Category: Technique and Tips
Return to Purdy
It had been several years since I last fished Purdy. Every time I intended to go I was either cut off by traffic coming over the Purdy Bridge or there were already too many cars (and fly fishers). But today…
Swimming the Sound
After my encounter with the attacking red crab, I continued down the beach following the ebbing tide. The basic approach on beach fishing is to cast more or less perpendicular to the beach, then at about 45-60 degrees, then roughly…
Fly Casting Tip – Don’t Crush the Cork
A common problem in fly casting is observing shock-waves (ripples in the fly line) during either the back cast or forward cast. Aerodynamically, the shock waves increase drag as the line is unrolling and reduces the efficiency of the cast…
False Casting Isn’t Fishing
Many fly fishers spend too much time with the fly in the air and not in the water. They spend their time false casting; on either forward or back casts, they wait until the line is almost completely unrolled and…
Stream Temperatures That Kill Fish
Increasing summer stream temperatures reflect the impacts of climate change. While we may choose to fish or not fish during the warm summer months, including being regulated by “hoot owl” restrictions imposed by fisheries managers, the fish have no choice…
Rethinking Fly Rod Assembly: The Twist is Out
Everyone learns a number of fundamental sills at the very start of his or her journey in fly fishing. These are things like how to assemble the fly rod (most are in four sections); string the fly line through the…
Better Casting Leads to More Privacy
No fly fisher goes looking for crowds, at least none I’ve met. One of the attractions of the sport is finding a stream or beach where no one else is in the vicinity. A place where the casting and fishing…
Fly Tying Tips
For some people, tying flies has become an end in itself. They spend hours year-round, developing and tying new flies – some without actually fishing them. As I’ve related in the past, the best fly tyers are artists, tying flies…
Improving Fly Casting Accuracy
Fly casting is a good deal like golfing. Well, at least in the sense of the importance of the strokes (single unbroken movement) each sport uses. And for each, anyone observing the fly caster or golfer judges their competence by…
Sorting Marabou
Marabou is a feather used in fly-tying. Primarily used as wings or tails – and around here it’s the most common tail for saltwater streamers , its soft consistency gives it lifelike movement when the fly is retrieved through the…
