On The Road to Hollywood
Kent Autographing the Tires Well, it may not be Hollywood exactly but it’s big news for G&G. Kent and I are living the dream! We’re excited and honored to be chosen for a segment in the film “Playground Earth,” sponsored by BFGoodrich. That’s right, we gonna be movie stars! In our own minds anyway. Here’s the scoop. BFGoodrich has flown us to Salt Lake City UT where we, along with three other teams of adventure athletes, are getting our school on at a four day professional off road driving course. Once we are are trained stunt drivers, and general menaces to public safety, we will hit the road as the first leg of an extreme relay race across the American west. The good folks at BFGoodrich are supplying us with a pimp F150 4X4 and some sweet tires and we are headed to Idaho and Oregon to fish the Owyhee river with a film crew from Camp 4. If you are not familiar with their work you need to check out the Camp 4 Vimeo page. These guys are amazing! They might even make ‘us’ look good. The Owyhee is gaining the reputation of being one of the best trophy trout rivers in the country. It’s name is being mentioned along side rivers like The White in AR. It’s apparently home to some big brown trout that are notoriously tough. Kent and I are excited to see the Owyhee and get a first hand look at some of those browns. The river gets a lot of pressure and we plan to put those Goodrich tires to the test and find some prime water that’s off the beaten path. Here’s where things get interesting. After we’ve done our best on the Owyhee, we will tear ass across a couple of states … Continue reading
Read More »Choosing Flies for Tandem Nymph Rigs
Today’s article is intended for beginner and intermediate fly anglers that struggle with choosing what fly patterns to tie on when they’re fishing a tandem nymph rig.
Most of our fly boxes are stocked with dozens of different fly patterns. It can be difficult at times to know where to start. I get the question all the time, “how do I know what flies to tie on?” The answer to that question is I don’t. Sometimes I can get a good idea by doing some bug sampling or observing the conditions on the water, but generally, I have to experiment with fishing different flies just like everyone else does until I figure out what the trout want. However, the key to my consistent success is treating my two-fly rig like it’s a buffet of food choices for the trout, and always fishing flies that imitate different types of food sources that the trout forage on. This increases the chances that the trout will like one of the food imitations in my rig and I’ll catch fish.
To make things easier for me, I categorize my nymphs into four different categories: Big flies, small flies, bright colored flies and natural colored flies. When I start out my day on the water, I begin rigging my two-fly rig with combinations of these.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Tarpon On The 4 Weight
Let me be clear on this…I am not a dumb ass. Well, at least not a big enough dumb ass to try and catch a tarpon on a four weight. But I did buy a new four weight reel the other day and a ten weight line. So I sat down to line up the two reels, which is my cat’s favorite thing in the world, and something occurred to me. I rig my four weight for tarpon. What I mean by that is that I use the same system for attaching my fly line to the backing that I learned when I started saltwater fly fishing. Before I started fishing salt I attached my line to the backing with a nail knot, like I learned to as a kid. Now I spend a lot more time whipping a loop on the back of my fly line with tying thread and superglue. Then I spend even more time tying a double Bimini twist in my backing and connecting loop to loop. But why? Well, it’s clearly a stronger connection but do I need that on a four weight trout rod? It sure doesn’t hurt when you find yourself connected to a ten pound trout on your four weight. You will be seeing that backing, I promise. Still, it’s clearly overkill. It comes back through your guides smoother and that’s nice, but still not a big deal. Here’s my reasoning, and this is why I use this method on all my reels. First, it’s just better. Second, and most importantly, I only change that ten weight line once a year, some times not even that. Why let the knot I trust to hold a tarpon be the first knot of it’s kind I have tied in a year? Knot skills are … Continue reading
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Carp Fishing in America
THE WEATHER IS STARTING TO WARM UP AND CARP GUYS ARE GETTING RESTLESS. ERIN BLOCK OF MYSTERIES INTERNAL GIVES YOU THE HISTORY AND HYSTERIA OF CARP FISHING IN AMERICA.
Many things seem like great ideas at the time, yet most are only figments of a hopeful imagination or intoxicated faculties. Few actually take off with the vengeance of sprinters after the start gun. Few actually work or have legs to stand on. And although they are there if you look hard and long enough, success stories are few and far between. We cheer them on, those long shots. And I’ve always been partial to the underdog.
So had I been around in the late 1800s, I would have cheered on the carp. Facing pressured fisheries and depletion of native stocks, the U.S. Fish Commission (just as English monks had done in the 1300s) made the decision to import what they thought to be the most economical food source for their country’s growing population, the best return on investment: the carp. Having proved their worth over centuries in Asia and Europe, it seemed the most logical move to make.
However, what was not foreseen was the success of that idea; or rather, success of the carp and failure of the idea.
Read More »Elevate Yourself to Increase the Distance You Can High-Stick
Most of the time when your fly fishing for trout, the last thing you want to do is elevate yourself. In most scenarios, that will usually do more harm than good, by increasing the chances of trout spotting you and spooking. Notice I said “most scenarios”, every once in a while, an angler is forced to go against traditional principles to find success. The other day, I found myself trying to fish an eddy and slow water seam on the far bank. Making the cast wasn’t the problem, it was getting a long enough drag-free drift to get my fly to the fish. Even with my best high-sticking efforts, every cast the super fast water between me and my target water would grab my fly line and suck my flies out prematurely. After a couple minutes of struggling with my drifts and failing to get any bites, I decided to climb up on a boulder next to me. This elevated me three feet, and allowed me to keep 100% of my fly line off the water and get that long drag-free drift. I caught three trout after
Read More »Sunday’s Classic / Humbling Day on the White River
It’s 4:00am and my adrenaline has me awake way ahead of the alarm clock just like the first time my Dad took me hunting when I was a kid. As I gaze onto the silhouette of the White River I hear the resident trout in the river ambushing baitfish and stockers in the moon light. By the sound of the loud thrashing of the water I can tell it’s the sound of trophy trout on the feed. I’ve booked legendary fly fishing guide, Davy Wotton who’s been guiding on the White River for over twelve years. Davy is well known in the fly fishing industry for his SLF Dubbing, extensive fly fishing videos and long standing conservation efforts.There’s no doubt in my mind I’ll be in good hands with his local expertise. I’ve got my Scott S4 8 weight rod rigged up with my sinking line, and I’ve packed my Cliff Outdoors streamer box that’s filled to the max with my freshly tied up streamer creations.
My goal for the trip is to bring a Brown Trout to the net measuring over thirty inches.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Frankenfly & FloatFisher
This week’s Saturday Shoutout showcases two fly tying blogs that are updated regularly and sure to motivate you at your vise. Check out FrankenFly and FloatFisher for good fly pattern recipes and videos.
Read More »DIY Boat Speaker for iPhone
Sometimes, there’s nothing better than floating a river with your buddies and listening to some of your favorite tunes. Even though most of us own one or two of those portable speaker docking stations, it’s surprising how often we get five miles down the road and remember we left it by the front door or forgot to charge the darn thing. Thanks to some redneck ingenuity, I’ve found a suitable solution that will allow you to listen to music even if you forgot your speakers, and all you need is a knife and a empty beverage container. Just cut the top off of a plastic cup and slide the speaker end of your iPhone into it, and you’ve got yourself a redneck portable speaker. You won’t be jamming out but it will amplify the sound enough for everyone in the drift boat to enjoy the music playing.
Read More »Sunday Classic / The Secret Spot
Dirty little secrets. We all have them. Well, maybe they’re not so dirty, and if they are, I guess we have ourselves to blame. But everyone who ever owned a fishing rod has one. The spot that we think of as ours. It’s human nature I suppose, to want to own something, especially a place. I’ve heard that Native American cultures did not believe in the idea of people owning the land. I guess it’s clear how that played out. As for the rest of us, the ones with the fishing rods, we hold that idea firmly to our chests. The idea that we have a secret spot. A place that that we, through our skill, wisdom, charm and good looks, what-have-you, have found and laid claim to. A place so good that we dare not tell a soul about it.
Generally there is some impediment involved. Our place is hidden, hard to reach, you have to know that turn or trail or pull off. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a secret, right? Everyone would know about it. We get satisfaction from knowing something others don’t. We judge ourselves as somehow better than the masses for having and keeping our little secret. We go there and enjoy the great fishing and the solitude, and for a time we enjoy the illusion that we are alone. That we have been magically transported back to those “good old days” before every tree had been cut and every pool had a trail to it. We enjoy the idea that we are casting to fish who have never seen a fly, until the inevitable happens. Until
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Salmon Confidential
THIS WEEK WE SHOUTOUT TO THE ROGUE ANGELS. I HAVE TO SAY THANKS LADIES, FOR ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT. IF SALMON CONFIDENTIAL DOESN’T SCARE THE HELL OUT OF YOU DON’T EVEN BOTHER WITH THE WALKING DEAD.
This documentary takes you deep into the world of the dwindling BC salmon population. It explains the science and the politics behind what could be the greatest natural disaster of our time.
This hour and ten minute documentary is riveting and well worth your time. A big thanks to The Angels for spreading the word.
Watch Salmon Confidential
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