Your Guide Is Your Dog
I’m a big believer in DIY destination fishing, but I’m not a fool.
I traveled with a good friend to the Florida Keys recently. It was my buddy’s first time fishing the Keys. He’s a great angler, resourceful and all about DIY fishing. He’s turned me on to some great water and it was my turn to return the favor.
We fished for three days with Captain Joel Dickey. Joel and I are old friends, having spent a lot of time trout fishing together in North Georgia and North Carolina before he moved to the Keys and became a full time flats guide. He’s one of the fishiest guys I’ve ever known and within a decade became one of the best in the game. Fishing with Joel is a treat I always look forward to.
The Florida Keys is one of the most amazing fisheries anywhere. It’s also one of the most demanding. It’s a place where you can witness pure magic and utter despair. I’ve had some amazing days and some brutal boat rides. This trip turned out to be neither. The fishing had been great for several weeks and, as happens all too often, things changed.
Fishing in the Keys, more than anywhere else I’ve ever fished, is condition dependent. The day we arrived the weather turned, ever so slightly, for the worse and the fishing became very challenging. We caught fish every day, but we worked for them.
My buddy had come down with me hoping to catch his first tarpon. We checked that off the list early in the trip. It wasn’t a big fish but I assured him it was a good start. Better to land a small tarpon on your first shot than make a hundred unsuccessful presentations to the local submarine fleet. Get that fish under your belt before they have a chance to get in your head.
He also fed a permit. Even though he missed the hook set, it was a great visual eat close to the boat. We even saw the gills flair. That’s the one that will get inside his head, I’m sure. He had another agenda.
Read More »The Persistent Angler
By Louis Cahill
Is there any point in continuing to pound a fish who just won’t eat?
The cool thing about fly fishing is that it offers such diversity. There is a species or a style of fishing every angler can enjoy. If you don’t like trout fishing, you may like bass or bonefish. If drifting dry flies isn’t your thing, stripping streamers may be. There is no wrong answer to the question, how should I fish? We all get something different out of fly fishing and, as long as you’re having fun and being respectful of the resources and your fellow angler, I say go for it!
Over the years, what I get from fly fishing has evolved, and it hasn’t evolved in the same way for every kind of fly fishing. I freely admit that, in some ways and for some fish, I’ve gotten lazy. I’m not proud of it but I don’t apologize for it either. Trout fishing specifically has become more of an excuse to hang out with my friends or my dog more than a goal oriented pursuit. I’m admittedly more interested in having fun than I am catching huge fish or a lot of fish. I guess that’s why I often find myself just as happy watching a buddy fish a run. I think it’s also why I’m perfectly happy walking away from a stubborn fish. The thing is, I admire anglers who don’t.
I’ve known a lot of anglers who really enjoy catching the uncatchable fish. A couple of them so focused they could care less about the other fish happily rising in a run and spend the bulk of the day butting heads with the stubborn fish who won’t eat.
The cool thing is that these guys, the really good ones, usually get that fish.
One of those anglers is Justin Pickett, no stranger to regular readers. Justin is one of those guys who almost always gets that problem fish to eat. I’ve watched him work a single fish for three hours. Like a sniper, dug in and waiting for a shot. When he gets locked in like that you may as well get comfortable. Have some lunch, take a nap, read a book, or just clip a walkie-talkie to his belt and go see the rest of the river. It’s going to take a minute.
You may think that’s cool or you may think it’s crazy but the results are hard to argue with. That fish he spent three hours on, while the rest of us had lunch, was a 32 inch brown trout and, yes, he landed it. There were four of us and no one thought that fish would eat, except Justin. I’ve never seen a more deserved fish.
The thing I think makes the case for persistence is
Read More »How To Caych A Trophy Brown Trout
by Jason Tucker
I’ll never forget my first brown trout over 20 inches.
It was about 1:30 am after a very long float down a tiny stream. It had been a slow night with only a couple half-hearted tugs on our mouse imitations. We got down to one of the last holes with a feeding run above it and parked the boat. On my first cast the water erupted with a loud take but the fish missed. I placed my next cast where the fish had hit, made a couple of strips and let it coast. The strike was unmistakable, and I waited that extra half beat until I felt the fish before setting the hook. After a vigorous fight on my 5 weight we slid a 21-inch hook-jawed male into the net, took a couple of quick pics and let him go. It was a magical moment to be sure.
Since then I’ve caught several dozen fish over 20 inches, my biggest being over 28 inches long and about ten pounds. I’ve caught them at night and during the day by a variety of methods. That first 20+ inch fish was like flipping a switch for me. Which is why I’m surprised how often I still hear even experienced anglers express that they would love to catch a brown over 20 inches. Here’s a few tips to make that dream a reality.
KNOW THY TROUT
Brown trout have the potential to get big– really big. The world record is over forty pounds, and in lakes and reservoirs they commonly average ten to twenty pounds. In good water the only limiting factors are mortality and food abundance. River environments tend to limit brown trout growth more than lakes, but most streams will still hold good numbers of browns over twenty inches.
While young trout mostly feed on insects and larvae (think mayflies and nymphs) as they reach that magical twenty-inch mark, insects no longer serve to curb the appetite. At this point they become largely piscivorous, or fish eaters, according to researchers. While this is true, brown trout make the most of any opportunity, and this includes seasonal abundance brought about by the larger fly hatches. In midsummer they shift their diets to include mice and frogs eaten at night.
Another factor to consider is the changed social/dominance status that increasing size lends to them. Small trout have to fend for themselves as best they can, while large trout will always take up the best, most secure lies in a system, and defend them from other fish. This is often deep under a cut bank, or at the bottom of a log jam in a deep hole. As they grow larger they also prefer to feed after dark as long as available food sources permit this. You end up with a situation where smaller fish are forced to feed during the day and in positions easily fished to, while the largest fish feed only at night or in spots impossible to reach.
Don’t despair. Under the right circumstances those big fish will come out and feed. A prime example is
Read More »Cicada Fly Patterns – 4 Gink & Gasoline Favorites
I get asked the question all of the time what’s my favorite place to fly fish?
Some may find it weird but I always have a hard time answering that question. I’ve had the opportunity to fly fish so many unique and beautiful places in my life that there’s no way I could settle on one place as my sole favorite. If you’re wanting a quick answer, a much better question to ask me would what’s my favorite hatch to fly fish. I’d have no problem giving you a straight answer on this question. If I could spend all my time traveling around and planning out my fly fishing for one specific hatch it would be with 100% certainty, the periodic cicada hatches that occur along the Eastern United States.
In 2000, I got to experience fly fishing the periodic cicada hatch for the first time in my life. The hatch happened to occur around my home waters and for one and a half months straight, I got to experience the heavenliness of strictly fishing giant foam cicada patterns on the surface. I’d never seen a hatch have so much effect on my resident fish and I’d never witnessed such epic dry fly fishing. Day after day, I landed multiple trophy trout. The amount of food that a periodic cicada hatch provides an ecosystem is insane. Some scholars claim that the food value of a periodic cicada hatch is equivalent to an Alaskan salmon run. Have no doubts, the cicada has the power to convince the smartest and biggest fish to drop their guard and come out and feed for several weeks with total recklessness 24 hours a day.
You don’t have to be an expert fly fisherman to find success fishing a cicada hatch. It’s probably the least technical hatch I’ve ever fished. All you need to do is get yourself a good cicada fly pattern and fish it on waters where the hatch is occurring. The only thing you really need to know is go big with your tippet (2X-3X) and don’t be too quick on your hook sets. Below are some of my favorite cicada patterns.
Read More »Beefcake Hopper
By Bob Reece
I look forward all year to the warm summer and fall days that allow me to fish hopper dropper rigs.
I fill one fly box each winter to meet this need. One half is filled with my Fusion and Clearwater Crawler nymphs. The opposite side is filled to the brim with Beefcake Hoppers.
When designing this pattern, I spent time viewing natural hoppers from below the surface of the water. The differentiation of body segments and leg movements act as prominent distinctions. These factors guided my design of the underside of the fly. The Thin Skin wing provides an accurate imitation while drastically increasing the durability of the top side of the fly. With the application of UV resin, the durability of the fly’s underside is also increased.
The foundation of this pattern is the Tiemco 2499BL. Having been created for the world of nymphing, this outstanding hook is ideal for extended body terrestrials. Short in the shank and wide in the gap, the hook keels this buoyant pattern very effectively. The large gap
Read More »The Geezer Hatch
Ever heard the phrase, “the geezer hatch is on?”
I’ve used it myself. It’s a common way of saying there are a bunch of old dudes on the water. It’s pretty common to hear younger anglers and guides grousing or making jokes about old guys who can’t see their flies or wade like a mummy in a black and white horror film.
In the past decade, fly fishing has taken on the soundtrack of extreme sport and with it some of the attitude. Too many of us feel compelled to judge our fellow anglers and that comes down pretty hard on the over-seventy set.
Like any cross section of humanity, old guys run the gambit from pompous assholes to salt of the earth. On the whole, the younger guys I know treat them pretty well but once they are out of ear shot, there is often a comment made that reveals the judgment.
Maybe I notice it because I’m at the point in my life where it’s painfully clear that we’re all going down that road. It may also be that I habitually pull for the underdog and have a heightened intolerance to inequity. I’m not saying it’s a major problem, just an underlying prejudice that rubs me wrong sometimes.
This is where my friend Mike Ray comes into the picture. I’ve gotten to know Mike over the last year or so and had the pleasure of fishing with him both on the river and in the salt. Mike is a great angler. A solid caster, in spite of a badly scarred hand, and an all-around fishy guy who’s company I thoroughly enjoy. He’s about seventy, a retired lawyer who’s done well for himself.
If you didn’t know him, if you hadn’t fished with him, you might be tempted to throw him right into the geezer category. (Sorry Mike.) If you spend some time around the man, you see something completely different. That’s how prejudice works.
In fact, what you find is a guy with a youthful spirit, an open mind, and a hell of a nice cast. But there has always been something more to Mike that I just couldn’t put my finger on. There is an air about him when he put on his waders and climbs in the boat that is nothing short of a transformation.
There’s a calmness that comes over Mike when those waders go on. A comfort and a confidence that you don’t see in many anglers. His body language changes. The way he stands and holds his cigar, the way takes a knee on the bank, and I think even the way he sees the world become something completely different. Something old and familiar.
On a recent trip to Patagonia I found out what it is.
Read More »Twelve O’clock, Forty Feet
By Jason Tucker
I STAND IN WHITE-SNOW SAND AND WATER, THE SUN SHINING WEAKLY DOWN FROM A BLUE SKY MUTED BY HAZE HIGH IN ANOTHER ATMOSPHERE REMOVED FROM THE ONE I BREATHE, SCANNING BELOW ME AN ATMOSPHERE LIKEWISE FOREIGN, SEARCHING FOR SHADOWS WHICH THEMSELVES SEARCH FOR THE SCUTTLING, TWITCHING OBJECTS OF THEIR OWN DESIRE, OBLIVIOUS TO MY INTEREST IN THEM. BONEFISH.
Ronnie Bain, proud native Bahamian and guide, is trying to put my friend Brad onto bonefish while I hang back in search of my own. They are focused on a small pod of fish that continues away from them when suddenly Ronnie turns to me and says “Jason, give me a cast, thirty feet.” As he says this a lone bonefish slides into view, a ghostly apparition floating over the pale sand. It approaches to within twenty-five feet before I land my cast. On the second strip my line comes tight, and then my drag sings a merry tune as the fish peels off two hundred fifty feet of line in seconds. The fight doesn’t last too long, but is fought hard and well. Ronnie tells me to look around for sharks. We’ve seen a lot of sharks.
It has been a difficult week of fishing, with high winds and heavy rains frustrating our efforts. We have worked for every fish this week. A moment like this is pure bliss, in which a fish, despite our best efforts at searching, magically appears above the sun-blasted sand bottom and presents an easy shot. There is serendipity in bonefishing after all.
Standing on the bow rod in hand, the sound of rain pelting my raincoat has drowned out all other noises, until even my inner dialogue recedes into the background. Leslie is poling us west- or is it South, or even east? I’ve lost track, the sun is not there to guide us, and I suspect the wind of changing directions to throw us off.
It is strange how difficult bonefish are to spot, and how obvious they are once you do. Here they come, two torpedoes approaching at speed, collision inevitable. I call them out to Leslie, who has yet to spot them. “Two fish, twelve o’clock, coming in fast. Big fish.” I say as I wind up my cast. As my fly hits the water they juke hard to my left, already aware of the boat. I cast to them again, but as I do I spot movement ahead. It is a large lemon shark, eight feet long, in hot pursuit of the bonefish; these bonefish, huge specimens pushing perhaps fifteen pounds, and probably feeling squeezed between the boat and the shark, shoot off to the east (?) and the shark surges fruitlessly after them. In a week of seeing big bones these are the biggest I have seen.
Read More »Quiet Fly Line Pickup, 2 ways: Video
By Louis Cahill
Here are two ways to pick up your fly line and make a cast without spooking fish.
Quiet line pickup is an important skill for fly anglers after any species, but it’s never more important than when bonefishing. Their spooky nature may be the bonefish’s defining characteristic. Ad to that the excitement of the moment and it’s easy to spook fish that might otherwise be caught.
One of the best ways to spook a bonefish is by ripping your line off the water with a loud sizzle. That’ll send them to Cuba. There are two main reasons this happens. Slack in the line when you pick it up off the water, and too much speed too early. It’s easy to do, especially when you’re excited.
WATCH THIS VIDEO AND LEARN TWO WAYS TO PICK YOUR FLY LINE UP OFF THE WATER QUIETLY AND MAKE AN EFFECTIVE CAST.
Read More »Treat your sunglasses as though your vision depends upon them
YOUR ROD, REEL AND LINE MAY BE THE ONLY PIECES OF GEAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR SUNGLASSES.
On most days I’d rather have the wrong fly than the wrong glasses. They are not only crucial for sight fishing and reading water but make wading safer and the whole fishing experience more pleasant.
A good pair of polarized sunglasses are not only essential but expensive, too. Their effectiveness can be seriously compromised by scratches, delamination, and unnecessary wear or damage. It makes sense to take good care of them.
Still, not everything about caring for your sunglasses is intuitive. I’ve worn glasses my whole life and recently found that I was damaging my sunglasses by washing them with soap and water, a practice I assumed was the best way to clean them. Reached out to my buddy Peter Crow at Smith Optics for some advice, and he provided me with some good common sense information to share with you.
Read More »Putting Your Rod Tip In The Water Can Be A Game Changer
EVERYONE WANTS TO CATCH BIG FISH BUT LEARNING TO OUTSMART THEM TAKES SOME DOING.
Big fish often hold a PhD in fly selection and presentation, but any experienced angler can tell you that getting them to eat your fly is only half the battle. Getting them to the net is another thing. Most anglers do not land the first really big fish they hook. Often they don’t land the first several. Much is written about feeding big fish and far too little about what comes next. Generally speaking anglers learn to land big, strong fish the way I did, by losing a few.
Fighting a tough fish is not just a show of force. It’s a game of strategy, but also of tactics. It’s problem solving. The fish creates problems and you have to solve them. There are two such fish problems that can be solved by the simple tactic of putting your rod tip in the water.
The big downstream run
When a strong fish runs hard downstream too quickly for you to follow, you find yourself at a disadvantage. With the fish directly downstream, the angle of the hook in the fish’s mouth is perilous. Any thrashing or head shaking on the part of the fish can easily result in a long distance release. If you are unable to get downstream and establish a better angle to the fish you are left with only one choice, bring the fish to you. But how?