Was looking at the pics of Bob's bunny leaches on the pic and river report page. Brought a topic to mind that has been bantered about a bit lately especially with the increased interest in float fishing with a spey rod and a weighted fly (or some call it just a jig). What is your idea of flyfishing in regards to weighting down the fly? Some say that lead, coneheads or dumbell eyes kill the action of a fly. Some prefer fishing the bug with sink tips as opposed to weighting the fly, some say the sinktip is too hard to control. Any opinions?

Well Chuck;
If you are looking for an "opinion" I would like to say put down the fly rod and pickup the Drift Rod. I have been thinking about trying to drift some of the flys I have like a red butted skunk. Ever try that? I have a few other flies kicking around with my jigs. Might even try'em under a float.

I didn't know Cougars fly fished :p I heard your coach is heading for ND.

CND,

I think it depends on two things, the fishing situation at hand and personal preferences. I don't care to cast weighted flies; I've never found that to be at all pleasant unless the weight is too little to matter. However, some situations fish better with a weighted fly fished from a floating line than with any kind of sinking line, unweighted fly arrangement. Small streams, especially, exhibit holding water in small pockets or deep, narrow slots that require that a deep sunk fly get down quickly and be fished dead drift straight downstream, rather than across the current on the swing. Weighted flies are well suited to such situations, and sink tips with unweighted flies are pretty much a waste of time - if hooking fish is the intended outcome.

I've also heard that sink tips don't cast as well as full floating or sinking lines. This is true, but a sink tip casts and handles much better, in my opinion, than casting a weighted fly. It just happens that unweighted flies fished on sink tip lines are well suited to larger rivers with broad holding areas where a wet-fly swing fishes well. BTW, a 15' sink tip casts and handles significantly better than a 10' sink tip.

Weighting a fly certainly changes the flies behavior in the water, but fish still eat them, witness the great popularity of weighted nymphs for trout fishing. It seems that unweighted nymphs are seldom fished anymore in rivers, only still waters.

It comes down to your preference, whether you just want to fish, or if you want to do it with grace and style. Whatever yields the greatest personal satisfaction; and that may change from time to time.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Gutz,
I do from time to time break out the terminal gear. But, I've screwed myself up over the years to feel guilty about using it. I get plenty of activity during spring and fall salmon season with the conventional stuff...however, I always carry a heavy bug rod along when in the ocean or on the Columbia for silver. Next year if the water is clear (which I doubt) I'm bringing the 9wt and going to figure out some way to get a springer on it!
Well, Wazzu hired him from Weber State with a .500 record. I'm not sure he's even got that at Pullman anymore. But, if ND wants a winning program every three to four years...Price is thier boy!!! Hell, maybe they'll take Holmgren in a two fer package...give Holmgren the ND AD job and it would be a done deal.

Chuck'n'Duck,
How is Raymond? My work has an opening there and I was wondering how you like it. Good rivers in close proximity? Just curious about the area. I normally fish the Lewis and Kalama systems.

steelheadaddict

SHA01,
If you aren't looking for an abundance of the arts and what most would look at as events of culture its a nice place to live. Wal-Mart, Sears, and Les Schwab are about 35 minutes away, Costco, Fred Meyer, The Bon, Sportco, and everything else is over an hour. Rains and blows frequently. The mayoral race was won by an individual named "Hawk"...he replaced the incumbent, "Ugly Ed". Yes, that is how they were listed on the ballot. We do have a McDonalds, Subway, and Dairy Queen for your eating pleasure. Aside from that, you are in luck if you like to eat fried gizards for breakfast cause every place has them.
The economy has gone from bad to horrible. There is only one tavern left in the actual town, one whole city block burned down two years ago and another fell down in last years earthquake. On the upside, there is a group of individuals in town who have worked very hard utilizing government grant money and are doing some community revitalzing and looking to attract new business to the area.
Real estate values went up about 75% five years ago and have not dropped with the slow economy. However, I believe properties are significantly less expensive here than closer to the Puget Sound area.
It is isolated and quiet here and yes we are within a 40 minute drive of the Wynoochee and Satsop. Westport also is fairly close for ocean access as is the Columbia. There are year round opportunities for clamming and access to state oyster beds on the bay.
I suppose if you can come here with secure employment already lined up it would be OK. I wouldn't reccomend looking for booming economic possibilites otherwise. Its small town living and everyone knows every gnats ass detail of most others lives. But, it does have bonuses. Might be a little warmer than Libby in the winter months!

Someday I would like to pick up the art of bug flinging. We drag 'em behind the driftboat for stocked rainbows in the spring, but I would like to try on the River someday. I would like to learn the Spey Rod, like Salmo said, Grace and Style.

Good Luck to You and the Cougars!

GutZ

C&D ... the coneheads pictured on the rports page are actually fairly light and I'll fish them on a sinktip just as I would an unweighted fly when I want just a little depth w/o having to manipulate the line anymore or switching lines. Two or three casts and the timing change is ually down and casting just fine ...

Now, when you go to the lead eyes and such, it's a different story. Perhaps a little too close to your moniker. I rarely fish the leaded flies (on a floater) unless I'm dead drifting from the boat covering lots of water.

As Salmo said, it's a personal preference and takes some playing around. Even in flyfishing, it's nice to have as many options as possible in your arsenal ... if you want to consistently catch fish anyhow

When I used to fish my spey rod, I'd prefer fishing a sinktip line w/ a weighted fly. The junction between the sinking and floating line provided a nice "pivot point" in my spey cast and actually made the spey cast easier for me. I used a rio line and a high density sink tip 90% of the time. I would change between weighted and non-weighted flies for depth changes. To keep the flies from hanging up on the swing, I'd just allow a little more belly in the mainline and it would speed up the swing a little and lift the fly up off the bottom.

As for weighting or not weighting, you can change the way the fly is tied (if you tie) to get desired results w/o adding lead or cone heads. A heavy wire hook, slightly oversized and a slimmer profile marabou fly will almost achive the same bulky bunny leech profile, but sink much quicker.

But like stated above, It all depends if you want to give a little more "punch" in your casts, or gracefully toss the fly out there. It all depends on the water fished. Going weightless seemed easier on bigger water, small streams usually required wieght because of shorter holding areas.

Aaron