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Rodney – It’s just a regular #8 swivel. I use it to add a little weight to the leader to help get it down to depth before I age too much more and it also helps to keep from loosing your indicator when you break off a fish. It goes on to the end of your tapered leader and you put your final tippet (3-4′) on the end before flys get added. Any place that sells fishing gear has them. Here’s a pic of the ones I use.
Mike – I usually start with a 9′ 3X leader which seems to have a heavy enough butt section to turn over that much leader. I blood knot 4X fluorocarbon to that to make the length of leader I want. You also have to figure the length of tippet below the swivel – usually 4′ or so. I keep the swivel on the tippet section rather on the long leader so I can thread on the indicator and then tie on the leader to the swivel. So that means 9′ 3X leader plus 5′ of 4X fluorocarbon blood knotted on and a swivel and 4′ of 4X tippet will make a nice 18′ leader. You’ll make it a little longer by fishing two flies which means tying on another 18″ of leader below the top fly (to the bend in the hook) to the bottom fly. Remember loop knots to all free hanging flies.
If I’m making a 22′-30′ leader I’ll start with a 9′ 2X and add some 3X and then some 4X.
– PLarry – I think Rodney is going to use the March meeting to cover some of the basics before the April fish day. I can bring a rod all set up so everyone can see what it should look like to get started.
– PDick, the 2302 Tiemco is a great hook to use. The curved shank is more for my esthetics than anything. I also have used the Mustad C49S which is not a heavy hook, but is curved with a more of a straight eye. I don’t like the Tiemco caddis hooks as they have a down eye and it closes up the gape too much to be as good at hooking fish. Those 2302’s will work great though.
– PKathy – It sure wouldn’t take 4 lbs to keep a Curtis raft from drifting. I bet a couple lbs would be just plenty. A small mesh bag with come rocks in it and 25′ of cord would make an easy anchor for cheap. You really want to try and come up with an anchor system if possible. It greatly increases the chances of success.
For sure, Jed. I could do several patterns in an hour. That would dovetail in well with the following months trip.
Richard – I forgot your second question. Yes, I coat all my flies with Sally Hanson Hard as Nails or some similar clear nail polish. Otherwise the fish teeth will tear up the fly. They will eventually anyway, but that’s what gives us permission to tie more! Brushable super glue works well also. Just don’t glue your fingers together.
Richard – No, I don’t use lead wire for building up the bodies. That would make it way too fat. The body is done mostly with either 8/0 thread or with the UTC brand the 70 size. Most of the body is made by either thread (the photo of the fly box is almost all thread bodies) or in the case of the fly I tried to show the steps, sort of, the static bag material. You can use mylar for that also and thread or fine wire for the ribbing. I use a small swivel before my tippet is attached and the strike indicator is placed on the line above the swivel. This gives me some weight on the line and also if I break off the fly on a fish I don’t loose the indicator as it is stuck above the swivel. Does that all make sense?
I did forget to say that for the best results you must be anchored up so you don’t blow around. Even if you think it’s calm and you are not moving – you are. An example: Mike and I went to Pass a year ago spring and it was a pretty calm day. He was using his Scadden boat and had a single anchor off the side which was awkward for him so he opted to drift and fish the chironomid. He thought he was not moving much, but that “not moving much” ended up having him move around me in a complete circle while I was anchored up. When he finally put his anchor down he started catching fish. For those with boats, using an anchor off each end is the ideal. I always double anchor my pram. The less the boat moves the better as you can keep your fly line straight to the indicator which means you can set the hook more easily if there is not a lot of slack in the line. Floating lines and a leader of about 20′ or 15′ and a swivel and then another 5′ of tippet will do. The leader should be tapered down to 4X. Then the tippet can be 4X or 5X. A self release strike indicator would be a good thing also. If not then a corkie (little round bobber with a hole in it and a toothpick to pin it to the leader will do fine. I do have some I can hand out, but I can’t supply 20 people. I’ll bring the stuff to the next meeting so everyone can see what is needed.
Kathy – There is plenty of room on the lake – this is not pro only stuff and you won’t be in anyone’s way at all. You do not have to cast far at all. 20′ is plenty. Because it’s pretty deep you don’t have to be so far away from the fishing zone to not spook the fish. It’s not like fishing in 7′ of crystal clear water where you need to make 70′ casts.
I’ve gone on long enough.
Sure John. In recent years there has been an emphasis on non-reproducing fish being planted so that we can avoid situations like we have in the North Cascades with over populated lakes. In fact, I think the findings of the NCNP and the study they had done by Liss and Larson was one of the things which have pushed the WDFW to prefer to use sterile fish. The lakes on the list on the east side were, in fact, requested by the bio. Some of the earlier ones on the list were club driven – partly to use a sterile fish and partly to see if the triploid fish would grow any better than the Mt Whitneys. We do have some members who still think the MWRB is an inferior fish that won’t grow. I happen to think it has a lot more to do with the groceries in the lake. If a lake has no food then it doesn’t matter what super fish you put in, it won’t get very big. Trout Lodge fish won’t automatically grow to 5 lbs just because of what stock they are. But, if we find that they will grow as well, or maybe better, and have no chance of reproducing, then we have more options on planting lakes and we have a good option for those who are reluctant to allow us to stock because they are worried about over reproducing fish or fish that may get down stream into other water systems.
So, we do need data on how these fish are doing. A big problem is being able to identify the Trout Lodge fish as then are not marked in any way. I’m hoping in the future we can do some fin clipping so we can be more sure of what we’re catching and reporting on.
Brian – I’m wondering what the chances of doing an adipose clip on this years fish are?
– PeteRichard – I planted Twin 3 weeks ago so give it a couple years. Funny. Your dog is Lolly and I planted the lake with my sister, Laura who we called Lolly all the time we were growing up.
Minda – How about Joan Lake on Johnson Ridge? About 2.5 miles, maybe 3 – Off Hwy 2 near Stevens Pass. No off trail, but he can catch tons of brookies.
Brian – I have a rod from my grandfather just like that. Took it into the “old” Avid Angler when Tom Darling was still the owner and he told me that it was one of the cheap production rods that everyone had back in those days which you could buy for $25. He said it would look good on the wall, but was not worth getting all worked up over. Now, if one of them was an Orvis or some big name like that, then you could have dollar signs in your eyes!
Cliff and all – It won’t matter this weekend as this is the free fishing weekend. No license needed anywhere in the state for the 8th and 9th.
– PeteMy only suggestion for a correction would be in the last paragraph. Could we change it to fishing rods rather than fishing poles? I know it’s a fine point, but Mike and Rodney build rods, not poles, from bamboo. A pole is a stick with a string tied to it.
