Although sealed cases are popular among most fishermen, many of us have that special, handcrafted, bamboo rod that we just cannot help but display, whether it be hung from a wall, or stood in a corner, it is important to remember that bamboo bows. If the rod is not properly supported, such as if it is stood in a corner, the tip of the rod will begin to bend, and eventually will hold the curve, compromising the casting of the rod, and making it structurally unstable.

The best way to show off that beautiful rod, is to simply hang the rod for the wall. It is important, however, to make sure that the rod is supported along its entirety, and not simple just at its ends. Furthermore, I have found it most effective to display such rods in their separated pieces; this will completely remove all chances of damaging the rod.

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Due to my busy schedule, I had my brother run out to the store and buy me a leader. The only problem was that my brother is completely unlearned in all areas of fly fishing. Because of this, he bought me two ‘quick connect’ leaders.

Over the past few years I have seen many developments in these units, and have been very skeptical for a number of reasons. Firstly, I was worried about having such a large piece of plastic in the middle of the line, due to the effects that it could have on casting and stripping. I was worried that it would both distract fish from the fly, and furthermore, cause larger pull marks when retrieving the line. Despite my hesitation, I was actually very impressed with such units as a beginner’s tool.

This small connecter allowed me to quickly, and effectively, attach the leader without dealing with confusing nail knots, and although I was worried, I piece did not affect my casting at all. The unit weighed so little that the fluctuation caused by the interference did not show in the cast. Furthermore, when retrieving the line after a cast, the tapered plastic connecter moved smoothly through the water, resulting in no abnormal water marks.

All in all, I think that such units are a great investment for beginners who are not so confident in their ability to tie reliable knots. They make for a quick way to change out leaders, and, despite what one might believe, I have not found a significant, negative result of using such a tool.

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The purpose of these baskets is to hold the line from lying in the water while stripping it in before recasting due to the fact that allowing the line to float freely in the water, especially in current water such as a river or surf, will inevitably result in a large knot. However, by allowing the line to fall into a basket, the chances of a knot will be drastically reduced. Furthermore, freely floating line has to potential to become entangled in brush, rock, or other objects, both submerged and floating.

In the past, line baskets have been constructed simply of wicker, and although beautiful pieces of craftsmanship, did not hold up to the vigorous beatings that they underwent due to avid fishermen. The biggest problem with these baskets was that due to the constant soaking and drying of the wood, they wicker strips would begin to crack.

Today, line baskets have evolved into ultra-light, highly durable, rubber catch baskets that are not only very functional, but are comfortable to wear. In my own life, these baskets have truly shown themselves to be worth the investment, surviving even the most testing weather of winter, king salmon fishing.

Although there are many different ways of handling your line without the need to support it by a basket, these little twists of the hand can be complicated to learn. I highly recommend such an accessory for any fisherman, regardless of their experience on the water. There will always be circumstances in which one will want such a tool.

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Although Duckweed, in large numbers, can be hazardous to fish populations, pond-owners should not be too hasty to skim their ponds. Duckweed, as I found out after speaking with a DEP officer, Duckweed can be very beneficial to the ponds ecosystem. In small amounts, Duckweed, on a sunny day, produces vast amounts of oxygen which is then released directly into the water, making the pond a more advantageous place for fish growth. Unfortunately, on cloudy days, Duckweed, in order to stay alive, draws oxygen from the water, causing the levels of oxygen to drop dramatically, and ultimately threatening the livelihood of the fishes.

The reason for the fish-kill at the pond where I was fishing was that during that summer, the pond was covered by a very thick layer of Duckweed, and the weather remained cloudy off and on for a long period of time. This constant fluctuation in oxygen levels eventually killed of a couple hundred warm-water fish.

I asked the pond-owner whether it would be beneficial to simply skim the water to remove the duckweed, and not risk gambling with the lives of trophy fish. He stated that he was told by a local DEP officer that if he were to remove the weed from the water, the population of the fish would continue to grow uncontrollably, and eventually the larger fish would die off anyways. He told us that the Duckweed was a very helpful, natural, population regulator, keeping the ponds ecosystem at check.

So for all of you out there that are worried about the health of your ponds due to Duckweed, it is better to let nature take its course, then to interfere and face the consequences.

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For those fishermen out there who know what I am talking about, there are a few things that you should keep in mind whenever casting an antique rod. Firstly, for anyone who has ever disassembled an old bamboo rod, you have surely found that the metal couplings, that connect the different sections of rod, tend to stick, and seem to be nearly impossible to take apart. To combat this issue, it is best to lubricate the metal tags prior to assembly. This can be done using any synthetic lubricant, but must be done each time the rod is assembled. I have found that it is easiest simply to run the male end of the coupling through your hair, allowing the oils to lubricate the metal, or simply use a small amount of ear-wax. Either will suffice. Once the rod is assembled it is important to remember not to push the rods to their limits. If the rod has sentimental value to you, just remember that you can not go out and buy a new one. I recently broke the tip off of one of my grandfather’s rods. Although I did have a second tip piece of the rod, it was truly a reality check; ensuring that it would not happen again.

When disassembling a rod, it is best to not try to take it apart normally, but rather hold the rod with both hands behind your knees and use your legs to separate the rod. This will not only make it easier to remove the parts from each other, but it will also ensure that the rod is pulled straight apart, keeping it from twisting and torquing the bamboo rod.

There are also very important things to keep in mind when owning bamboo rods that should not be neglected, such as regularly oiling the rod to keep it from drying out, causing it to be more subject to cracking and breaking under pressure. Many outdoors stores sell such products and can offer further, specific instructions depending on the exact rod that you own.

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These pesky entanglements can result from numerous occurrences, from dropping a line over itself, to having a gust of wind redirect the line into itself, causing it to become so tightly woven together that not even an eagle scout could untie it. What tends to make these knots so particularly irritating is that fact that tippet material, the transparent line on the end of the leader, is extraordinarily thin. Furthermore, this line has a layer of PVC coating that make the tipper very smooth, allowing the knots that it forms to become very tight, very quickly. When dealing with the problem of wind knots, there are two key things to keep in mind: never pull the line, and never ignore the problem.

I have witnessed numerous fishermen, who, when they receive a knot in there line, and the line has already hit the water, they try to ignore the knot, hoping that it will somehow untangle itself before the next cast. Although this is a common practice, it is completely useless, and will, almost always, result in an even larger mess that if the fisherman stopped what he was doing, and carefully untangled the line.

Secondly, many fishermen, when they finally do retrieve their line, with the intent of unknotting it, they typically go about it wrong. Most people, when they are given the task to remove a knot from their tippet, will immediately pull both ends of the line. Although there may be rare cases in which this may be productive, the majority of the time, it will only tighten the knots, and make them even harder to remove.  

Furthermore, many fishermen will fight with a knot, and then when it they think they have completely removed it, they will find that all that is left is a small overhand knot somewhere along the tippet. If you talk to them, a majority of fishermen will say that they would prefer to simply leave that small knot there, and not have to worry about it, than take the extra few minutes to fully restore their line back to its original condition. What is dangerous about this is that contrary to common belief, those small knots do make a huge difference when fishing. Not only do they cause minor disturbances to the line when casting, which may result in more knots, but they actually make the line visible in the water due to the fact that they disrupt the flow of water down the line, as well as making that small part of the line translucent. Overall, leaving those small knots in your tippet can drastically affect how productive your day of fishing will be.  

So, when faced with the difficult task of knot removal, there are a few simple steps to take that will save you a lot of headache, stress, and money. First, don’t avoid a knot. Always take the time to properly remove knots from your line, and never expect the knots to magically untangle themselves. Secondly, when untangling a knot, do not pull on the lines; instead, allowing the line to form large loops. This will make the problem more apparent, and will allow you to better deal with it. Thirdly, do not leave small knots on your line. As I stated above, no matter how small the knot may be, it can very drastically affect your fishing.

So remember, when you are dealing with a knot, save yourself all the stress and swearing, and work through the problem logically.

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When line gets old, and is used more and more, it becomes dirty, and a layer of grime builds up on the PVC surface of the line. This layer of dirt causes the line to become less easily flexible, and therefore will result in the line not laying flat on the water. The waves in the line will cause the line to more readily disturb the water, and will spook the targeted fish.

Furthermore, this layer of buildup will cause the floating line to sink, making it harder to fish with dry flies.

Although dirt and grime are, for the most part, inevitable, there is a very easy solution to this problem. The best way to clean a line is to wipe it down with a paper towel that is dampened with deluded window cleaner. It is very important to not use straight cleaner due to the fact that the PVC coating on fly line is easily worn away.

After wiping down the line, it is best to them wipe of any excess cleaner with a damp papertowel. This will ensure the safety of the line. When the line is entire cleaned off, I like to straighten my line using a small piece of leather. By folding the leather over the line, and then pulling the line through the pinched leather, the line will become straighter, and will more easily lay out on the water when fishing.

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I still, to this day, am not quite sure exactly what happened, but through some horrific means, the long, barbed hook was embedded in the palm of my hand.

In tears, I stormed into the house bleeding, in search for my father, the one person who I was sure would have a painless way of removing the unwanted hook.

Yet again, my hopes were shattered when he told me that the only way to remove the hook would be to put a string around the shank bend, and pull it out the way it came in. That started my search for a better way.

From the house I continued my search through the camp ground that own family owned. The only problem was, every great fisherman that I stopped to talk to told me the exact same thing, “just put string around the shank, and pull it out the way out.”

Reluctantly, yet driven by the pain in my hand, I returned to the house, and approached my dad, already standing there with a short piece of tippet material in his hand.

In a short moment, the hook was out, the tears had stopped, the pain was gone, and I was back to fishing. I say all this to say that I think that this one of the most effective methods to removing hooks that are embedded in ones hand.

There is another method that involved pushing the hook through the skin the rest of the way, then cutting off barb, and pulling it back through. That method is great for removing hooks from fingers, but is ineffective on hooks that are in larger areas of flesh.

To most effectively remove a hook by the first means, ice the skin around the hook, then move the hook so it aligns with the hole it went into. Loop a small loop of tippet material, or other strong string around the shank bend, and give it one steady pull. I know that this method will definitely help many of you, and it will save you all a lot of pain in the future.

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My cousin was standing nearby, and suggested placing it in a bag with dry rice. The rice was able to draw all of the moisture from the phone, and caused it to work perfectly. I did some research, and found that the same can be done with flies. If you put a small amount of dry rice in your fly boxes, it will help pull moisture from the flies, and will keep them from rusting.

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The product was a package of three fur strike indicators, and It was priced at close to four dollars. Some people seem to have no problem paying such money for such a simple item, but for those of us that would rather not spend the money, there are many things people can do to be conservative.

Although such tools, as strike indicators, are helpful, they can very easily be substituted with many things.

For those who are not familiar with a strike indicator, it is a small piece of material that is used primarily when nymph fishing. It is used as a ‘bobber,’ to tell when a fish is biting the fly.

My favorite substitute for a strike indicator is simply a small piece of foam. The best thing to do is cut a small piece of foam about half the size of your fingernail. cut two slits, one on either side of the foam. You can easily attach this to your line by wrapping you line once around the foam. This is a quick and easy way to save some money, yet still maintain the potential for catching fish.

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