Further North

Thanks. Super easy to tie as well.

We catch a lot of smallies on musky flies every year...most of them are big... Both of these work on bass, pike, and muskies...

Good looking ties! I've tied mine with similar materials, and also on jigs for conventional gear. Here's a bunch of variations.

I'd love to see what your version looks like, and how you tie them.

Jaw spreaders are cheap: https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-fish-mouth-spreader https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/tyrant-tackle-jaw-spreader You can spend more, but those will get you going. Hooks with crushed barbs make it even easier - I can usually unhook pike, and most muskies, without taking them out of the water. ...for leaders, I just tie tieable wire into my main line.

For pike, you need a jaw spreader, and a steel leader. Barbless hooks make a huge difference too.

Too broad a question...there's simple too many species...

My Ned Rig rod is a 7 ft. 9 in. ML TFO Inshore baitcasting rod with a Shimano Aldebaran 50 size reel on it. Better than any spinning rod I've tried. I keep my index finger touching the line where it comes out of the reel even when I am retrieving. My Senko rod is a 6 ft. 8 in. St. Croix Legend Xtreme XF with an Abu Garcia Zenon MG-X reel. Before this rod, I used a St. Croix Legend Tournament 6 ft. 8 in. MXF. I use the same tactic with my index finger under the line to feel the lightest touch. ...I don't use a drop shot often, if I do I have another rod like the Ned Rig rod with an older Abu Garcia LTX on it that gets the nod for that.

What do possession limits look like where you live? Here in WI, it's typically 2x the daily limit.

I don't know if I have more warm water fly fishing experience - Jason has definitely been at it longer, and has more depth of knowledge. I don't know if you caught it, but this picture: ...and the bit about the smallie eating a musky fly (which happens a lot) happened on my boat this past June. Jason is a fun guy to fish with, and has forgotten more about the "science" side of fishing than I'll ever know.

I'm with you 100% - which is why there is always a mix of fly and conventional gear in my bigger boat, and often in the drift boat. I'm not a purist and never will be...there's too much to learn from gear to flies...and from flies to gear to ignore either in my opinion.

It's as dark as the bottom of coal mine here by that time of day.

I've only done that once...but I've manages to break rods several other ways. Strong winds are a good reason to leave the fly rods in the rod locker...or even in the truck. A couple of weeks ago, floating a river, we came around a bend and the wind was ridiculous...we had to row to move down-river...fly rods got put away, gear rods came out... Me too. ...or days when something like a Senko is working really well.

Overall, it may not be as efficient...but there are times and places (topwater bass being one) where it's at least equal...but that wasn't what I wrote about... I wrote that the "fussiness" is effectively the same...but we're used to it with gear so we don't think about it. Trout aren't my thing...but lots of people love it...and panfish are OK if nothing else is biting.

Not true at all. I guarantee that with topwater fly fishing I can keep my fly in productive water more than I can keep a topwater lure in in productive water. ...for subsurface, it can be a push, or close to it. Not everyone makes a bunch of of false casts before putting the fly back in the water...A good fly angler pulls their bass streamer out of the water as soon as it clears good structure/cover, takes it into a back cast wile letting out line, executes a double haul, and drops the streamer right back into the water at the next spot....do that and even if they do make one or two false casts, each only takes a couple of seconds. ...and I was talking about how fussy it was...not saying it was the same. That's a bunch of fun, and I'll do it when bass, pike, and musky fishing is slow...but I'll use a 6 wt. My 3 wt. hasn't been out of the rack except for practice casting in years.