Other Random Topics
New Fly Guy – Funny, funny instructional videos!
My sister, who lives on the bank of the White River in Arkansas, sent these. What a great way to start thinking about how you are going to “tune up” your technique for the 2013 season! Episode 1 Episode 2 (check out the hatch and the fish exploding on the surface in the background) Episode 3 (fantastic
George Washington National Forest – What’s Public.
If you take a quick look at the map, it appears the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests cover most of western Virginia. The sad fact is that the actual boundary of the National Forest is a patchwork with private and public property blending together. I ran into this problem as I began to plan
Shad Success on the Rapp!
Shad season is in full swing on the Rappahannock. I fished it for a few hours on Tuesday evening and picked up five shad and had a few bumps that did not result in a hookup. As you can see from the pictures, the crowds were out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. In addition to
Skad!!!
Once a year, the simple phase, “this Shad are in!” galvanizes anglers across northern and central Virginia to make immediate plans to visit either the James, Rappahannock or Fletcher’s on the Potomac. I was no exception. For the last week ,I had been waiting anxiously for that riveting call to come .. and it finally
Annual Alert! Springtime means Bears!
An even better discussion of this topic is on OutsideHow.com – Here’s the link! I rerun this article every Spring. I recently read that the bears will be bad this year because of the warm winter. They will be out of hibernation early… and hungry. Be alert. If you have old bear spray, check the
Wading, Water and Survival
If you are not already a subscriber to Fly Fisherman Magazine, articles like this one in the February issue should convince you to subscribe. Ralph Cutter wrote a fantastic article called, “The Big Swim – How to Survive Dangerous Circumstances.” After reading it , I knew I had just gained information that might save my life. You should
Need a Kitchen Pass for Christmas?
All I want for Christmas is a Kitchen Pass. Guilt free fishing! Here’s a form you can accidentally let your wife or girl friend “find.” Now… if I can just slip this to the Basswife…. Download a copy by clicking here. Tell a friend about this article by clicking on this link Unless stated otherwise, this
The Fish Camp
As we roll up on steelhead season, many will head to “fish camps” as a part of that annual ritual. Living out of a true fish camp makes the expedition authentic – here’s the skinny. I was slow in school. I never fully appreciated the definition of “lowest common denominator” until I walked into the
Don’t kiss your fish!
I remember when I was just starting to fish… my Dad introduced me to the ritual of kissing a fish for good luck when you threw it back. I’ve done that often on over the years joking around, but now I realize how lucky I have been. Dan Neuland wrote a great article in the
Smallmouth Bass and heat
“Know your enemy and know yourself and in a thousand battles you will never be in peril” – Sun Tzu I did not do well on my last two trips to the Potomac. I caught a few fish, but nothing like a normal day. What gives? HOT Heat! I wanted to understand more about the
Use vegetation to target summer smallies
As we head into July, be prepared for the explosive growth of submerged vegetation in the Potomac and other rivers. As I discuss in my book, some places are better than others in terms of avoiding the thick growth that can totally close you out. In particular, if you want to fish off Sycamore Landing (upstream
Other – Sea Trout (FL – Mosquito Lagoon)
In April last year, I had to go to Florida on business. Without a second thought, I added a vacation day onto the end of the trip and called my old friend, Eph, who lives in the Orlando area. Given that he is another dedicated fisherman, I did not have to ask twice and he
Pathetic Ponds
Back in 2007, I wrote about fishing on the small community pond in back of my in-laws apartment down in North Carolina. At best, that pond was 1/4 acre but it produced some nice bass. With that as a frame of reference, I’ve had to take a new look at small water. We went on
Bass Repellents
Way back in 2006, I put up a post on the impact of odor on trout. In that article, I quoted the writing of Nick Anikijenko who pointed out that it is very easy to transfer human smells to your fly or lure. The simple act of tying the lure on is all it takes to transfer
Predictive Gages from the National Weather Service
If you ever found yourself wondering whether the water would be fishable in the coming weekend, you need to visit the National Weather Service website then drill down into the section that discusses water levels. For example, the Potomac Section covers the river from Paw Paw down through the District. As you can see from the graph below, the
Please buy my books! They are cheap (and good)!
Hundreds of pictures, GPS coordinates, and fishing focused discussion.
Click on the cover to go to Amazon for both print and Kindle formats.
Please buy my books! They are cheap (and good)!
Hundreds of pictures, GPS coordinates, and fishing focused discussion.
Click on the cover to go to Amazon for both print and Kindle formats.
Please buy my books! They are cheap (and good)!
Hundreds of pictures, GPS coordinates, and fishing focused discussion.
Click on the cover to go to Amazon for both print and Kindle formats.
