Fly Fishing Bass: 5 Tips for Fishing Frog Patterns Around Grass

No comments yet / Posted on / by

Some of my most memorable days chasing bass on the fly have come from me spending the day popping and waking frog patterns along the surface. I grew up fishing for bass, and although trout fishing has stolen the majority of my fly fishing attention over the years, I’ve always held a special place in my heart for catching bass on the fly. I’ve got friends that don’t see the coolness in fly fishing for bass, but that’s because most of them haven’t put in enough time on the water to experience perfect fishing conditions, and witness the thrill of bass smashing their fly cast after cast. Bass are amazingly acrobatic fish, and they provide more than enough pull and rod bend to justify fly fishing for them. If you haven’t explored this area of fly fishing, I highly recommend it. One day, Louis and I left our houses at 2:45 in the morning to drive across the Georgia State line, and fly fish for bass on Lake Guntersville. Louis was doing a shoot for a new bass lure company, and I was lucky enough to get invited to tag along. Normally, it would be a real challenge to drag me out of bed at this hour, but Lake Guntersville is considered one of the top bass fishing lakes in the entire country. More importantly, the lake is famous for its unbelievable frog fishing that generally starts in June, and runs through the summer months. Lake Guntersville hosts several professional bass tournaments throughout the year, and in 2014, it will host the most famous of all tournaments, The Bassmaster Classic. During the tournaments on Lake Guntersville, it’s not uncommon for bass anglers to weigh-in five fish sacs, well over 35 pounds. That’s right, we’re talking about an average fish weight of … Continue reading

Read More »

11 Tips For Cleaner, More Consistent Fly Tying

19 comments / Posted on / by

Clean, well proportioned flies are the mark of a good tyer.

Fly tying is a little bit craft, a little bit art and a little bit science. Even when tying simple flies it can be challenging to produce consistent results and top quality, especially when the patterns get small. Most tyers are self-taught and many never learn some of the fundamental skills which produce good results. I teach fly tying classes from time to time and I see tyers struggle with the same fundamental issues over and over. Spending some time on the basics will pay big dividends in both quality and efficiency.

HERE ARE 11 TIPS FOR TYING CLEANER, MORE CONSISTENT FLIES

Get the proportions right from the start.

You should be thinking about the placement of every element of a pattern from the first thread wraps. Each pattern has a code that’s easy to break down if you start off right. The key is to break down the hook shank into simple fractions. Here is an example. When tying any Gotcha style bonefish fly I use my thread to break the hook shank into quarters. I start the thread behind the eye and lay down a thread base to the middle of the hook. It’s easy for your eye to see halves, so I start by dividing the shank in half, then I wind half way back to the eye. That’s my first quarter, and that’s where my dumbbell eyes go.

If I were tying a parachute-style dry fly, I’d divide the shank into thirds and place my parachute post on the first third. Using these simple fractions not only insures that your flies are consistent, it insures that the proportions stay the same as the hook size changes. Your #20 flies will look like miniature versions of your #12s.

Measure and prep your materials by hook size.

Another key to keeping proportions consistent is to organize your materials by the size of the patterns you’re tying. Use a hackle gauge to select feathers which match the hook size and set aside as many as you will need for a tying session.

When tying in tails or wings, use the hook shank to measure the right length. Know the right proportion for the pattern you are tying and always use the hook as your reference. When using materials like hair, keep the number of fibers you gather in proportion with the size of the pattern. Smaller flies will require smaller clumps of hair.

Use the right thread.

Like every material used in a fly,

Read More »

Sunday Classic / Tight Quarters Trout Fishing

No comments yet / Posted on / by

Watch the Video!

(Watch our video that demonstrates this scenario)
If you’ve been fly fishing for a while, you’ve probably become pretty proficient at dropping your dry flies in tight quarters to catch trout that are either tucked in under foliage or holding tight to an undercut bank. What If I asked you to make that same presentation, however, with a tandem nymph rig on a small stream with a strike indicator and split-shot? Could you pull it off with the same percentage of success? If you answered yes, hands off to you, because you are not the norm. I’ve found that most of my clients in this situation lack the confidence and know how to make consistently accurate fly presentations with a heavy tandem wet fly rig.

Below is a video Louis and I shot a while back, explaining how I pull off tight quarter casting on small trout streams. I had my rod rigged with a tandem nymph rig to show you the most important things I focus on when casting to targets in these tight quarters.

Read More »

Saturday Shoutout / The Big And The Bad

No comments yet / Posted on / by

Watch the Video!

Chasing the biggest and baddest steelhead on the planet.

Well, that doesn’t sound awful. This may make you hate me, but i’m actually steel heading as you read this. Not on the Skeena and not for the biggest and the meanest, but the Salmon Junkies are, so lets join them for a drag burning trip to the Skeena for monster steelhead.

Enjoy!

Read More »

Dry Gear and Cold Beer From Fishpond

1 comment / Posted on / by

Always innovative, always quality. That’s what you expect from Fishpond.

This years new offerings are no exception. Some very cool T-zip duffles that are totally submersible, a nice new net and the accessory every angler needs. A wearable beer cozy. All you need are fish and a straw!

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO TO SEE THE NEW PRODUCTS FROM FISHPOND.

Read More »

Fly Fishing: Don’t Turn Your Cheek, Pay it Forward

8 comments / Posted on / by

The other day I had the opportunity to guide a client who previously had put down his fly rod for many years. As he put on his waders and boots, and I began rigging the rods, he told me that many of his good friends were avid fly fisherman. Problem was, they had made it clear to him that they preferred he didn’t tag along with them, because they didn’t want to waste their precious fly fishing time teaching a beginner. I felt bad for the guy. He had been painted an outcast by his own buddies, and every year that went by, it made it harder and harder for him to pick up his fly rod. With a comforting grin on my face, I replied, “Man, I really wish you would have called me sooner. We could have nipped this in the butt a long time ago.”

During our hike in to the river, I decided my mission for the day was

Read More »

This Land is Your Land

8 comments / Posted on / by

By Mia Sheppard

In the West, we are blessed with endless access to public rivers, mountains, forest, grasslands, and backcountry areas. These places are every American’s playground.

As a steelheader, mother, and outfitter who relies on public access; I’ve made central Oregon, and the rivers that flow through its basalt outcroppings and sagebrush foothills, my playground. Like most steelhead and trout rivers, the ones I fish and float are held in a trust for the American people by the federal government and managed, along with the rest of our country’s 640 million acres of federal public lands, by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service.

These are lands that give us access to fish whenever we want, at minimal cost. In Oregon, I have the freedom to explore and find new water to over 200 public rivers and creeks. I can’t imagine fishing a river where I had to pay a premium to do what I love, go fishing and hunting.

Have you ever wondered where you would go fishing or hunting if you didn’t have public access? We can’t just take this lifestyle for granted.

There’s a movement afoot to transfer public lands that fuel our sports. Harkening back to the homesteaders of the 1880s and the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s, this group is rallying around the idea of taking back federal lands that supposedly belong to the states. This modern-day sagebrush rebellion, which is well-funded and well-organized in places like Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Montana, advocates for the transfer of millions of federal acres to the states that claim to be able to manage them better.

In 2012, the Utah state legislature passed the “Transfer of Public Lands Act and Related Study,” demanding that 31 million acres of federal land be given to the state by December 31, 2014. (This demand was never met.) As futile as Utah’s effort may sound, a total of 37 bills were introduced in 11 Western states promoting the transfer of federal public lands to state holdings during the 2015 state legislative season.

And the fight has moved to Washington, D.C.: In 2015 the U.S. Senate passed a non-binding budget resolution that encourages Congress to “sell, or transfer to, or exchange with, a state or local government any Federal land that is not within the boundaries of a National Park, National Preserve, or National Monument.” Read that again—your Senators passed this symbolic measure 51-49. Idaho’s Senator Mike Crapo and Senator James Risch both voted for it. This is such an important issue that the presidential candidates are talking about it and the newly approved Republican platform supports turning over federal land to

Read More »

Sunday Classic / Let Your Guide Decide

8 comments / Posted on / by

IT’S CRAZY TO ME BUT I SEE IT ALL THE TIME. GUYS WILL SPEND A FORTUNE TRAVELING TO SOME FAR FLUNG FISHING DESTINATION AND WHEN THEY GET OUT ON THE BOAT THEY’LL TIE ON THE FLY THE GUY IN THE SHOP AT HOME RECOMMENDED INSTEAD OF ASKING THEIR LOCAL GUIDE.

Guides behave differently in different locations. A Florida Keys guide would never let you tie on a fly from your box with out approving it first. He’d more likely just cut it off and tie on one of his own, but guides in other places can be a lot more low key. In the Bahamas for example the guides are very laid back and if a client ties on a fly, they will likely not question it. They of course have an opinion, an informed one at that, and if you ask for it you’ll get it.

I was on the boat one day with, Andros South guide, Jose Sands and an angler who will remain nameless. This fellow is a great fisherman and a guide at home. He had selected a fly from his box and when the time came made a perfect presentation to a huge bonefish

Read More »

Saturday Shoutout / Thinking One Through

4 comments / Posted on / by

Watch the Video!

Here’s a video every trout angler will want to see.

There’s nothing more fun than sight fishing to trout. Beyond being enjoyable and visually rewarding, it’s also how you will catch your biggest fish. Sight fishing allows you to target quality fish and make informed presentations. It’s a real art.

This great video from Jensen Fly Fishing (sourced via Orvis News) is a textbook example of educated angler vs educated fish. It’s highly educational and just plain fun to watch.

ENJOY, “THINKING ONE THROUGH.”

Read More »

Looking Good With Fish On

2 comments / Posted on / by

Fish On Energy delivers cool designs and quality materials in Fly Fishing apparel.

I met these guys about 2 years ago when they were just getting into the apparel game. They weren’t really product designers, just fishy guys with an eye for what’s cool. They had a couple of cool T-shirts and hats and a great attitude. Two years later, the product line has expanded, and the designs have evolved. Now there’s cool apparel for on and off the water. Pretty cool stuff from Fish On.

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO SEE NEW DESIGNS AND TECHNICAL WEAR FROM FISH ON ENERGY.

Read More »