Daily Cast Archive


Intermediate Level Double Hauling

Paul Arden - Tuesday, August 31, 2021

This week I’ve uploaded a fly casting video on improving your existing Double Haul for the Masterclass Series. Next week I’ll have a fishing video for SLTV and will try to flip flop on alternate weeks between fishing and casting videos. We are living on The Battleship full-time and fishing every day, usually two sessions. Apart from one day each week when we resupply with beer, petrol, ice… in other words: life’s essentials. Last week we looked to – and set up camp in – a northern bay. It’s not a place where I would normally spend a whole week, usually just one day or two if it’s fishing it’s socks off. However it’s a nice spot and Ashly wanted to go. I picked up a free-riser early on and there were some babies with adults that Ashly failed to convince to eat. I also spent some time chasing Gourami and have changed my mind about throwing them the Popper and fishing it static when they appear. I have landed one Gourami on the Popper in eight years doing this and have seen no more than six actually eat it. Out of many hundreds. So from now on I change rods. So that was something I learned!

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Jon Boats Part 2

Andy Dear - Monday, August 30, 2021

Last week's Front Page found me waxing nostalgic about the significant role that aluminum Jon Boats have played in my life. These flat bottomed skiffs have transported me to and from more fishin' holes than any other type of vessel

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Wet Wading in Waders

Tracy&James - Sunday, August 29, 2021

My waders have started leaking; not just a little weep that leaves you wondering if it’s a bit of sweat that your seeing on your trousers, but a full-blown boot and leg filling gush. On my last trip to the river I may as well have been wet wading, certainly on my right side where the leak is. As such I’m now weighing up the options for replacement – certainly wet wading isn’t going to be an option as the UK moves into Autumn. In the past, I’ve tried all sorts of wader systems and I have a personal pros and cons list that, judging by most anglers I see, not many people agree with. The waders that have just failed me are rubber chesties with integrated boots with moulded soles. The ‘memories’ function on Facebook reminded me that they are 5 years old by showing me a photo of me and Tracy (who has an identical pair) fishing the river Dee whilst wearing them. Given the ground we cover, my clumsy wading and my sometimes gung-ho approach to getting into the water (a slide on my arse down a steep bank is often employed), then I guess 5 years is pretty good going.

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Matukus

Viking Lars - Saturday, August 28, 2021

No, that’s really not a spelling mistake. I became curious about the history of the flies we call ‘matukas’ and it turns out that they are named after the Maori name for a bittern, ‘matuku’. How and when the name changed I haven’t been able to find out, but I’ll just, for the sake of convenience (and the fact that matuku/bittern are now protected and no longer used) continue to call them matukas.

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Dry fly august

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, August 27, 2021

August is still one of my favourite fishing month. Past weekend was heavy rain so it was just spending time at home with dogs. Satu had short work trip to Kuopio during weekend. Tuesday it was sunny and I decided to have time for myself. So I went fishing.

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Embiggening

Martyn White - Thursday, August 26, 2021

The weather has been awful here over recent weeks and the fishing has been suffering as a result. Dirty rivers, often too high to fish have become fairly normal, with only a few opportunities to get out on my local river presenting themselves. It seems unlikely I'll make it offshore for mahi and tuna this summer too.

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Cheating Or Not Cheating

Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Flavouring flies is cheating some fly fishermen claim, while tying their own flies with natural materials all coming along with their own specific scent.

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Back to Fishing Proper

Paul Arden - Tuesday, August 24, 2021

It’s been a crazy 18 months and who knows what will happen next? But at least we can fish again where I live and while Malaysia is in a crisis, the general feeling I come across is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Even the local tackle shop opened last weekend, which is the first time since June 1st. I had to show my electronic vaccine certificate to get in, which I suspect will become the way of things. However I now have all the correct-sized mono for accuracy leaders. Talking of leaders, Chess/Keith on the Board, sent me a package of experimental furled leaders to cast and explore. This will be very interesting to do and will no doubt keep me entertained during the hot afternoon spells or the somewhat cooler late evenings. Keith plans to develop his technique into full fly lines which is quite an operation!

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Jon Boats Part 1

Andy Dear - Monday, August 23, 2021

A jon boat (or johnboat[1]) is a flat-bottomed boat[2] constructed of aluminum, fiberglass, or wood with one, two, or three bench seats. They are suitable for fishing, hunting and cruising. The nearly flat hull of a jon boat tends to ride over the waves rather than cut through them as a V-hull might; this shallow draft – only a few inches[2] – enables the jon boat to operate in very shallow water,[3] but limits its use to calm waters. -----Wikipedia Definition

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A fun escape

Paul Arden - Sunday, August 22, 2021

Ashly and I travelled down the lake for three full days of non-interrupted fishing last week (a five day journey). Not only did Ashly catch two Snakehead in two days, but we also had some free-riser action and I caught my first Giant Gourami of the year!!! It was great to escape the Internet and now of course I am in work-overload to catch up! Next week we shall do the same but this time heading North. As you will see from the video that I am editing, Ashly is more than a little bit frightened of Snakehead and she is worried that they will turn around and bite her! This is why I am helping her hold the fish in the POD. The first fish we barely got a photo of. The great thing about these fish is that she caught them on a popper variation of her own... and I think there is a lot of mileage to be had in this variation.

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Fly tying on the go

Viking Lars - Saturday, August 21, 2021

Whether you're on a 3-week long backpacking trip or away for a weekend (even with the family) it can be both necessary, useful and just nice to bring some fly tying gear. When back packing space and weight are important issues, on a weekend trip that's not as important.

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WFFC 2021

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, August 20, 2021

Last weekend it was finally held, WFFC, world flyfishing championships. It was interesting and tough three days for all of us, especially for competitors. Kuusinki is not easy to wade and rivers are really physical for this kind of event. For normal fisherman it is easier but these guys has to push to the limit. And some of them were swimming once or twice. I could write long article or even short book about comp, instead I try to just bring up some remarks which I made during the comp.

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Escargot

Martyn White - Thursday, August 19, 2021

I've always thought snails are pretty cool little creatures. Fish like them too, although I reckon they're an overlooked hatch. You rarely see articles about them in the magazines (despite some of them seemingly having an article on the "washing line" in every edition) I rarely see anyone talking about them online, and even less often do I hear someone saying they caught on a snail pattern.

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Free-rising Snakehead

Paul Arden - Tuesday, August 17, 2021

We are just coming into that prolonged Snakehead free-rising time of year. For me this is not only maybe the best flyfishing on the lake but it’s actually quite possibly the best fly fishing there is! If you were to, say accidentally, swallow a bunch of magic mushrooms and invent a style of flyfishing that was off the planet, then you might come close… but I seriously doubt it! Talk about making the shot! Imaginary tropical SW flyfishing is also about shot-taking. But this? It’s in a league all of its own! “Now you see me, now you don’t”.

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Good News & Bad News

Andy Dear - Monday, August 16, 2021

For the first time in 10 months, Jackson and I paid a visit to our favorite saltwater fly fishing destination, 9 Mile Hole. Not only was this the first time we have fished it in 2021, but it is also the first time we fished it since the big freeze back in February.

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Kiss of the T120

Tracy&James - Sunday, August 15, 2021

Just back from Derbyshire where we held our first BFCC Meeting in Ashford in the Water, near Bakewell. It’s such a beautiful location close to the river Wye. It was a very busy event with people coming along during the day for tuition with some fantastic instructors and to watch or take part in the competitions. We started with accuracy that James and Kei normally take turns to win, however today we have a new star as TC thrashed them both and took the overall record to boot!

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The small everyday adventure

Viking Lars - Saturday, August 14, 2021

With the COVID-situation, I’m sure many of us miss a bit of adventure. But you really don’t need a 3-long backpacking trip to feel that you’re away. I love a good, long backpacking trip into the mountains of Sweden or Norway, but I also love the short adventure you can have in an everyday life.

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Learning moment

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, August 13, 2021

Last weekend was interesting. There were many teams practising for world championships, and then there were my guests. First day guests were fishing some comp waters, just testing how good waters there will be during the comp. Second day one of the guests finally had click in the brains.

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Back to Balsa

Martyn White - Thursday, August 12, 2021

Since getting back from Okinawa there's been little in the way of fishing going on for me. First I was avoiding wet wading the rivers until the holes I'd rubbed in my feet had healed a bit and then we got hit with a typhoon which scuppered any hope of getting out. This let me catch up on some reading and luckily coincided with a new book arriving. Kirk Dietrich's excellent Tying Bugs.

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Always About Improvement - Chasing Asp

Bernd Ziesche - Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Asp are insane fish when it comes to only eat on one extremely particular food source. Exactly that forced me into solving a lot of riddles about how to catch them over the years!

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TIME

Paul Arden - Tuesday, August 10, 2021

We appear to be opening up a little in this country again, so hopefully I will have fishing guests again soon. I’ve really enjoyed giving the Zoom flycasting lessons and have learned a great deal in doing them. The big problem I have with them is a personal (fishing) one and that’s is that I must park the boat within 4G internet coverage, which severely restricts how I approach the lake. Nowadays my work (hosting fishing trips – when it’s possible!) is usually 5 days (minimum) and sometimes 7 days. That’s a hell of a lot of one-hour lessons! What I think could work really well, is group lessons/courses via Zoom. If I can’t host International guests next year then I will ultimately do this, but between me and you, it’s not nearly as much fun as fishing :)))

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The Backlash Technique

Andy Dear - Monday, August 9, 2021

Years ago... in 1990 to be exact I worked for a large retail chain, whose location here in San Antonio was managed by a fellow named George Blasing. George hired me to work in the hunting and fishing department, which was of course right up my alley.

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River Crossings

Tracy&James - Sunday, August 8, 2021

Up until this weekend the water level has been exceedingly low on the river Dee. In fact the last two day’s rain is the only substantial precipitation we’ve had for at least a couple of weeks. I tend to keep an ‘eye’ on the river by monitoring the online level gauges and these are showing that the level is currently climbing from its previously low state. I’m sure the salmon and sea trout anglers are thanking the rain gods for the influx of water, which hopefully should see some migratory fish enter, or move up the river.

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Casting practice no. who knows what…

Viking Lars - Saturday, August 7, 2021

I’m going on about casting practice at the moment, I know, but that’s what fills my head (among other things). And it won’t stop with this page. I have something to say choosing a practice line and even more on practice lines versus fishing lines. Some advocate practicing with your fishing lines - I don’t, but that’s for a later front page (unless I forget, which happens easily).

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expensive babysitter

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, August 6, 2021

This week has been blast. I have enjoyed so much being babysitter. I never thought that it would be this way, it is amazing how we lost something when getting older. You could say life is catching us. When it should not.

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Six Last Minute Equalisers

Martyn White - Thursday, August 5, 2021

I just got home from my week in Okinawa, to say things didn't go as planned would be about right. My mate Takaaki decided to join me but had never been saltwater fly fishing and although I like to fish alone, I was pretty glad of the company over the week.

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Practise makes Fun

Paul Arden - Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Following a post on the Board I thought I would discuss how I practise my fly casting. There are lots of ways to do this and if you have another plan I’d love to hear about it on the Board. My practise of course is sometimes very specific. Maybe for a competition and I’ll discuss that a bit too.

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Basketball Season...is FINALLY over!

Andy Dear - Monday, August 2, 2021

Back in May, Jackson decided he wanted to play summer league basketball. I have never really been a "team sport" guy, but when I became a dad in 2008, I vowed that I would support him in whatever he wanted to do, whether it was something I was interested in or not.

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More dates for the diary

Tracy&James - Sunday, August 1, 2021

This week, James and I have been distance casting, practicing for both the virtual events and the last three BFCC Meetings of 2021, one of which is in less than two weeks in Derbyshire. This is a new location, proffered by one of our long-standing members after also helping to get an article on the BFCC in the Trout and Salmon magazine. The success of the BFCC is founded on all the members who volunteer to support the Meetings and help promote the club. The club wouldn’t be here if not for these members.

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