Viking Lars - Saturday, October 31, 2015
A good knife is something that'll devide people into two distinct groups - not literally, of course. Group One with those who appreciate, even love, a good knife, and Group Two with those who really do not understand the affection.
t.z. - Friday, October 30, 2015
PTN - Pheasant Tail Nymph In the previous chapters of the Sexyloops Fly Tying School – «SFTS» for short – (one needs to have abbreviations) we talked about thread in general and the first fly – the Black / Griffiths Gnat. The next fly is hands down one of the most effective nymphs in a freshwater flyfishers fly box.
Alex Vulev - Thursday, October 29, 2015
A month ago there were reports in the media that the next two years - 2016 and 2017 - will break global heat records. Not good news and it seems it impresses no one anymore. I don't read or listen too much to all the talk about the climate change, but I can tell the difference in terms of how it affects fishing when fly fishing a local chalkstream on a regular basis since 2004. From 2004 to 2008 the river was full of water from the rain; Fall season to the spring run-off of snow melted water. The river was mostly impossible to wade at this time of the year and you may cross it only on the bridges. As a result there was a stable water flow for long periods, that was good for the fish and fishing. All the mud was blown downstream, the bottom was mud-free, the river bed cleared and the water better oxygenated.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Pike perch are usually feeding near as well as directly on the bottom. Thus presenting the fly down deep is a key factor to catch these fish. I fly fished and compared different methods how to get the fly to the pike perch.
John Field - Tuesday, October 27, 2015
When I first started saltwater flats fishing in the 1980s, I reacted to casting to fish like I did when trying to shoot my first deer with a bow and arrow. When I saw my quarry and had my big chance, my heart would start pounding and my excitement prevented me from hitting the mark. We call it “buck fever.” A few people never get it, but like most, I did. I only got over it by seeing hundreds of deer on hunts and shooting many to eat. I remember saying, I now view deer as calmly as if they were grazing barnyard animals. The same thing happened with tarpon, bonefish and permit after a lot of exposure to them and the right guides. A good, reassuring guide who teaches a little will help in this process. Unfortunately, I started off with a guide who wasn’t interested in this.
Paul Arden - Monday, October 26, 2015
Financially I'm really scraping the barrel hard this time around. I'm 45 this year and still broke - I'm starting to think I always will be. But hell, I'm learning a lot when it comes to flyfishing and if I die tomorrow I'll have no regrets. A day without fly fishing is a wasted day in my book. I've really drilled in my quick accurate shots, especially using PUALD shoots which is everything here. I have a hand-lining fish-playing technique that works. I've upped my leader and popper design - I'm particularly excited about braided tippets. I'm getting a handle on Gourami. Jungle sight-fishing is mostly about fast and furious speed shots, a little bit of enticement, Stealth, figuring out what the fish might do next, and trying to pull their faces off.
Michal Duzynski - Sunday, October 25, 2015
I’m not sure is some of you read the book (booklet) "WHO MOVED MY CHEESE", if not then you should. It talks about how not to be afraid of changes in your life and how the changes can actually benefit your life. I did mention this particular book as a lot of changes has occurred in my life at the moment and in long term I see only benefits of it... Starting with this FP. Paul had asked me before to take one of the FP slots, but I was scared as I don’t fish (catch many fish) and I would not have much to write about, especially after moving to Brisbane and trying to catch imaginary saltwater species on the fly. And here I am. I took a bite of a new cheese and I’m writing to you. Regarding imaginary SWFF, I know the fish are there, but my chances to get to them are very limited, and this is why they remained imaginary and I kind of gave up.
Alex Vulev - Thursday, October 22, 2015
As it was mentioned before in FPs and threads on the Board, it's interesting to figure how many fishing days will it take to crack the code fly fishing certain waters/fish. In the past I had a hard time when I switched the mode from exclusively fly fishing for chub to exclusively fly fishing for trout. In 1995 I hooked my first brown trout on a foam beetle dry fly by accident, while fishing for chub. Next brown I hooked was on a traditional English dry fly in 1998, this time I was fishing for trout on purpose. From 1998 to 2003 I gradually switched my focus to trout, only to find that fly fishing my local waters was quite difficult comparing to when fishing for chub. I had some UK fly fishing magazines from 1996 and I start reading them, because I felt I lack the know-how. I learned more about fly patterns and how to fish them, but very often most of the info was more related to stillwaters, while I was after river trout.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, October 21, 2015
You need a new wader? Simms offers their G4Z model for more than 1000 (yes, one thousand plus) US Dollar here in Germany. Sounds like this must be an incredible great wader, right!?
John Field - Tuesday, October 20, 2015
When my family and I moved to Connecticut, I was anxious to learn all its fisheries and learn from the most accomplished local anglers and guides. Our home is located amidst four protected watersheds with trout, plus a boat launch on the Long Island Sound just minutes away. It’s a little over an hour drive to the Farmington River’s year-round tailwater fishery and the Housatonic River, a large freestone with trout, pike and smallmouth bass. From the Sound up to the first barrier miles upstream, it even has striped bass. The winter dry fly fishing on the Farmington River intrigued me the most though.
Paul Arden - Monday, October 19, 2015
Having been here in Malaysia for almost three months I had to renew my VISA, so a short trip to Thailand seemed like the easiest option. Ashly took a week off work and so we planned to go North. Ashly left the planning to me, which means there was no planning. Originally I had Krabi in mind, but was told that the drive was immense and that the Trang region was very nice and a bit closer. South East Thailand is unstable at the moment with religious problems - which is ironic because there isn't a God - so the idea was to travel up the West Coast. I did a little research looking at Google Earth, reading up about the islands and sent a few emails off asking about the fishing. Boat on roof, one hour of sleep at the bus stop waiting for Ashly and off we toured.
Viking Lars - Saturday, October 17, 2015
October brings relief, so to speak. Relief in the way that days are getting shorter and the early onset of darkness lets you go home early. And morning fishing can hardly be called morning fishing anymore.
t.z. - Friday, October 16, 2015
I should have - as promised - put together the next section of the sexyloops fly tying school, but … well - you know how it goes sometimes. I read Bernd's page and Paul's comments … and hey - we are also two which fish together. Heck, we do pretty much everything together. Fish, sleep, eat, ty flies and for next summer riding motorcycle is on the list. … and of course we travel together. So this Fridays article is about my partner.
Alex Vulev - Thursday, October 15, 2015
There is no fly fishing without fish and the fish needs water to live and survive. Fly fishing local trout rivers in the last 15 years gave me a base to compare the current state of my home waters to the seasons in the past. The comparison is not much in favor of the situation today, despite the introduction of 100% catch and release regulations for the brown trout on 23 freestone rivers for two years now, plus a couple of chalkstreams that are in their third season of C&R. No kill is a step in the right direction and I have no doubt about that. The local trout rivers never been on a c& r basis before that period. The fines are steep and many fishermen who fished to kill are not attending the No kill rivers anymore. So far so good, but the current policy backed from the EU since the last 7-8 years for building small hydro power plants on many dozens of local streams is taken its toll on local trout populations in a negative way and understandably is affecting the fishing in a worse possible way. No matter who says what, but fly fishing the affected rivers on a regular basis after the hydro plants being built is not the same as the years before that, both in regards of fish numbers and fish size. Nothing is affecting the fishing in so badly a manner as a hydro plant on the river - not the fishing pressure, not even a persistent poaching of the waters that we know of or other natural cause.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Fly fishing is the most important part in my life. Not to share this part with my girlfriend would be a big loss - too big for me. Yes, I know many of you feel this to be different!?
John Field - Tuesday, October 13, 2015
For ten years I worked hard tying flies and chasing the migratory striped bass along the Jersey(US) coast and New York bight in my boat. I tied every Bob Popovics, Lou Tabory, Brad Burns and Jack Gartside pattern and more. I caught literary thousands of these gorgeous fish. They’re known for their black stripes but their backs vary from shades of grey, blue, gold and green. I caught about ten fish in the low twenty-pound range, usually in spring before spawning. The anglers using live bait and fresh clams within sight were harvesting thirty to forty pounders daily. I wanted to find a way to target bigger stripers, more consistently and catch them on a fly.
Paul Arden - Monday, October 12, 2015
I'm currently in Thailand and so have written this page in advance. We have a lot of exciting developments in store for you: a Sexyloops Pro Instructor Scheme, a page on Sexyloops for every video clip in the App, more action on the Sexyloops Facebook page - which for a while I'm going to run as a Sexyloops Blog, similar to Ronan's NZ blog but with much more activity (and bigger fish) and a Facebook assisted login to the Board. I think Sexyloops is about ready for another explosion. I have a review of John Field's which I'll post here and again in the Sexyloops Reviews section. This week I'm off to Thailand with Ashly for a few days of Imaginary Saltwater Flyfishing. It's been a good week here on Temenggor, despite the Indonesian smog which has descended. I'm considering November-mid December fishing in NZ. It might be a good way of escaping the Wet Season and I have a hell of a lot of friends there I haven't seen in a very long time!
t.z. - Friday, October 9, 2015
There has been few discussions lately about fishing close to home. Those small unknown spots. Why travel far when the good can be so close. On would not think about „urban flyfishing“ when thinking about Norway, the land of wilderness, fjords and salmon fishing. This stereotype is to be revised. There is a quite a group of people enjoying to cast a fly downtown. Some of them quite young actually, which have found out for themselves that flyfishing can be very cool. Very interesting stuff I think. Just for pleasure they document their endeavours with go-pro cameras and all modern paraphernalia on can think of. The latest one is about fishing in Oslo downtown and suburbs. Kristian Leerand, young creative photographer, film director and foremost flyfisher - or urban flyfisher to be more correct has now published his second film - has spent the last 8 month creating an almost 50 minutes long feature. Nice photography, a very professional approach and an interesting topic. It couldn't be better. I can only recommend watching it - even though it is in Norwegian - the pictures and scenes speak for themselves.
Alex Vulev - Thursday, October 8, 2015
Many years ago someone showed to me an article in a French fly fishing magazine referring to the chub as the "poor's man trout". The European chub is distributed in many countries in Europe and is well present in my local waters - in rivers, artificial lakes and even in some higher elevation mountain lakes at 1500m altitude. Over here, the typical beginner in fly fishing is most likely to start fly fishing with the chub. The fish is abundant, free risng to a dry fly, so for anyone new in fly fishing its a good starting point to feel the magic and to sense directly the fight with a fish hooked on a fly while holding the fly line with his/her hands. Fighting the chub by holding the fly line is a feeling so different than when using a conventional spinning reel, that it may change the game for you forever. Or at least this is what happened to me when I first started fly fishing. It would be fair to say that I am a fly angler now, because I started fly fishing for chub.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Last week I wrote about discovering the fly fishing possibilities in everyone’s home waters. A lot of great feedback followed. Several fly fishermen agreed to not nearly have fly fished all their home waters yet. Indeed I too had a few spots left to discover in my own home waters!
John Field - Tuesday, October 6, 2015
The Henry’s Fork of the Snake River is an iconic river for its history, fish and difficult currents. Since Jason Borger put the bug in my head that it was a tough river to dry fly fish, I knew I wanted to go there and hone my skills in those conditions. For ten years I read three great books and several articles on these waters and fished the waters of Yellowstone a few times before I arrived in Idaho.
Paul Arden - Monday, October 5, 2015
Planet Earth is 4.5 Billion years old, the Universe being 13.8. There are 100 billion Stars in our Galaxy and an estimated 10 trillion other galaxies out there. Quite frankly we don't know how many Stars there are, let alone Galaxies, but it's a fuck of a lot. There was very little life on Earth for the first 2 billion years. Single celled protozoa evolved 750 million years ago. There was a massive boom, all sorts of life evolved, including fish about 500 million years ago. 225 million years ago Dinosaurs started walking the Earth and lasted for 160 million years. Evidence of our earliest human ancestors start to appear 2.8 million years ago, but she was a lot more hairy, couldn't talk and was pretty stumpy - considered sexy in those days. We really consider our "modern" beginnings to have started around 250,000 years. We began migrating from Africa 200,000 years ago. We invented language 100,000 years ago, or maybe before this, we actually have no idea but language might reach back to Africa. We've been writing words for 5,000 years. This is how we think we got here.
Viking Lars - Sunday, October 4, 2015
I've spent plenty of nights in tents, having slept in tents since I was a kid, and I've always liked it. The fresh air, waking up with first light (never could sleep once the sun comes up), the sounds of the birds and nature and the whole cozyness of being warm in the sleeping bag, even if it's cold outside.
t.z. - Friday, October 2, 2015
In last week's Friday FP we had a more technical look at flies. What is a fly? … technically speaking from a handicraft point of view and learned bit about thread — and tension. Now come the first practical instalment of these „ideas“. A fly which seems difficult to many. The fly we will have a look at is known as the Black Gnat, when using grizzly hackle it changes it´s name to Griffths Gnat. A tiny little fly which features two materials. Peacock herl and cock hackle. … and thread of course.
Alex Vulev - Thursday, October 1, 2015
A great flyfishing author once wrote that the choice of tackle /fly rods/ is mainly an endless exercise of personal preferences. I'm not gonna argue with that concept, instead accepting it as a true case, even now with the modern times of fly tackle mass producton in its peak. With the huge variety of rods today, picking the right rod for the job may be more cofusing than ever. And if you are like me with no well stocked fly shop carrying many rod brands around, the most likely scenario will be picking a rod without seeing it, not to mention to cast it or better fish it first. So far all was relatively well for me, when I was after some "general purpose" fly rods which normally would mean a 9'#6. But my preferences changed over the years and now I`m after the strongest, higher weighted fly rods /for nymphs, streamer/suitable for a given water and type of fish.