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I’m a full time author and fly fishing guide. There are now over nine-hundred articles on Troubitten, and I’ve chosen the model of self-publishing because I reach the widest audience. As an author, I enjoy the freedom, and I like having control over my own creative material. All of this is a labor of love.
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The Latest from Troutbitten
Land With Contact or Without, When Using a Tuck Cast — Tight Line and Euro Nymphing
The tuck cast presents a fly-first entry, from very steep and vertical with extra slack, to almost flat, with immediate contact. That’s how flexible the tuck cast is. It’s useful. In fact, it’s critical to how I present nymphs and streamers.
Tending your tags and point flies — A DIY hack for multiple hook keepers
One of the more irritating trends in the fly rod market these days is the absence of a hook keeper above the cork. Plenty of us think it’s an oversight. And I’m tired of the worn out excuse that there’s a hook keeper at every guide. Rod guides aren’t the same. Give me that thin little u-shaped hook keeper just above my cork, please.
Even with a hook keeper for the point fly, those of us who use tags for a second fly are often frustrated by the tangling tag while walking to the next honey hole.
Solution: mini rubber bands.
Here are a few tricks to get it just right . . .
Q&A: Streamers — Sinking Line or Tight Line?
The sinking line does a few presentations very well. And a tight line streamer rig can do many things well. While the sinking line approach gains me more distance and longer retrieves, the tight line system is great for a targeted approach, with more casting and shorter retrieves.
Tight line systems provide direct contact and direct control, where sinking line systems put a weighted fly line in between me and the streamer. Two different styles.
There are many things to consider, but start with this: What is the water type? And what are your goals?
100 Day Gear Review — Skwala Carbon Waders
Skwala takes the minimalist approach seriously. The Carbons are high-end waders, built from the ground-up with mobility, comfort and toughness at the forefront.
The Skwala Carbon waders are a workhorse for the die hard angler.
Here’s a closer look at the best (and worst) features of the Carbons, as I see them, from bottom to top . . .
The Nymph Angler is Sustainable
I fish flies and a fly rod because it gives me the best chance to meet the fish on their own terms. Trout eat big meaty five-inch streamers as baitfish. But they also eat size #24 Trico spinners and everything in between. They take food from the streambed and from the surface of the water. And no other tackle allows me meet trout in all these places, with all manners and sizes of patterns, with as much efficiency as a fly rod.
So then, being well-rounded is a unique advantage available to fly fishers. And the best anglers I know are adept at every method of delivery. They carry dries, wets, streamers and nymphs, and they fish them all with confidence.
With all that said, most of the die-hard anglers I run into are nymph-first fishermen. Or at least their nymphing game is strong, and they don’t hesitate to break it out. That’s because nymphing catches a lot of fish — more than dries and streamers combined, over the long haul.
Nymphing is sustainable. Here’s why . . .
It’s Not Luck
The willingness to meet luck wherever it stands, to accept what comes and fish regardless, is the fundamental attribute of die hard anglers, regardless of their region or the species they chase. We fish because we can, because we’re alive, willing and able, and because we mean to beat bad luck just as we did the last time it showed up.