Did You know - outdoor edition

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know a common item used in fly fishing is a small, barbed, metal eyelet that it inserted into the hollow fly line and is used to tie the leader on to the line? It looks like a small bream hook with barbs pointed toward the eye and the curved hook cut off. You insert the eyelet into the center of the hollow line and you then have an eye to tie the leader line on to. This eyelet slides through the rod eyes much easier and has less water resistance on retrieval than tying a knot to the leader and larger fly line. 

   Leaders are a whole 'nother topic with tapered leaders and double taper and straight leaders. I don't know what most of you use but for my simply fly fishing I use about 5'-6' of common monofilament fishing line. I usually use about 8 lb monofilament with one end tied to the eyelet and the other to the fly, bug or jig head. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Do you know the difference between a creek and a brook? That's okay, there does not appear to be any official definition between the two. A brook seems to be a little smaller and generally a small, clear, fast flowing stream and seems to be a more northerly term. A creek seems to be a little larger and maybe a little slower, deeper and maybe less clear. I have seen many rivers that looked to be smaller than other creeks I had seen. Now the difference between a creek and a crick is probably just a semantics issue.

[rusticretreater]

To continue babbling about brooks, I recall a saying from the past. You can walk across a brook, jump over a creek, wade through a stream and swim across a river.  

Of course this is also not entirely true, but I always thought of a brook as quite shallow and somewhat rocky.  Creeks can flow for hundreds of miles before they become a river.  Some don't and just end in a larger body of water such as a lake or a bay or empty into a river.  In geological terminology, any flowing water can be referred to as a stream.  Sometimes streams are within other bodies of water as in the gulfstream current.  

[TroyC]

So, where does a crick fall in that category? I always thought a crick was a little smaller than a creek. Brooks have to babble......

[WV Sawmiller]

   A crick is probably a brook in the south or mountains of Appalachia. ;)

[rusticretreater]

Da crick is that funny lingo them there southers use when they ain't got much use for book learnin.  The crick would be a brook or a creek.  It arose out of the southern accents and their mangling of vowels.  

[Ianab]

In Maori a river is an Awa. 
A stream is an Awaiti. Iti simply means "little". 

Quite logical when you think about it. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Da crick is that funny lingo them there southers use when they ain't got much use for book learnin.  The crick would be a brook or a creek.  It arose out of the southern accents and their mangling of vowels.  

Book larnin can be way over-rated. How many people have you met in your life who were educated way beyond their intelligence?

    Reminds me of the tale of the college professor who had a flat tire along the highway in front of the State Institute for the insane. He changed the tire but kicked over the hubcap with the lug nuts and they all fell in the storm drain and he could not get them out. He was standing there trying to figure what to do and afraid he would be late for the conference where he was presenting when a guy with a uniform of the institute was watching and spoke up and said "You know you can take one nut off each of the other three tires and use them till you get you to a parts place to get some more." The professor did as suggested and was ready to resume his journey. He thanked the man and said "That was a brilliant idea. Do you work here?" The man replied "No I'm a patient." The man said "But you were able to solve my problem when I could not." The inmate nonchalantly replied "I may be crazy but I ain't stupid."

[Magicman]

The crick would be a brook or a creek. It arose out of the southern accents and their mangling of vowels.

The very first time I ever heard the term "crick" used was in NW Wyoming in 1973.  I had no idea what he was talking about and he had never been to the "South".  

[WV Sawmiller]

MM,
   
    Same here. The first time I heard the term crick (other than a sore neck) was either out west somewhere or up in Alaska. We always had rivers, creeks, sloughs and bayous.

[beenthere]

  A crick is probably a brook in the south or mountains of Appalachia. ;)

Grew up in Iowa and we had cricks. In Wisconsin, the same was referred to as a creek. But nothing official either place, just local lingo.

[barbender]

 In the area of Wyoming that I love to hang out, a crick is a seasonal stream but a creek is perennial. Crazy Woman Creek flows all the time, Squaw Crick only has water in it after a good rain. 

 That is the only place I've been where creek and crick have a meaningful distinction🤷

[Don P]

And a bourne only in winter, more of an upper freshet

There's  little wet weather springs here that pop out at various elevations according to the water table in the mountain.

The Bourne Stream – Bourne Conservation Group

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that a slough (pronounced SLEW) is a stagnant or slow moving stream that connects to a river or lake? During periods of wet weather they can be fast flowing, alternate water courses to the river. Around home in N. Fla oxbow lakes were often called sloughs. In Australia an oxbow stream is called a Billabong.

[Chuck White]

Up here in the Adirondack Region we have rivers, streams, brooks and cricks!

It might say "creek" in most of the literature, but verbally with most people it's "crick"!

[doc henderson]

shall we begin route and pecan pronunciations?   :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know another common item used in fly fishing is a small float or strike indictor? The last I bought were brightly color cork balls about the size of a 00 buckshot with a slit to the center on one side and several small pieces of wooden toothpicks. You tie your fly or small jig on to the leader then slip the strike indicator on to the line/leader, insert a piece of toothpick to keep the strike indicator from slipping off the line/leader. When using a sinking fly or a jig the indicator serves as a float to limit the depth of the presentation and also you can see the bright colored indicator moving showing a strike occurred under water.

    The downside I have seen to using a strike indicator is it makes it much harder to cast the line and may adversely affect the presentation of your bait. 

[WV Sawmiller]

shall we begin route and pecan pronunciations?   :D

Doc,

   I would address routes/roots but as to Pecans those of us I grew up solved that question long ago as follows:

Pecan (Pee Con) - a tasty nut in the hickory family used for pies and as an addition to brownies, cookies and cakes.

Pee Can - the white metal can/bucket with a lid a poor girl keeps under her bed. Irreverently referred to in some circles as a slop jar.

[Magicman]

So what does the dictionary say:

"Pecan" is from an Algonquian word, variously referring to pecans, walnuts, and hickory nuts.^[6] There are many pronunciations, some regional and others not.^[7]

The most common American pronunciation is one syllable:  puckcon'.

There is little agreement in the United States regarding the "correct" pronunciation, even regionally.^[8]

[Otis1]

Being from the frozen north, I have no business commenting on pronunciation of pecan.

In regards to the fly fishing though I have a little experience. 

I have used those barbed leader attachment things before, they work well for panfish but I think there are some concerns with bigger fish. There are also braided slip on loops to attach a leader with a square knot. They basically slip over the fly line like the old finger cuffs using some shrink wrap to secure it. Somewhat difficult to get through the eyelets.

These days, I tie a tapered leader directly to the fly line with a nail knot. As it gets shorter I tie on additional tippet as necessary. It is somewhat slow but it goes through the rod eyelets easily.

Strike indicators come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. The simplest and probably lightest is just a piece of brightly colored synthetic yarn. I have also used some that look like tiny balloons and they definitely affect long casts.

[barbender]

I tried one of those barbed leader eyes once, I didn't care for it. The weight of it messed with the cast, and believe me, it doesn't take much to ruin my fly casting😂

[WV Sawmiller]

BB,

   You sound like one of those fly fishing purists with a vest and hat covered in assorted hand tied flies in every color and size. I bet you even use a tapered leader for more exact presentation. Them fish probably grab your fly first when it lands 4" from the real thing. :D

   You probably should be the one doing the fly fishing "Do You know section here." ;)

   BTW - did you know they make an automatic rewind fly reel? It has a spring under the cover similar to a smaller version of recoil spring on a chain saw or lawn mower. You tighten the spring by rotating the cover to determine how fast and how much line it recovers at a time. It has a little lever you depress with you little finger to activate.

   I started out using one of these then many years later found how much heavier they actually are than a simple manual fly reel and I switched to manual and never looked back. When I got a manual hand crank fly reel was when I learned I needed to strip the line in when landing a fish rather than winding the reel which was very slow. I only fish for bluegills and other panfish and when the occasional small bass or such get hooked it is a real treat. I learned how to use the jig and float/indicator since I moved here to WV which also allows me to fish for crappie when they are biting near the surface. 

[Otis1]

Ha! I am certainly not that type of fisherman. Catching largemouth bass on a cork popper is a fun and exciting battle. In WI, and I know a lot of other places people fly fish for Musky, it's on my bucket list to try.

A common method of fishing for trout is to use a "dry-dropper" two flies, the dry fly acts as a strike indicator and a nymph below it. It can get interesting if you get two fish on, it can also get real messy casting. 

And you've got it spot on with stripping line vs. reeling. 

[barbender]

 WV, I do use a tapered leader. But in flyfishing, as in most of my pursuits, my gear exceeds my abilities. I'm just trying to make the most out of the skill I do have😊

 I was born in Wyoming at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. I've lived in Minnesota since I was just 2, but I spent many a summer back out west as a kid staying with family. Even though I didn't fish out there much when I was young, those mountain streams just got in my head and did things to me. I'm surrounded by some of the finest walleye, bass, panfish, pike and musky fishing in the world and all I want to do is go catch 9"-10" brook trout up in the mountains🤷 That's ok, I have an uncle out there that dreams about catching walleyes. Grass is always greener on the other side I guess😊

[WV Sawmiller]

Otis,

  Yeah, casting double baits or using a strike indicator or a jig or such can be a real challenge. It is hard to make those back casts and stuff to strip out the proper amount of line to reach your target and if you are not careful when you make your forward cast you won't see your bait hit the water because it is hooked in the back of your ear.  I can't personally certify that  : but I have heard those things are hard to reach and unhook by yourself. ;)

   I use a rolling forward cast more often to flip the bait to the next spot when using such.