Fishing & Your Teeth (Protect the Teeth)

Ever tie a knot and grab a tag end to further snug the knot tighter? How about using your front teeth to cut the leader because you cannot find your nippers? How much pressure is exerted upon your teeth, crown or filling in that bite? Considerable! Ever put that lead or even harder tin shot in your mouth to pinch that split shot? Bad! Your enamel can crack or be permanently scored from the line or lead. If you don’t want the ‘snaggle’ name, knock off the cutting and crimping with your teeth. It’s bad enough you still chew.Shit nasty mouth…eek!

Speaking of teeth, the Shark Tooth Leader Control system (controlling those leader/tippet spools) seems to have some merit.

Fly Tying: Beetle Pattern with Post (Siting the Fly)

Beetle Pattern with Post for Finding the Fly

Found this Hatchfinders site and there are several excellent tutorials here on patterns for trout/graying. Also, there is a lot of tropical FF destination information here that I enjoyed. I have done a little bit of this, but not with overwhelming success. I have always wanted to FF the East Cape of Mexico while wading the shoreline. Nice section in here re that. Also, BONUS PATTERN, check out the nice CDC  Spent Wing Caddis (do caddis have a spent wing phase?)…regardless, a nice pattern…..

CDC Spent Wing Caddis (Hatchfinders)

Tilapia Recipes

Tilapia seem to be ever more in the forefront in ad campaigns. Saw the hearty NE fisherman for Gorton’s and the image of facing the harsh conditions to harvest from the sea’s bounty. What was the ad for? Tilapia Fish Sticks.  Obviously the new source for fish products. So, with that in mind, here are some recipes from the American Tilapia Association.

Fly Tying: Intruder Style Spey Fly (Kingfisher Blue & Hot Pink Lady Amherst)

Tony Muncy’s Intruder Fly Pattern

Frodin Tube; Angora Dubbing Butt Section (builds up a rear section to allow for the splaying of the guinea, ostrich and pink Lady Amherst). The Blue Guinea is wrapped, then black Ostrich Herls are tied in around the tube followed by the Hot Pink Lady Amherst, which is wrapped above the dubbing ball.

The  Silver Tinsel Ribbing is tied in then a Sparsely Dubbed Angora body is wrapped up the tube. The ribbing is wrapped forward over the teased out Angora.  A slightly larger dubbed Thorax was created for the splaying of the Ostrich Herls and the Kingfisher Blue Lady Amherst (excellent steelhead color in Guinea too!). A Gold conehead was pressed on the tube and the tube was melted to lock in the materials.

In Ed Ward’s Skagit Master Video, he demonstrates an excellent  tutorial on how to tie the Intruder. He prepares a dear hair collar, which is spun at the thorax area. That collar does not easily collapse and here would allow the ostrich and Amherst to flare away from the fly’s body and better undulate with the current.

The back ground for the shot was an old cigar box, but it sure looks like dismal old paneling downstairs in a 1970′s family room….. No offense to those of you that still have such paneling, pink tiling in the bathroom, avocado appliances and gold shag carpeting. Take heart the retro movement will come your way and those boots with the zipper on the inside, you still have on the floor of your closet, will be in style yet again.

Ostrich Herl (http://www.hareline.com/feathers.html)

Lady Amherst (Kingfisher Blue & Hot Pink)

Fly Fishing: Swinging the Fly With a Pinched Loop of Line

Deschutes R. & Tony Muncy

“As Bill McMilllan told me long ago, imagine dangling a fly tied to a piece of monofilament in a toilet bowl. Make sure there’s tension on the fly — no slack. Now flush the toilet. As the toilet is flushing simultaneously pull up and back on the fly. What happens? Your fly pops out of the toilet as the water goes down. Do it again. This time, as the toilet flushes, drop your arm a bit. Don’t pull back. The fly disappears. The same thing needs to be practiced with steelhead. Not only should you wait for the steelhead to make its turn with your fly, you need to incorporate some slack or loose line in order for the fish to turn freely, taking the fly with it. This delayed reaction to a take is especially necessary when fishing a floating line.” (Floater, Skagit, Scandi….wait as the Loop of Line Shoots Out…….Dec Hogan at Midcurrent)

Good Rule: Loop Should Be Length of Fish You Seek  (more or less)

Johnson & Johnson Recall (Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl…..)

RECALL OF TAINTED DRUGS “Johnson & Johnson issued a massive recall Friday of over-the-counter drugs including Tylenol, Motrin and St. Joseph’s aspirin because of a moldy smell that has made people sick….The smell is caused by small amounts of a chemical associated with the treatment of wooden pallets, Johnson & Johnson said. The FDA said the chemical can leach into the air, and traced it to a facility in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico.”

New Madrid Faultline (Previous, Massive Quake When the Log Cabins Collapsed)

“Reelfoot Lake is a by-product of the New Madrid Earthquakes.  A series of 1,874 recorded tremors centered generally about 70 miles southwest of the lake in Missouri took place from December 16, 1811 to March 8, 1812.  The “hard shock” came at 3 a.m., Friday, February 7, 1812, and could be felt over an area of one million square miles from Canada to the eastern seaboard to New Orleans.  Witnesses reported that the earth and river were torn with furious convulsions and created sunken lands, fissures, landslides and land domes.  It is said that, for a time, the Mississippi River flowed backwards filling in the newly-sunk area now know as Reelfoot Lake.”   Interesting Quake Info

This map shows areas damaged by the Dec. 16, 1811, magnitude 7.2 earthquake. That earthquake was the first of three major temblors along the New Madrid fault in 1811 and 1812. (Image courtesy of Seth Stein, based on results by Susan Hough)

Hatchery Programs (“ideologically driven technology is not allowed to fail”)

THE ARROGANCE OF PLANNERS SOMETIMES EQUALS THOSE OF THE RAVAGERS

Bonneville Fish Hatchery~Columbia R. (Oregon)

http://www.nwcouncil.org/history/Hatcheries.asp

Ladies Fishing (Fly Fishing Experienced in N.E. England)

“Ladies fishing are a group of ladies who enjoy fishing. We’re not a club so we don’t charge a membership,  we arrange trips and divide the cost between the number of women on the trip and there’s no commitment to regularly attend. We normally have between 6 to 12 women per trip, keeping the numbers down ensures that everyone gets the chance to have individual one to one tuition (if required),  we have equipment for women to use free of charge. The opportunity to develop fishing friendships with other females, we understand that women juggle busy lives and have many commitments.” LadiesFishingBlog

Room for More Ladies? I'm Quite Sure (Ladies Fishing, N.E. UK)

Seems such a natural way for women to gather as mentors or just friends and to share the fishing experiences and camaraderie. How many more women would enjoy such an experience? Several I’ve met. And, less the baggage of a ‘club’ and all the organizing and structure, etc. Just a natural flow of positive support amongst friends. Thanks to Anne for reaching out to SwittersB.  I like the hats!

Habitat Preservation (Back to Basics…NSW Habitat Considerations)

NSW Government: Fishing and Aquaculture (Habitat)

“Human activities that destroy aquatic vegetation, block channels and waterways, and disturb the balance between sediment and water flows in rivers and estuaries all contribute to the destruction of fish habitat.” Doesn’t matter whether it is in New South Wales, Oregon or Poland. The basics of habitat preservation are elementary and often ignored. Seems elementary to know this. Not so easy to affect sustained policy and financing to maintain changes.