Casting Lessons (Don’t Be Intimidated..Ask for a Lesson)

Ok, She's Wearing Platform Heels........

 I am by no means a perfect fly caster. I have a fully fused right wrist, which has cut any distance I might have once attained. But, it gets out there when I don’t over power forward. However, I see some pretty bad casters out there, that with a modicum of instruction would vastly improve their enjoyment of their experiences on the waters. So, don’t be intimidated at a shop or sportsman show. Ask for a casting instructor to help you. Hopefully the shop won’t charge you, or only nominally so…Even if it is a parking lot, you can greatly improve your timing and arm movements. Don’t be too proud to brush up on your stroke. I still am open to the ad-monitions of Jack Hagan (NWFFO) to slow down and not over power the stroke and sure enough another ten feet is easily gained. Sportsman shows or expos often have  casting pond for fly fishing out in front of everyone…take advantageous of this..get out there and wave away…in the mean time here is a Casting Lesson from a Spanish site..

Albright Knot (How To..Good Video)

Very good instructions on how to tie the Albright Knot  and the Improved Albright Knot. These knots are often used to attach your backing material or running line to a fly line. But, it can also be used for unequal pieces of leader material that need to be joined when a taper is not appropriate. The above video and picture are good tools to learn as well an animated example here.

Fly Tying & Chickens (Urban Chicken Farmers: Source of Feathers for Wings)

Harriet Diving Caddis~SwittersB

Whose Feathers?

Recently, at least in the Pacific NW, urban types are exploring lifestyles that were much the norm pre-WWII..organic back yard gardening and chicken & duck raising. The chicken part, from what I know, is not for meat production as much as eggs, organic matter and the process of small scale farming. For those of you that know someone contemplating this move or already doing it: the chicks at 3-6 months lose feathers of 3-5″ as their feathers become established and they molt many of their feathers as Spring turns into Summer and then re-establish their feathers…what this could mean to you is a sizable supply of feathers suitable for wings…hence the Harriet pattern. (maybe some eggs too!)  

Fly Pattern Design (A reflection of your psyche?)

A Mini-Bugger~SwittersB

When you take the steps to start tying flies, you take a class, buy books, go online and study, go to fly tying shows-expos and undoubtedly learn about the basic patterns that are considered proven fish catchers. Proven based upon success and proven because they were, over time, matched to the food chain of fish. Makes sense, so we all tie pheasant tails, hare’s ears, elk hair caddis and PMD’s. Great done. Identify the 20-30 mandatory patterns and tie each in the required stages and sizes. Perfect…Done. Jesus Cristo! My head hurts. My brain is fogging over more than usual. 

Perhaps we could do a little bit of that, and then let the ol’ ADD take over and create, based upon those general tying skills, entomology we can grasp, and the search for the unique. Trout flies tend to be toward the doctrine, which is carved in stone. Steelhead, Salmon, Pike, Bass etc. tend toward the exciter-stimulation. The kill instinct….the reflexive smack.

Regardless…learn the skills to tie regardless of your mental bent or allegiance to tradition. Then decide traditional pattern ‘slave’ (geez, is my bias showing?)….renegade hodgepodge of ineffective patterns, out of which comes a gem…..or somewhere in between. This may vary depending upon your life’s state, whether you are healthy, employed, getting any or just flitting from steelhead to Spring trout patterns. I say live a little….

Parachute Mayfly w/ Hot Post for Visibility~SwittersB

Catch Fish w/ Moffitt’s Hookless Fly Sytem (lining, snagging, fair catch?)

F & S Graphic

“A radically new idea in fishing is rare. So when ,Pat Moffitt, 56, a retired environmental services engineer, told me he was catching trout with hookless flies, I laughed. After a while, he convinced me that not only was he serious, but he could prove it worked. He and I went steelhead fishing last fall in some Lake Erie tributaries, where I tried his method and was amazed.”

“Things do get a little tricky, because Moffitt’s technique hooks fish on the outside of the jaw rather than the inside—a difference of maybe 1⁄4 inch. Some state rules may require fair-caught fish to be hooked inside the mouth, so check before you try this method.”  (my emphasis)

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/fly-fishing/how-fish/2009/03/look-ma-no-hooks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28vbZnPpYS8    (brief vid on how to)  http://www.moffittangling.com

http://www.fliesandfins.com/postt1443.html   (forum info and discussion re technique)

Pegging beads, corkies, flies, a fly…the intent and results count. A stinger hook on a tube fly that trails 2 to 3″ is similar…a 6 to 12″ trailer gives me concern for a hook into the belly or eye. I fish two flies on some stillwaters and occasionally the trailer hooks fish in belly, tail or points in between….One can go to some NW rivers and encounter groups of a certain illegal origin, fishing a pegged bead and 2 split shot spread up the line…running through a pool and purposely lining and snagging salmon. The rig upon inspection could be said to be a pegged bead/egg drifted through and taken…except the hookup is rarely in the mouth but on the outside of the fish..according to the Moffitt concept all fair…but, when witnessed in corrupt hands…it is lining and snagging. Maybe the split shot that allow for a horizontal drift cause this? Well, it does raise interesting questions and Moffitt’s intent seems honorable.