The Incredible Ethical Egg
By Herman DeGala
When I started fly fishing years ago, I was told that fishing egg patterns was indicative of questionable angling ethics.
What I discovered was that it was not so much the flies themselves, but how they were used. I don’t fish to spawning fish and won’t fish over redds. I do, however, fish behind redds, where fish are looking for an easy meal, or to fish in other parts of the river during spawning season. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this fly works particularly well during the spring and fall.
WITH THAT IN MIND, BELOW IS MY SCUD PATTERN, WHICH COULD BE MISTAKEN FOR AN EGG.
Read More »Cast With A Purpose!
By Justin Pickett
Arguably, the most important aspect of fly fishing is the cast itself.
If you can’t deliver the fly properly, the chances of you hooking up spirals down the toilet. Before taking a client onto the water, my first questions have to do with their fly fishing experience and their casting ability. Ask any saltwater guide what is the most important thing to do before stepping on the bow of their boat and they will tell you, “practice your casting”. So you step out on your front lawn, or maybe head out to a dock at a local lake or pond. You strip off some line and you make some casts, but are you really getting anything out of just making some casts for fifteen minutes? Well, yes and no.
In order to make yourself a better caster and, in turn, be a more successful angler on the water, you must practice with a PURPOSE. Whether you want to practice your distance, accuracy, or casting into the wind, get the most out of your time.
First off, always tie on a piece of yarn at the end of your leader. I use bright pink egg yarn. This will allow you to see what’s happening at the end of your leader. How the fly is landing and where. It really doesn’t do you a whole lot of good to just cast a bare leader.
Set up targets, or use trees, plants, pets, children, trolls, etc., as points of aim. Set them up at different distances so you get used to how far 30-40-50-60-70ft looks, how much line needs to be stripped from the reel, and the timing and technique involved in casting those distances. My Labrador loves chasing my fly line around the yard and that gives me a great opportunity to use her as a moving target. When it comes to saltwater fishing, you’re almost never casting at a fixed target. Instead, you’re often leading a fish or a school of fish with your fly. If you don’t have a kid or a pet, use a jogger as they run by! Their facial expressions are usually worth a pretty good laugh.
Find some wind! Don’t go out a cast on dead calm days. You’ll inevitably end up on the water with 25mph crosswinds that will ruin your day on the water if you’re not prepared for it. If you notice that it’s really windy outside, get your butt up and toss the fly rod around. See what the wind does to your cast and find out what you need to do to present your fly to a target.
Work on your line speed. Speed equals distance, and that means perfecting your double haul. There are numerous drills and techniques that you can practice. Find one that works for you and ingrain it into your casting stroke. Even mess around with your grip. You’d be surprised how your grip can affect the amount of power that can be applied to your casting stroke.
Don’t be a one-trick pony!
Read More »Accidental Fishing, Keep Your Gear Close
I’m a firm believer in a well laid plan, so why has some of my best fishing been an accident?
I guess it all started because I have a weak bladder. Anyone who has been on a road trip with me can tell you that. Be prepared to make frequent stops. As much as I try, those stops don’t always coincide with gas stations and rest areas. It was on one of these unscheduled pit stops that I noticed a small stream in the North Carolina mountains. The sound of running water always helps to get the plumbing moving, but this water deserved closer inspection.
I tromped back to the car for a 3 weight and within a couple of minutes I was catching wild brook trout fifty feet from the road. The little stream was lousy with them and there were no trails, beat down banks or any other sign of human traffic. Wild brook trout were thriving there in spitting distance of the highway with no one the wiser. I caught eight or ten and was back on the road without ever knowing the name of the stream.
A couple of years later I was in Colorado when nature called. This roadside bano took me in sight of a small mountain lake. I couldn’t help but notice a cutthroat about sixteen inches cruising the bank. I zipped and trotted back to the car for a different rod. A single cast was all it took. The optimistic cuttie swam right over and ate my hopper. Nothing breaks up a road trip like an unexpected fish.
All of my accidental fishing isn’t related to public urination.
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 »G&G Product Review Policy, Just So You Know
GINK AND GASOLINE IS A NO BULLSHIT ZONE
I’ve received some criticism lately over the fact that my product reviews are all positive. The exact quote was this.
“Another glowing review of a free product. Imagine that.”
My first response was, “It’s a lot easier to make snarky comments on the internet than to write a meaningful review.” I do, however, think the subject deserves a complete disclosure. After all, if you spend your money on something I recommend, I’d like for you to know why I recommend it.
True – I only write positive reviews. Here’s why. It’s my feeling that there is enough negativity in the fly fishing world. I got into fly fishing for a positive experience, not to listen to some guy bitch about what or who sux. If I could, I would delete the word sux from the fly fishing lexicon. It doesn’t help anyone.
I write about products I love. That’s it, pure and simple. In my opinion that’s helpful. It informs you about what I believe is worth your hard earned money. That’s a lot more important than knowing what I don’t like.
I don’t write reviews because manufacturers give me product. As a fairly prominent photographer, I was getting plenty of gear before I started writing reviews. In fact, I write reviews about gear I buy too. I do it as a service to my readers. I do it because people enjoy them and because, publishing daily, I need stuff to write about!
I understand a certain level of skepticism on the part of this particular reader. There are a lot of BS reviews out there on the web. I promise you will not read them here. I do decline to review many products. You’d be surprised.
IN THE INTEREST OF FULL DISCLOSURE, HERE IS THE EXACT TEXT I SEND TO MANUFACTURERS WHO SUBMIT PRODUCTS FOR REVIEW.
G&G product review policy
We do not promise
Read More »Totality
Admittedly this doesn’t have a lot to do with fly fishing, other than taking place on a trout stream.
When I saw the map depicting the path of totality for the solar eclipse of 2017, I knew exactly where I wanted to be. The thin line of totality passing through the mountains of western North Carolina intersected one of my favorite places on earth. A spot that’s near my heart for a couple of reasons.
If I were to tell you where it is, you’d likely be surprised. If you know it, please don’t say. It’s one of those spots that gets plenty of attention but it wasn’t always that way. It used to be the spot I could go and fish all day without seeing another angler. Well, not far from the spot anyway where I caught my first brook trout. Near where I’ve caught a handful of big wild brown trout, and a spot I almost drowned myself. A place where I saw a boulder the size of a car come off the mountain. It’s a spot that’s full of memories and it’s having been discovered by a great many anglers might make it less pleasant to fish but no less pleasant to remember.
I originally made plans to fish with Justin, but plans fall apart if they are made too far in advance. I decided it would e a great day to spend with my wife, Kathy, and our puppy, Josie. It would be Josie’s first road trip, if you don’t count the flight home from South Andros, and I was excited to see how she’d do, as I have many more planned.
We reached our chosen spot, at the top of a favorite waterfall, about an hour before totality. Everyone whom I had told where we were going, including my wife, thought it would be a bad idea. That there would be no way we’d have a view of the sun for the dense trees and steep gorge walls. “Trust me,” I told Kathy, I know exactly where the sun will be. I should. The top of this falls is the exact place where I shot the image that sucked me forever into the fly fishing business. I never forget a location.
It couldn’t have
Read More »Fly Tying Material: DMC Embroidery Floss for Midge Patterns
As we work through fall, and move our way into the winter months, midges will start making up a higher percentage of a trout’s daily diet. Midges may lack the high caloric value of their larger aquatic friends, but they more than make up for it with their year-round availability, and high densities on the water. Veteran trout bums understand the important role that midges play, especially as a mainstay food source for late fall and winter trout. Tiny midges don’t pack a lot of weight on trout, but they do supplement trout enough to help slow up winter weight loss, until the smorgasbord of food returns in the spring. If you went around and snuck a peak in as many hardcore winter trout bums fly boxes as you could find, most, if not all, would be stocked with a nice variety of midge patterns that imitate the three life stages of the aquatic midge (larva, pupa and adult).
The past month I’ve been bulking up my inventory of midge patterns. That way, I’ll be ready when the trout start consistently keying in on the tiny stuff. If you know your way around a vise, I suggest you take the time to do so as well. Most midge recipes are quick and easy to tie, and I promise, the time and energy you spend tying them up, will be paid back ten fold on the water. One of my favorite fly tying materials that you can find in your local craft store or Walmart for tying midge patterns is DMC (Six-strand) Embroidery Floss. All I can tell you is I flat out love this stuff.
Read More »Dicky’s Tarpon Silencer
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD FLY?
On dead calm days in the Florida Keys the silver king can be afraid of his on shadow. I’ve seen plenty of big tarpon vanish at the sound of the fly landing on the water. As a flats guide, so has Joel Dickey. That’s why he came up with this fly that the calls the Tarpon Silencer. The Silencer lands so softly that even the most skittish tarpon keep their cool and it’s shrimpy profile is irresistible.
If you’re planning a trip to the Keys, or any tarpon fishing destination, this is a fly you want in your box.
Watch the video and learn to tie Dicky’s Tarpon Silencer.
Read More »Catch And Release Is It’s Own Reward
By Louis Cahill
I SPENT A WEEK LAST YEAR AT THE PENLAND SCHOOL FOR CRAFT, TEACHING A CLASS ON BAMBOO ROD MAKING.
I was having dinner in the dining hall one evening with ten or so folks I’d never met. Eating with new folks every night is a sort of tradition at Penland and it’s a lot of fun. Every one was curious about fly fishing so I was answering questions and generally being the ambassador for all things fish related. It came up that I practice pretty strict catch and release. A woman at the table stated, more than asked, “what is it with you fly fishermen? If I’m going to go to all the trouble to catch a fish, I’m gonna eat it! What’s wrong with you?”
I am often honest to a fault and with out thinking I answered, “fish are, I think, the most beautiful creatures that live. Every one is unique. I think that’s the real reason I fish. Just to hold them and look at them. If I didn’t fish I’d never get to do that. I like to eat fish but I guess I just don’t have it in me to kill something that beautiful. ” When I stopped talking the table was silent and everyone was looking at the woman. It was uncomfortable at best. “Oh fine”, she exclaimed, “I feel just great now” and left the table. I didn’t mean to come down hard on her. It was a sincere answer and she did ask. Frankly it kind of shocked me that everyone else didn’t see it the same way.
Last year I had the pleasure of teaching my oldest friend to fly fish. He was so excited when he caught his first fish, a beautiful little brook trout.
Read More »Taming Your Buck Fever
You’ve stumbled upon a sexy piece of water to find a big ‘ol trout feeding in the tail of the run.
It’s one of the biggest trout you have ever seen. The one that sends chills down your spine. Without a second’s hesitation you rip line from your reel and begin your back cast as you stare intently at this fish moving side to side in the current. You judge your distance as best as you can in the moment and you fling your flies behind you… And this is where things typically start to go wrong. Did you get tangled in a tree limb behind you? Or worse, did you catch some of the Rhodo creeping over the water on the far bank? Or maybe you just made a bad cast and piled your line up, right on top of the trout that is now hunkered back under the undercut bank? If not, then that’s great! But, the vast majority of us tend to get ourselves into trouble when we are faced with such a situation.
Buck fever is the damnedest thing. It still happens to me, and will probably continue to plague me. It happens to all of us. We’re having a great day, fishing away, casting smoothly, and we’re aware of what’s going on around us. Then we catch sight of the fish that haunts our dreams, and that adrenaline immediately hits our bloodstream. Suddenly, it’s as if we’ve morphed into a raging monkey swinging a football bat. We forget where we are, flies sling wildly through the air, and we stumble over every little pebble. We even bury 3/0 hooks into our backs. It’s a wonder that we don’t completely drown ourselves sometimes. As insane as this can get sometimes, it’s also completely normal.
Normal as it may be, here are a few tips to keep you grounded and put together so you can make your best presentations when they really count:
Stop! : Slow down grasshoppa! You feel that tingly feeling rushing over your body? That’s called adrenaline and it’s a monster. It will ruin the best of casters. Now is not the time
Read More »