Articulated Nymphs, All Hype or the Real Deal?
If you pull any serious streamer fisherman aside and ask them to name their favorite streamer pattern, chances are the fly pattern will be articulated.
Ask the same question instead to a serious nymph fisherman, and most will answer with names of nymphs that aren’t articulated. I agree you don’t have to fish articulated nymph patterns to catch trout, but I do find it a little odd that we aren’t seeing more of them in the spot light today. As far as I can tell, the concept has been around almost as long as articulated streamers have. The last couple of years I’ve started to incorporate articulation into my fly tying for many of my nymph patterns. Just about all of them have done very well for me on the water. In some cases, my articulated versions have caught trout 3 to 1 over the traditional non-articulated versions. You can’t tie all nymphs articulated because many fly patterns and species of aquatic micro-invertabrates are far too small. However, with some practice, most fly tiers will find it’s pretty easy to tie articulated nymph patterns as small as a standard size 16 nymph hook.
Read More »I Must Have Washed My Streamers On Hot
How did all of my streamer patterns get so small?
I must have left the box in a shirt pocket and thrown it in the wash on hot. It seems like just the other day that all of my buddies would look at my streamers and shake their heads, often with a look of disgust. Seriously, it was like five minutes ago, the idea of throwing a four inch long fly at a trout was considered absurd. For a minute it wasn’t, and now I’m getting looks again.
These days it seems like half the guys I fish with are heaving eight- or nine-inch feather snakes at cowering trout. Maybe I just don’t get it. Maybe there is some wisdom in fishing a fly the size of the average fish in the river. I’m sure of one thing, and it’s proven to be true my entire life. When I am the voice of reason, things have gotten way the hell out of hand.
I firmly believe that there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to fly size. A quick survey of YouTube videos under the topic “Streamer Tying for Trout” will quickly make you believe I’m in the minority. Everybody with a vise and a GoPro is in a race to see who can pile the most material onto the greatest number of hooks. Are those things really catching fish?
My feeling is this. You’ll get the occasional fish on those huge flies, but you’re asking an awful lot of a fish to attack something like that. I find I do better by
Read More »Is The Orvis Helios 3 The Most Accurate Fly Rod Ever Made?
The Orvis H-3 is clearly one of the best fly rods to ever leave the Orvis shop, but it’s not all about the long cast.
The buzz around IFTD this year was heavy on the rod-talk. Just about every major fly rod manufacturer was brandishing their newest, tech-packed stick. At the head of the pack was the Orvis Helios 3. Developed with new materials, actions, and tapers, the H3 certainly has some big shoes to fill. The H2 was one of the best rods on the planet, with the one-piece models being some of the best rods I’ve ever thrown. Replacing the H2 was a task that Orvis did not take lightly.
The H3 comes in two different flex families. Departing from their traditional “tip flex” and “mid flex” monikers, the new Helios is available in “HD” (distance) and “HF” (feel). The hardware and aesthetics are pretty much the same for each rod with the blank color and accent colors being the only difference. The “HD” rods wear matte black, while the “HF” sports a stealthy grey. Aside from the matte black finish on the “HD”, the comfortable modified full wells grip was carried over from the H2 Covert. (Thank you Orvis!) The reel seat is machined in the same U.S. factory where the new Mirage reels are manufactured, and finished with a graphite insert. The blank is laser-straight with REC recoil snake guides and SiC/titanium stripping guides. I’d like to see some sort of a hook keeper (mainly on the heavier rods… think streamers), but it’s certainly not a deal breaker. Of course, the rod comes with a rod sock and a white aluminum rod tube that resembles the rod’s eye-catching branding.
Lets go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room…. That label…. What’s up with that?
Well let me tell you… No doubt, there are those that will hate that label. Why? It’s different. It’s bold. It demands your attention and it is far from traditional. But it is also genius. Standing out in a crowd of fly rods can be tough. Just about every rod is green, black, blue, or brown-ish without much else to set them apart, aside from their finish and craftsmanship, which can only be seen when in hand. Orvis has set the H3 apart from the crowd and we haven’t yet begun to speak on its performance, which is something to be excited about.
The idea behind the H3 design is evident. While most premium fly rods push high line speeds and long casts, Orvis wanted to develop the most accurate fly rod on the planet.
Orvis took on replacing the Helios 2 with an aggressive approach. It was not a redesign but a ground up rebuild. New tapers and materials were rolled into the blanks, but it’s what they did with those new blanks that makes the biggest difference in the performance of the H3. Developing new software and
Read More »Sunday Classic / 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 »Saturday Shoutout / S.C.O.F. Fall
Still the coolest thing on the fly fishing internet.
Surly Monkey is back with more shenanigans, tomfoolery and horse-play. Check out the fall issue for Cuban tarpon, the cicada hatch, smallmouth candy, True Wild Florida and (gulp, I can’t believe I’m typing this) Dave Grossman in a bikini. There’s plenty you will not be able to unsee in this issue of Southern Culture on the Fly.
S.C.O.F. FALL 2017
Read More »New Packs and Bags From Fishpond
I always look forward to seeing the new Fishpond gear at IFTD.
I always know I’m going to see something cool. This year is no exception. The folks at Fishpond have redesigned most of the line with an emphasis on durable recycled fabrics, easy access and waterproof technology.
In this video Ben Kurtz Walks us through the features of several new products including the new Thunderhead Backpack, boat bag, some new luggage and the Quick Shot rod holder. Some really nice design in these new products.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO TO SEE WHAT’S NEW FROM FISHPOND.
Read More »Reading The Body Language of Highly Aggressive Trout
By Bob Reece
As we move into the fall months, the use of streamer patterns typically increases for many fly fishers.
There are many factors that lead to success when pursuing trout with these beefy creations. Evaluating the body language of the aggressive fish that chase these flies can improve your odds of hooking up.
Throughout the course of the year I have countless conversations with other fly fishers. When these discussions are focused on streamer fishing, a common tale arises. I’m repeatedly told stories of “missed” opportunities or last chance swipes from aggressive fish at the end of a retrieve or as the pattern is lifted from the water for another cast. The excitement and emotion of these encounters is often evident in the eyes of the story teller.
While this story is common, its ending can often be avoided. The end of a retrieve does not always mean the end of an opportunity to hook that fish of your dreams. If an aggressive trout pauses where you finished your retrieve or actively searches the water or substrate, you should immediately place that offering back in its field of vision. When I encounter these situations, I attempt to quickly place the fly in front of and off to either side of the fish. As with many other fly fishing situations I avoid
Read More »Hellgrammite, The King Kong of Aquatic Insects
I WAS ON THE WATER TROUT FISHING THE OTHER DAY, WHEN MY BUDDY ERIK ASHLIN SAID, “IT WAS JUST ABOUT THIS TIME LAST YEAR, WHEN ALL THE HELLGRAMMITES BEGAN CRAWLING INTO THE SHALLOWS TO BEGIN THEIR PUPATION.
Let me flip over a rock and see if I can find one real quick, these guys are wicked looking”. No joke, the first rock Erik turned over, this freaking giant 3″ Hellgrammite was laying there with its jaws of life (mandibles) snapping. It was very clear it was gesturing, “come on, get closer…, let me get a piece of you”!
If you ever get the opportunity to examine a big Hellgrammite up close, there will be no doubt in your mind that the Hellgrammite is the King Kong of all aquatic insects. Be careful handling them because they can pack one hell of a painful pinch capable of breaking the skin. Hellgrammites are like a five course meal in terms of food value to trout. I’d lay a bet they pack every bit as much caloric worth as sculpins and crayfish do. Great times to fish hellgrammite imitations are during high flows after heavy rains. During these conditions, they often get dislodged from under rocks and swept down stream. Hellgrammites are also very vulnerable during behavioral drifts, when the larva are searching out new feeding grounds or better water conditions.
If you’re trying to tempt a trophy brown trout, rainbow trout, or smallmouth bass into eating,
Read More »Sunday Classic / Expressionist Brown
Study the stream bed, brown and green. Through ripples and reflections, we find rocks and wood, maybe a shining piece of metal someone has left behind. Even the flash of a flake of mica in the sand, no bigger than a fishes scale. How is it that we miss the trout.
Gliding above the mud and stone he is emerald and gold, vermillion and azure, violet and blaze. He is metallic, kinetic, aesthetic. Perfect in his camouflage, he is at once breathtaking and invisible.
Look closer, he is abstract. He is pointillism, he is impressionism, he is surrealism. He is cubist, fauvist, and expressionist, he is Monet, Van Gogh and Miro. He is Blake’s world In a grain of sand. Infinity in the palm of your hand.
He is beauty, and like all beauty, he vanishes into the mundane. It is a failing of the human eye, or maybe of the heart. He is truth, and like all truth he is
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Drawing the Lines
“ONE PERSON FISHES ONLY DRY FLIES, BUT THE NEXT FISHES DRIES TO RISING TROUT ONLY INSIDE PERFECTLY CIRCULAR RINGS. ANYTHING LESS IS SIMPLY UNSPORTING, YOU SEE.”
Fly fishers are a funny lot, to be sure. I’ve often said, “If there’s not an argument, it isn’t fly fishing. This Saturday we bring you a little wisdom on the topic from Domenick Swentosky at Troutbitten. Have a read and see where you draw the line.
“WHERE THE LINES ARE DRAWN”
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