headscan

Heh, knowing Environment Canada it'll be +3 for about 5 minutes around 1pm then drop back down to -11. If the forecast holds I'll be heading out to cast my new spey rod at the very least.

That's how I mount the wings on a prince nymph, but I don't know if I like that look as much for the tail of a copper john or if the wire would squish them. I'll give it a shot and see how it looks.

I was tying some copper johns yesterday and came to the conclusion that I hate biot tails. I tie the far one in first then the one on the front side of the hook. When I go to tie in the second one, the first one shifts. Then when both are tied in and I go to wrap the thread back up the shank they both shift. It ends up taking me twice as long to tie in the tail as it takes to do the rest of the fly. Any tricks for tying the biots in with less hassle? I've tried tying both biots in at once and almost threw my vice across the room, so that isn't going to work for me.

Hell, if it gets as high as -4 I may have to head out as well. I've been off work the past week and seriously jonesing to get on the water. Not that -4 is great, but if you give a starving man a saltine he'll think it's as good as a Ritz...

I think Fish Tales is the only shop in town that carries it.

Shouldn't you be saving for a spey rod for your Vancouver move instead? http://www.flybc.ca/forum/index.php?showtopic=13454

Yeah, DNA is the white and olive stuff on that Clouser instead of bucktail. It isn't too stiff, but not exactly limp either. The biggest thing for me is that it doesn't hold water, so should be easier to cast and sink faster.

Has anyone been tying with DNA? Just wondering what kind of flies everyone has been using it for. So far all I've done with it are Clousers, which I think is the most obvious pattern for the stuff.

Al pretty much nailed it. The in my opinion part is what's important there. I prefer the up close and personal feel of nymphing with a single hander. I'm not opposed to nymphing with the spey rod (if you go to the top of the first page of this thread you may notice that I started it) and I use the same casts with both types of rods. When it comes to swinging streamers and other big flies I prefer the spey rod hands down. For dead drifting nymphs, I'll use the spey in the winter so I can stay out of the water and still get my rig out to a wintering hole with little effort. In warmer weather though, using a spey rod to cast to fish within 20 feet of me is like hammering finishing nails with a sledgehammer. I prefer to use the right tool for the job. As a Toolman you should be able to appreciate that. In my opinion.

Yeah, hands down the single hander is far better and more enjoyable for nymphing than the double hander in my opinion. I'm only using the double hander now because I'm too cold to wade. I can cast my Opti Coast with three nymphs and an indy 50-60 feet out no problem, but it becomes a lot more difficult to mend that much line with only 9'6" of rod compared to 12'+ and it involves a lot more stripping and shooting. I mainly use doubles, circles, and perry pokes when nymphing both the single and double handers because they're extremely efficient casts. I impress pretty easily Al, yet I'm still unimpressed by some.

Just a little ways upstream of the lake. There were salmon in the water but they weren't taking. The water was quite clear and it was a sunny day. Did catch a lot of bulls and a single steelhead smolt.

Yes you will. I know it and you know it. You're too weak to resist. Then you'll let me try it and I'll end up buying one too.

Nah, it was the 17' 11/12 with the SA XLT line.

I think I took the most away from the Bow simply because it's where I did the majority of my fishing with the long rod, so it's where I got the most practice in. Spent all of my time casting either Scandi or Skagit and discovered I have a preference towards Scandi lines. The water I used the long rod on was: 1. Bow River 2. Pitt River 3. Stauffer

http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=31079 Yeah, I've been wanting to try those as well but haven't gotten around to getting the shrink tubing and heat gun. Looks very cool though.

It's actually 25lb and it is orange. The yellow is the 25lb slow/int. running line. The 30lb is mint green in floating and translucent aqua blue slow/int. http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_AirfloFly...unningLines.cfm

You mean using larva lace to secure the loop? Never tried it. I use 10lb Maxima Chameleon. Two nail knots, 5 or 6 wraps each about a nail knot's width apart with a bit of UV knot sense over it so it slides through the guides better. Never had one fail yet, but you need to redo your loop every so often because the line will crack eventually just behind the back most nail knot.

Yeah, I am using the 20lb orange stuff. I think my Decho might have more flex in the tip than your Goran if it's anything like my Goran 6126. The Goran has tons of back bone so that probably makes a difference.

Good point. I'm using a 16' Snowbee polyleader cut back to 5', not a 5' polyleader.

Max: It's not a problem with reefing it hard enough. If I miss the set I'm decorating the trees behind me. I think the Airflo running line is just heavy because of the high diameter so it takes a while to lift off the water. I'm not leaving much slack on the water at all. Usually just throw a good mend then start stripping slack throughout the drift. I agree with the fact that they're probably not made to float as high since they're made for swinging. I wonder if the Sharkskin running line might not solve this. RusteHookz: If you pick up a polyleader the first thing you'll want to do is cut the mono off the front of it and make your own loop using the polyleader itself (fold back, nail knot). I've had that mono fail on a hookset before and it isn't a fun feeling.

I've been using spey casts with my single hand rod for all my nymph fishing in the spring/summer/fall since most of the fish I hit at that time of year are within 20 feet or so. I figure that since spey casts work so well with the single hander on a 2-3 nymph rig with an indy that the long rod would work just as well. I've been using the Decho 5122 with a RIO AFS head as well. I really love that line for everything and will even throw smaller streamers with it no problem. Normally I'll use a 10' polyleader with it, but for nymphing I cut a 5' floating polyleader, attach about 5' or 6' of 10lb Maxima to my first fly, and whatever to my second fly another foot or so down. I rarely fish more than two nymphs since I find it increases chances of tangles exponentially. I initially tried a leader on the end of the AFS, but I found it didn't turn over quite as well. The main problem I'm having is that it's difficult to set the hook quickly with a lot of line on the water. Might try going to a lighter running line to see if that has anything to do with it.

It's a topic that's only spoken of in whispers and most people who do it will deny it. If you're opposed to it don't read any more, close your eyes, hit the back button on your browser, and just pretend you never saw this topic because I don't feel like debating it. I know there are people out there using their spey rods with an indy for dead drifting nymphs at this time of year. So my question is, what kind of setup are you using for it? Line type, leader lengths, which casts work best, etc.?

I bought a pair of Patagonia Heavyweight Mountaineering socks and they helped a lot. Wool, polypro, Capilene, anything that wicks moisture and avoid cotton. Flyfishfairwx is right about boots being too tight and cutting off circulation. Make sure to keep your core warm too. If your core gets cold, then your body starts reacting by reducing blood circulation to your extremities.

Simon G. just posted the new RIO line recommendations. From his post on Speypages he says he added Redington CPX, Sage TCX, Winston BII MX, Deer Creek switch, and Echo Dec Hogan rods plus the new Skagit short lines. http://www.rioproducts.com/photos/file/200...line%20recs.pdf

Yup, there was.