FlyAgra..
Monday, August 15, 2011 at 11:57AM
For my first post I'm going to forgo the normal fish picture and share a photo taken by my friend Peter while we were on the way to a smallmouth trip recently. If any of you out there thought you had bad parents you need to check this out!! We could hardly believe our eyes..on a blind curve..double yellow line..
Yep folks..you saw that right! One way to save money on asphalt, and tuition!
Flyagra...
This was recently shown to me by my friend and guide partner Bob Durham and it's great stuff! So for my first DIY contribution I thought I would pass it along. We use it to treat dry flys, especially CDC dries, and to treat our strike indicator yarn. It is the best floatant I've ever used even if it may constitute a fire hazard! To make flyagra you will need Alobolene make up remover..it comes in a white jar with a blue lid and can be purchased at most Walgreens or any other store that sells make up products. Second you will need a bottle of good old fashioned lighter fluid..the kind your parents used in their Zippo lighter. Last, a mixing bowl you will never want to use for anything else..
Scoop out some Albolene into the mixing bowl, I usually do about a tablespoon or so and place it in a microwave for about 15 seconds. This warms it up and helps it to start melting a bit, then add about twice the amount of lighter fluid as Albolene, maybe a little more, it doesn't have to be exact. You just want it to be liquid and look relatively clear, not like a paste. That's it! Soak whatever you want to treat in it and squeeze out the excess, after it dries it doesn't stink as bad and it will make things float just about all day. I've been using it all season, especially on strike indicator yarn, with great results, prompting many of our guests to ask where I got the stuff. Give it a try, and no, I didn't make up the name.
Next up:
Clinch river Fall fishing run down and wooden drift boats! I've built several of them and considering building another..this was the first one that started it all for me, recently restored and back on the Clinch with it's new owner John Morris of Nashville.
Reader Comments (2)
Mike, great site idea. I suggest you put up something on river courtesy. Better yet. I will. As you know it is a hot button with me. I wish people would give some thought to how they approach other fishing anglers on our tailwaters. My approach if i am in a boat is to ask a wading fisherman (if possible) where he would like for me to pass him as I come downstream or uptream in a boat. If I pass a wading guy I will try to avoid fsihng in . say, 50 yards of the area where I passed him so that he has downstream water that is hopefully undisturbed. If i am wading or anchored and fishing and I recognize that the approaching boat, canoe or kayak is not a fisherman I will ask them courtesly to consider passing me in a manner that does not tear up the pool or area I am fishing. Almost all of them are happy to comply . The power boat passing issue is a tougher one. The individual rivers all seem to have their own rules or non-rules when it comes to power boats going up stream or downstream. or when passing other anglers or canoeists in still water. On the Clinch it seems to be dog-eat -dog and the power boat guys under full tilt often blast right through everybody ; on the Caney, South Holston and others there is more courtesy and at least some of the power boats slow down some of the time. In Ky they all slow down--and you better too. I will say that the offending power boat guys are very seldom trout fisherman themselves. Sometimnes passing wading or anchored angler s under power is necessary, particularly if you are in a jet or a prop where the only shallow water passage in right where someone else might be standing or anchored and there is no other slot in which the pasing power boat can get by. Stoping and takeing the time to apologize in advance of blowing through always seems to leave a better taste in in the other partys mouth I think. If people would just talk to each otehr courtesly a lot of the confrontations will be avoided. To your credit Mike, I think you and your guides are the most courteous guides and anglers on the rivers in East Tenn--some others who call themselves guides becasue they own a row boat could take some lessons .
Thanks Joe.. courtesy has always been a persistant problem. It seems such a simple thing, do unto others etc.. but it rarely seems to work that way. I plan to do a post on the subject in the not too distant future but in some ways it's probably preaching to the choir since most of the offenders are probably not reading this site but what the heck! Thanks for the comment and the kind words. I will say this, guides should know better, they put themselves out there as professionals and need to act like it. If a guide is discourteous it's embarassing to all guides, and their clients. They should be called on it!