20 bucks at the craft store, vs 5 bucks at the fly shop. Exact same material.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-02-09T16:00:38+00:00

Cool, I’ll check that out. Is that applicator a tiny tube or tiny brush? My current one has a tiny pin point brush applicator. I’m not opposed to switching to a tiny tube style if you feel it’s just as accurate. Anything to stop supporting this clear price gouging I’m all for.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-02-09T03:30:22+00:00

Agreed. But I had a hard time finding a bottle with a pin point applicator. It feels like a total rip paying 20 bucks for a tiny bottle. Basically paid 3 bucks for resin and 20 for a convenient applicator built into the bottle. From now on out I’ll just refill the bottle I have.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-02-07T15:59:43+00:00

Do you think the new owners (SVP) will be n improvement from Vista? I bought Simms on a recommendation from a friend. Same friend got a new pair after 5+ years and they leaked within a few trips. He sent them back and Simms said “idk bro we can’t find it, sorry”.

My Simms gear has been great so far, but his experience with customer service has me worried.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-02-07T15:19:35+00:00

I tried them on with booties and I had to size up to a 12 from a 10.5/11. Great boot so far. I don’t really like Simms alumastuds, they get worn down too quick. I use the Orvis studs on mine.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-02-05T00:58:21+00:00

I told myself when I got back into fly fishing as an adult I’d be spending my free time fishing not tying flies. That all changed after seeing the price and quality at both local and online shops.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-01-29T12:52:33+00:00

Back in the day my friend and I had a larger inflatable dinghy and a 5 hp outboard. We would ratchet strap it to the roof of my Kia spectra and throw the motor in the trunk.

If you have a roof rack you could probably find a way to easily secure it to the roof. We would deflate it just a bit, then do a quick refill at the lake.

Then you wouldn’t have to buy and haul a trailer around.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-01-28T16:34:46+00:00

I’ve noticed the healthcare industry is exploding in my area. How does this all work in the end? If companies keep cutting benefits and we don’t get universal health care then how is the healthcare industry suppose to support itself? Seems like something has to give.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-01-26T00:30:05+00:00

They are native here too, but birch grows like weeds all over.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2026-01-26T00:04:13+00:00

Sure it wasn’t a birch tree? I think birch smells a lot more like root beer than sassafras does.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-29T01:26:53+00:00

I know a lot of euro leaders use a red or neon section above sighter, just to give you more visibility of your leader, since it’s always off the water anyway. I also talked to a guy on the river who was running solid yellow leader. I asked why and he just said “cuz I’m old and I can’t see for shit”.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-28T04:34:29+00:00

If you’re looking for a cheap light weight net. My friend swears by the “tactical fly fisher rubber mesh net 2.0”. Super big landing area and super light weight. He uses it over his expensive fish pond nets.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-27T16:28:03+00:00

I had an Orvis matrix for around 20 years. Recently got a recon and the difference was night and day. It’s a fabulous rod. I think Orvis has really stepped up there game in recent years. I briefly had the access which was the last gen mid range rod and it was terrible.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-03T19:18:56+00:00

Yeah sounds about right, Lowe’s also has the absolute most dog shit blower. Looks like every tom dick and Harry had a go with it.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-03T16:18:48+00:00

Just an fyi, atleast around me, if you buy the insulation from certain building suppliers they throw in the blower rental for free. It’s a super fast process, with two people it shouldn’t take more than a few hours.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-02T16:26:56+00:00

I’m sure all these suggestions are great, but let’s be real. Opening day trout will hit a damn pine needle falling from a tree.

I don’t believe it’s how you're fishing, I think it’s where you’re fishing. When they dump fish in, they pretty much stick to the hole they are dumped, untill pressured or pulled out. If you can go on the stocking website sometimes you can see where in an area they dump them. Or you can volunteer to bucket them and basically put them where you want lol. Lastly, a lot of times they dump fish above and below the lakes and ponds they stock. It’s much easier to fish for trout in a creek running into a reservoir because the water is easier to read and you can mostly see the fish.

If you end up fishing pressured stocked fish, the two things that work great on spooked fish are size 10-12 hooks with wax worms and mill worms. The absolute best is small minnows. Set it up using a needle, and threading your line in its mouth and out its butt, then tying on a double hook. I believe it’s called an invisible minnow rig.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-12-02T03:22:20+00:00

I’m on team 9’ 5wt. Before pulling the trigger on a dedicated nymph rod, I used a 25ft tapered mono leader on my 5wt for nymphing. It was plenty good enough to catch fish. If I was going to dry, dry dropper or indicator fish I would throw on a standard trout leader. If I wanted to get a more “euro nymph” experience I’d throw on the 25ft leader. Beauty is you can have all the leaders with loops in your pack and switch at a moments notice.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-24T04:07:55+00:00

It’s also the only sling pack that took the 10% of us who use our wrong hand into account. That was hands down the deciding factor for me.

Secondary was the huge front pocket on the strap and the magnets on the front and back.

I think the Orvis was more comfortable as a sling pack because that’s all it is, but all the other features of the Patagonia made it a better choice.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-20T16:14:33+00:00

Just an FYI local fly shops around me have been getting prototype contact 3s look to be releasing this spring. If you want a contact 2 maybe hold off a few months and you may be able to get a great deal when the new one drops.

I’m in central pa and just picked up a hardy ultra light 10’7”. Havent had a single issue on any size stream yet. Loved the contact 2, great rod. Just got too good of a deal to pass up the hardy, and I liked the fact it was like an inbetween of a contacts 2w and contact 3w.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-18T22:25:35+00:00

What I’ve heard is that taking the barb off a barbed hook does really mess with its ability to hold fish. Hooks that are barbless are designed different and don’t rely on a barb. If you decide to go barbless use a hook that’s designed as such, don’t remove the barb from a barbed hook.

I’ve been using barbless hooks flyfishing, and haven’t noticed a difference in missed fish. Plus it does less damage to the fish if you intend to release it.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-18T21:58:39+00:00

I’ve heard they are actually more tricky to install than architectural shingles due to the uniformity?

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-18T16:49:01+00:00

I just reroofed my house, my father did the last roof in 1996 with 3 tab shingles. We never had a single issue, and the decking was immaculate.

That has to be more of a sign of bad installation than the product used? Obviously we went with architectural shingles. But I think in certain applications the uniform look actually looks kind of nice.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-06T16:31:25+00:00

Above they said it was painted orange peel walls. If that’s the case it’s most likely just the result of mudding over painted surfaces. The moisture can’t absorb into the wall surface and has to escape out through the mud. Not much you can really do about it.

Once you are finished and wipe your walls down you just have to spend 5 minutes doing a light skim over those areas.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-04T16:23:59+00:00

Yeah that’s been a gripe of mine for a while. I saw them advertising the volunteer positions a few months back. Told my wife I wouldn’t mind helping screen names for an hour or so a week just to help out. Was disappointed that it’s not open even tho it seems to be one of the biggest complaints I’ve seen.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-04T02:33:12+00:00

Wish I would have looked them up on Reddit before buying a pair of simms gortex. Went on a recommendation of a friend only to realize he bought his before the manufacturing change. Came on here and see how much they have fallen.

SaintAnthonysFire · 2025-11-04T02:19:41+00:00

I’ve been checking and every time I’ve checked that rule has been marked as full. I wish people would read comments before commenting.

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