SUNDAY CLASSIC / Bonefish The Hard Way, Deep In The Mangroves
WHEN YOU ARE PLANNING A DIY BONEFISH TRIP, IT’S IMPORTANT TO CHECK THE TIDES.
If you are wading or using kayaks to navigate the flats your mobility may be limited and timing the tides becomes crucial. Bonefish will be most accessible on low tides. Late in a falling tide when they are forced out of the mangroves to early rising tide when they work the edges. It’s important that these tides fall during the time of day when the light is good for catching fish.
That said, I did the exact opposite on a recent trip to Cat Island, Bahamas. It was a vacation, not a fishing trip. The distinction is important to my wife. It means I don’t fish all day, every day. You can read my recommendations on how to make that work, (HERE). On this particular week, low tide came very early in the morning and after dark. Most mornings were compromised by rain. It was a tough set up, but I was determined to catch some bonefish, so I tried something crazy. And it worked!
At high tide the bonefish were feeding deep in the mangroves. In some spots, a hundred yards or more from the edge of the flats. So, I went in after them. It wasn’t long before I was catching bonefish and learning a lot about this new way of fishing. It’s not ideal. In fact it’s damned hard to do, but surprisingly fun.
HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Lefty Kreh Auction
Today and tomorrow you have the chance to own a piece of fly-fishing history and help Lefty Kreh’s family.
Lang’s Auction house is selling almost 2000 lots from the personal collection of Lefty Kreh. The proceeds benefit Lefty’s family. If you’d like to own a piece of gear fished by Lefty, you’ll have to act fast. The auction is today and tomorrow only. Click the link below to visit the auction.
VISIT THE LEFTY KREH AUCTION
Read More »New Boots from Simms: Video
Simms has something new for your feet.
Simms has expanded their boot offering this year with three cool new options. Each of these new boots serves a specific type of angler’s need. From the G3 Guide Pull On, which offers warmth and connivance in any winter setting, down to forty below, to the Flyweight Boot that let’s you sail up the trail past the crowd, and even the Tributary Boot, which puts you in a Simms boot for $99.
There’s something here for every anglers feet. If you’re in the market for boots, Simms has you covered.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON NEW SIMMS BOOTS.
Read More »Just The Tip
I’LL BET YOU THAT JUST ABOUT EVERY ONE OF US HAS DONE IT… HEARD THE “SNAP-CRACKLE-POP” OF A FLY ROD ECHO UPSTREAM AS YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS SHATTER BEFORE YOU, CRUSHING YOUR SOUL ALONG WITH ANY HOPES OF A FISH-FILLED DAY ON THE WATER.
It sucks.
The good news is that fly rods can be repaired. The bad news…. It often takes weeks to get your mended stick back from the shop. At no fault of the repair shops, they do amazing work as fast as they can, and take an amazing amount of pride in their craft. However, it’s hard to compete with the present world of immediate feedback and the “I want it now” mentality.
Orvis took this into consideration and developed a new, streamlined system that would allow for quicker turnaround times for repairs. With the H3’s new ferrule design and consistency of the build process, Orvis is able to replace the broken section (with the exception of the butt section) of your Helios 3, leaving you, the angler, with nothing more than a few days of down time that you can use to refill your fly boxes, or fish some of your other rods.
Let’s say…. Oh I dunno… you smack your H3’s tip on a tree limb while attempting a hookset on a big angry fish you’ve been chasing all summer. You. Are. Pissed. Not only did you miss your Unicorn, but you also broke your rod. Your fishing is done for the day, and the thought of being without it for up to six weeks is looming in the back of your expletive-riddled mind. You’ll have to go home and stuff the shattered shards of your once lively wand of majesty back into its rod tube and spend your hard-earned coin to ship it cross country, which only buries the dagger deeper, penetrating your once-optimistic spirit. Oh, the sorrow.
Hark! What’s that? I can get a tip section mailed to my doorstep in just a couple days? Take my money!
Read More »Choose Fly Color Based on the Flat You’re Fishing
I’ve always thought in the broad scope of things that trout fishing calls for more complex decision making over saltwater fly fishing in terms of what goes into choosing the fly patterns we fish. I think a lot of that comes from the simple fact that conditions can change on an hourly basis on our trout streams and also that there’s hundreds of species of aquatic insects found on many of the trout waters we fly fish. However, the more I fly fish in the saltwater, the more I’ve come to understand how inaccurate this past notion of mine is. In many cases, fly pattern choice is just as important in saltwater fishing as it is in freshwater fishing. And If you want to maximize your success fly fishing in saltwater, you need to pay close attention to your surroundings and the ecosystem your fishing, just like you do on your trout water.
Read More »Don’t Touch That Drag
By Louis Cahill
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting spooled by a big fish.
Deep inside we all kind of want to have that problem, but when it happens you may feel some unexpected panic. I remember a time on the Dean River when I hooked a hot steelhead in heavy current. The fish ate my fly as soon as it began to swing and made a big run downstream. Before I knew it I was looking at the arbor of my reel through a few scant wraps of backing.
When you find yourself in this situation, it’s easy to screw it up. Your first instinct, really every instinct, tells you to stop that fish. To grab the spool or tighten the drag. That’s really about the worst thing you can do. It usually ends in a straightened hook or broken line. Sometimes even broken backing and a missing fly line.
What most anglers don’t realize is, when you’re getting spooled, your drag is already increased. The resistance of the water against all of that line puts a lot of extra pressure on the fish. If you have set a reasonable drag pressure on your reel, it is now being compounded by the weight of the water on the line. The effect is barely noticeable with just your fly line out, but when you are deep into your backing, it’s huge.
So what can you do when you’re getting spooled?
Read More »Sunday Classic / 3 Ways to Make Your Wiggle Minnow Fish Better
The foam wiggle minnow has been a mainstay streamer for me for trout and other predatory game fish for several years now. When you combine its realistic swimming action and the significant water it pushes during the retrieve, its one of the best streamers I know of for calling in fish from great distances to eat. Plain and simple, the wiggle minnow will catch fish just about anywhere you visit in both fresh or salt, regardless of the water conditions you may find yourself fly fishing. Furthermore, it also fishes well on all types of fly lines (floating, intermediate, sinking) and on a wide range of rod weights. This can prove to be very valuable if you find yourself on the water with limited gear options. The last few years, I’ve been experimenting with modifications to my wiggle minnows in the effort to improve their fishability.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / One Life One River
Water, work, cancer, and a thriving will to live, on the water.
Becca Klein’s story is truly an inspiration. You’d never guess, meeting Becca, that she has survived two cancer diagnoses. You wouldn’t guess that anything could slow her down or dampen her irrepressible spirit. Maybe that’s the key because while many see cancer as a death sentence, in Becca’s case it’s been more of a sentence to live.
It was through cancer that she discovered fly fishing, and through fly fishing a love of a river, the love of her life, and a career in conservation. If this story doesn’t warm your heart, you need to see a doctor.
CHECK OUT THIS GREAT STORY FROM DUNN MAGAZINE.
“ONE LIFE ONE RIVER”
Read More »Orvis Mirage LT Fly Reel: Video
Orvis has a great new light weight trout reel that’s made in America.
Orvis introduced it’s Mirage fly reel a couple of years ago and it’s proven to be a workhorse. Their goal of producing a quality, made in America reel was certainly achieved but the Mirage was certainly aimed at the big game market. This year they are offering the Mirage LT with a focus on trout fishing.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE ORVIS MIRAGE LT FLY REEL.
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.
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