i'm a big fan of maribou streamers(thank you merwin), there is an article on this site about them, tied some up been working ever since

i've been tying some popsicles and leeches in size 2 for the salmon river.

Backcast....I simplify it, and became good friends with Jim Teeny. He was as good of wet fly fisherman as I have ever heard of, or seen..incredible instincts, eye sight, knowledge of where fish are located etc. Jim designed the 24ft sink tips in different grain wts., and had SA make them for him. His notion is that 24ft. makes for a decent backcast allowing for some floating line to hang off the tip...say 3 ft. or abouts. With this line you then get a good casting flyline that doesn't flop around like say a 10ft tip would because it hinges in the air too far out past your rod tip. I was an avid steelheader but accepted those lines rather than the dedicated steelheader who would knot on sections of tips(looped knotted)...(1e) 12 ft., 18ft, and so on having them with loops in a packet. I vary my sink by the angle that I cast the line rather than changing tips, and using a lousy casting line. A 175 grain to 225 grain are the ones I use most often, and will use one today going streamer fishing with a friend using a 200 grain on my 9.5' Sage SP, and a short leader. The rest of the flyline is a level 3 floater that shoots through the guides very nice. This is my streamer line, and my steelhead line when I want to get down, and swing the fly through the run. The problem with heavier grain lines, is when you want to swing the fly, it is better to swing it just above the fish then have the line hangup 1/2 way through the swing when the line/fly is the deepest. Now, most every line mfger has copied Tenny's 24ft sinktips. You match the grain wt. with your rod wt and there are ranges that will match your rod. So you use the length not just for sink, but for castability.

Oh, I did not tell you that my 9.5 rod is a 7wt. I like all kinds of streamers. I did the Gallop thing for awhile after listening, and watching Gallop tie. I liked his Zoo Cougar fly, but it isn't easy to tie right. It will spin if you use the wrong mallard flank feather that is curved wrong. The fly I like best is the woolly sculpin...not hard to tie, and it is the combo of the woolly bugger, and has a muddler head on it. that is a Gallop fly also I believe. With the marabou tail it makes for a big fly that I feel draws strikes from bigger browns. I like the falling action of the Clouser's also, but sometimes feel they aren't as big as I would like the fly to appear. And I get this opinion from the Rapala throwing guys that catch some monster browns on very large Rapalas.

I sat down with Scott Sanchez, and watched him tie up an ant pattern. The guy is quite a character, and very interesting to listen to, and has a good sense of humor. He used Gorilla glue to make the bulbed body.(two bulbs) Gorilla clue dries with air in it, and he adds a coloring to it, and mixes it up. His attention grabber at shows is a new wrinkle for materials, or a tying method he has come up with. Another one of those notables that lives near me. Hooked, what appeared to be a good fish yesterday on a woolly sculpin that started in after the hookset towards my boat, then shot out into the heavy current, and the hook came out! Never got to see it. My evaluation is I had a lousy hookset using a big hook fished deep. I lifted up like setting the hook using a dryfly, and should have kept the rod low pulling hard to the side rather than lifting up...lifting up doesn't do much to set the hook.