Fly Fishing: Mending a fly line…what’s the big deal?

“One of the difficulties in mending for most anglers is that their technique eliminates slack in the line and leader, rather than creating slack or moving it to a new position. If the angler starts with no slack, and starts yanking on the line at the rod tip, the fly will move. At worst, the mend will negate casting accuracy by pulling the fly out of the fish’s feeding lane or cause enough drag to spook the target fish. “Mending Your Ways” by Brant Oswald

Middle Fork Willy: To mend now will move the fly as it moves along that far seam. An earlier, bigger mend would have kept the fly in the zone longer. The fish were rising along a 10' stretch of the seam. I was maybe presenting to half that distance without drag ensuing. Notice the competing current speeds on the fly line. (SwittersB) PP

Oswald writes a nice beginner’s tutorial (intermediate’s reminder) on mending the fly line. The effort is to develop a balance in feeding line up trough the guides and/or adjusting the speed of the fly, via mends, without disturbing the fly and alarming the fish. The correct tension upon the fly line that maintains natural speed (moving at the speed of the current, not speeding up because of drag on the flyline/fly) is a skill that is much more important than how long a cast you can make. It is an important act that is often performed too hard.

Drano Bottle Bombs

I generally shy away from alerts re computers viruses, scams or Obama’s birth certificate. I thought this one interesting to share considering cleanup projects.  A little scrutiny of suspicious bottles. Would be hard in major cleanup.

Drano Water Bottle Bomb Alert (SwittersB)

Bottle Bombs & Snope’s Confirmation………………The Dipshits That Make These

Fly Tying & Fishing: On The Edge…Hoppers

Hot Summer days and the dusty shoreline and grass are buzzing with grass hoppers. This is a perfect beginner’s pattern where presentation may be more important than size, shape or color. Whether it is a Joe’s, Dave’s or some other buoyant hopper pattern, work it near the shoreline, close to the edge. Depending upon the size of the river, primarily focus within five feet or so on windy days. When it is hot and still, cast right in toward shore. If the waters allow you to safely wade in, then wade out a ways and cast in toward shore. If you are lucky enough to get an invite on a friend’s drift boat, then a hopper pattern will be a nice morsel to throw in off the grass and dirt banks. Hopper patterns are also, as you may have read in your studies, part of the touted Hopper/Dropper set up, providing an indicator/dry fly offering with a trailing subsurface pattern. Some people also fish two dries, say a Hopper and a Caddis pattern. I know an older gent, who years ago traveled the West, while working for the U.S. Forest Service, and primarily fished the Joe’s Hopper. There are newer Hopper patterns constructed of the new synthetics as well.  

Joe's Hopper (Montana Riverboats)