No Sorry, I donīt know. I have forgotten the name. One may treat dubbing
etc with watershed, and this has a similar effect. Somebody told me that a
product called "Rain-X" or "Rain-Ex", which is used for treating car
windscreens, works very well, but I have not tried it.
Richard Walker was an idol of my youth, and I read all his works and
writings avidly. I can not recall him ever claiming that he could
"re-plasticize" PVC fly-lines, but I have heard many others do so. The fact
remains, this is quite impossible. It is easy to research the chemistry on
the net. There are a lot of nonsensical claims made in connection with
fly-fishing. Quite a few people continue to believe them, even after hearing
proof to the contrary. There is little one can do about it. We live in a
world which is more or less controlled by lies, misdirection, and greed.
These are only successful because people are gullible enough to fall for
them. Also, most people are literally bombarded with (mis)information
constantly, and have no way to know what its true and what is not, and are
incapable of checking for themselves.
My stuff is all over the web. Some may no longer be where it once was!
There are some articles here, which may be somewhat relevant;
http://www.sexyloops.com/connorsmetre/grayling5.shtml
I have written a very large number of articles in the meantime, but I donīt
keep track of them anymore, and I donīt even have copies of a large number.
This is not entirely intentional, but the result of time, and computer
attrition!
In my experience, most caddis are not active in very cold weather, and I
have never used them in winter. Trout and other fish have a closed season in
most of Europe, and it is then illegal to fish for them. I fished regularly
for grayling in Winter, and occasionally caught a few trout, but I donīt
target them, so I canīt really comment.
I donīt know anything at all about American streams and conditions, apart
from what I have read. America is a big place, and there are doubtless
countless examples of waters and conditions where fish can be caught in
winter. I know virtually nothing about steelhead, and the seatrout here (
Anadromous browns) are also in closed season after September. Seatrout here
do not feed in fresh water, and it is not necessary to use imitative
patterns for them. Usually lures of some description, often fantasy
creations, are used.
In very cold weather, (water temperature), resident trout are practically
dormant. Various research and checks done by my club, and of course
others, has revealed that most lie on the bottom, in many cases touching
the gravel, silt, etc, in low current areas. At this time, they are often
severely infested with leeches. Quite a few do not survive the winter.
It might be possible to tempt such a fish with a woolly bugger, or
something similar, but I donīt know anybody who would even seriously
try to do so. It is unlikely that a fish would survive such an encounter,
and as they are in generally poor condition at such times, they would
not be very good eating.
Rainbows will still be active in cold weather, but my experience of these in
"wild" conditions is extremely limited. Most such fish I have caught have
been "escapees", from fish farms, etc, and it would be unsafe to draw any
general conclusions from the behaviour of such fish.
This is also doubtless dependent on the type of water, available feed, etc,
and my experience here is limited to only a few locations.
In Winter, I would generally concentrate on midges, as these are often the
only insects in evidence.Or more likely, I would be fishing in the Baltic
for cod and seatrout!
I am likely to be offline for some time in the future, as I am moving. Once
I get settled in and set up at my destination, I will doubtless once again
be online, but I donīt know when. Have to wait and see. This also depends on
cost, availability etc. I will be taking very little with me, including this
machine. Indeed, I have not yet finally decided where I will end up.
Very kind of you to offer, but I donīt write for magazines, and it is a long
time since I even tried submitting anything. I am just not interested. I
write for myself. If I publish some articles, and others enjoy them, that is
OK, but beyond that, I donīt care. Being contradicted on such things is also
not a problem, most people who know me, or are familiar with my articles
etc, are aware that they are carefully researched, and usually the result of
long experience. Who believes, or does not believe, is immaterial really, I
am just an enthusiastic angler/writer, not an evangelist. People form their
own conclusions, often independent of the facts. īThat is no skin off my
nose!
Regards and tight lines!
Mike Connor
PS. This e-mail address will also shortly be defunct, and at the moment I
have no forwarding address. I will contact Joe from time to time, to see if
he has any messages for me. Anything urgent, ( although I canīt imagine
what), send it to him. I will receive it eventually.