Social Media, The Best Thing To Ever Happen To Fly Fishing
THOUSANDS OF GALLONS OF INK HAVE BEEN SPILLED AND BILLIONS OF PIXELS HAVE FLASHED ABOUT THE EVILS THAT SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THE INTERNET IN GENERAL, ARE PERPETUATING ON THE SPORT OF FLYFISHING.
I can’t tell you how many rants, posts, articles, captions and blurbs I’ve read that contend, in some way, that some part of the Internet is ruining the sport we all love so much. “It just encourages Grip and Grins.” they shriek. “It’s making flyfishing into a competition!” they scream. “It’s just a bunch of people trying to get Internet famous!” they howl. And they are right. All of those things do happen on the Internet. They also happen in the flyshop, around the campfire and over beers. There isn’t any way to deny that some people use social media and the Internet to try to make themselves look like master anglers. Hell some of them ARE master anglers promoting themselves (and the sport).
The fact is, in a real and fundamentally important way, the Internet is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to flyfishing. The ramifications of the changes it is creating are still waiting to be wholly felt, but have already influenced everything from public policy to international politics to fish care and handling. More importantly, the scale and scope of the reach of flyfishing continues to grow. The exposure of the sport is no longer limited to Brad Pitt or grandpa. It’s now an organic and fluid mechanism defined by the collective image set forth by all of us. We’ve been given the power to reach into places that would have never known flyfishing and to do it in ways that don’t involve stuffy meetings or AARP-sponsored events. And we’ve done a helluva job; taking flyfishing from the purview of only rich old white men into something not only accessible, but promoted to everyone. Are we perfect? Hell no. But we are damn good.
Many years ago I was standing on the bank of a small muddy river in South Eastern South Dakota. I had a Cabella’s 6 weight rod and reel combo that my father had given me. Don’t ask what line or leader I was using. I wasn’t that advanced yet. On my hip was an ammo belt that I’d stuffed with my 2 tippet spools, fingernail clippers (because that guide in Colorado used nippers so I knew using my teeth like I had all my life wasn’t classy enough for flyfishing) and a flybox with 12 random flies in it. I’d tied on a yellow foam beetle and was attempting to cast it between ice sheets on a cold March day. See, I knew you could catch bluegill on flies. The guide had told me so. He’d also said he preferred a yellow beetle to get them. So there I was trying to get a drift with my leader dragging on the ice and not understanding why the fish weren’t biting that day.
For years I struggled to learn how to flyfish in warm water.
Most was pure trial and error. I’d try stuff; it wouldn’t work… so I’d try other stuff. I was the only person in the world, as far as I was concerned, fishing warm water with flies and I did it incessantly. You know that quote attributed to Einstein about insanity being a person doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Well, I was certifiable at that point.
Hungry, Hungry Bonefish
One of the things that makes bonefish so much fun is their generous nature.
When bonefish are feeding they are some motivated little dudes. If you can get a fly in front of them the odds are good that it will get eaten without a lot of scrutiny. This is not to say that’s always easy. Often the conditions make it nearly impossible. Making a sixty foot backhand cast, into thirty mile per hour wind, to a fish that’s booking across a flat, and changing direction unpredictably is plenty challenging. All I’m saying is that once you pull it off, the bonefish will likely reward you for your trouble.
I was at the World Wide Sportsman in Islamorada the other day to pick up a few essentials. They have a big saltwater aquarium with all of the popular Keys sport fish represented. I arrived about five minutes before feeding time and the natives were getting restless. This little bonefish had himself whipped into a frenzy. Watch this video and you’ll see what I mean. Remember there is no food yet, he just knows it’s time and he’s losing his cool. All the other species of fish are chill but Mr. Bone is literally trying to get out of the tank and chase down some grub.
http://youtu.be/PfFX337lU_M
Ok, that’s fun but it also tells you a lot about this fish and his eating habits. He’s ready to stick his face anywhere there’s food and he wants to be there first. A good lesson here, for example, is how to fish to a school of bonefish. The lead fish in a school will always be the biggest. He’s the one you want to catch, right? When you drop a fly in front of that school, this is the attitude your going to see when they come after it. If you want to catch that lead fish you had better
Read More »Information VS Knowledge
By Louis Cahill
A wise friend of mine always says, “Information plus experience, equals knowledge.”
It’s a concept as simple as it is brilliant. A teacher can give you information, but until you have the experience and the context to have real understanding, you don’t have the knowledge. True knowledge will always trump information. That’s just common sense.
I see a lot of anglers who get stalled in the gap between information and knowledge. Anglers who catch a lot of fish with the information they have but could catch a lot more if they really understood what they are doing. These folks are stuck at an intermediate level in the sport, and some spend their whole lives there. I’m going to give you some examples of specific ways this happens, but understand, it applies to every aspect of fly fishing…and everything else in life, truth be told. This is a little on the esoteric side for a fly fishing tip, I admit.
MY GOAL IS TO TRY AND HELP THOSE INTERMEDIATE ANGLERS LEARN A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT FLY FISHING, WHICH WILL HELP THEM REACH THE NEXT LEVEL.
A classic example of this is the subject of leaders. I know lots of anglers who obsess about leader formulas. I think anyone who is advanced in the sport knows that the leader is incredibly important. Arguably the most important piece of tackle in the system. I’d personally rather fish the wrong fly on the right leader than the other way around. That said, I do not believe in leader formulas.
Sure, if you have a leader that works in a familiar fishing situation, you may never need to stray from that formula. As long as you always fish the same way, with the same type of flies, and the conditions never change, and the fish never get any smarter. If, however, you understand how a leader functions and how to
Read More »Tenkara Presentation, Really “Fishing” The Fly
By Tim Harris
One fly, but many ways to fish it.
In a play of words, it is said that “tenkara” means “ten colors” since the kanji is the same – テンカ ラ. This means ten tenkara fishers have ten different styles of fishing. This could be that they use ten different flies or that they fish ten different techniques. Either way, tenkara is more about presentation and confidence in the fly than it is about the actual fly used, sort of like steelhead fishing.
Last season, and this season so far, I have used one fly only but have employed different techniques to catch fish in different conditions. I believe these techniques are not only applicable to tenkara but also to standard western fly fishing in small streams where you can probably present any fly with the right technique and get fish to eat.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE BASIC TECHNIQUES THAT I’VE INCORPORATED OVER THE THE LAST YEARS TO CATCH TROUT CONSISTENTLY WITH TENKARA.
1) Dead Drift – This one is easy enough and is the standard nymphing or dry fly technique common in western fly fishing and is usually how I start any given stretch of water. Tenkara has the advantage over a standard fly rod in that you can get a true drag-free dead drift since often no line is on the water, which must be mended, only the fly and tippet are in the current. Cast upstream or quartering upstream of a trout or potential trout holding location, keeping the line off the water as much as possible. As the fly drifts downstream, slowly lift the rod to keep contact with the fly and keep the fly drifting naturally. This can be done with the fly in the water or on the surface, depending on the type of pattern you are using. If you stick with one fly, like I do, you can dry out and dress or put on a fresh kebari to keep it on the surface if there is a rising trout you are going after.
2) Pulsing the Fly – This is one of my favorite techniques and goes against all convention of western fly fishing where the dead drift rules. Yet how often is a bug just tumbling with the current. Often they may be struggling to swim or move within that current, and this is where pulsing comes into play. Cast quartering upstream again, but this time
Read More »Light, Composition and Action
THERE ARE A LOT OF ELEMENTS TO A SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPH. MANY ARE TECHNICAL, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT ARE AESTHETIC.
A technically perfect image is worthless if it doesn’t capture the eye, and the imagination, of the viewer. Unfortunately, most new photographers get so wrapped up in the science of photography that they totally miss the art. There are as many aesthetic choices to be made when shooting a photo as when building a house but a hell of a lot less time to make them. It takes time and experience to master designing a photo on the fly but to help you get started there are three element so crucial to a great photo that they deserve your attention every time you lift the camera. They are: light, composition and action.
Light
Light sets the mood. When you sit down for a romantic dinner do you turn on the overhead fluorescents? No, you light a candle. When the police interrogate a suspect do they do it by candle light? Probably not. Of all the choices you make, light has the biggest impact on the emotional tone of the finished photograph.
You may be thinking, “How is light a choice?” I have been a studio photographer for more years than I like to discuss. In the studio I control my lighting by moving the position of my lights and changing their intensity. Shooting on the river you don’t have that luxury but you do still have choices. You can’t move the sun, but you can
Read More »Getting The Wife On The Water
By Rob Parkins
I have not been able to teach either of my wives to fish.
No, not two wives at the same time–that is illegal. I mean my former and current wives. Even though I am a guide, they just won’t listen to me. Obviously, neither do I or I would be explaining the whole wife situation. I believe that it is very difficult for a man to teach his better half how to fish.
That being said, here are a few things that I have learned after many years in the boat with couples.
1. Get her a casting lesson. You can’t teach her, at least without an argument. Stu Apte is the only guy I know who taught his wife to cast, and Lefty said he did it wrong. Sign her up for an Orvis 101 course or go to your local shop, they should be a great resource and have basic fly fishing classes.
2. Hire a guide. Then stay home. Here’s the deal, as a guide I have seen it a hundred times. Guy comes in and says, “I want you to focus on her today. I know what I’m doing and I just want to see her catch fish.” By lunch time you are pissed that the guide is tying on the right flies for her, putting the boat in position so she can have the best shot at the fish and she is catching all the fish. Then you start correcting everything the guide taught her. Guides both hate this and relish the fact that he can silently put you in your place for thinking you know it all.
3. Make sure she has the right equipment. Don’t use the fact that she is getting into fishing as an excuse to upgrade your gear while giving her your old stuff. As you know, the proper gear makes all the difference. Giving her your old glass rod with a 10-year old fly line is only going to make her work harder and not enjoy the sport. Also, if you take her to a shop to buy a rod, let her cast it and form her own opinion, not what you want, or feel is the correct choice. The weight, grip size or a number of other factors may be the reason for her decision. Hell, it just may be the color she likes.
4. If she needs waders, get her ones that fit. Same as you, the day will be miserable wearing waders that don’t fit right. Also, no neoprene or other non-breathable materials because they were on sale.
5. Don’t buy her a fishing outfit. Seriously, DO NOT do it. Men have a shitty fashion sense. You get her something
Read More »The Only 6 Things You Need To Know About Fly Casting: Video
By Louis Cahill
There are just six thing you need to know to be a great fly caster.
If you’ve been fly fishing for a while, you may have heard of the 5 essentials. It’s a great list of the fundamental requirements for a good fly cast. IMHO, there is a sixth. If you know, and practice, these six things you will see your fly cast improve exponentially.
I have written in detail about these before. I recommend that you read that article but today, I’m going to go over the six essentials in this video. Commit these to memory and practice them off the water. This will help you self diagnose casting problems, make tight efficient loops, cast further and make better presentations.
LEARN THE ONLY 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BE A GREAT FLY CASTER!
Read More »Perfect Moments, Bahamas Edition
OUR RECENT TRIP TO SOUTH ANDROS BAHAMAS WAS AMAZING FOR MANY REASONS. GREAT FISHING, MAKING NEW FRIENDS AND SEEING OLD ONES.
Fishing cool new rods and tying great new flies. We even had a couple of bona fide adventures. We laughed until it hurt, ate until it hurt and, yes, drank until it hurt. I came home with a head full of snapshots that will not soon fade. It got me thinking. Since we practice catch and release, what is it that we bring home from a fishing trip?
In “Swimming To Cambodia” Spaulding Gray talks about having a perfect moment. An experience so culminating, that nothing else seems to exist but that moment. He can’t leave Thailand until he has one. He finally does and it involves Thai stick. I like that idea of the perfect moment and ever since Spaulding made me aware of it, I keep my eyes open and try to spot them.
I thought I found my perfect moment about mid week of the Bahamas trip. A subset of perfect moments that I’m fond of is “perfect shots.” By shot I mean shots at fish, not photos and I had one on Tuesday. Several things go into the making of a perfect shot. Most important, it has to be visual. I have to see the whole story unfold. I have to perform to the best of my ability. There’s no compromising on that one. The fish has to do his part, mainly eat the fly but he shouldn’t be a pushover. Of lesser importance but still of value
Read More »Game of Bones, 5 Common Bonefish Behaviors and Successful Strategies
By Louis Cahill
Understanding these 5 common bonefish behaviors will help you catch a lot more fish.
I love bonefishing! There’s a shocker. Every species has unique characteristics which make them fun or challenging to catch. The chess game of feeding a sipping brown trout, the mix of finesse and raw power required to boat a tarpon and the zen of swinging a fly to a fresh steelhead are the parts of the game that hold the reward. One of my favorite games to play is the one we play with bonefish.
They don’t have the power of a tarpon or the mystique of a permit, the romance of a steelhead or the selectiveness of an educated trout, but they remain a challenging and rewarding species. More than the pursuit of any other fish, bonefishing is a game of strategy and tactics. Their vigilance and behavior require the perfect presentation at the exact right time. For me, it never gets old.
I had a day on my last trip to the Bahamas that was just about perfect. We were fishing deep in the backcountry on a high tide. Our guide poled the boat way back onto a flat that was sprinkled with mangroves. Single mangroves, clumps and mangrove islands, sometimes with just enough space to push the boat through. Puffy clouds blew over our heads.
We’d use the mangroves for cover and take sniper-like shots at fish as they approached open areas. The fish would appear and disappear with the sunlight. Everything had to be timed perfectly to get the hookup, and once you did you’d better be ready for a fight. Keeping those fish out of the mangroves takes skill.
That’s just one of the endless scenarios you’ll find when bonefishing. The beauty of the game is that anything can happen. Bonefish can exhibit bizarre behavior and a wise angler expects the unexpected. That said, there are five very common behaviors you will see from bonefish and knowing how to present the fly in these situations will catch you a lot of fish. I’ll give you some guidelines but remember, it’s all about reading the fish’s behavior and adapting. Don’t be afraid to improvise. That’s what makes it fun.
5 COMMON BONEFISH BEHAVIORS AND SOME SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATIONS.
Schooling
It’s very likely that you caught, or will catch, your first bonefish from a school. I’m not talking about small schools that you see roaming the flats but big schools of hundreds or even thousands of fish milling around using their numbers for safety. As you progress in your bonefish education, you get bored with fishing schools but for anglers new to bonefishing they are a golden opportunity. Fishing schools gives you the opportunity to develop skills like the strip set and fish fighting by hooking a lot of fish in a short time.
When they are schooled up, bonefish become more confident. They also become competitive, which gives you big edge. When presenting the fly to big schools
Read More »Dos and Don’ts For Guided Fishing
“I have done enough guiding with enough people of all types that I sometimes cheer for the fish.”
My friend Kirk Deeter, writing on the Trout Unlimited blog April 25th, threw out the bold headline: “Guides: Gatekeepers or Profiteers”. There’s no mystery where Kirk stands on the subject. He goes on to write, “I think the sun rises and sets on the fly fishing world where guides collectively say it does. They are stewards of their rivers. They are the innovators, and the teachers. And a good guide is, for fly fishing and trout conservation, worth his or her weight in gold.”
I agree with Kirk completely but it’s apparently a controversial topic. Not everyone loves fishing guides and it got me wondering why. Most of my friends are, or have been, fishing guides. I am not, but I hear the stories and I remember having a few rough days with guides back in the day. I mentioned it to Kirk and this was his response.
“You ask a great question here. Let me put it to you this way. I have done enough guiding with enough people of all types that I sometimes cheer for the fish. Seriously. You can say I said that. On the other hand, nothing lights me up more than sharing a passion with someone who gets it, appreciates it, and really shows some genuine class and enthusiasm. A great guide and client team should be like a Bwana and his tracker… two people on one mission… bound by respect.”
I reached out to a few more friends in the guiding business and asked them, from their perspective, where things go wrong. I decided to make a list. I figured, like Rodney King said, “why can’t we all just get along?”
People hire guides for a host of different reasons but they all want the same thing, a great day on the water. Unfortunately, some days end with neither the guide or the client feeling all that good about it. Malfunctions in the client-guide relationship can spoil what should be a positive experience for everyone. Fortunately these malfunctions can be easily avoided. With that in mind, here is a list of dos and don’ts for your day of guided fishing. Follow these simple guidelines and, even if the fishing is slow, you’ll walk away feeling like you got your money’s worth.
A quick note: I use a great deal of male pronouns. In no way do I mean any disrespect the the many talented and hard working female guides out there. I’m just trying to keep this under 2000 words.
DOS
•Do be enthusiastic
Bring a positive attitude. Have fun, relax. No one fishes well when they’re tense.
•Do be clear about your expectations
Tell your guide right up front what you want out of your day. If you just want to chill and take photos, say so. Want to be a better caster at the end of the day, no problem. Want to catch
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