Checking Your Attitude
IF YOU READ THE COMMENTS ON OUR POSTS YOU’LL OCCASIONALLY SEE THE NAME TOM CAHILL. THAT’S MY BIG BROTHER.
Tom lives in Virginia. Too far away for us to fish together often but too close to have a good excuse.
He is an avid fisherman and a talented photographer. He and I have much in common. Our conversations may start off on motorcycles or politics but they usually end on fishing. I have often said that we are brothers, separated by a common hobby. Like brothers who marry sisters, Tom fell in love with bass and I with trout. I walked off up some mountain stream and he sped off at seventy mph across the lake.
The other day Tom left this comment to a post on G&G. It left me wondering why I’m the one with the fishing blog.
***
“Of all the cash we spend to catch a fish the biggest element is free. Years ago on one of those frustrating days my friend Rodney put it quite simply. Just as I was about to cast he asked ‘Are you going to catch one this cast?’ I responded with ‘Probably not!’ Rodney: ‘Then why don’t you just stand there until you are.”
“Now if you see me on the deck of my bass boat you may see me checking my line, checking my knot or checking my drag, but if I look like I’m just standing there staring a hole in the water, I’m checking my attitude.”
***
That’s Tom all over. Contemplative in the face of adversity. A talented
The Basics of Dubbing
By Bob Reece
What the beginning tyer needs to know about dubbing.
Creating beautiful, well proportioned flies is a skill which takes time and practice to master. One of the least intuitive steps in the process is working with dubbing. The thousands of dubbing choices on the market today only help confuse the beginning tyer.
Here are some basics to get you started dubbing beautiful flies.
Less is More
The most common mistake that new tyers make when applying dubbing is simply using too much of the product at one time. In general, less is more. Smaller amounts of fibers are easier to apply and lead to the creation of more anatomically accurate insect imitations. The one exception to this lies in the world of streamers where bulky dubbing loops and brushes can be used to create the large silhouettes of beefier food items.
Dubbing Types
There is an increasingly wide spectrum of dubbing varieties on the market. This can be overwhelming for new tyers. These materials are categorized based on their construction and uses. While these “boundaries” are often crossed, a few basic principles can be followed to help get you started.
Read More »Tandem Fly Rigs The Easy Way: Video
Fishing two flies is almost always better than one, here’s the easy way to set up a team of flies.
I almost never trout fish with a single fly. Whether I’m using a dry-dropper, a pair of nymphs, a streamer and nymph, or even two dry flies, I like to double my odds. There are several ways to set up a team of flies. The simplest solution to tie and fish is to tie your dropper to the bend of the hook on the lead fly. It’s fast and easy to tie and less likely to tangle than more complex setups.
If you are not accustomed to fishing tandem rigs, you should give it a try. It’s highly effective. Don’t be intimidated by the rigging or by casting teams of flies. With a little practice it becomes second nature.
WATCH THIS VIDEO TO LEARN THE EASY WAY TO TIE ON A TEAM OF FLIES.
Read More »5 Reasons Why Pocket Water Is Suited For Beginners
IF YOU’RE NEW TO FLY FISHING OR YOU CONSIDER YOUR SKILL LEVEL TO BE AT THE NOVICE LEVEL, HERE ARE FIVE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BE TARGETING POCKET WATER TO INCREASE YOUR FLY FISHING KNOWLEDGE AND TROUT CATCH RATES.
1. Pocket water provides more trout habitat than any other type of trout water.
The easiest way to define pocket water is that it’s an entire trout stream in itself. Pocket water encompasses all water types: riffles, runs, pools, and tails just on a miniature scale. The multiple current seams, eddies, and structure found in pocket water creates an abundance of habitat for trout to position themselves and feed. Quite often it provides anglers the opportunity to catch trout from one side of the stream all the way across to the other side. This is rarely found on other water types in a trout stream, and it provides fishermen much more opportunity and should increase his/her confidence that their fishing where there’s a high volume of trout living.
2. It doesn’t require anglers to make long casts and drifts.
You don’t have to be able to make long casts or sustain super long drag-free drifts to catch trout in pocket water. Because everything is on a smaller scale, anglers can get away with making shorter casts and drifts. Both mending and line management aren’t as crucial, and anglers often have the luxury of choosing which casts and techniques their most comfortable fishing with to catch trout.
3. Trout are generally opportunistic feeders in pocket water.
Pocket water is usually found on sections of river with steeper gradients and descending elevations. Water moves faster in most cases on pocket water and since trout usually don’t have as much time to inspect the food moving downstream, they often have to
Swinging Steelhead Flies for Trout
WANT TO GO STEELHEADING BUT THERE ARE NO STEELHEAD WHERE YOU LIVE?
Think about scaling down. The same flies and techniques that we use for steelhead will catch plenty of trout. And why not? Steelhead are just big sea-run trout and they have the same common instinct as their land-locked cousins.
I find myself fishing light switch rods for trout a lot these days. They are great versatile rods and I use them, not just because they’re effective, but because I enjoy it. One day, when I was swinging a small streamer with my 11′ 3″ three weight it struck me that was doing all the same things I did when steelheading. I went home and tied some of Hickman’s fish tacos in olive, size eight.
_DSC6030I caught a lot of fish on those flies but I thought I could take it further. I was tying flies for an upcoming trip to the Deschutes and I threw a couple of them in my trout box. My buddy Dan and I went fishing and devoted the whole afternoon to swinging steelhead flies. The results were awesome!
We caught a bunch of really nice fish but that’s not all.
Read More »Hardy Averon Fly Reel, Performance Meets Legacy
I don’t see a lot of anglers in the US fishing Hardy gear, and, the more of it I fish, the more I wonder why. I recently got my hands on a Hardy Ultralite X in a 7wt and an Averon 7000 reel. Both are stellar and you will be seeing a review for the rod before long. In this review I’m going to talk about the reel. Just about everyone who fly fishes knows of Hardy reels but here in the states lots of anglers, including myself, have little experience with them. Hardy is an English company founded in 1874, which means they’ve been around about as long as fly fishing itself. My experience with Hardy reels has been with the beautiful vintage reels a couple of my steelhead buddies own. A classic Hardy, whether new or vintage, is considered a pretty classy choice among hard core steelhead addicts and I’ve landed a few hot steelhead on Hardy reels that are over a hundred years old. I guess the first thing I have to say about Hardy reels is, I’ve never seen a hundred year old reel, still in service, made by anyone else. Frankly, I don’t know how much more I need to say but there is plenty to talk about. The Averon bears little physical resemblance to those classic reels. It’s a modern, high performance, large arbor, disk drag reel that’s right at home with the most advanced models of this century but its DNA is all Hardy. The Averon is a fresh water reel that feels much like it belongs in saltwater. The drag is smooth and powerful, boasting a max setting of ten pounds in the larger models. The drag itself is easily converted from left to right hand retrieve and removing or swapping the … Continue reading
Read More »Summer’s Over
HERE’S ONE IMAGE AND AND A BRIEF STORY FROM AN ESSAY I DID FOR HATCH MAGAZINE.
TO SEE THE REST OF THE IMAGES VISIT HATCH. YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID.
In August of 2010, at he end of a hectic and exhausting summer, I found myself in western Alaska for a week at the Alaska West Lodge. Frankly I was a little burned out. The weather, which can be a formidable challenge in Alaska, complicated my travel arrangements. From Anchorage I was still two bush planes a bus and a boat ride from the camp which rest on an island in the Kanektok river. I fully expected to be spent by the time I got there. I found quite the opposite. By the time I reached the camp I was recharged with excitement by the place. Western Alaska is quietly beautiful. The travel it’s self had been visceral. I recall flying low over deserted wetlands, looking down and identifying parts of an airplane on the ground below. I remember thinking, “yes, you are in the bush now”.
While the other guests were unpacking, having a snack or smoking a cigar, I was getting into my waders and lining up my rod. I just couldn’t wait to see what this place had in store for me. I waded into the Kanektok and within a few cast my indicator disappeared and I was tight to a big rainbow. There I was in heavy water with no net playing a big fish. Clearly, I had not thought this through. About that time a boat rounded the bend.
Read More »More Than Just A Cast
By Owen Plair
WHEN THROWING FLIES AT REDFISH, MANY PIECES OF THE PUZZLE HAVE TO COME TOGETHER TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL DAY.
You may be able to throw a fly line 100 feet, but that doesn’t always mean you’re gonna have a killer day on the water. The most important thing when hunting redfish in the shallows is communicating with the guy on the platform. He’s not only poling you around on the skiff, but also spotting, and putting you on fish. The chemistry between the guy on the poling platform and the angler on the bow is the most important part of the day because you have to work together for the best results.
Communication is key and that’s why the bow clock was invented. If you are not familiar with the bow clock, it’s a simple idea. Picture the deck of the boat from above. Now overlay the face of a clock with noon at the very point of the bow. Nine o’clock will be ninety degrees to the left and three o’clock ninety degrees to the right. A fish located at twelve o’clock will be straight ahead of the boat and a fish at nine o’clock will be directly to the left.
If you’re new to saltwater, then you should always go over the bow clock with your guide or fishing partner before fishing. Make sure you both have the same understanding from 9 o’clock all the way to 3 o’clock and can adjust quickly while sight casting to fish.
This clock is not only good for casting direction but can also be very important for situations when spotting moving fish on the flats. I like to have my angler point his rod when I call out a clock direction. It helps us stay together and helps him see the fish. Getting the hang of the bow clock isn’t hard and will help dramatically in sight casting to fish from the skiff.
The next key factor is gauging distance. If the angler cannot see the fish, accurately judging distance is key to a good presentation. It can be hard, at first, to judge a forty foot cast compared to a sixty foot cast. When getting used to sight casting, there are visual guides that can help.
One of the best ways to judge distance is to use
Read More »Beating the Winter Blues
By Kevin Howell
AS I TRAVEL AROUND TO FISHING SHOWS I OFTEN HEAR PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT WANTING TO GET ON THE STREAM AND GO FISHING ONCE IT WARMS UP.
In reality, some of the best fishing of the year, here in the Southern Appalachians, takes place in the winter. Here are some ideas to help you get through the winter blues.
Fish in the winter. Winter fishing in our part of the country is fabulous. I agree, on days when it is 22 degrees and blowing blue snow, you probably do not want to go fishing. However, we have plenty of days when the air temps will hit the high 40’s to low 50’s and it makes a nice day to get out of the house. Remember a trout has to eat to survive, and you can not catch him if you are sitting on the couch.
Tie Flies. Another great way to pass the time is to tie flies. If you are new to tying or want to learn how to tie, then hang out at your local shop and take some tying classes. A lot of stores like Davidson River Outfitters even offer free or low cost classes or nights you can just come into the shop and hang out and tell fish stories.
Build a rod. Again if your local shop or fly fishing club offers a rod building class you can build your own rod and customize it in any manner you like, except for Tarheel Blue (sorry, I went to NC State).
Take a Trip. If you can afford it, take a trip. It does not have to be a $10,000 around-the-world trip. You could go to south Florida or Louisiana for a day or two and go Redfishing. You could go to south Texas and fly fish for bass. You could go to North Georgia and fish the Toccoa tailwater and camp overnight in a public campground for $2. If you want to go to Argentina or New Zealand, or the tropics like the Bahamas or Christmas Island, you can find a lot of good deals at the moment due to
Fly Fishing Tip: Mend Your Strike Indicator to Increase Your Drag-Free Drift
IS THERE EVER A TIME, WHEN NYMPHING, THAT IT CAN BE BENEFICIAL TO LIFT THE STRIKE INDICATOR OUT OF THE WATER DURING A MEND?
When I first started learning the art of mending fly line, I constantly struggled with keeping my striking indicator and dry fly from moving across the surface of the water. Quite often, I not only moved them during my mends, I even lifted them completely out of the water in the process. Most of the time that wasn’t a good thing, because it usually caused my flies to be pulled off my intended drift line, and that greatly hindered my ability to catch fish, no matter how accurate my initial presentation cast happened to be. I learned quickly, that poor mending, and sloppy line management, were the two main factors in keeping me from getting my rod bent with trout. There was no doubt that my problem with mending fly line laid in the fact that my technique was awful. I thought I was a whole lot maturer than I really was as a fly fisher, failing to realize that I had just begun to skim the surface of learning the intricacies of fly line mending. Such as, determining when or when not a mend was called for during a drift, mend timing and form.
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