Hook Sets Are Free
By Justin Pickett
A FLUFFY, WHITE INDICATOR IS DRIFTING MERRILY ALONG THE CURRENT WHEN SUDDENLY IT IS YANKED FROM SITE, ONLY TO EMERGE A SECOND LATER TO CONTINUE ITS VOYAGE DOWNSTREAM BEFORE BEING LIFTED FROM THE WATER’S SURFACE.
Surprised, I look back at my buddy. “What was that?”
To which he replies, “What?”
“Why didn’t you set the hook?”
He came back at me with what many anglers often do in this situation, “I thought it was bottom.”
He THOUGHT he had just been momentarily stuck on the bottom of the streambed, so he didn’t feel the need in ruining his drift by setting the hook, when, in reality, he likely just missed out on hooking up with a trout.
Thinking and knowing are two very different things. Unless you can physically see your fly/flies drifting through the column, you certainly can’t assume that your fly is snagged on the bottom each time your indicator bobs under the water. So what should you do?
Set the hook!
Read More »Tie the Chard Choker Permit Fly
Permit fishing is as exacting as it gets.
When asked to list the top ten reasons permit will refuse a fly, Bruce Chard listed, among other things: a butterfly in Indonesia flapped its wings and because that’s what they do.
Getting a shot a a tailing permit is a test of an anglers resolve. Everything must be done perfectly. Even if everything is done perfectly there’s no guarantee of an eat. The first thing the angler must do is choose the right fly.
For tailing permit in shallow water the Chard Choker is a good choice. Check out the video to learn to tie this killer permit fly.
Read More »4 Ways To Catch More Tailwater Trout
By Kyle Wilkinson
If the arrival of winter does not signal an end to your fishing, chances are good you’re going to be spending some time on a tailwater in the months to come.
While the issue of dams and rivers is clearly a topic for another day, the fact remains that dams have created some pretty incredible wintertime trout playgrounds for those willing to endure frozen fingers and guides. Aside from the fact that tailwater fisheries are known to grow incredibly large, in most places they are also known to grow incredibly intelligent trout. The reasons for this are two-fold. 1) The fish have a TON of natural food for them due to the consistent water temps and flows created by said dam. 2) Tailwaters typically receive quite a bit of angling pressure and as such, most of the trout swimming here are going to have a PhD in spotting a poor drift. Does this mean then that catching a tailwater trout or two should be a bonus, while heading home with a skunk on your back should be the norm? Absolutely not! Remember, big trout have to eat all the time to maintain their size and as such, are going to remain very catchable as long as we put the odds in our favor.
HERE ARE FOUR TIPS THAT I RELIGIOUSLY LIVE BY WHEN FISHING FOR TAILWATER TROUT. IF YOU DON’T ALREADY, PUT THESE TO USE NEXT TIME YOU HIT THE WATER AND I THINK YOU’LL BE PLEASANTLY DELIGHTED WITH THE RESULTS.
1. Tighten Up Flies. This is a big one for me and is something I promise will help put fish in the net. Do this: hold your hand out in front of you and make a fist. Now extend your thumb and pinky out in opposite directions. That distance between your two digits is the spacing to use for your flies. Depending on the size of your hands, you’re probably looking at 8-10” and this is perfect! I’m well aware this will seem very strange if you’re used to fishing your flies 18” apart (like I see people doing all the time out on the water) but I encourage you to give it a try. Remember, a tailwater trout -–particularly in the winter–is rarely going to chase down a meal. Giving that fish as many options as possible directly in front of their face is going to increase your chances of catching it dramatically!
Use Split Shot AND Putty. This is another non-negotiable for me on the technical tailwaters of Colorado. When rigging up in the morning, I’ll place one split shot 8-10” above my first fly– usually somewhere between a size 2-4. After this, I will use tungsten putty to make all my additional weight adjustments throughout the day. Using this type of putty couldn’t be easier and allows me to dial in my weight to a much greater degree than I could by pinching multiple split shots on and off my tippet throughout the day. When I come to a location that requires more weight, I’ll simply pinch off a bit of putty, flatten it between my thumb an index finger, and then roll directly on top of my split shot. Make a nice round ball and you’ll be good to go. If I realize the putty I added
Read More »Last Cast Bonefish
Bonefishing, for me, is the purest form of the drug.
I’m just returning from the first of three G&G Bonefish Schools in the Bahamas. This trip was more of a reunion than a school, with better than half of the anglers returning for the second or third time. I’m feeling pretty spoiled having spent a week in my favorite place, doing what I love with great friends. It’s incredibly rewarding to see these guys grow from complete beginners to really accomplished anglers.
We had a great week on South Andros. The island was spared any serious damage from hurricane Mathew and the fishery was invigorated after the storm. November is a great time for bonefishing in the Bahamas. The rains and the cooling weather bring big fish up from deep water and it’s a great time to land a trophy. This year we also had the super moon. The big tides make wade fishing scarcer but they bring out the big fish as well. We had one day of tough weather but the rest of the week was wonderful.
My friend, and G&G contributor, Owen Plair joined us on this week. A rockstar redfish guide from Beaufort, SC, this was Owen’s first time fishing the Bahamas. He was like a kid in a candy store and put his keen eyes and casting skills to work right away, landing a nice bonefish on the first cast of the trip. Several mornings, in fact, it seemed like we were on fish as quickly as we could strip our line off the reel.
Owen managed a one-in-a-million hookup on a big barracuda with his bonefish rod, while wading. The fly lodged perfectly in the corner of the cuda’s mouth and, after an aggressive fish on an eight weight, he tailed the fish expertly and, after a few photos, released it. That’s a second chance Bahamian cuda seldom see, as they are favorite table fare in spite of the risk of fish poisoning.
I love the art of targeting a hunting fish with a fly.
Read More »Catch-and-Release Practices for Small Fish
Handle the little guys with care if you want to catch them when they are big.
Catch-and-release practices among fly anglers are probably the best they have ever been. In part due to social media and the popularity of ideas like, “Keep ‘Em Wet.” More times than not, when you see a photo of someone holding a trophy size fish they have it cradled gently in the water. That’s great, but what about the little guys?
All of those trophy fish were small once and in order to get big they had to run a gauntlet of anglers and predators. Although there has certainly been improvement in the way the average angler handles fish, when I see one taking a beating, it’s usually a little guy. The thing is, these are the fish which are most vulnerable.
There are several common ways these small fish are mishandled.
The most common is time out of the water. While most anglers will net a big fish and let it rest in the net while they remove the hook, a net isn’t usually required for a small fish. Often they are simply snatched up to chest level by the leader. They are usually still pretty green so they squirm and make removing the hook a challenge and often spend way too much time out of the water.
There are a couple of other things that can go wrong when
Read More »Reece’s North Park Nasty
By Bob Reece
Terrestrial season is a high point in my angling year.
Some of the fisheries that I frequent require highly accurate imitations to achieve ultimate success. Others do not. For those bodies of water I created my North Park Nasty.
The marriage of buggy and buoyant always brings a smile to my face. This pattern has both. The simple use of a grizzly hackle and Sexi Floss legs create the underwater profile of this pattern. 2mm tying foam forms the top surface, greatly bolstering the ability of this bug to float.
With the chaos that forms the schedules of most tiers everyday lives, free time is a valuable commodity. The North Park Nasty compliments this fact by requiring a very minimal amount of time to create. In addition to this, the techniques used in its creation lend themselves to tiers of all skill levels.
When fishing this bugified creation, I keep it tight to the bank or available structure. While I sometimes run a small dropper off it, I prefer to fish it solo. Despite its larger profile
Read More »How to Fly Fish Straight Sections of Trout Water
It’s your lucky day. You’ve somehow managed to get away from your busy work schedule and find time to spend a few days fly fishing for beautiful cutthroat trout out west.
You’ve brought several trout to hand fishing a series of S-bends, and you feel like a hero. Life is good, right? Unfortunately, the hot fishing is about to slow significantly as you round the bend in the river and notice the river flows straight as an arrow for the next several hundred yards. There’s very little mid-stream obstructions and no well defined current seams. Furthermore, the water depth is consistent bank to bank. You fish for a while, working your way upstream blind casting, but you’re not having any luck. You find yourself getting frustrated because you can’t figure out where the trout should be holding, and there’s no rising fish. What should you do?
When I find myself in this situation, I focus on presenting my flies against the banks. When there’s no obvious current seams or in-stream structure providing depth change or current buffers, cutthroat trout will generally prefer holding close to the banks. The water current running along the banks causes friction, and this friction slows down the current speed making it a much more efficient place hold and feed. Because all trout prefer to
Read More »Trophy Flies
By Justin Pickett
AS FISHERMEN, AND FISHERWOMEN, WE ALL KNOW THE URGE TO GET THAT ALL-TOO-COVETED PHOTO OF OUR LATEST AND GREATEST CATCH. THE “GRIP N’ GRIN.” THE “KLEWEIN.” THE “LIP GRIP.” THE “LAP DANCE.”
Call it what you want, it’s not always possible. Whether it was because the fish wasn’t cooperative, you had too much Gink all over your hands, you left your camera at home, or you just wanted to release the fish as quickly as possible and skipped the photo-op altogether.
Sure, you’ll have the memory of that catch, or that epic day on the water, but sometimes the imagery gets lost. What I’ve been doing recently has been a great, and fun, way to remember my most memorable, and greatest, days on the water.
I don’t have a photo of every great fish, or a video documentary of every awesome day on the water. Documenting can take a lot of effort, time, and money. Things most of us would rather invest in the fishing. Instead, I’ve been saving the flies from those great catches, or those awesome days on the water. It’s just another way to glorify a great memory, and enjoy that feeling again.
Over the past few years I’ve collected flies from the most notable events in my fly fishing career. Their hook-points are buried in the shade of a lamp, made for me by my mother, which sits on my fly tying desk. It’s made from an old Knob Creek bourbon bottle. I’m a big fan. It honors milestones such as my first trout over twenty inches, the first trout I caught on a fly that I tied, and my first trophy brown trout.
image1Not only do I keep flies
Read More »The Cajun Spey Waltz
Snow is blowing in around the corners of my glasses and forty degree water is slowly making its way into my waders.
I haven’t seen the sun for several days and the river is full of chrome bright steelhead. It doesn’t feel much like Louisiana. Never the less the tune that keeps dancing in my head and eventually to my lips is an old Cajun waltz, “The Big Mamu”.
I have a deep and conflicted love for Louisiana. I almost moved there once. Like I said, I’m conflicted, but of the many things I love about the place, maybe I love the music best. The Blues, the Hot Jazz, the Zydeco and the beautiful and haunting traditional Cajun music. The sound of the accordion, the fiddle and the washboard pull at my heart strings. I don’t know why but I loved it the first time I heard it. But what does it have to do with steelheading? Apparently, everything.
I love Spey casting but I don’t get to do as much of it as I’d like and consequently it takes me a while to get into the rhythm. There are three basic parts to a Spey cast. The anchor placement, the sweep and the cast. Inevitably, when my casting goes to hell it’s the timing of my sweep that’s the problem. I’ve spent so much time developing speed and strength for my saltwater casting that it takes a while for me to remember that Spey casting is the exact opposite. Slow and easy.
I’m not a Spey Guru so I’ll keep it simple. The sweep is the part of the cast where you form a D loop and load the rod. Both very important. There is a direct relationship between the height of the rod tip and the speed of the sweep. As the rod tip is lowered the sweep must be faster to aerialize the head. A higher rod tip and slower sweep is easier to control, so that’s what I shoot for but I inevitably start to rush it and my casting gets sloppy. A friend told me to try and count to three during my sweep. I tried but I still rushed it and that got me thinking about how to count to three at a consistent speed. I struggled with it and then it dawned on me, the Cajun waltz.
The physicality of the music is perfect. It’s dance music, your body instinctively responds. The gentle, one-two-three, of the
Read More »2 Alternatives for Attaching Your Split-Shot
YOU’VE BEEN FISHING HARD ALL DAY LONG SEARCHING FOR THAT PERFECT HONEY HOLE. YOU KNOW THE ONE I’M TALKING ABOUT, IT’S THE ONE THAT HOLDS THAT TROPHY TROUT THAT KEEPS HAUNTING YOU IN YOUR DREAMS.
It’s getting late, your tired, and you know you should be heading back, but there’s a bend just up ahead, and your curiosity keeps pushes you forward with those powerful words, “This could be it, just see what’s on the other side”. Sure enough, as you round the corner you lay your eyes on a picture perfect run, offering everything a trophy trout could desire. You get into position, make the cast, mend your line, and begin following your strike indicator with your rod tip, when out of now where, it shoots under the surface like it was just attached to a iron dumb bell. You set the hook and feel the heavy weight of the fish thrashing its big head, and you’re immediately on cloud 9. The adrenaline rush doesn’t last long though. It’s quickly replaced by painful heart ache when you feel your tippet snap, and watch your rod go straight. The excitement is all over…, you won’t land that trophy fish or even be graced with a quick glimpse of it for that matter. The only memory you’ll have to remember that trophy trout by is the few aggressive head shakes. You bring your fly-less rig to hand and find the tippet broke at the split-shot.
Has this ever happened to you before?
If you attach your split shot too tight on your tippet it can weaken its strength significantly. Most anglers try to avoid this by tying a triple surgeon’s or blood knot above their tandem nymph rig, and attach the split-shot above that. The knot keeps the split-shot from sliding down to the flies during fly casting, and it only has to be snugly secured, which limits the chances of it damaging the tippet. It’s not 100% full proof, but it’s the most popular method used by experienced nymph fisherman. To limit the break offs during fierce fights, anglers should get in the habit of regularly checking their nymph rig for