South Andros, A Love Story

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See The Photo Essay!

By Louis Cahill

I LOVE THE BAHAMAS.

It hits me about this time every year. Just about the time I start pulling out the polar fleece and looking for my fishing gloves I start thinking about Andros. I love the cold weather, it’s not that, it’s just become a rhythm for me.
This is the time of year I start thinking about bonefish and gully wash (the coconut milk rum and gin based fire water the locals drink). I start to crave conch salad and that sweet Bahamian bread.
I think about warm breezes and cool sand when I should be thinking about migrating brown trout. I start checking over my bonefish gear when I should be prepping my Spey set up. I find myself looking at the weather for Andros when I should be planning my steelhead trips.

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Presenting A Fly With Your Back Cast Is Like Being Ambidextrous

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LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT I THINK IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDER-RATED SALTWATER FLY CASTS. THE BACK CAST PRESENTATION.

Imagine being ambidextrous and never having to worry about what direction the wind is blowing. That’s what a back cast presentation can do for you. Using your back cast to present the fly to the fish is a key ingredient in the recipe for success in the salt.
We all know that taking advantage of every opportunity will increase your odds of catching more fish. If you can produce a nice presentation on your back cast you can take advantage of every opportunity, in any direction. Add speed and accuracy, and you will become a great saltwater fly angler.
Using the back cast as a presentation cast can be a foreign concept. Most anglers do not effectively utilize the incredible versatility of this cast, because they don’t even know to consider presenting the back cast to a fish. Everyone thinks a back cast is just a back cast and that’s all.

Let’s start looking at the many different uses for a back cast presentations. I will also explain how to use these tactics to help you catch more fish.
Angler Awareness
Your ability to have a constant awareness of wind direction is crucial. Whether you are wading or fishing from a boat, your orientation to the wind will constantly be changing. Spotting a fish will call for a quick choice of a forward cast or a back cast presentation. Your ability to know which cast will be best, ahead of time, is key. As you gain experience, this step will become automatic.

Loop Roll Over
Fully extending your line arm on your back cast presentation will help add much needed power to help roll over the loop, turning over the leader and laying your fly out straight. Lay your fly out straight and your odds of catching fish go way up.

Keep an Eye on Your Target
Since you are casting forward 180 degrees away from the fish during a back cast presentation, it’s difficult to keep an eye on the fish. Turning your body to the side a bit and opening up your stance will help you to swivel your head easier during casting to help keep your eye on the fish. Beware when you open your stance, you risk breaking your rod path off a straight line plane, causing your loop to open losing distance and accuracy.

Back Cast – Forward Cast
When presenting your fly on a back cast you should focus on all the same things you would when presenting a good forward cast. High line speed, tight loops, double hauling and a correct trajectory are all important for a successful back cast presentation.
Strip Quickly and Take Up Slack
Opening up your stance while presenting your back cast not only helps you keep an eye on the fish but will also

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20 Of The Hottest New Flies For 2015

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By Carter Lyles

We are totally stoked for you to see all the crazy, new, innovative flies that are out and rippin’ lips right now! Everything from warmwater to saltwater to freshwater, we’re about to knock ‘em out. Gink and Gasoline has talked with the biggest fly manufacturers in the business and we have gotten their top selling, new, and spunky flies for late 2014-2015.

Schmidterbug Sz. 06
Tied By: Umpqua Feather Merchants
Designed By: Brian Schmidt
Colors: Red/White, Black, Yellow, Coachdog, Baby Bass

Bushwacker Sz 2/0

Tied By: Umpqua Feather Merchants
Designed By: Brian Hudspeth
Colors: Shad, Chart/White, Blue/White, Black/Purple, White
Extra Comments: This is a great weedless minnow pattern that has all of the right flash in it to drive fish nuts.

Stone Daddy Sz 6,8
Tied By: Umpqua Feather Merchants
Designed By: Doug Ouellette
Colors: Amber/Orange
Extra Comments: Well… You see the damn thing. I’m not going to mimic a college football announcer and state the obvious the whole time- this thing is a fish catching machine!

The Game Changer
Tied By: Umpqua Feather Merchants
Designed By: Blane Chocklett
Colors: Rainbow, Pearl/White
Extra Comments: You might as well just use a real minnow. Seriously. I have fished this thing and it flat out produces. If you don’t have one in your box go ahead and get fifty.

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Sunday Classic / Tying Steelhead Flies That Work, The Sid Fishious

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Tying steelhead flies can be a bit mystifying.
If you’ve been tying trout flies for a while and are just getting started on steelhead flies there are some important differences.

I know that my first steelhead flies were way too heavy and the hook was all wrong. They looked great but they were a pain to fish and my hookup ratio was poor. Getting the right profile, weight and hook placement is easy once you learn a few simple tricks.

Healthy dubbing balls help boost your profile and insure great action. Interchangeable trailing hooks make a huge difference. Winter steelhead will frequently just nip at a fly’s tail. Having a sharp trailing hook is important and being able to change that hook if it becomes damaged really extends the life of your fly.

Possibly the funnest part of tying steelhead flies are all the great colors you get to play with, and isn’t that what every tyer is really looking for, an excuse to buy more cool tying material?

No body ties better steelhead flies than Jeff Hickman. In this video he ties a pattern he originated for Idylwild Flies, The Sid Fishious. It’s a great fly and the techniques that Jeff uses can greatly improve your steelhead flies.

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Saturday Shoutout / The One Fly

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By Carter Lyles

FOR THE INTERMEDIATE-EXPERT FLY TIER

These Europeans have their flies down to a needlepoint. Some of the best fly tiers in the world come from Europe. For example, a German born fly fishing enthusiast, Holger Lachmann’s fly fishing blog, The One Fly, provides viewers with: fly tying tricks, videos, high quality photos, step by step tying instructions, and more of extremely lifelike flies.

http://theonefly.com/

He also has some flies of his own that would slay trout and warm-water species any where in the world.

Just take a look at this fly: The Salmon Tube Banana Fly

OH! AND LOOK AT THIS ONE!

Like a kid in a candy store, I swear… I’m not going to spoil any more posts for you.
If you want to learn how to tie extremely innovative and realistic flies then a visit to The One Fly is a must.

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True Flies, cool as ever in 2015

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Watch the Video!

IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK THESE DAYS YOU SEE TRUE FLIES CLOTHING.

It’s no wander. These guys came on the scene strong a few years back and just keep getting better. They’ve set a new standard for fly fishing fashion.

If there’s a secret to the success of True Flies, it designer Michael Blue. Michael has an eye for color and texture that’s hard to match. He also a wizard when it comes to fabric. His vision is one where style does not mean sacrificing technical performance. It shows in everything they make.

Michael took some time to to talk with us about the line and how he enjoys wearing his wife’s bathing suites. (His words, not mine.) check out the video for the details.

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The Art & Film Festival Of The Year

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JOIN THE BONEFISH AND TARPON TRUST FRIDAY EVENING NOVEMBER 7TH DURING THEIR 5TH INTERNATIONAL BTT SYMPOSIUM FOR THE INAUGURAL BTT ART & FILM FESTIVAL.
The evening kicks off at 6:30pm with an art gallery that will include some of today’s biggest names in saltwater art and photography displaying and selling their art with portions of the proceeds going directly BTT. Featured artists include Paul Puckett, Jorge Martinez, Eric Estrada and many more!

The festival will also feature film submissions from professionals and amateurs alike, showcasing all of our favorite inshore flats fish with a chance to win some amazing prizes from Orvis, Costa Sunglasses and others. The film festival will also feature the world premier of “90 Miles” the latest film offering from the World Angling crew.

Finally, what is an Art and Film Festival without an awesome raffle? After the films they will raffle off a limited edition BOTE Standup Paddle Board as well as some other great swag from BTT’s sponsors.

Film Submission Rules:
The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust would like the film submissions to be roughly 5 minutes in length and no more than 10 minutes long in total. Content must be focused on inshore flats fishing and those species. That’s it. The rest is up to you to be as creative as you want! Prizes will be awarded for Best Conservation Message and Viewers Choice. Submission deadline is October 24th, 2014. Please contact Dan Dow at dan@bonefishtarpontrust.org with any questions.

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Trout Are Not Smarter Than People, But They May Be Smarter Than Me

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I HOPE I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO FEELS THIS WAY.

Everybody gets their ass handed to them once in a while and I’m certainly no exception. The latest installment came just last week. I was in Colorado and mentioned to a friend that I’d never fished Cheeseman Canyon, and away we went. If you were to do a quick Google search for Cheeseman Canyon you might click the first link and read this description on Colorado Fishing Reports.

“The drainage is one of the most pristine and technical in the world; if you can catch trout here you can catch them anywhere.”

That reads like some good old Colorado bravado but on closer inspection, at least the day I was there, it could be true. At least the last part. I don’t know that it’s the most pristine place I’ve ever fished but it was certainly a challenge. For six hours of fishing, I enjoyed three hookups and unbuttoned two of them for a total of one fish. It was the smallest of the three and I was happy to have him.

It’s easy to see why this place is so hard on anglers. The pressure is ridiculous. Literally, three guys fishing every run. Anglers on Colorado’s front range are used to that kind of pressure and to their credit, everyone was super polite and practiced great stream etiquette. If not for that it would have been miserable. Still, the pressure makes it very tough in a couple of ways.

It’s all but impossible to move around on the river, unless you’re just out for a good hike. You wind up camped in a couple of spots working a pod of fish who watch you like the Ferguson P.D. To its credit, the South Platte is full of fish. Quality fish at that. Pods of them in every run but it’s kind of a Mexican stand off.

The fish are as much traumatized as educated.
They have adapted to the the pressure in some interesting ways. To start with, they just don’t eat flies. That’s obvious. Many of them seem to be night feeders. I found a lot of fish sleeping during the day. Fish sleep behavior is fascinating and

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Sunday Classic / Fight Big Fish with the Butt Section of the Fly Rod Not the Tip

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IF YOU FLY FISH LONG ENOUGH AND PAY YOUR DUES, IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL YOU HOOK INTO A GIANT FISH AND EXPERIENCE DEFEAT.
I’ve always loved the saying, “It’s always the big ones that get away”, like it provides anglers a viable excuse for losing battles with big fish. I’ll admit there are times when we’re at complete mercy of big fish, and defeat is 99% inevitable, but most battles are lost due to angler error, specifically by fighting big fish incorrectly with the fly rod.

For many anglers, every time they lose a big fish, a portion of their fish-fighting confidence disappears with it, and they become more paranoid with each unsuccessful encounter. Overtime, this paranoia and lack of confidence distorts their fish fighting instincts, and they begin to play big fish too conservatively, thinking if they put more pressure on the fish, the tippet will break or the hook will pull free. What they end up doing most of the time is fighting the fish with their rod tip instead of fighting the fish with the mid-section and butt section of the rod. This seriously limits an anglers ability to apply power and steer the fish during a fight, because all the power comes from the butt and mid-section of the rod, not the tip. It also will keep the leverage in the fish’s court, which will take it far longer for you to tire out a big fish. Fight times can be doubled, sometimes even tripled, and that’s bad news for a trophy specimen if the battle is taking place during the year when oxygen levels are low (you can play a fish to death). Furthermore, the longer the fight is prolonged, the better the chance something could go wrong, resulting in a fish being lost during the fight (teeth wearing through tippet, fish raking you across rocks and breaking line, fish snapping you off in a snag, ect).

Fight a big fish the right way

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Saturday Shoutout / Wild Reverence

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Watch the Video!

WILD REVERENCE “THE PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN WILD STEELHEAD”

This film by Shane Anderson chronicles one of the most sought after fish on the planet and the severe decline of wild populations with hope and solutions for a wild future.

If chasing wild steelhead is not your passion, it may be once you’ve seen this film. It’s hard to not get swept away by the powerful feelings surrounding this amazing fish and it’s perilous circumstances. If you are a devotee, this film is a must see.

Shane’s film is not only beautiful and moving, it’s important in its efforts to raise awareness of the steelhead dilemma. It has it’s heart in the right place, but it’s pockets too. Proceeds from the film go to help preserve wild steelhead.

Check out the trailer. You might learn a thing or two about wild steelhead. You might find yourself loving them.

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