, just couldn't justify a butterstick knowing I can get a blank an have same performance for less than half price of Redington. Check out fly fisherman's cafe, that guy is obsessed with glass rods and his specialty is 4wts.

Get a rod builder to make you one from CTS mx 8'6" 4 wt blank. Beauty to cast. Winston WT 8'6" 4 wt is another awesome casting rod.