New ticket item

I think I read that last year, at least there was a weight restriction for 1/8 oz.  weight on the fly itself. I still think there must be a line in there somewhere about type of flyline or cast used, otherwise it's gonna be a chuck and duck circus. With a 1 wt. running line I can flip that weight  40 feet , easy.  With the low water, 1/8 oz. is plenty to c&d.  Seems ridiculous to change from type of cast, which can be seen from a mile away, to weight which is very subjective if they don't carry accurate scales. Are the officers going to be trained to know the difference between lead, tin and tungsten? Ask Troutbum21 the hassle he got in last year with a wool sculpin. It may be to knock back the Speytards using 600 grain heads to flip over marbles. They'll still need scales to judge accurately.   Doesn't bother me,  the max is what I use at 1,000 cfs. Seems like they painted  a grey area  another shade of grey.
I wonder what they'd do if you use a  length of T-17 or LC-13 incorporated into the leader. Makes it sink like a rock.   I may buy a few poly-leaders. You can get them in 10' lengths for steel that sink 6 ips.  That gets around some of the weight issue for higher flows. 
Charlie

Clint, the difference between c&d and rollcasting is night and day. The officers I talked to looked for people doing it on the fly zones. The only grey area in casting is when you use a short, wide loop to do what I call a bolo cast. The weight is held tight in a continuous arc then cast forward.  It's pretty dam obvious, even then. The  11-12 regs still used the word "traditional" to differentiate out  using running lines and straight mono compared to "fat" flylines.  I can't find the 12-13 regs online, so I can't see what the changes are.  If they still incorporate the word "traditional", then the regs have remained the same.  I saw some guys get tickets in the LFZ for C&D, if that's gone by the wayside, I'll just stay downriver where's it's been legal all along. Easier to find open areas. The 1/8 eliminates alot, but if they allow any cast, it will be very hard to enforce, other than weighing every single anglers rig. 
 
Charlie

Clint, I modified my first post about a different kind of leader to use. I'm going to pick some up and try them out. They may be the ticket for getting low in the cold, but remaining legal and ethical, too.
 
Charlie

Nice read guys... who wants bet that within five years they will ban the sinking poly leaders though...

I always thought the amount of weight (split shot, etc) on a line should be in direct correlation to the CFS.  An 1/8 ounce of weight may not be sufficient in heavier flows.  Whereas that same weight may be too much in 185 CFS.  Last week I proved that you can have success in lighter flows with little or no weight other than a bead headed fly.  One of the keys to success is getting your presentation in the water column where fish are active.  If you are not you are wasting your time and effort.    

Hello everyone I am here.....at Salmon Heaven that is
Get a kick out of reading this thread about weight propelling the line.Now we have to weigh the shot to make sure we are n't too heavy?LMAO
Meanwhile below the bridge the GOONS are slashing,herding and lifting away.Hey maybe the DEC is out there actually doing something about it as the parking lot at their headquaters is empty today as I drove by.
Well enough of this as the Salmon are beckoning

Jerry, i think youre on to something with different weights for different flows... but what about depths???

Clint, i disagree to leaving it up to the individual officer because in the end it will be an unfair trade to some anglers based on moods and attitudes/opinions differing from different officers...


What im getting at here is basically what charlie said earlier... they have succeded in painting a grey wall a sifferent shade of grey... id say just fish how you feel is best suiting and leave it at that... ive fishedbeen the lfzwater since ita opened andearly never once was approached by an officer...
when fishing turns in to a grey colored political debate with more questions than answers it takes the fun right out if it...

JACK!!!

GIVE ME A RING THIS WEEK SO WE CAN HIT THE WATER SOMETIME!!!

DB
Is this 50 shades of grey or just a couple shades of grey.   
As far as being up to the CO, I take your point.     I meant to say we should be able to use the amount necessary to get the fly down (not have the CO decide how much weight we can use based on flow) and if the fisherperson is fishing unethically, just like on the main river, they should be ticketed.

I should have added sink tips are still allowed.  The polyleader(really not a sink tip) would be at the least considered an extension of a legal flyline.  Just don't add more than 4' of tippet. A short piece of T-17 (tungsten,  coated flyline that weighs 17 grains per foot)  can be put on  loop to loop connections  between your flyline and your leader. This will head  downhill soon as it hits the water. Lots of leeway put in the law to allow ethical (yeah, I know, it's a  debatable point) flyfishers to still be successful.  Won't be as easy, and you have to adapt a little to some new rigs, but very doable. The one thing I dislike is, in high, fast water extra  weight could get a heavier tippet down. Now, I'll have to think about dropping down in size and have to fight fish longer in the conditions where it's harder to land them. This year, we may not have to worry about that.
 
Charlie
 

At what point does having  more than 1/8 ounce of weight zinging by your ear come into the discussion.  There is a practical limit to what you can comfortably and safely throw, or even roll and get the leader to turn over.   As one of the people who first spooled with running line over 20 years ago, it was not intended as a lifting technique but as a way to still use a fly rod when the flow went way up and the amount of weight needed made traditional casting hazardous.  But we quickly came to realize what Fred Kuepper was saying, if the flow is that high, you are better off using a long spining rod.  Oh that's right you then can't fish the 1/4 mile petting zoo, and would have to learn some part of the remaining  17 miles of river, and would not be under the watchful eyes of the assembled becoming legend in your and their mind when you land that semi-chromer that has already been leashed and walked a half dozen times that day!
 
I've never really understood the "exclusive" nature of fly fishing.  But if you were in Europe or the Canadian maritimes, and you were fishing salmon, it is no weight, fly or leader, like the zones in the summer, regardless of flow.  It makes them more difficult to catch, and impossible to snag, and that is the idea.
 
L13

I'm not sure I ever saw the need for the zones.  I want a teneka only zone rods have to be between 13 and 16 feet in length no more than 20' compbined line and leader, only paired water skis allowed for fighting the steelheads!
 
I never liked weighted flies, so use of small (B, BB, 3/0) was always my choice for getting the fly down. Deeper? Cast further upstream.
 
L13

zones fill a great need.
i need those people crammed in shoulder to shoulder so i can have room to fish down river.
edit
this was meant sarcasticly but with a definate grain of truth.
if for some reason fishermen want to cram themselves into these areas it gives more water to those not minding mingling with the masses.
end edit

The SR is a a  downscale  fishery for big fish. Trying to go upscale, at least in  meaningless ,artificial ways, like allowing  the DSR and putting aside the zones, is probably counter-productive. Like 2b said,  the zones  might concentrate those you dislike, but  other than that, they serve little purpose in saving beat up, tired hatchery fish. 

Remember pre fly zones ? Humm guess not many folks fished back then as there was no other water. We really should go the route as the true sportsman who fish for atlantics , ya know. No weight, guided beats and totally unaffordable for poor slobs. But then again that's a put & take fishery, the sr isn't .
So . Instead of walking those tired dogs around because they are trapped in the fly area( like a canned hunt) we should keep every fish that is caught in say, schoolhouse, wires, Ellis or any other area that the floattillia might travel. They only tire so long on a stringer.

I just don't get it sometimes. Maybe we should just spend our days wages walking the river admiring all the pretty fish instead of actually fishing. PETA would like it that way.

Twobob:
It was very crowded in the UFZ last week as it always is.
My advice to all is don't bother going to them there are many other better spots to stand shoulder to shoulder chucking as much lead as your rod can handle.

of course these other places weren't during columbus day weekend.
and very little weight was needed with the room availible to manipulate your flyline.
edit
not realizing that hot tuna was being sarcastic about the crowds in the ufz these were posted to show people that there is more to the salmon river than just the zones and that it is not always ahole to elbow.
once again columbus day weekend all bets are off.
end edit