The thing I love most about you guys who never to seldom fly fish in this, the fly forum, is that you are such dependable biters and join right in with such authority. A lot of what I have to read at work is so very dry, and this stuff is invariably a relief.

I thought I hung with some pretty high profile and highbrow fly fishermen and earned my steelheading degree while sitting around their campfires, but now I feel like maybe I was never an accepted member of the club cuz I never, ever have seen an ascot. Maybe they put 'em away and hid 'em every time they saw me wander in. And I never got to learn the secret handshake. Man that hurts a guy.

Toddster, better late than never,

The easy way out ranking isn't about how easy a method is to do, or else seat ballast while plug pulling and bobber and jig would have been at the top. The ranking is about relative effectiveness, year around under all conditions, yada, yada. That indicator and nymph and bobber and jig are similar are irrelevant on this scale. Ergo, you flunked the scale ranking. But thanks for playing.

Hey Paker,

Are you volunteering your chicken wings to come help build some bookshelves? I sure need more, ya' know, for the reading room. No cigars; mine is a strictly non-smoking house, no exceptions. Nothing golf related either. And no Lazy Boy. But I won't dismiss the concept.

As for the quote, if you don't get it, I think I understand, and you're not alone. A lot of guys don't care how they catch fish as long as they catch fish. Remember "she who cannot be named"? That's what she said; "fishing is about catching fish." As for your fly fishing expertise, KK appears to have summed it up nicely. Thank you for your contribution to a fly fishing thread. It wouldn't have been the same without you.

Stamley,

Not all, but some of the best steelhead fly guys I've known were superb bait slingers in their formative years, which kinda' hints toward a key thing about steelhead fishing that isn't a part of this thread. Not that Coley's success matters, but when you refer to his fly fishing, you mean swung flies, right? No split shot, no nymphs, no beads? Cuz we all know that ain't fly fishing if you recall that thread.

The best thing I can think of about beer in aluminum cans is that it allows the undiscriminating to get drunk cheaply. The second best thing about it is that it'll do in a pinch, like a rafting float trip where having a lot of glass around is a liability. I resort to Budweiser on such occasions, but it makes me feel like I do when I pinch a split shot on my leader. Are we still at Level 5?

Sg