Casting Distance Does Play A Factor In Success
Saltwater fly fishing often calls for long accurate casts for the chance of success, and quite often it holds just as true on your favorite trout streams. Of the countless hours I’ve spent guiding my trout clients the past ten years, I’ve witnessed over and over again, how important just a couple more feet of distance can be in getting a trout to eat. You just can’t always approach a hole and make a routine short cast. Often no matter how stealthy you are, you’ll spook the fish if you try getting closer. Occasionally, obstacles such as low hanging trees can make it impossible to get the proper casting angle unless your standing farther away. Other times you may run into a situation where different current speeds between you and your target require a longer cast to get an adequate drag free drift. That’s why it’s so important for fly anglers to get comfortable making above average casts. I’m not saying you have to be able to bomb out eighty feet of line, or that you’ll have to make super long casts all the time either. I’m just saying, there are times when you won’t be fishing that angler friendly pocket water that just calls for short roll casts and quick high-stick drifts. You need to be prepared to make longer casts when the need arises. Believe it or not, quite often trout will follow your flies down stream a good ways before deciding to eat. If your fly gets too close to you the trout will often see you and won’t eat. Making a longer presentation will provide that buffer zone for the trout to inspect and eat without seeing you. Remember that trout don’t have eyes in the back of their head as well. If you don’t get … Continue reading
Read More »3 Things I Learned By Not Catching A Permit
I AM NOT A MASTER PERMIT FISHERMAN. I THINK THAT’S EXACTLY THE THING I ENJOY ABOUT IT.
I like the challenge and if you’re looking for a challenge, permit have one for you. While I don’t consider myself an expert on the subject, I am learning and that puts me in a great position to share what I learn. Even if I am learning from my mistakes.
I had a great shot at a permit the other day and I totally screwed it up. Here’s what happened.
I was fishing with friends Joel Dickey and Rob Kramarz, both experienced flats guides. I was on the bow and we were fishing the early part of a falling tide. At twelve o’clock to the boat there was a cut in a small key and we anticipated that permit might be coming out with the tide.
As we poled slowly toward the mouth of the cut, I caught movement in my peripheral vision and turned to find a fish coming straight for the boat at two o’clock. It was an odd looking fish. Too light in color to be a permit and too dark to be a bonefish. As I struggled to identify it, the fish
Read More »Focus and Determination Make It Happen
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU STARTED YOUR DAY WITH A KICK IN THE NUTS?
That’s exactly what happened to Mike Pyle the other day. For those of you who haven’t been following, I’ll give you a little background. Mike Pyle is a professional UFC fighter, fly fishing ninja and founder of Fish On Energy. G&G recently became one of his sponsors and it’s been really exciting being part of the team.
Mike had a tough fight on the card. Squaring off against a challenger eleven years younger than himself. I was fired up when I turned on Fox Sports and saw Mike with the flaming fish hook on his shorts. Mike’s technical fighting style was serving him well when, early in the first round, he took a knee in the groin. His young opponent was unbelievably strong and a good wrestler. It was clear that Mike had his work cut out for him.
Mike took a beating for most of that fight. It was only his skill and technique that kept him in the game. In spite of physical pain and a powerful opponent, he stayed focused and determined and in the last round turned the tables. The young challenger lost focus for an instant and Mike was there with the presence of mind to take advantage of it. Mike got him in a submission hold and almost ended the fight there.
In the end, his opponent broke the hold and won by a narrow decision. Regardless, I was impressed by Mike’s performance and proud to have my logo on his shorts. What’s more, I think he fought like an angler and there’s a lesson there for all of us.
The day after the fight I was telling Mike about a tarpon trip I went on recently. It felt a lot like that fight. Like a kick in the nuts in fact. Six of us went to fish Bocca Grande and found some of the most frustrating tarpon fishing I’ve ever encountered. We saw hundreds of fish but none that would eat.
The conditions were challenging. Very windy and, as we were fishing on the beach in heavy swells, it was a lot like bull riding. Waves crashing, some times knee high, over the bow. Time after time, I fought the wind and waves to made textbook presentations, only to see them refused. These fish were lock jawed and I couldn’t buy an eat.
After three days of that, it’s easy to lose your focus. To give up. To expect every fish not to eat. The funny thing about fly fishing, and a fight for that matter, is you tend to get what you expect. If you embrace the futility of the situation, your confidence is gone and it starts to show. It shows in sloppy presentations, half-hearted retrieve and lack of focus. I can tell you this from experience. If you don’t believe it’s going to happen, it isn’t.
You have to know there is a fish out there for you. You have to believe that every fish you see could be that fish. Every time you cast, you have to believe it’s going to happen. If you don’t believe in it, the fish damned sure will not.
Near the end of day three
Read More »Spey Casting With The Non-Dominant Hand on Top
By Jeff Hickman
SOMETIMES YOU LEARN SOMETHING VALUABLE COMPLEETLY BY ACCIDENT.
Last Summer I was on the phone with a good friend and regular client catching up. He was bummed to not be able to fish during his favorite Fall season due to a major shoulder surgery he had on his dominant right shoulder a few months previous. Extensive physical therapy was helping but he still had a lot of pain and his doctor suggested he hold off on fishing for several more months. Being the steelhead addict that he is, I knew that taking the season off would not be good for his mental health. So I told him to come out for a three day Deschutes camp trip and I would teach him to cast left handed which would give his right shoulder a much easier job.
He, like many guys that I fish with, had learned to Spey cast back in the days of the 14ft 9weight and Windcutter with unnecessary cheaters. This era of Spey fishing engrained many with a fast, erratic and borderline violent muscle memory. He had always struggled to sweep and cast slow enough for the modern short Scandinavian and Skagit heads to work properly. With his right hand on top, his fly needed frequent removal from the bushes behind him despite my nearly constant pleas for him to slow down.
So when he showed up for his trip he remained skeptical that he could learn to fish left handed or effectively fish without hurting his shoulder. But I made it very clear that he was to only fish left handed and he was not allowed to risk further injury by putting his right hand on top while casting. For backup, I claimed that his doctor had called me to make sure of this.
With no muscle memory with his left hand on top, I started my instruction from the ground up, walking him through the most important casting steps
Read More »Save Your Fingers Fly Fishing – Use Lycra Finger Sleeves
Today’s the day for a big fish.
It’s perfect streamer fishing conditions with overcast skies and there’s been lots of aggressive fish. I’m pounding the banks with my favorite streamer for thirty minutes when I notice the grit on my fly line is starting to agitate my fingers. The fly line feels like it’s coated in fine sandpaper from the silt and grit it’s picking up from the floorboard of the drift boat. I tough it out for another half hour, telling myself, be a man dude, but every fast paced jerk-strip retrieve has my fingers getting beat up even more. The fact that I’ve yet to land a fish only magnifies my discomfort. I’m willing to put up with the sore fingers if there’s a reward every once in a while but that’s not happening today, and I’m seriously considering yelling uncle and manning the oars.
Then there was my last saltwater fly fishing trip where I had botched two strip sets on tarpon back to back failing to get satisfactory hook penetration. My guide and partner both sighed in total disappointment, as I missed two perfect fish opportunities. I asked for forgiveness and promised them that my next eat would end in a perfect execution. An hour later my shot arrives. I present my fly, initiate my long slow strips, and my line comes tight as a big tarpon eats and turns away. I set the hook hard and hold on tight to my fly line. The hook buries but as the tarpon realizes it’s hooked, it screams off into the distance at full speed and rakes the fly line across my bare skin fingers. Instantly, I know I’m going to pay for holding onto the fly line too long, but I land the silverking beast, and it’s all worth it. After the victory cry, high fives, and adrenaline rush wears off, the throbbing sensation of chard fly line fingers begins. That’s when I silently ask myself the question, why didn’t you consider wearing finger protection dumbass?
Have you been in this situation before on the water? I’m thankful to admit it happens to me only on rare occasions these days. After scouring the web looking for a solution and talking with other fly anglers, I’m glad to inform everyone, I’ve found the perfect product that significantly eliminates finger chaffing. Ever heard of the fabric material Lycra? It’s basically a tight woven stretchy spandex material that can be sewn into finger sleeves that you can slide on and off with ease. They provide fantastic
Read More »Get Rid of Those Pesky Snags!
By Justin Pickett
IT’S JUST AFTER SUNRISE AND YOU’VE RUN FIFTEEN MINUTES.
From the boat ramp to the spot where you had previously gathered intel on where the stripers had been slamming schools of bait. There’s a short window though, so you’ve hurried to make sure you’re there when it all goes down. If you miss your shot, then it’s back to the truck with nothing to show for your morning’s efforts.
Your rods are strung up. Flies tied on. Knots checked. Drags are set.
As you work around a point and into one of the fingers of the lake you see the surface boiling. Stripers are crashing on bait with reckless abandon. As you reach the school you jump on the deck and grab your rod, stripping the line from your reel like a crazed lunatic. You make two false casts, slipping line each time, and on the third forward stroke you complete an epic double-haul. An awesomely tight loop speeds past you with your leader and fly in tow…. And then comes to a screeching halt and smacks down in the water, forty feet short of the feeding frenzy. Doh! (Raise dominant hand and accelerate palm towards forehead).
Those damn fly line trolls!
They like to gather up all of your loose fly line while you’re not looking and wrap it around things like coolers, seats, trolling motors, pliers, cleats, bags, straps, beer cans, puppies, etc, etc, etc. They have no mercy!!!
This has probably happened to every one of us in varying scenarios, and if for some reason it hasn’t happened to you, don’t worry, it will. Fly line has the uncanny ability to find things to get itself tangled up in. And believe me it will happen in a most critical moment if you’re not prepared to prevent it from happening.
Whether you are
Read More »Three Tips for Casting in the Wind
By Bruce Chard
WHEN YOU’RE FLY FISHING IN SALTWATER THERE IS ALMOST ALWAYS WIND.
Saltwater fly fishing demands your A-game. Your presentations have to be spot on and when the wind is howling, it will test your angling mettle. If you’re new to the game, it’s intimidating but having and practicing the right skills can give you the confidence you need to deliver.
Here are three tips that will help you tame the wind
Make tight loops
Having the ability to form tight loops while casting in the salt will help in many ways.
Tight Loops help:
•Control line in the air for better accuracy
•Increase line speed
•Reduce slack in the line during casting and presentation
•Increase distance
•Fight the wind
•Lay your leader and fly out straight with no slack
Whether you are wading or in the skiff, a tight loop is vital to success in the salt. To form a tight loop you need to do the following:
•Keep your rod tip traveling
Read More »Tie The White Marabou Streamer
MY GOOD FRIEND DAN FLYNN GREW UP IN MAINE CHASING THE GIANT BROOK TROUT IN THE RANGELEY LAKES REGION.
These days you can find him high in the headwaters of the Southern Appalachians after the local brookies or tied into a big wild brown downstream. The geography may have changed but there is still a lot of Maine in his tying.
Dan ties and fishes several old school Maine flies with great success here in the Southeast. One of my favorites is this classic White Marabou Streamer. This fly is a stream vacuum anywhere you fish it. Check out the video and tie a few up. I promise they will put you on some trout.
Read More »Kiss the Bank with Your Terrestrials
One of the best times of the year to catch big brown trout is during the summer months.
When the terrestrial bite is in full swing, brown trout will often tuck up under overhanging foliage super tight to the banks. Often they’ll be in less than a foot of water waiting patiently for the land born insects to fall to the water for an easy meal. Targeting this habitat on the water will increase your brown trout catch ratio over rainbow trout. Although rainbow trout will utilize overhanging foliage, they still prefer foam lines with current and deeper water for the most part.
Target Overhanging Foliage
This beast above devoured a beetle pattern that was placed perfectly in the strike zone. Kiss the banks with your terrestrials targeting undercut banks and overhanging foliage, and you could land a trophy like this. Just because they’re isn’t current doesn’t mean it won’t hold a good trout. The main factor is
Don’t Tread on my Redd
THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN TROUT, AS WELL AS OTHER COLD WATER FISH, PUT ON THEIR BARRY WHITE RECORDS, OPEN A BOTTLE OF COURVOISIER AND GET BUSY.
Brown trout and brook trout spawn in the fall and rainbow and cutthroats in the spring. Exact spawning times vary a bit from region to region and year to year but that’s the gist of it. Chubs, suckers, shiners, sculpins and other baitfish that make up an important part of the trouts diet are spawning all through the cooler months as well.
Trout lay their eggs in gravel. This gravel is key to the fry’s survival. They will find a spot where there is a consistent flow of well oxygenated water with a consistent depth of a foot or so, out of direct sun. The female will use her tail to clean the silt from a patch of gravel creating a redd where she will lay her eggs.
Fish do not hatch like birds or reptiles. They sort of pop out on top of the egg which stays attached to their belly and serves as a source of nutrition until the fry is big enough to forage for food. These sack fry are quite vulnerable. They hover over the redd and when predators approach they disappear into the gravel for protection.
Trout will generally move to the headwaters of streams to spawn but redds can be found anywhere the conditions are right. They appear as bright spots of clean gravel from one to three feet in diameter. Some are pronounced when surrounded by silt. In places where the gravel is clean they can be subtile depressions in the stream bed.
As anglers we must be aware of the presents of redds and wade with care. Stepping in redds can spoil eggs or crush sack fry hiding in the gravel and seriously effect trout reproduction. Even baitfish redds should be
Read More »