8 Common Fly Line Mending Mistakes
I spend the majority of my time teaching fly casting when guiding my clients, but the art of mending fly line is a close second. A perfect cast can quickly become obsolete if you don’t understand the concept of mending fly line. When mending is timed correctly and executed properly it allows fly anglers to maintain a drag-free presentation, keep their fly in the target zone, and prolong the length of their drift. Developing good mending technique my friends, translates into more fish being hooked and landed. If you’re lucky enough to already have the basics of fly casting down, I highly encourage you to next focus your time on understanding and mastering the mechanics of mending fly line. Throughout this post I’m going to try to touch base on the most popular mending mistakes I see on the river, but before I do so, here’s an intriguing question for everyone. Why is it, that fly anglers seem to always get their left and right mixed up when mending fly line? It happens to me guiding all the time. I’ll instruct my client to mend to the left and they’ll do the opposite, by mending to the right. One of the most common four word phrases out of my mouth is, “no, your other left”. This will probably hit home with more guides than anglers but I had to bring it up, since we all do it. I’ve tried using upstream and downstream for instructing mending direction, but that seems to be even more confusing. That being said, here are the most common mending mistakes I see on the river. 1. Anglers Wait Too Long to Mend Everyone deserves props when a perfect cast is made, but don’t make the mistake of admiring it, and forget to follow it up with … Continue reading
Read More »G&G Christmas On The Fly Contest Winner!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our “Christmas On The Fly” tying contest! We had some great submissions and, after narrowing it down, we have our winner! I think we saw just about every kind of Christmas décor used in some creative ways, but we were blown away by Alex Vaughan (alex_vaughan17), who not only tied two great Christmas patterns but caught fish on both! Great work Alex, congrats! We hope you enjoy all of the new gear that’s headed your way! You can even see a video of Alex tying his Elf on the Shelf Spoon and catching a fish here, https://www.facebook.com/fshookshots/videos/1951086951821547/ A big thanks to Simms, Orvis-Atlanta, Sight Line Provisions, Plan D Fishing, Rising Fishing Co., Cortland Line, Appalachian Furled Leader Co., Whiskey Leatherworks, and Nate Karnes Art for contributing gear and swag for this season’s fly tying contest! All of us here at G&G wish you and yours a very merry and fishy Christmas! Justin Pickett Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Read More »Sunday Classic / Rudolph The Red Nosed Key Deer
THIS PHOTO WAS CAPTURED EARLY THIS MORNING AFTER A FLYING KEY DEER MADE AN UNSCHEDULED LANDING IN BIG SPANISH CHANNEL.
It has been widely rumored that the little buck was aiming for Big Pine Key but missed due to too many holiday eggnogs. The deer was last seen swimming across the channel to Big Pine. We have no further information as the Big Pine Police Department will not return our calls.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / #sendhanktheh3
Hank Paterson, world renowned fly-fishing expert and guide.
Travis Swartz is the funniest guy in fly fishing. I’ve always loved the Hank Peterson videos and him new “product reviews” are just awesome. You’ll get where this is headed pretty quickly as Hank reviews the Orvis nippers and Preacticaster, and not the H3.
The other exciting thing happening in the Hankosphere is the new Amazon series “Hank Paterson’s Camp Hawgadawgadda.” That’s right, Hank has his own series on Amazon and you can watch it free with your prime membership.
CHECK OUT HANKS PRODUCT REVIEWS AND THE CAMP HAWGADAWGADDA TRAILER.
Read More »Be Stealthy Like A Czech Nympher
I’m not afraid to admit I’m not a big fan of Czech nymphing.
I’m not an aficionado of the popular three-fly nymph rig either. It’s not the right rig for fly anglers that lack discipline or are daydreaming fly casters. Furthermore, a freshly tied rig can become a birds nest instantly, simply by a landed fish, rolling in the net. That being said, I’m not saying Czech nymphing doesn’t work, it undoubtedly has it’s place in trout fishing, and can be highly effective at times, it’s just not my first choice.
Here’s what I’ll admit and also highly respect about the die hard Czech nymph fisherman out there. Most are very good at approaching fishing holes with complete stealth so they don’t spook fish. They take the time to think out their approach before casting, making sure they’re positioned perfectly so they can execute the best presentation and drift with their flies. Why do they do this you ask? Because success in czech nymphing demands it. Fly anglers fishing this rig are limited to short distance casts and drifts. This ensures they’ll stay in constant contact with their flies for strike detection and will also be able to maintain proper fly depth during their drifts.
You’ll never see a veteran czech nympher fishing out of his/her boundaries.
That’s why we should be
Read More »Sunday Classic / The CDC Blood Midge
MIDGE PATTERNS CAN BE REMARKABLY EFFECTIVE FOR TROUT.
Depending on how you count them there could be over a thousand species of midge. That’s a lot of choices for the discerning trout. There are almost as many choices for the angler and a midge obsession can easily get out of hand.
I find that more times than not a Blood Midge will do the trick. I spent a morning on the Colorado River one April and caught twenty-four brown trout on a blood midge without moving my feet. Trout are naturally attracted to these red patterns even when they are not an exact match for the naturals. I’ve tied many different Blood Midge patterns but my current favorite is the CDC Blood Midge. The power of CDC can not be overestimated. This is a great pattern and very easy to tie.
Watch the video and learn hoe to tie The CDC Blood Midge.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Huge and Hungry
Golden dorado are without doubt the most aggressive fish on the planet.
I can hardly believe that in just two months Justin and I will be chasing these monster fish in the same water where this video was filmed. Excited doesn’t begin to cover it. I don’t know of anything more exciting than the explosive force of a golden dorado eating your fly. I can feel the line burns already.
This video features our friends at Andes Drifters putting the hurt on some golden slabs. Although this year’s trip is sold out, we are booking dates for Feb 2019. If you think you might like to tangle with one of these monster yourself, drop me a line. hookups@ginkandgasoline.com
ENJOY, “HUGE AND HUNGRY”
Read More »How to Fly Fish Straight Sections of Trout Water
By Kent Klewein
We all love to fish the bends of a river but what do we do in the straightaways?
It’s your lucky day. You’ve somehow managed to get away from your busy work schedule and find time to spend a few days fly fishing for some beautiful trout. You’ve brought several trout to hand fishing a series of S-bends, and you feel like a hero. Life is good, right? Unfortunately, the hot fishing is about to slow significantly as you round the bend in the river and notice the river flows straight as an arrow for the next several hundred yards. There’s very little mid-stream obstructions and no well defined current seams. Furthermore, the water depth is consistent bank to bank. You fish for a while, working your way upstream blind casting, but you’re not having any luck. You find yourself getting frustrated because you can’t figure out where the trout should be holding, and there’s no rising fish. What should you do?
When I find myself in this situation, I focus on presenting my flies against the banks. When there’s no obvious current seams or in-stream structure providing depth change or current buffers, cutthroat trout will generally prefer holding close to the banks. The water current running along the banks causes friction, and this friction slows down the current speed making it a much more efficient place hold and feed. Because all trout prefer to feed in areas where they can consume more energy than their expending, they instinctively search out these slower current areas. So remember
Read More »G&G “Christmas On The Fly” Tying Contest
Alright all you fly freaks, it’s time to get festive!
Christmas is just days away and we’ll all be decking the halls with tinsel, garland, and all sorts of shiny, colorful décor, making this the perfect opportunity to take advantage of these gaudy materials to manufacture new masterpieces of majestic splendor!
We want you to show us your yuletide tying talents by sending us a photo of your best creation using holiday decorations and materials. Of course your efforts will not go unrewarded. In this winner-takes-all material mash up, there is a nice grab bag of swag to be won by the tier with the most Christmas creativity, including gear from Rising, Simms, Cortland, Sight Line Provisions, Plan D Fishing, Whiskey Leatherworks, Appalachian Leader Co., and more!
Please see the contest rules below! We look forward to seeing all of your fantastical creations! Winner will be announced on the site Christmas morning!
Contest Rules
Read More »Sunday Classic / Elevate Yourself to Increase the Distance You Can High-Stick
Most of the time when your fly fishing for trout, the last thing you want to do is elevate yourself. In most scenarios, that will usually do more harm than good, by increasing the chances of trout spotting you and spooking. Notice I said “most scenarios”, every once in a while, an angler is forced to go against traditional principles to find success. The other day, I found myself trying to fish an eddy and slow water seam on the far bank. Making the cast wasn’t the problem, it was getting a long enough drag-free drift to get my fly to the fish. Even with my best high-sticking efforts, every cast the super fast water between me and my target water would grab my fly line and suck my flies out prematurely. After a couple minutes of struggling with my drifts and failing to get any bites, I decided to climb up on a boulder next to me. This elevated me three feet, and allowed me to keep 100% of my fly line off the water and get that long drag-free drift. I caught three trout after
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