Fly fishing gone mad

Fly Fishing Gone Mad

Ok so this may not be what we think of when we go fly fishing, but there is always one who has to push things to the limits - Check out this guys take on fly fishing.

Adventure: Flyfishing Gone Mad

I was the bag man, there to stuff burlap sacks with body parts. We were in a dim alley behind a San Diego fish market. Conway Bowman’s feet dangled over the edge of a Dumpster as he tossed tuna carcasses over the rim.

“Oh, bitchin’. Check these out,” Bowman said as he slid to the ground and handed me two albacore bellies, the Dom Perignon of chum. We threw them in the sacks, nodded at two puzzled onlookers, and headed toward the Dana Landing Marina, where we would launch our chase for shortfin mako sharks on the fly.

Shortfin makos have been the focus of fishing lore for generations. They frequently occupied the tales of Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey (including a piece by Grey in the April 1936 issue of FIELD & STREAM). But Bowman’s angle pushes the edge of reason. It goes like this: Motor anywhere from 5 to 30 miles off the Southern California coast in a 24-foot open hull boat until the ocean floor drops away into canyons over a thousand feet deep. There, you ride the swells above schooling baitfish, mackerel, and tuna to chum, tease, and hook a predator as large as yourself on a 14-weight fly rod.

Imagine tying your fly line around the waist of NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens and hanging on as he runs a deep route. These sharks swim three times faster than T.O. sprints—up to 60 mph—and could easily hurdle the goal’s crossbar.

Several weeks earlier, Bowman and his protégé, Capt. Dave Trimble, had invited me and a couple of pals to spend a week fishing the new-moon tides. It would be the flyfishing equivalent of a Warren Miller extreme skiing movie—crashing on Bowman’s floor, on the boats early, fishing hard all day, licking our wounds at night, and getting up to do it again. After some convincing, photographer Bill Decker agreed to tag along in a chase boat. The 58-year-old surfer and board fisherman was not fazed by the sharks; his reservations were about the flyfishing, “a sissy sport,” as he liked to call it.

More on this article here

Thanks to Kirk Deeter for reporting this event

technorati tags:fly, fishing, gone, mad, mako, shark

Techniques of casting

On the surface, fly-fishing may seem easy . . . oh, no (The Oregonian)

An interesting article on lessons involving casting. Always worth reading to see if you can improve things a little and therefore catch a few more fish.

"Two o'clock, 10 o'clock. Two o'clock,10 o'clock. Two o'clock, 10 o'clock."

Chuck Fagan can sound like a broken record as he showsstudent after student how to properly cast a fly-fishingline.

But then you watch as he raises his fishing rod to 2o'clock and then snaps his wrist to bring it to 10o'clock. You watch as the line flies out like a frozenrope and falls perfectly on the ground and you think: Maybeit is just that simple.........

More here On the surface, fly-fishing may seem easy . . . oh, no (The Oregonian)

Thanks to Ian Ruder for this article.

technorati tags:fly, fishing, casting, tips

Bent Rods and Tight Lines

Bent Rods and Tight Lines (Mammoth Times)

If your interested in fishing for Golden trout then have a read of this trip in to Lake Sublime They are a beutiful fish that really inspire.

"The golden trout is larger than life. It's not just a trout, but an embodiment of trout fishing literally taken to its highest realm. Because they dwell in our highest, starkest, and most remote terrain, goldens are not a casual pursuit. They provide a true quest." - Ralph Cutter, Fly Fisherman Magazine

My recent backpacking trip to Lake Sublime seriously "messed" me up. After the thrill of catching large, gorgeous golden trout in the backcountry, I wanted to drop out of life for a few weeks, live out of a rucksack and roam from one alpine lake to the next in search of goldens.

The experience also radically altered my view of fishing in the Eastern Sierra. Fishing from a float tube for stocked rainbow trout ("truck fish") provides cheap thrills, but the experience pales in comparison to the adventure of going after large, wild golden trout in high alpine lakes.

Unfortunately, dropping out of life for an extended fishing trip simply isn't an option. But I returned to Lake Sublime for a weekend trip, and I brought along a friend, Mark Hachtmann of Independence, an avid Eastern Sierra backpacker and fisherman. Since 1971, Hachtmann, 54, says he has hiked more than 1,000 miles in the backcountry and caught more than 1,000 trout.

More on this article here

Thanks to Alex Rose for this report.

technorati tags:fly, fishing, golden, trout

Tips on Casting

Proper strokes for all folks regarding fly casting - Coquitlam Tri City News

Have a read of this article which discusses the techniques of proper flu casting. Well worth a read if your looking for tips.

Proper strokes for all folks regarding fly casting Coquitlam Tri City News,? Canada?- 23 hours ago ... Smooth is the word. It takes practise but once mastered, it’sa thing of beauty. Fishing on our local lakes is good. For wet (sinking) fly fishing. ... Don’t force a cast, keep your elbows down Mission City Record all 2 news articles

Thanks to Jeff Weltz for these tips

technorati tags:fly, fishing, tips, casting

World fly-fishing competition winner catches 38 trout

World fly-fishing competition winner catches 38 trout (Prague Daily Monitor)

Wow, 38 trout in one competition, I wish I had half os this guys skill. The world fly-fishing competition is over for 2006, I wonder where it will be next year?

Prague, Oct 15 (CTK) - Czech Jakub Vedral today won the Orvis Cup 2006 international trout fly-fishing competition held in Prague centre this weekend, which was the first world event of this kind in the Czech Republic, the organisers told CTK.

Vedral caught 38 trout.

A total of 140 fly-fishers competed in Prague in three rounds from Saturday morning. Along with Czechs, fly-fishers from Ireland, Slovakia and the US took part in the special contest.

A total of 10,000 trout were released into the Vltava (Moldau) in the very centre of the city near Slovansky Island before the event.

Fly-fishers competed in small boats on the Vltava river. Each boat had a two-member crew - a contestant and a referee counting the catch, who took turns after an hour.

The biggest fish caught at the weekend was 51-cm long, organiser Lucie Martinkova told CTK.

However, the trout did not end up on a frying pan as the fly-fishers returned the fish caught back into the river.

The competition is good news for regular Prague fishermen since the river will now abound in trout that can be caught as from Monday.

The competition also proves that the quality of the river water in Prague has considerably improved as trout is greatly sensitive to the purity of water. This species now lives normally in the Vltava River in the Czech capital, the organisers say.

Thanks to the Prague Daily Monitor for this report.

technorati tags:fly, fishing, world, championship, prague

Fishing is my Zen!

There's just something about fly fishing

This guy likes his fly fishing and I can understand totally. When your out there the little probelms that life throw at us seem to fade away into the back of your mind. I can relate to this article, check it out.

I have reported on fishing the Upper Sacramento and McCloud riversbefore, but this trip was very different. This time I went with fishingguide extraordinaire, John Rikard, a self-described fly-fishingfanatic. He asked me at one point why I fish.

"It's my Zen," I replied. I have since thought long and hard about thatand have come to realize just how true it is. Concentration or focus isa form of meditation where all but the task at hand is allowed to fallaway. Responsibilities and worries are temporarily forgotten.

Thepassage of time goes unnoticed. While holding a fly rod I realize thatI am, at the very least, absorbed in the act of fly fishing. My totalawareness converges on the task at hand - at least that is the way itshould be.

It took John to get me back in thezone – he reminded me, often, that I was not in rhythm, that I wasusing too much power and trying to force things to happen. And, themore I listened, the more trout I caught.

Wefished the Upper Sac and had a great day, around 30 fish were hooked,many landed and released. Fish at the lower end of the river, before itbecomes, reluctantly, Lake Shasta, are on the large side.

More on this article here

Thanks to Paul Abram for this report

technorati tags:fly, fishing, zen

Fly fishing for carp you say?

http://www.flymartonline.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=9

It seems to be something that is more common over in Europe. BUt it is starting to become more and more popular over here. Check out this article to find out why and how!

Here in the Great Lakes region there is a growing following of respectable fly fishermen whom target carp. Now I had heard the stories about huge carp and had seen them too.

I listened with piqued interest when John Vincent, from Flymart Flyshop talked about stalking these fish on the flats of lake St. Clair, tossing custom tied flies on 6 weight fly rods to "mudding" carp. John explained that these fish were smart, real smart, and a approach one would use on a wary bonefish down in the Keys was what it took to get close enough to cast to them without spooking them out of range. Ok I said to my self, "hmm I like to hunt, so this sounds interesting". Then I thought out loud, Ok so how do they fight? I was barraged by stories of multiple long streaking runs, the sounds of reel drags screaming, testing man and equipment. I said to John, "are we talking about the same fish", or was there another species unknown to me that was a real worthy opponent? John told me I should schedule a trip with one of the local guides familiar with this "unknown sport" who could show me the ropes. I agreed and a trip was scheduled.

So being an avid Internet Surfer, I decided to do a little research on my new quarry. I began searching the net for anything related to fly fishing and carp. All the information seemed to be coming from the U. K. After hours of searching and reading it was obvious that Carp are the major targeted sport fish in Europe and gaining popularity here in the U.S.A.

In fact people have been fishing for carp for a long time. Izaak Walton - Author of "The Complete Angler" in 1653. writes: "The carp is the Queen of Rivers: a stately, a good and a very subtle fish that was not first bred, nor hath been long in England"

Arthur Ransome was an angling writer of great repute. In his great book "Rod and Line" he compared the feeling of striking into a carp to being "dragged out of bed by a grapple towed by an aircraft". He stated that although the salmon may give a faster fight, no fish can compare with the dour, stubborn, raw power that a carp has.

Ok so the date is coming and I am thinking "this sure sounds good, I just won't tell any of my other fly fishing buddies". So on our scheduled day, I met Jamie Kaminski - local guide, for the first time, and we jumped in my truck for my "St. Clair flats - carp trip". On the drive over to the "flats" we got to chat about techniques, strategy, flies and the fight. Keeping my eyes on the road most of the time he was talking, I threw a quick glance in his direction and noticed his eyes were as big as saucers as he retold memorable battles with this formidable fish. "This guy is hooked or crazy!" I said to myself as I remembered what I looked like in pictures proudly holding up trophy Michigan Salmon and wild Steelhead.

Much more on this article here

Thanks to Jeff Selser for this report

technorati tags:fly, fishing, carp

Bass fly fishing tips

Get the bugs out

This information will help those struggling when going bass fishing - check it out for some great tips.

Flyfishing for bass is a slow-paced antidote for metal-flake run-and-gun tactics. It doesn’t always offer the most or the largest bass, but it’s relaxing in the way bass fishing used to be, and that’s the fundamental appeal.

Sometimes, though, it’s too relaxed. Catching bass on a surface bug is so often assumed to be a simple process that too much gets taken for granted. Wobbly leaders land floating bugs off target. Sloppy line handling produces fewer strikes, and impatient retrieves keep bug and bass from making contact. Pay just a little more attention to these three problems, and you’ll take a lot more bass with surface bugs.

[1] A Poorly Placed Rod Tip
The biggest mistake most people make is holding the rod tip a few inches above the water. That leaves a short curve of slack line between it and the surface. When they strip a few inches of line to work the bug, the force of that strip is used up in shortening the slack and the fly moves only a little. If a bass does strike, that sag sometimes means you’ll miss the fish.

The rod tip belongs right on the water’s surface when you’re retrieving. With no slack line, if you make a 6-inch strip, the bug moves 6 inches. The retrieve is completely controlled, and you can work the fly more effectively.

For more tips click here

Thanks to John Merwin for these great tips

technorati tags:fly, fishing, tips, bass