As I imagine everyone reading this will appreciate, the main advantage of fly fishing is that we are able to cast virtually weightless imitations with great delicacy. Indeed heavy flies present a problem in that if they are too heavy, out of proportion to the rest of the tackle, the cast becomes unstable - a fact that almost always surprises non-flyfishers, who usually believe that heavier lures help, not hinder, distance. And yes I do know about French Nymphing, where the fly is the weight - many don’t consider French Nymphing to be fly fishing because of this... perhaps *extremely* light flylines would have a purpose here?! But I digress... it is because the vehicle to present the fly is usually the flyline and not the fly, that fly fishing can give us an edge over other fishing methods.

Details >

So, after weeks of feeling poorly, just when I start to think I’m back to my old self again, what do the weather gods bring? A weekend full of blustery winds, that are, of course, blowing from probably the worst direction for what I like to do this time of year. It is not like this is uncommon though. Late spring or early summer, however you like to look at it, is usually windy around here. I know that, but it did not make staying home any easier. The bright side is that soon I can expect to find increasing numbers of small tarpon in the back waters. Then, in about a month, I will head down to the Keys for a short vacation and take my annual beating at the hands of the big tarpon in migration.

The smaller tarpon I expect I will be able to put into the air with regularity. The larger ones I expect quite the opposite: it will likely take days to feed a handful. The funny thing is – neither of those scenarios supplies me with that feeling of anticipation that once was akin to addiction.

Details >

Looking for a fine D-loop cast, one working well in many tricky situations? This might be one!

Details >

I’m writing this after our first full day of flats fishing in the Bahamas and all in all it was a pretty good day. We did manage an hour and a half’s fishing yesterday evening after arriving at our accommodation – this had a strange parallel with our last trip where we had a short time to kill before going for our flight. We walked down the beach looking for fish and got to the point where we’d caught a few schoolies before leaving almost a year ago and low and behold the tell-tale sporadic glints of silver suggested that there were bones in the exact same spot.

Details >

With the cherry blossoms blooming all around Tokyo signalling spring, I've been tying a lot of panfish flies as I get ready for the warmer weather. I stuck a few pics and how to videos online and the responses have been pretty mixed. I'm not surprised that some of the flies have been divisive-some of them are, frankly, pure filth but I have been a bit surprised by how many people are dismissive of panfish as a target.

Details >

Back in 2002, through a series of happy accidents, I became good friends with a budding Texas Rodbuilder we'll call "Bubba"....which by the way, really is his nickname. At that time I was hand turning a ton of custom wood reel seat inserts for fly rods, and Bubba was keen to learn the art of woodturning to expand his rod building skills. When he approached me about teaching him, he offered in return to take me Tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys. Bubba had a house in Lower Matecumbe Key and had been fly fishing for giant Tarpon at a very high level in the Keys since the early 1990s. Of course, I accepted the offer knowing full well that I was the one getting the better end of that deal.

Details >