What are you superstitious about? I think many people are superstitious about their sport. You hear about it all the time. Some athletes like to wear the same socks, shorts, or shirts of every game. The mental game of a sport is just as important as the physical being of an athlete. Have it you ever watched an adventure race and see someone break down in the middle of a race? I have and I can completely understand. I think I was near that point on a trip to Colorado with a couple of Outdoorzy members many years ago when we hiked the trail to Long’s Peak. But that was in my backpacking days and now I am a fly fisher.
As for personal superstitions, I don’t shave my face before or during any fly fishing trip whether a single day or multi day trip. By the time I get home, I have the beginnings of a good mountain man look; scruffy beard, crazy hair, and sometimes a nice outdoor funk. Of course, my fiancé disagrees with the funk, but when you play hard in the outdoors, there are some things to be expected.
Another one of my superstitions is when I am wading on a fishing trip, I never ever bring a net with me. I have one; it’s nice. It is currently hanging in my closet at home and that is where is going to stay. I have needed one from time to time while wading, but I always seem to make due without one. However, when I am floating in my kayak on a fishing trip, I always bring a net. You never know when you are going to hook into that 20 incher. Personally, I don’t want to fall into the water from my kayak and the extra length of a long handled net is useful for netting a fish from the kayak. For those who aren’t familiar with fly fishing nets, smaller fly fishing nets are smaller and hangs from a D-ring on a fishing vest or lumbar pack. A boat net is much larger with a longer handle and wide net opening.
What is your voodoo or superstition? What ritual do you do for every backpacking, day hike, or canoe trip? What do you take with you? Do you have a luck rock, piece of gear, shirt, hat or piece of clothing? Lets hear it.
This is Steve (On the Right) and I (On the Left) on the White River in Arkansas. As you can see, I have been fishing for several days and have not shaved. Then there is Steve, I don’t think he has stopped fishing and may still be on the river.
The guys from AEG media are back and this time they travel to the South Island of New Zealand for a four month expedition to fish for monster brown trout in the backcountry. The movie is 75 minutes in length and will have you hooked after “God Save The Queen”. If you enjoyed the action, scenery, and story of Trout Bum Diaries I: Patagonia, then this movie is for you too. Simply put, the quality of the footage is stunning. The only draw back to the movie is the length of the movie. I was spoiled by the two plus hour movie from TBD 1.
The film shows the trial and tribulations of fishing in a different country and hooking large trout. The guys encounter sheep-induced traffic jams, kayak along the coast, and survive an all-pasta diet-in search of big rainbows and browns, with all the problems, weather, and challenges any angler encounters. If you like dry fly fishing for large trout, you’re going to be jealous with what you see onscreen.
This fall I bought a fly rod and wanted to change my reel and fly line outfit for the new rod. I researched fly reels for a while and decide on one, now half the battle is over. I was talking with a couple of guys at the fly shop and they recommended a new fly line that is about to hit the market. They had received demo lines from the company and they had loved them. I was able to view the RIO Gold fly line at the fly shop. The fly line is a dual colored fly line; the head is Moss and the running line is Gold. The guys told me that this was the slickest line they had ever fished; the fly line launched from the rod. I was sold.
A few weekends ago, my buddy convinced me to join him and another guy on the river for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. While getting my gear together, I thought to myself, “Great! Here is my chance to fish the new rod, reel and fly line.”
The river was hot with action, but I was cold on the water, fish were rising here and there. While on the river, I switched from fishing streamers, to nymph, to midges, and streamers again with marginal success. Although, hooking into fish was my problem, presenting the fly was not. It didn’t matter what I was using, the Rio Gold delivered the fly every time. The fly line seemed to launch from the fly rod. That is due to the extreme weight forward taper of the fly line. I could also look at the fly line and know how much line I had out. The head of the fly line is a Moss color and about 47 feet in length; the running line is Gold in color and make up the rest of the 90 foot fly line.
From the website, “The (Rio Gold fly) lines features RIO’s new Extreme Slickness Technology for an extraordinarily slick, dirt-repelling coating; in addition RIO’s AgentX and Super Floatation Technologies ensure the line tip and running line remain floating high.” – Rio Products, Freshwater Lines, Rio Gold
Other features include a welded-in loop at the end of the fly line for loop to loop fly line to leader connections. The fly line is a weight and a half. So if you are looking for an ultra slick, easy to us fly line to load up a fast action fly rod with minimal effort, this fly line might be for you.
The MTFF Fly Of The Month for March 2008 is the Parachute March Brown. The March Brown is a useful dry fly for the mountain streams of eastern Tennessee. The parachute style of this fly allows the fly to float in the surface film of the water and the parachute works as a good indicator while the fly is on the water.
Parachute March Brown
Hook: TMC 100; Size 12 to 16
Thread: Brown 70
Tail: Brown Hackle Fibers
Body: March Brown Super Fine Dubbing
Post: White Turkey Flats Feathers
Hackle: Brown
My first fly rod and reel was a combo set purchase at a “big box” store. It was a great rod for learning on and for fishing the small stocked trout creeks of Kentucky. After I moved to Tennessee, my fly rod and reel were way undersize for the fly fishing in my area, so I upgraded to a better set up; longer rod and a reel to match the rod.
After numerous year of slight upgrading to better gear, I decided I would make a giant leap to something new. I bought a Lamson Velocity Hard Alox fly reel by Lamson Waterworks. This is a great reel. I have been fishing this reel for the last six months and I am yet to be disappointed. Since most of my fishing has been winter fishing, the real test will be this summer on long float trips on my local home waters as well as a few other trips to the Watauga River in April and the White River in September.
The drag is smooth and there is a drag adjustment knob is large and easily adjustable. The mechanics / drag mechanism is completely sealed from the elements: dirt and water, which helps eliminate debris on the gears. The reel is a large arbor so there is less line coil and retrieves line quickly when needed.
There is porting on the spool and reel to aid in ventilation and to reduce the weight of the reel. The reel is priced between $219.00 and $289.00 depending on the size. This is a medium priced reel with a top of the line smoothness and drag. Lamson has created another great product. If anyone is in the market for a new reel, check out a Lamson Velocity, you won’t be disappointed.
About two years ago I started a Fly Of The Month (FOTM) program for Middle Tennessee Fly Fishers. The FOTM covers all type of trout and bass flies, covering larva, pupa, nymph, and adult stages of caddis flies, midges, stoneflies, mayflies, as well as streamers.
If you go to the website, you will see something like the following. The photo is downloadable if you wish to keep a copy for you own use at home. Not until recently, I have been including a PDF of the pattern and photo of the fly, also for available for download. Please check out the website if you get a chance. The FOTM is under “Fishing Forums”, then click “Fly Tying” and you will see “February 2008 – Fly Of The Month – KF Midge”.
As I continue to update the MTFF Fly Of The Month program, I will update Outdoorzy too. I hope that all of you find this fly as well at the upcoming flies useful for your fly fishing trips. At some point, I will try to update the website with the past flies from the program.
The Fly Of The Month for February 2008 is the KF Midge. The KF Midge is an effective pattern when fishing it alone during a midge hatch or as a dropper under a nymph. Please check out the MTFF website for a photo and the pattern for the fly as well as a downloadable PDF of the pattern with photo.
Online magazines are increasingly popping up on the web. I have frequented a few in the past, but some reason, they decided to change and become print magazines. Hopefully, this one will stay around for awhile. This Is Fly is the next online magazine that has a lot of potential for lasting many years. This Is Fly has fresh, new, young, rock and roll atmosphere to the magazine.
When you access the main page, the This Is Fly looks like a real magazine. You can turn the page by clicking the bottom right corner of the page and moving it across the screen, clicking on the page numbers, or the “Next” button. While you are looking through the magazine, you can activate the embedded mp3 player that contains a wide selection of music from rap (Beastie Boys), rock (Korn), reggae (Bob Marley), etc and the music changes every month with each new issue.
Within the pages of the magazine, there are interviews, stories, articles, and information on national and international destinations. If gear is your thing, then check out the “Goodz”. If you want to see a new and exciting online magazine, check out This Is Fly. I wish there were more online magazines like this one.
Fly fishing in general can be a challenge, whether you are catching fish or not. When you are fly fishing, you are constantly “Doing”. I am always thinking about my forward cast and if I have a tailing loop or my back cast, “Are there any trees behind me?” Should I mend now or present the fly on the “swing”? If I am fishing the “swing”, then I scan my surrounding for rising fish. I sure don’t want to miss a hatch of midges or caddis flies. The typical fly fishing season for most fly fishers in my area is from April until September; basically spring to fall.
And after the season is over, many fly fishers retreat to fly tying tables and start tying for the next season. However, for some of the brave, the fishing season doesn’t end. The winter fishing season poses a few new set of obstacles and conditions. There is increase wind, which can destroy a cast in a split second, snow, ice, etc; do I really need to go on about winter conditions?
Then there are the flies. My advice is GO BIG; big flies mean more protein. Think of it as this, a trout is not going to go after a slider when it can have a Double Whopper with cheese. In the winter, I typically fish flies from size 6 to 12 (except midges); of course, it depends on the weather and where I am fishing.
The most important aspect of winter fishing is clothing. Layering is an important topic worth discussing at a later date. But generally, if I am headed out for an afternoon, I will wear a medium cushion sock, a base layer (upper and lower), fleece wader pants (lower), and nylon pants and a fishing shirt as an outer shell, and possibly a fleece jacket or vest. Of course, I am wearing waders while I am fishing.
With all of that said, if you try to little bit of winter angling, just remember to stay warm, have an open mind about the fishing, and try some new flies or tactics you normally wouldn’t try.
I carry a wide range of flies for fishing my local waters and most of my flies have resulted from finding patterns from books and online that I think look good or maybe a twist of my own creation. They work well on my local waters as well as some of the distant places I fish too. But I have never collected aquatic bugs from my local waters to tie imitations of the bugs found in my home waters.
A few weekends ago, I attended a fly tying class at Fly South in Nashville, TN. The class, Caney Fork Essentials, involves tying flies designed by local fly fisherman (Guides / Former Guides) for the Caney Fork River, my local home waters. For the cost of $35.00, the student learns to tie eleven patterns ranging from a mayfly, to several caddis and midge flies, as well as a few others. My two favorite patterns from fly shop owner and guide Jim Mauries are JT’s Sowbug and JT’s Bead-Head Caddis Emerger.
The tying class begins at 9:00 AM and finishes any where between 3:30 / 4:00 PM with an hour lunch break. The class provides all tying materials and tools, but if you have your own, I recommend taking them since you should familiar and comfortable with your own tools. If you do take your own tools, take your vise, a couple of bobbins spooled with black, tan and olive thread, scissors, hackle pliers, dubbing brush, bodkin, and whip finisher. Also included with the cost of the class is a nice paper handbook with all of the patterns, a brief description, and space to take notes as you tie the fly.
The class is limited to six to seven participants. I was lucky enough to have only one other classmate, so the interaction between the teacher & student was great, which was nice when I had a couple of problems with the patterns. The Caney Fork Essentials tying class is an intermediate tying class. The participant should already know how to put a hook into the vise, attach thread, etc. If you are interested in learning to tie flies, start out with a beginning fly tying class.
Fly South is also offering other fly tying classes including, Fly Tying 101, Smoky Mountain Classics, Tennessee Tail Water Flies, Saltwater – Bonefish/Tarpon/Permit, Saltwater – Jacks/Redfish/Trout, Saltwater – Striper/Blues/Albies, Flies for Freshwater Stripers/Hybrid, Tennessee Smallmouth Flies, Carp Flies, Bass Flies Top to Bottom, and Tennessee Trout and Terrestrials. The cost of the other classes range between $35.00 and $85.00. If anyone is interested in learning some new and interesting patterns for the Caney Fork River, I highly recommend taking the Caney Fork Essentials fly tying class.
The Orvis brand of reels has been a choice of mine for several years. I started out with a Battenkill reel, then I upgraded to the Battenkill Bar Stock reel, and then to the Battenkill Mid Arbor reel. Still own all of these reels, but I mostly use the Mid Arbor reel. I have used these reels for both fresh and salt water fly fishing.
The Orvis Battenkill Mid Arbor reel is anodized and machined from 6091 bar stock aluminum making it durable and lightweight. Since the reel is a mid arbor, it picks up the line faster than a standard small arbor reel. This is especially important when a fish runs towards you, rather than down stream. A mid arbor can have an impact on line coil. Fly lines on small arbor reels coil up when pulled off the reel due to being tight on the reel for given period of times. That is why before every fly fishing trip, an angler should stretch out the fly line before any use. This should remove the coils.
The spool is easy to take off and put back onto the reel. There is a small lever in the middle of the reel spool to remove the spool from the body. I would recommend carrying an extra spool with a sinking or sink tip line for fishing streamers and big nymphs when you want to get the fly down deep into the water. The drag adjustment knob is large and easy to adjust at anytime.
The reel is priced between $119.00 and $129.00. It is medium price freshwater reel when compared to a large and small arbor reels from Orvis. If you are considering about getting into fly fishing and are looking to buy your first outfit, consider this reel.
