I was thinkin the same thing. All that tandom rigging, color changing, tippet tying...It does get a little "boring". Next time I go, it's spinning rod and some bait for me. Btw, thanks for reminding us all how we started. Thanks
 
 
Jason

ORIGINAL: brown trout

Awesome post, Mikeg, that's what fishing is all about. On a side note, many people, even bait fisherman, have no idea how good nightcrawlers really work when fished right for trout/steelhead/salmon.

Stopped using Night Crawlers years ago as they made it even easier then chumming eggs..lol

please edit your message eggie
 
haha thanks Mike!!

Darn worm fishermen. Next they will be setting chairs and sticks along the bank like they are carp fishin'. Think I might go get my worms out of the downstairs fridge and go drown some bait(locally). I need the practice to get my hand and arm back in shape from some surgery about a month ago.

Great post Mike - that's what it's really about - just enjoying being there(anywhere).

Mike, great post and great story. I've got boxes full of different flies for steelhead. I guess I'll have to give it a try like you did. Leave it all in the truck and go after 'em with a coffee can full of worms and my mitchell 300. My Dad always told me that was the only sure way to fish - God Bless Him.

I can really relate to this thread.  You mentioned $400 rods? How about a couple that cost over $600 each ? Started off many, many years ago with a fiberglass Shakespear rod and a el-cheapo reel. Caught fish. Got away from flyfishing for quite awhile. When I returned I decided to buy better equipment. I more or less figured the better, higher tech, alas, more expensive rod and reel and all the other stuff that tagged along for hundreds more would somehow turn me into a better fisherman. Wrong! All it did was make me lighter in the wallet with far more rods and reels, lines, leaders, flies, etc., that I would ever use in two lifetimes. Hard to believe I was so dumb to have ended up with all that stuff. Same with tieing flies. All I wanted to learn how to tie was a black woolybugger. Fellow at the hunting and fishing store showed me how. Bought what I needed to get started includeing a vice that cost about $35.  Needless to say things escalated from there. Probably over $300 in another vice plus a couple of grand in assorted odds and ends through the course of time. There are so many feathers in my basement, it looks like a aviary! I surely do wish I never, ever got so involved in this hobby. As a side note, about 4 years ago I took that old fiberglass rod along on a trip to fish some ponds at a resort, permission and a pass  were needed to fish. The ponds had some nice sized rainbows in them. Used the expensive stuff and didn't catch a fish. The ponds also had some stripers in them. Broke out the old fiberglass 7 wt. and hammerd quite a few of those stripers. They went about 3 to 5 pounds, Had a blast. No doubt I could have done as well with the "Better" rod and reel if I had targeted the bass, but it just goes to show you don't need high priced gear to catch fish. It was just a trip down memory lane I suppose. If I had to do it all over again as far as flyfishing and tieing  is concerned I would have followed this axiom, "keep it simple, stupid."

ORIGINAL: bigfoot

Prince Albert can

I prefer the legendary Hillsboro Coffee Can..

Great thread Mike. 

Only if your lucky.

"i left the city in the darkness, alone but not lonely"
 
i believe i have eight different books by gordon, including the trilogy.  if there was a man who could write fireside, who could make you want to be cold or wet, it was he.  sometimes doubletaper seems to parallel macquarrie.

nice encore presentation!

I talk to Mike at least one a week...I'll send him a FishErie hello.

I remember this thread, this was a great one!  

LMAO....more like a super intelligent redneck.
 
What do you call a neurosurgeon with a rifle and an itch to poke somethin'?.......Mike G of course.