Fly Casting Tip – Rely On Muscle Memory for Difficult Casts
Visiting Yahoo today to check my emails, one of the headline articles titled “Why We Choke When All Is on the Line” caught my attention. As I read the article, it reminded me of a lesson I learned a long time ago as a guide, which was, most of the time my clients cast better in tough or high pressure situations when they’re relaxed, confident and keep their head (brain) out of the game. It’s really easy to think that the more difficult a fly fishing presentation is, the more we should be trying to focus and think about every detail of our cast during the execution. According to many neuroscientists and psychologists who’ve studied why professional athletes choke under pressure, most agree that thinking too much during a task, no matter how routine it may be, can actually decrease your chances for succeeding in high pressure situations.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Emergency Line Splicing
The other day I was out fishing with my buddy Rob Parkins when things took a sudden turn for the worse.
I was making a cast and the line at my feet caught on something sharp. I shot the line with so much power that my eight weight line was cut in two. We were a long way from the car and a spare setup. It looked like my fishing was going to be cut short.
I got the head back. About sixty or seventy feet had been cut off. It was enough line that I could make a short shot but shots were scarce that day and I hated the idea of being limited. I tried tying the line with a blood knot but it was impossible to get through the guides. Rob came up with a brilliant solution.
He suggested
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / WTF Now? Bahamas Edition
If you are like me you are emotionally fatigued over the rollercoaster that is recent Bahamian fishing regulation.
As of January 9th, new double secret Bahamian flats fishing regulations are in effect. They are confusing, vague, completely unimplemented and, for many, disheartening. Are they the end of flats fishing in the Bahamas? Certainly not. Are they what many of us would like? Absolutely not. Do we understand what effect they will have on anglers, guides and the Bahamian people? Not even close.
I am in the Bahamas this week and I will be trying to get some answers to the whirlwind of questions surrounding the issue. If I find any, you will read about it. For now, take a few minutes and read the details.
The best report I’ve found is from Rod Hamilton at DIYFishing.com.
NEW BAHAMIAN FLATS REGULATIONS
You can also read the Abaco Guides Association’s response to this new regulation. This is all we know for now.
Abaco Fly Fishing Guides Association Blasts New Bahamas Flats Fishing Regulations
Read More »10 Yellow Sally Fly Patterns That I Love
When I think back on all the times I’ve fished Yellow Sally stonefly hatches over the years, I honestly can’t remember ever having a bad fishing experience. If I can find them on the water, I usually have no problem getting trout to take my imitations. Yellow Sally stoneflies hatch from coast to coast. Depending on where you live, they usually show up the month of May and in some areas will stick around until the end of August. You’ve got to love an aquatic insect that has a hatch period that lasts not weeks, but months. Even in the dead of terrestrial season, or when other aquatic bug hatches such as caddis or mayflies are in progress, trout will regularly forage on Yellow Sallies if they’re available. For that fact alone, fly anglers should always have a handful of Yellow Sally fly patterns stowed away in the fly box at all times. Trout love them and so should you.
With the gargantuan number of fly patterns out there these days, it can be a challenge at times to pick out the real rock stars amongst all the other players in the fly bins. Below are ten Yellow Sally patterns that I’ve personally fished and had great success with. Four are nymphs and six are dries. My hopes for this post is simply to help point fly anglers in the right direction whether it’s at the vise or at a local fly shop for stocking up on proven Yellow Sally stonefly patterns.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Guide Thoughts
“Sometimes, I wonder if I made the right decision when I chose to guide in my home state. But then again, when you guide, it always seem like there’s greener pastures afar. When I find myself having those thoughts, I just reflect back on why I chose North Georgia for my guiding in the first place.”
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Fall Run
My favorite steelhead video.
This video, by Todd Moen, is not new but I still love it as much as the first time I saw it. Anglers Jakob Lund and my good friend Jeff Hickman put on a steelhead clinic on the upper Clackamus, including the most extreme fish fighting scene I’ve ever seen on film. I can’t get enough.
If this looks like fun to you, join me for the Winter Steelhead Retreat on the Clackamus March 26-30.
CHECK OUT “FALL RUN”
Read More »Go Slow Mo Fo
By Jeff Hickman
Ask any Spey casting coach or steelhead guide what they find themselves saying most often during the day and most likely it’s the words, “slow down”.
I have often joked about just getting a tape recorder to say it for me on repeat. But oftentimes guys say they are trying really hard but they just can’t!
It’s as though their muscles won’t go slow, or maybe their brain won’t let their muscles go slow. Is it fear of failure? Paranoia that they might make a pathetic cast that just lands in an ugly pile of line? How embarrassing that would that be if others on the river saw! Rushed casts can happen for any number of reasons and they happen to everyone from time to time.
There are a couple of tricks I use when people get into this downward spiral of rushing the cast.
First I ask them to take a short one minute timeout and relax their shoulders. After the timeout, I ask them to stop and pause for a full second after setting the anchor. A good way to ensure that you wait a full second is to take a deep breath after you set the anchor. You don’t have to be in such a rush. After the anchor is set you have lots of time to sweep and then cast. It’s as if that pause just sets the tempo for the rest of the cast.
After all, the anchor placement is completely separate from the sweep and cast. It’s important to
Read More »3 Tips for Swinging Flies for Trout & Other Species
By Kent Klewein
SWINGING FLIES IS A SUPER EFFECTIVE WAY TO TARGET ANY SPECIES IN MOVING WATER. IT’S DEADLY WHEN IT’S DONE RIGHT. HERE ARE A FEW SIMPLE TIPS TO HELP YOU GET BETTER SWINGS.
3 ROOKIE TIPS FOR SWINGING FLIES
TIP 1: DON’T HOLD YOUR ROD TIP TOO HIGH OFF THE WATER WHEN SWINGING FLIES
One technique flaw that I see a lot of my clients’ make on the water when they’re swinging flies is they hold the rod tip too high off the water. In many cases, when you do this during the swing, it will create a belly of slack between the rod tip and the fly line on the water. Slack makes it more difficult to detect subtle strikes during the swing. To fix this problem, I tell my clients to always keep the tip of the fly rod on or very close to the surface of the water during the swing. Doing so, it keeps slack to minimum and they find it much easier to feel bites during the swing. The only times, in my opinion, that you want to raise your rod tip off the water during the swing, is when you’re performing a Leisenring lift or you need to raise the fly up in the water column so it doesn’t snag the stream bottom. Before all you veteran swinger junkies start bashing me with comments, understand this tip is for anglers that are newbies to swinging flies.
TIP 2: DON’T SET THE HOOK TOO HARD WHEN SWINGING FLIES
One of the hardest things for me to learn when I first started swinging flies was adjusting my hook set. When you swing flies correctly you don’t have near as much slack in your fly line during the drift as you do when your presenting a fly on a dead-drift. Since you don’t have all that slack to eliminated during the hook set, you don’t need as big or hard of a hook set to successfully hook fish. I’ve found a smooth, conservative sweeping hook set works best when swinging flies. Especially when you’re
Read More »The Guy In Brown
By Brian Kozminski
From a distance, whether mowing the lawn, tending to the animals, or cutting wood, I can recognize the “Fa-Thump, Fa-thump, Fa-Thump” amplified rotation of the tires and diesel engine working up the motivation to travel up the long hill a mile away from our house. A sudden increase in my heart rate, eyes get dilated, hair stands on end, my senses are alert, vision sharpened and hearing more acutely than ever as the big Brown truck makes a rounded left hand turn on our dirt road kicking up a dust cloud common in northern back roads. I can can usually tell in a split second if he is about to accelerate or coast in order to make the wide turn into our driveway.
What could be in the big box? The possibilities are endless. There is a chance they could be new curtains or bedspread for my daughter’s room, but I am hopeful it could be a new slew of rods from TFO or a replacement net for my broken Brodin wooden Guide net. My wife is privy to my game. She knows I have a secret code with the guys clad in pooh brown to store boxes inside of my garage door so I can intercept before she gets home. It’s all in good fun. Is it a genetic disorder? My father had a serious problem ordering online and getting things he really need needed, like shark fishing rods, fish finders, ice-augers and other miscellaneous items from Cabelas that I inherited. Do we as males have an inherent ability to bond with other males in this delivery secret ritual or is it more?
Jump back two decades and I was living in a much larger metropolis where I would drive to the mall or one of several fly shops to purchase the majority of fly tying materials or a much needed new line from Scientific Anglers. I simply could not fathom living a life “Up North” where one didn’t need to drive across town to actually pick up a rod or feel a pelt of deer hair prior to purchase. My brother-in-law bragged about how he would accomplish all of his holiday shopping from the comfort of his EZ chair online. Inconceivable. Now days, I see the virtue in compiling of list of tying materials and making a bulk order to Feather-Craft for my Sex Dungeons and Hog Snares, along with guide flies from Catching Shadows and Anglers Choice Flies for next guide season.
As I was roto-tilling the garden last spring, standing amid the fresh aroma — a nitrogen rich potpourri, compliments of goats, sheep and chickens wafting through the promise of fresh spring air — I quickly shut down the tiller to say “Hello” to my local driver. I had the idea of “getting to know” my UPS and Fed-Ex guys. Why not? Really, they know me, and often ask how the fishing is. These guys know more about you than perhaps some guys at the office. For instance, he knows I prefer getting camping equipment from Sierra Trading Post, and on a more personal level, my monthly prescription for Humira injection for my psoriasis needs to be chilled and kept in the shade. So I had prepared a set of questions for my driver.
What is your name? How old are you? How many years have you been delivering packages for UPS?
Read More »Bonefish Heaven
By Owen Plair
Bonefish are a species that all fly anglers dream about, and hope to one day target.
Traveling to a tropical destination and combing the crystal clear flats looking for a grey ghost is something that intrigues all anglers. I have targeted bonefish a few times in south Florida, including areas like Biscayne Bay and Islamorada, with a little success but never brought a fish to hand. After working in a fly shop for 10 years getting anglers geared up for trips or poling clients on my skiff and hearing countless bonefish stories, it was time to feel that excitement first hand. Back in mid November I was fortunate enough to attend the G&G South Andros Bonefish School. The feeling I had, packing my bags, knowing exactly what to bring after helping countless other anglers throughout the years was incredible. Finally it was my turn to fly out for my first experience with Bahamas Bonefish.
Little did I know, as I looked out of small plane window at the blue, tropical water, that South Andros would soon change my life forever. We were a group of 12 anglers hailing all the way from Montana to across the ocean in England. All with the same heightened anticipation of a week in Bonefish heaven. Endless miles of water, absolutely gorgeous habitat, and a culture proud to host angers like us, coming to experience bonefishing in the Bahamas. When flying into South Andros you don’t see giant resorts and tall buildings, even though it is the largest island in the Bahamas. What you see are miles and miles of flats and an island that seems almost deserted from the air. This was surprising to me and made me smile, knowing that it was a sign of great fishing ahead.
After everyone was seated in our taxi to the lodge, the driver of the van says in a warming Bahamian accent, “Okay fellas, I have fresh air, saltwater and cold beer. What’ll you have?” Kermit, our driver, starts popping bottle tops and handing out cold Bahamian beer for the short ride to the lodge. That was one of the best beers I had ever had.
We had an amazing dinner that night, full of laughter, drinks, and stories from around the globe. When 12 fly fishermen get together, it’s like you have been best friends for years. After dinner everyone went to their rooms and started rigging rods, tying leaders, and getting organized for the next morning. The rooms were not numbered but named after various fish and ironically the name of my room was “bonefish” which made me feel confident in the upcoming week.
I woke up the next morning feeling
Read More »