Mika Lappalainen - Friday, July 31, 2020
It has been busy 3 weeks. My wish that people should use local service during these weird times has come true. I have been building fences with other people mornings and early afternoons and guiding evenings. Guests wanted to have half day guiding which has worked to me more than great. Now it is midnight and I have just finished guiding and preparing next day. Friday I have tv-shooting again and I will meet great friends again.
Andy Dear - Thursday, July 30, 2020
My first recollection of hearing about Cedar Bayou was in the 1970s when I was just a kid. Back then, it was considered a far off mysterious place that only those with considerable knowledge of the Texas bay system dare travel to. In the minds of fishermen, Cedar is one of those mythical places, not only because of its remote location and stellar fishing but also because of it's unique and interesting history. The most famous of which is the legendary pirate Jean Lafitte, who was rumored to use Cedar Bayou as a safe haven to regularly escape capture by the British Navy.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Yet it's not easy to find correct fly fishing knowledge on the internet. Especially when it comes to fly casting we can still find all kind of wrong concepts.
Gary Meyer - Tuesday, July 28, 2020
I wish I had something exciting to write about but such is not the case. And that just might be one of the great things about being addicted to flyfishing… it is not just about the “high”.
Paul Arden - Monday, July 27, 2020
The plan this week was (a) too write a FP about hauling and (b) to go fishing for 8 days before heading back into Sungai Tiang. However last night I took a four-day booking for teaching flycasting and Snakehead and Gourami fishing. So I have to go to sleep soon because I have to be up very early tomorrow morning! What I have managed to do however is edit last week's Sungai Tiang Mahseer trip video. But it's quite possible that I don't have sufficient mobile Internet to upload it. If it's attached to this page then you know that I was in the clear...
Martyn White - Sunday, July 26, 2020
Andy's recent page on simplicity coincided with me tying some very simple trout flies. While I was tying I made a few videos, one of them for Bob Barden's Killer nymph a super simple pattern that I've caught hundreds of fish on over the years. I'd not be without it in my stillwater box, but even when tying full time in the UK, I never sold many. This is true of a lot of flies I carry in my box.
Viking Lars - Saturday, July 25, 2020
Jungle Blues vol. 3 is a book by an old friend of Paul’s, Stu Tripney. I received my copy a few days ago. It’s a modern epos about the trip Stu took to visit Paul in the jungle. I backed my copy on Kickstarter, but I think that campaign’s over and if you’re interested, you have to buy it in Stu’s flyshop.
Mika Lappalainen - Friday, July 24, 2020
It is more like deal with Ukko. Ukko is the supreme god in Finnish mytology. Before Christian religion came to Finland Ukko was called Perkele. Perkele is translation to devil, so people started to call Perkele as Ukko so there won’t be misundestanding. Ukko, the supreme god, rules weather amongst some other things. If you needed rain you asked that from Ukko. Past ten years have shown that I kind of have deal with devil.
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Andy Dear - Thursday, July 23, 2020
Earlier in the year, my company introduced a new guide wrap finish into the rod market. So far it's been very well received and is getting great reviews. Last week, I received a phone call from a Rodmaker in California by the name of Charlie. Charlie was looking for a local distributor where he could purchase the new coating, but the phone call ended up being much more meaningful than that.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Last week I was... fly fishing ;) ... all week long. Yes, some fine fish came along, too. Great week for sure!
Carol Northcut - Tuesday, July 21, 2020
After 28 years of riding mountain bikes, some years more avidly than others, I did an “endo” that injured my neck. I was off the bike for two years, but at the encouragement of my hubby, I am riding again and very glad. I started riding mountain bikes in 1991, before there was such a thing as lessons or if there were, who’d pay for them? The instructors didn’t know much more than anyone else. Learning was pretty much a matter of trial and error, sometimes painful error, but the learning curve was steep and it was easy to become competent quickly, relying on big muscles and balance. Fly casting is not so easy. It requires finer movements within larger movements, a knowledgeable instructor is paramount, and the tool used is very different. But despite the differences, my mind looks for comparisons while riding, and I find some similarities.
Paul Arden - Monday, July 20, 2020
had a good week working with the Aslis in Sungai Tiang. I have a video to edit from the trip which should be available around the end of the week. We had good conditions for the first few days and everyone caught fish - they are learning fast! Then it decided to rain on us and the river flooded. This is an unusually wet summer. Anyway we rafted out which was quite an adventure. I think you’ll enjoy the video when it’s finished. I’ll aim to upload Wednesday or Thursday.
Martyn White - Sunday, July 19, 2020
With the lockdown lifting in Tokyo and most of my work moving back to the office I'm continually asking myself how I did anything around work before the pandemic. I'm barely tying but now managing to get out fishing on my days off, so that's good as I'm becoming quite adept at finding holes in my waders! That's not the only thing I'm adjusting to, I've accepted there will be no flats trip to Okinawa or international destination so I'll be focusing my attention offshore for the summer. Which might be a good thing in a way, I love bluewater fishing but with the increase in typhoons I've barely managed to get out for mahi or tuna the last 2 or 3 years. I'm keen to get back to it, but have become unfamiliar with the 12+ weights, which has meant a bit of practising down the the lake to get my arm back in. It always takes me a bit to get used to it but I do enjoy the heavy gear.
Viking Lars - Saturday, July 18, 2020
A lot of people are collectors, in some sense we all are, but the essence of “collecting” or a “collection” is, I think, the joy of owning something, just for owning it - not for using it. It can be a rare stamp, a coin, an old Hardy reel, an old limited edition Leonard split cane rod, art (yes, some people buy art and store it), heck - even rare breeds of roses for the garden and people even stick bugs on needles and collect them. Collector’s are usually a bit of an odd bunch, but they are usually also very passionate people.
Andy Dear - Thursday, July 16, 2020
I decided not to muck up the Front Page today with my usual angling related rambling. Whether you're a musician, an angler or a ballet dancer (or maybe all three), the following quote was too good not to just let it stand on it's own. THE G.O.A.T. HAS SPOKEN
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, July 15, 2020
When fly fishing for asp I quite often see the asp hammering right into small or medium sized schools of baitfish. Pretty clear, imitating such schools of baitfish is THE key to success!
Gary Meyer - Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Well another non-fishing weekend has come and gone. COVID concerns are escalating as here in Florida instead of things tapering off, or even plateauing, the number of infections is skyrocketing. But, as bad as that sounds, the real reason I did not head out solo was the combination of really unappealing tidal conditions and our summer heat. On top of that, add the strong possibility of getting completely washed out by thunderstorms and you have a very unappetizing mix. I guess, on the upside, I have gotten in quite a bit of casting practice and have tied up enough flies to last for a while.
Paul Arden - Monday, July 13, 2020
I was asked a question this week about the rod rings that we fit on the Sexyloops Rods and since it’s a question that has come up many times in the past I thought it would merit a longer reply and with the full list of available options.
Tracy&James - Sunday, July 12, 2020
There’s currently a thread on casting heavy outfits on the board, as such I thought I’d share some of my observations. ‘Heavy’ in my book is perhaps #10 plus, but I wouldn’t argue if someone said heavy starts at #8. When saltwater fishing my Bonefishing outfit is a #7, this feels light enough to cast all day – not that I do cast it all day, in fact if I have 20 casts during a day’s Bonefishing it means that I’ve seen a lot of fish.
Viking Lars - Saturday, July 11, 2020
What if you’re fishing a stretch and come up on a deep pool, a weir pool, an under cut bank, a narrowing of the river with faster current? Then you need extra weight on the fly - on the fly, so to speak (#I’llfindmyownwayout). There are ways of getting flies down - longer, thinner leaders, drifting before tightening up on the swing, sinking lines and of course weighted flies. As far as weighted flies go, the options have never been as good as they are now. There are so many different products made to add weight to the fly that you can customise more or less any fly to any specific situation.
Mika Lappalainen - Friday, July 10, 2020
I’m late with my FP. I have good reason. I have been guiding past two days, long days with guests. Despite long days it was great two days. My guest had good experience about fly fishing, well he had never fished with one hand rod before. He had been fishing DH rod and only salmon and steelhead in Brittish Columbia. Now life is partly throwing him to our area and he wanted to learn grayling fishing and also how to fish with one hand rod.
Andy Dear - Thursday, July 9, 2020
Like most rod builders, when I first entered the craft I became quickly and heavily infatuated with the decorative aspect of the craft. Decorative cross wraps, color change weaves, fancy handle inlays...I tried them all. One thing I noticed though, was that when I was on the water, I rarely if ever paid any attention to the fancy decorations that I spent hours producing. I made a conscious decision somewhere around 1998 that outside of a few single inlaid winds and trim bands, I would no longer engage in any significant amount of thread art.
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Last week I further studied asp!
Gary Meyer - Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Last weekend was a US holiday, and I generally do not fish on national holidays. Even when driving to the ends of the earth to launch, or at least the end of the Florida mainland, on these weekends there are just too many people on the water. I believe in fishing according to the conditions: weather, tides, season, etc. But, no matter the natural conditions, holiday weekends bring out the masses, and I believe the fish respond accordingly. I know I do. It was a shame though, as the tide phase was really nice for a certain location I like to fish. I am sure it was just loaded… with boats. No thanks. I do not like fishing in crowds. Apparently, the holiday weekend warriors feel otherwise. It is almost like they prefer having others around.
Paul Arden - Monday, July 6, 2020
You might have seen the pictures of the first four days training the Orang Asli to fly fish, so that we can plan how to organise the river for C&R fly fishing for Mahseer. It was a great trip and fun had by all. We had a few permit delays and an overloaded boat to deal with, but eventually Fong and I reached Sungai Tiang village. We experienced another delay when we found the long stem of my 30HP outboard didn’t offer enough clearance to make it through the rapids! Still we did actually manage to start on the first day!
Tracy&James - Sunday, July 5, 2020
Another week and I still haven’t fished this year, the weather has been pretty wet and windy, plus I’ve been busy working from home. However next week looks good and I’ve booked some time off, so hopefully there will soon be a report from us about fishing in 2020. In order to find the pictures for last week’s report, I went through all my old printed photos and found some of the first couple of trout I caught when I started fly-fishing back in the 1990s. I had been sea fishing previously and even tried a little bit of coarse fishing, but once I tried fly-fishing, I loved it. It was more motivating; stalking the prey, reading the water, observing the fly-life, casting constantly and trying different flies - rather than just sitting waiting for a bite.
Viking Lars - Saturday, July 4, 2020
This could be about the most annoying little bug on the planet - the little, black buggers called “knot” in Swedish (and Norwegian, maybe?). They are so small they get through even the finest bug nets and even the harshest fly-line-melting bug repellants are without effect and they can literally drive people nuts, enough to make them leave their fishing. But it’s not (#I’llfindmyownwayout). It is in fact about knots - the ones we tie!
Mika Lappalainen - Friday, July 3, 2020
Since March everything has been more or less altered. We had some great fishing trip planned on August, Varzina, Russia and Sweden. Our Varzina trip has been moved to 2023, so it is 3 more years of waiting. Sweden, well that is still kind of banned to go even I know lot of Finnish people don’t mind about restriction. It is kind of understanable, everyone has planned and waited their fishing trip over long winter, so.
Andy Dear - Thursday, July 2, 2020
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. ---Oscar Wilde
Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Chasing a big fish last week some thoughts came up to my mind. ;)