Mar 21 2008
What Fly When???
When on the stream, fishermen face the constant struggle of selecting the right fly for the right moment.
When attempting to ‘match the hatch,’ anglers must take into account different variables such as the season, time of day, weather conditions, water temperatures, and active hatches.
There are, of course, situations when it is nearly impossible to accurately select the perfect fly, such as during warm mid-afternoons, and during days when there are no visual clues as to which hatches are rising. For these situations, it is a very good idea to have a box of ‘generic’ flies.
Most commonly, this family of flies consists of flies such as the Usual, a fly that I will take time to thoroughly discuss tomorrow, the terrestrial group, such as inchworms, ants, and hopper, and many different streamers, like the Grey Ghost, the Squirrel Tail, and the crayfish family.
These flies are important to even the most advanced fishermen, due to there flexibility. I will continue to discuss this topic of fly selection throughout the next few weeks, and will reveal to you all my favorite flies, how to tie them, and how to properly fish them.
This past week I spent time scouting out, and fishing, a local pond here in northeastern Connecticut. It was my first time fishing this specific body of water, so I met up with the owner of the property to discuss the ins and outs of fishing there. After a few minutes of conversation, he began [...]
Although I enjoy the reliability and strength of my modern graphite, Pfueger rod, there tends to be a great joy in casting my grandfather’s handcrafted split bamboo rod. The rod is a ten and a half foot bamboo rod that he acquired long before I was born. My grandfather passed away before I was old [...]
As we are approaching fishing season, there are certain etiquettes that should be discussed.
One of the most important rules of fly fishing is that a fisherman should never, under any circumstances, ‘cull.’
Culling is the very inconsiderate practice of keeping a trout in a creel, and then, after catching larger trout, returns the spent trout to [...]
Spot fishing is a good technique when you find yourself in a situation where there are a number of visible fish rising. The basic idea is to always be ready for a repositioning of the fly to the place of the most current activity, whether that is along the shore, or toward the mid current [...]
The Usual is a very simple fly to tie, and can easily be accomplished by anyone who is starting to tie flies, due to the fact that it is very forgiving. When I tie the Usual, I prefer to use a #10 Mustad hook. I have found this size to be most efficient when fishing [...]