Fly Fishing Runoff Can Mean Fish On
by Johnny Spillane
HAVE YOU EVER SHOWED UP AT A RIVER AND FOUND THAT INSTEAD OF THE CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER YOU WERE EXPECTING, YOU’RE STARING AT CHOCOLATE MILK?
Here in the Rocky Mountain this is a relatively common experience. It can happen for a number of reasons, huge rainstorms, someone doing river work above you or just your normal spring runoff. Don’t fret; while it might not be ideal, here are a few tips that can help you find some fish.
If the water is only slightly off color, you can basically use the same flies that you would if it was clear, just make everything a size or two larger. Instead of a size 18, put on a 16 or a 14. If that is not working, try adding a little bit more flash to your rig. We typically use flies with very little flash, but if the water is off color it can make a big difference in the amount of fish you stick just by changing to something that will reflect a little more light. If you were using a pheasant tail, try tying on a flash back pheasant tail and sometimes that is the only thing you will need to change.
If the water looks like chocolate milk, go big and go flashy. Those size 22 zebra midges that you planned on tying to 6x, that aint gonna work. I like to tie on a large white zonker and dead drift it with some sort of big buggy stonefly like a Pats Rubber leg. In off color water, fish will lose some of their inhibitions and hit anything that they can see. You just have to make sure that they see it. This is also a great time to experiment with different streamers that make noise, anything that will help draw a fish towards you fly.
Fishing runoff can also be one of the best times to hit a river. If it is fully blown, it might be better to explore other options but if a river is on the downside of its peak flows and it is starting to clear up, fishing can be phenomenal. Fish that are spread out all over the river during normal flows will congregate in areas of softer water during runoff and usually if you find one fish, you find 20. When the river is really high
Read More »Fishing Mud Lines For Big Fish
By: Garner Reid
MUD LINES ARE EXCELLENT PLACES FOR FISH TO HIDE.
I split my guiding year in half, targeting trout from fall to spring and the rest of the year pursuing summer run striped bass in my local river systems. River run stripers offer their own unique set of challenges for the angler, and definitely for the guide.
When someone gets in my boat for a day of striper fishing, one of the first things I try to explain is where these fish like to hold. I tell them to start out like they are streamer fishing for a big brown trout. When someone is pursuing a new species of fish, like stripers in a river, finding that common thread is the key to angling success.
Just the other week I had the pleasure of guiding a new client who was quite an accomplished angler. Having caught many fish in all the exotic locations that are on my personal bucket list. As we floated down the river it quickly became evident this guy knew how to fish. He was ripping big streamers accurately into all the nasty stuff that a big fish ought to hold in.
This was producing a few nice schoolie sized stripes but nothing huge. Halfway through our float we approached a small feeder creek quartering in at a 45 degree angle to the left of the boat. Heavy rains the night before had the creek dumping chocolate milk into the river. Typically not what a fly fisherman likes to see.
The muddy creek water was thick like oil, being pushed up against the clean water by the current, which carried a defined wall of muddy water down the left side of the river for hundreds of yards.
I rowed the boat into position perpendicular to the creek mouth and dropped anchor, told the guy to make a big cast across the creek mouth and let his fly sink, followed with an aggressive retrieve. A few strips later
The Incredible Exploding Line Holder
Is a fly reel more than a line holder?
I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “A fly tell is just a line holder.” I have certainly heard it plenty, and I have a visceral reaction, similar to nails on a chalk board, every time. It is a great way to tell everyone that you’ve never caught a fish over twelve inches. Even in trout fishing the fly reel is an important piece of equipment and choosing one is an important choice.
For any fish big enough that you can’t lift it by the tippet, a reel with a good drag is key for wearing fish down effectively and landing them quickly, which is better for the fish and increases your chance of landing it. It is important to understand that a “good drag” is not simply one which is powerful. It is usually more important that the drag is smooth with little startup inertia. This protects your tippet and keeps a consistent, safe pressure on the fish.
Of course, the more powerful the fish, the more important the reel is. When you start fishing in saltwater, the reel becomes crucial. Not only are the fish much stronger, but the conditions are brutal on gear, making failure much more likely. I tell anglers all the time that it’s better to come to the salt with a cheap rod and expensive reel than the other way round.
No matter how many times I say this there will still be folks who don’t believe me.
One of them came on my Bonefish School in January. A great guy who I have known for several years. He had bought a large trout reel on sale at Cabela’s and asked me what I thought about using it for bonefish.
“It’ll explode,” I told him.
Read More »Some Days It’s All About the Twitch
Some days trout need more than just a well placed fly in their field of vision and a drag-free drift to persuade them to eat.
When you’re working water that you’re certain holds trout, and a standard drag-free drift isn’t getting the job done, try imparting subtle movement on your fly/flies to trigger bites. The best way to execute this is by using well timed rod tip twitches, during the drift, when your fly is moving through high percentage trout holding water. Done properly, it will give your fly that extra “alive and life-like appeal” and that often will give trout the green light that your fly is a natural and not an impostor.
Last week, I had the honor of fly fishing with Rob Parkins (WY & ID veteran guide) and Zack Dalton (Farbanks Sales Manager) on the South Fork of the Snake River during an epic salmonfly hatch.
Read More »12 Tips For Epic Fly Fishing Trips On The Cheap
You may be poor, but you don’t have to fish like it.
Some of the greatest fly fishing adventures I’ve taken have cost me the least. I love fishing in exotic locations and spending time at great fishing lodges. Who wouldn’t? But that’s a fairly recent thing for me and primarily funded by my Nikon. Working for my fishing days has paid off for me, but that’s not an option for everyone.
I have never let a lack of funds get between me and great fly fishing. I’ve always figured out a way to get on the water and create some kind of epic adventure. Over the years I’ve figured out one or two tricks that make for great fly bum trips on the cheap. I’m going to share a few of them so you can do the same.
TEAM UP
There’s nothing more helpful than a good fishing buddy, or two. Having good friends to share both costs and experience with will make your fishing trips a hundred times better. A buddy can do more than split the cost of gas. He might lend you a rod or take turns rowing the boat. He may have knowledge about water that you don’t. He may just tell a good story or be a good listener. Finding good, compatible friends to travel and fish with is the most important step you can take in having a truly epic trip.
CAMP
Hotels cost money and do very little to enhance the fishing experience. Camping saves you a bundle and makes the trip a whole lot more special. Waking up on the river beats the hell out of a continental breakfast. Get your camping gear in order and go as light as possible. Less time messing with gear means more time fishing. I have gone so far as to buy an extra tent, sleeping bag and a few necessities which I keep at a friend’s house in Denver. If I find a cheap ticket I don’t even have to pay the baggage fees.
DRIVE
I drive to Idaho and Wyoming from Georgia on a regular basis. I don’t do it because I enjoy the scenery of western Kansas. I do it because it saves me a bundle. Gas is not cheap but it’s often at least as cheap as an airplane ticket. Driving allows me to take advantage of a whole host of cost-cutting measures.
I can carry all of my camping gear and even sleep in the truck sometimes. I tow my Adipose skiff which saves me renting a boat. I don’t have the expense of a rental car. It saves a fortune. I even have a power inverter in the truck to charge batteries or run small electronics. I’m pretty self-sufficient when I’m on the road.
I will frequently coordinate the drive with buddies who choose to fly. They help out with the gas money and I pick them up at the airport and we all save the cost of a rental car. Driving to your fishing destination just gives you a lot more options.
Read More »Bruce Chard’s Double Haul Drill
Today begins a special five part video tutorial on building blinding line speed.
Line speed is the most important component in successful salt water fly fishing. There’s plenty of finesse involved but line speed is the cost of admission. If you can’t build the speed you need, you can’t catch the fish you want.
My good friend Bruce Chard is a certified master casting instructor and a truly inspiring caster. The first time, hell the first hundred times, I saw Bruce unload my jaw dropped. It’s humbling to watch what this guy can do with a fly rod. Bruce has a rare blend of skills. The technical know how of an engineer and the physical prowess of an athlete. With that in mind I asked him to help me create a set of videos that can take you from beginner to rock star. We’re calling it the Ultimate Line Speed Series. There’s a lot to cover but we’re starting here with everything you need to know about line speed.
We’re going to start slow, with the double haul. The basic building block of a dynamic cast. By day five we will be into some seriously advanced technique that is going to
Read More »Golden Dorado on the Fly Require a Mix of Skills
By Louis Cahill
There’s nothing cooler than catching a new species on the fly.
I recently had my first encounter with the golden dorado, a species I have coveted for some time. I hosted a group at the Parana On The Fly lodge with Andes Drifters for a week and we caught an amazing array of species including piranha, pacu, pirapita, boga and, the king of the river, the golden dorado.
The dorado has quite a reputation as a sport fish and it does not disappoint. A beautiful fish and an acrobatic fighter, it’s known primarily for its unchecked aggression. The first couple of dorado to eat my fly scared the daylights out of me. Their predatory response goes way beyond simply eating the fly. They destroy it. They eat with pure rage.
Beyond the thrill of tackling such an aggressive predictor, the challenge of catching a dorado is compelling in itself. These fish are not easily caught and the fishing is both technical and demanding in ways I did not expect. I found myself combining skills in a way that was unlike any fishing I’ve done before and, for me, this made the whole experience much more rewarding.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CATCH A GOLDEN DORADO ON A FLY?
DSCF6539I have come to think of dorado fishing as a hybrid of fresh and saltwater techniques. It is essentially streamer fishing. Though we used rat patterns quite a bit, you are basically fishing them as top-water streamers. Like streamer fishing for trout or smallmouth, you’re working structure. Casting from a boat and covering water looking for the fish that’s in the right frame of mind.
Dorado utilize many different types of structure, which I will go into in detail in another article. They use that structure in interesting ways and they sometimes remind me of redfish and other times striped bass or trout. The key to success is understanding the different holding zones and how the dorado uses them, then rapidly identifying those zones and making the right presentation to each as they appear.
It’s fast paced and it’s a thinking game. You’re not just pounding the bank. You’re making a planned presentation, much like you would for tarpon or bonefish, in rapid succession as you float the river. It’s demanding both mentally and physically. Four days after arriving home, I still have a few sore muscles.
Dorado fishing can be
Read More »Buying A Fly Rod For The Young Beginner
By Justin Pickett
Bicycles, Red Ryders, footballs, and Barbie dolls.
These are among the many things that get scribbled onto Christmas lists this time of year in hopes of finding them beneath the tree on the 25th morning of December. Easy enough. A trip to the local department or sporting goods store can handle those requests.
But what about when a fly rod makes the list? Or maybe it didn’t, and you are just a super awesome parent that wants to introduce their kid to fly fishing?!
My first fly rod was a Christmas gift from my parents. It was a Scientific Anglers starter kit that I had seen in a Bass Pro magazine. I didn’t have a fly shop close by, and the internet was in its infancy, so finding options and checking things out first-hand just wasn’t an option. I remember showing it to my parents and just jotting it down at the top of my wish list. I knew nothing about what I wanted, or needed, and neither did my parents. I just wanted something, anything, to get me started… and then to figure out what the heck tippet was???
Luckily for today’s kiddos, things aren’t quite as vague. A quick internet search can pull up a handful of options for the beginning angler interested in getting their feet wet. Whether you’re looking for a first rod for your little tike, or maybe the next teenage protige, several companies have you covered for just about every fly fishing scenario. You won’t find many bells or whistles on these rigs, but as an initial investment into fly fishing, these kits are perfect for getting a young angler on the water without breaking the bank.
So, if a fly rod has found its way onto a Christmas list in your family, make sure you give these kits a look-see!
Echo Gecko
With a modest, forgiving action and kid/hippy-friendly cosmetics, the Gecko is ready for action. Featuring a small lower grip for two-handed casting, the Gecko can be fished with one or two hands. With a comfy EVA grip and Echo’s lifetime warranty, the Gecko will keep your kid fishing through the learning curve.
Redington Minnow
Read More »Swinging Streamers on Big Water
By Kent Klewein
MOST STREAMER FISHERMAN OUT THERE WOULD AGREE THAT POUNDING THE RIVER BANKS WITH A STREAMER WILL CATCH TROUT JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE.
If you’re willing to put in the time and hard work eventually you’ll be rewarded with a big fish. During high water flows on rivers where habitat is insufficient out in the main river, many trout will relocate to the banks where they can use the irregular banks and it’s abundant cover to shelter themselves out of the excessive current. There next move, once they’ve gotten to the banks, is to find prime ambush spots where they can easily pick off prey moving by. This is why casting to the bank and ripping streamers back to the boat is so effective. You’re repeatedly putting your streamer right in the kitchen where good numbers of fish will be feeding.
The majority of the time this scenario works great, but what do you do when you find yourself in areas where the water is super deep and the fish are sitting on the bottom? These places make it extremely difficult for anglers using the pounding the bank technique to keep their streamers down deep in the strike zone during a steady retrieve. Even with a full sinking fly line the cards are stacked against you. Don’t get me wrong, it can still work, especially if you cast upstream of your target water, and give your streamer time to sink before you begin your retrieve. Unfortunately, you won’t always have the time nor the room to pull this off, and that should have you searching for an alternative method that’s better suited for fishing your streamers in these deep water locations.
Swing Streamers through deep water hot spots
The best method I’ve found to consistently get hookups from deep water fish is to swing your streamers across their noses. This allows you to keep your streamers in the face of the deep water fish longer, which often will yield more strikes.
Step 1: When possible anchor your boat upstream and slightly across from your prime deep water. (It could be a nice drop off, a series of buckets, or just a long deep run or pool. The main point is that the water is too deep for you to use a standard strip retrieve, and anchoring up will provide you time to work the area thoroughly).
Step 2: Make a cast
Read More »Listen To Your Heart
Hear I am, in the front row of Symphony Hall, tears streaming down my face, thinking about Beethoven.
If you’re wondering what this has to do with fly fishing, that’s a fair question. Stick with me for a bit and maybe I’ll get there. Maybe not. First you’re going to hear about Beethoven, and a little about me.
Music has always been a huge part of my life. It’s one of a few things I am truly passionate about. My musical taste has never been defined by genre. I deeply love some pieces from every style of music, and passionately hate many more. It’s hard to have a conversation with me about it. I know what I think. At heart, my aesthetic is punk rock. Long before we coined that term. I have always been attracted to artists who rebelled. Creators so passionate and singular in their vision that they angered way more people than they attracted. For me, these are the ones who get it, and no one got it like Beethoven. If you trace the family tree of punk back past Joe Strummer, Iggy Pop, Brian Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis and Hank Williams, you will eventually find the first punk to stand erect and scream at the sky was likely Beethoven.
Of everything he wrote, the piece that really gets to me is the Ninth. I’m in pretty good company saying that it is the single most powerful piece of music ever written. I’ve been a regular at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for over thirty years and have had the chance to see the Ninth performed several times. I was even lucky enough to attend a dress rehearsal, with Yoel Levi conducting the orchestra and the late Robert Shaw the chorus, in which they played the fourth movement twice! My wife and I saw it again last night and it was one of the most powerful musical experiences of my life.
I had a bit of an epiphany there in the front row. I’m going to share it with you but first you should understand that I am not a musicologist or musical historian, just an enthusiastic fan. Scholars have argued about the meaning of the Ninth Symphony since it was written. I’m certainly not going to settle that. In the end, like any piece of art, the Ninth belongs to every one who listens to it. Its meaning is that which you ascribe.
Beethoven was a troubled dude. He had the reputation for being an asshole
Read More »