Saturday Shoutout / Off Topic Journeys
I’ve been threatening for a some time to do an off topic shout out. The truth is that I’m into things other than fishing and I’m betting you are to. With that in mind here are three cool things that folk I know are up too. I hope you think they’re cool too. Photography: Christy Perry Photographs the Air I met Christy years ago when I was teaching at the Creative Circus. I sat in on Christy’s first quarter panel review. What I saw in that panel review was a spark of unmistakable genius. Her photos have an ethereal quality that lifts the soul. Christy just returned from an extended trip around the world. She chronicled the experience on her blog. I’d encourage you to scroll back and see the world through her eyes. click here Music: Walk That Dog My good friend Jenn Carr recently took up the electric bass. She decided to share that journey on her blog, Walk That Dog. The title is musical but I’ll let you read her site to discover what it means. That’s totally in the spirit of what Jenn is up to. She’s discovering what music and the making of it mean to all of us. Here are a few of my favorite posts. The Good Sister Let Your Fingers Dance on the Strings Down in the Flood Nature: Manatee fun! My wife and I just took a short vacation in Florida. As part of the vacation rules I took neither a fly rod or a camera. Kathy is my little nature girl. She loves the outdoors and every living creature in it. She found an awesome captain in Crystal River who does private manatee tours. It was amazing! These wonderful wild creatures showed no fear. They swam right up in our … Continue reading
Read More »The Fishpond Westwater Collection
Fishpond really stepped it up this year. Their new Westwater collection is best gear I’ve seen from them in years. The boat bag has a serious zipper on it and the travel duffle is incredibly light. A hefty sling pack and waste pack all in super light water proof fabric. The whole set has a nice look and feel. Here’s Kara Armano to show it off for you. Come fish with us in the Bahamas! Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Read More »30 Days in True Flies Clothing
Those of you that have seen me in photos have probably noticed I wear pretty much the same gear in every picture. The reason for that is when I find a product I love, I stick with it, with steadfast loyalty. No, it’s not 100% of the time, I do like to experiment and test new products in the market from time to time, but it’s most of the time, and that’s what counts, right? A little over a month ago, I got my hands on a True Flies Turtle Bay Polo, short-sleeve shirt. I had noticed the True Flies brand in the past, but didn’t pay much attention to the new clothing company. My first thought actually when I ran across the True Flies brand was, “Man do they have the odds stacked up against them in the fishing apparel business. There’s so much competition”. Boy was I completely off base when I made that assumption. I now stand corrected. Once I actually slapped one of their shirts on my back and I felt the aura of instant bliss rush over my body, I realized True Flies clothing was very special. I know it sounds cheesy, but that’s the honest to god truth. You know that ten year old t-shirt you own that you’ve insisted on keeping around the house since your college days? It’s the one your wife keeps threatening to throw away because it’s faded and has random holes throughout. You refuse to retire it because it’s the most comfortable shirt you own and you wish you had a dozen more like it, right?. That’s the best analogy I can provide you to describe how that True Flies shirt felt on my skin for the first time…, smooth as butter and damn near weightless. Things could only … Continue reading
Read More »The Scott F2 Blows My Skirt Up…Again!
I fell in love with this little fiberglass beauty on the casting pond at the IFDT show in New Orleans in 2011. Jim Bartschi, president of Scott Fly Rods, saw me throwing long graceful loops with the F2 7′ 3 weight and came over to correct my form. “This thing is awesome!” I told him. “Thanks,” he replied. “Let me show you what it’s made for.” Jim knelt down at the edge of the casting pond and showed me how the F2 will form a loop casting only the leader. “This baby is designed for a stealthy presentation on small water, where a twelve inch fish is a trophy.” He showed me the wrap twelve inches from the butt of the rod. I was hooked. It took a while to put an F2 in my collection but I did and I fished it for the first time yesterday. I thought I loved this rod, but I had no idea how much. Casting it at the casting pond was fun but fishing it was bliss. I fished with my good friend Dan Flynn. On the second run we fished, he asked if he could cast it. He never cast his rod again. We shared the F2 for the rest of the day. The action of this little rod is like butter. It drops a dry fly with the delicacy of bamboo and is as accurate as a Seal team sniper. It’s quite possibly the best roll casting rod I’ve ever fished but the real treat comes when the fish is on. The F2 bends to the cork. I know Jim made this rod for a twelve inch fish and we caught those too but my first fish on the F2 3wt was eighteen inches and it was a party. Dan landed … Continue reading
Read More »Don’t Be a Sleep at the Wheel When Fishing Egg Patterns
Egg patterns are a staple in my fly fishing and guiding.
Stocked trout are suckers for them, but even wild trout will gladly snack on them if you correctly put it in front of them most of the year. Several different egg imitations and sizes are available for fly anglers to fish with. Y2K’s, glow bugs, sucker spawn and nuke eggs are just a few of the variations out there. I’m all for using these effective egg patterns on the water, but there’s one very important thing fly fisherman need to understand about fishing egg patterns, and it needs to be respected. When trout eat egg patterns, they usually do so with total abandonment, and if you’re not quick to set the hook, you’ll find trout will end up getting hooked deep in their throat or gills a high percentage of the time.
I’ve noticed this a lot over the years with the clients I guide. They’ll be asleep at the wheel during their drift, and the strike indicator will bounce three or four times, and then take off before they finally get around to setting the hook. If you’re going to fish egg patterns, do the fish a favor and be ready to set the hook at the first sign of a bite, no matter how subtle it is. This will greatly cut down on your egg patterns being swallowed by the fish in the process, and you’ll be practicing respectful catch and release. If you aren’t willing to take this approach, keep your egg patterns stowed away in your fly box.
Some of you may be saying, “wait a minute Kent, it’s reasonable to think the same thing could happen with other fly patterns if you wait too long to set the hook, right?” Yes, but I’ve found the frequency of it happening is far less than when you’re fishing egg patterns. Just the other day on the water, I put this very argument to the test. My client had a banner day. We landed a great number of fish, of which, many came on our nuke egg dropper. My client was doing a brilliant job of making good presentations and fighting the fish, but he was regularly setting the hook too slow. The delayed hook sets contributed to multiple eggs being swallowed and/or hooked deep in the throat by the trout. I had no choice but to snip the flies off, or risk injuring the trout further trying to remove the fly. After a while, I decided to stop fishing the egg patterns all together, and informed my client it wasn’t anything personal, but the slow hook sets were causing us to harm the fish, and since we respected the trout so much, we needed to stow them away for the remainder of the day. My client agreed 100%. He had already landed plenty of fish, and he admitted it was a serious problem we needed to eliminate. So I took off the egg dropper, tied on a soft-hackle and we continued fishing. Bites came, slow hook sets remained, but every fish we landed in the net had the soft-hackle lodged directly in the corner of the trout’s mouth, not in the throat. If this isn’t strong
Read More »Sunday’s Classic / Getting Better Shots of Your Trophies
Way back before we had digital cameras, I can remember how excited I would be racing to the closest One-Hour Photo store to get my film developed. The anticipation of waiting to review my big fish photos was almost as fun for me as catching the trophy. I wish I could say all those developed photos came out perfect but that’s far from the truth. Some came out great but the majority were blurry, had my head cut off, or I was holding the fish like a rookie. Nowadays we have the luxury of instant feedback with digital cameras, so we don’t have any excuse to not get good photo when the fish cooperates. Below are four tips for capturing better photographs of your trophies with examples of the right and wrong way to hold your fish. Keep in mind there is a learning curve for handling big fish. The more you do it the better you get. 1. Hold the fish with the tips of your fingers not your palms 2. Hold the fish level, making sure the head and tail of the fish are on the same plane 3. Keep the back of the fish perpendicular to the water 4. Cradle the fish behind its pectoral fins Above are four of the most common mistakes I see anglers making when they’re trying to get a good photograph of their trophy. Take your time, always handle your fish gently and humanely, and don’t be afraid to look down to make sure your holding the fish correctly. If you do this you’ll find the majority of your photos will turn out great. Come fish with us in the Bahamas! Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our … Continue reading
Read More »Saturday’s Shoutout / Weekend Fly Fishing Reads
This week’s Saturday shoutout I put a together a short list of fly fishing reads for you all to check out this weekend. I found them all to be good reads. Whether you fish or not this weekend, we hope it’s relaxing for you. Thanks for visiting Gink & Gasoline. Fall Trout Fishing Secrets by Tom Rosenbauer – brought to you by Orvis Torrie Bevans surprising presentation tip for Big Bonefish – brought to you by Deneki Outdoors Gary Borger talks about fly fishing strategies for Pools – brought to you by MidCurrent Mike Lawson provides tips for the Henry’s Fork – brought to you by Rio Products Keep it Reel, Come fish with us in the Bahamas! Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Read More »The Vedavoo Tight Lines Sling Pack
The Vedavoo Tight Lines Sling Pack is one of the most innovative products I’ve seen in a long time. Scott Hunter’s innovative design redefines the fishing pack. This ultra light weight and totally un-cumbersome pack lets you carry the gear you need with the freedom you want. It’s comfortable, durable and there is absolutely noting to catch your line while fishing. It’s totally efficient and totally brilliant. Scott shows you how it works in this video Come fish with us in the Bahamas! Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Read More »Sunday Classic / Fish Boy Is Sorry
A quick heads up, this story contains some adult language and ideas. I was fishing a little mountain lake with my buddy Dan when he told me, “the last time I fished this place I was on a date”. “Why the hell did you bring a date up here”, I asked. “Well”, he said, “things were getting kind of serious and I thought I should show her what she was signing up for”. “So you took her fishing”? I laughed, “you should have locked her in your apartment and disappeared for three days, then showed back up stinking and drunk, that’s what she’s signing up for”! Fly fishing has developed it’s own culture and it’s own code of misconduct. It reorients priorities and skews a person’s perspective of what “normal people” will tolerate. For some guys it’s like Mardi Gras. A fishing trip is an excuse to blow off the steam they build up at work or home and then they’re back to normal. For others it becomes a life style choice. For some an occupation. Living with a fisherman has got to be tough. I know my wife puts up with a lot from me and, to her credit, does it cheerfully. However, if you talk to any hard core angler it’s not uncommon to find a long list of ex-wives and girlfriends who just couldn’t, or wouldn’t take it anymore. Fishing, like any other addiction, complicates relationships. Many of my best friends have made big life decisions base purely on fishing. Uprooted their families and moved across country without jobs or left their families alone for months at a time to guide in some far flung location. I have a friend who commutes over fifteen-hundred miles between his family and the water he guides year round. I know … Continue reading
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / S.C.O.F. And Bonefishing
The new issue of Southern Culture on the Fly is out and it’s hotter than a deep fried Twinkie! There’s redfish, carp, bass and Kent’s thoughts on streamer fishing. Check it out! Here are two great opportunities for those of you who need a bonefish fix. Kara Armono and Bruce Chard are hosting (as far as I know) the first ever all women’s bonefish school. That’s right, it’s Ladies night in the Bahamas. What a cool opportunity. (get the scoop) Of course, there’s the Gink and Gasoline Andros South trip coming up January 26th -Feb 2nd. (Learn more) Kent and I are committed to making this the coolest trip ever. We are going to do a bonefish 101 for anyone who feels they need it as well as fly tying and I will be doing a photography workshop and helping you get the most out of you camera all week. It’ll be a small group so tell us what you want and we’ll make it happen. Oh, and you’ll enjoy the best bonefishing anywhere! Don’t miss it, sign up now! (click here to get in on the action) Come fish with us in the Bahamas! Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Read More »