That is not a fly! Maybe I hear this more often than most people, but I love spending my time in tiny spring creeks, fishing for small wild trout with 6-inch streamers. I’ve also been known to preach the good word about tight line nymphing. If you’re familiar with what I’ve been working on lately, you know that I occasionally tie 20-inch flies for musky. So, you can imagine I’ve encountered concerned fly fishermen who want to ensure I’m doing it right. Over the years, I’ve learned a lesson or two about what does and doesn’t constitute a fly or fly fishing. Thus, I have occasionally pondered, “What is a fly?”
Details >
So I’m leaving for NY to visit Jackie in the city with a side-trip planned to visit my daughter. I haven’t seen her for six months. She and her boyfriend left the Bay Area in late September, came here for a visit, and drove across the country, stopping in Jackson Hole briefly to get married. They wintered on Block Island; a summer vacation destination. It's beyond quiet during the off-season. Located midway between Long Island’s north fork and Rhode Island, it is right in the middle of the migration route for the big stripers leaving their spawning grounds in the lower reaches of the Hudson River and Chesapeake bay. Unfortunately my visit will be a month-and-a-half too early. Two months for the blues. Too bad. There are many many ponds on the island but I’m not sure I want to bother transporting my stuff to fish them.
Details >
I seem to learn the same thing in fly casting many times. And I haven’t been at it for a long time and still relearning things. Like if my casting is off and I cannot figure out what’s going on it is very possible that my front and back targets are off. Maybe even none existing, that’s the worst. Trying to do a long carry out into the nothingness can be a recipe for fail.
Details >
Friday I had ice fishing guiding. I had good feeling about that as weather was good, wind from right direction. There were old holes where light could go under ice. What I didn't expected was that fish didn't agree with me.
Details >
Well it's been odd so far in Okinawa, there have been few interesting surprises but overall things aren't going very much to plan.
Details >
Immediately outside of my front door is a grassed area where I can practice fly casting. Unfortunately it's not big enough to do any out-and-out distance work unless the wind is in a very specific direction, and even then my casts fly past the entrance to a children's play area, thus if there are any kids about, I simply don't attempt it for fear of upsetting a belligerent parent. As such, I tend to use the area to practice accuracy and presentation casts (I also see if I can land my fluff across the road on the far pavement whilst going under the bar of a wooden fence – this is a tough cast). When practising accuracy I always take a tape measure with me to make sure I place my target cones at the correct distance according to the ICSF accuracy rules.
Details >
I’m pretty flat out at the moment and I’m fishing with a new guest from Hong Kong. Ben is an Aussie and is doing fantastically well and has landed two Snakehead in two days of fishing. The first was a free-riser that’s been really good. The last two evenings of looks like it might happen what will do and the second an adult off babies. We have had a few other looks and three proper Gourami shots as well. One of which looked at the fly for about a minute before refusing.
Details >
A lot of people have a special place that brings back fond memories from childhood—a place that reminds them of family or loved ones. It seems to be a natural human tendency to develop emotional attachments to certain times or places. For fishermen, this attachment to a specific location at a particular time takes on an even deeper significance—a call to action, perhaps.
Details >
I had another backhand training epiphany. I hope this will be the end of their discussion. I’ve experienced a quantum leap in confidence and the way I went about it may be useful. Clearly, paying attention to backhand casting will pay dividends regardless of method. We all get more comfortable with various tasks and motions as we perform them over time. But two things bedeviled me. First, my backhand has always felt like a weak stroke. Second, aiming it is difficult. It is hard for me to cast to a target - I tend to shift my gaze to my forehand backcast instead of the ultimate target. So in my fever dreams (I should get a life), I thought of a new drill. It seems to have helped me solve both problems.
Details >
My journey in treating my fly casting elbow has been a bit back-and-forth, but it's trending toward improvement—especially when I consistently do my homework. It’s easy to become complacent and neglect the things that lead to improvement, such as regularly exercising the extensors of the wrist. Although I’ve recently had periods when my elbow felt completely fine, overall it's still significantly better than before. Unfortunately, whenever I've slipped off the wagon by neglecting the rehab exercises, I've experienced setbacks in my rehabilitation progress.
Details >
We postponed session with Paul from Sunday. As I thought I was not really conditioned to do it, weather was bad and that was also last possibility to deliver reindeer meat to customers. Even delivery meant driving 350 km but we also had to change, meet some friends and also had night over in hotel. Some relaxation.
This week has been really good with northern lights so if you have been around you had couple amazing nights. I had two ice fishing days with guests, not really success as some snowing during day and north wind. I'm hoping things change Friday as there have been two nice days and Friday should good also. Hopefully some action when ice fishing.
Details >
It snowed yesterday in Tokyo. Unacceptable. I'm really glad to be heading down to the island, even if it is a bit early in the season.
The forecast is middling, high 20s-low 30s with some chance of rain. Hopefully I'll be OK as the island I'm going to is flat but the nearby islands are mountainous and usually hold the clouds and rain there. And encouraginly I was sent a picture of a blochii that was caught in the area on Tuesday.
Details >
I have been organising the BFCC casting calendar and have set four of the meetings for 2025. There are the usual venues in Kent, Derbyshire, Cheshire and Essex, however I close to arranging one near Bristol in May and hope to hold one in Jersey and one in Scotland too, though dates and locations are yet to be agreed. We have been invited to support the Scottish and English Game Fairs again, where we run a range of casting competitions for the public to attend. These are great fun events where casters can win some amazing prizes.
Details >
I’m back aboard the Battleship. Totally jet lagged! My body clock is in haywire mode, but I did have a long drive up from KL, a short swim upon arrival, a longish 14K run in Gerik and a shorter threshold 10Km run the following morning. There is quite a temperature and time difference between Scotland and the Malaysian Tropics and my body really hasn’t got itself adjusted yet. No surprises there then! I used to be able to sleep on planes. Nowadays it’s simply impossible.
Details >
Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to fish with a wide range of individuals, each possessing different skill levels. There is something to be said about spending a day fishing with someone who has strong fishing and casting abilities, but that has been the exception rather than the rule for me. Often, clients, friends, and family members are unable to present the fly exactly as they should, which can significantly influence whether or not a fish will bite. If you are the type of person who guides or leads someone toward improving their fly presentation, you are likely familiar with the common outcome. When someone hands a rod to a knowledgeable fisherman, they are likely to catch a fish. They may even catch it in the same spot you’ve been fishing, using the same fly, while successfully executing what they have been coaching you to do for the last thirty minutes.
Details >
Significant rain events in Los Angeles have a marked impact on the 5 miles or so of the fishable water on the upper stretch of the LA River. Usually there are 3 or 4 per yeat in the winter months but as the frequency of outlier weather events seem to be increasing, we’ve had some substantial mid-summer rains as well. As you can see from the graph, rain events generate big spikes in river flow - of more than 100 times the average rate. I often worry that my lovely carp have been swept into the sea. So far so good. But even if the carp and other fauna can find refuge from the deluge, the river bed is markedly changed. Big rocks are moved, some islands stripped of trees, silt deposits swept away, and shopping carts, clothes and stop signs re-positioned. I often find changes in the distribution of fish.
Details >
The reaction from some people when they are shown the 170 back cast is that it is a sure fire method to blow out the elbow. It looks like the rest of the distance casting stuff, lot of power and effort. When a good distance cast is about efficiency. Do all the essential stuff better and cast further.
Details >
This week has been shitty. I got symptoms on Saturday, ignored those two days until Monday it hit. I had zoom lesson agreed with Paul on coming Sunday. Weather forecast shows - 10 celsius and heavy north wind.
Details >
I've got about a week and a half to go before I hit Okinawa. I don't normally book things like this at such short notice, so I'm definitely feeling a bit rushed with the preparations.
Details >
*I have a dream that one day even the waters of Willowbrook,a stream sweltering with the heat of climatic change, choking in the siltation from agriculture and enriched in the toxins from man’s ‘progress’ on the world. Will have pockets transformed into an oasis of refuge and safety for those little fish and insects. I have a dream.
I have a dream that my Trout will one day live in a brook where they will be able to reach the upper waters naturally, driven by the contents of their character, no longer restricted by the oppressive needs of the machines of mankind, dictates of balance sheets and bottom lines, and constrained by mortal permission. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Apethorpe within its canalised banks with the concrete sluice governing its flows, Those cracked concrete lips dripping green algae that chokes the sweet summer flows. That one day, right down under new cool dark shadows, clear waters will intermingle with clean gravels and Trout will again find a home here to raise the young in winter, a place to nurture and protect the babes through spring, shelter and safeguard them, to thenrepopulate the Brook for future summer days. I have a dream today.
You get the idea?!
Details >
Ashly and I are in Edinburgh this week, enjoying a late family Christmas. It certainly feels cold enough for Xmas here! It’s been great to catch up with my sister, who happens to be madder than I am. The highlight for me has been a sauna on a lake. The sauna felt, well like Malaysia actually, but the lake was 6C and it’s difficult to describe exactly how that part felt. We have also had some good runs and swims, although staying fit in this climate must be a hell of a challenge. Tomorrow we are off for another morning run, with a forecasted temperature of 3C. That’s about 30C colder than what I’m used to. The things you do at Christmas!
Details >
Several years ago, my life changed dramatically. I realized that fly fishing was not just a hobby but a lifestyle, and I was determined to embrace it fully. As some of you may understand, many of my friends, family members, and professors thought it was absolutely outlandish to spend all my time and money on fly fishing. Moreover, I was convinced that I could make a living at it… HA! What a fool I was. To this day, my favorite response to the question of WHY!?!?! remains, “Because for some reason, I want to be the greatest person to ever play this game.” At the time, I had no idea what that really meant, and the more I learn about the sport now, the less certain I am of what it truly means to be the greatest fly angler of all time.
Details >
I’m looking back at my casting insights. A sequence of epiphany, adopted change, undisciplined testing, concept failure and/or abandonment, and arrival at some kind of new unmapped place. And Repeat. This has been going on for a long time. I’m making progress, I think. My latest insight was that my frisbee-toss backhand worked more smoothly and more powerfully if I bent my elbow approaching my right shoulder with my casting hand. It worked nicely. However, when I re-tested my old practice of approaching my left shoulder, it worked just as well. WTF. So I abandoned thinking about mechanics and ran my drills and target practice on visualizing targets - back and front - and other external cues exclusively. Things seem to be sorting themselves out. The back target - or “bell” - is magical for me. I need to embed that habit more deeply.
Details >
When spring arrives it isn’t only fishing season that is right around the corner, the competition season coincides with fishing season. So it is time to start to prepare for competitions also. For me it means to get acquainted with the stiffer rods again. I have stepped away from casting distance with my ten and mostly been doing distancish casting with my five and seven.
Details >
Eight more days to go, then it slows down, basically dies. It will happen week or two earlier than before. It has been most intense season ever, not only because lot of guests but also because weather. Most of season we were hoping more snow and little colder weather. Past week it has been snowing liytle every day and heavy snowing coming on Saturday, nobody needs it anymore. Season will be done without snowing more.
Details >
The Maruta are here, which is good. Hawaiian Dace caught a couple on Sunday. On Monday I was snowed off by a late unseasonable turn in the weather, we snapped back down to around zero overnight.
Details >
Last week I wrote about mine and Tracy's first casting competition of the year, the CNL event in Guadalajara, Spain. In particular I was interested in the 'lake (lago) distance' discipline because it had quite an open set of rules that could be approached differently depending on the caster. I may have incorrectly mentioned last week that rules stated the maximum rod length was 11ft, actually it was 10.5ft, not that anyone used anything over 10ft in the actual competition.
Details >
I tried to write today’s FP yesterday evening but fell asleep in front of the fireplace. Jet lag! It’s amazing how it creeps up on you and knocks you out. Some flights and time zone differences are worse than others. There is a double whammy this time and I’ve gone from a tropical climate to a fridge!
This time zone difference is not something I ever found in easy and just accepted the fact that it would take me about a week to feel normal again. But what if you are fishing for a week and then heading home again? Or what if, like last year, when you return home you have an Ironman 5 days later? (I struggled!). Or are flying somewhere for a casting competition?
Details >
Beginning in November 2018 with “The Return Home” and concluding in February 2024 with “My Final Page,” our dear friend and colleague Andy Dear has spent the last six years sharing stories and inspiring the Sexyloops community to venture out and create lasting memories of their own. With over three hundred articles to his name, Andy has left behind a sizable pair of cowboy boots to fill—boots that I, as more of a sneakers guy, have no intention of trying to fill. It feels fitting to start my contributions by honoring Andy and reflecting on the legacy he leaves behind.
Details >
Back from the Bahamas, I’m looking to patch a hole in my skills. I want to eradicate my preference for forehand casts. I went on a search for wind on my right shoulder. The beaches near me and the LA River both get some in the afternoon. I usually fish in the morning. The beaches right now are relatively uncrowded. There have been a couple of rain events (that’s what we call rainy days in LA) which, early in the season, wash relatively stagnant water stewing in the street drainage system into the sea. This usually sends out a slug of bacteria laden water. Warnings are posted but the beaches don’t close as there are many walkers, runners, volleyball players, etc. who use them on a daily basis. Surfers ignore the signs but still there’s more room to fish.
Details >
The days are getting noticeably longer now, and that gives a feeling of spring—which is a bit of a lie. We are just entering March, and March can be bloody cold. But there’s some sunshine. And sunshine tricks you into thinking that it’s warmer outside than it actually is, so you’re not dressed for winter like you should be.
Another problem with March is that it feels like the longest month of winter. Winter is long and miserable; it’s a long countdown to April. When you enter March, you expect it to be April soon.
Details >
