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Part Two: What you’re missing by following FIPS competition rules — Leader Restrictions
Leader length restrictions unnecessarily limit the common angler from taking full advantage of tight line systems. Such rules force the angler to compensate with different lines, rods and tactics. And none of it is as efficient as a long, pure Mono Rig that’s attached to a standard fly line on the reel. Here’s a deep dive on the limitations of using shorter leaders and comp or euro lines.
Waves and Water
. . . But when all of that dries up, when the travel seems too long, when dawn comes too early and when chasing a bunch of foot-long trout seems like something you’ve already done, then what’s left — always — is the river . . .
Quick Tips — Set the hook at the end of every drift
I watched the line, waiting for some indication of a strike and intently expecting a fish to eat the nymph. Then at the end of the drift I looked away, scanning for my next target upstream. When I lifted the line for the backcast, I was surprised to find a trout on the line. He bounced off quickly because I never got a good hookset.
That’s happened to you a hundred times too, right?
Nymphing is an art of the unseen, and no matter the material attachments we add to the line for visual aid of a strike, trout take our flies without us knowing about it — probably way more often than we can imagine.
That’s why it’s best to end every underwater drift with a hook set. Do this with nymphs and with streamers, at the end of every dead drift presentation, and you’ll find unexpected trout attached to your line. The short set also prepares the line and leader for your next backcast. Here’s how . . .
STORIES
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TACTICS
Efficiency: Part 2 – Leader/Tippet Changes
My best days on the water are usually full of changes. The morning fog burns off, and I switch from streamers to nymphs; a half hour later, a swirling back eddy looks like the home of the next nameable brown trout (two footer), and I go back to...
Efficiency: Part 1 – Knots
"You can't catch a fish without your fly in the water." Efficiency has become a game for me; it's something I enjoy; it's something I think about when I'm not fishing, and I'm constantly trying to improve on a system that keeps my flies in the water and the downtime...
DIY – Bar Boots
I burn through boot soles fast. And cheap boots with poor foot support are a bad idea when you're wading heavy runs and putting full days on the water with lots of hiking, so I was spending about $150 every ten months on a new pair of boots. I used to resole my own...
NYMPHING
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STREAMERS
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ANGLER TYPES IN PROFILE
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BIG TROUT
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NIGHT FISHING
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