Thanks Richard for an interesting question! When I was going to school at the UW, we fished the Kalama River nearly every weekend (which college students define as Thursday through Sunday) the summer and fall that Mt St. Helens erupted. I caught my first and many fly caught steelhead that summer - and you do not want to know how many fish my buddies and I averaged per day. The river of course was full of not only Kalama steelhead, but the entire Toutle and Green run and various other volcano diverted fish. We felt like we were fishing in a "bucket" that year! A fellow saw our success using flies, and bought a cheap fly rod and line and some leadhead crappie jigs, and started fishing in the riffle downstream of us. His a. knots were undoubtedly poorly tied, his b. line selection cheap, c. sharp hooks - no, d. fly choice - a 1/32 plastic leadhead jig will never grace the cover of Gray's Sporting Journal, e. presentation - pathetic. However he landed four steelhead in a matter of a couple of hours his first ever attempt at flyfishing! Although this is an extreme example, I suggest that; f. Fishing in the "bucket" is the key. A special thanks to all the WA Flyfishers for sharing information on where the "bucket" is! This is a very interesting forum. -----Original Message----- From: Ed Bleck [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 11:09 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Most important tackle detail? Leland makes a good point however just to hook up I think you need the proper presentation, without it the fish would never look your way in the first place. Of course Leland, you maybe able to keep a smaller fish on with a bad knot. ;-> Ed >From: Leland Miyawaki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: Most important tackle detail? >Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 09:11:05 -0700 > >"Which of the following is the most important tackle detail for catching >fish? > >a. Strong knots >b. Line selection >c. Sharp hooks >d. Lure (or fly) choice >e. Presentation" > > >An interesting question. > >I have seen people, including myself catch fish with the wrong >patterns, dull hooks, and at the wrong depth using the wrong lines. I >have dropped a steelhead fly into the water while stripping line off >the reel and hooked a Deschutes summer run, but I have never held a >fish on with a bad knot. My vote is for (a), strong knots. > >Leland. > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
