Focus On Steelhead Technique
By Louis Cahill
Here are 5 jam-packed articles to help you catch more steelhead.
If you want to catch steelhead on the swing, you have to have solid technique and stick to your guns. Often, you don’t get a lot of feedback from the fish so you have to know what will work and stick to it. That can be tough, especially if you are new to the game, but even experienced anglers can falter when fishing is slow.
Below are links to five articles which focus on steelhead techniques that produce fish. Get yourself a cup of coffee and dig in for a nuts-and-bolts steelhead download. These tips should help make your next steelhead trip a success.
Read More »“I’m Down To Seven Patterns Fuckit”
By John Byron
MY FISHING FRIEND RON WINN SAYS THIS: “I LOVE TO TIE FLIES. I LOVE TO FLY FISH. IF I HAD TO PICK ONE… I’D PROBABLY TIE FLIES.”
I’m kinda there too.
So when I started chasing bonefish a few years ago, I sopped up patterns like a sponge and tied a gazillion flies. Lots from Lefty’s book on saltwater flies. Many/most of Dick Brown’s bonefish patterns. ‘Five essential flies for the Bahamas.’ Drew Chicone. Aaron Adams. Tied them all. Took them on trips.
And came home each time realizing that about 98-percent of what I’d tied stayed in the fly box. So, as a matter of self-discipline (weak) and determination (getting stronger), I’ve started to cut back on what I tie and what I carry.
I’M DOWN TO SEVEN PATTERNS:
Read More »The V Grip
HOPEFULLY YOU’VE GOTTEN COMFORTABLE WITH ADDING THE WRIST SNAP TO YOUR CAST. TODAY BRUCE IS GOING TO GET INTO SOME SERIOUS ADVANCED TECHNIQUE.
Your going to see him use the “V Grip”. This is going to feel seriously odd at first. In fact I think this is harder to get the hang of if you have been casting for a long time. Don’t get discouraged, the results are amazing. Don’t expect to get it over night but with a lot of practice you can do this smoothly and effectively and you’ll be glad you spent all that time out casting on the lawn. Bruce will be back on Friday with the final video in the series.
Check out the video!
Read More »deGala’s Grass Shrimp
By Herman deGala
Let’s size up a shrimp pattern for saltwater.
A compadre of mine asked if I could fashion a grass shrimp that was 3 to 4 times larger than my mysis shrimp so that he could chase redfish in his native Texas on the Gulf. It had to be tied on a saltwater hook and it had to be really durable.
I used the basic concept from my mysis shrimp, combined it with some of the principles from my carp flies and came up with this.
The 3/32” tubing can be found on the web and the rest of the materials can be found at your local fly shop or online.
WATCH THE VIDEO AND LEARN TO TIE DEGALA’S GRASS SHRIMP
Read More »Burning Chrome
By Louis Cahill
The sun never rises.
Not today, at least not here on the Deschutes River. The light is an eerie yellow-orange. The air is hot and dry, and the wind is howling. It’s unsettling. You’d expect it to feel like fog or overcast but it doesn’t. It’s almost the opposite. When you catch a glimpse of the sun, it’s just a vague red blotch in the sky. The air burns the soft tissues of my eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Everything smells and tastes like a camp fire. I cough constantly and spit up chunks that look like cottage cheese into the river. The Deschutes River Canyon fades as I swing my fly from behind a hot, gray vail. It feels like the whole world is on fire.
A few miles away the Columbia River gorge is consumed in flame. One of the prettiest places I know, reduced to ash and coal. The fire is so intense that it jumps the mile wide Columbia River and sets Washington ablaze. Stupid kids shooting fireworks. They caught them, but what are you going to do with a bunch of kids who burnt down the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of Oregonians. Fire fighters do an amazing job of saving what can be saved while the rest of us just watch it burn.
I left my home in Atlanta less than a day before Hurricane Irma was scheduled to hit. The day before it had devastated the Florida Keys. It’s still hard to picture. I had been in the Keys the week before, when Harvey was washing Houston from the map. While the East drowns, the West burns and I don’t know which is worse. I have learned this much during my stay in Oregon. When they call for evacuation from a storm, Texans may say, “We’ll see what happens,” or “I’m not leaving my home,” but when they call for evacuation from fire, everybody goes. No one “rides it out.”
Everyone in the camp admitted to having gotten up in the middle of the night to look for an orange glow on the horizon. As terrible as the fire in the gorge is, it isn’t the forest being lost that most of us are concerned about. We have all been watching the count of returning steelhead to the Columbia system and the news is no better than that of the fire.
2016 was one of the worst steelhead returns in decades. As we stand in the Deschutes, 2017 returns are only about a quarter of last year, which biologists called a complete year-class collapse. Burned trees will grow back in time but, with ocean conditions worsening, steelhead populations may be harder to replace. It’s anyone’s guess if we are seeing a few bad years or a worsening trend.
Notably absent are the B-run fish. The big steelhead headed for Idaho, who stop in the Deschutes for a breather in the cold water. This year only eleven-hundred are expected to enter the system. Far fewer will find their way here. If you were to draw a bubble-graph with one bubble representing B-run steelhead in the Deschutes and another representing Georgia steelheaders, the intersection would not inspire confidence.
With the gorge burning and the steelhead runs so poorly reported, most anglers have elected to stay home, or maybe fish somewhere else. The river is as lonesome a place as I’ve ever seen it. Normally a traffic jam, the Deschutes is pleasantly deserted. The water is the clearest I’ve ever seen it and flowing strong. If breathing the air wasn’t as painful as pepper spray I’d be swinging flies in paradise.
I am lost in thoughts of fire and fish when I feel the familiar pluck, pluck, pull of a hot summer steelhead.
Read More »When Is a Pizza Not a Pizza?
Q: WHEN IS A SLICE OF PIZZA NOT A SLICE OF PIZZA?
A: WHEN IT’S A RISING TROUT!
I got this surreal photo via text from my buddy Rob Parkins (Photographer, Fly Tyer, Fishing Guide in Victor ID). It may be my favorite fly fishing photo ever. If you don’t see the trout yet, keep looking. Once you see it, it’ll blow your mind.
Like the Virgin Marry appearing in a piece of burnt toast the pizza trout was an oman of good things to come. Three weeks later Rob joined Kent and I on the South Fork for an unexpected salmon fly hatch. It was awesome!
Check out Rob’s site rpoutside.com to see more of his photos and find out about fishing opportunities.
Read More »8 Tips for Fighting Bonefish Out Of Mangroves
By Louis Cahill
When you hook a big bonefish in the mangroves, you only get one shot at landing him.
Half the reason we target bonefish is that they are such powerful fighters. A relatively modest bone can put you in your backing several times during a fight. That’s reason enough to love them, but when you’re faced with big tides and the big fish they bring to the flats, you can get in trouble in a hurry. When you hook that big fish on the edge of the mangroves, you’d better know what to do.
I’ve seen a lot of anglers miss their chance in this scenario, either breaking fish off immediately or losing them in the mangroves. Bonefish are too powerful to simply beat in a game of force. You have to fight them hard to be sure, but you also have to fight smart. There is a window of opportunity and if you exploit it you can land those tough fish that might seem hopeless.
HERE ARE 8 TIPS FOR FIGHTING BONEFISH OUT OF MANGROVES.
Lead the fish to open water
Often when fishing around mangroves you are presenting the fly into openings in the structure. Places where you can intercept a fish who is working among the roots of the brush. Your best chance at landing a fish in this situation is to lead him out of cover. If the fish moves aggressively on your fly, you can strip it quickly enough to lead him into the open before he eats. This is a huge advantage.
Have a plan and act fast
Once the fish eats your fly, your window of opportunity opens and it isn’t open for long. It takes a second for any fish to figure out that he’s hooked. After all, he’s expecting a meal, not a fight. You can use that split second to set the tone of the argument, and there are two things you need to accomplish quickly.
Raise the head
You need to raise the fish’s head. This is key. If the fish gets in a ‘tail up’ orientation, you’re done. He’s rigged for towing and you will not beat him. Remember, fish have
Read More »Dead or Alive
by: Landon Mayer
On many Colorado tailwaters, such as the Fryingpan, Blue, or Taylor, a good Mysis pattern is money.
With so many Mysis shrimp patterns on the market, finding the best one can be problematic. Many lack the movement and color of the natural crustaceans. You need movement from the fly that imitates the natural movement of both live shrimp and dead shrimp. Similar to scuds, shrimp especially those that are alive will extend and move horizontally in the water.
My Mysis is designed on a 200R hook to mimic the natural’s length in its profile, and the white ostrich herl on the thorax imitates the active legs of the real shrimp. I tie the antennae out of clear dady long legs that wiggle while the current moves the fly. These materials are extremely supple to maximize movement of the fly in water both fast and slow. In addition to matching movement, you want a fly that can match the translucent look of a Mysis that is alive and the opaque color of one that is dead. I prefer to match live shrimp, knowing this is the version most commonly seen by trout and it is a whole meal.
Mysis are commonly released below different tail water dams, or swept downstream from the vegetation on the river bottom. In high flow the live shrimp have a chance to drift downstream while remaining alive, possessing a translucent appearance. In low water many of the shrimp trout see are dead and torn apart from their previous high water journey. These shrimp are opaque with crippled bodies. An effective but ugly pattern in this situation is a Candy Cane shrimp size 14-18. Before each adventure to these high protein fisheries, check flow to match the food supply accordingly.
Mayer’s Mysis
Hook: TMC 200R or 2302 #14-20
Thread: 8/0 White UNI
Abdomen: Pearlescent Hairline flat tinsel (Large)
Thorax: White Ostrich Herl (Large)
Antennae: Hareline Clear Dady Long Legs
Eyes: Permanent Marker black/red
WATCH THE VIDEO AND LEARN TO TIE MAYER’S MYSIS
Read More »Tie Twice the Flies in Half the Time
If you tie flies and you’re looking for a way to increase your fly output, I’ve got a great fly tying tip for you today.
I personally don’t have the luxury of extra time on my hands these days with running two companies and managing my family time. When my fly boxes start getting bare, I have to restock them as fast as possible. For years, I’ve been an advanced fly tier but I’ve never been one of those guys who can rip out a dozen flies in thirty minutes. I take that back, I can bust out a dozen san juan worms in thirty minutes, but that goes for most of us. For more complex fly patterns, it can be very beneficial to us if we take the time to get organized prior to wrapping the thread on the hook.
Read More »The Virtues of a Sidearm Cast in Saltwater Fly Fishing
SOMETIMES YOU’VE GOT TO COME AT A PROBLEM FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE.
I’m a sidearm caster by nature. I think it’s in my DNA. I threw a baseball sidearm when I was a kid and I’ve cast a fly rod that way for as long as I can remember. It was a necessity on the streams where I learned to trout fish. Under the heavy canopy of trees and mountain laurel you find in the southeast, it’s the only effective way to reach the fish and keep your flies. I literally had to teach myself to cast overhead for situations where it’s a better technique but my sideways cast has served me well in the salt.
Here are a couple of reasons that I feel a sidearm cast is superior for saltwater fly fishing.
It’s one of the most effective ways to deal with wind. Wind is not a uniform movement of air. There is a turbulent zone near the water that moves slower. The higher your line is off the water, the stronger a wind it travels in. Keeping your line close to the water takes advantage of the turbulent zone to make for easier casting. The sidearm cast also allows you to straighten your line closer to the water, within the turbulent zone. This means your fly is not as likely to be blown off target by the wind.
In a moderate wind, off your casting shoulder, a sidearm cast uses the length of the rod to keep your fly at a safe distance. If your line speed is high enough you can manage this in a surprisingly stout wind. The sidearm cast is also an important component of the Belgian cast. This cast will handle even stronger winds.
In addition to fighting the wind, a sidearm cast is less likely to spook fish. You can cast slightly off angle and work out line without the fish seeing your line in the air, or its shadow on the water. This extra stealth makes a big difference with spooky saltwater species.
The sidearm cast also makes
Read More »