Daily Cast Archive


Utilitarianism

Martyn White - Thursday, November 30, 2023

I'm back on the crayfish this week. The ayu are pretty close to being gone, the smallies are starting to get hungry and are turning their attention to the slow moving bottom forage. This means we can look forward to some good fishing as we take advantage of the milder weather that's on the long range forecast.

Details >


The commonsense approach.

Chris Avery - Wednesday, November 29, 2023

When a fishing club decides to cease stocking Trout after 60 years, voting to become a wild trout fishery, it can be a little tense and emotional to say the least.! ‘Hearts and minds’ become some of the trickier obstacles. Many skirmishes of will, campaigns prepared, allies sought, defensive strategies and counter actions rehearsed in the battle of attrition ahead.  

Details >


Not so wet Wet

Paul Arden - Tuesday, November 28, 2023

The Wet Season hasn’t really come in yet. It’s raining most days now, but not the continuous torrential downpours that we used to expect at this time of year; indeed the very wet and highly predictable Wet Seasons are now predictably unpredictable, and for the past 4-5 years have become considerably less intense – at least in this part of the tropics where I float my boat.

Details >


Air Sculpting Revisited

Andy Dear - Monday, November 27, 2023

Last week I had a wonderful exchange with a gentleman in my Facebook group named Mark McKenna. Mark is a masterful flyrod builder with a talent and eye for the classic elegance that I myself ascribe to in my build philosophy. Unbeknownst to me, Mark is also a former musician, and as I soon found out, a HUGE Frank Zappa fan.....needless to say we have a lot in common. Shortly after our discussion about what a beautiful eccentric genius Mr. Zappa was, I ran off to have a listen to one of my favorite Zappa tunes, St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast, when I was reminded that almost three years ago, I wrote a Front Page dedicated to the genius of Frank Zappa. For this week's FP, I chose to re-run that piece, as it brings back some great memories....hope you enjoy!

Details >


Tangled Teeth

Tracy&James - Sunday, November 26, 2023

Before Tracy and I headed out for our holiday I decided to tie some flies specifically for garfish. Anyone who has been fishing in the Caribbean will know how common garfish are, they will also know how hard they are to catch. Not hard in a 'getting them to attack a fly point of view', in fact they are quite easy in this respect. However, getting the hook to hold in their boney beaks, with rows of tiny needle-like teeth is very much a hit and miss affair, with a lot more misses than hits.

Details >


The Humble Palmer Fly

Viking Lars - Saturday, November 25, 2023

I like palmer flies. The are the perfect representation of nothing, yet something that looks alive and edible. They are simple and easy to tie, they are durable, they can be weighted or not and they work equally well small and large. Very small, black palmers are excellent as dries. What is a palmer? Is it any fly with a palmer hackle?

Details >


Wading vol2

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, November 24, 2023

Last week TZ wrote about wading. Paul continued that also. For me wading has been always easy, well until this summer came. I started to have some issues and I have been using wading stick now and then.

Details >


Double Vision

Martyn White - Thursday, November 23, 2023

Despite the lure anglers bulk booking the boats, Hawaiian Dave and I eventually managed to get out on the bay on Monday evening. The last couple of years it's been very difficult to get a slot now the lure guys have discovered that they can have easy fishing during the big bait runs. They'll mostly disappear after Christmas when the easy fishing is over though.

Details >



Wet Season on the lake

Paul Arden - Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Busy day today. Four flycasting Zoom lessons. I managed to do some coaching in the UK but not the quantity I normally do. A few of the time zone differences were problematic (eg NZ!) and besides, I was pretty busy with family commitments. But here, back in Malaysia, I’m busy coaching again. I’ve had a couple of fishing sessions on the Lake, the last two days. The water has come up but it’s still really quite low. Yesterday I found spawning Snakehead in an area that I often see them. So in a few days those ones with be actively parenting and I’ll catch them of course.

Details >


Interview with a Rodmaker Revisited

Andy Dear - Monday, November 20, 2023

Back in 2021, I wrote a series of Front Pages that detailed a series of interviews I did for RodMaker Magazine, which you can read here https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/interview-with-a-rodmaker Recently I was asked by a very dear friend of mine, who has recently started a podcast dedicated to the craft called Mastering Rodbuilding to participate in an interview that detailed my own history in the industry.

Details >


Birthday Bone

Tracy&James - Sunday, November 19, 2023

The last five weeks fishing have been tough however I have had a few outstanding bonefish to remember. The first quite early in the holiday when I hooked a big tailing bone in the shallows of a lagoon with James close by watching. It was hooked following one cast accurately placed in front of it and it moved rapidly to eat the fly. The take is always one of the best things with bonefishing, but also the run they make, as for their size they can take a lot of backing.

Details >


Drop me in the water

Paul Arden - Saturday, November 18, 2023

An excellent FP from TZ and Mika yesterday on the challenges of being a good wader on rivers. And certainly doing it often is one key. Here are some thoughts…

Details >


Wading

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, November 17, 2023

A lot of preparations to do before winter season. Still some gates to built etc. Some reindeer round up going and so on. That is life in north. Thomas was here almost 4 months and we fished together, not so much I was hoping, that was mostly my schedule thing. It has been -18 celsius or so this week. Friday I have some reindeer work, but during the weekend hopefully some ice fishing. My wading shoes starts to be in the end of their story, which brings to the subject, wading. You need to have some skills but also right gears. Here are some points from Thomas about wading while fishing in here.

Details >


Winter Weakness

Martyn White - Thursday, November 16, 2023

Winter has finally arrived here, unfortunately autumn was only about 2 days long. Last Tuesday was 26C and by the weekend it was low single digits overnight, so despite being fairly mild in absolute terms it feels freezing. Despite the cold turn Chuck and I foolishly decided to get the waders on and go out looking for smallmouth.

Details >


War on the Waters

Chris Avery - Wednesday, November 15, 2023

However, the War on the Waters started in earnest in the 1970’s. The Ministry for Agriculture advised that all Britain’s farmers ‘improved’ any waters crossing their lands by straightening out the meanders for good, removing all the bankside vegetation and dredging the riverbeds so the water could flow more easily. Maximum efficiency for those machines. At the same time clearing more areas upland on the slopes of trees and old wet meadows for grazing or for ploughing in. All good for the farm boys.

Details >


Reflections.

Paul Arden - Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Many of you would have met my stepfather over the years, particularly if you’ve ever flycast at the Mill. I mentioned in a few FPs back that he had died and that Ashly and I were over the UK for the funeral. I think he had a great sending off from an extremely well-attended funeral.

Details >


Pier Pressure Part 9

Andy Dear - Monday, November 13, 2023

“A pier is a disappointed bridge; you stare at it for long enough and you can dream it to the other side of the Channel.” ― Julian Barnes

Details >


Golf is great

Tracy&James - Sunday, November 12, 2023

In the last week Tracy and I have been lucky enough to have 3, maybe 4, good bonefishing days – good but not spectacular by any means. We managed to double our bonefish count for the holiday over the course of these days. We don't actually set targets regarding the amount of bonefish we would like to catch, but we do keep copious notes for future reference regarding the weather, state of tide and the fishing. Obviously we already had a lot of notes from previous trips to this island but this time, apart from the navigational information, they proved to be of little use – the fishing has changed that much.

Details >


Getting started fly tying

Viking Lars - Saturday, November 11, 2023

Paul’s Tuesday FP was about one of his Zoom clients, a beginner, who was asking about advice to get started in fly tying, as well as casting. I agree with Paul on his advice on his choice of tools to begin with (imagine I agree with Paul on any matter fly tying). A vice, scissors, a needle, hackle pliers and a bobbin holder. That sees a beginner well off!

Details >


Update from north

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, November 10, 2023

Intensive week behind with reindeer and hunting. We got some fresh snow on Saturday and it meant that we were able track wolves. On Friday I found one ot the Satu's reindeer killed by wolves.

Details >


Paralysed By Choice

Martyn White - Thursday, November 9, 2023

Paul's page about starting fly tying came about the same time as I started helping someone who's just moved to Okinawa get started tying flies. My mate Chuck has also decided to join the next flats trip and has been looking for advice on tying his first box of flats flies.

Details >


Lest we forget …..*The last laugh.

Chris Avery - Wednesday, November 8, 2023

There is a story told, should you be minded, inspecting the writing and the details on a typical Cenotaph, in a typical little market square in a typical village decked with reefs of poppies at this time of the year. There’s thousands of villages and small country towns in Britain that have an area to remember the dead from the great War and then sadly from the second World War too, that once lived, and worked and dreamed in those rural parishes.

Details >


The Fly Tying Adventure

Paul Arden - Tuesday, November 7, 2023

I have a Zoom student who is very much a fly fishing beginner, but is progressing quickly. It’s been extremely interesting for me in many ways and I love the questions I get regularly via WhatsApp on pretty much everything from reading the water, to fly selection, to leader lengths, to knots, to casting and, well, pretty much everything else actually.

Details >


Pier Pressure Part 8

Andy Dear - Monday, November 6, 2023

“A pier is a disappointed bridge; you stare at it for long enough and you can dream it to the other side of the Channel.” ― Julian Barnes

Details >


Species Hunt

Tracy&James - Sunday, November 5, 2023

Saltwater fishing is tough. Not just due to the weather conditions we have been having (it's been pretty windy most of the last few weeks) but also due to the fact that there seems to be less bonefish on the flats we are fishing. What doesn't help is when we work out the best day to go to a certain flat and find others already there fishing, so we then have to work out where to go instead. This has happened twice in the last week. So instead we have been finding other species to catch. Currently James is ahead in the species range compared to me however that might be due to the fact that he will carry on fishing when I feel like having a break and enjoying the sun. If I can't catch bones then I might as well develop a suntan. Today I finally caught more than just one bone; pretty much since the first full days fishing of the holiday, I have only caught one in a day, but most days, it's a big fat zero.

Details >


Sudden Change to Winter

Carol Northcut - Saturday, November 4, 2023

An artic blast came through bringing a sudden change to winter. Thursday and Friday it snowed. Saturday we awoke to a temp of 3⁰ F with cloudy skies. The heated gloves, fleece-lined tights, ski pants, warm hat, buff, and poofy jacket came out. Applying significant mental force, I pushed myself to overcome inertia and went outside to practice in 25⁰ for 25 minutes. Sunday started off two degrees warmer, but with sunshine. By afternoon, practice was much more tolerable. (Mika is probably thinking, “What a wimp!” LOL.)

Details >


Fish around the rock vol 2

Mika Lappalainen - Friday, November 3, 2023

As said fish around rock is one the most common things you hear and read. I often ask from guests about this and they say that yes. We have told to fish around the rock and this case behind. When I ask what it means they tell me to fish behind the rock, which means for them to get fly behind, underneath of the rock.

Details >


Reinventing The Wheel

Martyn White - Thursday, November 2, 2023

When I started tying flies, I used to go to the library and get fly tying a book out then try to tie the flies with varying levels of success. I can't remember the title of the book, but it was small, had no photos just reproduced ink drawings of the tying steps, the first fly was a chomper and it was already fairly old back in the early 1990s. I've speculatively bought a few old publications over the years, never managed to get it, but like I say it was old back then.

Details >


third whinge

Chris Avery - Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Meanwhile under the still leafy boughs flows onwards the sparkling little Willowbrook, heading eastwards regardless towards the muddy old River Nene and then onwards to its northern seas.

Details >