Fly Fishing Etiquette, Easy to Understand, Difficult to Define
Etiquette is probably the most confusing and misunderstood subject in the fly fishing culture. Probably because no two situations are ever the same. So every decision must be made by balancing all of the factors that make fly fishing “the quiet sport.”
What is considered good manners and appropriate behavior on a stocked stream where the truck has just dumped 50 or 150 fish into one pool is never going to be considered good manners on a piece of wild trout water in a forest where you have just hiked two miles to enjoy solitude and a chance to commune with nature. continue reading…
The Making of a Graphite Fly Rod
A graphite fly rod starts out life as a flat, pliable sheet of graphite. This sheet is then cut into a pattern designed by the rod maker. Next, the cut pattern is wrapped around a steel mandrel and “baked” for a couple of hours. The graphite hardens, the mandrel is removed, and – voila! – a hollow rod blank is born.
After that, the fly rod goes through a number of finishing steps. These steps include everything from adding components like reel seats and guides to applying the rod’s finish. continue reading…
Fly Fishing for Bass
It’s really nice summer weather and the hot summer days mean that the bass are much more likely to feed enthusiastically at dawn. It’s calm. There’s a bit of mist over the shallow water, and the bass are out in force, feeding on small fry and insects of all sorts. Now’s the time to try your hand at fly fishing. Above all, you’ll need a really careful approach because the bass are in just a few inches, or at most a foot or two, of water. They can sense your presence a mile off, so move like a heron. It’s best to take your time getting up close to the fish rather than risking a long, potentially splashy cast that again will send them hurrying from the area. continue reading…
Staying Put: Patience Is a Virtue When It Comes to Fishing
You see them all day long, running at top speed, back and forth, up and down the lake. Then at weigh-in, you hear the same guys, moaning and groaning about the lack of fish and overall bad luck. Everywhere they went they couldn’t find fish. They had a good early bite but after they left that spot, nothing. They had a few small fish but no size, etc. “We burned 40 gallons of gas today, boy was it tough”. Chances are, if you fish much, you know guys like these.
Whether you fish tournaments or just enjoy the occasional weekend trip, patience is a virtue when it comes to fishing. I wish I had a dollar for every time I had left fish biting, pulled up the trolling motor, ran miles across the lake in search of the “bigger, better, deal”; only to find no fish. This is a common error among beginning anglers. Having just spent thousands of dollars on a shiny new bass boat, you can hardly blame them for wanting to speed around the lake. My suggestion however, is to save the boat rides for the wife and kids. continue reading…
Bass Fishing: Using Currents and Tides to Your Advantage
You will hate them or love them depending on what you know about them. Currents and tides can definitely affect the areas bass are using and can be assets to you in finding and catching them.
First you need to determine if you are dealing with man-made or natural current. Bass feed and become more active when water is being released creating a current in the lake. Certain lakes, like Eufala in Alabama and West Point in Georgia, are famous for the bass feeding according to the generation schedules and water releases. continue reading…
Bass Fishing: Tough Time on the Water
In order to be a successful angler, you must first accept one simple fact. There are times when fishing is tough. Wind, weather, and any number of factors can effect our ability to locate and catch fish. They are, after all living, breathing creatures. And this reality is what keeps folks coming back. Don’t get me wrong, we all like those days when it comes together, but it would be a bit boring if you could go out and catch boat loads of fish on every outing. Over time, fishing would lose it’s appeal. It’s like the old saying goes, the thrill is in the chase. continue reading…
Trap Tricks: The Rat-L-Trap Is a Deadly Springtime Bass Lure
The Rat-L-Trap is a deadly springtime bass lure, especially on reservoirs with an abundance of submerged hydrilla. Anglers should stick with four basic color patterns and adjust lure sizes in accordance with the depth of water between the surface and top of the submerged grass.
I’d like to have dollar for every bass that’s been suckered on a Rat-L-Trap. Not only could I retire a rich man, but I’d probably have plenty of play money to dabble around in the investment world. If the company had a presence on Wall Street, Bill Lewis Lures would be a very safe place to stash some doe. continue reading…
The Somass / Stamp River: British Columbia Fishing
The Stamp River is one of British Columbia’s top producers of steelhead, and chinook salmon. Two things that make the Stamp unique – the early arrival of large numbers of steelhead and huge returns of chinook salmon. Unlike many other rivers, the Stamp has only two seasons of interest to avid anglers – fall/ winter and winter/spring. But those two seasons provide some of the hottest steelhead and salmon angling found anywhere on the West Coast. continue reading…
Hints for Storing and Caring for Tackle
There are a number of things bass fishermen can do to increase their odds of putting fish in the livewell. Unfortunately, the average angler doesn’t consider tackle care, organization and general maintenance important enough to include on their precious check lists. That’s hardly the case among the pro ranks.
Most of the top professionals – the guys who are consistently in the money and have managed to earn a living catching bass for 20-30 years – are just as particular about keeping their gear organized as they are keeping it in top-notch shape. They’ve learned from experience that a bait can’t work miracles for you if you can’t find it. Just the same, they’ve found that dirty-looking lure marred by a year’s worth of abuse or neglect won’t produce near as well as a squeaky clean one with the hooks honed to a piercing edge. continue reading…
Bass Fishing: Proper Boat Positioning and Trolling Motor Operation
Choosing the proper lure, the right color and making sound, accurate casts into bass infested waters are essential in catching largemouth and smallmouth bass alike. But unless you keep your boat in the proper position to place that lure in productive water, you might as well be dabbling a hook in a bar ditch somewhere.
Proper boat positioning and/or trolling motor operation can make or break the competitive angler. This holds especially true when flippin’, pitchin’, spinnerbaiting or working soft plastic jerk baits around shallow cover in clear or muddy water. continue reading…