Bends Are Like Best Friends
BENDS IN RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE LIKE MY BEST FRIENDS.
They possess all the qualities that I value and they always provide me consistent support in my endeavors. I don’t know about you, but when I find myself staring at a section of river or stream and I see a nice bend, I quite often head straight for it. I do this because I know it will usually produce a quality fish or two on the end of my line, and it’s generally very obvious to me where I should present my flies.
Just about every bend you encounter on the water will hold these three qualities.
1. One Well Defined Current
There usually will be one well defined current, collecting and moving food through the bend. This clearly indicates to anglers where the most food is drifting and where the fish should be positioned to intercept it.
2. Clear Channel or Trough
That well defined current usually has cut out a deep channel or trough in the bend. This reinforces further why fish will be located here. The deeper that fish can get below the surface and current, the less energy they’ll have to exert to maintain position and feed. The deeper water also
Low Viz
The air around me is hot, still and thick enough to breathe with a knife and fork. The edges of my hair are damp with sweat. The bow of the boat bobs gently under my feet to the steady “bloop, bloop” of the push pole. All around me the world is a blue-white cyclorama. The sky sopping up the sea without a trace of horizon. Like the view from the center of a light bulb.
I scan the glare for any sign of life. A small window at my feet reveals scurrying crabs and the occasional sponge but as soon as I lift my head I am back in the world of milk. A glare so complete as to turn the world to stone. An impervious shroud covering my eyes, leaving me blind to the ways of the world with no way to distinguish fact from fantasy. Guessing only at what is and what might be.
How many days of my life have I squinted into this abyss? Endless hours with the ferryman at my back, poling me across this void, searching the nothingness with no mooring in sight. How many hours have I stared into this mirror with no one looking back? The coin pinched between my fingers, some ancient fetish, a bit of wing and wire into which, with all of my dreams and aspiration, I have breathed the last of my life. A wish, a prayer, an offering to cast upon the water should some god show himself there.
Read More »Sunday’s Classic / DIY – Kids Puffer Balls for Fly Tying
I’ve been tying San Juan Worm patterns for a few years now with Spirit River’s Squirmy Wormies, and fish love them because of the life-like movement the material has in the water. That being said, I’ve had problems finding certain colors like fluorescent pink, chartreuse, and the right color green. My buddy and guide Erik Ashlin turned me onto Kids Puffer Balls. They’re a spin off from the famous “Koosh Ball”, that many of us enjoyed playing dodge ball with in the 80s and 90s, and they come in just about any color you can imagine. You can find them at your local Dollar General and Walmart stores for $5 or less, and you can tie at least 100 flies from just one of them. Probably more like 200 worm flies.
In a pinch, Erik points out, you can snip one of the legs off, and tie it on a hook with a simple overhand knot. No bobbin, vise, or tying thread is needed. Just cinch the knot down evenly on the hook and the material will stay in place. Personally, when I have the time to tie them at the vise, I like to tie one leg on each end of the hook and wrap a couple strands of Spanflex around the middle of the hook for a smooth proportioned body. That’s just personal preference though, either tying method works. You can also just thread each leg on the hook, dab some superglue on the hook, and push the two legs together. Wah-lah, you’ve got a great worm pattern without ever having to pick up your bobbin.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Yellow Dog Talks Packing Carry-On Luggage, The Limp Cobra talks E -merg- R
At some point, whether it’s around the corner or several months out, we’re all going to eventually board an airplane so we can travel to an exciting fly fishing destination of our dreams. With the airline companies constantly changing the rules from year to year on what gear they allow to be carried on and what gear must be checked, I thought it would be helpful for many of you to read a helpful post by Yellow Dog Fly Fishing, which sheds light on the steps they take on keeping luggage nightmares to a minimum. They call it preemptive planning and offer a list of must have gear and tricks for getting that carry-on luggage aboard and safely to your final destination. Thank you Yellow Dog Fly Fishing for taking the time to write and share this valuable information. I get asked the question, “What gear is safe for me to carry-on, a couple dozen times a year.”
Read More »Sunday Classic / Unhook Thyself! Safe, Painless Hook Removal
If you’ve been thinking, “I love Gink and Gasoline but I wish it could be more like Jackass”, then today is the day your dreams come true!
There are two kinds of fishermen. The ones who have hooked themselves and the ones who are about to. It’s a bad feeling the first time you put a big streamer hook in yourself past the barb. You feel pretty helpless if you don’t know how to handle it. I’ve done it many times and I’m here to tell you that there is an easy, and even painless, way to get that hook out. As a veteran guide Kent has had to do it plenty and he’s a master. He’s taken hooks out of clients without them even knowing it was done.
We’ve been wanting to do this video for some time. We kept waiting for one of us to get hooked but it hasn’t happened so on a recent float on the South Holston with the guys from Southern Culture on the Fly and Bent Rod Media I decided to take things in hand and hook myself so we could show you how to deal with it. I have to say, it was harder to get that hook in past the barb than I thought. If you listen closely you can hear Dave Grossman of SCOF almost lose his lunch.
So watch and learn and please, share the video with someone. I don’t want to do this again! Thanks to Dave and Steve of SCOF and Ryan Dunn of BRM and Appalachian Fly Guides for a great day of fishing and all the help with the video.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Two Wolves, No Waiting
THIS WEEKS SHOUT OUT IS ALL ABOUT WOLVES. TWO VERY DIFFERENT WOLVES WITH A LOT IN COMMON.
First, a fascinating documentary, titled “How Wolves Change Rivers,” from the group Sustainable Man. The film explains how the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park has changed, not only the echo system but the actual geography or the rivers. Changes that have improved habitat for fish as well as other species in the park. I’ve fished Yellowstone for many years and seen some of these changes myself. The science is fascinating, once you get past the fact that Brits apparently call elk, deer.
How Wolves Change Rivers
http://youtu.be/ysa5OBhXz-Q
Our second wolf today is the River Wolf, the great Mongolian taimen. Guide Jako Lucus chronically a season guiding for taimen on the Ur river in Mongolia for The Simms Wading room. The taimen is a bucket list species for every fly angler and it’s great to get a positive report on the rivers where they thrive.
Long Live The River Wolf
Read More »Great Fly Fisherman Should Never Be Forgotten
I’ve always respected the strong brotherhood that our military shows to our fallen heros. In most instances, they always do what they can to look out and take care of the families left behind. I recently saw this first hand while attending a funeral for my cousin Matt Meyer. Every step of the way, his military colleagues stood by his loving family, and promised to do so moving forward as long as they were needed. Over the years, I’ve seen a similar brotherhood by fly fisherman, as legends of the sport and would-be legends unexpectedly passed. It was a great joy to see so many anglers in the community going out of their way to show support and write tributes to their fly fishing heros over the years.
Yesterday, was the three-year anniversary of the passing of Anthony Greer, son of Mark Greer, a loyal Gink & Gasoline reader and supporter. Every year, about this time, Mark and I exchange emails with each other. We both do our best to write some words to adequately show our mutual respect for Anthony’s passion–being an amazing fly fishing guide. Anthony had chosen to devote his life to teaching and spreading the word about fly fishing. It’s a real shame that his life was cut short with so much still to live. I genuinely believe Anthony was destined for great things in the sport of fly fishing. This year, instead of just emailing Mark Greer, I decided to pick up the phone and talk with him in person. After about 45-minutes talking with Mark about his son Anthony, I learned that Anthony and I had a great deal in common. We’re both twins, we both used fly fishing as an outlet for the challenges of everyday life growing up, and we both were following the same calling in life, which was spending our time on the water teaching others how to fly fish.
Read More »The White River Blues
DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE CERTAIN FLY FISHING LOCATIONS HAVE A CURSE ON YOU?
I feel strongly that’s the very case, when it comes to my attempts to fly fish the White River in Arkansas. I’ve made the 22-hour round trip drive twice from Georgia, spent a total of about ten days fly fishing this famous river, and I’ve yet to see a reasonably nice day of weather on the river to wet my line. The first trip Louis and I made to the White River, about four years ago, we were dealt 20 mph winds, with a constant and very painful single-digit wind chill. We had close to a foot of snow that was dumped on us from an extra sneaky backdoor system, that surprised us the night before our fishing trip started. The next five days of fly fishing felt like Louis and I were training for an extreme cold weather survival expedition for National Geographic.
Fast forward in time to our last trip to the White River a couple weeks ago, and we were once again shown no mercy as an abundance of nasty cold weather was sent our way. This time around, we were pummeled by an ice storm that shut down everything around us, including all the big trout in the river (which seemed to have gone into hibernation). For whatever reason, the White River never shows love to Gink & Gasoline. It’s almost like it’s trying to tell us, “You G&G boys aren’t welcome here, go home.” The morning of day three, I laughed hard when Louis told me, “Enough of this BS Kent. We’re not coming back to this place unless it’s August, and there’s zero chance for a blizzard or ice storm in the forecast.” As much as I’d hate to be fly fishing on the White River, during what I’d think would be one of its most crowded fishing times of the year, I couldn’t dismiss the fact that it sounded damn blissful at that point in time. That was, at least, as I struggled to shovel almost two feet of snow and ice out of our brand new Adipose Flow Skiff, with the only suitable tool on hand, being a tiny dust pan that I’d found in the corner of our bunk house. Two hours, and 575 scoops later, the boat was finally ready to hit the river. Now we just had to figure out how to safely get up and down the boat ramps.
Here’s a tip for you to remember. Take the time to put on that expensive boat cover that you splurged on, if you know you’re in for a nasty winter storm. Do so even if you know it’s going to be a total pain in the ass because it’s your first time putting one on. I assure you, that although a boat cover is overkill in most situations, there are times when it will feel like the holy grail of all gear. When the shit hits the fan, it will prove to be time well spent. Especially if the sky has decided it’s going to take a 24-hour dump of ice and snow on your head. Here’s a second tip for you. Pull up your windshield wiper blades on your vehicle beforehand if you know Jack Frost is going to be paying you a visit. If you happen to live around his regular stomping grounds, you’re probably laughing your butt off that a couple of southern trout bums like ourselves, didn’t know about the importance of this ten-second weather storm preparation. We were, however, at least smart enough to remember to bring in our wet waders, boots and rigged rods.
Sunday’s Classic / 5 Reasons Why I Use A Uni-Knot in My Trout Fishing
There’s plenty of other fishing knots out there that have better knot strength than the Uni-Knot, but that shouldn’t be the only factor you look at when you’re choosing what knot to use on the water. Reliability, how quick and easy it is to tie, type of rig your fishing, and functionality should all be weighed into the equation when deciding on knot choice. The decision to employ the Uni-Knot for my personal fishing and guiding has made my life easier on the water because of its versatility and ease of tying.
5 Reasons Why I use the Uni-Knot for Trout Fishing
1. The Uni-Knot is quick and easy to tie with fine tippet and small flies, particularly in low light situations.
2. The Uni-Knot is very reliable, is rated at 90% strength, and won’t slip (fail) like the improved clinch knot will if it’s tightened down incorrectly.
3. I only need a small amount of tippet to tie the Uni-Knot. That lengthens the life of my leaders, cuts back on tippet usage, and saves me money in the long run.
4. The Uni-Knot allows me to quickly change out my lead fly in my tandem nymph rig and also saves me time untangling knots on the water since it can be loosened and re-tightened on the go.
5. The Uni-Knot serves other purposes other than tying your fly onto your leader. It also can be used to join two lines and used to secure your backing to the reel.
The Uni-Knot Can Save You Time Untangling Knots
Untangling knots is a subject that I know far too well being a full-time fly fishing guide. These days I can often spot a tangle in mid-air or by the way the leader lays out on the water. I’ve grown accustom to having clients look at me with a bewildered look when I tell them to stop casting and strip in. Moments later, when they get their fly rig in, the confused look leaves their faces and the question of why is answered. Using the Uni-Knot in my fishing rigs often allows me to untangle a knotted mess and get back to fishing much quicker than with other fishing knots because I don’t always have to retie the knot. I often can slide the knot open and take off my dropper. This often provides me the room necessary to quickly untangle the rest of my rig, slide the dropper back on, and get back to fishing. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but five minutes here and there over the course of full day adds up to significant time saved, and that means your flies will spend more time in the water in front of the fish.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Orvis Tips for Getting Your Fly Patterns In Catalog
I’ve been tying flies for decades for myself and clients, yet I’ve never submitted a single fly pattern to any fly tying companies to date. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, I just never seem to have time to get to it on my to-do list. That said, it’s a goal of mine that I’d very much like to reach one day in the near future. Just the other day surfing the web for fly fishing content, I found myself reading a featured article on this very subject over on the Outdoor Life website, which was written by Philip Monahan. I was immediately intrigued because the article provided some valuable insight for fly tiers wanting to increase their odds at getting some of their signature fly patterns accepted by Orvis.
Although a lot of the content in the article surprised me, I did walk away feeling more competent on the types and styles of patterns I should create if I ever wanted to get any of my fly patterns commercially tied and sold in the industry. If you’re a talented fly tier and want to make a little extra cash in royalties with your secret fly patterns, this article is a good place to start if you want to get the ball moving in the right direction. Big thank you to Philip Monahan for writing and sharing this article with all of us wannabe signature fly tiers.
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