Saturday Shoutout / Silver Linings
EVEN IF YOU’VE NEVER LIFTED A FLY ROD IN PURSUIT OF A TARPON, SILVER LININGS WILL MAKE YOUR HEART SKIP A BEAT.
Silver Linings is a film from the good folks at World Angling. It showcases some great Key West tarpon fishing and sheds light on issues that put it in peril. See some amazing fish and the work that’s being done to protect them from the new Royal Caribbean Panmax cruse ships.
Watch Silver Linings and REFUSE TO CRUSE PANMAX!
Read More »Fly Fishing: Why Tippet Size Can Be More Important With Nymphs
Many of us like to think it’s all about fly pattern choice when it comes to catching trout. Sometimes it is, but there’s many times when the key to getting the tough bites, lies not in what fly pattern you’re fishing, but rather in what size tippet you’ve chosen to attach your fly to. If you asked me what fly type (streamer, dry or nymph) is most important when it comes to tippet choice, I’d quickly respond that tippet size is most critical when an angler is trout fishing with nymphs. You’re probably thinking, “Thanks for your opinion Kent, but what’s the theory behind your reasoning?” For starters, trout don’t tend to be very tippet shy with streamers—in most moving water situations. A trout generally will see your big meaty streamer coming through its kitchen, and it will either pounce on it for territorial reasons or because it provides an opportunity for a large meal that it can’t afford to pass up. I’ve got buddies that regularly fish 15 pound tippet when they’re streamer fishing, hell, sometimes even 20 pound, and they have great success. And a good portion of them, aren’t pounding the banks on the river from a drift boat, but instead wade-fishing on small to mid-size trout streams. In many cases, anglers tend to fish tippet too light when streamer fishing. Fishing beefy tippet will aid in efficient leader turnover, decrease the amount of false casting needed between presentations, and lastly, it will help anglers make accurate casts more consistently at varying distances.
Dry fly fishing, makes for a much closer call, but I still stand by my belief, that tippet size is more important with nymphs. Largely because the two most important factors in dry fly fishing success, are an accurate presentation and a drag free drift. In certain situations, timing can be critical as well, for instance, when an angler is fishing to a trout actively feeding on the surface during a hatch. That being said, I wouldn’t go so far as to say tippet has no bearing in dry fly fishing. It’s just more common that the problem lies with a presentation off target (out of the target zone), a dry fly looking unnatural because of drag, or the dry fly was drifted over the trout when it wasn’t ready (repositioning after a recent feeding). If you’re certain you have all of the above correct, you’ve tried a few different patterns, and you’re still not getting bites, there’s a good chance your tippet is too large and needs to be downsized.
Read More »Sunday’s Classic / Who Says You Should Only Fish Short Fly Rods On Small Streams
My good friend Dave Grossman decided to trade in his 9 foot boat rods for 10 footers this year. So far, this fishing season he claims the extra foot of graphite has been working wonders for his clients on the water. Dave says, “I find that the ten foot fly rods make it much easier for my clients to mend their fly line, especially when they need to mend a lot of line. That translates into them consistently getting longer drag-free drifts. The longer rods shine when we need to high-stick across multiple currents, and they also allow my novice clients to squeak out a little more distance in their casts.”
After hearing those positive comments from Dave, I decided to give them a shot with my own clients, but I’d take it a step further. Instead of just incorporating them on float trips on the big rivers, I’d experiment using them on small to mid-size streams. The first trip out was a real eye opener and success with the ten foot fly rod on one of my 30′-40′ wide trout streams. To my amazement, the longer rod outperformed my standard 8 1/2-9 foot fly rods in almost all fishing scenarios in my clients hands. The only area the ten foot rod underperformed, were spots where the stream narrowed drastically or when it was really tight and cramped. The surprising thing about that, is it actually happened a lot less than I thought it would, and when it did, I’d just handed over the shorter rod I was carrying to my client. The key was positioning my angler in the correct spot, reminding him he had a longer rod in his hand, and then choosing the appropriate fly cast to present our flies.
I continued the experiment for several more guide trips, and it quickly became apparent, that all the fly fishing literature I’d previously read about matching the length of your rod to the size stream you were fishing, was actually just one way of looking at it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years with fly fishing, it’s that there’s almost always multiple options (types of casts, types of rigs, types of gear, ect.) that are feasible for anglers to use when fishing any given situation. Most of the time we end up going with the status quo, which is the obvious and most popular method for the fly fishing situation at hand. Sometimes, however, if we’re not afraid to think outside of the box, and open to use an unorthodox approach, it has the potential to end up performing even better for us on the water.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Kirk Deeter Talks Sight-Fishing to Trout in Eddies
Every now and again, Kirk Deeter snaps a photograph on the water of a place he recently got back fly fishing, and then brings it back to Fly Talk asking everyone the question, “How would you fish this spot?”. He’s usually on the water with another guide or veteran fly angler at the time, and they both approach and fish the spot in different ways. I always find these posts by Kirk very interesting and informative, and I usually walk away thinking, “Hmmm, I’ll have to try that approach next time I find myself fly fishing a spot like this.”
The thing I like most about this how-to series of articles that Kirk writes, is the fact that it just a great job of pointing out there’s always multiple ways of doing things when you’re on the water fly fishing. Point being, there’s usually more than one way to find success on the water. I also like that it showcases how much you can learn from fishing with other anglers as well. Everyone has a unique eye in the way they pick out, approach and fish water.
Read More »Swiftwater Tech Vest Review
For over a decade, I’ve had an old fly fishing vest in my garage, hanging on a coat hanger, next to an ever growing number of unfixable leaky waders. The only reason I kept it around all these years, was in case I had a gear-less buddy show up that wanted to go fly fishing with me. Yet, even when that happened, I rarely pulled it off the coat hanger. There just wasn’t a real need, since I’m usually carrying everything needed anyway, and more importantly, I’m the one that does all the rigging. When the fly fishing pack fad hit the scene strong, around 2000 (give or take a few years), like most, I was quick to jump on the chest and waist pack bandwagon. Years passed, and I never looked back.
It was a pretty easy decision for me to make at the time. For starers, I was tired of having to chase my gear down the river, because I forgot to zip back up my fly vest pockets. When you’re wearing thirty pockets on your chest, it can be a real challenge to remember to zip them back up, especially when you’re in a hurry to find that correct fly box or spool of tippet. That being said, the main reason I gave up my old school fly fishing vest was the fatigue it gave me. Lugging it around all day loaded down, proved to suck, even when I was in my 20s, and my beer gut was still just a little guy. I remember a friend telling me once, that he weighed his fly fishing vest and the scale read well over 30 pounds. The old designs of fly fishing vests did a horrible job of distributing the weight correctly on an anglers upper body, due to the lack of adjustable and padded shoulder/waist harnesses. That has since become a thing of the past with many of the companies that manufacture fly fishing vests now using them. Umpqua is the first company that I’m aware of that has not only incorporated adjustable and padded shoulders in their fly fishing vest designs, but also integrated an adjustable and padded waist strap in the Swiftwater Tech Vest.
Recently, I was talking with a representative with Umpqua who suggested I give their new Swiftwater Tech Vest a try. He claimed I’d fall back in love with fly fishing vests, if I just gave it a little time on the water. He went on to tell me, “I regularly wear mine around the office. It’s seriously that comfortable. That, and it goes a long way in helping me forget that I’m in the office and not on the water.” For the record, there was no doubt of the authenticity in his voice, and I have to say that intrigued me. When I received the Umpqua Swiftwater Tech Vest in the mail, I immediately put it to work. Surprisingly, I fell in love with it right off the bat, just like the Umpqua representative said I would, and that’s really saying something, since I’ve hated fly fishing vests for years. This fly fishing vest was different. It fit snug as a bug on my chest and back, and provided me the comfort I’d never felt before with other fly fishing vests in the past.
Read More »2014 Fly Fishing New Years Resolutions
YET ANOTHER YEAR HAS SLIPPED AWAY AND LEFT ME WITH THE FEELING THAT SO MUCH REMAINS UNDONE.
It’s not that I did not accomplish what I wanted in 2013. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s been a great year. I set some very high goals for myself and not only met them but found some unexpected opportunities along the way. The adventure Kent and I took with BF Goodrich comes to mind. I would never have thought to set that as a goal but it ranks high in my list of accomplishments.
Still, with an embarrassment of riches In the “done column,” there are a great many things I feel I have missed out on. For example, when my Christmas fishing plans got rained out, I realized that I spent not one day of 2013 fishing with my brother. That’s just not right. I traveled to some amazing places and had some epic days of fishing but I didn’t explore one new stream here at home. How is that possible?
Have I become too focused on my goals to see the treasure at my feet?
With this in mind I have decided to make a list of fly fishing New Years Resolutions for 2014.
1) Spend more time fishing with the people I love. My oldest friends and fishing buddies. My family. The people who feed my soul and remind me of who I am. The folks I have learned from, on and off the water. This list includes my brother, the man who taught me to make bamboo rods, some old friends who have just found their way to fly fishing and my wife, who hates to fish and will have to be dragged kicking and screaming.
2) Find new water to love, right here at home. I’m not proud of it, but I have come to have some bad feelings about the state of trout fishing in the southeast. Not without reason. We have profound problems and the future of trout fishing in GA is questionable. I need to get past these feelings by finding some new places that remind me of the things I love about my home water. It will likely involve sore feet and small fish but it will be worth it.
3) Spend some days
Read More »Sunday Classic ? You Cant Go Home
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, IN HIS ESSAY “DINOSAURS” WROTE, “BIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING THE ONE DIRECTION YOU CAN’T GO IS BACK”.
He was, of course, making a social comment but I was reminded of that idea while fishing the other day with a good friend. Joel Dickey was up visiting family over the holidays and was excited to do some trout fishing. For weeks he had been telling me that he was going to take me to the best trout stream he’d ever fished. The little creek in Tennessee that he grew up on. A stretch of private water owned by his aunt. I was excited to see the water and to spend a day wetting my boots with Joel.
I knew this was either going to be really good, or really bad. Joel has been living and guiding in the Keys for a long time now and things change. Things always change and where trout streams in the southeast are concerned, usually not for the better. In Joel’s memory this little creek was gin clear and full of big wild trout. When we arrived we found a different stream altogether. There were no fish of any kind. Only old tires and garbage, including a battery acid bottle. A sad sign of an unloved stream.
We moved on to a local tailwater and got into some nice fish and even some surface action, which is great for December, but Joel was heartbroken. It’s tough to see a stream you love go down hill like that. We’ve seen way too much of it in this part of the world and maybe we’ve gotten too used to it. Maybe we’ve come to expect it. Maybe we’ve become complacent.
You always hear stories about the good old days. You always hear how great the fishing was and how it’s never going to be as good again, how it’s all going to hell. Maybe that’s all true. I don’t know. Here are a few things I do know.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Anglers Tonic, Legally Poached
THIS WEEK WE’RE CHECKING IN WITH GREG THOMAS OVER AT ANGLERS TONIC.
The Tonic is going undercover and taking to some of Montana’s best private trout water. No permission asked and none given.
Never fear, in Big Sky Country it’s all legal. Greg gives you the blow-by-blow on how to make this epic trout adventure, catch tons of beautiful wild fish and never see another angler.
Check out,
LEGALLY POACHED: HOW TO FIND UNDERFISHED WATER AND TROUT WITHOUT HOOKSCARS.
Read More »Thomas & Thomas Fly Rods – IFTD Wrap Up
Thomas & Thomas fly rods introduced an incredible amount of new rod models for the 2013/2014 season. Tom Dorsey and Troy Jacques were the team anchors in heading the design and roll out for the large selection of new Thomas & Thomas fly rods.
The LPS II was created (4-piece version of the original 2-piece LPS rod line) for all the traveling anglers out there, that had previously fallen in love with the original LPS years ago, but wanted a more transportable version. I’ve fished the new LPS II religiously for the past year, put it in the hands of many clients, and it’s received positive reviews across the board.
T&T also introduced the ESP (Extra Sensory Presentation) trout line of rods, which is targeted for those trout anglers that enjoy fishing a medium-action fly rod in shorter lengths and lighter lines. The ESP will serve those fly anglers well that enjoy fly fishing spring creeks, where accurate and subtle presentations are critical.
The NS II (No Sanctuary) fly rod line was greatly expanded this year. The original NS rod line was only available in a 4-piece 9′ five or six weight version. Due to the NS’s extreme popularity and large following, T&T decided to create the NS II, which offers a wider range in lengths and rod weights. You now have the option of purchasing an NS II, in the following lengths: 9′, 9′ 6″ or 10′ and it’s offered from 5wt through 8wt. This fast action rod is a laser beam on the water, and the action will provide you that “one-piece construction” casting feel.
Last but not least, T&T introduced the SSS (T&T switch-rod) for big water trout and steelhead anglers wanting more balance and versatility on the water. It’s sorta of a niche that many fly fisherman have been inquiring about for a while now, and T&T answered the calls with it’s 9′ 6″ 7wt & 8wt models. Check out the video below as Tom Dorsey provides all of us the break down at this year’s IFTD show in Las Vegas.
Read More »My Early Christmas Gift of Fly Fishing With Tom Dorsey
As a kid growing up, my Mother always allowed us kids to open up one Christmas present early every year. I’m not sure if it was a holiday tradition that she’d carried on from her own childhood or something she started after she was blessed with a family of her own. Chances are, it was more likely just a way for her to get a little peace during the holidays, and a break from the non-stop haggling from my siblings and I, as we begged for her permission to let us open presents early. Another reason I think she granted us an early present was because it did a pretty good job of killing our urge to go snooping around the house looking for our big ticket Christmas presents. Those never showed up under the Christmas tree until Christmas Eve, when Santa would drop them off while our family attended evening Church service. It took me years to figure out why my Mother always had to go back into the house to use the bathroom, after she’d already loaded all of us kids in the car. I have to say, that was a pretty sneaky way for Mom to get Santa’s presents under the tree, so they’d be waiting for us when we got back from church.
It’s been many years, since I’ve lived out that early Christmas present tradition, that I enjoyed so much as a child. With a family of my own now, it’s no longer me on the receiving end, but instead my own kids. This year, however, was and exception when I was surprised with an early Christmas gift of my very own, and it’s one I’ll cherish the rest of my life. We all have fly fishing heros that we look up to and respect, but most of the time we never get the opportunity to meet them in person, much less spend a day on the water fly fishing with them. My early Christmas gift this year, was spending a day on the water with the great fly fisherman and fly rod builder Tom Dorsey, from Thomas & Thomas fly rods.