Flourocarbon tippet worth it?

[Dan LeCount]

Speaking of publications and such, did I hear right that "Sierra Trout Guide" is no longer being printed? That's a shame, that and the "Curtis Creek Manifesto" were my default books for anyone picking up a fly rod, plus maybe Schollmeyers "Hatch guide to Western Streams." Luckily it had a very long run, so their are still a bunch of copies in circulation. You can still get it on Amazon and such. How many editions has it been, and any chance you guys going to do another down the road?

[Ralph]

Speaking of publications and such, did I hear right that "Sierra Trout Guide" is no longer being printed? That's a shame, that and the "Curtis Creek Manifesto" were my default books for anyone picking up a fly rod, plus maybe Schollmeyers "Hatch guide to Western Streams." Luckily it had a very long run, so their are still a bunch of copies in circulation. You can still get it on Amazon and such. How many editions has it been, and any chance you guys going to do another down the road?

Hey Dan. I thought your caddis piece in the current CAFF was quite good. In fact, I ordered some of your winging material, never used it before.
Sierra Trout Guide is out of print (I have a few cases). It is in LONG need of an update but a new edition would require a new contract and I was offered 90 cents a copy (down from $11.00 a copy). I don't blame the publisher, they are between a rock and a hard spot, but my time is worth more than that. Except for self promotion, there simply is no incentive for writing small market books any longer. For some reason, people expect authors to publish their work for free on the internet. This thread being a perfect example. Every issue of California Fly Fisher results in a dozen or more emails requesting copies of my article so they don't have to spend three bucks on the magazine. Wish I could do that to my dentist, gas station or grocery store!
Sheri Anderson is dead so Curtis Creek won't be updated. Jim's book, I believe, is now being published by Stackpole under a slightly different name.

[k9mark]

Hey Ralph, what if you did the Sierra Trout Guide update and made it an ebook? People would order directly from you and you charge what you want...cut out the middle man.

[Ralph]

Hey Ralph, what if you did the Sierra Trout Guide update and made it an ebook? People would order directly from you and you charge what you want...cut out the middle man.

Astute observation Mark. I have to wait two year after last printing before the copyright reverts to me and I can do as you suggest.
From the outside it seems so simple but writing is a legal quagmire.

[k.hanley]

Ralph have you settled on any specific ebook service/software? Any security issues about your work once it's placed as an ebook?

Thanks bud.

Cheers, Ken

[Ralph]

Ralph have you settled on any specific ebook service/software? Any security issues about your work once it's placed as an ebook?

I spent a fortune on Adobe In-Design but after playing with it haven't jumped into it. Pretty daunting learning curve and I'm not sure how motivated I am to spend that much time in front of a computer. In-Design was rated #1 by the majority of folks I know who have self published. Very flexible and can output into a bunch of different formats . . . or so I'm led to understand.

[k9mark]

Hmmm, yanno, you might be able to get a local college student versed in Adobe to handle that for in exchange for extra credit/grades. Kinda like and intern...just brainstorming. Give him/her the info and they handle the rest.

[k.hanley]

Thanks Ralph. I'll check it out. If it's a steep curve for you, it would probably be an Everest climb for me.

Cheers, Ken

[WinterrunRon]

2 main reasons. First. I don't want to buy anything that will be hanging off a creekside tree or off a submerged log 4000 years after I'm dead. the stuff doesn't degrade.

Second. Its no better than mono according to one of the guys who developed it. Bruce Richards from 3M/Scientific Anglers gets it for free and still fishes mono. "the whole visibility thing is bunk" he says.

3...3 main reasons! Mikey Wier doesn't use it. Nuff said.

And you really ought to subscribe to California Fly Fisher!!!!

Two things come to mind:

1: If the guy who developed the stuff says one of the main marketing features of the line is a flat out misrepresention of the truth, why is the marketing allowed to continue? My guess would be it's not worth litigating?

2: If flouro lasts 4,000 years, how long does mono last? Because if both their degredation is measured in thousands of years, I don't see it as an issue. Another ice age will be, or starting to occurr, and line in rivers will be the least of our worries as a civilization. If one really cares that much about the environment, they wouldn't use either. To be honest, I find this argument rather silly. We all use products everyday that adversely affects the environment and lasts hundreds if not thousands of years. Heck, driving our vehicles is partially blamed for global warming. Global warming! An actual changing of our global environment. But I don't see a bunch of flyfishers walking along the highways and backroads to thier favorite fishing venues. And there's concern about small pieces of practically invisible broken tippet left in trees and river rock?

[Ralph]

As a rule of thumb nylon loses 25% of it's strength under every 100 hours of sunlight. Thin monofilament likely degrades faster than that. Find any year old nylon mono on the river bank and it will shatter when you tug on it. Fluoro is insert and does not degrade. Fluorocarbon is used to line toxic waste drums and carries a minimum shelf life of several hundred years.
Both products make equally good fishing line and while the benefits of one over the other are debatable (and largely based on urban legend), the potential consequences are not.