Sunday Classic / Guide Dos And Don’ts
I FULLY EXPECT TO CATCH SOME HEAT FOR THIS.
When I wrote the list of client dos and don’ts I quoted my friend Kirk and agreed whole heartedly with the glowing things he had to say about fishing guides. I took that one step farther by emailing a bunch of my friends who guide and putting together a list of the stuff they would like to tell their clients but don’t feel like they can. I’m sure there were some things on that list a lot of guys didn’t want to hear so, in the interest of fair play, today the guides get their list of dos and don’ts.
I fully expect to catch some heat for this, so please try to understand where it’s coming from. I’m a big fan of fishing guides. As I’ve said most of my friends are fishing guides and I have a great deal of respect for the men and women who do that job. I will quote Kirk Deeter again, “I think the sun rises and sets on the fly fishing world where guides collectively say it does. They are stewards of their rivers. They are the innovators, and the teachers. And a good guide is, for fly fishing and trout conservation, worth his or her weight in gold.” I have however fished with guides who were less than stellar, for one reason or another. Since I did a list of dos and don’ts for clients, it seems only fair to do the same for guides.
I expect most of the guides who read this will agree with what I have to say. Most of it is very obvious and simple. If you do not, I encourage you to look at it from the other side of the boat. I’ve seen everything on this list happen, so there’s somebody out there who needs to hear it.
GUIDE DOS AND DON’TS
•Don’t assume your client is an idiot
Your last hundred clients may have been complete idiots but that doesn’t mean today’s guy is. Even if he is he deserves the chance to prove it.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / MT Matt Keeps It Real
Montana Matt hits this one out of the park!
The message from this Montana fishing guide is one of the most positive I’ve heard on the subject of fly fishing. I read this and thought, “Here’s a guy who actually gets it!” I’m sure there is a backstory on this but Matt doesn’t fall in to the negative trap. Instead he lays out some solid and practice advice for keeping your head up when others try to tear you down. These are words for every angler to live by.
READ IT, LIVE IT!
How to keep your head up in the hobby of fly fishing that is filled with jealousy and competitiveness (Fly Fishing is awesome why be so uptight?)
Read More »RIO InTouch Fly Lines
LESS STRETCH = BETTER PERFORMANCE
This year RIO has expanded the use of its Connectcore technology to a host of new lines, including the very popular RIO Gold. While the technology its self is not new or groundbreaking, it’s expansion into more lines is a great move by RIO.
Low stretch lines simply perform better. They are more responsive both in casting and fishing. They have more feel and hold up longer. There’s very little downside to the new InTouch lines. I have heard some folks suggest that you might break off more fish with low stretch lines but that seems like a stretch to me. It’s the rod tip which protects your tippet, not the stretch of the line. For my money, this is a great move by RIO.
In this video Simon Gawesworth walks us through the new series of InTouch lines for RIO.
Read More »2 Scenarios For Greasing Your Leader
by Kent Klewein
SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE GREASE.
Here are two scenarios where I find treating my leader with floatant helps me catch more fish.
1. Fishing with Tiny Dry Flies
Many anglers out there shy away from fishing tiny dry flies because they find it difficult to see them and keep them floating during their drifts. Greasing the length of your leader with fly floatant can help your tiny dries float longer and make them easier to see on the water. A good scenario for this would be if you’re fishing a CDC pattern where you don’t apply floatant directly to the fly pattern. By greasing your leader you’ll increase the floatation of your pattern and it will stay afloat longer in more turbulent water.
2. Drifting Nymphs & Emergers in the Film
If you find the standard dry fly dropper rig is failing to get the attention of feeding fish during a hatch, try instead tying on a single emerger or nymph pattern that imitates the aquatic insects hatching. Then grease your leader from the
The Echo SR Switch, Trout Spey Gets Serious
I love chasing trout with two-hand rods.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, I’m a total fly rod nerd. Switch rods are somewhere near the top of the list of stuff I geek out about. I only need the flimsiest of excuses to start Spey casting. That aside, there are plenty of reasons that switch rods make sense for trout. They aren’t just fun, they’re often better.
When I first started trout fishing with two handers it was really hard to find a rod that was light enough for the job. Six weights, which were the switch rods of the day are too heavy to high stick and even a nice trout feels like a snit on one. Recently though, rod manufacturers are paying a lot more attention to light weight switch rods and that’s been a game changer.
My current go-to switch rod for trout has been the Echo SR 10’6″ 4 weight.
This rod has everything I need for the job and has proven its self time and again. It’s powerful, versatile, light weight and fits in the drift boat, which is actually pretty huge.
The SR 4 weight weighs in at 5.9 ounces. That’s plenty light for the days when you want to high stick nymphs all day. It feels lighter in the hand. Most of the weight is cork and reel seat and at 10’6′ it balances beautifully.
For nymphing I will sometimes pair it with a standard weight forward 5 line, which it casts very well overhead or short distance Spey. Doing this gives you an easy dry fly option if a hatch comes off. Other times I’ll use a compact Scandi. This pairing gives you serious long distance two-handed casting when you need it and is perfect for swinging flies. I love it for that reason. Another good choice for fishing nymphs is the Airflo Speydicator line. This line turns over heavy rigs on two-handed casts with ease.
_DSC6828The SR taper is sweet for buttery two-handed casting but it also has enough fortitude in the butt section to apply a double haul and push a nice tight loop into the wind. It’s a pleasure to cast with one hand or two. No
Read More »Sunday Classic / Streamers Aren’t Just For Big Water
Fly fishing to picky educated trout that get pounded daily by fly anglers, can get many of us flustered at times.
It’s easy to find ourselves following everyone else’s lead on the water when it comes to pattern choice. Blue ribbon trout streams in Colorado come to mind, where the key to success is often sight-fishing with tiny nymphs on fine tippet. But even fishing the right fly patterns, you still are going to have to deal with hard to read intricate currents above and below the surface, of which, will constantly be trying to compromise your drift and fly placement. This is often the key factor in whether you fool or tip off the fish that your offering is not the real deal.
I’ll never forget a day on the upper Roaring Fork a couple years back that left me humbled to the core. I had no problem locating numerous trophy class fish. Hell, they were everywhere it seemed like, and often only a couple rod lengths away from me. Unfortunately, the majority of them were holding in all the wrong places, where it was almost impossible to get a good presentation and drift with my flies. I’d make what I thought was a perfect cast, and right when my flies were about to enter the target zone of the fish, I would lose my drift and the fish would slide off to the slide and give me the finger. An 11′ switch rod with a extra long leader was what I needed that day, but unfortunately, I left that rod at home. Those big beautiful fish on the Roaring Fork, gave me a whole new appreciation for PHD educated trout. They all seemed to know exactly where to sit and feed, just out of fly anglers reach. I finished that day with a few respectable mature trout and numerous other smaller fish that looked like they had been booted out of the prime lies. Knowing what I know now, I should have
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Nat Geo on Killing Cormorants
Should U.S. Government Kill Thousands of Birds to Save Salmon?
I generally down on killing thing, but I’m willing to make an exception for these guys.
This is a topic I’ve struggled with for some time. I’ve thought about writing on it many times but have never felt like I had enough facts to move forward. Fortunately for me, National Geographic has taken care of it for me, or at least started.
This article takes a hard look at the decision to kill a vast number of cormorants in the Pacific North West. These birds are dramatically effecting salmon runs and the step has been carefully taken to protect these fish who are already in grave danger.
I’m personally excited to hear of it and I hope it will be a precedent. I’m not just choosing fish over birds but the truth is that cormorants are an invasive species. Protected nationally because they were a gift to Harry Truman’s wife from the Emperor of China, if I have the story right.
The North West is not alone in their cormorant troubles. They are reeking havoc on baby tarpon habitat in the Florida Keys. They are turning up everywhere and it’s an issue we should all have our eyes on. So I’ll turn it over to Nat Geo for the hard science.
CHECK OUT: SHOULD U.S. GOVERNMENT KILL THOUSANDS OF BIRDS TO SAVE SALMON?
Read More »Hoo-Rag The Better Bandana
The most comfortable sun protection I’ve found, and maybe the coolest.
Hoo Rag took on the established big dogs in the sun protection gear market just a few years ago. They have grown quickly and now I see them everywhere. I’m not surprised. Hoo Rag’s commitment to higher quality and cooler designs is a winning combination.
I have several Hoo Rags and they have quickly become my go-to seamless bandanas. They are amazingly breathable, supper comfortable with a little extra stretch and alway look awesome. I see their Skull Daddy models on Harley Riders everywhere.
In this video we take a look at some of the new designs for 2015.
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 »2015 G&G Fishing Trips are Bigger, Better and More Affordable
Kanektok River, Alaska / Deschutes River Steelhead / Dean River Chinook and Steelhead for as little as $2000 / person! I’m excited to have three amazing trips to offer in 2015. Each is a unique adventure. Each a bucket list location and each a chance to catch the fish of a lifetime. I’ve spent the last several years researching these locations and feel really confident that we have the best possible trips planned. These fly fishing adventures are not to be missed! Join me on one of these great trips and I’ll do everything in my power to make it an experience to remember. You’ll meet and fish with other members of the Gink and Gasoline community and go home with new friends, new skills and memories that will last forever. Gink and Gasoline trips are a blast! Alaska West Lodge, July 26 – Aug 8, 2015 Alaska West is a remote but comfortable camp deep in western Alaska. On the banks of the Kanektok River, it offers some of the best fly fishing on the planet for rainbow trout, dolly varden, grayling and all five species of Pacific salmon. Our week in July offers amazing trout fishing. Generally the flesh bite is just coming on strong which means the biggest fish in the river are out in force where we can target them. The mouse bite is typically strong as well, offering the most exciting trout fishing possible. In addition to epic trout fishing, this is one of the few times of the year you can do the salmon slam, catching all five species of salmon. The chum salmon should be in full swing and highly aggressive and the first silvers hitting the river hot and bothered. This week was epic last year and I expect a repeat performance. … Continue reading
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