ironicbrew

It less depends on the temperature and more depends what the river looks like, if it's slushy I stay away; if it's clear I'm going fishing if I can. Still have to be careful for those ice shelves though... 1. At the end of every cast get in the habit of taking a glance upstream to see what's coming. 2. Always know what the general depth/speed of water underneath the ice you're standing is and if it's safe. If you're ever unsure, move on. If it's hovering around -5 to +2, your guides are going to ice up a bit, pretty easy fix, you'll get good at clearing your guides quickly after doing it a couple times. If it's in -10 land you're only going to get about ten casts before you'll have to clear your guides...But that's the least of your worries. The frustration of your flies turning into little frozen fly line dingle berries and getting contact frozen to everything that isn't a fish is what keeps me off the river at these temps And at -15 (yup) you go to the river, take one cast, and go home. tl;dr Fly tying exists for a reason.

That's just sad, thanks for the info though. I had no idea.

Thanks for the link, didn't realize there was commercial fishing in Alberta. What kind of fish were they harvesting? Don't exactly see pike in the supermarkets...

And what online place is that?

Hey all, I'm tying more and more recently and am having a great time seeing my hand made creations slowly gain majority government in my fly box as well as finally having a legitimate excuse to play with feathers. It's a great feeling to catch a fish on a fly you tied and also nice that when you snag up and lose your whole rig you don't think to yourself "There goes $6-9 worth of flies" and instead think "There goes my children... That's ok. I'll make more". I've already come to the realization that I'm in no way ever going to save money tying but I am interested if anyone can point me in the direction of slightly less expensive sources of fly tying materials if there exists such a thing, or just where everyone is getting their materials in general. I've tried the search function before posting, a couple places mentioned here and there but no comprehensive post of fly tying material locations. Any help is greatly appreciated. Cheers.

The only way to decide on what Rod is best for you is to go to a shop, pick out 2-3 rods in your price range and try casting with each. Ask the fly shop if they have a spare line/reel to try casting with. Whichever reel feels the most comfy to cast, go with that. As for picking out a reel, pick out 2-3 reels in your price range, attach it to the rod of your choice and try out the feel of it. Take into consideration: 1. Weight 2. How it feels to reel in 3. How it feels to strip line off the reel 4. How the drag feels/performs 5. Reel Warranty 9ft is a pretty standard length of rod. You'll have a good time with the 6weight too, enough backbone to cut through the elements on windy days. Oh and without a doubt get a four piece rod, do not even look at 2 pieces. Having that portability is priceless, plus you'll spend less on materials making that case you're talking about.

Perfect! Thanks!

What's the feather material used in this? Spun Ostrich? Cheers.