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
Read More »Gary Merriman Ties The Tarpon Toad
I’VE KNOWN GARY MERRIMAN FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS AND ONLY FOUND OUT ABOUT A YEAR AGO THAT HE WAS THE CREATOR OF THE TARPON TOAD.
The Toad is a great pattern and almost anyone who has fished for tarpon has tied one on at some point. It’s been around for a long time but it still catches fish.
Gary explained how he watched tarpon that followed flies without eating them and got the feeling that it was the action of the fly that they didn’t like. The tarpon patterns of the day would sink fast, then shoot back up in the water column when stripped. Gary was looking for a fly that would track at a consistent depth. When he tied the Toad he gave it a flat body that works like a planer to keep the fly at the right depth.
It’s a simple fly to tie but there are a few important features that make it work. Watch the video and learn from the man who created this great pattern.
Read More »Trout Utilize Shade Year Round and So Should Anglers
When fly anglers bring up the topic of targeting shade in conversation for catching trout, most of the time they’re talking about doing it during the dog days of summer. Although it’s true that trout will regularly seek out shade (for cooler water) when water temperatures are elevated, it’s not the only time nor reason trout utilize it. Trout also use shade to camouflage themselves from both predators and the prey they feed on. If you don’t agree with me, tell me if it’s easier to spot a trout in the sun or in the shade. Trout understand this, and that’s why they often gravitate towards it on sunny days, even during the colder months of the year. The third reason trout search out shade is to cut down on the glare in their eyes, so they can spot drifting food in the current more effectively.
I was on the water the other day guiding and it was forty degrees with water temperatures in the upper 30s.
Read More »6 Tips for Executing a Proper Figure-Eight Retrieve
For the first time, this year, I got to experience the thrill of watching a musky devour my bucktail streamer right at the boat during a figure-eight retrieve.
I had dreamed of witnessing this first hand for years, and I have to say, it live up to all the hype. You get a huge adrenaline rush every time you lure a musky into following or eating your fly during a figure-eight retrieve. I think this one aspect of musky fishing alone, is why so many anglers fall in love with musky. Although I’ve heard of anglers catching trout, striper and other species with a figure-eight retrieve, musky by far, provide the highest success rate of all game fish for using it. Musky seem to spook far less than other game fish when they’re in hot pursuit after prey, and that’s the main reason this niche retrieve works so well for them. I totally screwed the pooch on my first couple opportunities to use the figure-eight retrieve for musky. This unorthodox retrieve takes a while to get used when you don’t regularly practice it. Done wrong, a figure-eight retrieve will fail to trigger eats. Luckily, during my trip, I had my good friend Charlie Murphy, a genuine musky bum, give me some pointers. Below are six tips to get you executing a figure-eight retrieve like a pro.
Read More »Sunday’s Classic / 8 Flies for Southern Appalachian Brook Trout
My good friend Dan Flynn is the man when it comes to hike-ins for Southern Appalachian Brook Trout. I’ve never met a fly angler that enjoys bushwhacking through walls of thick impenetrable rhododendrons more than Dan. Randomly pick any thin line of blue on a Delorme’s Georgia or North Carolina topography map and chances are, Dan’s thoroughly explored the high elevation tributary.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Hatches Realistic Ant and Early Season on Depuy’s Creek
This weeks Saturday shoutout goes to Hatches for a great step by step tutorial on a super realistic foam ant and Fly Anglers Online for a great article about early season trout tactics for Depuy’s Spring Creek in MT.
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