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
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 »New G3 Guide Waders From Simms: Video
The most popular wader on the market just got better.
This year Simms is introducing a full line of updated G3 guide waders, including a traditional chest wader, wading pants and a women’s chest wader. The big update is a new, more comfortable four layer Gore-Tex lower, which makes the new G3 the most breath Simms wader ever. There are several new features, including an easy waist-high conversion system for the chest waders.
I toured the Simms wader plant this summer and I was blown away. Not only is the facility remarkable, the staff is one of the most enthusiastic I’ve ever seen. I was shocked to learn how many of them read G&G! I’ve always loved my Simms waders, now I know why.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE NEW G3 GUIDE WADERS FROM SIMMS.
Read More »Fly Anglers Sixth Sense, Fact or Fiction?
By Kent Klewein
Do you ever feel like you’ve got a sixth sense working for you when you’re out fly fishing?
I’m talking about an extra sense that seems to give you the power and clarity to sense future fishing success moments before it happens. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it’s one of the sweetest feelings I think a fly angler can witness; calling his/her fish before the cast. You’ve just rounded a bend when your eyes are immediately drawn to a perfect looking stretch of water. It’s a wide and fast riffle a little to shallow to hold fish, but there’s a fallen tree that’s condensing all the current into a tight six foot wide flow. Even better, that condensed current is flowing right over a drop-off, into a deep blue pool. A light bulb in your head goes off as your sixth sense kicks in, and you’re certain when your fly hits the water it will only be a few seconds until a trout rises to your fly. All you have to do is call your shot and make a good cast.
Sure enough, you make a spot on cast, and success arrives like clockwork. The surreal sound of a cork being pulled from a whiskey bottle, signals to you a trout has sucked in your fly, and you set the hook, and shout “Man, I love that sound”. I bet there’s a lot of guides out there that feel the same way when they call a take for a client during the drift, “get ready, you should get a bite right…….now, bam”. When your client turns to you and asks how you did that, just smile and say it’s your sixth sense.
I’m sure there’s anglers out there that would argue this sixth sense is fictional.
Read More »Lamson Center Axis Reviewed
The Center Axis fly rod and reel combo from Waterworks Lamson is something completely different.
The idea of changing the union of fly rod and reel has been kicked around for a while now. To my knowledge the Center Axis is the most serious attempt by a major manufacturer. It looks very different from a traditional fly rod and it feels very different as well. There is some solid science behind the design of this rod/reel combo and it delivers on its claims. It’s also not without its detractors, so I’ll try to be very thorough on the pluses and minuses.
The Theory
The guiding principal behind the Center Axis is simple and it’s right there in the name. The reel, being by far the heaviest part of the setup, affects the action and feel of the rod in casting. By moving the weight of the reel inline with the axis of the rod, this effect is minimized. The caster feels the weight of the line, not the reel, and the reel does not affect the caster stroke to as great a degree.
When I first heard this I thought, “Really?” Frankly, I was shocked how different it felt. There is a definite and pronounced difference in the feel of this combo verses any other I have ever cast. Is it better? That’s a serious question. Probably so. I’ll be frank. Having cast a fly rod for so many years, it’s not easy to know if different is better. As you become a more accomplished caster you adapt quickly to the feel of a new rod and the casting takes place in the hand, not the head.
I will tell you this. I felt a very pronounced difference in the feedback I got from the rod, and I very quickly became used to it and didn’t think about it any longer. I do find it very pleasant to cast. I do think that the shifting of balance makes a real difference. I don’t know that it improves my casting a great deal but it might for other anglers. I think it might be very good for beginning and intermediate casters. I do think there is serious validity to the concept and that this setup is really going to speak to some anglers. The only way to know if you are one of them is to try it out.
The Rod
Before I cast the center Axis, I was concerned about the rod. I am a fly rod geek and the idea of buying a rod from a reel manufacturer gave me pause. That concern was immediately relieved. I have the 9’ 5-weight Center Axis and it is a great casting rod. Not the best I’ve ever cast but very good.
It is smooth and powerful. Plenty fast but with a lot of feel. It does a great job of picking up a long line. I would consider it a medium to large water rod. You’d be OK with it on small water as it is a very good roll caster. It also delivers a powerful single-hand spey cast.
It excels at medium- to long-distance casting. I was able to cast a streamer eighty feet standing in waist-deep water. The action is suitable for a variety of fishing techniques. In short, a solid all-arounder. It also gets extra points for durability as you can’t even tell that I drove off with it on the roof of the truck, launching it onto the road in a turn. Kind of my signature move.
The Reel
Obviously the reel is the quality machine you would expect from Waterworks Lamson. It is a variation of the Lightspeed reel, which my buddies in retail tell me is consistently the top selling trout reel year after year. It is unique in how it attaches to the rod. The reel plugs into the rear of the grip and is held in place by an o-ring seal. It is very very solid. In fact, it’s damned hard to get off and there isn’t any need to.
What I like about the Center Axis
First and foremost I like
Read More »Sunday Classic / The more things change, the more they stay the same
I RECEIVED THIS PHOTO FROM MY BROTHER TOM, VIA TEXT MESSAGE.
It seems he has been sorting through some of the belongings that my grandparents left behind. In an old dresser he found this list in my young handwriting. My guess is that this dates from about the time I was ten. I believe I had just read “The Old Man And The Sea” for the first time. For those who can’t make it out, I’ll translate.
Fishing List
Harpoon
1000 yards strong rope
Case of dynamite
Buoy
Take pistol
Dynamite
License
A few of my favorite points to this list are these. Dynamite appears twice. I’m not sure if this was meant to imply that a case might not be enough, or that dynamite was so key to my plan that I couldn’t risk forgetting it, or possibly just a testament to my enthusiasm about dynamite. There was no need to find a pistol, just the need to remember the one I had, at ten. And best of all my reverence for the regulations. We wouldn’t want to ‘fish’ without a license.
It occurred to me that maybe I harp on the catch and release thing a little heavy from time to time and it would only be what I deserve to share this with my readers. None of us, I suppose, start out as catch-and-release anglers but few, apparently, start as far from it as I did. In my defense I’ll say that this proves my views on catch and release are not an unconsidered opinion. I tried it the other way!
When I shared this with my wife as a glimpse into the mind of her betrothed when he was only a child she smiled, laughed a knowing laugh and said,
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
I guess I’ll always be ten at heart. At least when I go fishing.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / SCOF Redemption
It’s time for a little Southern Culture.
The fall issue of Southern Culture On The Fly is out and the boys are looking for redemption. Redfish Redemption that is, as well as Things Wild, Southern Salt and an adoption for fly guides. Dave Grossman apparently didn’t take enough heat for his bikini spread (you can read about that too) because he’s back at it, suggesting we target Flipper on the fly. It’s more of all the good stuff you expect from the boys at SCOF.
CHECK OUT THE NEW ISSUE OF SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE FLY!
Read More »New Simms G-3 Technical Jacket: Video
The most popular piece of outerwear in fly fishing just got better.
The Simms G-3 jacket is a workhorse and almost a uniform for fly fishing guides everywhere. There’s a good reason for that. These jackets not only perform, they last. Any one who fishes knows that foul weather means great fishing but it doesn’t mean you have to be miserable. A good jacket keeps you comfortable and focused on fishing and gives you easy access to the gear you need.
The new G-3 has a clean, snag free design with all of the pocket space built into the interior of the jacket. It has just as much storage as the classic G-3 but nothing to catch line.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON THE NEW SIMMS G-3 JACKET.
Read More »