Daily Cast Archive

At the moment (all last week long) I am very busy fishing for pike and tying excellent flies for Tarpon and Permit. Fishing starts with the sunrise, while sunset means fly tying ahead in the night.

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Last week I was bitching about the weather. I complained about South Florida’s rash of freezes, droughts, and deluge. I guess I angered the weather gods as they have made it clear that I forgot one: the wind. For the last few days, which of course included this weekend when I had time to fish, the winds averaged near 20 mph, steady, with gusts up to 40. It was a cool breeze with the sun often subdued by a mostly cloudy sky, and while damp there was not much rain. The little rain was light and moved through quickly negating the necessity of even an outer shell. In other words, the weather was rather fishable… except for the wind.

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First up, as many of you will know, the World Championships for fly casting with fly fishing tackle are to be held in Cumbria in August 2018. What many of you may not know is that the cut off point for joining the event is April 30th. I've only just found this out myself. It's considerably earlier than previous years and will no doubt cause some team selection problems. Certainly it's sparked us into action over in Jersey. So if you are intending on coming then you will need to work fast.

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Something that I have noticed is that there is a significant disparity between the subtle sparseness of the flies tied by experienced anglers compared to the typical bulkiness of a typical commercially tied pattern. This is not the case for all patterns and all commercially tied flies of course, but please allow me to generalize for the sake of my introduction. My point is that sparseness is often equivalent to effectiveness! Bugs are thin. Many baitfish are nearly translucent. To best imitate these characteristics, a fly should be equally thin, translucent, buggy, or sparse.

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I was flipping through TZ's new flytying iBook the other day, and was enjoying his video of him tying the Griffith's Gnat, and I got to thinking about that fly. It's fly I've known since the very start of my fly fishing days, and one that I've fished a lot over the years, and in many different conditions.

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“The advantages of a stiff rod are its great superiority in casting; it will throw a longer and a lighter line, and with greater certainty, to any spot the angler wishes. Its advantages, m these respects, are particularly apparent in a windy day, when it is necessary to cast against the wind, or even sideways to it. With a supple rod, in such circumstances, it is almost impossible to get the line out at all. Another great advantage of a stiff rod is its superiority in striking. In striking, by a quick motion of the wrist, the angler moves the rod; if this is done with a supple rod, the part of it in the hand is moved immediately, but not so the point; the rod yields throughout; and the point, by means of which the line is pulled, may almost be said to remain stationary for a moment after striking, and then moves in a slow, uncertain manner; very different from the instantaneous sharp strike of a good stiff rod.” Excerpt From: Stewart, W. C. (William C.). “The practical angler : or, The art of trout-fishing, more particularly applied to clear water.

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A few weeks ago I wrote a FP about observational bias; I made the point that my choice of saltwater flies is biased by my own successes (and failures). The fact that my fly box is now full of patterns tied with rabbit fur ensures that my bias (that rabbit fur is great in a bonefish fly) will be further enhanced on every trip I take, because if I routinely fish such flies then I *will* catch most of my fish on them. As such, I have no statistical validity in my observation, but I’ll be sticking to it anyway.

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While fly fishing my home waters during the days I was fly tying during the nights - mostly finished at around 4 am. This week I was creating some Crab flies (ALIEN crab included).

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I keep telling myself that I put up with the hassle of living in metropolitan South Florida because I believe the fishing opportunities are excellent, and in fact, they are. The number of species of fish that can be targeted with a flyrod within a 2-hour drive from my house is staggering. And I don’t mean any fish; I am talking about prize species like tarpon, bonefish, and permit, to name just three of notoriety. Until one settles on the few that are worthy of focused concentration, the hardest part for the local fly angler, at first, is deciding which to target at any opportunity. Over the years I have personally winnowed the smorgasbord down to less than a handful of favorite species and, almost embarrassingly, I have become rather particular about which type of environment I prefer to be in when I chase them.

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We need your help! The Great HT Comp 2017 has closed and we need two more finalists to go through to the grand finals where they will all win a new fly line (can be the new Sexyloops Lumiline!) and one of them will win a brand new Custom-built HT fly rod of their choice. Ashly having made the finals earlier in this year obviously excludes me from being a judge, so I have a plan to bring in some external and independent judges... five of them! I came up with this plan while wet wading Lake Ada yesterday and it's a good one. With five judges and four finalists there can be only one winner!!

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I'm preparing the season start, that means fish still are in deep pools and it's not easy to reach them with a flyrod. Our trout don't like to rise so often, that's the reason we have to fish deep! And so on, I was tying some really heavy nymphs with two tungsten beads, the idea was just add as much weight as possible. Here some first ideas about:

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I thought that a picture I posted on Instagram the other day tied well into last week's random thoughts on why a fish takes a fly. I suspect that whichever conclusion one arrives at, we'll never know for certain. If I am as objective as I can be, I'd say that the fly triggers a fish to find out whether or not the fly's edible. We can't know for certain if trout always eat a fly for "food", and I suspect that in this distinction lies part of the explanation of why some fish nibble at a fly while others clearly take with intent to kill (anthropomorphing, I know).

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The “trickiness” (or lack of it) of a fly is directly related to how much tension you are able to apply to the thread while tying. This is based on technique and experience, as well as on proper tools and materials. This term is rather self-explanatory, but I would really like to emphasise on the subject. The quality of fly you are able to tie is directly proportional to the tension you are able to apply to the thread and so the material. The control over this is essential. You, the tier should have control over the material at any stage in the process.

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So how many flies do I need? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself quite a lot recently having already spent many hours at the vice in preparation for our next trip. There’s rarely a day’s flats fishing that passes without me losing at least one fly, the most common reason for this is a baby cuda nipping it off as I’m lifting to reposition the fly. They can do this without registering even the slightest of tugs, the first you’ll know about it is a tell-tale whistle from your leader as you cast a bare tippet at an 8lb bone that’s just come into view. Then there’s the losses due to fish running through obstacles, such as mangrove roots or rocks, you can almost guarantee that if there’s such a structure within 100 metres of where you hook a bonefish it will make a bee-line towards it at some point. Even on the most seemingly clear flats it’s possible for a fish to snag you on sand ‘lumps’, usually when it has taken a lot of backing on its first run and then decided to kite sideways, dragging all the line through the water with a dramatic ripping sound (this was a particular issue in Exuma where I lost a number of good fish because of this).

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We had a brilliant week teaching fly casting and fly fishing for pike and perch in the days, while tying Tarpon flies in the nights. Couldn't have been much better!?

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I had no on-the-water fly casting time this past week. Instead, I spent a good portion of my non-employed hours restoring my laptop after some scumbag hacker tried to hold it hostage. It appears I lost nothing of value data-wise and I guess it was a lesson on how important backups are, and probably good practice. I assume it will not be the last time something like this happens. That does not mean I did not entertain myself with thoughts on fly casting. Even though I had to follow along on my tablet I found some of the discussions scattered about on the Sexyloops Board to be quite thought-provoking. We are very lucky to have such passionate and educated fly casting theoreticians who are willing to share their ideas. I am afraid I might be in the minority? Not everyone seemed to enjoy the dialog. Could I follow the entire discussion? No, of course not. I am ashamed to admit that once the equations reach the dx/dt level I must abandon ship and channel my inner Millennial– label it tl;dr and blame the author for not making it simple enough for me. Even though I had a full plate of college-level calculus classes I never had any need for that knowledge in my career and all that I learned turned to rust and crumbled into dust. Besides, even though I am a scientist by career and design, I am pretty sure I likely fall into the category of “Poets” when it comes to fly casting.

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Ashly Arden (my wife!) has headed home to Malaysia. Flavio is here until Wednesday. And I'm here for another 6 weeks of flyfishing in the Central Highlands of Tasmania (unless I decide to do something different). As you can see from today's POD image there are many lakes to be fished (and that is just a small portion of them). There are many guys to fish with too, but mostly the plan now is to put my backpack on and explore this region, mostly on my own and as thoroughly as possible. I've realised that I'm not really seriously into my trout fishing anymore (Gourami and Snakehead kick any trout's arse - particularly after you've fished for trout as much as I have), however exploring this region is something that I would like to do at least once in my lifetime and so this is my current strategy. Ronan and I managed a little fishing here some 8 years ago. Ashly, Flavio and I have since visited another small part since. Flavio and I are currently on a fishing trip (I'm writing this Saturday evening) hitting some lakes around Julian's, but "The Walls of Jerusalem" are beckoning soon. Possible political references could be inserted here but I won't go there because I'm sure you've all heard enough about that wanker president. Anyway, I'm thoroughly looking forward to disappearing into a relatively remote area for days at a time. It's been a while since I've done this for trout.

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This week I decided to bring in another guest author for my FP slot. Joe Moore has been a fixture among the fishing guide community of West Yellowstone, Montana since 1999, when he began guiding clients on the Madison, Gallatin, Missouri, and Yellowstone Rivers and on the waters of Yellowstone National Park. I first met Joe around that time when I was working for a different fly shop in town, and always appreciated how well regarded he was by all of our veteran guides. Joe later founded an outfitting business called Big Sky Anglers (2004) which has grown and expanded to now include an awesome fly shop in West Yellowstone. Joe and I have become friends over the years, and I’m still impressed by his friendly nature, professionalism, strong work ethic, and outstanding skill as a guide. A day spent in his company on the water is always a learning experience for me. When he talks fishing, I listen, and I was excited when he offered some of his words for today’s FP. Without further ado, here are a few of his thoughts on autumn on the Madison River, and patience on the water in general. Matt

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I had a bit of a think last night. Sometimes that's good and productive, sometimes I get spun into rather useless trains of thought and argumentations. Well, I suppose that's never really useless - if nothing else, it excerises the little grey cells, as Hercule Poirot would put it.

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upadte - the book is online on iTunes - check link in the text I finally got around writing my long planned fly tying book. I had several attempts to create another printed work. I wrote my first book in 1992. A conga school. Black dots on lines - written music with text. I had several requests for the conga drum book so I reissued it in digital form. It can now be purchased on iBooks / iTunes. iBooks is a stunning platform and format really geared towards educational content. It's exactly what I always had wished for, text and book feel but multi media content like interactive graphics and video. It is a lot of work actually, even though the final package is very sleek. It is coming together very nicely. I am convinced it will give many a fresh new look on fly tying. I also got tremendous help from the best people one can imagine. Many from the "board" helped and are still helping with proofreading. Amazing. It would not have turned out so good without all that help. I am very very grateful As I´m writing this FP I am tying flies and filming more videos and take pictures. I keep you posted on the progress. I plan to have the book ready first week of February. ... oops ... just got system message - hard-drive almost full --- 1 TB isn't big enough any more ... below are a few screenshots - it' work in progress as you can tell by the media containers ... back 90% images are again full galleries of pictures or videos. The book alone will have about 80 pages, plus all the second level content it is more like a 300 to 500 page piece of work.

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Tracy and I have not been up to much fishing related in the last week, getting settled back into the humdrum of work after the break has got in the way, plus the weather has not been great for wanting to get out and do some casting practice. The fly tying for our saltwater trip is progressing slowly – I occasionally do an internet search for bonefish flies looking for inspiration, however this weekend I suspect will be a Clouser fest – we’ve still got quite a few left from our last trip, so this should just be a matter of topping the fly boxes up.

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At the moment I am fly fishing during the (short) winter days and fly tying during the (long) nights. I truly love to tie my own flies - especially when my next fly fishing trip is just ahead. But after all nothing beats the fishing itself!

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It's a big day of my life today, because Ashly and I are getting married! I proposed to this crazy woman while snorkelling last summer in a place called "Fish Garden" and she said yes. So we looked into the whole marriage event in Malaysia and with a foreigner it's a not-very-exciting office affair in KL. I don't like offices, I'm not a fan of KL and it didn't sound very romantic! So instead of that, we have decided to do the marriage/signing part on the Tasmanian Great Lake while floating around on a bunch of boats. This will mean that I can fish on the morning of my wedding, right up to the point when Ashly zooms in by boat "Here Comes the Bride", exchange vows, get married. and then Ashly and I can fish afterwards as husband and wife. Later in the year we will host the family/friends/Chinese Tea Ceremony Wedding Part 2.

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After the last few casts at the coast we already had to drive back to Switzerland. The last days we're quite stormy in Denmark so fishing was not easy but a few small fish and one quite nice one was still possible. And of course a funny afternoon with cutting a whole polar bear skin was great. Always nice to spend some time with friends.

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Last evening, and a few days after a bit of a friendly dispute over some details in a fly pattern, I went to my little "fly tying library" to look up the specifics. Often the discussions are difficult unless you have access to the very first time a specific patterns was published. Even when it comes to classic salmon flies, there are differences in patterns of several flies. And when the differences are contemporary and from equally authoritative sources, one has to settle that there are x-number of ways of tying this particular fly.

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This is the year that I intend to ‘work less and fish more’ – as stated on the t-shirt I bought James for Xmas (with several other presents just in case you think I’m a cheapskate). Another t-shirt had the quote ‘Had to call in sick, my arm is in a cast.’ ☺ Slightly ironic as we’re both suffering from arm issues that are preventing us from casting (or casting well anyway).

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At the moment (Paul was right) I am fly fishing every day for Zander (pike perch). Yet I didn't get anywhere near to have gotten anything to be called success in catching them.

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I hope everyone had a nice holiday season and that 2018 brings lots of good times. I sure cannot complain how 2017 ended for me fishing-wise, but other than that I’m glad to see 2017 in the rear view mirror. Between a hot summer, a hurricane, and the election of a big-city dweller with no regard for the environment or outdoor activities I did not enjoy last year all that much. As to the fishing during the last week or so I feel like I snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. My mini-vacation from the toils of being employed started with a nice fly fishing trip for large tarpon. Hurricanes hitting South Florida have many negative impacts but one silver lining is it seems to bring large tarpon out of the Gulf and within range. Just as after Hurricane Wilma in 2015, for some reason probably the tarpon only know, our recent storm seemed to boost things quite nicely. From what I can tell, the late summer and fall tarpon fishing was sub-par. The hurricane messed the water up pretty good and made access to my most favorite fishing grounds impossible right when during most years the late season peaks.

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I would like to wish all of you, our readers, a wonderful, prosperous, fish-filled and of course very sexy 2018!!! And an enormous thank you to all of our Hot Torpedo customers for making 2017 our best year yet! MANY THANKS!!! This year we have lots coming for you, The Sexyloops Academy, The Complete Fly Casting Video Manual, more Hot Torpedo rods in the line-up and I'm starting a Jungle Fly Fishing School out in Malaysia. Later in the year I'll be winning a couple of Gold Medals in the World Fly Casting Championships over in England, Sexyloops is 20 Years Young on September 22nd, I'm competing in a half Ironman in Portugal 30th September. And at various points in the year I shall be getting married at least twice to the same girl.

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