Sunday Classic / My Grandfather’s Clinch Knot
Do you think about tying your shoes, brushing your teeth, putting on your shirt? I’ll bet I’ve tied the Improved Clinch Knot more times than I’ve done any of those things. But I like to think that I pay more attention to my fishing knots than I do the knot in my shoe laces. When a long standing friend got into fly fishing and I started taking him out to show off a few of my favorite spots he was eager to learn everything about it. Including, of course, knots. Knots are one of those things that are handed down through oral tradition. These days you can go to YouTube and learn to tie any knot you want, but that’s not how I learned. Like most folks who have been fishing for a while I learned my knots from the guys I fished with, most importantly, my Grandfather. So when my friend Michael saw me tie my clinch knot, he saw me tie it the way my Grandfather had taught me. When I was done, he quizzed me, “how many wraps did you do?” “Six” I answered. “shouldn’t it be seven?”, he asked. “I’ve always done six” I replied “but I suppose seven is fine”. He was insistent, “the guy at the fly shop told me it has to be exactly seven”. There is an awful lot of superstition in fly fishing, but some things do matter and it got me wondering. I told the story to my buddy Dan who is a notorious big fish magnet. Before I could even ask him for his opinion he said, “well you can tell him five works just fine too”. Five? I admit I was a little surprised. If Dan was landing his fish on five wraps why was I wasting time … Continue reading
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Buster in the Days of Old
BEFORE EVERYTHING WAS MADE OF PLASTIC
This weeks we thanks “Buster Wants to Fish” and David Rice for this great slideshow of steelheading on the Toutle River from 1965 to 1970. It takes me back to a place I’ve never been. And what a place it was.
Read More »New Tarpon and Bonefish Regulations in Florida
FOR THOSE OF US WHO CARE ABOUT BONEFISH AND TARPON, A BIG VICTORY WAS WON ON WEDNESDAY.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted to adopt catch-and-release regulations for tarpon and bonefish in state and federal waters off of Florida. They have also voted to move forward on new gear restrictions aimed at cleaning up some of the shit show in Boca Grand Pass. That topic will be addressed at their meeting in September.
We applaud their action and thank all of you who spoke out in favor of this new regulation.
According to The Outdoor Wire:
The following changes will go into effect Sept. 1 in state and federal waters off Florida:
All harvest of tarpon will be eliminated, with the exception of the harvest or possession of a single tarpon when in pursuit of an IGFA record and in conjunction with a tarpon tag.
Tarpon tags will be limited to one per person, per year (except for charter boat captains).
Transport or shipment of tarpon becomes limited to one fish per person.
One fish per vessel limit is created for tarpon.
Gear used for tarpon will be limited to hook-and-line only.
People will be allowed to temporarily possess a tarpon for photography, measurement of length and girth and scientific sampling, with the stipulation that tarpon more than 40 inches must remain in the water.
Tarpon regulations will extend into federal waters.
The bonefish tournament exemption permit is eliminated. This exemption allows tournament anglers with the proper permit to temporarily possess bonefish for transport to a tournament scale.
I’m thrilled at this decision on the part of the FWC. It is a huge step but reading this, I can’t help but think there is much work left to do. With regulation
Read More »June G&G Photo Caption Winner Announced
“DUDE, YOUR SNAKE IS HANGING OUT OF YOUR FLY”
John Gross is the winner for coming up with this hilarious caption. Send us your mailing address so we can get this great TrueFlies Gear in the mail to you.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the photo caption contest. It ended up being one of our most popular ones so far. Thank you again to TrueFlies Clothing who donated the prizes. Please visit their website and get some TrueFlies gear of your own. I love my TF clothing.
The Future of Tarpon and Bonefish Depend on What You Do Today
THERE IS NO FEELING, THAT I KNOW OF, WHICH COMPARES TO LANDING, AND HOLDING A LIVE TARPON.
It is, in my opinion, the ultimate fly fishing conquest. To best the Silver King in both wits and brawn is the ultimate proof of one’s angling chops. Once accomplished, there is but one thing left to prove your mettle. To prove that you are the real deal. To release that fish unharmed.
A tarpon like the one here can be over eighty years old. A gold medalist in the games of natural selection. The best of the best of her species. Only a very special fish can grow to replace her. Many will die trying and for the one in many that does replace her, it will take well over half a century.
Considering the decline we have seen in Florida’s game fish in the last few decades I think it’s fair to ask:
How many tarpon will there be, eighty years from now?
Will your great grandchild experience the thrill of landing one?
There are a great many folks who, frankly, don’t care. The ones who’s idea of being important is killing one of these great fish. Maybe getting their name in a book. I’m guessing if you follow Gink and Gasoline you are not one of them, but don’t kid yourself, there are more of them than there are of us.
If we want to save this great species we must act now!
And I mean now. There will be an important vote on Wednesday, June 12th to change tarpon and bonefish regulations in Florida. The changes, although not complete protection, are substantive, important, and the result of a long hard battle. It is crucial that they pass.
TO ENSURE THIS, WE MUST SPEAK OUT NOW! (EMAIL THE COMMISSION)
You can get all of the details from Save the Tarpon (HERE).
The nuts and bolts of it are this.
Final Rules for Tarpon and Bonefish –
Sunday’s Classic / Metal Studs Aren’t Just Good For Traction in Water
I’ve just found another reason why I love my metal studded wading boots. They work great for climbing trees and retrieving my clients flies. I also just found out I’ve officially become a fat ass, and that branch I was grabbing onto was a poison ivy vine, oops. I’m going to pay for that mistake for the next two weeks.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Outsmarting Fish, Chronicles of Cod & HatchMag
This week’s Saturday Shoutout we bring you three fly fishing reads. The first, is about a lake that I’ve been dreaming about fly fishing for years, famous for its giant rainbow trout. The second, is a short read that talks about the feelings we all get after losing the battle with a trophy fish. The last, is a fly fishing instructional post that talks about a subject I bring up with clients regularly. Enjoy the reads and may all of you have a great weekend. Thanks for tuning into Gink & Gasoline.
Read More »Fly Fishing Gear Giveaway: June Photo Caption Contest
LOUIS AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR LOYAL FANS FOR REGULARLY TAKING THE TIME TO VISIT, COMMENT AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT GINK & GASOLINE.
This past month was our busiest month since we launched G&G two years ago. It’s been quite a journey. We’ve made lots of new friends, formed partnerships with many other great fly fishing websites, and together, we’ve built an engaging community that’s warm and respectful. Gink & Gasoline would have faded away a long time ago if it wasn’t for all of you great people.
As a token of our appreciation we invite all of you to participate in today’s photo caption contest for a chance to when a nice selection of gear that was graciously provided by TrueFlies Clothing. Please visit their website and support them just like they’ve supported us by sponsoring this month’s gear giveaway.
Read More »A Closer Look / The Northern Pike
LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT A FISH THAT, IN MY OPINION, IS UNDER RATED.
The pike may be surly and aggressive but who says a brute can’t be beautiful. I’ll let this pike speak for himself.
Read More »The NZ Strike Indicator Company Goes Bigger
A while back, I wrote a post that showcased The Strike Indicator System, invented by New Zealander, Barry Dombro. After testing it out for several days on the water and talking with friends of mine that also fished with it, I contacted Barry by email with my product feedback. First, I told him it was a great strike indicator system for fishing small to medium nymph rigs. Secondly, I liked how delicately I was able to make it land on the surface of the water during my presentations. Thirdly, the strike indicator system really shined when I used it as a sighter to keep track of tiny dry flies and emergers (My good friend, Ronnie Hall from The Fish Hawk showed me this). After all those positives, I ended my email to Barry with one tidbit of criticism, and that was I felt the system failed to outperform other strike indicators when I was nymphing really turbulent water or when I was fishing a big heavy tandem nymph rig. In those two situations, I had a tough time keeping the wool strike indicator from sinking below the surface.
My suggestion to Barry Dumbro was that he look into providing larger tubing for his strike indicator system. I explained the larger tubing would dramatically increase the amount of wool you could insert into the system, and secondly, you could set it high up on the thick butt section of the leader when fishing deep water, and not have to worry about it filling up the majority of the tubing. Then I clicked the send email icon.
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