Aug 21 2008
A Changing Tide
While fishing in Cape Cod, an environmental phenomenon occurred that had many of the fishermen questioning the state of the water. The first evening out, the ocean seemed to take on a red hew; an event that began to spur questions among the people present.
The “Red Tide” has been, throughout history, associated with many myths of war and gods, however, in reality, such a tide is caused by the blooming of specific algae in the water. The color of the algae can range from brown, to green, and is only visible during a large bloom, when the density of the algae is high enough to make the single-celled organisms visible as a mass.
Although Red Tide may occur often, they are not typically a threat unless they reach a piont where the algea is removing more oxygen from the water than can be sufficiently replenished. This will cause fatalities amoung small bait-fish species, thereby causing larger game fish to remain offshore, sometimes resulting in larger fish-kills, as occured in Florida during the Florida, and California Red Tides.
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 [...]