Fishing in general

[beerftw]

I have been doing fishing for ever, I still can not tie a knot to save my life but depending on the water I can catch fish all day. My weak area is big lakes as I mostly learned to fish off what little my father taught me plus fishing small rivers and creeks and watching the fish as they reacted. Needless to say even on big lakes on the right day I can catch many fish with natural baits, but if it is spin baits and lures I am crap.

I recently bought a fly fishing pole, the third one now I have ever owned, the first one I left behind at my parents house when I joined the army, the second one was in the back of my pickup when I loaded it with engine parts, let's just say I forgot it was there until I heard the snap. Now I got number three and am finding out almost no one here in texas fly fishes anymore, the last time I bought one every store sold atleast a starter kit if nothing else, not you have to darn near scrounge the state to find anyone even selling fly fishing anything, which is sad because even though trout is not big here, panfish like blue gills are, as are bigmouth and other bass, all ideal for fly fishing.

Also I have had a hard time even finding the line I like for any fishing pole, I remember when I was younger natural line that was braided was common, natural fly line backing was common as well, now mono filiment covers 99.9% of everything sold everywhere, there is still braided but it is only synthetic. I remember as a kid them old time anglers would still use cotton and wool braided line, sometimes in unreal colors you would think never viable for fishing, but now I can not even find that.

I am also having a hard time finding bait cast reels worth a damn, either they cost 40-150 bucks and are garbage, or cost a fortune which defeats the purpose of fishing, if I need to break the bank because someone somewhere decided a baitcaster was the fad over a spincaster and needed to inflate them 500% just cuz.

 

[JasperL]

I grew up fishing for bass and bluegill in ponds near my house, and had a couple of spinning rods and a baitcasting rod. I never even considered fly fishing - never knew anyone who did it growing up. Anyway, long story short my brother got me out fly fishing during a massive mayfly hatch at a local river, and I was pretty instantly hooked. That was maybe 35 years ago from that day I pretty much never use my spin or baitcasting gear.

I still have the rods and reels - same ones, still work OK - and use them very occasionally when I take someone out to catch panfish and need to teach them, but 99% is fly fishing. And you're right - catching bluegill on a fly rod is great fun, and I've caught lots of bass as well, mostly using something that works for bigger panfish, like a wooly bugger, and the bass are a bonus. Mostly I fish for trout just because I like where they live - on rivers, in the mountains, in clean, clear water, with not a lot of people around. If bass and bluegill lived there, I'd fish for them.

It's hard sometimes to find what I need locally. We only have one shop in my city and it's poorly capitalized so they're always out of what I need. Anyway, I do a lot of buying online. I'd rather buy local, but I'm not going to wait two weeks for the size 16 hooks I need for the flies I need to tie, this week. So I order online. The only thing you can't really do online is try out rods, and there's a huge difference between them. For my wife we drove about an hour for a fly shop with a good selection near the GSMNP, and tried a half dozen. The one we picked was the clear winner in our price range, not quite cheapest but certainly beginner variety, and was hands down better than the others, at least for me, and my wife and how she casts. It's a shame it took so much effort to do that in person.

Anyway, if you're looking for fly fishing gear, line, leaders and tippet, flies or fly tying materials, online is the best option, unfortunately. I tie my own flies and have from nearly the beginning, but get lots of ideas looking at popular flies online, and the tons of free YouTube videos out there by fly shops hoping you'll see something and buy a bunch of materials... I've learned they often load the tying videos up with "new" materials no one uses, so to do that fly, it's a $20-$100 investment, and they have them all linked right there below the video! Helpful!! Often you can put them all into your cart with one click! Good business, but I've learned to make do with something close enough, and focus on the technique/pattern.

About the cost of stuff, fly fishing is terrible about that. There's a bunch of rich people who will pay about anything for the best gear and lots of the companies really go after that market. On the bottom end, the good news is there's been a VAST improvement in quality of rod blanks in the past 10 years, and you can get a rod that would have been really top end just a few years ago for less than $200, and does everything anyone could ever need in fresh water. Outstanding blanks are out there for about $100, and if you assemble them like I've done, you can get a fantastic rod with first rate components for $200. I know the top end gear is a bit better, but there's just no need for it. Fish are caught close in and any decent rod can throw a fly in a plate at 40 feet. Its limit is the user's skill. There's a company that produces high end reels that are around $500, but their $100 reel has the identical drag, which is what matters if you hook a good fish, and all you get for $400 extra is a nicer finish and a bit less weight. The low end is made overseas, which is unfortunate, but it's really well done by some companies, mostly smaller ones in my experience who take the time to find good craftsmen in Taiwan or wherever. They just will work for less than is possible in the U.S.

 

[Lisa]

I grew up fishing for bass and bluegill in ponds near my house, and had a couple of spinning rods and a baitcasting rod. I never even considered fly fishing - never knew anyone who did it growing up. Anyway, long story short my brother got me out fly fishing during a massive mayfly hatch at a local river, and I was pretty instantly hooked. That was maybe 35 years ago from that day I pretty much never use my spin or baitcasting gear.

I still have the rods and reels - same ones, still work OK - and use them very occasionally when I take someone out to catch panfish and need to teach them, but 99% is fly fishing. And you're right - catching bluegill on a fly rod is great fun, and I've caught lots of bass as well, mostly using something that works for bigger panfish, like a wooly bugger, and the bass are a bonus. Mostly I fish for trout just because I like where they live - on rivers, in the mountains, in clean, clear water, with not a lot of people around. If bass and bluegill lived there, I'd fish for them.

It's hard sometimes to find what I need locally. We only have one shop in my city and it's poorly capitalized so they're always out of what I need. Anyway, I do a lot of buying online. I'd rather buy local, but I'm not going to wait two weeks for the size 16 hooks I need for the flies I need to tie, this week. So I order online. The only thing you can't really do online is try out rods, and there's a huge difference between them. For my wife we drove about an hour for a fly shop with a good selection near the GSMNP, and tried a half dozen. The one we picked was the clear winner in our price range, not quite cheapest but certainly beginner variety, and was hands down better than the others, at least for me, and my wife and how she casts. It's a shame it took so much effort to do that in person.

Anyway, if you're looking for fly fishing gear, line, leaders and tippet, flies or fly tying materials, online is the best option, unfortunately. I tie my own flies and have from nearly the beginning, but get lots of ideas looking at popular flies online, and the tons of free YouTube videos out there by fly shops hoping you'll see something and buy a bunch of materials... I've learned they often load the tying videos up with "new" materials no one uses, so to do that fly, it's a $20-$100 investment, and they have them all linked right there below the video! Helpful!! Often you can put them all into your cart with one click! Good business, but I've learned to make do with something close enough, and focus on the technique/pattern.

About the cost of stuff, fly fishing is terrible about that. There's a bunch of rich people who will pay about anything for the best gear and lots of the companies really go after that market. On the bottom end, the good news is there's been a VAST improvement in quality of rod blanks in the past 10 years, and you can get a rod that would have been really top end just a few years ago for less than $200, and does everything anyone could ever need in fresh water. Outstanding blanks are out there for about $100, and if you assemble them like I've done, you can get a fantastic rod with first rate components for $200. I know the top end gear is a bit better, but there's just no need for it. Fish are caught close in and any decent rod can throw a fly in a plate at 40 feet. Its limit is the user's skill. There's a company that produces high end reels that are around $500, but their $100 reel has the identical drag, which is what matters if you hook a good fish, and all you get for $400 extra is a nicer finish and a bit less weight. The low end is made overseas, which is unfortunate, but it's really well done by some companies, mostly smaller ones in my experience who take the time to find good craftsmen in Taiwan or wherever. They just will work for less than is possible in the U.S.

You can buy a decent fly reel for under $100.00 at Cabelas.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-prestige-ii-loaded-fly-reel

I have a 9-5wt TFO and reel package that I bought at Cabelas in Wheeling WVa about 15 years ago. Like you, I spend time in a local river chasing bluegills, carp, and the occasional smallmouth on warm summer evenings with my BF. You can spend $1500 and look like you stepped out of an Orvis catalog but if you don't know what you are doing you look like a fool. A half-pound bluegill seems huge on a 6x tippet.

 

[radioman]

I have been doing fishing for ever, I still can not tie a knot to save my life but depending on the water I can catch fish all day. My weak area is big lakes as I mostly learned to fish off what little my father taught me plus fishing small rivers and creeks and watching the fish as they reacted. Needless to say even on big lakes on the right day I can catch many fish with natural baits, but if it is spin baits and lures I am crap.

"Surgeons knot" is an easy knot to master. Fun fact.....surgeons call this knot a "fisherman's knot".
Lakes are tough for me. It's as if you're fishing in a giant bowl.
Rivers and streams are much better places for locating fish hangouts.

Also I have had a hard time even finding the line I like for any fishing pole, I remember when I was younger natural line that was braided was common, natural fly line backing was common as well, now mono filiment covers 99.9% of everything sold everywhere, there is still braided but it is only synthetic. I remember as a kid them old time anglers would still use cotton and wool braided line, sometimes in unreal colors you would think never viable for fishing, but now I can not even find that.

I've recently switched to braided line with a fluoro-carbon leader. The braid is much more manageable on a reel than mono.

I am also having a hard time finding bait cast reels worth a damn, either they cost 40-150 bucks and are garbage, or cost a fortune which defeats the purpose of fishing, if I need to break the bank because someone somewhere decided a baitcaster was the fad over a spincaster and needed to inflate them 500% just cuz.

I've got a few old school Abu Garcia baitcasting reels that I only use when fishing from a boat. I bought an Abu Garcia Silver Max baitcaster last year and it is absolutely the easiest baitcaster I've ever used. I think it cost around $50. Having said that, I mostly use spinning reels. One bad cast with a baitcaster can result in a horrific birdsnest that can ruin your day.

 

[VanceMack]

I fish a LOT...especially late spring and fall thru winter. The rods and reels I use depend on the type and location I fish. My favorite is a large mountain lake/reservoir that has a fair amount of kokanee salmon, rainbows, and cutthroat trout. Sometimes I take out the boat but more often than not several of us take our 1 person pontoon boats out. I prefer solitude on the lake...its relaxing...the only time of my life that I am not tethered to a cell phone on call.

Ive bought some expensive gear second hand...I try to give it a good workout first. Ive had as much success on a junk fly rod from a garage sale than I have on an expensive rig...fish dont seem to much care what gear you are using...just how the bait/lure is presented.

And I agree with the comment about bait casters...never had much luck with them.

 

[RF667799]

I fish almost exclusively with baitcasters. Mostly ABU Ambassadeurs in various sizes, but I have a couple 6500 size Bass Pro branded clones on catfish rods. I also have a vintage Shimano Bantam 10x that I picked up years ago at a fishing show. It's a little jewel and I use it on a light rod for fun. None of my baitcasters have magnetic cast control or the like. I rely on an educated thumb to minimize "birdnests".

 

[RetiredUSN]

I have been doing fishing for ever, I still can not tie a knot to save my life but depending on the water I can catch fish all day. My weak area is big lakes as I mostly learned to fish off what little my father taught me plus fishing small rivers and creeks and watching the fish as they reacted. Needless to say even on big lakes on the right day I can catch many fish with natural baits, but if it is spin baits and lures I am crap.

I recently bought a fly fishing pole, the third one now I have ever owned, the first one I left behind at my parents house when I joined the army, the second one was in the back of my pickup when I loaded it with engine parts, let's just say I forgot it was there until I heard the snap. Now I got number three and am finding out almost no one here in texas fly fishes anymore, the last time I bought one every store sold atleast a starter kit if nothing else, not you have to darn near scrounge the state to find anyone even selling fly fishing anything, which is sad because even though trout is not big here, panfish like blue gills are, as are bigmouth and other bass, all ideal for fly fishing.

Also I have had a hard time even finding the line I like for any fishing pole, I remember when I was younger natural line that was braided was common, natural fly line backing was common as well, now mono filiment covers 99.9% of everything sold everywhere, there is still braided but it is only synthetic. I remember as a kid them old time anglers would still use cotton and wool braided line, sometimes in unreal colors you would think never viable for fishing, but now I can not even find that.

I am also having a hard time finding bait cast reels worth a damn, either they cost 40-150 bucks and are garbage, or cost a fortune which defeats the purpose of fishing, if I need to break the bank because someone somewhere decided a baitcaster was the fad over a spincaster and needed to inflate them 500% just cuz.

I have a loss of feeling and some arthritis in my fingers and cannot tie all the intricate knots that I used to.

Enter the Palomar knot!

Super easy to tie even on the cold winter nights fishing for Stripers in the Bay on my kayak.

Super strong knot!

I use it for everything know.

 

[RF667799]

I have a loss of feeling and some arthritis in my fingers and cannot tie all the intricate knots that I used to.

Enter the Palomar knot!

Super easy to tie even on the cold winter nights fishing for Stripers in the Bay on my kayak.

Super strong knot!

I use it for everything know.

View attachment 67332853

Very good knot that I use a lot these days too. I do snell the circle hooks I use for catfish though. A snelling is part of what allows a circle hook to set itself just from the weight of the fish loading the rod.

 

[RetiredUSN]

I have been doing fishing for ever, I still can not tie a knot to save my life but depending on the water I can catch fish all day. My weak area is big lakes as I mostly learned to fish off what little my father taught me plus fishing small rivers and creeks and watching the fish as they reacted. Needless to say even on big lakes on the right day I can catch many fish with natural baits, but if it is spin baits and lures I am crap.

I recently bought a fly fishing pole, the third one now I have ever owned, the first one I left behind at my parents house when I joined the army, the second one was in the back of my pickup when I loaded it with engine parts, let's just say I forgot it was there until I heard the snap. Now I got number three and am finding out almost no one here in texas fly fishes anymore, the last time I bought one every store sold atleast a starter kit if nothing else, not you have to darn near scrounge the state to find anyone even selling fly fishing anything, which is sad because even though trout is not big here, panfish like blue gills are, as are bigmouth and other bass, all ideal for fly fishing.

Also I have had a hard time even finding the line I like for any fishing pole, I remember when I was younger natural line that was braided was common, natural fly line backing was common as well, now mono filiment covers 99.9% of everything sold everywhere, there is still braided but it is only synthetic. I remember as a kid them old time anglers would still use cotton and wool braided line, sometimes in unreal colors you would think never viable for fishing, but now I can not even find that.

I am also having a hard time finding bait cast reels worth a damn, either they cost 40-150 bucks and are garbage, or cost a fortune which defeats the purpose of fishing, if I need to break the bank because someone somewhere decided a baitcaster was the fad over a spincaster and needed to inflate them 500% just cuz.

I have quite a few friends who spend big bucks on reels, and to be honest, I don't think it's worth it anymore. I have a bucket full of Penn's and Shimano's that are just wasting space.

There are too many decent inexpensive reels out there that will last a very long time if they are cleaned with fresh water, and the drag washers cleaned once a season.

My favorite kayak/boat fishing setup is a Ugly Stik 6' medium rod and a Pflueger Trion reel and they both come in less than 80-90 bucks.

Pflueger Trion® Spinning Reel - Pure Fishing

The Pflueger® Trion® spinning reels are the workhouse of the Pflueger product line-up. Performance and quality at an extremely high value. The Trion is truly ‘The Smart Choice™’.

www.purefishing.com

 

[Crosscheck]

I have a loss of feeling and some arthritis in my fingers and cannot tie all the intricate knots that I used to.

Enter the Palomar knot!

Super easy to tie even on the cold winter nights fishing for Stripers in the Bay on my kayak.

Super strong knot!

I use it for everything know.

View attachment 67332853

Very effective simple knot.
For some reason I love knots. Especially tying down loads and such.
Favorite knots are ones that allow you to cinch down a load and with a simple pull can be undone.
My pity is the guy who ties down material and makes a series of square knots to tie it off.

 

[RetiredUSN]

Very effective simple knot.
For some reason I love knots. Especially tying down loads and such.
Favorite knots are ones that allow you to cinch down a load and with a simple pull can be undone.
My pity is the guy who ties down material and makes a series of square knots to tie it off.

The Boatswain Mate's on the ship used to laugh at my knots that I used. I had many sit down's with them over my career watching them in awe as they tied everything from Monkey Fist knots to making braided hammocks.

It is a form of art in my opinion.

 

[RF667799]

The only problem I find with the Palomar is I can't conveniently use it on both the main line and the leader. I could, if I tied the leader with snelled hook onto the swivel first, and then tied the whole rig onto the main line. However, it isn't so easy to make that pass through for the Palomar with the entire rig containing a 4/0 or larger hook.

 

[Eriech]

I have been doing fishing for ever, I still can not tie a knot to save my life but depending on the water I can catch fish all day. My weak area is big lakes as I mostly learned to fish off what little my father taught me plus fishing small rivers and creeks and watching the fish as they reacted. Needless to say even on big lakes on the right day I can catch many fish with natural baits, but if it is spin baits and lures I am crap.

I recently bought a fly fishing pole, the third one now I have ever owned, the first one I left behind at my parents house when I joined the army, the second one was in the back of my pickup when I loaded it with engine parts, let's just say I forgot it was there until I heard the snap. Now I got number three and am finding out almost no one here in texas fly fishes anymore, the last time I bought one every store sold atleast a starter kit if nothing else, not you have to darn near scrounge the state to find anyone even selling fly fishing anything, which is sad because even though trout is not big here, panfish like blue gills are, as are bigmouth and other bass, all ideal for fly fishing.

Also I have had a hard time even finding the line I like for any fishing pole, I remember when I was younger natural line that was braided was common, natural fly line backing was common as well, now mono filiment covers 99.9% of everything sold everywhere, there is still braided but it is only synthetic. I remember as a kid them old time anglers would still use cotton and wool braided line, sometimes in unreal colors you would think never viable for fishing, but now I can not even find that.

I am also having a hard time finding bait cast reels worth a damn, either they cost 40-150 bucks and are garbage, or cost a fortune which defeats the purpose of fishing, if I need to break the bank because someone somewhere decided a baitcaster was the fad over a spincaster and needed to inflate them 500% just cuz.

Lot of good fly tyers selling on Ebay. Unless you have a local tackle shop to support there is no reason to leave your recliner to shop. Yozuri makes a great hybrid that is very forgiving and manageable Landbigfish.com is my favorite place for bass tackle. The Lew's American Hero baitcaster is a very good value IMO along with the Lews KVD spinning.
Lot of knot tying instructional videos on YouTube. For those who mentioned enjoying knot tying check out the FG knot. It is the smallest leader to braid knot. Can be a bear to learn.

 

[Crosscheck]

The Boatswain Mate's on the ship used to laugh at my knots that I used. I had many sit down's with them over my career watching them in awe as they tied everything from Monkey Fist knots to making braided hammocks.

It is a form of art in my opinion.

As one who is familiar with Monkey Fists then you might appreciate my Monkey Fist balls I made for my hobby of magic.

 

[beerftw]

I have quite a few friends who spend big bucks on reels, and to be honest, I don't think it's worth it anymore. I have a bucket full of Penn's and Shimano's that are just wasting space.

There are too many decent inexpensive reels out there that will last a very long time if they are cleaned with fresh water, and the drag washers cleaned once a season.

My favorite kayak/boat fishing setup is a Ugly Stik 6' medium rod and a Pflueger Trion reel and they both come in less than 80-90 bucks.

Pflueger Trion® Spinning Reel - Pure Fishing

The Pflueger® Trion® spinning reels are the workhouse of the Pflueger product line-up. Performance and quality at an extremely high value. The Trion is truly ‘The Smart Choice™’.

www.purefishing.com

Truthfully my favorite fishing pole is a zebco dock demon, similar to one made by ugly stick,. it is tiny, and anglers laugh at it's cheapness, but I have never broken one yet, and they are small enough I can keep it in the passenger seat of my toyota camry, for when the random urge to fish arrises.

I never got the whole super high priced fishing gear thing, fishing is fishing, it is often a sport that is natural, learning the patterns of the fish and cathcing them whi9ch is relaxing rather than spending top dollar on everything like it is a penis measuring constest.

 

[beerftw]

"Surgeons knot" is an easy knot to master. Fun fact.....surgeons call this knot a "fisherman's knot".
Lakes are tough for me. It's as if you're fishing in a giant bowl.
Rivers and streams are much better places for locating fish hangouts.

I've recently switched to braided line with a fluoro-carbon leader. The braid is much more manageable on a reel than mono.

I've got a few old school Abu Garcia baitcasting reels that I only use when fishing from a boat. I bought an Abu Garcia Silver Max baitcaster last year and it is absolutely the easiest baitcaster I've ever used. I think it cost around $50. Having said that, I mostly use spinning reels. One bad cast with a baitcaster can result in a horrific birdsnest that can ruin your day.

If the baitcaster has gotten easier I may have to try it, I think my last baitcaster was a 25 dollar shakespear, which performed terrible. I noticed most of the lower end ones never held proper tension more than a single cast, and I could never justify spending top dollar for a baitcaster to only barely outperform a similar much cheaper spincaster.

 

[beerftw]

You can buy a decent fly reel for under $100.00 at Cabelas.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-prestige-ii-loaded-fly-reel

I have a 9-5wt TFO and reel package that I bought at Cabelas in Wheeling WVa about 15 years ago. Like you, I spend time in a local river chasing bluegills, carp, and the occasional smallmouth on warm summer evenings with my BF. You can spend $1500 and look like you stepped out of an Orvis catalog but if you don't know what you are doing you look like a fool. A half-pound bluegill seems huge on a 6x tippet.

I have found even the cheapest 40 dollar flyfishing rig will out of the box catch many fish, infact long ago a fly fisherman told me not to buy any high dollar setup as a beginner but instead buy the cheapest sets then hit the streams and ponds for bluegills, and only after I got that down then spend money on better rigs. His logic was expensive rigs were better but did not make you a better fisherman, only practice could make you a better fisherman.

 

[GDViking]

I've managed fly fishing departments, given seminars and fought both tying and casting classes.

Even had dinner with Jason burger one night. He's the double that did the casting in a river runs through it.

Never fished with him but we cast side by side at a fly show. He's far better than me.

I've done comercial tying and am planning on making a line of panfish and bass poppers.

I've taught rod building and guided quite a bit.

I have more fly rods than I can count, literally. It's kinda fun opening a tube and finding a rod I forgot I owned, or even forgot I built.

Collecting rods is fun, but I've never had the money to get into high end bamboo, those can be thousands.

My most expensive rods were in the 800 range, and yes they are a pleasure to fish with but there are nice casting rods for far less.

If you want to get some good advice I suggest looking up your local trout unlimited chapter, you will find many people willing to hellp, get some good deals on flies (I've given away more than I've lost in trees, and thats a lot) and for the price of a couple beers you can get some guys to give up secrets...

Have fun fly fishing is a life style that helps make life worth living...

 

[Lisa]

I've managed fly fishing departments, given seminars and fought both tying and casting classes.

Even had dinner with Jason burger one night. He's the double that did the casting in a river runs through it.

Never fished with him but we cast side by side at a fly show. He's far better than me.

I've done comercial tying and am planning on making a line of panfish and bass poppers.

I've taught rod building and guided quite a bit.

I have more fly rods than I can count, literally. It's kinda fun opening a tube and finding a rod I forgot I owned, or even forgot I built.

Collecting rods is fun, but I've never had the money to get into high end bamboo, those can be thousands.

My most expensive rods were in the 800 range, and yes they are a pleasure to fish with but there are nice casting rods for far less.

If you want to get some good advice I suggest looking up your local trout unlimited chapter, you will find many people willing to hellp, get some good deals on flies (I've given away more than I've lost in trees, and thats a lot) and for the price of a couple beers you can get some guys to give up secrets...

Have fun fly fishing is a life style that helps make life worth living...

I took a fly tying class and never manage to make anything but a sad woolybugger.

I do have a set of BWOs made and signed by AK Best and copies of Trout Bum, and Sex, Death and Fly Fishing signed by John Gierach. I met someone who fished with him and knew A.K.Best.

I'd love to know how to build rods.

 

[GDViking]

I took a fly tying class and never manage to make anything but a sad woolybugger.

I do have a set of BWOs made and signed by AK Best and copies of Trout Bum, and Sex, Death and Fly Fishing signed by John Gierach. I met someone who fished with him and knew A.K.Best.

I'd love to know how to build rods.

I held the door open for John at Mike Lawson fly shop one time.
I had all of his books a few feet away in my jeep. But I've never been much of an autograph hound so I didn't bother him.

I got to tie with Jim teeny a Bob clouser for a couple days one time. Those guys are funny as shit...

Oh and Steve able, be .akes great reels but he's kinda a prick.

I've met a lot of people In the industry, most are really good people but some are snotty and pretentious...

 

[Lisa]

I held the door open for John at Mike Lawson fly shop one time.
I had all of his books a few feet away in my jeep. But I've never been much of an autograph hound so I didn't bother him.

I got to tie with Jim teeny a Bob clouser for a couple days one time. Those guys are funny as shit...

Oh and Steve able, be .akes great reels but he's kinda a prick.

I've met a lot of people In the industry, most are really good people but some are snotty and pretentious...

I actually got into flyfishing after reading John Grieach's books in college when an English lit prof used them as an example. I was chatting with his man online and he said that he knew John and often fished with him. I usually don't ask for an autograph but I wanted copies of those books signed. It was a nice touch when AK Best sent gave him 2 14x Blue Winged Olives. I wouldn't dare use them but I have mounted in a shadow frame.

I would never spend the kind of money that Abel reels cost. I'm just not that rich or need those levels of drag. It's a stretch for me to spend more than $150 on reels I have a Cabelas reel and an older Orvis Battenkill. I'd love to find a 4-5wt Orvis CFO. Those reels are pure class.

I didn't like to fish when people are around because I'm embarrassed that one of my constant screwups will be caught on video and end up on Youtube. If fish had YouTube I'm sure that I would be a star. They have to laugh at my casts and somehow think that I should waste my time and fly doing something productive because they would never be fooled that anything that I cast looks even remotely convincing. Like you hinted at, most of my flies die in either in a tree or attached to a snag.

 

[GDViking]

I actually got into flyfishing after reading John Grieach's books in college when an English lit prof used them as an example. I was chatting with his man online and he said that he knew John and often fished with him. I usually don't ask for an autograph but I wanted copies of those books signed. It was a nice touch when AK Best sent gave him 2 14x Blue Winged Olives. I wouldn't dare use them but I have mounted in a shadow frame.

I would never spend the kind of money that Abel reels cost. I'm just not that rich or need those levels of drag. It's a stretch for me to spend more than $150 on reels I have a Cabelas reel and an older Orvis Battenkill. I'd love to find a 4-5wt Orvis CFO. Those reels are pure class.

I didn't like to fish when people are around because I'm embarrassed that one of my constant screwups will be caught on video and end up on Youtube. If fish had YouTube I'm sure that I would be a star. They have to laugh at my casts and somehow think that I should waste my time and fly doing something productive because they would never be fooled that anything that I cast looks even remotely convincing. Like you hinted at, most of my flies die in either in a tree or attached to a snag.

Have you ever read any Patrick MCManus???

He describes his casting style as Imitating an old woman trying to kill a be with a broom handle...

 

[Lisa]

Have you ever read any Patrick MCManus???

He describes his casting style as Imitating an old woman trying to kill a be with a broom handle...

Yes, I remember that name and I recognize at least 4 of his books as having been read.

My casting style is similar. I have to wear a hat, not to look cool or for the sun shade but to protect my head when I invariably hit myself in the with the fly. It's easier ( and cheaper) to remove the fly from the hat than to go to the ER. Anyone with a fly rod attracts attention but when it's a woman with a fly rod I somehow attract enough attention that I feel like I am casting in a water fountain at the shopping mall......

I loved this book,

The Legendary Neversink: A Treasury of the Best Writing About One of America's Great Trout Rivers: Askins, Justin: 9781602391147: Amazon.com: Books

Buy The Legendary Neversink: A Treasury of the Best Writing About One of America's Great Trout Rivers on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

www.amazon.com

 

[fortune]

Lakes are tough for me. It's as if you're fishing in a giant bowl.
Rivers and streams are much better places for locating fish hangouts.

we have so few deep water lakes in the south western united states but the few I have found it seems the best fishing was not out in the deep part from a boat but at the mouth a of stream... even a trickle at the edge of a lake where there are a higher concentration of fish looking for food

 

[azgreg]

I have a loss of feeling and some arthritis in my fingers and cannot tie all the intricate knots that I used to.

Enter the Palomar knot!

Super easy to tie even on the cold winter nights fishing for Stripers in the Bay on my kayak.

Super strong knot!

I use it for everything know.

View attachment 67332853

That's the only knot I use as well. I do 99% of my fishing from the shore since I don't have a boat. I am in the market for a fishing kayak though.