Photo Caption Contest, It’s that time again

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I wasn’t planning on doing another caption contest for at least another month, but when you get the perfect photo, you just have to say, “What the Hell”. For a little background information on this photo, it took place on the South Holston River in East. Tennessee last month. Fishing was surreal during the morning hours, but it got really ugly once the sun got high, so ugly in fact, Louis even turned to the bottle. Knowing that the only sure thing was for us all to catch a good buzz, we unanimously put down our fly rods and turned up our drinks. Give us your best caption for this photo….. and if yours is picked…. I’ll be mailing you a Redington Delta 5/6 Reel brand new in the box. Retails for $199.95.  Contest entries closes midnight on Sunday, July 1, 2012. One entry per person. Keep it Reel, Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com   Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!  

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Sunday’s Classic / Peacock Bass in the Amazon Part 2

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Packing for Success in the Amazon Preparing and packing the right gear prior to your departure to the Amazon is crucial for your overall trip enjoyment and fishing success. Following these gear recommendations, fishing tips, and general amazon facts, will ensure that you’ll be ready to tackle the monster peacock bass you’ll encounter as well as the hot tropical climate. One important factor that rookie amazon anglers often fail to realize is water levels on the rivers and tributaries of the Amazon River can make or break your trip. Sometimes conditions will be perfect a week or two before your departure, and a couple days before your scheduled to leave, you’ll receive an updated water level report informing you that conditions have deteriorated. It’s just part of the game. It comes with fishing a river that provides us with 1/5 the worlds freshwater supply. Talk to any veteran peacock bass angler and they’ll quickly tell you how big a role water levels play in the fishing and how helpless you are at controlling them. Despite there being both wet and dry fishing seasons in the Amazon, sometimes the seasons end up being the opposite of what they should be for the time of the year. Your best bet for coping with this uncertainty is booking your trip with the right Amazon outfitter or lodge. The, fly fishing only, Agua Boa Lodge, located in Brazil, is best suited for coping with both high and low water levels because of its specialized equipment, exclusive location, and the diversified fishing operations. Water Levels are Important in the Amazon If water levels are too high, peacock bass often will move back into the flooded jungle shorelines making them difficult to coax out or present a fly to. On the flip side of the coin, … Continue reading

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Saturday’s Shoutout / FlyTyingClips.com

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This weeks Saturday shoutout goes to Herman DeGala’s fly tying website that features an innovative 360 degree virtual views of his featured fly patterns. www.flytyingclips.com This uniquely designed flash based fly tying website is the first I’ve found of its kind. Catered towards intermediate level and above fly tiers, Herman has featured 48 of the top fly tiers in the industry, showcasing many of their favorite fly patterns. I haven’t sat down and counted the exact number of archived fly patterns, but I’m pretty sure there’s at least 350+ fly patterns to view with recipes. Enjoy, all you fly tying junkies out there. This is on my bookmarked list and I’ll be adding a few new patterns to my fly boxes. Keep it Reel, Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com   Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!  

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Fly Fishing The Immaculate Sunset

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Joel Dickey takes the last cast of the day. In case the amazing tarpon, permit and bone fishing isn’t enough reason to get down to the Florida Keys!   Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com   Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!  

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Sunday Classic / Why Thomas & Thomas Might Succeed, Really This Time.

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I should start by saying that Thomas & Thomas is a client of mine. In fact they were one of the first companies to use my photography. That said, like many anglers, within a year or two I was cursing the name Thomas and Thomas. There was a point when I wouldn’t take their phone calls. It was a rocky relationship to say the least. So don’t think I’m blowing sunshine up anybody’s skirt when I say I truly believe things might be turning around. If your not up to speed on the story, there was a time when T&T changed owners and the investor who bought the company, as well as the outgoing management, made a complete cluster fuck of the place. Rods weren’t delivered, repairs weren’t made, a lot of people were pissed off. I have friends who will tell you that T&T rods are the best made and that they will never own another. Things looked pretty dark up there. Not an easy turn around. So what makes me think they can pull it off? At the IFTD show in New Orleans I had the chance to meet with Mark Richens the new owner of T&T. We had lunch and this is what I came away with. T&T is in great hands. Firstly, you don’t have to talk with Mark for long to know that he’s a serious fisherman. He knows the sport and the people who love it. Secondly, he’s a smart guy with a head for business. He has a plan and a vision for the company and he realizes he has a hell of a job ahead of him. Thirdly, my gut feeling is that this guy is a pit bull. I don’t see him walking away from a fight, ever. Not the kind … Continue reading

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Saturday Shoutout / Colorado Fly Fishing Reports

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If I were to make a list of the fly fishers I don’t like, it would be a pretty short list. While in Colorado recently I met and fished with Jay Zimmerman. He is one fishy dude and a great guy. Jay and I have been Facebook friends for a while, it’s awfully nice to be able to call him an actual friend now. A veteran Colorado fly guide, Jay puts his encyclopedic knowledge of the Front Range to work for you on his blog Colorado Fly Fishing Reports. There are fishing reports, for sure, but also stories, photography and fishing tips for everything from carp to pike and of course, trout. If you’re headed to Colorado, or are lucky enough to live there, this is a site you need to bookmark. Let Jay show you some good water.   Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com   Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!  

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Sealing The Deal, Landing Bonefish

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It’s time to seal the deal on that trophy bonefish.

Now that we’ve covered a few of the fundamentals of bone fishing it’s time to seal the deal. Landing saltwater fish is a little different from landing a trout. For one thing saltwater guides don’t carry nets. Try to net a tarpon some time and you’ll see why. When bonefishing the angler is usually expected to land the fish himself. The guide will be busy looking for the next fish.

It’s not difficult to land a bonefish but doing it wrong often ends in a broken rod. Even a small bone is a powerful fish and he’s going to freak out when you try to land him. If you put too much pressure on the rod tip it’ll snap. It’s called high sticking and unlike the high sticking trout anglers do when nymphing, it’s a bad idea.

The trick is to keep enough line out of the rod tip that you can reach your leader without forcing the tip to bend hard. In this video our buddy Bruce Chard shows you how to do it right.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

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Foam is Home

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There’s no reason to write a novel about today’s fly fishing tips & technique post. It’s a good idea for all trout fishermen to get in the habit of always locating the highest concentrations of foam before fishing a stretch of water. In simple terms, foam lines and bubbles tell anglers where the current is moving, and where the food is collecting and floating down the river. You’ll always find fish where the most food is drifting down the river, and more times than not, that’s where you’ll want to be drifting your flies. I’m very religious about locating where the highest concentrations of foam are drifting before I make my first presentation. When my eyes spot the highest density of white bubbles, I wisper the words, “Foam is Home”, and present my fly with confidence. Give this tip a try next time you’re out trout fishing. Keep it Reel, Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com   Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!  

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Angler Access, Montana’s bold New Precedent

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How Will the PPL Montana v. Montana Case Affect Access Going Forward? An article by Benjamin Clary In the past few years, Montanans have become gun-shy about large, private landowners and rightfully so after battles against the likes of Huey Lewis and James Cox Kennedy. So as whispers of a case concerning the ownership of the riverbeds of parts of the Missouri, the Clark Fork and the Madison rivers began to emerge, citizens began to take notice. Eventually, in 2010 the Montana Supreme Court seemed to put an end to the conflict when, in a decision celebrated by anglers and river access advocates alike, the Court decided that the riverbeds below various dams on the three rivers were owned by the State, not by the other party – a power company named PPL Montana. However, legal experts were wary that the Montana Supreme Court had overstepped its bounds specifically in its definition of navigability – the issue that ultimately determines ownership. It was therefore not much of a surprise when the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear PPL Montana’s appeal. All of the sudden the battle, rather than being a Montana one, became a national issue and the stakes were high. Because the federal definition of navigability affects access in most states (some more than others), it immediately attracted attention from all interest groups advocating river access for recreation purposes including fly fishermen. Unfortunately, even though the Court had the opportunity to expand the definition of navigability, it overturned the Montana Supreme Court and at the same time restricted the federal definition of navigability. Below is a brief analysis on the decision’s effect on river access. It should be fairly evident that this is merely a review of the events and not a complete summary of the current law. … Continue reading

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Women Fly Fishers Have the Potential to Dig The Industry Out of the Red

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Who says the sport fly fishing is shrinking? Ok, maybe as a whole it is, but the last couple of years, women fly fishers have been on a steady rise, and just about everyone seems to be taking notice of the phenomenon. The past eleven years, I spent very little time on the water guiding female anglers. On occasion, I’d book a husband and wife trip, but the brunt of my guiding in the sport was male dominated. The past year and a half though, I’ve noticed a substantial shift in my client demographics, with women increasingly making up more of the pie. I’m guiding many more married couples and I’m even booking quite a few trips from solo female’s, who are taking the initiative to go out and learn how to fly fish on their own. Noticing this change in my day to day guide business, I couldn’t help to think, this could be our golden ticket to turning around the shrinking industry, and finally have a good chance at putting fly fishing back in the green (growing sport). Intrigued by what I was seeing in my guide service alone, I took the time to make a couple phone calls and contacted my local women’s fly fishing club (Georgia Women FlyFishing), as well as, Kara Armano, a key female fly fisher who’s employed at Backbone Media, a public relations media company, focusing on driving awareness of brands and new products in outdoor industries. Kara said, “I’ve been heading many woman fly fishing clinics lately with great success, and each clinic I do is more popular than the last.” Deb Bowen, from Georgia Women Fly Fishing and a FFF Certified Casting Instructor said, “Our numbers have more than doubled this year alone, and we’re continuing to get new memberships weekly.” Thank you ladies … Continue reading

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