Saturday Shoutout / Mend
Joey Maxim was 16 years old when he died in a car crash. Fly-fishing helped bring him back.
The film “Mend” is the incredible story of a young man’s journey back from death and his struggle to overcome traumatic brain injury. Once a successful student and athlete, Joey found himself struggling just to survive. Simple daily tasks became monumental and his will to live seemed gone. Then he discovered fly fishing. The river healed Joey both physically and spiritually. Today he is a guide.
ENJOY, “MEND”
Read More »New Products From Sightline Provisions: Video
Just about every angler is familiar with the leather bracelets sporting metal badges of fish silhouettes.
It’s hard to think of a fly fishing accessory that has become as immediately popular as those Sightline bracelets. They have become the secret handshake of fly fishing. A way for devotees to spot each other everywhere they go.
Recently, Edgar Diaz has branched out and used his art in new ways on new products. Some with the leather and fine metal look Sightline is known for, and some new offerings including all metal bracelets, one-of-a-kind artist’s hats, keychains and more.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO FOR ALL OF THE COOL NEW STUFF FROM SIGHTLINE PROVISIONS.
Read More »Stretch Thy Fly Line
Are you looking for more a little more distance in your cast? Is your fly line not shooting through your guides as easy as it should? Is it lacking that fresh from the box high floating buoyancy? Are you spending more time untangling your fly line than fishing? If your answer to any of the above questions is yes, you should think about taking a couple minutes before hitting the water to stretch your fly line out.
Read More »Sunday Classic / How To Become A Badass Angler
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I WAS A BAD PHOTOGRAPHER AND A BAD ANGLER.
I got to thinking about this the other day when my brother called to tell me that Leon Townsend had died. I hadn’t thought of him in years. Leon was the man that gave me my first job as a photographer, at the local newspaper in 1978 when I was seventeen years old. He was also the first, and only, person who ever fired me. I honestly didn’t learn much from my time there at The Register and Bee, but firing me was quite possibly the best thing anyone has ever done for me and I will always be grateful to Leon for that.
I had enough pride that being told I wasn’t up to the job stung. It motivated me. I realized that Leon was right. I wasn’t very good and it was on me to make myself better. I have been told many times that I have talent and I have often insisted that I do not. I realized early on, that I would have to work twice as hard as the talented people around me to succeed. What I have, what I learned, is not talent but tenacity. It has served me well. If you want to pay me a compliment, call me tenacious.
In time I became a good photographer and a good angler, and I did it in pretty much the same way. I won’t bore you with a chronology of my photographic career but I will offer you some insight on how I learned, and continue to learn, to fish.
HERE’S HOW YOU BECOME A BADASS ANGLER.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Brookie Genetics
USGS Scientist have some interesting new findings on Southern Appalachian Brook Trout.
Fly anglers in the south love their brook trout. While many western anglers see these fish as an invasive species, here in the southeast they are our only native trout and our southern fish are genetically unique. It turns out they are more unique than we thought. Their habitat is so fractured that there are as many as ten-thousand separate populations.
There is some good news and some bad, but one notable finding is that native brook trout have suffered less hatchery introgression than expected. In this article USGS researcher Dave Kazyak’s sits down for a conversation with Keith Curley, of Trout Unlimited, to share some of his findings.
FASCINATING BROOK TROUT GENETICS WORK
Read More »Echo Fly Rods For 2018: Video
Some dynamite new rods from Echo fly-fishing.
It’s always fun for me to talk fly rods with tim Rajeff. This year Echo has three very cool new offerings. A premium trout-spey family that’s one of the lightest two handers I’ve ever held, The new Shadow X competition euro-nymphing rods and a whole new lineup of River Glass fiberglass rods.
If you are in the market for a great fly rod and you don’t want to break the bank, you absolutely can’t go wrong with Echo.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR THE SCOOP ON THE NEW ECHO FLY RODS FOR 2018.
Read More »Streamer Retrieves For Different Current Speeds
I’ve talked in great detail about streamer fishing since I began writing articles for Gink & Gasoline. Most of my time has been spent talking about color and pattern choice, streamer gear/rigging for both big and small water and how to locate and target prime trout water with streamers. One area of streamer fishing I’ve yet to talk about in detail is retrieve speed and candor with streamers.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Fly Fishing: Don’t Overlook The Trout Water Close To You
When you fish your home waters day after day you get pretty good at knowing where the trout like to hang out. But if you let your big ego convince you into thinking you know it all, that’s when the fish will put you in your place. The other day guiding, I approached a honey hole with my client and gave him the break down on where I thought he should make his first presentation. I backed up my preaching by telling him about all the big fish we had landed there in the past. I insisted that all he needed to do was land his flies off the big rock on the far bank, and he’d get a hookup. My client promptly responded, “That sounds good Kent, but let me ask you a question? Shouldn’t I make a cast on the close side first? That water looks good too?” I replied, “That’s probably not a bad idea. It definitely could hold a fish, but if it was me fishing this spot, I’d land it off that big rock and drift the far seam first.”
This is where my client put me in my place and showed me tat even though I spend hundreds of hours a year on this trout stream, I’m no physic. Despite my coercion, my client went with his gut feeling and made his first presentation to the water close to him. Then, two-seconds into the drift, his line went tight and a behemoth trout came shooting out of the water like a tomahawk cruise missile. We landed the fish, and my client looked over at me with a “I told you so” grin. I smiled and said, “What…? I told you it probably wasn’t a bad idea to fish that close water.”
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Streamer Giveaway!
IF YOU ARE ANY KIND OF SELF-RESPECTING STREAMER ADDICT, THEN YOU KNOW BRIAN WISE OF FLY FISHING THE OZARKS.
Brian consistently drops high quality streamer tying vids backed up by delicious techno-mixed tracks for your viewing pleasure. He typically ties up three or four examples of each pattern that he showcases, and one could only assume that they end up in his meat locker to one day become the victim of a White River shark attack. Until now anyways…
From now on, or at least until his streamer box starts looking thin, Brian will be giving away the flies that are tied for each video that he produces. All you have to do is go to his YouTube channel, which you’re going to do anyways because you want to watch his latest awesome video, and then give Brian some feedback in the “comments” section. That’s it! After the video has been up for thirty days, Brian will randomly draw a winner from those who commented on the video and ship his newest spin-ups straight to your door! Who doesn’t want free flies?!?! Go check out his latest video HERE and be sure to comment so you’re entered in the giveaway!
NACHO HEREDERO’S B.I.L.
Read More »Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth: Video
The new Amplitude Smooth fly line from Scientific Anglers may be the longest lasting fly line ever made.
Lats year SA introduced its Amplitude fly lines. These lines have been very popular but SA wasn’t content to leave it at that. This year the Amplitude series gets an update with a smooth textureless finish and new and improved AST Plus integrated slickness additive. The line is 50% slicker than any line SA has made before and last up to 8 times longer than a standard fly line.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO FOR THE DETAILS ON THE AMPLITUDE SMOOTH FLY LINES FROM SA.
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