Anyone else out there bugged by hooks with plugged holes from sloppy tying? I am. Over the last several years, I was frustrated trying to clean these up using the available tools – clipper end and even the Orvis forceps. I finally hit on sewing needles and pins as an easier to use alternative. Not …
The Davy Knot (created by Dave Wotton) is amazingly simple to tie. Follow this link to the instructions. It is much easier to tie than a clinch or improved clinch I normally tie using my forceps. Now…. the website with the instructions claims that the knot retains almost 100% of breaking strength based on the fact that …
As I rapidly approach 60 years old, I have to put pride aside and admit my eyeballs are not as precise as they used to be. The immediate problem this presents for fly fishing is the ability to thread a barely visible tippet through the invisible hole that exists on teeny tiny size 20 and …
Last weekend, I was fishing my way from place to place on the Rappahannock to collect pictures for my upcoming book (Wade Fishing the Rappahannock – will publish in December), and took the lazy man’s approach to stowing my rod. I opened the back window on the truck and slid the rod through to rest it …
Just a quick comment as we head into the serious smallmouth bass season. A bad habit I tend to fall into in my excitement to hook up with big smallies is to both overweight my line and overpower my cast. It’s a pretty well-known fact that to catch big fish, you need to use big …
You should get this months issue of Field & Stream if the only thing you read is the article by John Merwin titled, “The Ultimate Line Experiment.” John discusses the best knots to use for different situations and completed a thorough regimen of strength testing that reveals some surprising results. The article includes a discussion …
Capt John Quigley is an accomplished guide in the San Francisco Bay area whose specialty is targeting striped bass using fly gear. In addition to that primary business, he applied his experience both as a guide and a fly fisherman in creating some of the best furled leaders on the market. I started to use furled leaders …
Lon put me onto this. Apparently, the main ingredient of Frog’s Fanny is hydrophobic fumed silica. I’m sure they have some other secret sauce mixed in there as well, but the fumed silica looks like it will do the job just as well. I tried it on some dry flies and did not detect any …
You do not have to read many books to understand that when fishing mountain streams, you have to be sneaky. In addition to not kicking rocks and stepping on branches and doing other things and make a lot of noise, you have to pay attention to how you are dressed and present yourself. Not that …
Occasional contributor, Patrick Taylor, sent me a good tip that I wanted to share with you so you can see how it works this weekend right along with me. The hitch knot goes by a number of different names — “Newfoundland hitch”, “Riffling hitch” or “Portland hitch” and was invented for salmon fishing. The purpose …
New Fly Guy – The Newfoundland/Portland/Riffle hitch knot Read More »
Up until 2006, if I had to wade, I’d just jump in and wet wade. I guess getting older, that has become more challenging in the colder waters. Based on the advice of some friends, I purchased a pair of Simms Chest Waders in 2006. They have given me great service and I have certainly …
This is a quick one that came to me as I fought with the trees behind me. I’m a new fly guy. No doubt about it. Even after more than 40 fishing trips last year armed with a long rod, I am far from being even an intermediate beginner. So, I have casting “issues”. One …
Update: I tried to do this. It turns out that “floating trout worms” don’t really float like a popper. They drift in the middle of the water column and do not give the effect I envisoned. I still need to try this with spin gear using the Gulp floating worms. I even tried cutting out …
In case you did not see this from TheFlyStop… good info and great prices on flies! Summer Fly Fishing Summer Fly Fishing can fluctuate greatly based on location and weather patterns. Often you can find yourself faced with extremely finicky fish and low water conditions. The Trout have been fished over long and hard for several …
New Fly Guy – Summer Fly Fishing Advice from TheFlyStop Read More »
Contributing Author – Patrick Taylor Moormans – North Fork, July 5th 2009 I fished the North Fork of the Moormans today (July 5th) and had success. The water levels are dropping but it is still fishable (well maybe not after today’s constant rain!). The lower section is highly pressured due to easy access, so you have to …
In case you did not see this from TheFlyStop… good info and great prices on flies! Terrestrial Fishing Depending on where you do your fishing, some of the best Terrestrial fishing of the year is just starting out, or will be in full swing shortly. Terrestrial fishing can be an enjoyable change of pace on the …
New Fly Guy – Terrestrial Fishing Advice from TheFlyStop Read More »
“Really honey, it was THIS big!” Who has not exaggerated the size of the catch? After all, fishing is one of the areas where, for many of us, size does matter. The reason we all have such a poor reputation for honesty is that none of us has eyeballs that are calibrated with anything approaching …
It’s been over three years since I started my journey into flyfishing. In that time, I evolved through many different approaches to storing and carrying flies. I’ve been a bit frustrated with all of them because the boxes I was using took up so much space. Part of it was that, as a new fly …
By this time of year, you are far enough into the fishing season where you realize your casting leaves something to be desired. That was certainly my problem and I found a quick, free review that was very helpful on Dusty Wissmath’s website. In addition to the 4 videos below, he has additional content on rod …
There are a few things you can do if the tip of your fly line keeps sinking and ruining the drift of your fly. This is something that is more likely to happen in turbulence or a fast current. You can do is put some paste floatant on the tip of your fly line or …
About eight years ago, I had an epiphany as I wandered the aisles of Bass Pro Shop. Up to that point, I had pretty much been a fisherman who relied on spinners, top water plugs, and crank baits. But on this day, as I looked up and down the aisles in the fishing section, the …
I was not very far into my pursuit of smallies this summer when I started to get all sorts of line twist when I was throwing heavy poppers or bigger terrestrials. There were times when it was so bad that I could see the fly spin like a propeller on the end of the line …
I can’t tell you how much money I spent on the leaders in my first year of fly fishing. Over the winter, I read an article somewhere that shared the following trick with me. It’s simple and addresses the problem of “using up” your leader. As a New Fly Guy, I knew that I had …
Where do people learn to fly fish? In a class? On the lawn practicing? Or through the school of hard knocks? I’m sure most folks would agree that it ain’t book learning that moves you up the competence curve – it’s applied experience. But, fly fishing is much harder to learn and master than spin …
Who is more likely to trash a fly rod? An expert or a new fly guy? I recently fell and squished one of the stripping guides on my rod. I pulled it back out and reshaped it, but it eventually broke. I remembered that the guy at Bass Pro Shops where I bought the rod (this …
I never knew that tippet had to be matched to the hook size until I happened to read the stuff on the back of a packet of leader. I had always assumed that you just used the smallest tippet you possibly could given the size of fish you anticipated catching. Note the comment on the …
To be successful, the first thing a new fly guy needs to understand is that patience is everything. There are so many ways your gear can get totally screwed up with tangles, it’s just not funny. But, patience does have its limits. When my line gets all tangled, up, I make an instant judgment call …
After losing two boxes of flies, I had to come up with a solution. The problem is me. When changing flies, I’ll take out the box and put it on the bank; forgetting to return it to my pocket when ready to move. Alternatively, I’ll just leave the vest pocket open and the dang thing …
As a new guy, you get excited and assume you need everything that is sold. Here are two items that you can live without. The first one is a tool to stretch your leader to heat it up just a bit and take the curls out. According to the LL Bean book, it is easy …
It’s been three months since I started fly fishing, what have I learned about strategies, flies, and the proper fish attack weapons? Here’s where I am (and welcome advice): Rods: On small water that is covered with trees (Big Hunting Creek, Accotink, Morgan Run), use a 7 foot, 4 wt rod. On the bigger water …
When you are a new fly guy, the tendency is to overspend, and get one of everything. Since that included a whole bunch of flies, I immediately assumed a large box was better. There are a thousand fly choices that cry out to be matched to a hatch… somewhere… and all need a home. So, …
Now that I have all this fly stuff, what’s the best way to haul it around? In a previous post, I commented on the type of bag I used for spin gear. I’ve been using the pouch system shown at the bottom of that posting for the last 6 months with great results. It’s perfect to …
I’ve been out in California for the last two weeks on a long business trip and had the opportunity to get an applied lesson in fly fishing from a guide with 18 years experience. We hit the Pit River (more on that in a different posting) and spent the day learning how to nymph for …
I was going nuts. My floating fly line was not. I cleaned it with the Glide line cleaner. I cleaned it with the Orvis Zip Line stuff. No joy. The last 5 feet or so would still sink and hover about a foot below the surface. I was concerned that the line was defective and …
Nothing like a little visual reality to bring you back to earth… After getting my fly starter kit for Christmas, I’ve been able to get out and practice a bit on the few warm days. After the last practice, I was feeling pretty good about getting a handle on casting. The fly was not snagging …
After watching the Lessons tape twice, I worked on putting the pointers into practice. With the great weather we have been having this January, it’s a no brainer to do something that will get you outside. As I mentioned before, I did buy two books: Getting Started in Fly Fishing LL Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing …
I’ve been doing some reading in a few books and will do a book review on them later. You can only get so much from the text and static pictures, so I was thrilled when my friend, Dick, offered to loan me his videotape of “Lessons with Lefty”. Even I have heard of Lefty – …
I have officially launched down the path to learn how to fly fish. Fellow spin fishermen – pay attention – I may learn a thing or two that will cause you to either stay where you are with bits of bright metal or come join the ranks of the fly addicted. Recall that it was …
New Fly Guy – Starter Kit – Bass Pro vs Wal-Mart Read More »