New Sightline Provisions Dog Collars and More: Video
I’m pretty excited about the new Sightline Provisions Dog Collars!
My Josie was an early adopter. Her SLP color sported a permit badge. Permit is her nickname because no one can catch her. It’s the coolest dog collar I’ve ever seen. Dogs aren’t the only ones getting cool new stuff though. There are pendants, rings and cool new designs.
WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE ALL THE COOL NEW FLY-FISHING ACCESSORIES FROM SIGHTLINE PROVISIONS.
Read More »Fly Fishing Alpine Lakes
Fly Fishing on alpine lakes for trout has become one of my favorite ways to spend a day on the water.
There’s something really special about making long accurate casts to rising trout on the move. It’s very much a team effort between the fly angler and the oarsman. Often you can’t just sit in one spot and expect to get shots at rising trout. More times than not the oarsman has to stealthily row along with the cruising fish, pacing himself with the trout and their heading, so the angler can make a pin point cast just ahead of the trout.
Cutthroat Trout Release on a Montana Alpine Lake
Timing the rhythm of the trout rising is a key success factor for the angler as well. Get on the water early for the best dry fly fishing. Once the sun gets up high in the horizon most of the trout will stop feeding on top and move to deeper water. They do this for two reasons.
Bonefishing, Make a Tight Line Presentation: Video
By Louis Cahill
One of the most important skills for a saltwater angler to master is the tight line presentation.
It’s important, in any saltwater fly fishing situation, that when the fish first sees your fly it’s moving in a lifelike manner. That can’t happen if there is slack in your line. You have to learn how to control your running line and make a slack free presentation.
IN THIS VIDEO I TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THE THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG AND HOW TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS WHEN YOU MAKE A PRESENTATION TO A BONEFISH.
Read More »The New Orvis Pro Approach Wading Shoe: Video
The new Orvis Pro Approach Wading Shoe goes where no shoe has gone before.
If you’re like me, you do a lot of wet wading. Some of it in the river when summer temps make waders miserable, and some of it on the flats in saltwater. The new Pro Approach Shoe from Orvis goes everywhere you want to fish in comfort and with great traction.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE ORVIS PRO APPROACH WADING SHOE.
Read More »Bonefish School Report
By Louis Cahill
It is impossible to overstate how excited I am to be back in the Bahamas.
I’m currently at Bair’s Lodge for three weeks, teaching the Bonefish School. It wasn’t 100% clear that I would be ab;e to come until right before Christmas. Getting the thumbs up from my doctor was a pretty good Christmas present. Being here with 33 great anglers from around the world would be a honor at any point, but right now its a real blessing.
I’m taking it pretty easy. I stayed behind today to rest. My eye was getting irritated but a few steroid drops and a nap seems to have worked wonders. I feel sure I’ll be back in the saddle tomorrow.
I’M HAPPY TO REPORT THAT I AM CATCHING, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, SEEING SOME BONEFISH!
I have a whole host of new challenges to be sure, but I’m working through it and having a blast. It’s strong medicine, being able to do the things I love. Bonefishing, and helping folks become better anglers. I even shot a few new videos today so those will be on the site before long. Thanks for all of your patience.
2020 is shaping up to be another great season here on South Andros. Being here, it’s almost hard to remember how devastated parts of the Bahamas are from Dorian. South Andros remains untouched and the fishing has been great. We are seeing lots of big fish, although no one has hit the 10 pound mark yet. Well, we’re only tree days in and those fish are here in good numbers. It’s just a matter of time.
Last night we were working on casting on the beach when huge shark swam by just fifteen feet off the shore. That got everyone really excited. A couple of the guys decided they’d be taking their swimsuits home unused.
Read More »Big Fish Require Slow Hook Sets On Top
If any of you have fished for cutthroat trout with dry flies you know most of the time you need to wait a good while on the hook set.
The first time I fished for cutthroats I missed many more takes than I care to share. Cutthroat trout are known for their slow motion rises, and if you set the hook too quick, you’ll end up just pulling the fly out of the trout’s mouth.
Just like cutthroat’s, big rainbow and brown trout also require you to count, 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississip…in your head before you set the hook to ensure consistent hook ups. If you can still see the fish eating your fly you need to wait longer. A big trout comes up, opens it bucket mouth, and usually doesn’t close it fully until it’s submerged completely below the surface. And if a fish is chasing after and eating your dry fly moving downstream, you have to wait even longer.
Read More »Concealing your Profile to Catch more fish
Sometimes its not enough wearing earthy tone colored clothing or even camouflage to keep a smart wily trout from spotting you.
Most of the time, movement and your profile tips educated trout off. When the opportunity presents itself for you to use the natural terrain to conceal or break up your profile, and it happens to lie right next to a good hole, tuck in behind it and use it to your advantage. Sometimes the extra effort will pay off and you’ll find yourself hooked up with a fish that’s outsmarted most other anglers. Brown trout particularly are notorious for spotting you well before you come close to making your first cast. Remember
Read More »The New Simms G4 Pro Wading Boot: Video
The new G4 Pro Wading Boot is the toughest boot Simms has ever made.
Simms took the development of this new G4 boot very seriously. A lot of field testing went into making a boot that was not only feature rich but totally bomb proof. If you’re looking for a wading boot to last more than a couple of hard seasons, you may have just found it.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ALL OF THE DETAILS ON THE NEW SIMMS G4 PRO WADING BOOT!
Read More »Take the Time to Research Your Boat Ramps
It’s really easy to get excited about a last minute trip when your buddy calls and says the fish are biting and then not take the time to research the logistics of where you’re going to be fishing. Much of the time things work out in the end when we’re doing what we love but every now and then, no matter how hard you try to make things right, you’re bound to get screwed. That was the case for us during our final day of our recent musky trip with our good friend Charlie Murphy in West Virginia. Due to poor water conditions, we had to go with a Plan B and change our fishing location the final day of our trip. Charlie had taken an friends word that we could launch our boat at the designated spot with no problem. Unfortunately, his acquaintance thought we were launching a drift boat, not a john boat, and that turned out to be and impossible task, without the aid of a cheap pvc roller and a 20 foot section of rope. Now, I’m known for being able to back up a truck and trailer with the best of them and until this day, I was batting a 1000%. So much for my perfect batting average of backing up, because this midget boat ramp put it to me. I tried like hell, but it just wouldn’t fit.
Read More »New Year’s Resolutions: 2020
By Louis Cahill
I think if there is one thing I’m looking for in 2020 it’s resolution.
It’s impossible for me to think, or write, about the coming year without addressing the rays of hope and the clouds of uncertainty I manage hour to hour these days. As I continue my struggle with PVR, it becomes more evident every day that I am running a marathon. I feel very fortunate to be where I am at present, and I truly believe that the worst is over. Still, there’s a lot left to be determined.
At my last meeting with my doctor, hr told me, “I feel like we now know that the house is not going to burn down. Whether it’s a house we want to live in we’re not going to know for a while.”
As of now my retina is still attached, but a section of it is not healthy. That’s the part of the retina most effected by the initial onset of PVR. The scar tissue there is preventing the retina from getting a good connection to my eye. The retina has been reinforced around this area and for now is sound, as long as it is protected by the silicone oil that fills my eye, acting like a cast on a broken bone. If that oil were removed today, the retina would most certainly detach.
First thing first. I am taking advantage of this current stability, such as it is, to host my three weeks of Bonefish Schools at Bair’s Lodge. I can not tell you how happy I am to be able to do that. I don’t expect to be able to fish every day, but I will fish and I will be able to teach the schools and that is my top priority.
When I get home, I will have another surgery. This one should be an easier recovery than the last two, thank God! The goal will be to flatten out the scar tissue and use the laser to firm up the connection of the retina to the eye. We will then watch the progress for about three months. If the laser work is successful and the retina forms a good bond in the damaged area, then we can start talking about another surgery to clean up some of the last surgeons work and removing the oil. That is the best case, everything goes perfectly scenario. I am focusing all of my positive energy on this outcome.
If the laser work is not successful and the retina remains sketchy, then I have two options.
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