Equipment

Annual Caution – SAR Beacon

It seems as if this is an annual event. I make a routine plea to take the right, smart steps to ensure your safety while fishing in the remote places I know you go. In earlier posts, I commented on the loss of life resulting from people being unprepared to be stranded, broken down or injured while …

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Review – Tenkara Rod

There was a big article recently in a major Fly Fishing magazine about Tenkara Rods.  As a result, I have fielded some questions on it.  Here is the review I published in 2010.  Still true.  Still love it.  Get yours from Mossy Creek for the Spring brookie season in the Blue Ridge! When I heard …

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Line – Four Choices

The February Bassmaster magazine had a great article on the line selection – very educational. The author, Frank Sergeant, summed up the problem with his introductory line, “It used to be a simple question – Trilene or Stren?” To bottom line the discussion, there are four major types of line on the market today; monofilament, …

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Kent’s Stealth Bomber

At the Richmond Fishing Expo, a reader slid up and dropped me a hint, “Check out Kent’s Stealth Bomber.”  He then went on to expand on why with tales of massive fish hauled in with this interesting fly. A Google search on “Kent’s Stealth Bomber” pops up 233 hits – how to tie it, how …

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Review: Dahlberg Diver Frog

These things are actually pretty cool.  Rather than describe them myself, check out the screenshot from the seller – River2SeaUSA (clilck here).  I bought one… pricey at 12 bucks and it performed as described.  I could twitch next to the shore and then crank it underwater… let it rise, crank again. Sadly, no happy ending.  The …

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Quick Tenkara Tip

Quick Tenkara tip. For those of you who use Tenkara rods, you have already discovered how flexible they can be. Specifically, if you run into a tight spot, it’s easy to collapse a few sections to shorten the overall length of the rod. The problem is that you have to grip the rod at the …

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Wading Staff Repair

I use my staff all the time and believe I am still alive as a result of some timely, deperate pokes at the streambed. Eventually, the tip comes off and I have to go out and spend another $30 on a new staff.  Geez.. Lon solved the problem – just drill a hole through a …

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Braid vs Mono in a nutshell

In an article published in October 2009, Ron Brooks stepped through the pros and cons of Braided line versus Monofilament. Ron bases his comparison on 4 physical characteristics — visibility, diameter, stretch and memory. Visibility Monofilament and its cousin, fluorocarbon, both become transparent underwater with fluorocarbon being the better choice when invisibility is important – …

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Fishing Bikes

After using a bike on my venture into the Cranberry River a few weeks ago, I realized I was missing a significant opportunity to leverage this simple machine. There are two key things you can do if you bring a bicycle with you when you fish: Use it to penetrate farther away the parking lot Use it …

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The NFL / Boat / Florida Lesson

I’ve discussed personal locator beacons (PLB) before and this is a very hard article to write. I bought the expensive one on the bottom right in 2007 as an insurance policy knowing that if I got in trouble in the woods, I could push a button and get the cavalry on the way.  The lesson of the …

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Cold Weather Fishing Gloves

It’s cold!! Here’s a less expensive solution to keeping your hands warm than buying the expensive neoprene gloves like these (Men’s Curved Split Finger) that cost around $25 on Amazon. I went to Dick’s and picked up a pair of neoprene hunting gloves and slit the finger to allow me to poke my finger out to deal …

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Heat Packs

Against my better judgment, I saw a quick opportunity to go fishing in late December.  The weather had warmed up and was pushing 50 degrees, so I figured it would not be tooooo miserable out there.  Besides, even if I could just do a recon in anticipation of fairer weather, I would be a winner …

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Equipment – FRS Radios

When I go fishing with other folks, I like to share the experience and swap tips on what to use, the fish being caught, when to eat lunch and when to link up at the car.  In many places, the rush of running water drowns out conversation even when you are standing only 20 yards …

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Equipment – Wading Staff

If you are even just thinking about going to the North Branch or the Yawk or even the Potomac up by Harper’s Ferry… or even Big Hunting Creek or the Pedlar, or Owens… or … well… I could just go on. I am amazed by those people whose sense of balance matches their leg strength …

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Equipment – Gravel Guards

Wear your gravel guards.  I never really appreciated this item of equipment before I ran into trouble in the gravel strewn and soft sand riverbed of the Pataspco up off Marriottsville road.  It was a hot summer day when I drove up there to check it out (I’ll post the trip report later), and I …

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Equipment – Hybrid Rod

Those of you who have been following this blog know that the trigger that moved me to learn to fly fish was the terrible time I had on Town Creek last fall.  Every leaf in Maryland was floating in the water and every cast with my spin gear snagged one or more leaves.  My brother, on the …

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Equipment – Red Hooks

At the Bass Pro Spring Classic, one of the things that Steve Chaconas discussed was using a red treble hook on the middle of your plugs – particularily a top water plug.  This mimics a bit of bleeding and makes the plug appear more wounded and distressed. This last weekend, I took some time to …

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Equipment – The Net on Nets

I started fishing for trout when I was 7 years old and lived in Norway.  So, that’s 48 years of trout fishing experience and I just learned a new fact.  All nets are not created equal.  The type of net I have used for years – an inexpensive nylon knotted net – is harmful to …

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Equipment – Standardize!

I’ll have to update this once I settle on a standard for fly fishing – but I’ve got to get smart there first…. Anyway, over the years I’ve bought a huge amount of gear.  Reels would break, rods would break and I would get frustrated.  My initial mistake was sucumbing to the hard-eyed stare of …

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Equipment – Spinner Math

Over the years, my spinner formula has boiled down to a success pattern that relied on using either a gold or silver Panther-Martin lure.  Usually, I would fish the gold and my son would fish the silver.  The first of us to start getting results would determine what both of us would use for the …

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Equipment – Bite Lite Lure

I’m probably not alone – I actually read some of the outrageous ads for new lures that you see in the back of magazines.  For some reason, I was compelled to bite on the “bite lite”. All the gory detail was on their website. Here’s the hook – the bite lite lure contains a red LED …

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Equipment – Day Pack

What’s in the pack I haul around when I go trout-hiking?  Most guys just put on their fly fishing jacket, pop a water in some pocket in the back, and head out.  I’m not like that – I worry about stuff and want to be prepared. So, I took a tip from a hunting article …

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