Something For The Window Shoppers
By Justin Pickett
A little something to entice those “window shoppers” that appear and disappear behind your streamer.
Anyone who has thrown streamers for trout has likely experienced the exciting visual of seeing a trout appear behind your meaty fly… following, following, following… only to peel off just outside the oars and leave you empty handed. Yes, it’s better than not seeing anything at all, but it sure would have been awesome to have gotten that fish to eat instead, right?
Why that trout aborted their chase can be due to several reasons. Maybe the color just wasn’t the right shade of olive to entice a strike. Maybe it caught sight of the boat. Maybe the movement of the fly wasn’t just right. Maybe it was too big. Or maybe it just wanted to torture you, getting your hopes up only to squash your morale at the last second. However, one thing I have learned from these non-committal trout, is that one of the easiest things you can do to entice that strike is to offer them a second, smaller fly behind your streamer.
Smaller, unweighted flies provide trout that might be hesitant at striking a larger fly with another option. Tie these flies onto the bend of the hook with approximately twelve inches of tippet and chuck away. This can be accomplished with articulated streamers as well. Just tie the second fly onto the trailing hook. This may affect the movement of your streamer however, I haven’t noticed much difference so long as unweighted flies are used. This has worked for me tons of times and in numerous locations.
BUT, WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE AN ASSORTMENT OF STREAMERS ON HAND?
Read More »Dial In Your Dry Fly Game
By Jason Tucker
Dry fly fishing is all at once the foundation, Holy Grail, and most difficult aspect of fly fishing.
In a bygone day, fly fishing meant using a dry fly. Now it has come to encompass many things, including drifting nymphs under a bobber, or chucking a streamer fly that more closely resembles a lure than a dry fly. I embrace it all, but there is still no greater thrill than matching a hatch, getting a perfect drift, and seeing a trout rise to your fly. For most of us it was that image that drew us to the sport in the first place.
With the dry fly season being at its zenith right now, we want to share a couple tips with you to help you catch more fish. I asked a couple friends of mine what their best suggestions are and here is what they said.
Erick Johnson is a fly angler from Michigan who also happens to be a customer service rep at Scientific Anglers. We got to sit around the campfire this spring on a dry fly trip and here’s what he had to offer:
“If you’re anything like me, the sight of a good rising trout raises your blood pressure a couple notches. Inevitably, the first thing we do is reach down and start stripping off line, certain that he’s going to eat on that first pass. Frequently, that first cast will either land right on the fish or go well beyond and likely put them down. Before casting to that sipper, settle yourself with a couple breaths and start in close. By taking a couple extra moments and measuring your cast, you can dial in that drag-free drift. Once you’ve established the drift, you can then carefully work your way out to a wary fish for the best presentation.”
I also go to fish with my buddy Alex Cerveniak, an excellent fly fisherman who spent a few years guiding to the picky fish on Michigan’s famed Au Sable River system. He had some advice on how to refine your presentation.
“The #1 key to fishing dry flies is to make your fly
Read More »Sunday Classic / Weather Dictates When and How I Fish My Terrestrials
Every year, I’m asked by clients, when is the best time for them to come up and experience the terrestrial bite? For years, I kept a terrestrial fishing journal to help me better serve my clients. The journal documented the arrival times of specific terrestrials and when I first started catching fish on them. It seemed to help me for a couple seasons, but after that, I started to become too reliant on the data in the journal, and I lost sight of the most important variable of all in timing the terrestrial season–weather. Depending on what the weather is doing for the current year, it can speed up or postpone the arrival of the terrestrial season. Some years it will only sway the start of the terrestrial season a week in either direction, while other years, it can sway the arrival well over a month. Understanding the role weather plays in the lives of terrestrials can help anglers nail down more accurately when the terrestrial season will begin and peak in their area. If you can be one of the lucky few to time and start fishing terrestrials before everyone else does, you can be rewarded with some of the biggest fish of the year.
THE EFFECT WEATHER HAS ON TERRESTRIALS
Having consistent warm weather is a major factor in the arrival of terrestrials. Cold nights during late spring will keep terrestrials hiding in their burrows and out of sight during most of the day. During years when these cold snaps linger on, it will delay the arrival of the terrestrial season significantly. Sun is a major player in getting the terrestrial fishing going as well. I’m not 100% sure of this, but I think once the rainfall drops off in the summer, and the hot sun sucks out most of the moisture content found in the plants that the bugs are eating, the terrestrials are eventually forced to search out food sources that have a higher moisture content. It makes since to me at least, that the best places for the bugs to find moisture rich plants during the heat of the summer would be around water. All living things, including terrestrials, need water to survive. Furthermore, sun is the fuel for plants to grow, and many of our streams and rivers have large amounts of flowers that bloom (late spring, early summer) along the banks that provide food (nectar) for terrestrials. During above average rainfall years, where you’ve got more cloudy days than sunny days, it can inhibit or postpone the growth and blooming of these flowers that attract the terrestrials, and therefore, they won’t be attracted to the water and available to the trout. So when you’ve got a really wet spring and summer you can expect the terrestrial season to be late. It’s important to note also, that years with high rainfall, will significantly increase the water levels on our trout waters and postpone the terrestrial bite. Too much rainfall will keep the bugs from showing up, and raise water levels, which will discourage trout from expending the energy to rise to the surface to eat them, particularly if there’s sufficient food below the surface for the trout to eat. High water also flushes out terrestrials much quicker than during average water flows. You won’t find terrestrials swirling around in eddies for long periods of time.
WHERE TO FISH YOUR TERRESTRIAL PATTERNS FIRST
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Tasmanian Love Letter
One of the nicest pieces of writing on the subject of fly-fishing I’ve read in a long time.
It was just by chance that I was introduced to the site Camden Fishing. Good folks from Tasmania who sell, among other things, beautiful hand made drift boats. Shipping a drift boat around the world didn’t seem practical, so I was about to move on when I noticed the link to their Journal.
I’m so glad I did, because what I discovered was some of the most honest and soulful writing, on the subject of fly fishing, that I have read in some time. Whether they are making boats or writing prose, these folks are true artists.
TAKE A MINUTE TO ENJOY, “THE ROMANCE OF RIVERS.”
Read More »Top 10 Trout Flies For The American West
I HAD A CLIENT COME INTO THE STORE THE OTHER DAY ASKING ME TO SET HIM UP WITH THE BEST PATTERNS FOR FISHING THE WEST.
He was planning on traveling around Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana this summer and his goal was to put together a selection of flies that would allow him to catch fish on every river. After setting him up with a fairly comprehensive selection of dries, terrestrials, nymphs and streamers, we started debating what the 10 best patterns are to cover all types of western trout water. We assumed you could fish the same pattern in different colors and sizes which I guess makes it a lot more then 10 patterns, but anyway this is what we came up with. Let us know what you think and send us your top 10!
#10- The Hair Sculpin
The Hair Sculpin is an awesome streamer. It moves, it can be tied in all different colors and sizes and most importantly it catches fish. You can throw it on a sink tip and fish it deep in lakes or my favorite, bounce it off the shore from a boat. It’s good liven.
#9- The Panty Dropper Hopper
The name alone makes this fly awesome. It comes in various colors and sizes and its got very realistic looking legs. If you fish anywhere that has hoppers, the Panty Dropper will get the job done.
#8- Zebra Midge
Go to any tailwater and generally on the “Hot Flies” list in the local fly shop is a Zebra Midges. They are super simple to tie and best of all they work. You can tie them in any color and size you want from a miniscule #28 to a #12.
Outboard Jet Boating 101- Safety & Maintenance
By Kent Klewein
Every year I see more and more outboard jet boats on the water.
I can’t say it really surprises me though, I totally get why anglers are drawn to them. In my opinion, jet sleds are one of the coolest boats anyone can drive or fish out of. They can run in just about any kind of water, they offer anglers the ability to re-run and fish sections of water at the drop of a hat, and they are quite affordable and easy to drive. A lot of guys these days are dropping coin and converting their two and four stroke outboard props to jets. It can be done fairly easy if you are mechanically inclined and can follow directions. There’s also quite a few first-time boat purchasers out there that have chosen to go the jet motor route and many more anglers presently riding the fence, about to pull the trigger.
Problem is, the majority of the salespeople selling these jet motors don’t regularly provide the buyer with the most important piece of the puzzle; common sense jet boating safety guidelines and troubleshooting on the water. Any veteran outboard jet boat owner will tell you it’s only a matter of time until you screw up and have an accident on the water or have engine mechanical problems. Understanding how to run safely and perform on-the-water maintenance is critical if you want to avoid accidents, bodily injury and consistently bring your jet boat back to trailer in tip top shape.
My goal for this post is to provide a jet boating 101 quick read, for those anglers out there who have recently purchased a jet outboard or for those considering purchasing one in the near future. My hopes is that it will keep some of you from making some of the same rookie mistakes I did, and you’ll learn how important it is to be prepared and drive safely when running jet outboards. Below are some things I’ve learned from my time running a jet sled in Alaska, but most of the information I learned, came from hanging out with veterans that run jets every day. I’ll attempt to give you the meat and potatoes but I’m depending on the followers of G&G that are the experts on this subject to voice their thoughts.
PRE-TRIP EQUIPMENT & BACK-UP GEAR CHECK
It’s important that you’re religious about doing a thorough pre-trip boat equipment check before you head out on the water each trip with your jet sled. You should always take the time to look over the motor to make sure everything is in proper working order. If you have a 2-stroke motor, make sure
Read More »Sunday Classic / Tenkara, the new Bamboo
A GUEST POST BY TIM HARRIS OF NORTHWEST-TENKARA.COM
Fly fishing began in both the west and east with a long supple rod, a fixed line, a leader and a fly.
This is how Dame Juliana Berners, Issac Walton and Japanese commercial fisherman fished. Time went by and man created the reel and split bamboo rods which were shorter and lighter than the old greenheart long rods. Fiberglass and then graphite replaced split bamboo and modern fly fishing as we know it came into being.
Then a backlash started, a move toward the vintage. Many fly fishers, myself included, began embracing the bamboo rod again and waxing poetic about the lovely reed, its natural beauty and soft feel. I fished bamboo rods for years on small streams and rivers and figured that this would never change.
Then came a real move back to the past, back to days before the reel was invented and people fished with a long rod and a fixed line. I discovered tenkara. Tenkara is a traditional form of fly fishing that began in the mountain streams of Japan. It was used by commercial fishermen to catch their daily load of trout, char and salmon found in these streams. Now tenkara is catching on in the west and seems to be the hottest thing since the bamboo renaissance.
Tenkara is fly fishing in its most minimal form. A modern tenkara rod is
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / High Country Cuts
How about some high country fly-fishing for cutthroat trout?
Take a wade with Todd Moen, of Catch Magazine, and Heather Hodson, of United Women on the Fly, as they wades Heather’s favorite home waters in search of cutthroat trout and solitude. A beautiful film, almost as relaxing as a day on the water.
Read More »There’s No Holding Bob Back
Stay focused Bob. It’ll all work out.
See more of Bob and the angling art of Andrea Larko on Etsy.
Read More »United We Fish
The America I live in is not divided.
If you watch the television, listen to the radio, or, God forbid, go on Facebook, you might think we Americans have nothing in common but our dislike for each other. I don’t believe that’s true. I believe we have a great deal in common. Specifically, I believe that we, the G&G community, have a deep and profound love of our amazing public lands and waters. I have said many times our public lands, above all else, make me proud of this country.
We also have in common our duty as citizens to participate in our democracy. I grew up in a time when this was something to be proud of, and I still believe it is. We Americans who love the outdoors have a loud voice, as long as we are united. It is our duty to stay united. Not to let the uproar of the day divide or distract us.
OUR PUBLIC LANDS LITERALLY ARE AMERICA. ONLY WE CAN PROTECT THEM.
Happy Independence Day from Gink and Gasoline!
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