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 »8 Fly Patterns For Southern Appalachian Brook Trout
My good friend Dan Flynn is the man when it comes to hike-ins for Southern Appalachian Brook Trout.
I’ve never met a fly angler that enjoys bushwhacking through walls of thick impenetrable rhododendrons all day long, more than Dan. Randomly pick any thin line of blue on a Delorme’s Georgia or North Carolina topography map, and chances are Dan’s thoroughly explored the high elevation tributary.
Most anglers I know wouldn’t waste their time and energy for such a small catch, but that’s where most anglers go wrong in their thinking. It’s not about the size of the catch that’s the reward. Instead it’s the aura of true living that comes over you exploring high mountain streams in complete solitude. It’s the small doses of adrenaline that you feel pumping through your veins as you hike up a steep slippery waterfall to the next plunge pool. It’s the anticipation and excitement that you get as you peer over a boulder or log jam and spot a colorful native feeding on the surface. Decades of your life seem to roll back here and the kid in you is reborn. Make a trip to one of these crown jewel brook trout streams and your soul will feel cleansed and reenergized afterwards.
Southern Appalachian Brook Trout Feeding in the Current. Photo By: Louis Cahill
The best thing about brook trout fishing is that you don’t have to carry your entire fly fishing arsenal of gear with you. A fly box filled with a handful of brightly colored dry and wet flies will almost always get the job done. The biggest factor for success is
It’s Ok to Ask for Help on the Water
A lot of fly fisherman of both sexes get a little hesitant when it comes to holding hands or locking arms with people that aren’t kin. Don’t be Haphephobia when you’re wading in and around trout water that’s challenging to navigate, in remote areas off the beaten path or during cold weather. Making the mistake of trying to do everything on your own when you know darn well you need assistance can turn out to be a very dumb decision and put you in harms way.
Read More »My Tenkara Fix
By Justin Pickett
We had hardly settled into the lodge in Patagonia and already I’m itching to wet a line.
There is a pond in front of the main lodge, with a small stream meandering through the backside of the property, as well as the Chimehuin River just a hundred yards away, through the trees. To say that I’m dying to float a fly on either of these pieces of water is an understatement.
My clothes are still in my big Simms duffel. All of my gear is strewn about the floor of mine and Louis’s cabin. Dinner is being prepared and most everyone else is drinking wine and relaxing while enjoying the sunset. After all, we’ve been traveling for the past twenty or more hours, making connections and hiking from gate to gate. Apparently the airport in Buenos Aires is going through some “renovations”, requiring what seemed like a ten mile hike from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. Sheesh! Not to mention the long drive through some amazing landscape required to get to the lodge. So needless to say, to those that were relaxing on the porch, I probably seemed like that crazy first-timer who’s just jones-ing to catch his first trout in Patagonia, and I’m not afraid to admit that’s exactly who I was.
I started grabbing fly boxes and getting out my rods while I was explaining to Louis what my intentions were. I could’ve cared less about wine and dinner at this point and time. First off, I’m in freaking Patagonia to fish! Second, I’m a beer guy.
Halfway through rigging up my rod and reel Louis made a great suggestion. “I think that little stream would be a perfect place to use the Tenkara rod.”
What a great idea! The stream
Read More »Wood is Good
Anytime I come across any sort of wood on the water trout fishing, whether it’s a log jam, isolated root ball, or low overhanging tree, I always take the time to fish around it.
Wood offers trout cover and safety which are two very important elements that trout look for when they’re deciding where to position themselves in a river or stream. Wood also in many cases offers current breaks, eddies, and soft seams, that allow trout to feed easily and safely out of the calorie burning swift current. Furthermore, there’s an incredible amount of food that falls off wood cover and hangs out amongst wood, that very often ends up in the stomachs of trout. All of the above make wood prime habitat for trout.
Did I mention that brown trout love to hangout around wood? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught nice brown trout around wood, especially when deep water is located near by. And don’t even get me started about how productive it is fishing flesh flies in Alaska around all the salmon carcass loaded wood snags. Back in the day when I guided there, we used to take all our freshly filleted salmon carcasses at the end of the day and dump them in wood snags in the river. Overtime it would
Read More »8 Tips On Photographing Fish Without Harming Them
You can take better photos of the fish you catch and still practice good Catch-and-Release.
Is the fly fishing media turning anglers off to catch-and-release? I received a pretty agitated email form a reader the other day. Thankfully, he was not responding to anything written here on G&G but from this excerpt you can see he was pretty fired up and honestly, so am I.
“All of the blogs and articles I am beginning to see pop up everywhere telling me that catch and release is harmful to the fish, and I’m doing it wrong, and I’m killing all the poor fragile little
fishies, and I should never take the fish out of the water, and blah, Bah, BLAH!!!! AAARRRGGGGHHH!!! Are you kidding me? Now I can’t even take a quick cheesy grip and grin photo with a fish without being ‘that guy?’ ”
Our friend suggested that he releases 99% of the fish he catches and I gather from his email that his heart is in the right place. I have no way of knowing how good his actual catch-and-release practices are but he’s clearly trying to do the right thing. It’s also clear that he’s feeling a little harassed.
Catch-and-release is a topic that’s dear to my heart and it’s been a while since I have written about it. I thought I’d take this opportunity to try and put a friendlier face on what the fly fishing media is trying to accomplish.
THIS IS NOT A SERMON!
So what’s going on in the fly fishing media?
I imagine that a lot of writers in the field feel the same way I do. We spend a lot of time as ambassadors of the sport and we introduce a lot of new folks to the water we love, and share. While I firmly believe in that mission, I do feel morally obliged to do everything in power to not screw it up for everyone. It’s a topic I lose sleep over. If I have a hand in creating more, and more effective, anglers then I am duty bound to make them more responsible anglers.
So the result is that you, the reader, get preached to a whole bunch about how you handle fish. Recently a lot of that preaching has been aimed at demonizing the photographing of fish. That’s not really fair. Do a lot fish get injured in the process of saying cheese? You bet they do, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you are not going to photograph a fish, and every fish does not need to be photographed, then it’s always best to release it without taking it from the water or even handling it. I use the Rising Crocodile toll for just this purpose. But it’s not realistic to expect anglers to release every fish without a photo. That’s the bargain that makes C&R work.
Rather than take the, currently popular, stance that you can’t photograph fish without killing them, I’m going to give you some pointers that will not only help you protect fish but take better photos.
8 TIPS FOR TAKING GREAT PHOTOS WHILE PRACTICING GOOD CATCH-AND-RELEASE
Read More »The Avalon Fly- Video
Wherever you find permit, you’ll find the Avalon.
This innovative crab pattern is a staple in most saltwater boxes. The Avalon made its name as a permit fly but it works well for bonefish and likely many other saltwater species. It has a life-like action and sinks fast to imitate a crab diving for cover. Thats the action that permit love to see.
Chase Pritchett of American Made Flies is back to show us the tie.Tie this fly in a variety of sizes, especially small. The original calls for orange rubber legs but Chase likes the yellow.
Watch this video and learn to tie the Avalon permit fly.
Read More »The Bowen’s Baitfish Minnow
HYBRID, WHITE AND STRIPED BASS ARE AGGRESSIVE PREDATORS AND CATCHING THEM HIGH IN THE WATER COLUMN CAN BE A WHOLE LOT OF FUN.
These large bass are found in lakes all over the southeast. Early in the morning these feisty bullies will push schools of baitfish to the surface and feed with abandon. This presents a great opportunity for the fly angler.
The water explodes as bid schools gorge themselves and you would think that any fly you put in the zone would get shredded but not so. Just like trout, keyed in on a hatch, these fish can be surprisingly selective. Fishing the right fly at the right depth is crucial. Anglers tossing top water baits are frequently frustrated with refusals, not realizing that the fish are feeding several inches below the surface. The splashes they see are the fish’s tails as they turn and dive.
Andy Bowen, owner of The Cohutta Fishing Co, has this scenario dialed in. Andy fishes a simple but effective baitfish pattern on an intermediate line. The intermediate line carries the fly to just the right depth and the silhouette of the fly triggers the predatory response. Andy generally out fishes the gear guys with this setup.
Here’s Andy to show you how he ties the Bowen’s Baitfish Minnow.
Read More »Keeping Your Head Straight Catches Steelhead
I just got back from hosting two groups of anglers on this year’s Deschutes River Steelhead Camp.
This trip is always a highlight of my year. Because it’s just so much fun and because there is nothing I love more than swinging flies for steelhead. Camping on a beautiful river and sharing some water and whisky with like-minded anglers would be awesome even if it didn’t involve one of my favorite fish species.
Steelheading is a unique fly fishing experience, especially when done with a two-hand rod and a swung fly. It offers plenty of challenge and technique, even when the fishing is stellar. It’s definitely about quality over quantity and if you are the kind of angler who needs constant feedback, the biggest challenge can be in your head.
I’ve always said the reason steelheaders are so cranky is because they spend so much time staring at the water thinking about all the bad things they’ve done. It’s funny but all too true. We all know the voice in our head that, when denied a pull for a while, starts to chant, “You Suck! You Suck! Yes You Do!”
For some anglers, and especially for beginners, this can be a real problem. Not just because it will melt your spey cast down but because it’s no fun. The best way I know to catch fish is to fish with confidence and if you lose your confidence you’re on a slippery slope to skunk town. Trust me, I’ve been there.
One of the coolest things about the Steelhead Camp is that I get to see a lot of anglers catch their first steelhead. The Deschutes is a great place for that because the fishing is so good. While the fishing this year was good by almost any standards, it was off for the Deschutes.
The generation of steelhead which are returning to the river for the first time this year faced some rough conditions. These fish, known as “single salt” fish, usually make up the largest part of the run but this year they returned in smaller numbers. It’s kind of a good news / bad news situation. While numbers are lower than normal, average size is larger. Again, quality over quantity.
I’m really proud of all of my anglers, who kept their attitudes straight, fished hard and had fun. In the end, all but one caught fish, but several paid their dues getting it done. That, of course, makes it that much sweeter. The other good thing about the camp is that anglers have great support, both technical advice and communal encouragement. It makes a big difference.
HERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN YOU’RE NOT CATCHING STEELHEAD.
Read More »If The River Was Whisky
“If the river was whisky and I was a diving duck, I’d dive to the bottom and never come up.” – Muddy Waters.
Whisky and fly fishing just seem to go together. I’m certainly guilty of carrying a flask of rye on the river from time to time. I toasted my first Pacific Steelhead with a nice sip of Red Breast, courtesy of my buddy Jeff Hickman. I confess, I’m having a bit of Ardbeg as I write this.
I joined some friends for a weekend in North Carolina this fall and found my buddy Mike had just shy of two hundred bottles of scotch whisky behind the bar. Most of them way better than I’m used to. I slept like a baby in my hammock, on the porch that night and woke to find that I had stuffed my keys and wallet into my boots. I only do that when I have the suspicion that I’m on my way to doing something stupid.
Most of the river drinking I’ve experienced isn’t that classy. I remember fondly one incredibly cold day on the Oak Orchard with Kent Klewein and Charlie Murphy when we passed a bottle of cheap bourbon against the cold. The three of us shared a long run, the guy at the head taking a drink and tossing the bottle into the river to float down to the next. As we stepped down the run, the last to drink would walk back to the head and start the parade again.
At this point I probably sound like a stumbling drunk, but I really don’t drink that much. Especially when I’m fishing. I’m either not a good enough drunk or a good enough angler to do both well at the same time. I have one buddy who carries his own cooler on the boat and drinks two dozen beers on a float. He fishes just as well on his last cast as the first, and he’s damned good. Not everyone is like that.
Things got interesting on the boat one afternoon when my buddy passed out cold on the oars.
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