The New Bruce Chard Grand Slam Fly Line From Scientific Angler’s

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I’ve been a fan of Bruce Chard’s saltwater fly line designs for years. And why not? I don’t know anyone who understands the dynamics of fly casting or the art of presenting a fly on the flats better than Bruce. I guess if you guide the Florida Keys over three hundred days a year, for twenty years, you learn a thing or two.
I fished Bruce’s lines when they were made by Jim Teeny and I loved them. When Bruce teamed up with Scientific Angler he told me it would take the lines to a whole new level. That was no overstatement. SA’s materials and technology have really made the Grand Slam line sing.

The Grand Slam is the best saltwater line I’ve ever fished. That didn’t surprise me. What was a pleasant surprise was that it lived up to its marketing materials. This line actually does everything it promises and you don’t often find that these days. There is a lot going on in the design of this line. I’ll try to explain how some of the design features work and why they are important.

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Don’t Keep Staring in One Place if You’re Seeing Nada

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By Kent Klewein

My recent trip to the Bahamas, fly fishing for bonefish I got a chance to work out a bunch of kinks in my flats fishing.

From the help of my buddies, the helpful staff on hand and the fantastic bahamian guides, I eventually got to the point where I could respectfully hold my own on the flats. Despite me being in paradise there were a few times during the trip when I found myself hanging my head. The first problem I had was letting my mind get in the way of my fishing. That was to be expected though, since I’m most comfortable on the cold water streams and rivers, and it had been several years since I’d last chased the grey ghost on the flats. When I trout fish, I don’t have to think about my casts much these days and my confidence is through the roof. This is because I do it day in and day out. Take me to saltwater though, where I only make a few trips a year, and my confidence drops and the first couple days I find myself constantly battling my inner thoughts and nerves. I’m sure many of you out there no where I’m coming from. Anytime you’re lacking confidence and dealing with nerves you’re going to fish at half your potential. And there’s no place this holds true more than standing on the bow of a skiff on the saltwater flats. Lesson learned, if you want to fish more effectively and maximize your success when fishing locations that aren’t your norm, you have to stay relaxed, keep your confidence no matter what, and learn to let the bad casts roll off your back.

My next problem I had during the trip, and the point for writing this post, was learning how to quickly spot the bonefish my guide was calling out to me. I missed countless shots during the week because

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Sunday Classic / Gift for the Fly Tying Enthusiast

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I’m always looking for ways to make my fly tying more efficient so I can whip out a few more flies when I sit down at the tying bench. Sometimes the best ideas come from my friends and family who don’t even fly fish. I was completely surprised these holidays when my wonderful Mother-in-law handed me this magnetic parts tray to open up Christmas morning. What a brilliant idea on her part to find a way to help me keep track of my terminal tying materials and finished flies. God knows I spend a fair amount of time on my hands and knees searching for items that have fallen off my tying bench. No more will I have to deal with dropped hooks, beads and other materials on the floor when I’m tying flies. For any fly shop owners out there that happen to see this, I recommend you pick some of these guys up at your local Auto Zone and stack them next to the cash register. Keep it Reel, Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com   Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!  

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Saturday Shoutout / Block Ties Flies, Deeter Talks Bonefishing

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This weeks Saturday shoutout I grace you with two quick reads. Erin Block stimulates our brains about the rewards of fly tying and Kirk Deeter shares three bonefishing tips that his recent guide in the bahamas taught him that’s guaranteed to help you find success. Have a great weekend and thanks for tuning into Gink & Gasoline.

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5 Reasons I Dig My Flux Waist Pack

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Most of you already know I’m a big waist pack gear head. All waist packs aren’t created equal though. For a waist pack to cut it with me its got to perform well in many areas of functionality on the water. I recently purchased the William & Joseph Flux waist pack for my guiding and personal fly fishing and I’ve fallen in love with it. Below are five reasons why I dig my Flux waist pack by William & Joseph and why you should take the time to check it out for yourself.

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Sunday Classic / Strip Set, Dammit!

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Quite likely the most frustrating thing for an angler who is new to salt water is the strip set. A dedicated freshwater angler will have thousands of hours of muscle memory to overcome. I did it myself time after time. I’d see a fish eat and my arm, without permission from my brain, would raise the rod tip and off would swim a happy bonefish. Then I would hear my friend Josie Sands, from the platform, “da ain’t no trout in the Bahamas Louis”. To be fair, as frustrating as this is for the angler it may be worse on the guide. He has to deal with this almost every day.

I wish I had a silver bullet to offer that would solve this problem for you instantly, but I don’t. It just takes focus and practice. However here are a few suggestions that may help. First, don’t

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Saturday Shoutout / Dr King Goes Bonefishing

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I’M SURE THAT WHEN THE FOLKS AT DENEKI OUTDOORS ASK FOR THEIR READERS BONEFISHING STORIES THEY NEVER EXPECTED THIS WONDERFUL RESPONSE.

The author, identified as Brenda, tells a story so touching I choked up when I read it. No surprise, Dr King is a personal hero of mine. I had no idea there was any connection at all between he and the bonefish I love.

Here’s a teaser.

Ansil stood in the bow of his boat resting his chin on his oar. Then, with one arm, he gestured to the sky, the water, and the mangroves. “Dr. King asked me what I told people who came here and still doubted the existence of God. I told him I didn’t have an answer for him then, but I would when he returned to Bimini.”

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Winner of the Photo Caption Contest

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Just wanted to thank everyone who participated in the photo caption contest this past week. It was really tough picking a winner with all the great entries, but after a cold beer, I picked the entry that had louis and I laughing our butts off in the airport weighting to catch our flight back from the Bahamas.

The winner is……

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Choosing a line for your switch rod Part one: Understanding lines and line tapers

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SO YOU BOUGHT A SWITCH ROD…NOW WHAT?

The idea behind the switch rod is simple. What if you could have the best of both worlds? What if you were nymphing under an indicator but you had the length of a Spey rod to highstick? What if you could cast a dry fly eighty feet without a backcast? What if you could swing flies on a skagit head and sink tip in the morning and dead drift dries in the afternoon without going back to the truck for another rod? Is that a world you’d like to fish in?

Switch rods are a wonderful and versatile tool for fly anglers but they can be as vexing as versatile. In fact, it is their versatility that makes them so confusing. There are about a dozen ways you can set up and fish that new switch rod. They range from nymphing for trout to swinging for steelhead and even casting in the surf for stripers. How your rod will fish starts with the line you choose and it all adds up to make selecting a line for your switch rod the most confusing choice in fly fishing.

I know a lot of guys come to the switch rod from a single-hand casting background. They hear all the talk about two-handed casting and get to feel like they are missing something. The switch rod offers the option of single-hand performance and seems like a friendly way into the world of two-handed casting. The trouble is that lots of those guys never get comfortable putting their left hand on the rod, usually because

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Sunday’s Classic / The Fish That Took Three Anglers to Land

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I’ll never forget the epic battle that took place between three anglers and a trophy salmonid one freezing December morning in 2010. I was having the time of my life on a steelhead fishing trip with my great friends Louis Cahill and Murphy Kane. We had made the long drive up from Georgia to chase after Great Lake steelhead for a week. Many of the rivers that feed into the Great Lakes hold huge numbers of salmon, steelhead and brown trout. Unfortunately those large concentrations of fish also attract every fishermen within a 100 plus square mile radius. We all agreed we couldn’t handle putting up with shoulder to shoulder fishing conditions, so we came up with a strategic plan to avoid it at all costs. Our strategy was simple, watch the extended weather forecast, and try to plan our trip around the nastiest weather we could find. This way, angler traffic would be at its lowest and we’d hopefully have plenty of water to ourselves.

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