Fly Fishing: Tippet (X Size to Pound Size)

A fly fishing technical posting about terminology in leader/tippet sizes. I’m always willing to share most, some…a few of my foibles. Either I am anal retentive or suffering from some degree of ADD or a combination. I have never cared enough to memorize the chart that tells one what approximate pound test matches what X number for leader constuction. Maybe it started when I read the disclaimer that different manufacturers had different diameters hence the charts were approximations. Well, hell, why bother. Well, you have to bother because the industry seems to care about the traditional X numbers for some reason (I was one of the slow ones sitting in the back of the classroom). So, because apparently I need to know more than 8x is cobweb and x1 is for steelhead, I am including a few charts for a Spring refresher. I spend a lot of time in the 4-6# range…no, the 5x-3x range.

Mood Swings, Weather and Wet Wading

Just a week ago, I was wading wet on an early morning with daytime temps in the high 80’s. This morning, the pile is on and temps are in the low 50’s. My skinny legs would need the pile pants and waders this time around.

Wet Camera: Nikon Coolpix AW 100

Just released this past week, the Nikon AW 100 is the perfect let it get wet camera for the outdoor enthusiast. Submersible and rugged…touted to be the best, it better be at twice the cost of many stalwart submersibles/all weather cameras. Time will tell for the comparisons.

• An effective pixel count of 16.0-million pixels and a 5x optical zoom NIKKOR lens with a zoom range beginning at the wide-angle 28 mm (equivalent in 35mm [135] format) for coverage of a broad range of angles of view
  

• Nikon’s first waterproof, shock-proof and cold-resistant camera
  The AW100 offers durable specifications for shooting in the severe conditions presented with outdoor activities such as swimming and diving, or while hiking or skiing. It is waterproof to approximately 10 meters, shock-proof with a fall of up to approximately 1.5 meters, and can withstand cold air temperatures as low as – 10°C (14°F).

Women Fly Fisher’s (Once they get it…..)

Women Fly Fishers Long Ago

No, nothing complicated or intriguing to say re women fly fishing. I thought the poster was symbolic of times past and those women that ventured into the sport in a place far away. Did they tag along with the ‘bums’ of the past?  They weren’t pushing a piece for Vanity Fair. They probably weren’t of celebrity status and spoon fed by some guide (least I want to believe that). Just ahead of their times and however they got there, I like it. Many of us pickup a rod to be near those we admire, love or just like to be around. The passion for this sport only ignites for one’s self once you internally get it. Once you are self contained and passionate about the experience then it doesn’t matter who led you to the water. You get it and need it.

A Bright Spot, A Retreat…

Bright Spot (SwittersB)

Why do we/you fly fish? A new challenge, like golf, like skiing? To be with special friend(s), who attaches great significance to the endeavor, so you do too? To fidget and fuss with gear; a love affair with process and preparation? To be near water, wind and the irregular edges of earth? “The moment”? The take, the pulse, the power, the holding on? The  catch/the kill? The catch/ the release? The reverence for a creature described as possessing but a pea brain, but that possesses your mind, heart, some would say your soul? The draw of the group, the associated bonding of the group and memories? Egocentrism, elitism, distinction? Goofball fish porn, bumism, machismo, rebel without a cause? Individuality and solitude?

After the preparation, anticipation, tinkering, tying, technical how to’s, talking, following the contemporary trends (as you may have since middle school)…..why, in your mind, do you fly fish? Strip away all the trappings and I hope you settle upon a renewing force beneath the trappings. It will be a bright spot in your life, drawing you back to rebuild, rejuvenate, re-gain your bearings. 

Trout Technology of Sorts

B.C. TROUT GENETICS AND DIVERSITY~INTERESTING  

My Old Dinner Plates (SwittersB)

Fly Fishing: Hemostat Triple Twist~Grab Tag & Pull

h/t to John Newbury from FB re this knot tying technique: The Hemostat Knot.  This might be particularly helpful when the finger tips are frozen, or for general use.

For the beginning fly tier, you would be well served to practice your tying techniques while tying a limited scope of patterns. The temptation is to tie every pattern in that book and more that come to mind. Tie this and tie that. If you were limited to just tying as a past time with no opportunity to fish your creations, then tie hither and yon, but otherwise I would stay toward basic nymphs, dries, emergers, streamers and flymphs/wets (or, the basic patterns for the species you chase….it could be a variety of streamers only for a predatory species). This way there is a practical benefit to your targeted tying.

Flymphs: this style of ‘wet’ fly is worth a study on your part and worth a lot of tying. Selection of hackle and style of body are the two key considerations. Sparse patterns for almost dry fly presentations have/had their place. But, buggier dubbing and softer hackling offer a great deal of animation and life. A flymph can fish from the bottom up to the top with the correct presentations: Leisenring Lift.

A couple presentation considerations: study spey (two hander) casts and research their applicability to a single hander. Jean Paul from Roughfisher mentioned this the other day and it true. Line handling with bigger flies or more staged presentations can be easier by moving line, dumping it and then rolling it out into a zone. Research this. Also, for the stream fishing angler chasing primarily trout there is a tendency toward only using a floating line and rarely a sink tip. I use five lines for stillwater but severely limit myself on rivers when chasing trout. (I carry multiple spey line heads). But, a readers comment about using sinking lines and manipulating the fly up through pools and rapids reminded me of watching an old timer fish streamers with a clear, intermediate line to fish streamers on a river (something I would normally only use on a lake). 

Fly Fishing Characters by Toney J. Sisk

Sisk turns a perfect image for all these ‘characters’ one encounters. Thank goodness none of them are you or me, in part or whole. Quite a few knowing laughs here…….

“We’ve all seen them–Characters. Fellow flyfishers who have given us pause–either because they inspire us, humor us . . . or cause us to run the other way. The following is a collection of people I’ve seen or fished with who strike me as interesting fishing characters (some bizarre, a few possibly insane). None of these characters remotely resemble you or me, keep in mind. And it is not relevant that some of them catch more fish than you or me. That’s not the point. The point is . . . well, I’m not sure what the point is, but follow along anyway.”  The Rest of the Characters

Fly Fishing: Under Water Ways & Insect Survival

Above, on a late September day, I am studying the dry, early Fall, outlet stream of Strawberry Lake. What I recall about the moment are two things: the outlet was a bone dry rock strewn bed about ten feet wide and more interestingly, you could hear running water. Not a trickle, but a stream, well below the dry stream bed. This was the first time I came upon this phenomenon.

I imagine we all hear of water tables and realize they reach way beyond a creeks pathway. I was perusing the FlyFishUSA site’s weekly newsletter (12-19-10) and came upon a very fascinating post by  Rick Hafele re underwater/under stream bed water ways and how they influence insect life survival, especially after high water scouring.

Fly Fishing: Anchor Flies (Big & Light)

Sometimes the anchor fly is heavy for short line dredging of a fast running slot. However, this short piece in the Harford Examiner by Alain Barthelemy suggests, in shallower runs, a big but lighter fly is in order.

Stonefly by Greg Lowry of Boise, Idaho

Query both Greg Lowry (SwittersB) and Alain Barthelemy (net) re woven nymph techniques.