Jul 19 2008
From Sea to Shining Sea
As I stated yesterday, the majority of Midwest fly fishing is ‘dark water.’ Although this is true, clear water fishing is a huge industry in other, more mountainous, areas of New Mexico. When traveling through the mountainous regions around Los Alamos, I met up with two men who were preparing to fish a small, clear water, run-off stream. Due to the large pine, and the small meadows of unscathed grass, it seemed as though we were once again in the Appalachian Mountains here in New England.
As the discussion with these two men continued, it became clear that regardless of what coast you are on, or how different of lived we lived being in different areas of the country, we still were able to communicate perfectly on one topic, clear water fishing. These two men used a technique that is very common to use around the east coast as well, called “hopper and dropper.” By utilizing this method, a fisherman has the ability to fish two very different patterns at the same time, more readily appealing to the different desires of different fish.
In the case of “hopper and dropper,” the fisherman ties a hopper pattern, the lead, to the tippet as usual, then, selecting a nymph of some sort, ties short piece of tippet material, about nine inches will do, to the shank of the hopper, then attach the dropper nymph to that tippet. It is important to make sure that your lead fly is always a highly buoyant dry fly, and your dropper is a very non-buoyant nymph or wet fly pattern. It is key to balance the flies appropriately, to ensure that the dropper does not sink the lead, nor should the lead cause the dropper to float unnaturally. This technique will undoubtedly serve you well, and, in some cases will lead to an interesting tale of a ‘double catch.’
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 [...]