Fishing gear questions?

[Basin Deranged]

Polarized glasses let you see what's under the water much better in most light conditions, especially handy for small streams and ponds.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Perfect!

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I'll put in a plug for catch-and-release here: In some fisheries, such as the High Sierra or the Owens Valley which are so beloved to many of us here, the fishery simply can't survive in any reasonable condition if everyone keeps every fish they catch. To paraphrase the great Sheridan Anderson, author of my favorite introduction to fly fishing The Curtis Creek Manifesto, "you can't keep playing chess if you keep removing the pieces from the board.

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Have fun!

BD, the manifesto is the greatest comprehensive book ever written on learning to flyfish. I still have the copy I bought in 1978 when I bought my first modern fly rod.

 

[Lighthawk]

BD, the manifesto is the greatest comprehensive book ever written on learning to flyfish. I still have the copy I bought in 1978 when I bought my first modern fly rod.

Sheridan Anderson? Isn't that the cartoonist who contributed graphics to Royal Robbins Rockcraft books?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I believe that's true. The manifesto is cartoon based, but really, really chocked full of sound information. It takes the elitism out of fly fishing, and if for no other reason that makes it great.

 

[Stalking Light]

It's a book I recommend to everyone that asks me about learning to fly fish. The other book I recommend a lot is 'Practical Fishing Knots' by Kreh and Sosin.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

It's a book I recommend to everyone that asks me about learning to fly fish. The other book I recommend a lot is 'Practical Fishing Knots' by Kreh and Sosin.

Do you have a setup in your FWC to tie your own flies?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Do you have a setup in your FWC to tie your own flies?

Yes. Get a small plastic storage box, a vice on a stand, and the few tools and materials that you find in your most common flies. I typically tie a tied down caddis in sizes 12 through 16. So barbless hooks, thread, dubbing, deer hair and a decent grizzly hackle. The other flies I either tie at home, or buy.

 

[highz]

Do you have a setup in your FWC to tie your own flies?

Tying flies in the camper is a good way to spend a rainy evening. I usually tie the flies I think I will need ahead of time, but sometimes carry a travel vise, some tools (bobbins, scissors, etc.) and a selection of hooks and materials to tie a few patterns that should work in the area I'm fishing. Oh, and for my aging eyes a clip-on magnifier is a must. Helps for threading small hooks at streamside, too.

 

[Lighthawk]

I believe that's true. The manifesto is cartoon based, but really, really chocked full of sound information. It takes the elitism out of fly fishing, and if for no other reason that makes it great.

I always enjoyed Trout Madness - [Being a Disseration on the Symptoms and Pathology of This Incurable Disease by One of Its Victims] by Robert Traver.

 

[Stalking Light]

I've got a traveling kit similar to those mentioned, but also tie most ahead of time. In the southeast the trout are opportunistic feeders since there are no big hatches like out west, and a few flies like Adams and caddis imitations with yellow work well. When I go out west, though, sometimes you have to match what's hatching in size and color and the kit comes in handy. Same is true for states farther north in the east, PA is a prime example of selective trout.

 

[Basin Deranged]

BD, the manifesto is the greatest comprehensive book ever written on learning to flyfish. I still have the copy I bought in 1978 when I bought my first modern fly rod.

Hah! You beat me by a year. Mine dates from 1979 when I first fished with flies (unsuccessfully) on our honeymoon.

Sheridan Anderson? Isn't that the cartoonist who contributed graphics to Royal Robbins Rockcraft books?

The very same. Also a friend of Richard Brautigan if my sources and my memory are correct.

For anyone fishing in California I also highly recommend Ralph Cutter's Sierra Trout Guide as much more than a regional guidebook: It contains a lot of Cutter's wisdom on the habits of trout and the nature of their habitat.