Daily Cast Archive

This year, the challenge of winter-time snook fishing once again supplied a number of observations that, in retrospect, were both intriguing and potentially useful. The area I fished was actually a different ecosystem than where I have been fishing over the last decade or so, but that realization was not at all obvious to me in the beginning.

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Stefan and I pulled it out the bag last week, but I'll save that for the short film that I'm making at the moment. Instead I thought I would talk about the real truth behind rod design this week. Firstly you have to understand two things; 1) many rods are "sampled" and not designed. Pretty much anything coming out of Asia is either a copy of something someone else has designed, or else a selection from a sample of widely available blanks - this is probably why many companies are producing rods with very similar actions; they are in fact identical blanks. I know this for a fact because four times in my life, I've been asked to select samples from a range of rods and always well-known rod brands have appeared in the range of samples. 2) Marketing departments work on a 5 year life cycle. Top brands notice that when they first produce a rod they sell lots, and then over the years the numbers slip and so they bring out a newer and "greater" model. However rod technology advancements are not at the pace of computing technology advancements, and most of the surrounding marketing is, how shall I put it? Fiction. In the last 20-30 years the resins have improved, the quality of the fittings available has improved, perhaps the carbon can be laid a little differently - but truthfully rods of 20 years ago are only different to today's rods through design.

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I'm an optimist...when I go fishing I take along a Nikon and a frying pan. ---David Lee Roth It may sound a bit strange to be quoting the lead singer of the iconic hard rock band Van Halen in an article about high performance fishing. The fact is however, that Diamond Dave is right. I've come to believe that optimism and confidence are THE defining factors that separate the average angler from the great angler .

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Almost every time I see other people's carp flies, either at tying sessions or when I was guiding, I'm always slightly surprised by how drab ALL of the flies are.

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I made my first ice-fishing trip to Sweden 2012. It was end of April, Satu went to Turkey to have holiday so I had mine in swedish mountains. I had great time and good fishing, camping in the tent and having campfire every night. I had to return one day earlier than planned because snow storm hitted to mountains and there is no guarentee how long those would last. On the way back I met local fishing guide and we got friends. He told that local people call this fish ghost fish, and after my first trip I knew why.

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Firstly, apologies for not managing to write a FP for last week, we’ve been a little preoccupied catching fish and had a few late nights last week that meant we didn’t have time.

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First Cast Fly Fishing Trips - That's where the fish are!

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I’ve been fishing with my good friend Stefan Siikavaara this last week. For the first few days I showed Stefan the ropes; the Snakehead Cast, how to approach them and so on. Stefan missed a Snakehead on the second day by striking (rarely should you actually strike on Snakehead). And for the rest of the week we’ve been fishing in two boats. Friday was completely flat; neither of us had a shot, but the rest of the time has been reasonably good with fair opportunities on all days. I sure hope Stefan catches a fish; it’s very hard to catch a fish on your first trip here, but Stefan is an excellent caster and I have every confidence in him!

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It's 10pm here in my neck of the woods. I'm sittin' outside on the porch sipping on a glass of Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon, watching a Brisket smoke on the pit...Texas style. Just a few feet away is a Padron 3000 Maduro Cigar begging to have the match put to it. I am by no means a Cigar aficionado, but the last two days have been two of my best in a while, and tomorrow is shaping up to be a stellar third, so a bit of debaucherous celebration is in order.

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I found myself playing with water and sand today. When I was child we often made dam and ditch. Then we open dam and we got heavy stream where to put some floating and watched who’s ”boat” made longest trip. Now when I’m grown-up (I’ll never be old) I found myself playing same game but from different approach. Snow is melting and there is some pond (this is difficult thing, same english word but in Finnish 5 different meaning if you use google translator). So I was playing today.

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

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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.

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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.

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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 owned a house in Lower Matecumbe Key and had been fly fishing for giant Tarpon at a very high level in the Keys and beyond, 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.

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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.

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So days are getting longer. Today we have 15 hours daylight and sun is setting at 8.37 pm and rising at 5.37 am. Twilight /dusk is about 1 hours which means that you can see in outdoors without extra light. Day is getting longer each day about 4 minutes from both ends. That means that two months from now (13.6.) sun is not setting at all and we don’t have night for two weeks. After that it is slowly going on other way but basicly July is still light nights.

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Tailing loops are among the most often seen troubles we have in order to perfectly bring our fly to the fish. Learning the causes truly helps to get rid of them!

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I finally got back on the water last week! Between a slow recovery from a simple head-cold, and a less than reliable fishing partner, it took me weeks to return to where some picky fish left me unfulfilled and dreaming about revenge. In a way I envy those who have easy access to their fishing waters. The trips I take are a bit taxing. The drive begins many hours before sunrise, is quite a bit over an hour, the voyage by canoe is again at least that long, and then the physical labor of paddling for the rest of the day is at hand. When I fish solo, as I did this last trip, I usually like to camp the night before. Not only does that spread transportation over two days, but additionally, I can get on the water very early. Also, that way, I can drive later in the evening and avoid the urban traffic of South Florida. This last trip I was seriously considering camping after fishing, but as it turned out I was off the water earlier than I expected. So, instead, I just drove home carefully. Doubling the transportation makes for a long day. Apparently, many folks are concerned about my solo trips into the wilderness, but personally, I feel the most vulnerable on the roads! That is where I really appreciate a second pair of eyes.

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IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN. The crazy stillwater enthusiast here in the west are eagerly awaiting the first open water of 2019. I ran this piece last year, and thought it would be good to share it again, since it all still holds true for me. Now, we just need a few more warm and windy days!

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Boats are awesome....they just are. I don't care if it's a leaky 10 foot aluminum Jon boat or a 72 foot enclosed bridge Viking Yacht, THEY ARE ALL AWESOME. They're awesome not just because they expand one's angling possibilities, but also because they allow those of us with an insatiable addiction for exploration to see what's around the next bend.

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People are always asking me what they can tie with X material, and it's not just me I see it regularly on social media groups as well. Without being flippant, the answer is; whatever you want-especially if you're a trout fisherman.

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When there is almost 1 meter of snow and snowing whole day, it is difficult to imagine that summer is coming. There is some signs that it will eventually come. One is that days are getting longer, daylight is starting around 6 am and ending around 8pm, so days are allready about 14 hours. So slowly days are getting longer and in some point there is no night at all. It is so close but so far away still. But first sign of flyfishing season is just behind of corner. It is first massive hatching which is starting season. That one is fast and furious, and also often shorter than others.

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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.

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The more often I was told this (usually by fly casting enthusiasts), the more I started realizing this doesn't hold true for many fly fishermen.

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Dogma: noun: dogma; plural noun: dogmas 1. a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. I’m not sure how many readers here on SL have access to “The Loop”? It is a quarterly electronic newsletter produced by the FFI for members who are certified instructors. At least that is how it used to be, but now I think it might also be available to any FFI member? On that I am not sure, but if you have access, or someone you know can share it with you, it might be worth a look-see.

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I have fished with Paul Arden in Lake Temmengor in Malaysia for the past 5 years. His specialty is Giant Snakehead, and more recently Giant Gourami. Paul has caught more Snakehead and Gourami on fly than any one else on the planet. He has spent years developing and perfecting casts, flies, leaders and techniques. His passion for fly fishing is infectious. I have been fortunate that he would spend the time with me. My fishing for Snakehead has gone from hearing deep sighs from the back of the boat when I missed most shots, to actually being able to catch free risers. For some reason things have got slower, and the 1-2 seconds to make the shot seem longer.

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