alhuger

I've been thinking lately about why I keep my rod in certain positions when I hook up and I realized I do a lot of it because I was taught to or because I learned to do it from watching more experienced anglers. In most cases I do not actually know why I do it, or what benefit it has. I thought I would run through the things I do (now by rote) and get your feedback. In the River - Sea Run When I fish anadromous fish after a hook up I keep my rod tip low and to the side. I do this because I've been told to and because I think it lets the fish fight the rod and avoid straight lining itself into an early break off. When I get the fish close I raise my rod to keep the fish off the rocks and riverbed. I also have have been told this gets the fish to fight my line (as it's all in the drink) but if they run downstream after I hook up (as they typically do) I am not sure how much truth is in that because the line is extended to nearly straight pretty quick. In the River - Trout I always keep my rod tip up unless I am turning a fish to go somewhere I want it. Not sure why I do this differently than when I fish sea run fish. I tried this summer to keep my rod tip low and I did not seem to release any more than usual. In the Lake I always keep my rod tip up. Seems to me this keeps keeps the fish pointed at my boat and is easier to bring in this way. I learned to lake fish on my own though so I'm worried I might have this one wrong although over the years I've done it I've not had an early release problem per se. In the Salt Flats fishing I keep my tip up so I can avoid my fish abrading the leader on coral etc. I have never caught a 'big' fish in the salt though (warm water anyhow) so I've no idea how you fight like a tarpon or striper etc. Any thoughts would be welcome guys. al

Amen.

We hired a 'nanny head hunter'. I forget the name of the agency but it was a crappy experience. We did use CanadianNanny.com (or something like it, as mentioned on this thread) and got some great candidates. You're wife must be a saint. I do not have the character to raise three children at home by myself. That's 3 full time jobs, no breaks. al

Hmm, very interesting thread. It's obvious they can smell it but I cannot imagine on most fish it plays a big role. At least not with smoke (tobacco or otherwise). Almost everyone I fish with smokes one thing or another when we fish and it does not seem to impact their fishing. Same with me when I smoked. Still water might be a different beast and Jack Shaw was not someone I would lightly contradict. If fish love the small of wd-40 I just cannot see smoke bugging them all that much. al

I have a vice to replace his if he got one stolen.

I saw a an Albertan with a Liberal and a Greenpeace bumper sticker on his F-150 a while back. Anythings possible I guess.

I am as guilty as the next guy about grip and grin photos. However, I find on home water I really rarely photograph anything and I have to think that helps overall. I generally now only photograph the fish if there something really memorable about it or I caught it in water I rarely get to and want to remember it. I know when I started I photographed everything and I mean everything. I guess I was still pretty impressed I could catch a fish period. Cheers al

It's a diary from a guide who is writing about his season on a day to day basis in Alaska. al

I have used the Rio Outbound Tropical and I love it. Great for moving line into the surf (well that's what I was using it for anyhow). I've also used their intermediate for lake fishing, seemed decent to me but I did not fish it overly much as it was my friends. al

I've used them on freshwater before (not the bow though) when in a boat, like the other guys who posted. Works great. I hate stepping on line, getting it caught in cleats etc. I do not see why not it would not decent for walking, mine is pretty light, you could always shift it to your hip for walking. al

All, I got 'The Alaska Chronicles' for Xmas and it's an excellent read. I've finished it already, if that tells you just how much I enjoyed it! It's worth a spot on your reading list. Amazon carries it as does Fishtales locally. al

Awesome, keep it coming! For those with a critical eye I would also include: Narnia - The other planet with no global warning How you can classify denying climate change in the face of mind boggling amounts of science which tells you otherwise.. What you might expect from people on this topic who get their rent paid from the Energy industry

Just when I thought my day would go without humor you guys picked me right up! Thanks. I knew I could count on you guys. Wait, you are joking right? Please add more to to the forensics portion of this thread - that was my favorite part.

Wow, that's plenty big and healthy looking though.

Yeh. That trip was wonderful. Great memories. I am stoked about stepping in again.

Very nice fish. My post did not stipulate how people caught them, frankly - who cares. A fishing rod is a fishing rod. Thanks for contributing.

That's pretty cool. I hope to get my daughter into the sport when she is old enough. Is that big for a redfish? Pretty fantastic first fish.

So, the year is closing out pretty quickly and it's gotten me thinking about what fish left the strongest impression on me this year. I had a pretty small window of time to work with this year. I spent 22 days on the water compared to my fishing partner who hit over 100. So in the period of time I had, I remember most of the fish. A lot of the fish I hooked up this year left great memories. Since I am not likely to get much more time on the water this year, here is mine. Earlier in the summer I had spent some time chasing fish in a river fill of them. A few blue bird days had driven our fish into deeper water, mostly mid river troughs, and casting to them at times asked for more skill than I had. I had spent a day without any hookups and went down close to tidewater where the river met the bay to see if I could change that. The water looked good but there was a problem, for me at least, I had to make a cast that was just about exactly 100 feet out to get to where I needed to be. On my rig that was 4 full rod lengths plus 3 feet I needed to shoot. With my skagit head, tip and leader if I managed the 4 lengths I could set up a good drift right into the trough. Problem is, that's a really tough cast for me to get with any level of real consistency. The guy I am fishing with at the time does not have that problem. He is laying out perfect 100+ foot casts and setting them up nicely. Soon into our run he is rewarded with a big chrome fish. In the mean time, I am getting anxious, I can see fish porpoising in the trench, riding the fresh tide in and I am not able to hit it. I am like, 10 feet shy nearly every cast. It's getting me really frustrated. I slow it down, stop being so worked up and the cast starts to work itself out, finally I am in the trough. After my third proper cast my line stops mid swing. When I say stopped, I mean it stopped. I had 100 feet of straight line come to a dead standstill. My heart skipped a beat. I waited for it to tighten up let the fish take a good amount of line and then I set on it. That set was the last coherent memory I have of that encounter. The fish became unstrung. It doubled my rod and went screaming back out to sea. I went maybe another 200 feet into backing and my stomach started to sink. I was pretty sure I was going to lose my line, maybe my pride. I hunkered down, dropped the tip into the water and fought the fish back (after 2 more runs) to where I thought I was back in the game. Then it took another run. This time, my reel failed. It stuttered and then seized. I watched it stutter once, twice and I nearly puked when it finally seized. The fish snapped my leader. Back to the salt, the hottest fish of the trip, maybe of my life. I really wish I had at least seen it.

I got it. Not a huge fan. Maybe I over hyped it to myself.

Tied a few using the methods Nebc and Max posted as well as a pattern sent to me by Brent. They all look good.

Nice fish, what kind of jet boat is that?

Wonderful, thanks a bunch everyone.

Agreed, I think consistent action is always fun. Especially if you can appreciate how rare that really is. I spoke to some British (well Scottish actually) guys who paid 17K for two weeks in Kamchatka this year. No kidding, 17K USD. They said it sucked for Atlantic Salmon for them this year but said other years have been stellar. I have no idea what their base line was. I just more impressed that these guys were on the road for a full month fishing. Two weeks in Russia and two weeks chasing salmon in North America. Nice guys as well. al

Ok, cool, so you're dubbing onto the wire and then wrapping the wire around the mono? Just to make sure I understand.

All, This summer I got handed the fly in these pictures. It's a commercial fly, but it works really well and I'd like to tie some up. I am just not totally sure how to, or what it is made from. Here is what I *think* it's made from: 1. A 1/4 of a streamer shank (with the eye) with a tungsten cone 2. 80 lb Firewire looped through the eye and then doubled down a stinger tied in at the bottom. 3. Two posts of white marabou, top and middle. 4. Chartreuse sparkle dubbing for the body. All of that seems more or less straight forward. My question, anyone know how to tie this in a fashion that is not seriously awkward? Any tricks? I am gathering that I need two vices. I think I will put an 0 ring in instead of tying the hook right in. Might even be good on the bow somewhat smaller as a leach. As always, any advice, outside links etc. will be appreciated.