Hello Tom!!
Thank you for your answer. I never tried something as near to flytying as some rod-building epoxy. Ok .. I'll try flexcoat. Could be THE solution.
... are you sure ... it'll never start to turn yellow?!?!?
OkOkOk ... I'll try ... and will report.
ThankYOU!!
Maybe I am lucky 'cause I've built about 250 flyrods so far...and...
I always mix more epoxy than I actually need ( just in case) and therefore at the end of finishing the wrappings I have lots of material that is unbeatable for fly heads if you ask me 8)
I am talking about "flex coat - regular"!! It turns out into a smoth as can be surface and it stays transparent. It needs some time to harden completely but it is what you need IMHO!
good luck
Tom
I was recently crawling a large nymph across the bottom in Bull Run fishing for Smallmouth Bass and caught a two pound Channel Catfish. Blew my mind.
Another great product for making rod tubes is central vac tubing available at any large building supply outlet like Home Depot etc. There are even snug fitting end caps available to seal up the ends. What I do is cut the pipe to length, wet sand it with about 600 or 800 grit to make it shiny and slick. Glue the end cap in place for the bottom (put some closed cell foam in the bottom of the cap for rod protection) I then drill a small hole in the top cap (perfectly centered) and another in the side of the tube. These are done to connect the top cap to the tube with a piece of small diameter rope. Central vac tubing is made up of the same material as the PVC mentioned above (at least I think it is) but it has thinner side walls. It's still very durable however. I have found it in white and grey colors. It's pretty cheap as well. A 12ft length cost me about $10.00 and the matching end caps were $0.50 a piece.
Hello Martin!
Thank you for the quick reply!
I do process epoxy exactly the way you described ... using post-it notes, but not only the yellow ones, and mostly a wooden toothpick, sometimes a bodkin.
I learned it that way from a fellow flyfisher from holland who introduced me to flytying a few years ago.
A few days ago, i went in a store where they sell everything for hobby crafting stuff (radio controlled small cars and planes, etc.) and asked a guy there for clear epoxy. He told me, that nearly all epoxies come yellow some day and they know that. And on a related manufacturer site in the net this is stated this way too.
I'll try it in future the way you proposed ... but wasn't it on a video of Page Rogers about the Topic where she used post-it sheets and ... ok ... some plastic-toothpicks?
From somewhere i heard that epoxy contains chemical substance like sulfur or iron which is responsible for the yellowishing process.
I dunno! !
Probably it is "in" the material itself ... and SOME day all epoxied flies turn yellowish. :)
Snoekbaars,
I think your treatment of the epoxy is more important than the brand. My flies used to turn yellow too, and I think that was because I used to mix it on paper - typically post-it stickers - and even using a wooden toothpick to mix and apply.
At shows in the US I talked to several fly tyers using epoxy, and most of them said that paper and wood was absolutely no-no in connection with epoxy. It simply leaves residues of organic stuff in the epoxy and that supposedly turns the whole thing yellow over time.
In stead I now use aluminum foil or plastic scraps and plastic sticks, and that has helped. I still have some flies that turn yellow, but most stay nice and clear, although I'd still like to be able to tie some of those glass clear flies that many tyers produce.
Another advantage of the foil is that you can accellerate the hardening process by heating the epoxy over a hot lamp. This will at the same time help bubbles evade the mix, which also turns slightly more fluid for a moment, and result in clearer epoxy.
Martin
Fantastic! I never had a clue on how to compare hooks from different brands or what the numbers meant in the pattern books for flies!
Carlo,
Look for Alec Jackson's Premium Japanese Silk Floss on the web and there are plenty sources including online shops.
Martin
Good evening!
I write you from Turin (Italy) and I'd like to know where is possible to find the japanese floss silk in the picture.
thank you
Hi,
I, like Martin, hate calm mirror like water in the salt. I prefer and tend more and more towards windy / fresh days.
Looking back, I have caught more larger - basically - more fish on windy / slight coloured water days. I guess the sea trout prefer more noise, water movement and of course more food in the water.
It's not an over night success casting in the wind. You just have to adapt and forget what you have seen at casting demonstrations in sports halls (no wind there) and try to find a way to get that fly out.
Don't be saddened by onshore winds. You'll be surprised just how many fish lurk close to shore in the hubbub of weed, dirt and food!
Enuff said...
Ripley
That is a most fascinating report. Thanks for sharing!
Bernard
So. Cal.
Great info on making your own strike indicator's. I have been making my own now for a few years and have been using "macrame yarn". I have found this stuff at craft shops in all sorts of colors and does it ever float well.The tip about the latex strip is fantastic. Instead of using fly floatant for that extra boost I have found a product called "Albolene" It is a "make-up remover" with a large content of parafin wax. I'm sure you could float a lug nut with this stuff!. It is available at Walgreens Drug Stores. I have had a container of this stuff for 3 years now and I'm only about half way through it. It also works well on large dries such as hoppers stimulators etc. Not very good for small stuff. $7.00 gets you 12oz. Another indispensible tool for my yarn indicators is a stiff comb to "pimp-up" the yarn after it starts to mat out.
Another indicator that I have been using might be of interest to some of your readers. Try using a "Water Balloon". Yup I said water balloon!. A friend who guides on the Green River suggested it to me. I guide on the Bow River here in Alberta myself. Water balloons are quite small- about an inch and a half un-inflated. Blow it up to the size of your thumb nail and attach it snug to your leader with 2 overhand knots, one above the other.Tie it around your leader just like you are tying off a balloon You will be able to adjust it at anytime and it will never sink. The key is not to make it to big or casting will be an adventure. They come in every available color and are very cheap. Here in Canada $2.00 gets you a 100 of them.Try Walmart type stores.There really is a specific balloon made for filling with water so make sure you get "water balloons". any other is just to big. In order to camoflage the bright colors, once tied on the leader I will take a black permenant marker and cover the bottom of it leaving the top quite visable.. VERY sensitive to anything going on under the water.
Great website. I have found it full of very usefull info and insight so I thought I would share some things I have discovered to be helpfull on the river. Thanks!!
Large rivers are protected all year in a 500 meters half circle outside the estuary, meaning that you have to go half a kilometer along the beach before you can fish legally. Most zones are NOT marked.
Smaller streams have the same protection, but only in the winter during the spawning run. I think the dates are November 15th to January 15th.
Martin
Martin, last Sunday did not seem so windy after I watched that video. 🙄
Thanks for the information on ide. I am always very interested in finding new species and techniques, I will definitely want to try it out.
The protective zone just outside Tryggevælde, how big is it and is it marked? I can't remember the distance from the river mouth where you are not allowed to fish...
Though windy during the day, the weather picked up and ended like this. I could not resist to share this photo with you (it looks much better when enlarged). My colleague was holding a spinning rod, sorry for this faux pas, I was the one flyfishing.
P.S. I do not know if I am just unlucky, however, since the garfish appeared, I have not hooked any seatrouts ever since. Is anyone else also hopeless this way? :shock:
I fished a pond in Sperryville, Virginia today and picked up about a seven pound Largemouth on a hair bug. The guy is sending me some pics that I will post (if I figure out how). I also caught about ten Bluegills, all just under ten inches.
I told you so... ;-)
I actually detest calm conditions on the coast. Casting with a good wind is much better and catching is soooo much better when there's some wave action and you'd be amazed how much wind can be overcome and produce fish.
This little Windows video from one of our Bornholm trips proves my point. Kasper dragged four big sea trout of this inferno.
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WInd is a good thing on the coast as long as it is on your side.
Martin
The ide (Leuciscus idus) do go into the salt, even though the salt isn't that salty alt all. We're talking the brackish water of the Baltic here, but anyway...
But the fish can also be caught in the streams and lakes.
Martin
Ide in the salt water? or I just misunderstood something?
If we are talking the same fish, this is a very common fish in the streams and lakes in Slovakia, and a very frequent catch even for the beginners. It is a real predator as for its behaviour, though very timid. It can be caught on anything basically, small streamers as well as dry flies and nymphs (to say nothing about wobblers if spinning)
So did I. But surprisingly, even though I am not an experienced flyfisher, I have achieved easier and longer casts under the windy conditions. It was even difficult to cast with spinning gear the other day, but the flyline turned out to be the right choice. I reckon the right wind can enhance your flyfishing experience.
Hi guys!
Besides talking about army stuff 😉 , is there anything going for our CLAVE in Funnen? Is there something I can do to help?
Looking forward to hearing from anyone!!!
Tight lines
Eddy
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