Tim Rajeff’s Double Haul Master Class
This video can teach you to fly cast and double haul like a pro.
When I asked Tim Rajeff for some tips on the double haul, I got way more than I expected. In just under 4 minutes Tim gave the best presentation I’ve ever seen on fly casting. If you want to improve your fly casting, get more distance and control and cast like a rockstar, take a few minutes to watch this video.
VIDEO TIPS ON THE DOUBLE HAUL FROM TIM RAJEFF
Read More »Western Fly Guide for Eastern Anglers
I get asked all the time by eastern fly anglers heading out west for the first time, what fly patterns they should stock up on before they leave.
What percentage of dry flies to wet flies they should pack, what sizes, and should they pack streamers? The questions go on and on. I get most of the email inquiries from eastern anglers that are fixing to make their summer trip out west during the peak of the terrestrial season. For those that know me, you know that I’m the type of fly fisherman that carries gear for every situation on the water at all times, for the simply fact that I can’t stand being under prepared on the water. Here’s the truth though, if I’m making a trip out west during the terrestrial season, I usually lighten my load significantly and I only carrying the fly patterns that I think I’ll be fishing the most. If I’m going to be making a trip WY, MT, ID or CO I’m going to pack less nymphs, more dry flies and streamers. Colorado is a little more tricky, in which nymphs can play a larger roll than the other western states I mentioned, but if you travel their during the peak terrestrial season, my packing suggestions should work just fine.
Why do I lighten my load this time of year, you ask? Because the trout generally are easy to convince to rise to the surface and take a dry fly this time of year, and when they don’t want to rise to the surface, they almost always will devour a streamer. It’s not rocket science, the fish are optimistically looking up since a large portion of their food is found floating on or close to the surface during the summer months.
Let’s say I’m traveling to Jackson, WY in August, which is probably the most popular requested area out west that I receive questions about. Below are the fly patterns I will stock up on.
Dry Fly Box (Go Big, Many of these patterns suck up real estate)
Comments: I always pack a extra plano tackle box to hold all my extra flies. Each evening I will replenish the flies out of this box so I’m stocked up for the next day’s fishing. If I’m not witnessing a hatch or fish taking smaller insects on the water, I generally start
Rev Up Your Double Haul During Practice!
By Justin Pickett
Practice your casting. Practice your casting. Practice your casting!
That’s what any good flats guide will tell you prior to stepping foot on the bow of his or her boat. And if you’re smart, you will do just that. After all, you didn’t spend good money to spend all day coming up short, or dropping your fly too close and blowing every shot you may have during the trip, and you don’t want your guide cursing under their breath all day either.
One of the things that I have clients focus on when they ask for casting tips is their double haul. So often I see fly anglers with weak double hauls, or double hauls that aren’t proportionate to the distance they are trying to achieve. Whether it’s a flat calm day, or the wind is howling, you need to have an appropriate double haul for the job. This brings us back to practicing.
One thing that I have noticed during casting instruction and fishing is that the double haul is never as pronounced during fishing as it is during practice. I’ve noticed this while guiding clients, as well as in my own casting while I’m out on the water. This can be the result of many things, such as distractions keeping your focus off your cast or fatigue, which can cause poor casts, coming up short, or failure to penetrate into the wind.
One way to combat this from happening, or from being so profound, is to exaggerate your double haul when you’re practicing.
We are able to repeat the fly cast
Fishsicles
Kent’s eight weight is bent double, the big steelhead finally within range of the net.
We’re in a tough spot. This fish has taken us downstream as far as we can go. We’re backed up against a bridge with a deep hole on one side and a concrete wall on the other. Kent has managed to bring this big fish back upstream and whatever happens is going to happen here and now. The temperature is about zero and the wind is howling. My numb fingers grip the net and I lean forward, waiting for my shot. The fish’s head comes up and I scoop. Holy crap it’s a big fish! Less than half the fish is in the net and I’m losing him. Only one thing to do, I plunge my right hand into the water and tail the fish. He’s landed but my fleece glove is soaked. We manage the fish and I get a few photos but my right hand, now out of the glove, feels like it’s on fire. By the time I get my glove out of my pocket it’s a block of ice. If I hadn’t brought a second pair my day would be over. I’d have frostbite in minutes without a glove on that wet hand.
OK, that’s a happy ending. We landed the fish and I had spare gloves, but let’s look at it from the fishes perspective. The fish is like that bare hand. He’s wet and exposed, out in that cold wind. What’s worse is that a fish is cold blooded. He doesn’t have an internal source of heat like I do. The only thing keeping him warm is that water. Have you ever noticed how fast your guides freeze over on a day like that? That fish has little more internal heat than your rod and out of the water he is going to freeze too. The air is an alien environment for a fish. When you lift him from the water he can’t breath and starts gasping. What he doesn’t know is that he is now exposing his fragile gills to deadly subfreezing temperatures. If those gills freeze, he’s dead and you won’t see it happen. He’ll swim off like he’s fine and slowly suffocate because his injured gills can’t process enough oxygen.
Everybody wants to land that big fish and everybody wants a photo with him, but please be careful and treat him with respect. Keep that fish in the water while you figure out your exposure and camera angle. Have everything
Read More »Don’t Go Fishing Without Your Bullets
By Louis Cahill
Air rifle pellets make cheap and effective weights for fly-fishing.
The thing I love about fly fishing is, there is always something to learn. I would have never thought of this simple fly fishing life-hack if I hadn’t fished in Argentina. Imported fishing gear is crazy expensive in many places overseas. The idea, that started as a money saver, actually has some performance benefits as well.
The idea is simple. Use the needle on your nippers to punch a hole in the nose of an air rifle pellet, then slip your leader through and retie. There is no chance of the weight falling off, or damaging your leader, like split shot can. Lots of anglers do this with cone heads, made for fly tying, but pellets are a fraction of the cost and work just as well. Personally, I like the idea of using lead and knowing it isn’t going to fall off in the river.
You can use the weight directly on the nose of the fly, with streamers for example, or place it above a blood knot anywhere on your leader. You can even use several at different points on your leader to sink the heavy butt section, which is effective for deep-water nymphing. You can use .22 cal for heavy weight or .177 cal for lighter weight.
Pellets have gotten fancy since I was a kid. There are a lot of different types on the market now. I feel like the closer you
Read More »Cahill’s Glass Shrimp
A few years back, on a trip to Andros South in the Bahamas, I had a day when I was just tagging along with some friends shooting photos. Not having a rod in my hand and fishing being a little slow I found myself reverting to my childhood, chasing little crabs and shrimp around in the shallow water of the flats. I caught a little glass shrimp and was amazed at what a delicate little creature it was.
The body of the glass shrimp is transparent, as the name implies. You can see his little organs working inside. He looks tender and tasty. What really struck me about it was, I had nothing in my box that looked like it. In fact, I’d never seen a fly that looked like it. When I got home I started working on a reasonable representation. This fly was the result.
It has worked extremely well for me, on Bahamas bonefish, ever since. The Glass Shrimp is especially effective on days when bonefish are spooky. If fish are spooking at my presentation or following the fly but not eating, this pattern usually turns things around. That’s not to say that fish don’t eat this fly every day. They do.
I’m convinced that these littles shrimp are tender and tasty and that’s why bonefish love them. They seem to frequent really skinny water and that makes this fly perfect for tailing fish in the shallows. I tie it with very little weight for that reason as well as to give a softer presentation.
Give this fly a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Watch the video and learn to tie The Glass Shrimp.
Read More »Slowing Down and Casting Easier Can Improve Your Fly Cast
Slowing down and backing off the power will help out your fly cast.
Read the title of this post and try to live by it.It’s my attempt in “one sentence”, to help fly anglers quickly improve their fly casting, and it’s made me twice fly caster and fisherman I am today. There’s lots more to fly casting than slowing down and casting easier, but if anglers focus on doing both together, they often will find that it can greatly improve their overall technique and control. Ask any professional sports athlete how they maximize their performance and potential, and almost all will reply with excellent technique. It’s no different in fly casting. If you want your fly casting to reach its full potential, you have to first build a strong foundation of fly casting mechanics and principles that you can consistently live by on the water. I’ve found personally that when I take the time to slow down and cast the fly rod with less power, it’s much easier for me to focus on the most important element of my fly casting, my technique.
Let your fly rod do the work
I’ve noticed a great deal of fly fisherman over the years cast with a tempo that’s too fast (rushing their cast), and they also often apply far too much power during their casting stroke. The majority of fly anglers that fall into this category are usually intermediate fly casters. They’re generally skilled enough to fish multiple types of rigs and cast their flies close enough to their targets to catch fish, but they’re approach has them expending far too much energy in the process. Furthermore, this style of casting usually yields a casting stroke that is slightly out of control, creates loops that are inefficient (sloppy) and presentations generally suffer. Put all these negatives together and you’ve got a fly rod that’s not able to perform its job effectively. Remember to always let the fly rod do the work, don’t try to be the power house. It will only work against you in the long run.
Why slowing down and backing off the power will help your fly cast out
First, by slowing down and watching your forward and back cast, you’re going to improve your timing and eliminate the creation of slack, because you’ll be matching the pause length correctly to the amount of fly line your casting. Second, by decreasing your power and casting easier, you’ll find it easier to smoothly accelerate your fly rod through your casting stroke, and keep it traveling in a straight line path throughout the cast. And because you’re
The Articulated Aggravator and Dubbing Loop Platen
By Herman deGala
As with most of the flies that I design I was trying to solve a problem when I created the Articulated Aggravator.
I was looking for a fly that was different from what I was already fishing for smallies, amongst the riprap of a dam. I needed something I could throw into the face of the dam, which would drop as it followed the face of the dam, where the smallies are often hunting in the rocks looking for juvenile crawdads.
I also wanted the fly to have a lot of movement as it was stripped. I have noticed that the crawdads are not just one color but have a variety colors such as olive, orange, rust and even touches of blue. I wanted the fly to have a variegated texture like the crawdads on these rocks.
I was also looking for a material that was relatively cheap and available. I always get turkey quills, pheasant rumps and pheasant tails from my hunting friends during the season. I have always admired Jerry French’s method for tying composite loops and his use of materials. I wanted to use these techniques but needed a way to scale it down for my target species.
The answer was a simple
Read More »Choosing A Premium Fly Rod
By James Buice
The waggle. We all do it.
When you walk into a fly shop looking for that new rod (and yes folks, don’t even think about buying a rod before you cast it), the first thing you do after picking a prospective candidate from the rack is the waggle. Shaking the rod to check the flex, or stiffness, or…whatever. Some check the rod by placing the tip on the floor and observing the deflection. Some even hold the rod tip about a foot off the floor and raise the rod upward quickly to see if the tip touches the ground to see if the wand in question is “a fast or slow action.” Really!?!
Bottom line is no matter what you do in the confines of your favorite fly shop, you’re not going to be capable of making an educated rod buying decision until you line it up and “sling some string” as the kids say. But, there is a lot more to it than just casting blindly in a parking lot or casting pond. Have a game plan; a succinct list of criteria you deem necessary based on the rod’s purpose, your casting style, the type of gamefish you’ll be pursuing, and a realistic scenario in which the rod will be put to use.
THE LONG BALL DOES NOT ALWAYS WIN THE GAME
Having worked in a fly shop for years, I saw the same thing pretty much every time someone took a rod outside to cast. They would strip off all of the flyline at their feet and proceed to cast as much of it as possible. This would inevitably turn into the customer typically throwing tailing loops, snapping back casts, and throwing their arm out in an attempt to get the greatest distance they could muster. More accomplished casters would land the entire line straight, with graceful loops. This would be the extent of the test casting session.
“It threw the whole line.” “Wow, that rod has some power!” or “Feels like it doesn’t want to cast much past eighty feet.”
Great. These customers, no matter what their casting prowess, just showed their ability in casting a rod in parking lot for distance. Know what this told them about how the rod would fish in an actual, real life scenario? Zero. Zip. Nada. Sure it’s cool to bomb a long 100 footer, but aside from some very limited angling scenarios, simply throwing the entire fly line is about as useful as only practicing basketball shots from center court.
When you’re out shopping around, get the long cast out of your system and then focus on what really matters. Pick out a few spots on the ground at varying distances. If the shop has hula-hoops or something to use as a target, all the better. Place these at various distances ranging from 80’ to 10’. If it’s a trout pole you’re after, back it off to around 50 or 60 feet since you typically cannot control drag and fly line drift much past that in a river due to current breaks and such. This will put you in the ‘realistic’ casting ranges you’re going to encounter 99.9% of the time.
Now, don’t start out false casting and try to hit your targets. Begin each cast
Read More »Three Ways We Lose Fish
by Jason Tucker
DUSK FALLS SLOWLY ON A JUNE SUMMER EVENING.
Zach and I stood knee deep in the tannic flowing water of a Northern Michigan stream, the calls of the day birds urgent as they headed to bed, before the night birds emerged. We waited, the sky impossibly bright despite the late hour, as the mosquitoes whined in our ears. In the last of the Boreal light the first Hexagenia of the evening emerged. Still we waited.
A few minutes later 3 large brown trout began feeding just upstream from us. They were over two hundred feet away, and just when we start to move upstream to meet them, a small fish fed thirty feet above us.
“Let me feed him some Hex” I said to Zach, tossing a cast up, more a joke than a serious attempt at fishing. My fly landed, and was pulled down immediately in a great sucking gulp.
I set the hook and without hesitation the fish ran upstream and took half my fly line. It paused for a moment, gave three or four great shakes of its head and ran again upstream, taking the rest of my line and forty feet of backing with it.
I looked at Zach in the gloam and said “It looks like we have to go after this one”, lunging forward in the dark water. Even as I did, the fish took off once more and my leader parted. I stood there breathless and stunned. It had all happened so fast.
I was fishing my eight weight rod with a straight twelve pound leader.
There are a lot of reasons we lose fish, and we all have stories of that one that got away. Personally I’d like to have fewer of these incidents, though they do add a certain something to campfire storytelling sessions. I’ve been party to a lot of big fish being landed or lost over the years. Every year, I find I’m kicking myself over some stupid mistake I’ve made that results in the old Long Distance Release. While entire books could be written on the subject, I will focus on three of the most common causes of losing good fish.
Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight
Very often we either stick to fishing our favorite gear, or we gauge our gear to catching small or average fish. That 3 weight is just fine on most brook trout streams until a big brown comes rolling out from under a log and crushes your fly, and then the battle is on, and frequently lost. Heavier gear is called for if you suspect you have a chance at bigger fish. A 5 weight may work just fine during the day on your favorite stream; late at night when much bigger fish come out you may need to go up to a six weight or heavier. There was a reason I was fishing an eight weight in that opening story, because we had been hooking and catching fish well over twenty inches. I’ll never know how big that fish was, but that night my eight weight felt under powered.
The same can go for your tippet size. My good friend Tom, an excellent angler and caster, told me a couple of years ago that he quit fishing tippet smaller than 4X. He was tired of breaking fish off on 5X. His reasoning was what good does it do to hook up on a fish if the tippet doesn’t survive the hookset or the fish? All you’ve done is needlessly lost a fly without accomplishing anything. Since that conversation I’ve started using heavier tippet and losing fewer fish.
If you’re after big fish at night don’t hold back. I don’t use anything less than 8 pound tippet at night and often go up to 12 pound. You can also shorten your tippet considerably at night.
You Aren’t Mentally Prepared
This is one of the most common mistakes I see– we hook up on a big fish unexpectedly and lose our shit. Never mind