Fly Fishing: Presentation Presentation Presentation

The number one reason why most fly anglers fail.

“I have guided clients from all over the world on our streams and I have taught dozens of local anglers the subtleties of approaching these catch and release waters and the NUMBER ONE reason that most anglers fail to get the results they should is because they simply don’t cast well enough.

When all is said and done most of us spend far too much time worrying about flies and leaders and all manner of gizmos without actually being able to use all that technology to good effect.

The expensive rod, the micrometer tuned degressive leader and the host of fly patterns all fail to work if the fly is  not presented properly and in the right place, and that means that YOU have to cast them. You aren’t out there with anyone else and don’t go blaming the wind or the trees or whatever, fly fishing is a sport where there is nowhere to hide, you are solely responsible and it amazes me how few anglers take their casting abilities, or too often lack of them, seriously.”  The Fishing Gene

I recall an evening on the Metolius River, near Allingham Bridge many years ago. Fish were rising. I shared the spot with a few other anglers. A caddis hatch was in progress. I tied on the EHC and commenced to cast, and cast. The angler above me was having great success. I was not. After several fish, I remarked upon his success and my lack of success. I even remarked how we were using the same fly and that I must be in the wrong spot.

The angler remarked that I was not in the wrong spot. It was my ‘presentation’. Huh? Within that brief period of time my focus forever shifted away from primarily the fly to how to present the fly. No longer did I obsess about match this and that. I spent for more time considering the approach, the angle, the currents, the seams and the likely lies. I thought about the ‘presentation’. That night, I was casting and oblivious to the drag and I am sure I was much too hard on my cast’s landing and pickup.

As much as we can become obsessed with gear and the secret fly, we can too, become obsessed with casting. Particularly for distance….  So, presentation, presentation, presentation. Best wishes, SB

Fly Fishing: Fly Floatant (Tiemco’s Dry Magic)

This product has been out for a year or so, but I came across a mention of it on a Catskill fly tying forum related to CDC wings. The tier suggested it was perfect for CDC wings. Now, it has/had always been the admonition don’t put any floatant on a CDC wing or you would ruin the floatability factor or the material. Tiemco’s Dry Magic (Super Power Fly Floatant) is touted to be appropriate for CDC, and of course any other dry.

One of the problems of predominantly fishing nymphs, wets, and the like, is you (I) don’t focus on dry’s that much. When I do, I tie one on and flail away for the duration of the hatch, air drying the fly and only rarely adding some Gink. Now, that is if I have some. Because my front waders pocket, the old cloth type, has a permanent large stain from a full container of Gink that exited the tube on a hot day. A review by Mid Current states the cap system on Dry Magic is better constructed to avoid saturating your waders, vest or pack pocket.

Fly Tying: Articulated Winter Sculpin (Tutorial)

WINTER ARTICULATED SCULPIN

TORRENT SCULPIN SPECIES & HABITAT

Fly Tying: Clear Cure Goo Mono Loop Fly Lip

CLEAR CURE GOO FACEBOOK

California Water & Beyond (Too Little of a Good Thing)

California Water Considerations

WATER WIRED

Water Droplet (Valmont)

Hooked Carpe Diem Apparel

CARPE DIEM~SEIZE THE DAY

BAGHDAD ANGLERS

Pelicans Mired in BP Oil Spill

Brown Pelican (East Grand Terre Island, La.)

PATHETIC IMAGES & CONSEQUENCES OF THE BP OIL SPILL

Fly Fishing: Where & Tear Tools

Jason Osborn Searching (T. Muncy)

Tube Fly Tony Muncy (SwittersB)

Spey Fly Tony Muncy (SwittersB)

Tony Muncy Ties (SwittersB)

Fly Fishing: Casting: Straight Line & A Pre-Loaded Tip

SwittersB

“A good fly-casting instructor will teach you that, when false casting, you should begin each cast just before the previous cast has unrolled completely. This allows you to bring the leader and fly through a smooth change of direction, and it keeps the fly line airborne.”

“However, I see many casters who still do this even when they have to deliver the fly a significant distance: They begin their final forward cast before their back cast has finished unrolling. If your timing is pretty good, and you don’t begin your stroke too soon, you can still deliver a fairly long line this way (provided everything else about the cast is good). Keep in mind, though, that any line that hasn’t unrolled in a cast amounts to slack (Figure 1). You must remove all the slack in the fly line before you can begin to load the rod. If you move the rod tip forward even 3 inches before the rod begins to load, that’s 3 inches you’ve stolen from your casting arc (Figure 2). If you’re only making a short cast and don’t have to shoot line to deliver the fly, it doesn’t make much difference whether or not you allow your final back cast to unroll completely. Casting distance, however, means casting efficiently. Allowing your final back cast to straighten completely gives you the most efficient forward stroke possible.”

“Letting your final back cast straighten completely does something else that’s very important. The force of the unrolling line, when it straightens, will pull the rod tip into a slight bend; that is, the rod will be “pre-loaded” on the forward stroke. Remember that the deeper the rod is loaded, the more power there will be in the delivery. Letting your final back cast straighten completely gives your cast more distance and power with no additional effort.”

FLY FISH SALTWATERS

Be careful of your back cast zone. To me, power, crisp, controlled are key words. Stay in that zone and don’t fall prey to distance casting unless you know what purpose it serves at the moment. Covering more holding water? Fishing to a spotted fish? Why are you trying to cast so far? Impressing someone watching?

Guatemala City Sink Hole

Guatemala City Sink Hole, Post Agatha (Reuters)