Bigfoot Invasion?

I got woken up at 0330 by a bunch of banging. I thought the cats were rough housing upstairs. They do the mad kitty dash sometimes at night and Smudge being 19 1/2 lbs sounds like a cow or maybe a Buffalo running across the floor. I grabbed a light from the night stand and was headed toward the stairs with the intention of sending them back to the cat pound (no, I wouldn't do that) when I passed the open window above my fly tying bench.


The noise was not coming from upstairs, but from outside. Back to the nightstand for a larger flashlight and my Ruger .357 loaded with .38 specials. Back light on and outside I went. Flashlight in one had, pistol in the other. The banging continued. It was coming from behind my workshop.


Behind my workshop is where I keep the garbage can. One of those 90 gallon plastic things. To keep out the Racoons, I have it chained to the back of the shop with 3" I-bolts into studs and chain around the can to hold it against the wall. Then a chain through the front handle, over the lid, and back around, chaining the lid shut.



As I approached the shop, I noticed the trash can was lying on its side. A little garbage was laying on the ground. The chain holding the I-bolt had been pulled out of the stud and was laying on the ground. In the near distance, I could hear the padding of big paws hauling ass away from the area. It was clear the bear couldn't get the can open, but he gave it a good try.



I came back inside and told my wife, "I need bigger ammunition and reloaded my .357 with .357's. I had no intention of shooting the bear (Black Bear I would assume), but I wanted:
1. a louder noise if necessary to scare it and 2. more power if that didn't work. I wasn't going to be breakfast, and I didn't want to go out there unarmed.

Well, it wasn't Bigfoot although I'm still waiting to see one, but a bear looking for breakfast. I suspect he'll be back. I understand there is someone up on the hill behind us, who just piles their trash behind their house. Definately a bear lure.

Ah hell, I wanted to get up at 0330 any way. NOT.

Till next time, aah the joys of country living.

Mark (Shoreman)

Brrrrrrr, Damn That Was Cold

Japan defeated Hawaii 4 to 1 for the LLWS Championship. Congratulations Japan.

My Son call last night. "Fishing on for tomorrow, meet us at Red Lake at 0900". If you'll remember from a post last year, I bought Ken and Ranae (Daughter-in-Law) fishing licenses for Christmas. This will be the first time Ranae has been fishing in quite a while (her words).

Being the early bird I am, I arrived at 0825. This is what it looked like. Cloudy and COLD. Felt like November, not August. I don't have a thermometer in my truck, so I can't tell you an exact temperature, only that it was cold and the wind was blowing.

Got my usual spot because nobody else was dumb enough to be out in this weather. Put out one rod with Rainbow Power Bait and a silver Kastmaster on the other. Ten minutes into casting to the right with the Kastmaster and I had landed and released two Brookies. Another five minutes into casting a silver Panther Martin to the left and two more Brookies landed and released. I thought, CRAP, if I keep this up I'll spook them by the time Ken and Ranae get there. So I put down my rod and vegged. Left the one with PB out because it wasn't doing anything anyway.

Vegging in that temperature is not fun. Hat, hooded sweatshirt, fleece gloves, and a frozen butt from sitting on a rock. Oh the joy of fishing.

By 0930 they still hadn't shown up, so I started fishing again. When they got there (Grandkids were home still sleeping) at about 0945, I had landed and released three more Brookies. Ken got Ranae set up with a silver Kastmaster and I went over to help her out. Ken started catching and releasing. I wanted this to be a positive experience for her, first time fishing in a long time. Pulled in the rod with PB to get it out of the way.

This picture is just getting started.

Ranae got into the swing and while I was around the bend, she caught one and had Ken help her get it off. The picture below.

By then she was rolling. She changed to a gold/burgandy Little Cleo and landed the one below which weighted in on the handy dandy Berkley Digital Scale at 12 oz. A good 13 incher and the biggest of the day. Beginners luck?

Well, we threw Kastmasters, Panther Martins, and Little Cleo's, caught fish on a bunch of colors in each type. I quit counting at 15, Ken quit counting at 10, and we're not sure how many Ranae caught, but it was a bunch. We did end up with seven on the stringer, which I dropped off at Bob's. The biggest one we kept too, which is second from the left.

Fishing this hot, weather that cold, and we were the only ones fishing. How good is that?

I think Ranae will be back for another shot at Red Lake. Hopefully sooner than later. A good day fishing with the "kids".

Till next time.

Mark (Shoreman)

Little League World Series

You know I'm a follower. Today was the International and United States Championship games.

Chinese-Taipei vs Japan. Game went to extra innings with Japan winning 3-2, the winning run scored in the bottom of the 7th (a normal LL game is 6 innings). Japan is the International Little League Champions.

Texas vs Hawaii. Hawaii slammed Texas, winning 10-0. The 10 run rule applied. The rule states, if the home team (Hawaii in this case) scores 10 more runs than the visiting team by the bottom of the 4th inning, the home team wins. In this case, Hawaii scored the final run in the bottom of the 5th for the win. Hawaii is the United States Little League Champions.

Little League World Series, for the championship, is tomorrow (Sunday) at Noon Pacific
(3:00 pm EST) time on ABC.

Go Hawaii............

Mark (Shoreman)

A New Place

I had an eye doctor appointment this morning in town (Jackson, CA). While I was in town I thought I'd take some time and check out the Mokelumne River. I had a few hours and thought I should use them wisely. How better than to check out a river you've never fished before? Back on Memorial Day (See May 31st post) I had run by this river, but way upstream from where it I was going today.

It's South of town about 2 miles on Highway 49 to a place called Electra Rd. The road itself is only about 5 miles long, but runs along the river the whole way. I happened upon a pickup truck sitting on the side of the road with a Cabela's sticker in the window. Aah, fishermen. Stopped and got out, they were at the river just below. Asked how the fishing was and they said the had gotten a couple of small Brookies and a couple of larger Rainbows, but earlier in the day on spinning gear and spinners. I tootled up the river aways and found an area I could access without repelling gear and parked.

This is the upstream and down stream where I fished.




Upstream Downstream

I started out fishing with the second black Wooly Bugger I had. The first one ended up in the Blackberries and I couldn't find it. Blackberries, Black Wooly Bugger, get it? Never mind.

Nice river for across and down. Across the river was a lot of shade, so I fished into the shade and down stream. Worked from the riffles upstream to the bend downstream. didn't get any interest in the bugger, so I tried a Beadhead Thinmint and Blacknosed Dace. Mix it up a little.

From there I went to my second Beadhead Prince Nymph on an indicator. The first one I dropped in the river when I was tying it. Gone. Nothing there. Then I went to a Beadhead Red Fox Squirrel Nymph on an indicator. Nothing there either.

As I was walking up and down this river, I noticed a bunch of holes in the bottom. Didn't dawn on me until I started to leave that this is a gold mining river and the holes are from suction dredges. I'm not sure why they are there since suction dredges have been banned this year and I'm sure the high water would not have left them from last year. Illegal dredging????

At this point I went back to the truck and since I only had a little time left, I grabbed my spinning rod and a 1/4 oz black Panther Martin and gave it a try. Nope.

I don't know this river at all, but I'll be back. Maybe I need to fish downstream further, maybe upstream further. The guys earlier, were downstream from where I was. Maybe earlier in the morning or later in the day. I'll just have to work that out. Today was a blowout, but you can't expect to just walk to an unknown river and score. How's that for humble.

One last thing. When I got back to the truck and took off my waders, I thought I had a hole in them because both my legs were wet. Didn't dawn on me that, since my socks were dry, the wet wasn't from a leak. I had shorts on, I'll let you figure it out from there.

Not sure if I'll get out again until next week, so if I don't, I see you then.

Mark (Shoreman)

Wednesday, A Day To Relax

First, if you're a baseball fan and you're not watching the Little League World Series, you are missing some superb baseball games. After all, the are the Best, of the Best, of the Best (got that from Men in Black).

Wednesday, a day to relax. Since I'm still feeling the effects of my "trip" on Monday, I thought I'd take my spinning gear, a foam pad, and just sit up at Caples Lake and enjoy the day. Got there at 0845, a little late, but Hey, it's just a day to relax. Since it was expected to be some what warm today I figured the higher, the cooler.

Couldn't get the place I had on Friday the 13th, so I went a little further to the right. Far enough away from the guy fishing there to not be a bother. Put out two rigs with PB and plunked my butt on the pad. Enjoyed the scenery, the weather, and just be outdoors. Did I mention that I didn't catch anything?

An hour or so into the day, the people on the other side of the guy in the hole I wanted, left. I packed up and went over there. Caught a couple of small ones. You know, 9" or so. Then the guy in the hole I wanted left. Now I'm ready for a for a good sit, couple of good sized fish (like the ones on Friday the 13th, and spend the rest of the day being a slug. Did I mention it was getting noticeably warmer? So I had a three count of Rainbows that I caught. Nothing else interested in my offerings. I sat for a while and then my mind started "What if I go to Red Lake and see what's happening there?" The lady at Cooks Station said a couple of guys got limits before Cooks opened on Monday Morning.

Should I? This was supposed to be a day of rest, although it was getting warmer and Red Lake is higher. I went. Arrived at 1045 and got my usual spot. Nobody there. Not a good sign? Never detered me before. Set up one rod with PB and silver Kastmaster on the other.

Over the next two hours, I caught and released 9 Brook Trout in the 9" - 11" range and put 5 on a stringer (bleeding) for Bob (I plow for fish). Got to keep him supplied, Winter is coming although you wouldn't know it from the temperature today. Since I had my limit, I headed home. I got there at 1:00pm and it was an even 100 degrees on my back porch. Keep in mind that I live at 3200 feet in elevation. It's currently 106 in Sacramento. OUCH.

Well, I'm going back upstairs and sit in front of the air conditioner. It's cool down here, but cooler in front of the A/C.

Till the next time I get out and about.

Mark (Shoreman)

I Give Up

I cruised over to Lake Tabeaud (Taboo) this morning to try a "couple of things". I ran by the fly shop last week and picked up a couple of hopper patterns. I thought that Tabeaud would be a good place to test them out since there are reported (by several people) to be "big" browns in the lake.

Got there early and walked to an easily accessable place and noticed the water moving at a really slow pace. I mean, slow enough to put a dry on. So I did. While I was tying on the fly, I noticed fish hitting the surface. A little far out, but the surface none the less. The outlook was great, the water was slow, the fish? Hell if I know. I couldn't get the fly across where they were breaking the surface and there sure wasn't anything on my side.

OK, after trying a Yellow Humpy, Royal Wulff, and an Elk Hair Caddis, I changed tactics. Went with a Zebra Midge under an indicator. Then a Copper John in green under an indicator. All this time slowly dead drifting the inlet.

Wandered down the inlet a little further and fished an area just downstream from an old submerged bridge and still nothing. Wandered around the corner and fish a little pond like area. Still nothing. On the way back to the inlet I came across a gentleman in a Pontoon and his fish finder said there were "bunches" of fish in the lake, but he couldn't get any hits either.

There are fish in the lake, this calls for drastic measures. Back to the truck and out with the spinning rods, Power Bait, and Pro-Cure Anise. That should do the trick.

Remember the last time I was here and the sides were slimy? Yup, they still were and walking back, not paying attention (my mind was filled with huge fish on PB), I managed to slip and fall on my butt and I have to tell you, it was slimy. Mud every where. My sneakers were covered, my pants were covered, my t-shirt was covered, and so was my tackle box. But, I was determined. Out went two rigs.

What I caught was weeds, weeds, and more weeds. Every cast had weeds on the hook and on the sinker, no matter where I put it. So, after my little "trip" and weed after weed, I gave up. Oh, I did try three hopper patterns, with and without droppers (Prince Nymph and some other nymph, I don't know what it was) and they didn't even get noticed.

There may be "big" browns, rainbows (I caught one last July), and "bunches" of fish on the fish finder, someone else can have them. I'm done with this lake.

Till the next time.

Mark (Shoreman)

Some Place Different

My plan today was to go somewhere different. You're probably tired of hearing about Red Lake, Caples Lake, Bear River Reservoir, so I thought I'd give you something new.

When I left home, I told my wife I was going to Wrights Lake area. I always tell here where I'm going, just in case. Cruising up Highway 50 out of Placerville (also known as Old Hangtown from the gold rush days) toward South Lake Tahoe, I almost stopped at the bridge where the South Fork of the American crosses the highway. With all the stuff I had packed (all my rods, all my fly rods, the Float Tube Cumberland, flippers, tackle boxes, wader bag, and last but not least, my gear bag with some where near 5000 flies. Maybe not quite that many, but it's full). there was barely room for me to drive, but I was focused on what lay ahead on Wrights Lake Road (WLR).

What I wanted to do was first was fish Silver Creek. It runs out of Silver Lake and across the canyons intersecting with WLR. I've fished this creek before and caught fish on spinners. Now I want to hit it with a fly rod. If that didn't pan out, I was going to try Lyons Creek, just a mile or so up the road. If all else failed, the DFG stocked Dark Lake & Wrights Lake last week and the Float Tube Cumberland could be launched in either lake.

Came to the turn off and there was a big Cal Trans (the guys that do highway work and/or just lean on shovels) that said, WRIGHTS LAKE ROAD CLOSED. CRAP...... To go the back way I would have had to go back to where the American crosses Highway 50 and then another 30 or so miles around to the lakes. Not going to happen.

Scratch plan A. Plan B was to hit the South Fork of the American way up the hill. Remember I mentioned that all the turnouts, down below, on the highway were marked "Emergency Parking Only", so I went higher. I remembered a post on Virtual Fly Guides that Darin or Sean (I don't know who's who) fished at a place on the South Fork back on June 21st, but I couldn't remember where. I also remembered a day picnic area right on the river. Couldn't find it.

What I did find was a place called Lower Echo Lake, part of Upper and Lower Echo Lakes. Followed the road to the lake and what I found was a $5.00 day parking lot. A lake with waves about a foot high (whitecaps) and no parking or access to the lake anywhere except the parking lot.

Plan C. Head back down the road and try another creek. I'll get to that later. What I did find was the picnic area, or what used to be the picnic area. It's now a dirt parking area, the picnic tables are all but disintegrated, and the "outhouse" is gone. The river is still there!!! Place is called 42 Milestone Tract. 42 miles from some where. I'm not sure where.



This is the river at that point. Fished it, lost a couple of flies, and didn't see anything that looked like a fish. Although, I did have an indicator disappear with a Zebra Midge on it, but when I picked up the rod tip, nothing on it.



Back to Plan C. There is a creek off the South Fork called Silver Fork. I've fished this creek since I moved to Northern California in 1975, in fact it's the first creek in Nor Cal I ever caught a trout on. DFG stopped stocking this creek a couple of years ago. Has to do with the New Zealand Mudsnail. They don't want it getting into this creek like it is in the Lower Owens (which I fished last Month), so they just don't take any chances.

Walked down to the creek and found this little hole.



Lobbed a Yellow Humpy and fish on!!





Took a quick snap of him swirling around and then one of him for posterity. He got to go home for another day. Since the creek hasn't been stocked in a couple of years, he had to be a native. Besides, when they did stock it, the place was several miles upstream from where I was.




Fished for another hour or so, but only spooked one other fish. No skunk today. Oh, one other thing, when I got home I looked up the place where Virtual Fly Guides fished. Guess what? 42 Milestone Tract. Great Minds? Dumb luck? The only access to the river would be my guess.


And that folks, is Wednesday's fishing. A lot of miles, one fish.

Till next time.

Mark (Shoreman)

Friday the 13th

Before we get into this post, read the one about the lobster.

No particular questions from the 8/6 post, so here we go.

Are you superstitious? Some people will not even get out of bed on Friday the 13th. Not Shoreman, I go fishing. Picked up Bob (unofficial blog photographer, Bob. Also I plow for fish, Bob) at 0700 and headed for Red Lake. Stopped at Cooks Station for coffee and off we went.



Got to Red Lake at 0745 and it was calm & smooth as glass. Nobody there, so I got my usual spot and put out one rod with PB and Kastmasters on the other. To make a long story short,
1 1/2 hours of fishing and all I had to show for it was one little 9" Brookie I caught on a gold Kastmaster. Wasn't worth keeping, so he went back for another day.

Packed up and headed back to Caples Lake. Found a spot to park at the dead tree and wandered down to the lake.



Wanted to bring to your attention the snow on the far mountain. August 13th and still snow on the hill. Next to us was a gentleman fishing and as normally happens, we start yaking. Turns out this guy is Jerry Brown. You know the guy running for Governor in California. Nope, not that Jerry Brown.

Seems Jerry stopped at Cooks Station for coffee this morning and was told about some guy that caught 22 trout at Red Lake last week. Hmmm, wonder who that could be? Well, Jerry needed some assistance because it was his first trip to Caples. He lives over in Tuolumne County (South of here) and usually fishes Alpine Lake and a couple of other lakes over there.

Being the good guy I am (pat on the back, pat on the back. OK, I'm a Leo.), I set Jerry up with the same slip sinker rig I use. It was one of those, I've got fluorocarbon for leader, but don't have small treble hooks. So we dug around in his box and my box and got his two rods rigged. We also used the little dollop of Anise, just in case.

Here is how it went. I caught one on one rod, then another on my other rod, then Jerry caught one on his rod, then one on his other rod, and so forth and so on.

Then I caught this one. That's Jerry sitting in the background. He has a lot more hair than that guy running for Governor.



On the handy dandy Berkley Digital Scale, 1.11 lbs. Didn't get a length measurement, but I'd estimate 20 or 21 inches. I caught one more (4 on the stringer) then Bob and I called it a day. At that time, Jerry had 4 on his stringer also. We packed up and as we topped the hill, Jerry yelled that he just hooked his 5th. Not a bad day for Friday the 13th, even for the new guy.



This picture was of the big one coming to shore, but what I really wanted you to see was the clarity of the water at Caples. OK, the fish too. Crystal clear water compared to the green (and now almost a teal color) at Red Lake.

After 4 days of loading, hauling, and unloading 3 cord of firewood (6 trips in my pickup), it was nice to have a day of rest, just hanging out at the lake. Nice having Bob for company and nice meeting Jerry (even though he's not the guy running for Governor or may we're better for it).

That's it for this adventure. Till next time.

Mark (Shoreman)

Lobster Bisque Anyone?

My long time friend, Dave in Missouri, sent me a link to an article in the Sun Sentinel, an online newspaper from Broward County, Florida. Before I posted this, I made sure that Alan over at Suwannee Refugee didn't beat me to the punch. So, here is the link for you to check out.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/outdoors/fl-outdoors-lobster-catch-0813-20100813,0,247067.story

Guy catches a 6 lb lobster at the beginning of lobster season. OK, "so what", you say.

1. Dave & I grew up in Deerfield Beach where the lobster was caught.
2. Dave & I caught lobster off the beach in Deerfield Beach.
3. Dave & I caught lobster right where this guy caught a 6 lb lobster.
4. The lobster was caught 70 ft south of the fishing pier where Dave and I spent most of our lives from age 9 to 16 (for me) and longer for Dave.

OK, I think you get the picture. Home turf. I don't know why we never caught a 6 lb lobster.

Enough of the lobster whinning. I've got a trout post to get to.

Mark (Shoreman)

The Plan For Friday

Plan 1 - Bob (I plow for fish) and I were going to drive up to Bear River Reservoir and dunk some Power Bait. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he had to cancel.

Plan 2 - I could go alone, or I could pack my fly fishing gear and head to the South Fork of the American. Ok, I pick plan 2. Packed my fly fishing gear in the truck and changed my mind.

Plan 3 - Grab a cup of coffee at Cook's Station and head up the hill. Ok, good plan. Got the coffee and headed to Bear River Reservoir. With coffee in hand, a limit was assured.

Plan 4 - Bear turned out to be a bust. My best spot, Rainbow Power Bait (with a dollop of Anise) on a slip sinker rig, and only one fish in two hours.

Plan 5 - Pack up and head for Red Lake (or maybe green lake, depends on your perspective).

Dave W. made a comment, on the last post, about killing them at Red. Three limits in 3 hours. How hot is that? I've noticed that on the local forums, a lot of fishermen have been skunked or only catching a few at Red Lake. Oh well, leaves more for us.

Got to Red Lake at 1030. Put out one rig with RBPB and a silver Kastmaster on the other. In between catching and keeping and catching and releasing, I managed to get the Kastmaster snagged on the bottom. How does one do that, you ask? By getting a fish on one rid and laying down the other, while the lure is still out there. Lures like Kastmaster tend to sink like a rock. Ok, you already know that.

Just as I was about to wrap things up (I had 4 on the stringer for Bob), I met some new folks from beautiful downtown Modesto. That would be John and Marlene. Marlene works for Bass Pro Shops. John is a lucky man. Since I still needed one more, I filled them in on the how, what, and why of fishing Red Lake. Oh, did I mention, I had caught 9 by then and had released 5 back for another day or maybe later that day depending on how dumb the fish was? I managed one more for the stringer and was packing up when I asked them if they wanted a couple, if I caught more? Sure, so I put the rigs back out. Am I greedy or what?

I managed two more for their stringer, while they were getting rigged up and called it a day. It was just past Noon and time for lunch. As I walked back to say goodby, Marlene was pulling in her first fish of the day. I have no doubt they caught many more. They were on the Jazz. If you don't know this term, it's from the A-Team TV show.

One Rainbow from Bear River and 12 Brookies from Red Lake. All in all a good day. Called my son to make sure my Grandson got his birthday card (and money, that way he can get what he wants for his birthday) and happened to mention Tuesday and Today's catch. Happened to mention. Right. Instant plans for a fishing trip a week from tomorrow to Red Lake. Dad's know how to do these things. Manipulation, works every time.

Next week is pretty much taken up with three cords of Walnut being picked up, starting Tuesday, but I think Bob and I might get out Friday.

Till next time.

Mark (Shoreman)

3 More Pictures From 8/3/2010

I don't want to take any glory from Sam & Kimberly (they have their own blog, you know), so I apologize ahead of time.

Kimberly with her stringer of 8, at Red Lake. I'm thinking the name should be changed to green lake. It's the algae bloom thing.

Sam's free Beadhead Nymph (I have no idea what it is. It's an entomology thing.) from Willow Hill Reservoir in beautiful downtown Folsom. Was attached to something he caught.

Sam's new $10.00 fly rod and his Rainbow, on the East Fork of the Carson River. At least somebody can catch fish on that river.

That brings everyone up to date with photos. Going somewhere tomorrow. I'll let you know where, when I get back.

Till then.

Mark (Shoreman)

Sam, Kimberly, & Me

Thanks for all the congrat's on the milestones. Nice to have such good friends out there.

Sam (Pedal Boat Adventure) shot me an email over the weekend and said they were going to be at Red Lake today and could I join them? They were so excited about my post from Friday, they wanted to get up there and give it a try. Who am I to pass up an offer like that? Shot them an email and said I'd be there at 0830.

On the way out the driveway, one of the boys from the neighborhood stopped for a photo op. This was the best of the three shots I got and the one he wanted for todays post.



Stopped by Cooks for coffee and arrived at Red Lake at 0745. Sam & Kimberly had just pulled in. They were camped over on the West Fork of the Carson at one of the campgrounds.

I put out two rigs with Rainbow Power Bait, just for a start. Sam put out two and Kimberly put out one.

Once I landed the first fish, I went back to the truck and got my fly rod. Yesterday I tied up two Zebra Midges and wanted to try them. Let them float around a while under an indicator, but nothing happened. Changed to a Crystal Bugger in black, but nothing there either.

Since I wanted to catch a few Brookies for dinner tonight, I switched back to two rods of PB. Well, the PB worked so well, I put the fly rod back into the truck. After I had 5 on my stringer, I switched to Kastmasters so I could release them if they were small. Silver and gold both worked. By now we had a bunch on both of our stringers. I think the total caught came to somewhere around 22 for the three of us. I had 5 on my stringer and S & K had 8 on theirs. The rest were released. There were also a couple that made it to shore and then got off. All the ones caught were in the 9 1/2 - 11 inch size. Just right for the BBQ and Sam's smoker.

Today was Red Lake as it usually is, not like the last couple of times I've been there. Like I told Sam, this time, more catching and less chatting. OK, we did a lot of chatting too.

As soon as Sam sends me his shots, I'll post them. I took one of my five, but it was too ugly to post.

Till then.

Mark (Shoreman)

A Day For Milestones

Hit the 70 follower mark today. Thank you all for reading what I write and for all the good comments you've left.

Apparently I've not been paying attention to the number of posts I've made since I started this blog in January 2009, because I went over the 200 post mark and didn't even realize it.

Finally, After much angst, I removed several blogsites from my blogroll that have not posted in more than 6 months. I wanted to keep all of them on there, but others keep popping up. If I've deleted you in error, please let me know right away so I can replace you. Can't have you wandering around out there in the dark.

Finally, to all those out there who have posted recipes for the flies that have worked for you, my local fly shop thanks you for all the money I've spent buying Marabou, hooks, hackle, and all the other accessories for tying those, or in some cases, trying to tie them.

Till my next fishing adventure, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work, unless you're a fishing guide".

Mark (Shoreman)