[Ginseng Sullivan]

i was at the bar looking for a hook up. the crowd was thinning and the prospects were slimming quickly. worked a big girl for a few and when i came out of the john she was walking out with some old guy with a limp. one skanky bar fly left and she passed out in the middle of my awesome pick up lines. looking around there was just the two of us left. me and the guy in the tight shirt with the high, lispy voice who kept looking at me all night. WTF might as well, huh?

to me, it's the same thing as fishing a bead on a fly rod.

[SLSS]

Don't be drawing me into this just because I have a limp. Not limp, just have one.

In AK (tr to come next week) the joint fishes a lot of beads. That's the way they do it. I tried it for about 15 minutes. After I'd caught a dozen fish (in the 15 minutes), I quit for the day and went exploring. I don't want fishing to be that easy. Char behind salmon reds. Gobbling.

That said, I got talking to a guy in a western fly shop about it. He was really down on beads, but fine with glo bugs. He said, You don't tie a bead. Al least you have to tie a glo bug.

I said, How many glo bugs do you sell? He said, A lot.

The guides in AK said the glo bugs work fine, they just get taken deeper, and do a lot more damage to the fish. Beads were a lot easier to deal with with their clients, nearly always ending p with a hook-up on the outside of the fishes mouth, not damaging gills and easily removed. If people are catching 50 to 100 fish in a day, that actually makes sense to me.

And if you are counting tying glo bugs as part of your skill set, I think tying your wading boots should be included too.

I prefer neither, but I'm not going to condemn either.

[Eider]

Is it alright to put a cheap spinning reel on your expensive 13' two-hander because you've swung for 3 days straight without getting a pull?

I'm confessing to my sins.

Note: I didn't fish beads with a fly line. Why would you? It's easier to fish beads with mono. So if you want to fish beads, don't pretend like your classy. Use the right gear for the job.

[shunned]

it's about time somebody found us something else we all can hate.

[fatman]

an interesting debate; and I do believe that it's possible to discuss the various points without necessarily hating those whose views don't completely mesh with my own...Lee Wulff thought that fish deserved the sanctuary of the deep, some people think streamers are a step away from bait.....Mel Krieger made the point that catch and release fishing is pretty twisted in it's own right....

In one area that I fish, a bead (or soft rubber egg) does not meet the definition of a "fly", thus making it illegal in "fly only" sections of the river. However, the definition (a single hook lure dressed with fur or feather) does allow a single-hook RoosterTail....

so, back to the subject of fish on the swing:

Does a Prom Dress (ala Scott Howell) with a slip sinker in front (tuned to the precise depth intended) constitute a "fly". And if not, why is it OK to fish a conehead whatever?

[Ginseng Sullivan]

hey fatman, can't you just let me bag on it without having to think about all the crossover issues? i'm trying to keep on as narrow minded a track as possible here and you're harshing my mellow.

eider- right on my man. that is the point. fly fishing at it's very base should at least involve a fly, that's all i'm saying. fish however makes you happy. i don't care but use the proper tool for the job.

so i'm 7/8th of the way up K2. storms the whole way lost two people and several fingers and toes of the survivors. all are delirious, out of oxygen and ready to drop. the top is in sight and just an hour from your grasp.

we hear a familiar yet unexpected noise. suddenly a helicopter zooms into view and passes over head. it disappears above us. we reach the top and drop over awaiting death. looking up we see the chopper and a couple of sports posing for pics with the chopper out of frame.

yep, bead fishermen.

[fatman]

<hangs head, shoulders slumped>

[BigTimber]

hey fatman, can't you just let me bag on it without having to think about all the crossover issues? i'm trying to keep on as narrow minded a track as possible here and you're harshing my mellow.

eider- right on my man. that is the point. fly fishing at it's very base should at least involve a fly, that's all i'm saying. fish however makes you happy. i don't care but use the proper tool for the job.

so i'm 7/8th of the way up K2. storms the whole way lost two people and several fingers and toes of the survivors. all are delirious, out of oxygen and ready to drop. the top is in sight and just an hour from your grasp.

we hear a familiar yet unexpected noise. suddenly a helicopter zooms into view and passes over head. it disappears above us. we reach the top and drop over awaiting death. looking up we see the chopper and a couple of sports posing for pics with the chopper out of frame.

yep, bead fishermen.

awesome analogy.

Been wanting to take a trip to Alaska, but it seems every lodge will want to put you with beads. Are there any that don't? That have a strict policy against beeds and make you work for your fish?

[SLSS]

BT- we just told the guides we didn't want to fish beads. They assured us we wouldn't catch as many fish, and we assured them we were good with that. Should have seen them light up when all three of the art guys pulled out two handers. They knew we were serious about our fishing, and they were into it.

I fished Nick's sculpin, mice and a pink tube, and caught all the fish I felt like I needed to catch. If yo feel the need to catch a bazzilion fish, beads or bugs.

One of the things I didn't realize is that when the salmon are in, the char and rainbows key so hard on the eggs they almost won't look at anything else. I'd suggest you check with wherever you want to go on when best to target the fish you want to fish for, the way you want to fish for them.

[SLSS]

so i'm 7/8th of the way up K2. storms the whole way lost two people and several fingers and toes of the survivors. all are delirious, out of oxygen and ready to drop. the top is in sight and just an hour from your grasp.

we hear a familiar yet unexpected noise. suddenly a helicopter zooms into view and passes over head. it disappears above us. we reach the top and drop over awaiting death. looking up we see the chopper and a couple of sports posing for pics with the chopper out of frame.

yep, bead fishermen.

First time I read this I read delicious, rather than delirious. Makes it a little more multidimensional.

I agree Nick. One of the reasons I fly fish is that it's harder. Swinging flies, you accept right off the bat you're going to catch few Steelhead. Part of the deal. Gotta earn 'em.

[D-nymph]

I like watching the old dudes, who swing threaded minnows (with a double hook in the anal fin) or red worms, up under cut banks, with a 35 year old fiberglass rod they've been using for 35 years, all over PA.

[peetso]

"Taking a trip for six months, if you get in the rhythm of it, it feels like you could just go on forever doing it.

Climbing Everest is the ultimate and the opposite of that, because you get all these high-powered plastic surgeons and CEOs, and you know, they pay $80,000 and have Sherpas put all the ladders in place, and 8,000 feet of fixed ropes. You get to a camp and you don’t even have to lay out your sleeping bag, it’s already laid out with a little chocolate mint on the top.

The whole purpose of climbing Everest is to effect some sort of spiritual and physical gain; but if you compromise the process, you’re an asshole when you start out and you’re an asshole when you get back.” - Yvon Chouinard

I think those bottom lines apply to fishing as well.