alhuger

The rods: 7, 8, 9 No, not only on bones although they will be in the majority where I am headed. I will also have a shot at permit, cudas, jack and pretty much anything which might be around a reef or on the flats. My previous experience though says that, for me, bones will be easier to catch, even blind casting. Who knows though...

Oops, I actually hit reply in this window while reading another thread, please disregard.

Hmm, I will have to give it a shot after Xmas. That might save me some bag room for my next trip given that I plan to take a TFO 8wt and a two hander. -al

In the first half of next year I'll be traveling to the tropics a couple of times and am planning on getting some fishing in. While I'll be bone fishing with my single handers I am also very likely to spend a good deal of time fishing from shore or in the flats without a guide and casting blind. I am going to bring along (or am really thinking about..) a two hander set up. The only problem with taking the two hander is finding an actual spey line that will be stand up to warm tropical water. To date I have found nothing. If anyone knows of a tropical water spey line I would love to hear about it. Until then it looks like my best bet (that I've been able to dig up) is a Rio Outbound Tropical for overhead casting. I plan to overline, by two sizes, my Z-Axis with one of the these and give it a shot. Anyone have a different rig they might suggest? Essentially I want to both fish and practice my spey cast, I am not particularly worried about spooking fish with a noisy line etc. -al

I was down at Hanson's this week and they showed me a TFO conversion kit to change up your one hander to a two hander. Looked interesting although I wonder if it's primary intended use is overhead casting rather than spey casting. None the less, anyone try this out? Url is: http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/rods/conversion.html -al

I've been trying allot of streamers lately and I've been wondering if eyes on the streamer actually help trigger more takes. I've always neatly mentally divided my streamers (with the eyes of course) from my leaches but realistically I fish both more or less the same in a river. So having said that, I tend to get as many strikes on eyeless leaches as I do on my streamers (with eyes). So I guess I am bit unsure if the eyes are anything more than an esthetic artifice for the fisherman? Anyone have their own opinions on this? Is it species or water specific? -al

That sounds pretty good, how is the splash factor, noisy? -al

That's an interesting suggestion, do you think they overhand as well? Depending on where I am forced to stand on the boat a D loop might not be an option for me where an overhand will. You know anywhere in Calgary which carries CND lines? -al

I've read much the same, thanks Greg. Frankly, I could get away with just using my Delta Multi I guess but I bought a new reel and I now I have a bug to put something on it. Most of my fishing is still water so distance can be pretty attractive to me. The big splash is something worth noting though, that would not be all that cool. I need to stop going to the fly shop in the off season, it's killing me.

Does anyone here have any experience with the Rio Outbound lines? I am looking at picking one up for my 6/7 for casting from my boat. Any first hand experience and commentary about the line would be appreciated. -al

That is really nice.

Hey, I have not read the article, do they argue against the use of egg patterns?

I find that statement to be true about any stillwater fishing for me. I always do better when there is a little action on the water.

My job is the internet!!

Thanks Courtney that was super helpful.

Got it, thanks allot for sharing your setup with me. I am looking forward to hitting AB lakes where I can use multi fly rigs. I am a big fan of using swivels as well. I am moving away from bead heads on my chronnies and going with glass instead and using the swivel to get it down.

That's a nice pattern, but I have to ask, what is 'catatonic style'? I've seen the catatonic leach patterns before but is there a retrieval style as well? -al

'Castuserraticus' date='Nov 29 2007, 06:52 PM' > I don't foresee any advancements in most Muslim societies. Really, which of the Muslim countries would you be referring to or is that a carte blanche statement? > And to think, at the time of the crusades they had the most advanced society in the world with renowned teachers, huge libraries, and >advanced >echnology. The Islamic golden age was in serious decline by the time the first Crusaders came rolling into the levantine. The crusaders came into a fractured and fractious middle east which is arguably why they did as well as they did in the early crusades. You have to keep in mind the the 'Golden age' stands out primarily in contrast to the dark ages. In the kingdom of the blind.. Also much, if not all, of this golden era learning was carried over into the Turkish Ottoman Empire. >If anyone's interested in an inside view of the Muslim world I highly recommend "The Trouble with Islam Today". It's written by a woman who >grew up in and still loves Islam. She put her life on the line writing the book. You could go that route or you could learn about the faith itself and the history surrounding the region (perhaps even starting with the crusades) and then form your own opinions. The problem with reading someone else's opinion is that, well, it's someone else's. I would suggest two books, pretty well written and sans a political agenda: The History of Faith : Karen Armstrong The Crusades and their impact on todays world : Karen Armstrong -al

Dustin, Lebanon has a pretty decent split between Christian and Muslim faithful. So much so that their government mandates that both heads of state be evenly split, one Christian, one Muslim. The middle east (which, Azerbaijan btw, is not part of) is a very, very large place. In fact, Sudan (also not part of the Middle East) is culturally very, very, very different than most of the middle east, even the more conservative gulf states. I guess I would really encourage you more to learn about the countries there and the region your broad brushing because frankly I think you would benefit from it. Sounds like you ran into idiots, you'd be best served in not keeping company with them in terms of being short sighted and foolish. -al

The Chamber of Commerce is a good venue for that, nice room, lots of history and a centralized location. -al

Gordon, Are bringing the reels in that you have been working on?

Guys, Thanks for the thoughtful replies. They were very helpful. Gordon, I will be at the show for certain, are you coming with a vendor or on your own? -al

I'll depart from the 'how to' book suggestions and suggest you take a shot at anything written by Roderick Haig-Brown. He is IMO the finest writer to cover fly fishing and his experiences and the way he shares them in his books are beautiful. It helps that he was Canadian and much of the water we writes about you can still (and many do) fish today. -al

Wow, that's commitment. I am mulling over a 10wt spey this winter for my trip to the salt over the summer. -al

So in my basement this evening I've been cutting, weighing and rigging up type 8 sinking tips for the spring (or the next chinook). While doing this is and ruminating on the miserable weather outside I realized it's going to be a while before I get to try them. So, I'll post my question here so I can learn vicariously through some of your experiences. Are sinking tips easier to cast (and pull out of the water) with a skaggit head? I read in many places that people feel the skaggit lines are superior in this respect. Anyone have any opinion? I would be comparing against my multi-tip delta airflow which with tips is 52 feet before you hit running line. I have never cast a skaggit rig. -al