Saturday Shoutout / The Drakecast Goes Social
One of the best discussions I’ve heard about social media.
Social Media is a hot button topic in the fly fishing community. Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay and it is changing fly fishing. This podcast by Elliot Adler is the most considered conversation you’re likely to hear on the subject. You’ll hear from anglers like Tom Bie and Kelly Galloup on the subject and some of what you hear may surprise you. No matter how you feel about social media, this podcast will challenge you to think.
ENJOY, CROSSROADS: SOCIAL MEDIA AND FLY-FISHING
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 »Traditional Old-School Nymphs Catch Trout, Don’t Forget It
By Kent Klewein
Are you fishing the hot new fly?
Every year, I spend quite a bit of time scouring the interweb and flipping through numerous fly company catalogs, all in the effort to stay up to date with the latest new fly pattern creations. Many are just variations of already existing fly patterns, but quite often it’s a new fly tying material that’s created, manipulated, or that’s managed to stay under the radar and discovered, that’s used to develop these new fly patterns. I usually spend my time reviewing the new flies and their recipes, and hear my inner-voice chattering over and over, “why didn’t you come up with that fly pattern, dumby”. But even after purchasing and tying several dozen of the new fly patterns, many of them ultimately fall short on the water of producing trout numbers like my traditional old-school standby nymphs do. Why is that?
I think the the fly tying world is very similar to the rod manufacturing world, where a company builds a great fly rod that 90% of fly anglers love, and then a couple years down the road they discontinue the rod line, to make room for the introduction of the next innovative fly rod. Quite often, in my opinion though, that new rod design’s performance falls short of its predecessor. I know this process is called product life cycle, and it will continue to happen again and again, but it sure seems like we’re in way too much of a hurry to move on, and should instead be more content with sticking with a great product longer.
It’s the notion that great isn’t great enough, and that we should retire the greats, in the hopes we can find something, for lack of a better word, that’s perfect. The problem is
Read More »Gink And Gasoline’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide
By Justin Pickett Here are some great Christmas gift ideas for the fly fishing enthusiast on your list. The tree is up, the elf is on the shelf and the Holiday shopping panic is in full swing. If you’re like me, you need a little help with your Santa duties this time of year. We are lucky to get the chance to try out tons of cool fly fishing gear each season. Here’s a list of stuff we love and are sure the anglers on your list will love as well. Umpqua LT Fly Boxes The new fly boxes from Umpqua use an injection molded TPE interface to house your flies. Not only is this TPE material lighter than silicone, but the low memory of the material allows for better grip of your flies. The LT boxes are slim and come in a variety of styles! Fishpond Quick Shot Holder If we’re being honest, the Quickshot Holder from Fishpond was designed predominantly for flats fishing where a different species might present itself and require a lightning fast rod change. Made to attach to Fishpond’s waterproof packs, the Quickshot is also perfect for the angler who can’t decide whether to throw dries, nymphs, or streamers on a trout stream. We’ve lugged extra rods around on trout streams and it usually results in frustration and sometimes a broken rod. Never again! Orvis Nippers In the increasingly more populated nipper world, Orvis dropped in from the top rope with the hardest blade steel in the business. Machined and assembled in the United States and not quite as expensive as others on the market, these new Orvis Nippers are one of our favorite fly fishing accessories for 2017/2018. Sightline Provisions Trout 2.0 Bracelet Looking for a unique, hand-crafted way to show off your passion … Continue reading
Read More »Sunday Classic / Dreaming of Steelhead
I WOKE THREE TIMES LAST NIGHT DREAMING THAT I WAS FISHING FOR STEELHEAD.
Not epic, fish hoisting, hero shoting, steelhead fishing but, ass backwards, pointless, penitent steelhead fishing. Swinging tiny flies on floating lines in the turbid, chocolate waters of spring run off (and this is my favorite part) in Colorado’s Black Canyon. If you’re not a steelheader, I’ll break this down for you C.G. Jung style.
The steelhead is, in freshwater at least, the iconic challenging fish. The “fish of a thousand casts.” If you were forced to fish for them in high, stained water, and I have been, you would use big flies and heavy sink tips or better yet a steelhead bullet and an egg pattern and it would still be very, very tough. Lastly, the Gunnison river which flows through The Black Canyon does not contain steelhead. So, in my dream I am fishing for the hardest fish I know of, using tactics and gear that I know are wrong, in a river where this fish does not exist. Clearly I need professional help. A psychiatrist or a guide at least.
This dream was so vivid and persistent that I couldn’t help but wonder what it meant.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Denali
One of the most moving videos you’re likely ti find.
Admittedly today’s Shout Out doesn’t directly have a lot to do with fly fishing, but if you have watched many fly fishing videos you’ll be familiar with the name Felt Soul Media. They have made more than a couple of outstanding fishing videos but this film about a very uncommon relationship between a man and his dog is something truly special. I will warn you, it’s a tear jerker.
ENJOY, “DENALI”
Read More »Don’t Fly Fish With One Arm If you Have Two
BETTER HIGH-STICKING TECHNIQUE
Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about how important it is when high-sticking a fly rod to always utilize both of your arms during your drift. Perfect line management while high-sticking, often boils down to managing inches of fly line and leader. In many cases, it only takes a foot or less of fly line or leader on the water to catch current and destroy your drift. Many of my novice clients, and even some of my advanced clients, regularly high-stick with only one of their arms; choosing to keep their line hand and arm positioned down by their side during the drift. I don’t like high-sticking with only one arm for two reasons.
Reason #1 – High-Sticking with two arms promotes better line management
When high-sticking, you often need to micro-manage your fly line with small strips to keep 100% of your fly line and leader off the water during your drift. If you keep your non-rod arm straight down at your side, you’re not able to strip any additional line in during your drift. When high-sticking correctly, fly anglers should only have their strike indicator or dry fly on the water during their drift, keeping the rest of their leader and fly line off the waters surface. Done correctly, it will minimize the ability of conflicting water currents (currents flowing at different speeds) to have negative effect on your drift. If your nymphing, your flies will sink quicker and stay down in the strike zone longer, and if you’re dry fly fishing, your dry fly will stay drag-free and float the same speed as the current throughout your drift. With both fly fishing rigs, high-sticking correctly can consistently double your drift time in the prime trout water, and that means your flies will stay in front of the fish longer and hookups will increase. Utilizing both of your arms and hands when high-sticking will promote better line management and give your flies a more natural looking drift. Keep in mind that the closer you keep your stripping hand to your fly rod the more accurate and precise you can be with your strips and line management.
Reason #2 – High-Sticking with two arms puts an angler in better position to fight a fish
The second reason anglers should utilize their second arm and hand when high-sticking is they will be much more prepared after a hook-set to quickly strip-in if tension is lost. Quite often, trout wil
Josie’s Big Day
I’ve never had a dog who was a really good fishing partner.
When I brought Josie home, I knew that was going be be a goal. My dog and me out on the river, doing our thing without any particular plan. It sounds good on paper but anyone who fishes with dogs knows it isn’t always ideal. Ive definitely had dogs who weren’t with the program. Who, for all of their sweetness, could screw up anything.
I had a beagle once, named Boo, who I’d take fishing once in a while. If she wasn’t lost, she was trying to dog-paddle a class four rapid or chew the cork off my rod. I took her out one day an a busy tailwater where there were anglers about every fifty feet. I was wading chest deep to get a cast to a rising fish. Boo, wanting to be part of the action but not wanting to be wet, walked out on a tree which leaned about ten feet over the river. She got out about thirty feet and discovered that the tree was too narrow to turn around. I kept yelling, “BOO! No!” Before long everyone on the river was yelling, “No Boo! Don’t do it!” Her exit was hysterical. She lived but she lost some points for style.
A good fishing dog is part companion and part business partner. They have to have the right love of adventure but maintain enough focus to stay with the program. My grandfather trained bird dogs and his dogs were great but they were too much business and not enough fun. I want my dog to sleep in the bed with me, lick my face and eat off of my plate. I knew that to strike the right balance I’d need a plan.
Josie is a great team player and brings some real assets to the table. She also brings some challenges. She is the smartest dog I’ve ever known but was a completely wild animal when I got her. Not a stray dog or a feral dog but just wild. She has been very easy to train, it took only two days to housebreak her, but she is fiercely independent and used to making her own decisions. I learned early on that you couldn’t ‘make’ her do anything but if you could make her understand why it was a good choice you didn’t have to tell her twice.
I don’t consider myself an experienced dog trainer. I’ve trained a handful of dogs. I can work out the basics but I don’t get fancy. Josie presented me with one challenge I’ve never faced. She was uncatchable. It had earned her the name Permit on the island and I knew if she got away from me, I’d have a better shot catching a permit than putting my hands back on the little potcake. My ultimate goal was to have a dog I could turn loose in the woods while I fished, who wouldn’t need a lot of looking after. We were a long way from that when we started.
I began by creating a bond. I hand fed her for the first month. Every bite she had to take from my hand. When I found her, it was hard to get her to eat food I threw to her so that was a big step in itself. Although she has her own bowl now she still gets a bite of everything I eat. It’s part of our bargain. I make her food and she watches me wash and chop her vegetables and cook her turkey. She’s never been
Read More »Sunday Classic / 2 Ways to Determine the Sex of a Trout
By Kent Klewein
Is that trout male or female?
One of the things I love most about being a part of Gink & Gasoline, is educating our readers. Today’s post, talks about two ways to determine the sex of a trout. Over the years, I’ve found that the majority of my clients have a hard time determining whether a trout they catch is a male or female. Below are two ways to quickly identify the sex of a trout.
1. LOOK AT THE MOUTH
One of best ways to distinguish the sex of a trout is to examine the mouth. Female trout all have a short rounded nose or upper jaw, while male trout have a more elongated snout. If your trout has a lower jaw with a kype, it’s a male for sure. Although the mouth of a female trout will grow larger as it ages and increases in size, the mouth will never grow a kype (hooked lower jaw). Upon becoming sexually mature, male trout will begin to grow a pronounced kype. At first, it will just be a tell-tale sign, but as a male trout ages, its kype will become more pronounced. It’s important to point out that even for trout that aren’t sexually mature, an angler can look at the mouth of a trout and see either a uniform mouth with a short rounded nose (female), or a elongated snout with a slightly longer lower jaw (male).
2. LOOK AT THE ANAL FIN
(Left) Male, (Right) Female
Sexually mature male and female trout for both rainbows and browns have different looking anal fins. A male will have a slight convex anal fish “(“, while a female trout’s anal fin will be slightly concave “)”. I’m not sure if cutthroat trout are in the same boat. I’ll have to depend on the community who regularly catch them, to provide us their insight and confirm this.
IS THERE A THIRD WAY TO IDENTIFY A TROUT’S SEX?
When I was writing this post, I ran across a couple references that claimed
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Ethics of the Spawn
Fall is the time when dreams of catching trophy brown trout come true.
Brown trout are fall spawners. They become increasingly aggressive and easier to target as the spawn approaches. Anglers who want to catch big browns will have their best chance, but they will have to take extra care when fishing or they may spoil their chances to fish the next generation of big browns.
This article on the ethics of fishing the spawn, by Spencer Durrant, does a great job of explaining how the fish the spawn and do no harm, as well as offering some tips on how to find and land that monster. Every angler who fishes in the fall should give it a look.
“ETHICS, SPAWNING TROUT, AND FALL FISHING – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW”
Read More »