Bonefish School Opening June 8-15 2019
We have had a cancelation for the June 8-15 Bonefish School.
This opening is your chance to get in on the fun at Bair’s lodge, South Andros. We generally expect stable weather and calm days this time of year, which adds up to lots of fish. If you’d like to experience a truly remote and unique fishery in one of the most beautiful places on earth, enjoy the service of a top notch lodge, and save a lot of money in the process, this trip is for you. This June is the last Bonefish School at the old price of $3975.
We have one spot open June 8-15 and a couple June 15-22. We also have dates available for Jan 2020. You can get all the details on the Hosted Trips page.
Shoot me an email to hookups@ginkandgasoline.com for more info or to reserve a spot!
Read More »5 Tips To Stop Breaking Off Bonefish
By Louis Cahill
If you’re breaking off bonefish, there’s probably and easy fix.
Someone asked me not long ago about losing bonefish due to tippet breaking. It happens to the best of us but there are only a couple of ways for it to happen and each has a pretty simple fix. If you follow a few simple guidelines you can cut way down on the number of bonefish you lose.
It’s fair to say that several of the potential problems I’m going to talk about apply to almost any species of fish. Some are much more common in the environment where we find bonefish and others just happen more frequently because of the speed with which things happen in bonefishing. It is a demanding game but breaking fish off should not be a problem.
Keep in mind that tippet strength is always a concern and in no way a constant. The weight of your tippet has everything to do with where you’re fishing. In locations where bonefish see a lot of pressure, you will need to fish lighter tippet and you will have to be much more diligent. Regardless of the strength of your tippet, there is no reason not to fish to the best of your ability and each of these tips is relevant.
How bonefish break off and how to stop them.
THE HOOK SET
One of the most common ways anglers break fish off is on the hook set. Bonefish behave unpredictably. Often a fish will eat your fly and make an immediate turn away from you. Sometimes even before you strip set. This is most common when a fish charges the fly while it is still high in the water column. Even small bonefish are powerful and failing to give them line when they need it will result in a familiar popping sound. You need to
Read More »CE Tech Innovations Pedestal Base
By Bob Reece
A firm foundation for your vise is critical to the success of your fly tying efforts.
This is especially true for tiers who use pedestal bases. For years I have searched for one that gave my vise true stability. I finally found one that delivers that and much more.
We all have our opinions about social media. One huge benefit of this technological element is being able to discover new products that might otherwise go unnoticed. A couple months ago I happened upon a post that consisted of one picture. It showed a nicely machined pedestal base and tool caddy. It was evident from the picture how wide the base was in comparison the vise. It wasn’t until I received mine in the mail that I realized how effective and well made it was. The eight by ten inch base is machined out of 6061 aluminum and weighs in at a hearty five and half pounds. This alone was enough to make me fall in love with this product. The stability provided by this platform is nothing short of amazing and has brought a new sense of comfort and confidence to my tying.
In addition to its weight, the design of this base functions well and makes sense. At the front of the base sit three machined pockets for holding beads and hooks. Their depth provides enough room to hold large quantities of each. The center pocket contains a Neodymium magnet that will hold onto hook, beads or small children holding silver ware in the next room. The tool caddy displays an additional three pockets that provide more recessed storage for additional hooks and materials. In front of the caddy and behind the base pockets, sits a cork pad that provides grip for any slippery materials.
Along the outer edges of the base and caddy are machined holes. Some of these hold pins that provide a catch for thread, wire and other materials on spools. The pins can be removed from the holes and moved around, allowing for personalized setup. The remaining holes provide
Read More »Sunday Classic / Get A Better Grip On The Spey Rod
ALL FLY CASTING IS ABOUT CONTROL AND TIMING, NOT POWER.
This is never more true than in Spey casting. Perhaps because there are more moving parts to a Spey cast, rod and line control are crucial. This is especially challenging for the beginner whose muscle memory is only just developing. Often a cast will “break” for no reason. That is to say that, all of a sudden that double Spey you’ve been throwing all morning just doesn’t work any more. Often the reason is a loss of control.
Here’s a tip that will help those of you who are new to two-handed casting maintain control. The first step in a controlled cast is the proper grip. It’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough. Most anglers who are new to the Spey rod think of it like holding a golf club or baseball bat. A familiar tool for most of us, but the Spey rod is quite different and so is the proper grip.
Hold the rod with your finger tips. A gentle grip is all that’s necessary. Using your fingertips accomplishes two things. It keeps your arms relaxed, as you are not tempted to put a death grip on the rod. A relaxed posture is important for fluid movement. Gripping with your fingertips also engages a different set of muscles. Muscles, which are tuned to fine motor skills like writing.
The result is a casting stroke that
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Yin and Yang in New Zealand
Every day on the water is a new beginning.
If you fly fish for any time at all, you’ll quickly realize that it’s Mother Nature’s show and we are all just day players. There are lessons around every corner and some of them are in humility. When you are able to accept that and fish for the joy of the bad days as well as the good, you realize, every day on the water changes you. Hopefully for the better.
I ran across this story by Devin Olsen on his blog at tacticalflyfisher.com. It’s great to see how a couple of the best anglers on the planet handle getting served on a tough day, and how they turn it around.
YIN AND YANG: FINDING JOY IN THE TOUGH AND GREAT DAYS IN NEW ZEALAND
Read More »River Of Dreams
By Louis Cahill
I DREAM OF WAKING IN A FOREST.
Or where a forest had been, now sooty black. Smoke swirls, orange eyes peer from hunks of coal. Charred trees accuse the sky. White ashes whirl in the air, angels lifted to heaven. I’ve slept through some great conflagration.
I walk, leaving white footprints on blackened ground. Smoke, steals my vision. Trees turn from black to gray, to white. I stop at a river bank where ash becomes grass, high and yellow like autumn. Dark water churns, its surface oily in the soft light. Standing in the river, bare to the waist, my father, his eyes fixed on the water, his hair wet and tossed, his arms outstretched like a cormorant drying its wings. In the current, the dark shapes of fish.
I follow the sound of falling water to a large pool ringed with tall grass. At its center, a deep black pit. The pool flows in on itself, the water pouring over a rocky rim, angry, foaming white. The sound deafening. A gaping bottomless maw, ringed with white foaming teeth, swallows the river and roars at the sky.
***
I think of my father now and see him, not drawn and frail. Not balled and withered, eaten with cancer but a strong young man, shirtless with wild, wet hair. A man from a black and white photograph. The luxury of survival, to carve the past in a form more pleasing.
Standing in an Oregon river, in a run instantly familiar, I swing a fly for steelhead.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Fly Fishing: Is There a Time When Anglers Should Admit Defeat and Move On?
IS THERE EVER A TIME WHEN AN ANGLER SHOULD ADMIT DEFEAT FROM A TROUT, PAY HIS/HER RESPECTS AND MOVE ON?
We’ve all been there before, sight-fishing to a trophy trout, only to have it ignore our flies time and time again. An hour or more can go by without the slightest sign of interest by the fish, while it remains in the same basic holding spot all the while unafraid, almost as though it’s staring you down and challenging you to catch it. You press on with unwavering persistence until your patience runs dry. You’d argue that the trout isn’t hungry, and that’s why it hasn’t eaten any of the fly patterns, but every time you start to believe it as a viable excuse, you see the flash of white, from the trout opening its mouth and sucking in a bug. You’ve changed flies more than a dozen times now, you’ve made well over a hundred casts, and you’re ready to throw in the towel. Yet every time you reel in your line and begin to walk away, the feeling of defeat shouts “halt, go back! Just make a few more casts. You can do this.” Sometimes you end up winning the battle, other times the take never comes. The times when your line does come tight and you do hook and catch the trout, do you ever wonder if the fish really ate your fly or if you just accidentally flossed it?
I have a good friend from Colorado that told me he once scuba dived in a river and watched his buddy drift nymphs through runs that were loaded with trout. He said he was astonished to see how many times the tippet of the leader drifting in the current went into the mouths of trout, resulting in the fly of the hook snagging the trout. If you’ve ever fly fished for fresh sockeye salmon, you know that the majority of the time that’s exactly how you catch them. Only on rare occasions do they eat your fly, and even then one could argue it’s only out of aggression from the pending spawn. When my friend told me his underwater account, it made me wonder how many fish I thought I’d gotten to eat my fly in the past, but were actually fish that I really just flossed with my leader and snagged. Were those catches legitimate? Not unless you believe calculated or accidental flossing is legit. Maybe if you’re starving to death I could go along with that, but most of us don’t live off the land.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Expedition Taimen
Fly-Fishing for giant taxmen in Russia.
Travel to Russia, drive a boat until you’re lost, crash the boat, shoot an AK-47 and burn your clothes. That’s a fishing trip!
ENJOY “EXPADITION TAIMEN”
Read More »Power Your Fly Cast In The Wind: Video
When casting a fly rod in the wind, technique always trumps power.
I work with a lot of anglers who struggle to make a good cast in the wind. It’s primarily a mental challenge. Wind has a way of getting into your head. It can quickly turn a good caster into a frustrated mess. If you can keep your wits about you, and your technique solid, you’ll be fine.
Everything matters when casting in the wind. Success is all about fundamentals. Your timing needs to be perfect, your application of power smooth, your stop hard and solid, but there is one thing I see time and again that frustrates anglers in the wind. The tendency to overpower the cast and drop the rod tip. if you can fight that urge, you’re on your way to a good powerful cast.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR A COUPLE OF TIPS ON POWERING YOUR FLY CAST IN THE WIND.
Read More »Three Proven Options For Deep, Deep Nymphing
By Louis Cahill
IT’S TIME TO MAKE LIKE CAPTAIN NEMO AND GO 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA.
Sometimes the only trick to catching fish is getting the fly down to their level. When you’re nymphing and you’re not catching fish it’s always a good idea to add weight before changing flies. Often one split shot is the difference between fishing and casting.
I have fished with friends who were shocked at how much weight I use on my nymph rigs. They always end up following my lead and catching more fish. Especially in the heat of summer or cold of winter, weight is usually the answer. But just because you’re fishing heavy doesn’t mean you can’t fish smart.
Here are three rigging options that will help you make the most of the weight you use.
THE STRING OF PEARLS
The struggle in fishing deep is not sinking your flies. They are usually weighted and sink pretty quickly. It’s your leader that needs the weight. You can pile up a couple of #7 shot or a half dozen size BBs just above your tippet and it will drag that leader down but there’s a smarter way to use the weight.
I use hand-tied leaders and
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