This week on Facebook I read at least three different posts about a proposal being put in front of the Bahamian Government to ban DiY flats fishing. Now unlike many on FB, I like to do a bit of fact checking before I go into full online 'rant' mode. I didn't actually find anything new during my searches relating to this story, that's not to say that the postings are fake – there was a genuine push a few years back to regulate flats fishing, so it's possible that it is under consideration again. If it is rearing its head again, I hope the Bahamian Government see sense and don't bend to the will of a few militant Andros Island Guides.
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I had a guest last week from the UK. It was only a short trip; two days! It’s very difficult to catch a snakehead on a two-day trip, particularly if it’s your first trip. In fact I rarely do two-day trips and usually book a week! Anyway, right towards the end, Simon landed a nice snakehead pushing 4kg.
There are many babies around at the moment. With Simon we found 11 sets, with the first afternoon session (and next morning) being very slow. Fortunately there was plenty of action on the second afternoon and on the final morning we had success!
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During my tenure here with Sexyloops, I have often referenced my admiration for Tim Borski. Not only as a fisherman but even more as a fly tyer. Tim, in my opinion, epitomizes what it means to straddle the line between artist and hunter. While many of the masters of this art go for the super realistic, ultra-life-like look, Tim's patterns in many ways do just the opposite....which is where the genius lies. They don't resemble anything specific in a highly detailed or imitative way. What they do resemble, is something that is ALIVE. Out of the water, they don't look exactly like anything, but in the water, they resemble in movement, color, and profile, just about EVERYTHING.
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This past spring, in the course of my continuing casting education, Paul Arden recommended a few titles (by Rob Gray et. al.) on modern athletic coaching to support his emphasis on external cues versus internal monitoring of body position. There’s a substantial body of research on this, mostly pointing to the efficacy of developing a set of constraints or metrics for a student anchored in observations and orientation of relationships outside their body rather than devising detailed instructions for bodily movement. As far as I can tell these insights have bled into fitness training as well. For example the capacity and measured performance of an athlete doing push ups improves if the motion is visualized as pushing the floor away rather than as forcefully straightening their arms. Waiting for the butt section of the rod to appear vertical in the caster’s peripheral vision is preferred over attempting to guide the caster’s hand along an ideal path.
All this, according to the literature, points to a new role for the coach. Apparently this is happening everywhere. Modern coaching uses terms like “constraints led training” and “self organization of movement solutions.” There is less emphasis on prescribing precise motions and more on exploration of movement possibilities, harnessing external cues and observations of results in search of a unique approach to mastery for each student. It replaces the training of muscle memory of an ideal motion with a more reactive training, accepting variable movements.
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Last week we had a look at the killer worm, I think I forgot to mention its real name Dräparmasken, and this week it is time to take a look at Kobberbassen, the Copper Bully. Looking around the Internet it is credited as being created by Frank Jensen in 1996. I think the dräparmasken was created somewhere around then also. The 1990s appear to have been a productive era for fly design.
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Last year aroynd this time I was catching last reindeer from forest. It was lot of snow and colder. This year it is same work, catching reindeer. We are still missing some of them. This week was quite good for that.
On Saturday I got call about my reindeer female and unmarked calf male. On Sunday I had time to go and find them and eventually I got both of them and brought home. It was not easy as there was hunter's dog around and making my life difficult as it was chasing reindeer little.
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I watched a fly tying video the other day and it got me thinking about how easy it is to lie to ourselves about things in fishing, particularly with, but not limited to flies. I'm sure we all do it to a greater or lesser degree, even those of us who think we're rational.
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I've been playing quite a bit of chess online recently whilst waiting for the weather to improve enough to get out casting again (I haven't cast or fished this year yet). By playing online I get to review my games after they've finished with the help of a computer engine – funnily enough called Stockfish, so there's a fishy link. As part of the review Stockfish will feedback a percentage accuracy score i.e. how close to the perfect computed moves the game was. Computer engines, such as Stockfish, have now far exceeded human capabilities even those of the top Grand Masters, even when running on normal computers. As such, a perfect (100%) game is somewhat of an indication that your opponent is cheating. That said, I have had a couple of 100% games myself – where my opponent has fallen for a known opening trap that results in them getting checkmated. These games, although fun at the time, aren't really a measure of how well I've played – more the fact I've memorised a certain line and my opponent has unwittingly played seemingly normal moves that has got them instantly into a losing position.
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As many of you will know I’ve been busy over the past years helping the Orang Asli (the local jungle inhabitants) learn about fly fishing so that they can guide anglers on their local C&R river. One of my friends, Bonhamy, has spent considerable time developing a website for them, and over the next two days I plan to help him get this website complete and live.
We are still in the Wet Season at the moment, but very soon the rains will stop and shortly after this River Tiang will be open and perfect for fishing. I hope that some of you will visit. It’s a truly wonderful experience. Mahseer behave in some ways quite similarly to trout; they eat dry flies, sometimes nymphs and small streamers, exist in runs and under shady banks, sometimes they sit out in the open and take up all sorts of positions where you would commonly find trout.
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It's been quite sometime since I last linked to any of Andy Mill's interviews. Probably my favorite episode of the Mill House...or at least in my top 5 is the interview Andy did with famed big game angler Tom Evans, and his guide Al Dopirak. Recently Andy did a solo interview with Capt. Dopirak by himself, which is a fascinating and entertaining look into the mind of one of the original Homosassa big game guides. I have provided links to both interviews in the main body of the text. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
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Actually not from LA. I left for NY on Monday morning with some localized fires burning in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. The Santa Ana winds picked up during my flight and strengthened to 100-year force Monday nightand Tuesday. “It is hard for people who have not lived in Los Angeles to realize how radically the Santa Ana figures in the local imagination. The city burning is Los Angeles's deepest image of itself.” - Joan Didion. Places that NEVER burned were gone in a flash. Usually the fires destroy exurban developments built on the foothills and slopes of the steep brushy mountains while the flats are relatively untouched. Not this week. I had assured my housemates that they were far enough from the flames to remain safe but by Tuesday afternoon the Sunset fire popped up and within an hour had climbed to the ridge of the Santa Monicas two miles north of my apartment. By nightfall the flames were forced downhill through Runyon Canyon, racing to the bottom. Later the wind died allowing firefighters to stop the advance. My roomies did not get the order to evacuate. Other friends lost homes.
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A fly that doesn’t look like much but is a popular fly for coastal fishing after seatrout on the Swedish west coast. It looks like a woolly bugger that has been robbed. In all it simplicity it has some interesting features.
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It is still cold out here, temperatures are around - 18c/0F. It is not just about cold, but now it is with breeze, moist wind which makes your hands freezing cold in few minutes. We still have some reindeer out and my time after guests at farm goes driving them back home or catching them.
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Just a quick one from me today. I got out yesterday for my first fish of the year. Just some carp on my local river, I didn't want to travel far as we've had pretty changeable weather and I wasn't sure how good conditions would end up being.
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I had an early morning Zoom casting session today with one of my favourite athletes (ok they are all equally favourite!). “Athlete” is usually a bit tongue in cheek when describing flycasters, but in this case it’s not, because she competes at the highest level. I do enjoy working with high level casters and in many ways it’s actually easier than teaching beginners via Zoom. If it wasn’t for a constraints-led approach I don’t think I could actually teach beginners via Zoom in the first place. It would certainly be very challenging. And with advanced casters it just makes more sense. That’s not to say that we don’t suggest changes to pattern, of course we do, but we do that by creating challenges that allow changes to be explored.
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Blimey, Lasse sent me a video today from a friend (I thought) claiming that I had stolen a drill from him and attributed it to someone else!!! :D
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“Don’t wait until February to start living in January.”
― Anthony T. Hincks
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I reviewed my recent fishing outings and was surprised how little trouting I’ve done, less than 10% of my fishing days. As I have more time to fish I find that I have less inclination to drive when there is local fishing available. Trout are 2-6 hours away from LA. Currently I’m fishing a Redington Predator 9’for 5-wt more than anything else -- for carp in the river and in the surf for corbina, perch, halibut and other species. It’s my go-to rod. I use it 90% of the time. It does the job but I don’t LOVE casting it. I feel the same way about my TFO Clouser 9’ for 7-wt. I’ve used it for bonefish and as a backup/guest rod for local fishing. I have a Cortland 10.5’ 4-wt nymph rod I use but find it a little long for travel so mostly use it for drivable distances. I’ve been packing a Reddington Crux 9’ for 4’ wt for my annual trouting in NY and Pennsylvania.
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The highlight of the year we now have left behind was the flycasting world championship. Getting there, being there and competing was a great experience with a lot of emotions.
I competed for the first time at end of May, I entered my second competition just two weeks after that one. A few days after attending the second competition I get an email from the captain of the Swedish flycasting team. “Please call me”. I got offered a spot in the Swedish team. That felt pretty damn great! I was super happy, Paul was pretty happy about it too. I’m actually not sure about which of us that was the most excited about it. That was June 11 and World Championships would be in a little more than two months, we had some work to do.
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People make lot of promises during this time of the year. I will go to gym, I will do that and that. All new years promises has been made with good intention. It is quite rare that people will stick on those promises.
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Happy New Year everyone. I only fished one day over the holidays due to a virus that curbed all the usual festive excesses- except for cheese, obviously. So, since I've nothing new or interesting to report, I thought I'd write about another excellent fly: the hedgehog.
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Happy new year to you all. I've decided not to make any casting new year's resolutions this time, mainly because I never seem to achieve them – for example, my 200ft cast with the T38 has been stubbornly isolated to the practice field and nowhere to be seen at a BFCC competition day. That said, I did resolve to improve my competition accuracy a year ago and ultimately (after some not so good attempts) I did break TC's BFCC record. I shall keep up the practice this year in the hope of pushing the record higher.
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