3 Tips for Swinging Flies for Trout & Other Species
By Kent Klewein
SWINGING FLIES IS A SUPER EFFECTIVE WAY TO TARGET ANY SPECIES IN MOVING WATER. IT’S DEADLY WHEN IT’S DONE RIGHT. HERE ARE A FEW SIMPLE TIPS TO HELP YOU GET BETTER SWINGS.
3 ROOKIE TIPS FOR SWINGING FLIES
TIP 1: DON’T HOLD YOUR ROD TIP TOO HIGH OFF THE WATER WHEN SWINGING FLIES
One technique flaw that I see a lot of my clients’ make on the water when they’re swinging flies is they hold the rod tip too high off the water. In many cases, when you do this during the swing, it will create a belly of slack between the rod tip and the fly line on the water. Slack makes it more difficult to detect subtle strikes during the swing. To fix this problem, I tell my clients to always keep the tip of the fly rod on or very close to the surface of the water during the swing. Doing so, it keeps slack to minimum and they find it much easier to feel bites during the swing. The only times, in my opinion, that you want to raise your rod tip off the water during the swing, is when you’re performing a Leisenring lift or you need to raise the fly up in the water column so it doesn’t snag the stream bottom. Before all you veteran swinger junkies start bashing me with comments, understand this tip is for anglers that are newbies to swinging flies.
TIP 2: DON’T SET THE HOOK TOO HARD WHEN SWINGING FLIES
One of the hardest things for me to learn when I first started swinging flies was adjusting my hook set. When you swing flies correctly you don’t have near as much slack in your fly line during the drift as you do when your presenting a fly on a dead-drift. Since you don’t have all that slack to eliminated during the hook set, you don’t need as big or hard of a hook set to successfully hook fish. I’ve found a smooth, conservative sweeping hook set works best when swinging flies. Especially when you’re
Read More »The Guy In Brown
By Brian Kozminski
From a distance, whether mowing the lawn, tending to the animals, or cutting wood, I can recognize the “Fa-Thump, Fa-thump, Fa-Thump” amplified rotation of the tires and diesel engine working up the motivation to travel up the long hill a mile away from our house. A sudden increase in my heart rate, eyes get dilated, hair stands on end, my senses are alert, vision sharpened and hearing more acutely than ever as the big Brown truck makes a rounded left hand turn on our dirt road kicking up a dust cloud common in northern back roads. I can can usually tell in a split second if he is about to accelerate or coast in order to make the wide turn into our driveway.
What could be in the big box? The possibilities are endless. There is a chance they could be new curtains or bedspread for my daughter’s room, but I am hopeful it could be a new slew of rods from TFO or a replacement net for my broken Brodin wooden Guide net. My wife is privy to my game. She knows I have a secret code with the guys clad in pooh brown to store boxes inside of my garage door so I can intercept before she gets home. It’s all in good fun. Is it a genetic disorder? My father had a serious problem ordering online and getting things he really need needed, like shark fishing rods, fish finders, ice-augers and other miscellaneous items from Cabelas that I inherited. Do we as males have an inherent ability to bond with other males in this delivery secret ritual or is it more?
Jump back two decades and I was living in a much larger metropolis where I would drive to the mall or one of several fly shops to purchase the majority of fly tying materials or a much needed new line from Scientific Anglers. I simply could not fathom living a life “Up North” where one didn’t need to drive across town to actually pick up a rod or feel a pelt of deer hair prior to purchase. My brother-in-law bragged about how he would accomplish all of his holiday shopping from the comfort of his EZ chair online. Inconceivable. Now days, I see the virtue in compiling of list of tying materials and making a bulk order to Feather-Craft for my Sex Dungeons and Hog Snares, along with guide flies from Catching Shadows and Anglers Choice Flies for next guide season.
As I was roto-tilling the garden last spring, standing amid the fresh aroma — a nitrogen rich potpourri, compliments of goats, sheep and chickens wafting through the promise of fresh spring air — I quickly shut down the tiller to say “Hello” to my local driver. I had the idea of “getting to know” my UPS and Fed-Ex guys. Why not? Really, they know me, and often ask how the fishing is. These guys know more about you than perhaps some guys at the office. For instance, he knows I prefer getting camping equipment from Sierra Trading Post, and on a more personal level, my monthly prescription for Humira injection for my psoriasis needs to be chilled and kept in the shade. So I had prepared a set of questions for my driver.
What is your name? How old are you? How many years have you been delivering packages for UPS?
Read More »Sunday Classic / Perfect Moments, Bahamas Edition
OUR RECENT TRIP TO SOUTH ANDROS BAHAMAS WAS AMAZING FOR MANY REASONS. GREAT FISHING, MAKING NEW FRIENDS AND SEEING OLD ONES.
Fishing cool new rods and tying great new flies. We even had a couple of bona fide adventures. We laughed until it hurt, ate until it hurt and, yes, drank until it hurt. I came home with a head full of snapshots that will not soon fade. It got me thinking. Since we practice catch and release, what is it that we bring home from a fishing trip?
In “Swimming To Cambodia” Spaulding Gray talks about having a perfect moment. An experience so culminating, that nothing else seems to exist but that moment. He can’t leave Thailand until he has one. He finally does and it involves Thai stick. I like that idea of the perfect moment and ever since Spaulding made me aware of it, I keep my eyes open and try to spot them.
I thought I found my perfect moment about mid week of the Bahamas trip. A subset of perfect moments that I’m fond of is “perfect shots.” By shot I mean shots at fish, not photos and I had one on Tuesday. Several things go into the making of a perfect shot. Most important, it has to be visual. I have to see the whole story unfold. I have to perform to the best of my ability. There’s no compromising on that one. The fish has to do his part, mainly eat the fly but he shouldn’t be a pushover. Of lesser importance but still of value
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / SCOF on TU
Writing for Southern Culture on the fly, Christian Fichtel hold Trout Unlimited’s feet t the fire.
Has TU crossed the line from conservation organization to fishing club? That’s the question Christian Fichtel asks in this insightful piece. I’ve heard this tossed around for years but as far as I know this is the first time it has been openly addressed in the media. Kudos to Christian for taking a position.
If you are interested in trout conservation I highly recommend you read this.
An Open Letter To Trout Unlimited
Part 2: The Follow Up
Read More »Three Proven Options For Deep, Deep Nymphing
By Louis Cahill
IT’S TIME TO MAKE LIKE CAPTAIN NEMO AND GO 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA.
Sometimes the only trick to catching fish is getting the fly down to their level. When you’re nymphing and you’re not catching fish it’s always a good idea to add weight before changing flies. Often one split shot is the difference between fishing and casting.
I have fished with friends who were shocked at how much weight I use on my nymph rigs. They always end up following my lead and catching more fish. Especially in the heat of summer or cold of winter, weight is usually the answer. But just because you’re fishing heavy doesn’t mean you can’t fish smart.
Here are three rigging options that will help you make the most of the weight you use.
THE STRING OF PEARLS
The struggle in fishing deep is not sinking your flies. They are usually weighted and sink pretty quickly. It’s your leader that needs the weight. You can pile up a couple of #7 shot or a half dozen size BBs just above your tippet and it will drag that leader down but there’s a smarter way to use the weight.
I use hand-tied leaders and
Read More »Fly Fishing: Being Outfitted Properly Should Always Be the #1 Priority
Many can attest to the feeling of pure excitement that comes over us right after we’ve parked the vehicle and are fixing to hit the water for a great day of fly fishing. It’s an awesome feeling, one quite frankly, that I never get tired of, because it opens the door for each of us to experience true freedom, solitude and adventure. And there’s nothing like the anticipation of not knowing how the day is going to play out for us. This feeling has gotten me into trouble many times over the years, and I’m sure that I’m not alone. Look back on some of your past trips and I bet you’ve had a time or two where you got in way too much of a hurry, and forgot to pack critical gear. We tell ourselves, “the sky is blue and there’s not a cloud in the sky. I don’t need to bring my rain jacket”. We leave that granola bar or bottle of water in the truck because we hit a food joint on the way into the river and sucked down a 20 ounce bottle of water. Sometimes, we get lucky and we don’t wind up needed the stuff we’ve left behind. Unfortunately, if you get in the habit of doing this too much, eventually it’s going to bite you in the butt. It happened to me on a wade fishing trip with Louis in WY.
I was chomping at the bit to get on the water. It had been two years since I’d made a trip out west fly fishing. My late flight into Jackson had got us off to a late start. Since fishing time was limited I decided to do something I never do
Read More »Sunday Classic / The Christmas Tree Fly
It’s Christmas Eve. The stockings are hung, the children nestled in their beds, bikes and doll houses are assembled, gifts are wrapped, turkeys are stuffed, credit cards are maxed, and still, you have found a few minutes to look at Gink and Gasoline. God bless you, every one!
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Christmas on Christmas Island
What better way to spend Christmas Eve than with some hungry GTs?
It is Christmas eve, after all, so pour yourself a glass of eggnog and enjoy some crazy action from Christmas Island.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FOR GINK AND GASOLINE!
Read More »Keep ‘Em Wet Photo Challenge Winner
Thanks to everyone who submitted their photos for the Keep ‘Em Wet Photo Challenge!
It’s been a great success, with dozens of submissions coming in daily. We’ve received some great entries over the past several days, along with some great feedback!
Choosing only one was a tough deal, as there were some really great photos! However, there can only be one winner. With that said,
the winner of Gink and Gasoline’s Keep ‘Em Wet Photo Challenge is … Andrew Joselow!
This has been one of our favorites since it was submitted! Look at those colors!!! Great job Andrew, and congrats!!!
Thanks again to everyone that participated and made this a successful contest. We applaud each and every one of you for doing your part to keep fish wet! We’re already planning on doing more with KeepEmWet.org in the future, and you can bet on seeing more photo contests such as this one! Congrats to everyone!
Read More »Don’t Let Go of the Fly Line in Your Rod Hand During the Hook Set
Have you ever set the hook on a fish, and the next thing you know, you’ve got your arms spread apart in the shape of a giant slice of pizza, leaving you unable to reach the fly line with your rod hand? Do not be ashamed if this happens to you every now and then on the water. You’re not alone, I promise. Many fly anglers do this regularly, and the reason they get themselves in this situation is because they’re letting go of the fly line in their rod hand when they set the hook. You can completely eliminate this problem on the water if you make sure you keep a solid grip on the fly line with your rod hand during and after every hook set. Doing so, it will allow you to maintain tension and control of the fish while you’re stripping in fly line or getting that excess fly line on the reel.
I know some of you that have found yourself in this situation have probably used your mouth to hold onto the fly line until you can get your hands back into the correct position. God, I know I have plenty of times.
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