Good for them! ;) Yup. They're about the happiest guys I know on the water. They're doing what they want and no apologies (and no discussion). I fish "with" several of them. As in, we drive to the water together then go our separate ways til meet-up hour back at the truck. I mis-character...

I know several guys that just prefer dry flies and watching the fish take. To a man they're older guys who've been fly fishing 50 years and could teach classes about fishing nymphs and streamers. They'll all tell you that these days they're more interested in HOW they fish than fish counts they can ...

I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I hang on to my old gear way too long. No such thing for me and rods! If they're dogs, they don't stay around, but good rods from 50 years ago are still good rods today, if different than the contemporary models. Call it sentiment, but I still set aside...

How about One More Sage. ;) I love the One for everything but reaching deep into my pocket for extra distance. I've found other brands and models a little more capable on days when you need that extra rod and line speed to reach the fish, especially in stout wind. But that's a pretty situation, and ...

briansII wrote:...but quickly came to my senses.

Whew!

Near misses can be really scary.

briansII wrote:I'm old, but not THAT old.

And here I thought I'd spotted a fellow geezer in our midst!

...a local shop(Buz's Fly Shop). Every trip to the shop I would take it off the rack and wiggle it. It was on sale for quite a while, and one day it was gone. :cry: Shop is gone now too. :sad: You just dated yourself! As a kid I met Buz shortly before his death (1965-66?) and made annual safaris to...

Oh yeah. Those older Winstons are still as good as the day they were built. Last year I picked up a 9' 10WT BL5 five-piece for $200, if you can imagine. It got quite the workout in Florida this winter. Not quite so smooth as the 10' 7WT, but it's still head and shoulders above anything else in that ...

Recently picked up an old Winston 5-piece 10' 7WT BL5 in pristine condition, and just put a line on it. Wow. Not as fast as today's typical "graphite" rod, but with just enough extra spine in the right places. A little faster than glass, yet it doesn't flex clear back into the handle when ...

If I have one gripe, the line is only 80'. Yes, even the SA Frequency lines have 82’–85’ lengths. Not sure why, perhaps its a cost cutting trend. I had a chance to spend time with a couple of SA line engineers a few years back, and I've done the same with a couple of the RIO folks. The SA folks exp...

My only experience is with the original Aqualux, and that might steer you away from it for high, cold lakes. It REALLY didn't like cold weather and cold water, acting more like a Slinky than a fly line. I'm partial to 40' heads, but not spring coils of running line trying to get through the guides o...

2 hours to the Chama, Pecos, and Valles Caldera. 3 hours to the Rio Gorge, San Juan. 4 hours to the Animas, Arkansas, and the Rockies. Hint hint. And only 2 minutes from fresh green chili and the best Mexican food in the whole country. You lucky dog, you! Beware the social trap of claiming which gr...

Only option is to boycott them. If enough folks do it, they'll move on to running political conventions or some such.

Talk about a fine-

My wife buried #4 Clauser with intact barb in her thumb, and standard field removal techniques didn't work out. Hop over to the emergency room and pay $1264 to have it removed.

Your choice who you pay, but we're certified pinchers.

A stashed mountain bike chained to a tree is a good idea. If you don't want to leave the pontoon behind while fetching your vehicle on the mountain bike, depending on the size of the water craft, there are bike cargo carts that might be able to work for you. In the setting described, another altern...