Aug 18 2008
Cape Cod- Day 1
As I stated a few weeks ago, I have the opportunity to stay in Cape Cod for a week, pushing myself to the limits, casting late nights for striper. Last night, a couple of friends and I headed to the Cape Cod Canal, in search of our trophies.
When we arrived at the canal, we adorned our rods with Slug-Os, and began our quest. After hours of slippery slopes, and sand flies, we walked away completely ’skunked.’ Why, you might ask, am I telling you fail stories? Simply because today I don’t want to discuss techniques or equipment, but rather simply make a pitch for fly fishing.
Although I do enjoy the occasional excursion, handicapped by the use of spin-rods, nothing can beat the thrill of catching a large cow on nine-weight. Furthermore, regardless of its productivity, the simple joy that comes from casting a fly-rod, due to the skill that is involved, makes it that much more fun.
In my mind, the simple action of casting, then reeling, then casting, then reeling, just seems to get to me after a short while. All in all, I simply wish to suggest that if anyone out there has never had the opportunity to cast for striper; try it.
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 [...]