Do you have a hack?

[JoeBolt]

Which happens to be the trademarked name of my new design company, Angry Monkey Solutions, LLC

[3creeks]

Thank goodness for online shopping. It sure makes buying bra pads a lot less embarrassing for us menfolk.

[JoeBolt]

[Brooks]

My rechargeable leaf blower inflates my various rafts quicker at the boat ramp then does my 12 volt car battery boat-specific little inflator.
Just open the boat valves wide open, inflate. Then top off with boat pump.

[JoeBolt]

EGO blowers are great; nice hack.

[DrLogik]

+1 for knee pads.

[JoeBolt]

Heavy duty shrink wrap on an aftermarket, cardboard Rapidan tube. Suwannee, how I love ya.



ps. It's a slow reveal, but yes, the cork butt is reinforced with rubber O-ring, and Champagne Cork&Gorilla Glue batter.

[Flykuni3]

This is like in code, man.

[JoeBolt]

I'll explain - these hacks from a hack! Heavy duty shrink wrap (unused piece shown) gives good and legible protection of a cardboard tube that is not original to the rod... The refurbished Rapidan's fishing debut will be on the Suwannee R. in early April, so I'm getting a bit too excited and sorry for communicating in code! The O-ring was placed to prevent further decline of the cork butt, cork&glue paste (batter was a poor term) to blend the O-ring with the original grip. It's a bit ugly, but secure and pleasing in the hand.

[DrLogik]

One hack I should have mentioned are round neodymium magnets. I buy the 1/2" or 1" magnets that are 1/8" thick. Place one inside your vest and the other outside. They make great fly patches. I also keep one on my fishing hat. They are pretty inexpensive on Amazon and they last for a long time. And, they work better than the store-bought versions that pin on your vest. Flies will not fall off this magnet! Juuuuust be careful using them. They pinch skin in a millisecond.

Slide them apart with your thumb and first finger. I've been using these for over 25 years, long before magnets were a thing in fly fishing.

Magnet on my favorite winter fishing hat, sans any flies.

[JoeBolt]

Second shipment of bra pads arrived.
Now everyone has a home! Spools and reels don't slip out, and you can literally toss them around, pack them tight, etc. Now I need to label them.
$22 for six reel/spool cases in a tasteful black!
Like a fox...

[Silver Doctor]

I often add floatent to a fly after tying it. find it penetrates nicely and is ready when I need it. Alboline or Water Shed. By the way, Alboline also makes a great fly line conditioner. Have done this to my commercial ties and have had great feedback.

Sewing stores are a great source of quality floss and tinsel.

When tying with floss I take a pice with the length I need off the spool and knot the end. It keeps together better without slipping and the knot is a nice thing to grab at the end.

When you tie it with marabou it fluffs everywhere. When I tie multi flies like Buggers, I wet down the cut-sized bunches I need, easier to handle and tie in.

If you need microfibbits for mayfly tails you can buy a lifetime supply. Go to a cosmetic or drug store and check out the Makeup Brushes. Exactly the same and come in different colors.

[JoeBolt]

2X; It's currently brassy, but here's a YouTube jeweler's hack, proven to (tarnish) darken silver using hard boiled egg whites. I'm certain in my own bumbling case that I've never spooked a fish via sun glinting off my ferrules, but I have aesthetic needs, and maybe so do you.

I searched the forum for DIY Blueing, and found nothing about eggs and H2S. This is 18% Ni/Ag - top quality CSE ferrule, #13.

We keep a henhouse, so this is free-range metallurgy to me.

I will post 3rd treatment tomorrow, after cleaning, steel wool, and one last egg-white treatment... I'm maybe going to brush it directly onto gently heated clean metal. Heat is key. This is great fun to aim for a hacked brushed nickel finish.

[kevinhaney1]

Instead of using commercial dry fly flotants, try just spraying off the water with a little can of compressed air. Works pretty well. I hope to find an even small can someday, but the one in the picture isn't too big.

[mfrench]

Save the feet of old neoprene waders to extend wet wading season. My active pair of neoprene wading socks are mid calf high.
They act like a surfers wetsuit in keeping your feet warm. A little water in them is a bit cold at first, but you quickly warm it, and, the cold doesn't get to you.
I'm an old surfer as well as a fisherman, and depended on wetsuits in this fashion in really cold winter waves.
I was just doing this a couple of days ago, fishing a local stream with patches of snow in the deep shadows, and water in the low 40's, and was comfortable for my time of fishing, wet wading.
My home stream will kill new waders in the first time out. You need knee pads, and outer gaiters as well. Rattlesnake gaiters help in two ways: rattlesnakes, and nasty Yucca thorns. I gave up on waders years ago, for that stream, as it immediately puts holes in them via granite boulders, or, a native to the area, sharp spined Yucca, which lives to poke holes in them.
So, i was always wet from holes in new waders, and moved far smoother without waders. Now its just my wading socks.

[Flykuni3]

French that's a great tip. I wet wade all the time but using neoprene booties made for it (Simms). Then if it's really cold I add neo gaiters to my calfs, and am warm and comfy up to my knees. I fish a lot of small stream pocket water, and knee deep is often all I need. But I did you what suggest with some Cabela's that leaked like a sieve, so I cut off the booties and saved them as a backup.

[blackdog]

If you ice fish, save your old waders and cutoff the booties. You can wear your warm boots and keep dry wearing the old waders.

[mfrench]

Shoulder straps added to fly rod tubes.
Any thoughts?
I recently put together two new rod tubes, for two new-to-me rods, neither of which had one. I then added home brew weaved and braided rope shoulder straps to both of them, on a whim. I like the handles on my Scott cloth-covered rod tubes, and have always thought that a strap would work nicely.
Then, wednesday, I went to my home stream, and fished them.
Now, the straps that I added, they were intended for such strenuous walks as from the house, out to the garage, to be loaded into the truck. That way, I could carry the rods, and, my bag-o-schwag.
Well, wedneday night rolled around, and I found myself buried axle deep in mud, and spent the night in the truck.
Next morning, I grabbed my rods, flies, and i started walking out the last five miles to get to some cabins, where I hoped to find some water, and perhaps, some help. This worked out for me almost miraculously.
But, the shoulder straps that I put on those rod tubes really made what might have been the house->garage walk, and, it became five miles of uphill trudging. And they made it really easy to carry, and, actually gave my arm a bit of a captured resting spot.

So, hack yourself some shoulder straps on those rod cases; I'm ultimately glad that I did. I wasn't going to leave them in the truck, as, well, it is within the greater expanse of the L.A. basin area, and, who knows?!?,....

like this,....
The long braided black and blue strap laced through the shorter strap, and then, over the shoulder/back.

[Silver Doctor]

Use tippet rings, I like the 2 mm size, added to your tapered leader it allows you to change the tippet without cutting the original leader. It extends the life of the leader.

[Flykuni3]

So, hack yourself some shoulder straps on those rod cases; I'm ultimately glad that I did. I wasn't going to leave them in the truck, as, well, it is within the greater expanse of the L.A. basin area, and, who knows?!?,....

Gasp, and you didn't invite me along? Crushed.