Farmgirl,

I am no master but I have learned allot by asking questions on this page and when I see some one on the river doing something I think I might wanna try. when a guy catches a fish I don't run over and pester him I might wait untill later and mention to him I knoticed he was using what ever and shoot the bull about it and other things maybe not even fish. that way it don't seam as if I am trying to "bird dog" his style. As for wading? *L* I can tell you from experiece that it only takes 1/2 step and you are a human bobber . I am 6'5" and around 220 lbs.(22 and single *L*) I was in water knee deep but next to a drop. I took one step to close and I slid in. the water was swift and I couldn't get my balance. I was wearing chest waders and thought I was dead. I reached around and pulled the rip cord and paddled over to the beach. the amazing thing was buy the time I walked 100 yards down the river to my truck the water was just getting to my feet. My point is that the vest when inflated held my waders tight and very little water got in and I was able to get out of the river. with out the inflatable vest I would have probably had to drop my rod and peel the waders off so I could swim. If possible get one if not keap in mind the danger of wading. I have talked with several old timers and younger guys that all say the same thing. If you gotta wade then you gotta. the thing about wading when water is low and clear is that it will sceer the fish for along way off. think about how sound is trasmitted through the water. all those rockes grinding is like a giant speaker blasting in their little ears! As for fishing up or down. I generally fish if possble from top down. mostly beacause that just because I park and the holes are uaually below the parking spot. if possble when water is low I will fish up but that is more difficult when drift fishing. As for leaders. I get the fome pipe insulation from a hardware store and cut it into lengs to fit a pocket in my vest or where ever I wanna put them. I use the stuff that is about 1 1/2" O.D.(outside diameter)I think I paid $1.29 for 6 foot. I have seen guys use larger and put a string through the center and sling it over their shoulder.(like a purse) putting the roll behind them to be easily pulled front side and unrolled. With the round fome you can put you're corkies and yarn or what ever yopu want on and have that much done before you go fishing. you can even pre-tie a barrel swivel on the leaders and just snap them onto yer snap swivel allready tied to yer mainline. some guides do this to save time when re-rigging gear for a client. saves time if you know what you want to use for colors but if not you will only have a few tied up of the colors that are working then you are back to making them on the river. one other tip when rolling leaders up I put the end of the line through the eye 2x so it won't unroll then I cut the extra off so it looks nice.(I allways make my leaders a little room to play with the length to match it to the water I am fishing) I don't put the little barrel swivel on so this works well but if you do then just tuck it under the hook 2x. some guys will use a little bit of tape but I think in the rainy weather it would lose it's sticky and then I would have lose leaders all over. I fish mostly out of my drift boat so this really help keap things out of the way.and when I am doing it from the banck it help so I have everything put away and not nead allot of stuff with me. as for a pack I just started using a butt pack and I kinda like it. I need to get a bigger one and with it and a small flat tackle box that I can see in the top of with all the little compartments (can't think of their name) a small one about 8x10 is jusr right with all my corkies and extra small things. then you can put the bait in the butt pack and a little gear in yer vest and yer ready to look like you know what is going on. the next thing you need is confidence. and that will come when you hook yer first few fish.
one other tip about where to find the fish in the river. read some books about steelie fishing and salmon. I got allot of info from a book by Bill Hertzog(that might be spelled wrong) it is called "A Collor Giude to Drift Fishing" by Bill Hertzog. found it at Sportco. I credit it to most of the info I used to catch my first mettle head. That and going with someone that could put me in the right spot and help me out.

now that must be the longest post I have done. I am ready to go to bed now.

Hope that all helps, any questions let me know, sometimes I get going and don't make things clear.

dcrzfitter