Gobble Gobble – Turkey’s Multiple Uses In Fly Tying
By Kent klewein
TOMORROW IS THANKSGIVING AND THERES GOING TO BE LEFTOVERS!
Do you ever find yourself wanting to pull of the road to snip off some feathers when you see one of these guys? I know it would never work, but it still doesn’t stop me from finding myself wanting to try. Turkey feathers have been used in fly tying since the very beginning, and many of our popular fly patterns today still incorporate turkey feathers in their tying recipes. Turkey tails work great for tying wings in many of our dry flies. It also works equally well for tying wing pads and shellbacks in thorax’s of our nymphs. I love to use the two toned turkey under feathers (basically marabou) for tails in my nymphs and woolly buggers. Dig in deeper and I think you’ll find several other useful situations where turkey feathers will serve you well in your fly tying fresh or saltwater.
G & G Tip: Find a buddy that turkey hunts but doesn’t fly fish. You’ll be able to get your hands on all the turkey feathers you can cram into your fly tying bins.
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 »Sunday Classic / Angler Attitude Can Increase Success During Tough Fishing Conditions
I’M GRATEFUL TO HAVE A FULL-TIME FISHING PARTNER THAT ISN’T AFRAID TO STEP IT UP WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH.
Louis Cahill is the epitome of this, he’s an angler that’s willing to do whatever’s necessary to put fish in the net, even when catching fish seems completely hopeless. In fact, he seems to shine when fishing conditions are really tough, and oddly as it may sound, sometimes I think he actually prefers bleak fishing conditions for the challenge and reward. It doesn’t matter if everyone on the river is getting their butts handed to them, Louis won’t except defeat until he’s given it everything he’s got. And here’s the real kicker, unlike many of us, I rarely have to pump Louis up for him to give me his absolute best on the water. All I have to do is get a serious look on my face, start cranking on the oars, and mention the words, “Let’s do this”. Nine times out of ten, he charges out the gates, like a horse at the Kentucky Derby, and ends up getting the job done by landing multiple big fish.
I think Louis has figured out
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Wild Steelheaders United
THIS WEEK TROUT UNLIMITED LAUNCHED A BOLD NEW EFFORT.
Wild Steelheaders United is taking on the task of bringing Steelheaders together under one tent to work for the protection of this embattled species. Sounds like a no-brainer but when no two groups can even agree on what a steelhead is the challenge is daunting.
Trout Unlimited has a proven track record when it comes to consensus building. In this effort they are embracing science and educating anglers and policy makers to the facts. My style is a little more direct, so I’ll put it simply for you.
It’s time to put the immense mountain of bullshit surrounding steelhead behind us and move forward in a meaningful manner.
Please watch this video and visit the Wild Steelheaders United site. This is an issue we should all care deeply about and get behind.
Read More »New Designs from Howler Brothers
ON THE WATER TECH WITH OFF THE WATER STYLE.
That’s the mission of the boys at Howler Brothers and there’s not a more distinctive brand in fly fishing. Always cool, their clothing is some of the edgiest gear on the market. The look is backed up with quality. These guys have carved out a nice niche for themselves.
Check out the video to see some of the cool new designs coming this fall and in 2015.
Read More »Why All Fly Anglers Should Be Watching Their Back Cast
By Kent Klewein
NO FLY ANGLER SHOULD EVER FEEL ASHAMED TO WATCH HIS/HER BACK CAST WHEN FLY FISHING.
In fact, if you make a habit of consistently watching your back cast, you’ll become a much better fly caster overtime and catch a good deal more fish when you’re on the water. Just because Brad Pitt in the movie, A River Runs Through It, didn’t watch his back cast in most of the fly fishing scenes throughout the film, doesn’t mean fly anglers should follow his lead. The best fly casters in the world watch their back cast when presentations call for it. They might not do it all of the time, but they sure as heck don’t think twice about doing so, when a specific presentation calls for it.
The reason I’m taking the time to talk about this today is because most of my clients struggle with the idea of watching their back cast. From my point of view, they shy away from doing so, because they feel like they’re raising up a red flag that signals, “Hey everyone, I’m a rookie.” But that notion is completely untrue. In reality, if a more advanced fly caster walks up on you and you’re casting poorly because you’re not watching your back cast, he or she is probably going to be thinking, “That poor angler, all he/she needs to do is make an effort to watch his/her backcast and most of those casting flaws would disappear.” If you’ve hit a plateau with your fly casting skills, more times than not, the best thing you can do to take your skills to the next level is start paying more attention to watching your back cast. Put it to the test next time you’re on the water especially if you’re a newcomer or intermediate fly angler. And don’t think it only applies to trout fishing in freshwater, it can be just as important, sometimes even more important, when fly fishing in the salt.
4 REASONS WHY WATCHING YOUR BACK CAST CAN IMPROVE YOUR FLY CASTING AND FISHING
Read More »Locating Fish In New, Vast Areas: 4 Tips From Personal Experience
By Carter Lyles
ARE YOU OVERWHELMED BY THE FACT THAT YOU ARE CONSISTENTLY BEING SKUNKED IN AN AREA THAT YOU ARE NEW TO FISHING?
I know how it feels because this happened to me when I moved from Atlanta, Georgia down to St. Simons Island on Georgia’s coast. Honestly, I think St. Simons is one of the most challenging places in the country to locate and catch fish on the fly if you’re a newbie because: 1) We have nine foot tides, 2) There is a ton of water to cover, 3) Straight up nobody is willing to share any spots or tips, 4) The redfish act differently here than in most places, 5) Dark water.
I’m just going to be flat out honest with you– I got skunked probably close to fifteen times before I caught my first redfish in the Golden Isles. There are reasons for this, which I will share with you so that this struggle doesn’t happen to you:
1) Put Away the Fly Rod
I had this “fly or die” mentality, which is the absolute worst way to approach a fishing situation. God, forgive me. If you’re new to a lake or even huge areas like the Georgia coast, then put away your fly rod. We are trying to locate fishing spots, folks… I used live bait (no I’m not ashamed) and began to really figure out where these redfish were. I suggest you do the same, or at least use conventional tackle if you want the process to proceed at a much faster rate.
2) Put Away the Fly Rod
Nope. This is not the same tip. This time I actually mean keeping my fly rods in my room in a closet where I wouldn’t touch them. Go out a handful of times and don’t even bring a rod. Instead bring a nice pair of binoculars, a pen, and a notepad!
Sunday Classic / Not Just Anybody’s Saint Vrain
“IF YOU CLIMB INTO THE CAB OF THAT PICKUP WITH JOHN YOU’LL FIND THAT WHERE YOU WIND UP CAN, ONLY IN THE MOST EXISTENTIAL TERMS, BE CALLED A FISHING TRIP.”
It’s about seven-thirty on a Saturday morning. It’s mid-September and the chilly Colorado air has coaxed a fair number of lookie-lous, headed up from Denver and Boulder to catch some fall color, into the Stone Cup Cafe on highway thirty-six in Lyons for a cup of hot coffee. A dozen or so of these plains dwellers are queued up like good little office workers waiting their turns when a lanky man in his seventies comes through the door. He is not, at once, remarkable. He’s wearing blue jeans, faded with a hole or two, cinched up with a belt to fit his slim frame. A fleece vest and sun-bleached hat frame an angular face that’s lined like a gazetteer. There is a little white feather tucked into his hat band, like Peter Pan. His white beard seems to pretty much have the run of his face. It’s had just enough grooming to suggest that there’s a woman involved somehow, but she’s learned to pick her battles. His bright blue eyes seem too young for the rest of him. He doesn’t dally. He has the stride of an experienced hiker who sets a pace and covers his allotted miles without complaint, his eye fixed on a distant peak. That peak, at this moment, being the coffee pot.
This fellow may not have raised much attention from the morning crowd when he came through the door, but that quickly changes as he walks promptly past the line, around behind the counter and to the coffee machine where, seemingly unnoticed by the staff, he sets about pouring two cups of coffee. He tucks a couple of bucks in a basket that hangs on the wall by the coffee pot, picks up his two cups and with the same determined stride walks back by the line of dumbstruck tourists. He doesn’t acknowledge them, their galled stares or open mouths. He is completely stoic until he is past the line and makes it to the door. He reaches out his hand and offers me a cup and an impish smile creeps across his face as he says, “I love doing that.” And in that instant, there he is, the man I have come to know through his words long before I laid eyes on him. This is John Gierach.
I met John a year earlier at a fly fishing trade show in Denver. I was at the Whiting Farms booth pouring through a selection of high quality rooster capes when he took up a place next to me and within a few moments began telling me how to kill a chicken with a stick. This would, no doubt, have seemed odd to me had I not known exactly who I was talking to. How could I not recognize this man? I’ve read more of his books than any three authors combined. Of course I knew him and I knew that he had tried his hand at raising chickens at the little house across the street from the Saint Vrain River and that it had been a total disaster and that he had to move when the well became contaminated from the gas station next door and a hundred other personal details that had forced their way into his stories. Had I known all there was to know about raising chickens and been the fellow who had first thought of killing one with a stick and gone on to raise that killing to an art form and had the very act of killing a chicken named after me, I would have still hung on every word. We chatted for a bit and exchanged cards and I expected that to be the end of it.
I discovered John’s writing at the point of one of those great cosmic detours that life takes. I had lost my father to cancer and
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Fall Run
THIS FILM BY TODD MOEN IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE FLY FISHING FILMS EVER.
Anyone who has ever fished for steelhead will feel their heart pounding in the first few minutes of this film. The amazing shots of fish and water alone are enough to have you punching the replay button but just wait. The final scene is one of the craziest battles ever witnessed between man and fish!
G&G contributor and great friend Jeff Hickman shows some serious skills in bringing wild steelhead to hand. If you don’t have a steelhead trip planned for this season, you will soon.
CHECK OUT FALL RUN
Read More »Groovy Gear From Flood Tide Co
FLOOD TIDE IS AS MUCH A MOVEMENT AS A CLOTHING COMPANY.
It’s been so much fun over the last year to see my good friend, and G&G contributor, Paul Puckett become the fastest rising star in the world of fly fishing art. It’s well deserved. Paul’s rise to fame has been a real grass roots phenomenon. Fueled largely by his philosophy of bringing art to the people and it sparked the creation of The Flood Tide Company.
Paul’s large scale fine art paintings are remarkable, but it has been his funny and often sarcastic Lampoons of pop-culture icons that have launched him into to public eye. Once he and his co-conspirators Will Abbott and Anheuser-Busch came up with the idea of putting those sketches on T-shirts and technical clothing they were unstoppable.
This year Flood Tide is branching out with new designs, new artists and some non-wearable products. It’s all great stuff and all art for the people.
Check out this video where Will walks us through some of the new products from Flood Tide Company.
Read More »