Sunday Classic / Fly Anglers Sixth Sense, Fact or Fiction?
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
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Romano on Love and Loss
VERY FEW OF US EVER HAVE TO LOOSE A LOVED ONE TWICE.
I’m not too proud to tell you that I balled when I read Tim Romano’s “The Sad Story of a Boat.” Having restored an old wooden boat I know the effort that goes into it and the personal attachment that goes along with it. But this story goes beyond anything I’ve had to live through and I hope that never changes.
This is a story everyone should read. It is impossible to not be touched deeply.
“THE SAD STORY OF A BOAT”
Read More »Put Some DeYoung on Your Yeti
There are few artists as immediately recognizable as Derek DeYoung.
Derek’s bold images have changed the look of fly fishing. Now he’s looking to change the look of your Yeti cooler. These new Yeti cooler accessories are styling and tough as nails. They’ll give your cooler, and your boat, a full custom look, DeYoung style.
In this video Derek shows off the features of his new Yeti accessories.
Read More »Why I Always Carry a Backup Gear Box
By Kent Klewein
Have you ever made it to the river after a two hour drive and realized when you got there, you had forgot to pack one of your crucial pieces of fishing gear?
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been that unfortunate angler plenty of times, and it can ruin a day of fishing. A few years back I was forced to spend a day on Depuy’s Creek in MT wading around in a pair of my Justin cowboy boots. It was really ironic because I spent the morning packing all the gear for my virgin fly fishing buddies, and I was the one that ended up leaving my damn wading boots on the front porch. Those Justin boots were surprisingly comfortable wading in but they had zero traction, and I looked like a moron. I’ve never forgot my wading boots on a fishing trip since.
These days I always try to keep
New Cigars Just For Anglers
By Daren Hearsch
IF YOU’RE LIKE ME, YOU FORGET THINGS.
Not important things, like birthdays and anniversaries, but things that tend to make fishing trips challenging. Things like rods, reels and leaders. I try to keep a bag packed with all of the essentials so I can just “grab-and-go” when the urge to wet a line strikes.
This is all well and good for gear, but certain aged leafy combustibles can’t sit for months in a bag waiting for a trip. At least that was my thought until, on a recent fishing trip, a friend introduced me to General Cigar’s new “Locked In Humidity” packaging.
Most individual cigars nowadays are packaged in cellophane, which provides a minimal level of physical protection but doesn’t inhibit loss of humidity. Forget about taking an unscheduled swim. This new packaging (think sealed, rigid foil pouch) increases the physical protection factor but also keeps the cigar in a properly humidified environment, as well as protecting them from water damage.
General says they will keep for three years
Read More »Sunday Classic / Guide Dos And Don’ts
I FULLY EXPECT TO CATCH SOME HEAT FOR THIS.
When I wrote the list of client dos and don’ts I quoted my friend Kirk and agreed whole heartedly with the glowing things he had to say about fishing guides. I took that one step farther by emailing a bunch of my friends who guide and putting together a list of the stuff they would like to tell their clients but don’t feel like they can. I’m sure there were some things on that list a lot of guys didn’t want to hear so, in the interest of fair play, today the guides get their list of dos and don’ts.
I fully expect to catch some heat for this, so please try to understand where it’s coming from. I’m a big fan of fishing guides. As I’ve said most of my friends are fishing guides and I have a great deal of respect for the men and women who do that job. I will quote Kirk Deeter again, “I think the sun rises and sets on the fly fishing world where guides collectively say it does. They are stewards of their rivers. They are the innovators, and the teachers. And a good guide is, for fly fishing and trout conservation, worth his or her weight in gold.” I have however fished with guides who were less than stellar, for one reason or another. Since I did a list of dos and don’ts for clients, it seems only fair to do the same for guides.
I expect most of the guides who read this will agree with what I have to say. Most of it is very obvious and simple. If you do not, I encourage you to look at it from the other side of the boat. I’ve seen everything on this list happen, so there’s somebody out there who needs to hear it.
GUIDE DOS AND DON’TS
•Don’t assume your client is an idiot
Your last hundred clients may have been complete idiots but that doesn’t mean today’s guy is. Even if he is he deserves the chance to prove it.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / MT Matt Keeps It Real
Montana Matt hits this one out of the park!
The message from this Montana fishing guide is one of the most positive I’ve heard on the subject of fly fishing. I read this and thought, “Here’s a guy who actually gets it!” I’m sure there is a backstory on this but Matt doesn’t fall in to the negative trap. Instead he lays out some solid and practice advice for keeping your head up when others try to tear you down. These are words for every angler to live by.
READ IT, LIVE IT!
How to keep your head up in the hobby of fly fishing that is filled with jealousy and competitiveness (Fly Fishing is awesome why be so uptight?)
Read More »RIO InTouch Fly Lines
LESS STRETCH = BETTER PERFORMANCE
This year RIO has expanded the use of its Connectcore technology to a host of new lines, including the very popular RIO Gold. While the technology its self is not new or groundbreaking, it’s expansion into more lines is a great move by RIO.
Low stretch lines simply perform better. They are more responsive both in casting and fishing. They have more feel and hold up longer. There’s very little downside to the new InTouch lines. I have heard some folks suggest that you might break off more fish with low stretch lines but that seems like a stretch to me. It’s the rod tip which protects your tippet, not the stretch of the line. For my money, this is a great move by RIO.
In this video Simon Gawesworth walks us through the new series of InTouch lines for RIO.
Read More »2 Scenarios For Greasing Your Leader
by Kent Klewein
SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE GREASE.
Here are two scenarios where I find treating my leader with floatant helps me catch more fish.
1. Fishing with Tiny Dry Flies
Many anglers out there shy away from fishing tiny dry flies because they find it difficult to see them and keep them floating during their drifts. Greasing the length of your leader with fly floatant can help your tiny dries float longer and make them easier to see on the water. A good scenario for this would be if you’re fishing a CDC pattern where you don’t apply floatant directly to the fly pattern. By greasing your leader you’ll increase the floatation of your pattern and it will stay afloat longer in more turbulent water.
2. Drifting Nymphs & Emergers in the Film
If you find the standard dry fly dropper rig is failing to get the attention of feeding fish during a hatch, try instead tying on a single emerger or nymph pattern that imitates the aquatic insects hatching. Then grease your leader from the
The Echo SR Switch, Trout Spey Gets Serious
I love chasing trout with two-hand rods.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, I’m a total fly rod nerd. Switch rods are somewhere near the top of the list of stuff I geek out about. I only need the flimsiest of excuses to start Spey casting. That aside, there are plenty of reasons that switch rods make sense for trout. They aren’t just fun, they’re often better.
When I first started trout fishing with two handers it was really hard to find a rod that was light enough for the job. Six weights, which were the switch rods of the day are too heavy to high stick and even a nice trout feels like a snit on one. Recently though, rod manufacturers are paying a lot more attention to light weight switch rods and that’s been a game changer.
My current go-to switch rod for trout has been the Echo SR 10’6″ 4 weight.
This rod has everything I need for the job and has proven its self time and again. It’s powerful, versatile, light weight and fits in the drift boat, which is actually pretty huge.
The SR 4 weight weighs in at 5.9 ounces. That’s plenty light for the days when you want to high stick nymphs all day. It feels lighter in the hand. Most of the weight is cork and reel seat and at 10’6′ it balances beautifully.
For nymphing I will sometimes pair it with a standard weight forward 5 line, which it casts very well overhead or short distance Spey. Doing this gives you an easy dry fly option if a hatch comes off. Other times I’ll use a compact Scandi. This pairing gives you serious long distance two-handed casting when you need it and is perfect for swinging flies. I love it for that reason. Another good choice for fishing nymphs is the Airflo Speydicator line. This line turns over heavy rigs on two-handed casts with ease.
_DSC6828The SR taper is sweet for buttery two-handed casting but it also has enough fortitude in the butt section to apply a double haul and push a nice tight loop into the wind. It’s a pleasure to cast with one hand or two. No
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