Echo’s Prime One-Piece Fly Rod for Musky
For a while now, I’ve been noticing a huge increase in fly anglers talking about fishing one piece fly rods. Because I recently had the opportunity to test one, I felt it was only right for me to share the details with the G&G community. Prior to Louis and I hitting the road for West Virginia to chase muskies on the fly, I received a random call from Randy Stetzer at Rajeff Sports. He asked me how guiding had been and what G&G was up to and I filled him in on us fixing to pull the trigger on a musky trip. Talking on, I mentioned I had a bunch great fly rods on hand to use for the trip but what I really thought would be killer was targeting musky with a one piece fly rod. Randy responded, “it’s funny you bring that up Kent, Echo just finished designing a new one-piece series called the “Prime”, and I’d love for you to try it out.” Blown away by the offer, I gave Randy my address and the Echo Prime 10wt 8′ 10″ one-piece fly rod showed up at my front door the following week. Thank you Rajeff Sports for getting this great fly rod in our hands to test out. It’s always super cool when we’re able to spend time product testing during our fishing adventures. Below you’ll find out how the Echo Prime performed targeting musky with heavy sinking lines and 12-inch plus streamers. Casting fatigue is usually a concern for most anglers when heavy sinking lines and foot long streamers are involved. I’ll be the first to admit that I was a little concerned myself. Although I’m plenty comfortable with casting sinking lines, I rarely pair them up with flies of such great proportions. Surprisingly, the musky set up … Continue reading
Read More »Sunday Classic / The Speed Knot
Little things make a difference.
When you watch a really good fisherman you notice a lot of those little things, the details that add up to kicking ass on the water. My friend Will Sands is like that. One of those super technical fisherman who has thought through the smallest details.
I’ve always liked the way Will ties a clinch knot. The first time I saw him do it, it was so fast it looked like magic. In a day of fishing to picky trout where you change flies a lot I wouldn’t be surprises if it added up to an extra thirty minutes of fishing, and Will can catch a lot of fish in thirty minutes.
Will slows it down for you in this video.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / SCOF 15
Some things are just hard to look at.
Luckily Southern Culture on the Fly isn’t one of them. Simply the best online fly fishing magazine in the business. If you don’t read SCOF already, you should. It’s cool, it’s new and best of all it’s FREE.
SCOF Issue #15
Read More »How Do Hosted Fishing Trips Work And Is It Right For Me?
By Louis Cahill I promise you, this is not going to be a sales pitch but a full disclosure. A good friend of mine suggested I write this article. A good friend who, as it happens, I met on a hosted fishing trip. It’s funny how that works. As I think about it now, there are a whole lot of folks, who I call good friends, who I met on hosted fishing trips. Guys who have turned out to be life long friends and fishing buddies. Some of them are now contributors to G&G. Tim Harris and Johnny Spillane for example. And friends like Scott McKenzie, who I talk to almost every day. Before I ever went on one of these trips, I had a very different idea about what they were. Many of these trips are based around fishing lodges and, like a lot of guys, I thought of lodges as being stuffy, elitist deals where I would have nothing in common with anyone. And I still think lodge fishing can work out that way a lot of times. What I didn’t get at first is that the hosted trips are a way around that. A way to insure that you connect with the guys you’re fishing with. I learned to host trips from my buddy Bruce Chard. Bruce does a great job and I started going along with him to co-host trips in the Bahamas. I don’t know if I was much help at first but it was sure a lot of fun. It always seemed to be such a great crowd. Finally it struck me. The reason the groups of guys who came on those trips were so awesome is because Bruce was awesome, and they were all guys who loved to fish with Bruce. There … Continue reading
Read More »12 Tiny Nymphs that Always Seem to Get the Job Done
I used to shy away from fishing tiny nymphs during my rookie years of fly fishing. Particularly those size 20-26 midge patterns. Those intimidated me especially. When I used to look at those flies in the bins at fly shops, I can remember thinking, “how can the fish see these in moving water and is there some special rig you’re supposed to use for fishing them?” I’ve since found out I was nuttier than a fruit cake to assume all of the above about tiny flies, and they’ve become my go-to patterns when fishing gets really tough. Make no mistake, small flies have the ability to catch all trout, trophy fish included. In fact, one of the best times to fish tiny nymphs is when you’re sight fishing on water that holds lots of educated, mature trout. A prime example of this would be the “dream stream” section of the South Platte River in Colorado. I’ve had many days after the sun got up high in the horizon, that sub-twenty size nymph patterns out fished everything else in my fly box. In general, small subsurface
Read More »The Recharge
HAVE YOU EVER HAD A BAD MORNING ON THE WATER? THE MORNING WHEN NOTHING SEEMS TO GO RIGHT.
You know… maybe your best catch so far is a nice rhododendron bush.
Or you lost that big trophy brown trout after a less than desirable net job.
Or perhaps your favorite spot is overrun with kayaks and tubers.
Or worst yet, you fell in the water, dislocated a finger, broke your rod… all the while, your fly box is currently whistling the tune “Row Row Row Your Boat”. Not saying that’s ever happened to me… I’m just sayin’.
Shit happens, but these things can quickly turn a nice morning into something rather frustrating.
It’s happened to me plenty of times over the years, and there have been days where it’s completely ruined my fishing mojo for the rest of the day. My confidence goes south and I find myself making poor casts, horrible presentations, and f-bombs fly off left and right.
Something that I’ve started doing recently has helped me deal with the frustrations that can present themselves on the water.
Nap Time.
Yes. Take a nap. Even if
Read More »Sunday Classic / 3 Tips for Tarpon Fishing at Dusk
Tarpon fishing at dusk, is probably one of the toughest times of the day for a saltwater fly fisherman to get a hook up. With the sun low in the horizon, it puts 80% or more of the water in complete glare. The only good viewing area left to spot cruising fish is just a small circle of water surrounding the boat. Anglers need to be ready to make super quick shots at fish if they want to have any chance at all of getting an eat. Check out these three fishing tips I learned from fishing with Capt. Joel Dickey.
Tip #1 – Reel up all that excess fly line on the Reel
This isn’t the time to have all of your fly line stripped off and laying on the bow folks, there’s absolutely no need for it. The only good shots at tarpon you’re going to get are going to be at distances of 40 feet or less. The last thing you want, if you somehow manage a good shot at a tarpon, is end up blowing the opportunity because you’re stepping on excess fly line or get a tangle in your fly line. Making a point to only keep the fly line that is needed on the bow is going to help you manage your fly line better, and increase your shot at making a spot on cast.
Tip #2 – Be Ready to Quickly Place Your Fly Close to the Tarpon
In these high glare situations, tarpon are generally going to be spotted very close to the boat. That leaves the angler very little time to present the fly and convince a tarpon to eat, before they spot the boat and spook. Anglers need to be ready to present their fly quickly at in direction, especially with a back cast, and also be able to quickly change their casting direction in the heat of the moment. Two casts are usually all you’re going to get this time of the day, and generally it’s the first cast that’s going to make or break you. I see guys all the time
Saturday Shoutout / The Naming
A GIFT FROM THE FOLKS AT MIDCURRENT
It doesn’t take long. A paragraph, maybe two, for me to fall into a favorite writers words. To feel the rhythm of them or hear their voice in my ear. Everything else fades to black and I’m truly lost in the story. My faithful feet following the path the have made for me.
Erin Block never fails me in this regard. I always fall into her stories. Lose my self for a while in the text. It’s a welcome vacation that I gladly take, even if it’s brief one. This week I’m sharing a piece she wrote for Midcurrent called “The Naming.” I will not try to explain it for you. I’ll simply invite you to see for yourself why Erin is my favorite writer in fly fishing.
“The Naming”
Read More »Pinners and Winners
Here they are! The winners of the Take A Pinner Fishing Photo Contest. Thanks to everyone who took a Pinner fishing this month and shared the photos on Instagram. We got some great entries and had a lot a lot of fun drinking our way through the selection process. So here are the winners! Best Photo Featuring a Trout Blakeew gets the Cheeky Boost 350 for this Trout Chug. Best Photo With Saltwater Species Atlantaflytying gets the Cheeky Boost 400 for his Shark Bite. Best Lifestyle Photo Imkmark gets the TFO rod for his Wet Dog. Kayaker_Greg, Rose.c.gilroy and Hoodswamp all get Pinner hats as runners up. Good work guys! If you’re a winner shoot us an email to hookups@ginkandgasoline.com with your address and we’ll get your prizes on the way. Now let’s all celebrate with a cold Pinner! Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Read More »Most Seams Hold Trout Regardless of Size
Just about all seams in rivers and streams hold trout.
The larger and deeper the water a seam has, the more trout it can hold. Likewise, the smaller and shallower a seam is, the less room there will be available and less trout it can accommodate. Just remember, regardless of the size of a seam, that almost all of them hold trout and are worthy of a cast or two by anglers. Back in the early 2000s, I had a boat mechanic buddy of mine I used to fish with quite a bit. He taught me first hand, how important it is to pay attention to all seams. At the time, my friend couldn’t cast very far. A thirty foot cast was pushing it for him on a windy day, but he didn’t let this limitation of his, keep him from catching trout. In fact, he generally caught more fish than the veterans that could cast three times as far as him, because he was religious about working trout water slowly and thoroughly. There was no seam or holding water too small for him to fish. He’d place his dry fly in all of them big or small, from one side of the stream all the way to the other. Only then, would he begin to move on, upstream to new water. It was amazing how many trout he would catch in water most anglers, including myself, thought was too small or shallow to hold fish. I’m grateful for spending time with him on the river. He taught me to search out the tiny seams and drift my flies through them to catch fish when conditions were tough. This strategy has particularly payed off for me on trout water that’s heavily pressured. I can still here my boat mechanic buddy giggling now. He loved watching his local anglers fighting over the deep pools and runs, because he knew he would have all the pocket water full of tiny seams and trout to himself. He also knew
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