What Every Fly Angler Can Learn From Tenkara
I DIG MY TENKARA ROD AND I’M NOT ASHAMED OF IT.
It seems like there are only two camps when it comes to fishing tenkara. Those who love it and those who hate it. I think the general sentiment of the haters was summed up pretty well by good friend Dave Grossman of SCOF.
“You know the hardest part about tenkara?…Telling your dad that you’re gay.” – Dave Grossman
Well, my father passed away years ago so I guess I’ll tell you. I think I’m gay for tenkara.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting all of my two handers on eBay or chucking out the bonefish rods. I will continue to carry way too many flies and a bag of split shot but I’m taking this willowy little rod seriously and I think you should too.
I’m new to tenkara. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert. We have an expert (Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA) writing tenkara content and I encourage you to submit questions for Daniel to answer. What I am prepared to do is tell you why I’m excited about tenkara and what I think it offers to every fly angler.
You’ve probably heard that tenkara is fun. That’s very true. It’s also simple, affordable, convenient and aesthetically pleasing. Those are all good reasons for the sudden popularity of tenkara but there is a whole lot more going on in this ancient Japanese art of angling. Tenkara is making a whole lot of people better anglers.
“It’s between the fish and the fly, man. Take yourself out of the equation.” – Tori Bevins
That quote from bonefish guide Tori Bevins is to this day my favorite bit of fly fishing wisdom. Tori wasn’t talking about tenkara, but he could have been. The lesson is the same. Fly fishing is magic. Not in the Merlin sense but in the David Copperfield sense. It is the art of illusion. The art of making someone, in this case a fish, believe with all their heart in something utterly implausible.
Read More »Sitting On Top Of The World
DAN FLYNN STALKS BROOK TROUT IN AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION.
Summer is here and for those of us in the southeast it’s time to beat it to the headwaters for a little Brookie fishing. If that’s your game, water falls like this one over a hundreds feet high are part of the program. No one is going to tell you where to find wild native brook trout. You’ll need a good topo map and some thick boot soles.
Just watch that last step. It’s a doozie.
Read More »Restore an Old Bamboo Fly Rod #5: Video Series
Matt Draft is back with part 5 of our bamboo fly rod restoration series.
In this video Matt will show you how to attach the guides, make beautiful silk wraps, including signature wraps, and finish all of the thread work with color preserver and varnish. We’re also including a separate video on installing the grip and reel seat.
RESTORE AN OLD BAMBOO FLY ROD #5
Check out https://www.proofflyfishing.com
Read More »Halfback Nymph in High Water
Looking for a great high water nymph pattern that will consistently fool trout?
Try tying on a halfback nymph, it’s an oldie but goodie that has produced big fish for me countless times over the years. The buggy profile of the halfback nymph does a great job of imitating a large variety of aquatic insects, and it’s large size is easy for trout to spot quickly in fast water. This nymph pattern screams “I’m a big juicy morsel, Come eat me”.
I always have at least a half dozen of these guys in my fly box. I often use the halfback nymph as my lead fly in my tandem nymph rig, and tie a 16-24″ piece of tippet off the bend of the hook with a smaller dropper nymph. You can also try substituting the standard peacock herl underbody with a more flashy dubbing material when fishing
Read More »Make The Straight Line Practice Rod: Video
By Louis Cahill
Here’s a video on how to make a simple tool that will take your fly casting to a new level.
A few weeks back I shared a video on how to “Stop Dropping Your Rod Tip Once and For All.” In that video I show you how to use the Straight Line Practice Rod. It’s a brilliant tool, shown to me by my buddy Tim Rajeff. It’s the most effective way I have found to help anglers understand the straight line rod-tip path, the secret to making clean, tight loops. The video was very popular, but there was a problem.
In the video, I mentioned that I though Echo Fly Rods sold this thing on their sight. Echo was flooded with calls and emails asking for it. Apparently I was wrong. Since they don’t sell a version, I decided I had to make a video showing how to make one yourself. It’s incredibly simple and you can do it in your kitchen. If you take the time to make a Straight Line Practice Rod for yourself, I promise you will see a difference in your fly casting.
WATCH THE VIDEO AND LEARN TO MAKE THE STRAIGHT LINE PRACTICE ROD.
Read More »Nets, Go Big or Go Home
I received an email from a reader the other day asking advice on steelhead nets. I thought it was a topic worth some discussion. We put a lot of thought into rods, reels, lines and flies but often the piece of equipment that seals the deal is an afterthought. I was guilty of this for years, carrying a net that wasn’t up to the job for purely sentimental reasons. I finally realized it made no sense and tooled up.
HERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT I LOOK FOR IN A NET.
Size Matters
Bigger is better and biggest is best! When your fighting the fish of a lifetime you don’t have time to run to Wal-Mart for a bigger net. Plan for success. My regular trout net is 20″ across. For steelhead you’ll want something bigger. It’s easier to net a tough fish and it gentler on them as well. Go big or go home.
The Bag
This is the most important thing to me. Traditional nets tear fins and remove slime from fish. The new rubber nets are the friendliest thing for the fish. Put them back the way you found them.
A Long Handel
I don’t care what they allow in competition, longer is better. If it means you net the fish faster it cuts down on the chance you will unbutton and it’s better for the fish.
Light Weight
I love the look of a wooden net but the big ones are too heavy to carry wading. I use the
Tom Keck Is My Role Model
In September of 2009 I was fishing the South Platte below Spinney Reservoir, the stretch they call the Dream Stream.
When I noticed this gentleman casting trico patterns to the far bank…from a wheelchair. I watched for a bit as he worked a pod of rising fish with a long reach cast, occasionally fooling one and bringing it to the net that he had fashioned with an extra long handle. He would wheel himself down stream to the next rising fish, careful to travel far enough from the bank that he didn’t spook fish. It was an impressive display. I would find out just how impressive when I walked over and introduced myself.
Tom Keck, of Denver CO, is a likable fellow and a great fisherman. Generous with his knowledge of the S. Platte as well as with his beautifully tied flies. The flies he gave me turned out to be day makers. But don’t let his gentle demeanor fool you. This fellow is carved of wood. I asked him how he wound up in the wheel chair and this is the story I got. Ten or so years earlier, fishing the Platte at Deckers he had taken a bad fall. Alone, his back broken and paralyzed, he struggled in the fast water nearly drowning. Eventually he pulled himself to the shore and then to the road with his hands. There he found help but he never walked again. He also never stopped fishing the river he called his home water.
I’ve taken a few bad falls. Not like Tom’s but bad enough to make me wonder what I’d do if I were really hurt out there on my own. I hope I never have to answer that question but if I do I hope I’m half the man Tom is and can face it with the courage and
Read More »Think Twice About Your Tippet Size
HAVE YOU EVER MADE THE MISTAKE OF CUTTING OFF YOUR DRY FLY OR NYMPH RIG AND QUICKLY TYING ON A STREAMER TO TARGET A BIG FISH?
You know, when your too lazy or in a hurry to take the time to upsize to the appropriate tippet size generally called for with streamers. I know I have, and it’s resulted in breaking off a big fish on more than one occasion. Big brown trout particularly have razor sharp teeth like a high quality serrated knife. I’ve seen a brown trout literally cut a trout in two after one quick bite. Their teeth ain’t no joke man. If you’re streamer fishing, use fluorocarbon tippet. It’s much better than monofilament for abrasion resistance. Lastly, don’t be shy to go big on your tippet size at first. It could make the difference between you landing or losing that trophy of a lifetime. You can always down size your tippet if you think your not getting bites because the fish are seeing the line.
Read More »Beginner Series: Fly Lines, Leaders, and Tippet
By Justin Pickett
So you’ve decided to dive into the world of fly fishing and need to outfit your new rod and reel purchase with a fly line, leaders and spools of tippet.
Does it matter what line you get? And what about leaders? What the hell is tippet?! These are all typical questions that the beginning angler will have, so don’t worry. We’re going to work on flattening that learning curve!
Fly Lines
To a beginner, trying to learn about all the little intricacies of fly line tapers is about like trying to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic. The good news is that you don’t need to get too caught up in tapers and grain weights to catch fish. Learning about the various aspects of fly lines will certainly help you down the road, however we’re going to focus mainly on weight-forward, floating lines. Today’s fly rods are typically faster than those made even ten years ago, almost requiring a more compact, heavier line to properly load the rod. Some “beginner” lines are even manufactured a half weight heavier to help load today’s faster rods. As a beginner, a weight-forward line will better suit your casting needs with the more popular five weights found in fly shops, and a floating line will enable you to cover a large majority of fishing scenarios. All of the fly lines listed below are inexpensive and are great all-purpose fly lines whether you’re slinging parachute adams or foam poppers.
Airflow Super Dri
Orvis Clearwater WF
Scientific Anglers AirCel Trout
Rio Mainstream WF Trout
Leaders and Tippet
Leaders and tippet are other items that you will need in order to get going and hook up with that first fish. You’ll hear of many anglers that tie their own leaders and have their preferred recipes. While you may one day tie up your own leaders created from your own secret formula, for now, keep it simple. I would say
Read More »Catch More Fish By Listening To Vinyl
Is there a link between vinyl records and fly fishing?
I’m prepared to make a completely unreasonable argument. Whether or not you agree with it, it might actually help you catch more fish. If not, it will absolutely make for a better music listening experience. What have you got to loose?
I became aware of this obtuse connection on my first steelhead trip to Oregon to fish with my buddy Jeff Hickman. We spent the cold snowy evening tying flies, drinking Irish Whisky and spinning old vinyl LPs. The sizzling, popping sound of The Doors became the soundtrack for my first steelhead on a swung fly. To this day music and steelhead are inextricably linked.
Music has always been an important part of my life. I wore through the grooves of a hundred records when I was a teenager. I still remember seeing my first CD player and its shiny silver disks. In the mid 80s, when CDs were unavoidable and vinyl hard to come by, my faithful Bang and Olfson 4002 turntable, bought with paper route money, went into a box.
Fortunately, I never lost track of it and, twenty-five years later, after that trip to Oregon I pulled it out. I’d forgotten how good vinyl sounds. How warm and organic. What’s more, I’d forgotten that listening to music was a ritual. It was a production, something you set aside time to do. You couldn’t just put on a playlist and go about your day. There were buttons to push and records to be flipped. Music demanded your attention and that made you appreciate it.
The last week or two I’ve been tying woven nymphs. If you’re not familiar with the technique, it involves weaving intricate, two-toned bodies from colorful embroidery thread. It’s tedious and time consuming and in the end the patterns are not necessarily more effective than much simpler patterns, but creating them and fishing them is a real joy. When you tie on a carefully woven nymph you fish in different way, or at least I do. It’s as though the time and care that’s put into each fly culminates in a more mindful fishing experience. Each cast becomes a special occasion.
During these tying sessions I’ve been listening to vinyl records. Brian Jones era Rolling Stones, mostly. I’ve worked it out to where each fly takes about an album side. At that rate I’m not exactly stuffing the box but that’s not the point. I put on side two of “More Hot Rocks” and start tapering the body to “Out Of Time” and I’m whip finishing somewhere toward the end of “We Love You.” I’ve crafted a beautiful trout magnet and witnessed an important evolutionary period in The Stones music. Absolute perfection.
I got into fly fishing very young. I don’t think my path was at all typical. I was never a good gear angler and I’m still not. I was an outsider and fly fishing was an outsider’s game. I’m self-aware enough to know that I was drawn to it because I like doing things the hard way, even when I’m not very good at doing it the easy way yet. I got one casting lesson from my grandfather and everything else I learned up to about age 40, I learned on my own. I don’t recommend the method, that’s just how I did it.
I do think most fly anglers do have a few things in common. We like to do things the hard way. We enjoy the process and the challenge and we are comfortable being outsiders. Our interest in doing things a particular way generally outweighs our interest in catching fish. It’s a contradiction we all practice and seldom understand.
The division between fly and gear anglers was highlighted for me at this year’s IFTD / ICAST show. On the way
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