Category Archives: Fishing

Fish Pictures

Posted on August 30, 2025 by dave49

My son-in-law and I recently spent a few days on the San Juan River at Soaring Eagle Lodge, and had a great time with guide Brad “Big Mac” McCarville. We had a lot to learn about nymphing with flies as … Continue reading →

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Ferrule Tool Plan

Posted on January 17, 2024 by dave49

Bamboo rod makers: have you abraded a male ferrule just a bit too much? A quick fix may be to slightly shrink the mating female.I have been making a ferrule shrink tool for several years now, and I think that … Continue reading →

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Red Chile

Posted on October 30, 2021 by dave49

Yes, I do like the local Carne Adovada, but “Red Chile Water” is New Mexico’s designation for fly fishing only, catch and release streams. The Covid epidemic kept me from fishing for more than a year, but this summer I … Continue reading →

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Ferrule Shrinking: Avoiding a Ridge

Posted on July 20, 2021 by dave49

Jim is a rod builder/repairer in Australia who recently described his use of the ferrule shrinking tool. “I bought one of your tools quite some time ago and have used it often over the years to fix old rods I’ve … Continue reading →

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Alaska 2019

Posted on June 24, 2019 by dave49

Last summer, we had a good partial day of fishing on a creek near Juneau. We decided to make a longer trip this year, and so went to a fly-in lodge northwest of Anchorage. The trip was by float plane. … Continue reading →

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San Juan River

Posted on August 31, 2018 by dave49

Was at the San Juan yesterday for the first time, did a float trip from Texas Hole to Crusher Hole. That must be the standard route, as there is even a shuttle service to spot the guides’ vehicles and trailers … Continue reading →

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Alaska

Posted on August 28, 2018 by dave49

My family took an Inner Passage cruise. Son-in-Law and I used the Juneau day to go fishing. I did not research what to do ahead of time, we just signed up with the Cruise Line standard. Bear Creek Outfitters and … Continue reading →

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Using the Ferrule Shrink Tool

Posted on November 25, 2017 by dave49

I have started selling the ferrule shrinking tool again. If you are interested, see my blog page: Ferrule Shrinking My experience with the tool is recorded in two blog posts: Ferrule Shrinking Ferrule Tool Article Recently Chris purchased a tool … Continue reading →

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The K’Nex Furling Machine

Posted on January 9, 2017 by dave49

I have fished furled leaders for several years now. At first I made them by twisting with an electric drill: Furled Leader Later, I made a hand cranked furling fixture: https://northbranchreels.com/2014/07/31/furling-machine/ A week or so ago I was contacted by … Continue reading →

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Ferrule Tool Article

Posted on August 6, 2015 by dave49

This article appears in the July/Aug 2015 issue of the newsletter The Planing Form. The originator of the newsletter, Ron Barch, has retired but the newsletter continues under Kirk Brumels. Ferrule Shrinking At the Grayrock 2014 gathering, I was quizzing … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles, Ferrules, Forming, Tools | 1 Comment