OrvisNews.com Fly Fishing Blog

Podcast: Tips on Fishing Tailwaters with Dave Brown

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:34:00 -0400

A great show this week! I had the chance to sit down and talk with Simon Perkins, the newest addition here at Orvis Rod & Tackle about the Fly Fishing Film Tour as well as his own short film, Sipping Dries. We ran the trailer in the podcast feed a few weeks ago. As the main event, I interview my friend Dave Brown of Dave Brown Outfitters on fishing taiwaters, as it seems you guys can't get enough of this topic! In addition, I take a few questions from the podcast listener line.

We moved the podcast studio, again. As a result we have had some tech issues with the sound which kept us "off the air" last week. I think it's all worked out. Thanks for sticking with us!

Click the play button below to listen to this episode. Go to orvis.com/podcast to subscribe to future episodes

If you cannot see the podcast player, please click this link to listen.

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Picture of the Day: High Lonesome Brown Trout

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:08:00 -0400

Guide John Andrews of High Lonesome Ranch was out prospecting on
some ponds when he ran into this healthy, gorgeous trout.
photo by Mark Weaver

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Video: How to Tie Matt's Sulphur Emerger

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:03:00 -0400
The name "sulphur" (or "sulfur") is attached to several mayfly species in the genus Ephemerella. The "big sulphurs" of the East are usually E. invaria (also called the "light Hendrickson"), and its smaller cousin is E. dorothea dorothea, the pale evening dun. There are other species, even from other genera, also called "sulphurs" locally, and frankly it doesn't really matter. If there are yellowish mayflies emerging, a Sulphur pattern will usually catch them.
The nymphs of both E. invaria and E. dorothea dorothea are "spiny crawlers," which means they don't swim all that well. So when it's time to emerge, their rise to the surface creates a smorgasbord for trout. That's why emerger patterns like the one shown here are so effective. Once the duns are on the surface, fish an emerger pattern as a dropper off a dun pattern to exploit both stages and figure out which one the trout are keying on.

As usual, this video from Tightline Productions offers crystal-clear instructions for tying this elegant pattern by author and blogger Matt Grobert. The way Grobert combines different kinds of thread and uses a "dubbing noodle" to veil the abdomen are brilliant techniques that can be adapted to many other patterns. The finished fly is a great imitation of an emerging sulphur, plus it offers enough flotation to stay right at the surface.

Matt's Sulphur Emerger
          Hook: 2X-short emerger hook (e.g. Dai-Riki #125), sizes 14 and 16.
First Thread: Yellow Danville Monocord, 3/0.
  Shuck: Mayfly-brown Zelon.
  Dubbing noodle: 8- to 10-inch piece of Brown Danville, 6/0.
  Underbody: Yellow Danville Monocord, 3/0.
Second Thread: Olive Danville, 6/0.
Abdomen: Brown Australian possum.
  Thorax: Pale yellow rabbit fur.
Wing: Fine caribou hair, cleaned and stacked.
  Head: Olive tying thread.

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Video: Casting for the Rare "Bass Francais"

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:31:00 -0400

“Yeah, that’s right: largemouth” came the reply from the passenger seat. We were making our way through the Paris rush hour en route to make a promotional film for a carp fishery owner in central France. Apparently, the owner had stocked half a dozen bass in an effort to keep the crayfish numbers down, but they had never bred. As we thundered along “le autoroute” in some horrendous weather, I wracked my brains trying to remember if I had packed any baitfish patterns. As it turned out, I hadn’t. All I could muster was a handful of shrimpy jobs that I had tied a few years previous for a trip to Andros.
We were filming two groups of anglers fishing the lake; one group finished Saturday morning at 10a.m., and the other started Saturday afternoon at 2p.m. If I was to do battle with one of these black beauties, then I had four hours to find six fish in seven acres of water.
Changeover day came, and with the blessing of the owner, I rigged up the 6-weight, tied on the nearest thing I had to a crayfish, and set off around the lake. With the rising water levels, a lot of baitfish had gathered around the inlet pipe, and the occasional predator was scything its way through the shoal. I crept over, and on closer inspection, could see various shadows beneath the bait—including the unmistakable outline of a black bass hanging under a weeping willow.
Out went the Clouser with a bow and arrow cast, and it was seized almost immediately by a cracking perch of a couple of pounds. Same again on the next cast, only this time a small zander was the culprit. With all the commotion, the bass had melted away into the depths, so I decided to give it a rest for an hour and go for a look elsewhere.
On my return to the inlet, I could clearly see two bass, one with its head completely up the inlet pipe, the other nosing around in the rocks beneath. I flicked the fly in again, and the fish in the rocks disappeared. The other fish, however, came out of the pipe and started nosing around the rocks like his mate. I gave the fly a little strip, and all his fins stood on end like he’d been plugged in to the mains. One more strip, and with a lightning fast extension of that cavernous mouth, he hoovered that little clouser up without a second thought.
The battle that ensued was by no means epic, and I’m not sure who was more surprised when I took hold of his lip. He was a wizened old character, battered and scarred and blind in one eye, all of perhaps four pounds. I doubt he had ever been fished to, let alone caught.
As I slipped him back into his lake full of 40- and 50-pound carp, I wondered if he would ever make a mistake like that again. But unless he gets a liking for boilies I doubt it very much!

The author with a bas Francaise that had most likely never been caught before.
video and photo by Matt Dunkinson

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The Story of One, Perfect Fly Rod

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:52:00 -0400

Nick Drain and his favorite rod, Madison, with a fall brown trout on the Missouri.
photo courtesy Nick Drain

[Editor's Note: There are customer letters, and then there is this amazing tale from Nick Drain. Here it is in full, edited only for grammar and with the name of an Orvis competitor redacted for reasons that will be apparent when you read it. This is perhaps the longest post we've ever had on OrvisNews.com, but I am sure that you will find it rewarding, as it touches on so much of what makes fly fishing so important to all of us. Filled with great writing and wonderful insights, it covers a lot of emotional ground.]
TO: The Orvis Customer Service Department, please share this story in hopes my request finds its way to the right people.
I recently sent a letter to the rod repair folks in your company explaining the circumstances surrounding how my rod was broken. I explained when and where I purchased it, and without question they fulfilled your warranty as outlined in your catalog. The replacement rod arrived last week, and I now realize I have an additional request, which I will share with you at the end of my story. When I wrote my letter, I didn’t share all the facts about this rod and now find it necessary to share a small glimpse into her life. The journal I kept of every fishing trip I ever took was the most important tool used in penning this correspondence. My journal is filled with great memories, which I, to this day and hopefully for many days to come, will visit with a good glass of scotch.
She Left
You see, my rod was not just a rod, or as I’ve heard them referred to by others, a stick, pole or on a bad day of fishing, some four letter word. You only knew her by model number HLS Silver Label, delivered to your repair shop in a cardboard tube under the repair number 495605. This particular rod had a name and a life. It is not unusual for people to give names to inanimate objects such as boats, cars, and ranches, but it is seldom that one names a piece of sporting equipment. I guess that makes me atypical because the rod to which I am referring was named after my little dog, Madison, who accompanied me on every fishing trip over the 15 years of her life. She died on, September 11th 1990, while fishing the Missouri. Curled up on her favorite blanket in the bow of the drift boat, she looked back at me with those big eyes and took her last breath. “Heartwrenching” can only describe how I felt; she was carefully wrapped in her blanket and placed in the seat next to me for the long drive home. Age just got the best of her, as it will me someday soon. I can only hope that like her, I will pass away feeling a cool Montana breeze on my face with the beautiful blue Big Sky above my head.
Four days short of her 15th birthday, 105 in people years, she had a good life. Knowing this day would come, I had given some thought on how best to handle it. She would be cremated. When her ashes returned, they were, in the following weeks, spread over the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers, forming the headwaters of the Missouri near Twin Bridges. They were our favorites, fished often, with her always by my side in the dark hours on the drive home.
In the weeks and months, that followed her passing, my interest in fly fishing diminished quickly. By the New Year, all rods, waders, and anything in the house that had to do with fly fishing was carefully packed away and placed in the attic. I asked my wife, Leisa, to sell them in the spring at a yard sale. The drift boat was sold by midsummer.
Seven Years Pass
I filled the next seven years of my life with a move to the country and the building of a ranch, rightfully named the B.O.K. on the Madison River. With memories of my little dog nearly faded away in my mind, I began to wish I still had my fly fishing journal, so I could revisit our precious times together. Leisa would try many times over the years to help return me to the sport I once loved. She said it is what made me the man she fell in love with. She knew that a piece of me had died with Madison.
An Old Friend Visits
September 11, 1997, a call came into my office just before 9:00 am. It was Leisa letting me know that the Orvis shop in Great Falls was closing and having a sale. She told me that even if I didn’t want to buy anything, I needed to see Lance, the owner. His health was failing and the closing of his shop was due to his plan to retire. Madison and I met Lance many years ago on the Missouri. I would see him over the years, usually at the Trout Unlimited banquet, an event that Leisa insisted we attend every year. I agreed to make the trip to see him.
As I approached the fly shop, I was still debating in my head whether to step foot in that shop again or just put my foot on the gas pedal, when something caught my eye. A little white dog was just outside the front door of the store. I rolled down my window to get a better look; she could have been Madison’s twin. She appeared to be looking up and down the sidewalk as if searching for someone or something. We made eye contact, and she began to bark. I drove by at a slow speed, and the dog began to move in my direction. Pulling over and moving the side view mirror to see….too late, she was at my passenger door. With the sound of a bark I got out and followed her into the store. She went to a rod rack located in the back and laid down.
Lance immediately greeted me with a big smile and said, “I knew you would be back someday.” Quickly, I informed him that I was not interested in any of the fishing gear and only stopped in to check on his health. He laughed and said he was fine, just wanted more time with the family. Sensing his health was of a private nature, I changed the subject and asked about the dog. “How long you had her?” I asked. He replied, “She just showed up a couple days ago and walked right through the front door, she looked so damn cute I let her stay.” That didn’t surprise me, as I knew him to have a big heart when it came to animals. I asked him what he did with her at night, and he replied, “I just lock her up in the store and let her out in the morning to do her thing.”
Lance then began his sales pitch about how I had to try this new rod called the Trident TL. He retrieved a test rod and placed it in my hand. I had to admit, rods had really changed over the previous seven years. It was very light and tapered like nothing I had seen before. It was beautiful, a piece of art. I thought to myself, who could build such a rod? Taking it out the side door, reluctant to demonstrate my lack of casting skills, I made a couple of half-hearted attempts at casting and asked what it was made out of. He replied in technical terms, losing me at “high-modulus graphite.”
I handed it back only to be given another rod, a “Superfine.” Wow! I was in total awe of its sensitivity and slow full flex action, just what one needed for a mountain stream such as the Smith or Rock Creek. Trying to display a total lack of interest, a few more casts found us back in the shop, and there again was that dog, sitting up and starring at me. I couldn’t get over the resemblance to Madison. Glancing away and looking around the store, I found myself thinking, boy have things changed in the world of fly fishing. The number of rods to select from was incredible, a reel to match every weight, and line in every color. “Breathable” waders? You’ve got to be kidding. I figured, if a person had the inclination, one could spend a lot of money in here.
Rod Selection
I glanced over in the dog’s direction again, and she made eye contact, turned her head, and began to bark in the direction of a single rod sitting on a large empty rack in the back of the room. I said to Lance, “What’s that rod over there?” He said it was just an old HLS, quickly adding that it was not the caliber of the Trident or Superfine. Before I could say anything, the dog began to bark again with, I swear, a “come over here” look. I felt like she was trying to tell me something.
I walked over and looking down at the rod, thought “nothing really fancy about this.” It was not nearly as pretty as the others; in fact, it was just plain. But I picked up the rod anyway and instantly felt something. I’m not a man with an eloquent vocabulary, so I can only describe it with few words: it felt like I wasn’t holding anything in my hand but rather an extension of my arm, an extension that could sense every nerve and twitch in my hand. I looked over at Lance and asked him to put a reel on it because I felt we needed to step back outside. With the first flick of my wrist, the yarn found its mark, a small discoloration in the lawn 33 feet away. The rod picked up the line effortlessly, as if none was even attached.
This went on for several minutes ,when Lance decided that I should have a target to cast at. He took a soup can from the back room, set it down nearly 45 feet away, and with the first cast the yarn was in the can. I repeated cast after cast with the same accuracy until Lance accused me of taking lessons all these years from Bob Jacklin and Lefty Kreh. I simply replied, “It’s not me, it’s the rod.” All I had to do was point, cast, and the line found its mark— a simple adjustment for distance was all it took. These words, “It’s not me, it’s the rod,” are words I would repeat many times in future fishing expeditions with this rod.
Lance was skeptical about the explanation of my casting skills and decided to give it a try. The expression on his face after his first cast told me he clearly understood what I was saying. After his third cast and his reluctance to give that rod up, I blurted out, “I’ll be taking that rod home.” I could see a disappointment in his eyes, but I figured he had an entire fly shop of rods to choose from and hours of retirement time on the rivers soon to be available to him.
With waders, boots, vest, HLS Silver Label combo (with a Battenkill reel and line), and other assorted accessories on the counter, I handed over the Visa and thought for a second if Leisa would approve of my purchases. I then turned to look for the dog. I guess I just wanted to say “Thanks!” She was at the front door, and I got the feeling she was ready to go somewhere. As I called to her, she turned, tail wagging, tongue out and with a look as if to say “Where have you been?” She barked once more and headed down the sidewalk in the direction of the river. After I loaded up the car, I looked for that dog again but saw no sign of her.
Three days later, I received a call that Lance had passed away. At his funeral, I inquired with family members about that little dog I saw in the shop on the last day I saw Lance. Not a single one of them knew what I was talking about, and in fact, Lance’s son informed me that he had been helping out at the shop many times over the last few weeks but never saw any dog. I can’t explain where the dog came from or where she went, but I do know that I would have never purchased this rod had it not been for this little white dog that reminded me of my Madison.
Memories Returned
On September 15, 1997, on what would have been Madison’s birthday, I decided to take my first road trip in seven years, to fish the Gallatin River. Loading the car in the early morning hours, I tried to stay quiet, trying not to disturb Leisa’s sleep. As I was backing out of the garage, however, I spotted her in my rear view mirror, standing in the driveway. I thought that maybe she too heard the sound of my heart pounding excitedly in my chest. In her bathrobe and slippers, she walked up to the driver’s window with a smile upon her face and said, “I’ve been holding this for a few years and thought you might want it back.” She handed me my journal. Without another word she turned and headed into the house. I couldn’t believe it, my old memories returned and a place to write new ones.
With every mile that clicked by, as I drove to my destination, a flood of memories began to emerge, and I couldn’t wait to get to that river. Once there, however, stepping out into the cool fall water made me feel a little nervous about both my newfound rod and my casting abilities. With the first few casts, this rod seemed to have a mind of its own, but soon it seemed we both relaxed and the line began to lie down perfectly. For the rest of the day, this rod compensated for my rusty, if not poor, casting skills, making me look and feel like I had never given up this sport I loved for so many years.
Fishing that day was beyond good, and on the way home, miles down the road, I found myself talking to the rod about how she handled those several large browns with unbelievable sensitivity and always knowing when to give on the run. I decided this rod, as special as it was, had to be given a name and it was to be “Madison.” The years that followed would only prove that she deserved her name, for she was not “just a rod” but a fulfiller of dreams and a creator of memories, just as my faithful little dog had been years earlier. It was she who returned me to the sport I so dearly love.
There are many journal entries in reference to Madison’s performance over the years. Once while fishing on the Missouri, near the town of Craig, I was met at the riverbank by an out-of-state fisherman. He asked where I learn to cast a rod with such finesse and accuracy in this relentless Montana wind. My reply was always the same: “It’s not me, it’s the rod.”
[REDACTED] Makes an Offer
Late one afternoon, in the fall of 2008, I was fishing the Jefferson just north of Twin Bridges when I saw an SUV pull in to the parking area. I figured I had another 15 minutes or so before my quiet space would be invaded, at which time I would call it a day. Keeping an eye on who I thought to be a local fisherman, I planned my exit strategy. I decided to step out as he was stepping in, give a quick exchange on the fly of the day and then Madison and I would be on our way home.
After a few minutes I got the feeling we were being watched and a quick glance back confirmed it. He wasn’t making his way towards the river but was sitting in a chair, next to his vehicle, just watching us. Two things immediately popped into my head: first, this is creepy, and then, where exactly in the truck did I leave my hand gun. After Madison and I landed a couple more nice trout, I figured it was as good a time as any to end the day, so we cautiously move to the truck.
Walking towards this individual, who had parked right next to me, I realized I had no need for concern. I had a hard time hiding the grin on my face as I thought to myself, “This guy is a walking, talking, breathing advertisement for [REDACTED].” This guy couldn’t fit another logo on his body. His hat, jacket, chest pack, gloves, and scarf were a marketing nightmare; even his vehicle, covered in decals, proclaimed his love of this company. Leaning against that vehicle was a 9-foot four-piece suite with what appeared to be a high-end [REDACTED] reel attached to a nickel/silver, rosewood insert handle. I had to admit, it was a handsome looking fly rod.
He immediately commented on my casting abilities and inquired as to what schools I attended and how long I had been casting rods. The words came without hesitation: “It’s not me, it’s the rod, and her name happens to be Madison.” As his eyes scanned my Madison, searching for the brand, he asked if he could take a closer look. I held her out and proudly stated that she was built in Vermont by the world’s finest rod builders and she was not your average rod. I could see skepticism in his eyes as they passed over her plain exterior and then, placing his hand upon her, his expression began to change. There was silence between us as he seemed to be searching for the right word to describe the feel of this rod in his hand. Then finally, he said “It feels. . .different. Mind if I give it a test?”
He probably knew, by my lack of an immediate response, that I wasn’t too keen on giving up my special fishing companion, and especially to a total stranger. Before I could respond, he said that he worked for [REDACTED] and was on the road testing a new rod that was not yet available for sale. Speaking in technical terms, he described the “rod of the future” and as if to confirm his occupation, he opened the back of his suburban. I can only describe it as a [REDACTED] store on wheels, for it was filled with posters, t-shirts, boat decals, window stickers, mugs, thermoses, even a humidor. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the selection of very nice-looking rods and reels. He told me he would trade a t-shirt for five minutes with my rod on the water. I’m not sure why, certainly not for the t-shirt, but I agreed.
His first cast was more than impressive and with every subsequent cast he confirmed to me that he was indeed a master at his trade. Madison performed like I had never seen before, to the point of downright showing off. The pocket water she hit was at distances I never thought possible. The pickup of her line was effortless, and with a flick of his wrist she made the perfect loop, only to repeat that “perfect cast” over and over. Her roll cast was a thing of beauty. I realized I had never really known Madison’s capabilities until I saw her in the hands of a master fly caster.
As we walked back to the parking area, he asked where I had gotten her and if I knew what type of material she was made of. I could only reply that she came from Orvis. As we stood together and spoke of her capabilities, he began to make comments as to her age and of the new technology now available. Then he offered to trade of one of his new rods for my Madison.
I thought “How could he possibly think Madison was something I would ever part with?” He had to know she wasn’t just “a rod;” did she not just demonstrate that she is unlike anything he had ever held in his hand? I abruptly told him she was not for trade. He countered quickly saying his “company” would be interested in acquiring my rod and offered to buy her for $1,000.
His offer was never considered for how could someone think of selling his best friend; a friend who has created years of memories and been part of countless hours of fishing conversations? With Madison safely on the seat next to me, driving out of the parking lot, I looked through my rear view mirror and just shook my head as all of those decal logos faded from my view.
Our Plans Are Made To Rest
On the many fishing trips made together, during the sometimes long drives home, Madison and I would reminisce about how she got her name and of the little dog who led me to her. I would tell stories about my first Madison and how she would be in the boat come early Saturday mornings, barking, as if to say, “Hurry up! Let’s go!” I spoke of the day that I would leave and join my first Madison and contemplated what would become of my second. The possibility of going back east to live with my daughter was considered as Ashley, in her own right, is an “artful caster of rods.” But in the end, it was decided that Madison was a Montana girl and only knew of western waters, so, in Montana she will stay.
I never thought her end would come before mine, but on a cold December day last year, while lying on a set of abandoned railroad tracks along the Missouri, her time came to a close. A railroad utility truck that can run on both highway and tracks rolled over her, never knowing she was there. She had rested in that spot many times before, with me confident of her safety, for the tracks had not been used in years. Finding her in so many pieces was heartbreaking; how could I have treated her so carelessly? Sending her home to the people who created her would be my only chance to save her. The day I placed her in that cardboard tube, carefully placing the airbags around her, I quietly said good bye, knowing in my heart she would never return to fish again.
Conclusion
There are many articles written on how great Orvis rods are, about their beauty and technical performance, as well as your first class customer service. These things are fact and can never be debated. However, I have found very few articles written on the intangible benefits that come with Orvis rods, which now brings me to my “additional request” I promised to share with you at the beginning of my story.
Please convey the following message to your rod crafters:
They are not just builders of great rods, but are builders of dreams, a lifetime of memories and most importantly, the creator of my Madison, and for that, I am eternally thankful.
I am returning the replacement rod they sent in hopes you will find someone who can use it. I realize my Madison was a once-in-a-lifetime, very special rod and could never be substituted or reproduced. There is nothing wrong with this replacement, but in my remaining years I need to connect with my other Orvis rods. They, too, deserve a chance to sit in the front seat, help me fill my journal with memories, and maybe earn a special name for themselves.
P.S: I kept three small pieces of Madison from the accident. For, as we decided, Madison would stay in Montana and come spring Leisa and I will take a trip and carefully place her into the three rivers she knew so well.
Nick Drain lives and fishes in Montana.

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How to Use Big Flies to Catch Giant Brown Trout

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:58:00 -0400

Huge brown trout are wary about leaving their secret haunts, but they'll strike a large fly
because they think it's worth the effort.
photo by Tommy Lynch

There is nothing more intense than casting large flies over and over, waiting for the big payoff, like putting coins in a slot machine. Then, finally, “Here he comes!” The wolf shows himself coming out of deep dark to launch a campaign of pain against your fly. A couple of twitches and a pause, and you have made an idiot out of an otherwise wary, unapproachable, double-digit toad brown trout.
Big-streamer fishing is for those anglers who would rather tango with just one toad than catch big numbers of cookie-cutter trout. A large brown must be hunted and not just fished for. Those who would fish an 11-inch streamer pattern aren’t looking for “teeners”—heck, the fly is almost that big— they are looking for Neo himself—“The One”! We don’t have a ton of trout in Michigan, compared to the western states, but our big-fish-to-fish ratio is fantastic if you know where to look.
The dandy shown above, a 28-plus-inch wild Michigan brown, was a victim, like many others the last couple years, of a giant streamer fished with a lot of action. This past winter, on the White River in Arkansas, we started increasing the length of our otherwise great smaller-water streamers, from 4-7 inches to 7-11 inches— the size needed to turn the real predators, who are looking for a lot of payoff in one punch.
Big-streamer fly fishing isn’t for everyone. If you’re just looking to catch fish, a nymph or dry will serve you much better. This big-fly type of fly-fishing is for those of you looking for a certain kind of trout, a fish of a lifetime—a “unicorn,” if you will. Endurance casting, quality line control, proper fly movement, placement, and even fly selection all play a huge role.

To fish effectively for "toads," you must give up on the idea of catching lots of fish.
photo by Tommy Lynch

Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow
Start with an idea of how you want your flies to be seen. Understand that we look at our flies totally differently than the fish does. They look up at whatever fly we have presented, with a lightened sky behind it, whereas we look directly down at the fly on typically a dark river bottom backdrop. All strikes from predatory fish are triggered by movement, much like a cat and a ball of yarn; color, speed, size, and even texture all play a roll in how a predator chases down and kills.
Never give up on a cast until the bitter end; more big fish come right at the boat than don’t, much like musky fishing. I think that the reason for this is that, as the fly is exiting the water, the predator feels a need to speed up and spring the trap before the opportunity has passed. This response is no different from pulling a string over the back of the couch and watching a cat crouch into position getting ready to pounce on the evading target. You’ll often notice that the cat will wait until the last possible moment before launching its assault.
Strip your fly downstream, which goes against conventional wisdom. All injured minnows, trout, crawfish, etc. move downstream because they can’t fight the current. And don’t make your strips too fast or long, as this depresses the action of the fly and pulls it from the “sweet spot” prematurely. Instead, use a fly with flash and lifelike motion in the water, so a fish can attack it in the safety of his haunt and not out on some bar where he may feel vulnerable and visible.
Break up your rhythm of strip, pop, drag, or whatever your bug fancies. Nothing that is injured exhibits a steady rhythm. Fish or prey in trouble tend to pop, twitch, dart, quiver, with each movement looking different than the one before. There are so many big flies out there, and each one should be fished differently. When you change flies, change your retrieve, as well. You wouldn’t show up to a golf course with a bag full of clubs and swing them all the same way would you?
Faith catches more fish than any one fly in your box, so I believe that presentation trumps color and style. That said, I would also say that if you have a high-action fly coupled with faith and a good presentation, this makes you a force to be reckoned with. When a streamer is working right the fish miss it, not once, but twice, and still come back and get the hook on the third try.
Happy hunting!
Tommy Lynch is a fly fishing guide who operates The Fish Whisperer Guide Service in Baldwin, Michigan.

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Video: The Bull Trout Experience II

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:25:00 -0400

The bull trout holds a special fascination for me. As a small-stream, native brook trout kind of guy, the thought of a 16-pound meat-eating cousin of the 6-inchers I'm accustomed to is enthralling. This video by Andres Gonzalez of Dave Brown Outfitters in British Columbia, offers a guide's-eye view of a day on the Kootenay River, and it features some big bulls. . .the kind worth traveling for.

That's some serious bull, British Columbia-style.
photo courtesy Andres Gonzalez

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Picture of the Day: Huge Argentina Brown Trout

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:34:00 -0400

It's not the greatest photo, but ai-yai-yai what a trout.
photo courtesy Challhuaquen Lodge

Larry Isham from Challhuaquen Lodge sent us this photo, along with the story behind it. Apparently, Markus K. was fishing from a boat on the Futaleufú River right in front of the lodge, and he made a long cast with a Woolly Bugger under some willows on the bank. This beast took the fly on a dead drift, and put his 3X tippet to the test. The fish measured 32.5 inches and weighed in at 15.5 pounds. That explains the wide grins, methinks.

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Trip Report: Maryland's Stunning Savage River

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:29:00 -0400

The Lower Savage is home to some gorgeous, but wary, wild brown trout.
photo by Jim Lampros

It’s hard to say whether the complete absence of light or its presence in unexpected places is more haunting. Driving rural Appalachian highways in the dead of night, you’ll see plenty of both, and as I white-knuckled my way around this turn and that bend headed for the Savage River and its wild brook and brown trout, I thought to myself, “This had better be worth it. . . . ”
I awoke anxiously at sunrise the next morning. I’d arrived just shy of midnight and still hadn’t laid eyes on my final destination. It only took one look out my bedroom window and my “perilous” journey had been validated: a sliver of sunlight cut through the hardwood canopy, bisecting a gorgeous pool into light and dark. Immediately upstream, car-sized boulders formed idyllic pocket water that begged for a dry fly. Indeed, this water screamed trout, and I was in my waders before the coffee was done brewing.
The Savage River of the Maryland panhandle lies at the heart of an often-overlooked trout paradise, a region that encompasses the likes of the Youghiogheny, North Branch of the Potomac, and Casselman rivers, along with dozens of exceptional native brook-trout streams. On the first day of my visit, I had the good fortune of exploring one of these brook trout streams with PJ Daly, head guide for Wisp Outdoors, the 2007 Orvis guide service of the year.

A gorgeous native brook trout from a mountain stream in the Maryland Panhandle.
photo by Jim Lampros

We took some strikingly beautiful specimens on dry flies, and I could easily have spent the entire day jumping from pool to pool, but we decided instead to cut our exploration short and see what the Lower Savage held in store.
The Lower Savage, a tailwater that fishes more like a high-altitude freestone stream, is truly a gem. While not terribly picky about fly selection, its wild trout acknowledge only the cleanest of drifts, which can be extremely difficult to achieve in the high-gradient pocket water. After talking to PJ prior to the trip, I added a 10-foot 4-weight Access to the rod quiver. In retrospect I wouldn’t want to fish that river without such a long rod. It was a great asset for high-stick dry fly presentations and performed better than expected when casting small dry flies on long leaders to actively rising fish.
While in the panhandle we enjoyed riverside accommodations at Savage River Outfitters, which has a small fly shop on the property that carries a selection of Orvis products.

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Friday Film Festival 05.11.12

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:11:00 -0400
Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Web for the best fly-fishing footage available. This week's collection is very U.S-centric, but there are lots of great fish and fine filmmaking. I'm still a bit curious about where all the great New Zealand footage is from 2012. C'mon, Kiwis, get on the ball. Isn't it almost winter down there? Show us some giant brown trout hoovering up dry flies, for goodness' sake! And I'm looking at you, too, Chile. Remember, we surf so you don't have to. But if you do stumble upon something great that you think is worthy of inclusion in a future FFF, please post it in the comments below. See you next week with a fresh set of films!

We kick things off with a home-made video that has no soundtrack, no fancy editing, a low production value. But what it does have is great footage of a couple of anglers fishing a fantastic small stream in Montana, with plenty of great strike footage. (Note to anglers on video: please do not keep asking the cameraman if he "got it.") I don't know where this stream is, but I'd appreciate it if someone would tell me.

I love Luke Bannister's films because they're so mellow and low-key, yet they're still compelling. It's just a man, his cane rod, and some trout rising in an English Westcountry stream.

Here's some warmwater action from Denver's South Platte River, featuring the brownwater Grand Slam of carp, smallmouth, and catfish. And OMG! is that a trout at the end?

Here's another video from the Italian anglers who brought us yesterday's "psychedelic" trout. Boy, those Europeans get to the water in style, no? Then it's time for some sweet dry-fly fishing for colorful browns.

I hope you like steelhead because here's a whole bunch of them. We start off with some naturalist footage of spawning fish, and then jump right into the slaying of the steel.

This is some of the best GoPro tarpon footage I've seen. This angler manages to capture an astonishing number of strikes, misses, hookups, and jumps. There are some true beasties here, as well.

This one could've been called "Nothing but Trout," as it's essentially just a long series of releases. Shot on the "A" stretch of Utah's Green River, it features plenty of gorgeous browns and rainbows, and releasing them is the best part, right?

The golden dorado is definitely one of my "bucket list" species, and I've never seen anyone fishing for them from a personal watercraft, which seems like a great way to do it (as long as there are no piranha around).

Last week, we had our first-ever cobia video, and now here's a second already. These big fish look like a blast on the fly, although I'm not sure dropping a giant fish in the boat is such a good idea.

Steve Hoovler has been a guide in southwestern Montana for a very long time, so he know where the fish are. In this short video, he focuses on the spring blue-winged olive hatches that make pre-runoff dry-fly fishing so fantastic in the region. And if there are no bugs, throw a streamer, of course.

Meanwhile, on the East Walker River near the California-Nevada border, big rainbows apparently chow nymphs fished under an indicator.

In this week's episode of The New Fly Fisher, our own Tom Rosenbauer heads to Rhode Island for some striped-bass action during the famed cinder-worm hatch. Have a great weekend!

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Video: A Trip to El Pescador

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:14:00 -0400

It's a rainy, crappy day here in Vermont, so the appearance of this fun, amateur video of a trip to tropical paradise in Belize was a welcome diversion. It does a nice job of capturing all the cool stuff that goes on when you visit Ambergris Cay for fishing, 8-ball, and camaraderie. I visited Belize once, about a dozen years ago, and loved every minute of it, from the bonefish flats to the Mayan ruins.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with El Pescador owners Ali Flota and her mom Chris, as well as Ali's two beautiful daughters, when we were at the Orvis Lodge Retreat in key Largo last month. (See below; that's Steve Hemkens on the left.) They are great people who are extremely good stewards of their resources on the flats and the reefs of Ambergris and beyond.

The end of a great afternoon on a reef boat with the women of El Pescador.
photo courtesy Chris Spiro

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Pictures of the Day: Psychedelic Italian Brown Trout

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:33:00 -0400

These are the natural colors of some Italian brown trout. . .no PhotoShop involved.
all photos courtesy Massimo Feliziani

In the April 13th edition of the Friday Film Festival, we featured a video from Italy, with this commentary: "This isn't the greatest video, but it features one of the coolest-looking brown trout ever. At first I thought the brilliant red was an added special effect, but I can't see how that would be possible."
Well, word finally made its way to the filmmaker—Massimo Feliziani of Fly Fishing Adventures—who sent me these photos, along with a note:
Thanks for putting our video ("A Pesca con la Neve") on the site Orvis Friday Film Festival 04.13.12. The Trouts have precisely these colors. We call them "stars." Soon we put on our site a new movie clip. I send you some pictures of trout stars.
The colors of the spots on these trout hardly seem real. Methinks I must make a "research" expedition to Italy for a firsthand sampling.

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The Most Watched Fly-Fishing Video of All Time

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:26:00 -0400

On a whim, I decided to check to see what the most-watched fly-fishing video on YouTube is. To do so, I searched for "fly fishing" and "flyfishing", with the filter set to "view count." I figured it would be an old video because the longer a video is up the more chances it had to be viewed, but I was certain it would be something I had seen before. My guess was that it would be one of the famous trailers for a popular video or something. Surely, it would feature big trout of some kind. Boy, was I wrong.
First of all, I had to wade through several non-fly-fishing videos—including one about a "naked charity calendar" and one called "HOT SEXY GIRLS FISHING"—that somehow come up under this keyword search. (Ah, the Internet. . . .)
Finally, there was the first actual fly-fishing one. But it's not about catching trout at all. Instead, it's a 3-minute, low-picture-quality video of a guy landing a tarpon on a beach in Cuba. At 1,576,242 views (and counting), it tops the next most popular video (below) by more than 100,000 views. Huh. How does one explain this?

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Video: How to Tie a Crane-Fly Larva

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:07:00 -0400
The folks at Tightline Productions have outdone themselves this week. When was the last time you saw a video that shows you a natural insect, offers step-by-step instruction on how to tie an imitation, teaches you how to fish it in a tandem rig, and then shows a beautiful brown trout being caught on the finished fly? I don't think you can offer more compelling fare than that in a fly-tying video. The bug in question is the crane-fly larva, which many fly fishermen don't know much about. Crane flies are those giant flying insects that look like a cross between a mosquito and a daddy longlegs. Although trout will eat these gangly adults, the larva is the most important stage for anglers to imitate.

In this great video, Tim Flagler tips his hat to the tiers and patterns that influenced his version of the crane-fly larva pattern, and then he launches right into the very simple steps. But as with all good tiers, Flagler makes even the simplest pattern easier to tie and more effective. By adding a drop of Zap-A-Gap to some thread wraps and then sliding the weighting wire over it, he makes the pattern more durable. His choice of yarn is important, as well. You can find the specific "oyster" yarn in any good knitting store or by clicking here.

Crane-Fly Larva
          Hook: 3X-long nymph hook (here a Dai-Riki #285), size 12.
Weight: 8 or 9 wraps of .02 lead-free wire.
Thread: Fluorescent pink, 140 denier or 6/0.
Adhesive: Zap-A-Gap.
  Body: "Oyster" Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift yarn.
  Head: Tying thread and head cement.

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Picture of the Day: Dandy Delaware Brown Trout

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:09:00 -0400

This healthy Delaware brown ate a streamer on a cold April afternoon.
photo courtesy Joe Demalderis

Guide Joe Demalderis emailed me this photo, along with a description: "Joe Cermele, fishing editor from Field & Stream and Jimmy Fee, assistant editor from On the Water magazine spent a blustery day fishing with me on the Upper Delaware in late April. These guys fished hard and made it happen, landing two 20-plus-inch fish and several others in the mid teens on a cold, windy, snow-squally day."

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Tuesday Tip: How to Fish High Water

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:06:00 -0400

High water is no time for dainty patterns.
photo by Drew Price

In the Northeast, spring fishing often involves very high water—our Western friends usually suffer this fate in May and June—caused by runoff or April showers. But after you’ve waited all winter for a chance to get on the water at all, there’s no way you’re going to let a little flooding keep you home. Here are 5 tips that will help you score, and stay safe, when you’re casting into a rushing river.
1. Explore before you fish: Over the winter, there’s a good chance the character of your local river has changed somewhat. There may be new deadfalls, places where holes deepened or shallowed out, etc. Take the time—perhaps before the season starts—to look for new areas that might provide good trout habitat. Especially keep your eyes out for places along the edges of the river where you’ll be able to fish in high water.
2. Wade shallow, slowly, and carefully: Moving water is invariably more powerful than you think it is, so don’t wade out up to your chest to reach that spot on the opposite bank. No fish is worth getting washed downriver. When the water is high, it’s usually murky, as well, which means you often can’t see what you’re stepping on. There could be logs, big rocks, or a deep hole down there, so don’t make a step without feeling around with your foot first.
3. Don’t walk in the fish: Before you charge into the water to cast behind a midstream boulder, look for good holding spots along the bank. Trout like to get out of the current as much as possible, and during high water, the migrate to the margins of the heaviest current. Focus your attention on trout lies along the bank—an indentation in the bank, a rock, some dead wood, etc.—where a fish could rest and still have food provided by the current. You might be amazed by the size of the trout you can catch within 2 feet of shore, or even under cutbanks.
4. Use big flies: This is not a time for match-the-hatch tactics. Conehead streamers that move a lot of water, big stonefly nymphs, or flashy attractors—such as Copper Johns—in sizes larger than you’d normally use will get a trout’s attention in high water. Strangely enough, black is one of the best colors for dark-water fishing, although white and fluorescents often works well, too. Patterns that offer a lot of eye-catching motion are a plus.
5. Use stout tackle: Because you’re fishing big flies in heavy water, go up a size in rod, line, and tippet. If you normally fish a 5-weight, break out the 6 or 7. Chances are, you’re going to be snagging junk on the bottom, or you may need to haul a big fish out of some bushes against the bank. Since visibility is low, you can get away with heavier tippet. Using a sinking tip or a longer leader than normal will help get your flies down in the current where the fish are.

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Picture of the Day: Giant Keys Permit

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:30:00 -0400

Montana guide Pat Kane with his accidental monster permit.
photo by Brandon Boedecker

Last month, at the Orvis-Endorsed Lodge Retreat in Key Largo, PRO Outfitters guide Pat Kane spent an afternoon on the water, when something special happened:
I caught this fish while fishing with a live shrimp for speckled sea trout. In fact, I didn't even make the cast. The Capt. of our 24-foot bay boat made a nice toss with a live shrimp hanging about three feet under a popping cork and then handed me the rod. I moved to the bow, sat down, sipped my Bud Heavy, and popped my cork while the captain proceeded to rig up the other three fisherman. The pop of the cork is supposed to attract the trout. Earlier that day we had nonstop action on snapper, grouper, jacks, cuda, and a few other species, as well. Now it was time to catch a trout.
After maybe five minutes and a few more pops, the shrimp was attacked, and the line began to rip. The run stopped and then began again right at and then under the boat; we thought there was a shark on the line. After another huge run, we began to follow the fish with the boat. It was then that we realized that the fish was a large permit. The fish made several more runs, each one a little shorter than the prior. What a fun fight. What a fun day, a day that will not be forgotten.
The permit has burned permanent memories into my mind. It will help me remember a super-fun day on the water with cool people. When it comes down to it, does it really matter how the fish was caught? I feel very lucky to have held such an awesome creature, a true fish of a lifetime.
We could only estimate the fish to be over 20 pounds. I think it's closer to 30, especially when I've had a few beers.

Now, we're all fly fishermen here, I know. And I realize that the fish was caught not only on a spinning rod, but with bait. But holy cow, that is one massive fish!
When he got back to the Ocean Reef Club for that night's reception, Pat showed everyone the photo and only let them believe it was a fly-caught permit for a few moments before he told the truth.
"I don't care what I caught it on because just holding that fish was an incredible experience," he said.
I believe him.

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Maine Youngsters Check Out Fly Fishing, Literally

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:22:00 -0400

It all started with a box of fly rods, and ten years later, it's a youth fly-fishing program.
photo by Kathy Scott

A library budget doesn’t usually include tippet materials or flies, but it might, if students were checking out fly rods. At Lawrence Junior High in Fairfield, Maine, fly fishing has been a part of the curriculum since a large package, almost as tall as a twelve-year-old, arrived from Vermont. Eight fly rods and eight reels, complete with lines, transformed a fledgling offering from makeshift to make way. Eager students have been casting in class ever since. . .a lot of students.

Lawrence Junior High students cast fly rods in Physical Education class.
photo by Kathy Scott

Initially offered as an option during a 90-minute enrichment period, fly fishing was so popular that participants had to be chosen by lottery. Those students, all 7th and 8th graders, earned check-out privileges for the new equipment—overnight, on weekends, and for the summer. With twelve to fifteen students in the program per semester and multiple check-outs, no rods have ever broken and none have been returned late. As the school philosophy changed from exploratory to standards-based, the enrichment period vanished, but the demand by middle schoolers did not.So, fly-fishing was woven into the physical education philosophy, and a unit was born. Now, about 200 middle school students a year learn to cast in PE classes, with an optional walk to the town’s Kids’ Pond in May.
A commitment to life-long learning, community partnerships with both the town and ever-willing Trout Unlimited volunteers, and fly rods spread across a library table: in my opinion, that's education at its best. More than ten years later, six TU members spent the day at the pond last week, and PE students raced to class to gear up and start fishing.

Once they've practiced indoors, it's time for the kids to head to the town pond.
photo by Kathy Scott

A Lawrence student shows off her catch to a local TU volunteer.
photo by Kathy Scott

That smile suggests this young man is hooked on fly fishing.
photo by Kathy Scott

Kathy Scott is a writer who lives in Mercer, Maine.

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Picture of the Day: A Trout Bum Gets Lucky

Mon, 07 May 2012 13:32:00 -0400

This is the kind of fish a high-mountain trout bum can get excited about.
photo courtesy Doc Thompson

Here is proof that a trout bum from the mountains of Northern New Mexico can find a few gems while feeling out of place on the Olympic Peninsula. After hearing steelhead stories for four years from Matt Cassel, I joined him for a four-day adventure on the OP last month with steelhead guru Rooster Leavens. They suggested I not shave for a couple days prior to the trip—somehow that would help bring good luck. They also suggested I not shower, again, for luck. And yes, wear the same shirt for luck. They warned me of rainy/cold weather. They were right, and fortunately, I had packed my Tailwaters rain jacket. I stayed dry and warm. As a guide, I always hope my clients listen to me, and now that I was the client, I wanted to do the same. Sometimes I did, and other times, it was ugly. Fortunately, I listened just enough and had enough luck on my side to land this hefty 20-pounder. We landed several steelies each day, remarkable for a steelhead trip! I’m a long way from calling myself a steelheader, but I'm definitely planning to go again.
Doc Thompson, 2006 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide of the Year, operates High Country Anglers in the mountains of Northern New Mexico.

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Video: "Dry or Die" in the Swedish Backcountry

Mon, 07 May 2012 10:19:00 -0400

Rolf Nylinder is back with the sixth and final installment of his series about the Vindel River Valley of Sweden. In this episode:
we follow John and Stefan on a fishing trip up to the headwaters of the Vindel river. The area has limited access in order to maintain the high quality of fishing and to minimize the pressure on the nature of the area. Johan and Stefan stop one night in Ammarnäs village before they head out to the mountains. Stefan tries his luck after the huge trout that annually migrate up from Lake Storvindeln and up in the Vindel River for spawning. The average weight is over 3.5 kg of these magnificent trout, and there's a lot of work going on with management to preserve one of Sweden's last strains of large migrating brown trout.

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Picture of the Day: Bitterroot Brown

Fri, 04 May 2012 12:33:00 -0400

Three Rivers Ranch guide and fly shop manager Nick Minor (left) with Nick Stepich fished the Bitterroot River at the Western Orvis Guide Rendezvous
in Missoula, Montana. Nick caught this nice brown on a Skwala Stone.
photo courtesy Nick Minor

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Friday Film Festival 05.04.12

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:59:00 -0400
Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Web for the best fly-fishing footage available. This week's collection has got it all: freshwater and saltwater, warmwater and coldwater, big fish and little fish. It's quite a global collection, as well, with videos from the waters of Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe, New Zealand, Japan, our friendly neighbors to the north, and the good ol' U.S of A. As you enjoy great angling footage, you'll also learn some things about North American geography, the sea-run version of the whitespotted char, topwater fishing for smallmouths. It's a full-service FFF! and Remember, we surf so you don't have to. But if you do stumble upon something great that you think is worthy of inclusion in a future FFF, please post it in the comments below. See you next week with a fresh set of films!

Stefan, from frontsidefly.com, escaped the Scandinavian winter for a short jaunt to New Zealand, and this short video offers some sweet footage of big trout and gorgeous scenery.

If you're only going to catch one fish in a day, make it a good one. This bull trout was certainly worth many hours of fruitless casting.

Our own Christine Penn headed down to South Carolina to chase redfish and ran into some lousy weather, which finally broke. Here's some footage of a fine specimen she caught on a golden morning.

Here's a fishing video that comes with a geography lesson about North America's scrub steppe habitat. But it's the beautiful trout that really matter.

This is a cool trailer for an upcoming film about a fishing expedition to Bassas Da India, a remote underwater volcano that rises up steeply from the depths of the Mozambique Channel. It's not all fly fishing, but the action is spectacular for a variety of saltwater species (some of which I can't identify).

Fall fishing on Russia's Umba River is tough to beat for Atlantic salmon, and this montage captures some of the best reasons you'd be required to celebrate with a shot of vodka.

Here's a first attempt at making a fly-fishing video by my friend Ben Pierce in Bozeman. I expect big things from him if this Madison River footage is what he can do first time out.

Ever since I saw a BBC documentary in which famed British angler John Bailey went in search of mahseer in India, I've been fascinated by the species. This video from northern Thailand features the blue members of the mahseer family.

The Salmon River near Pulaski, New York, is no doubt a world-class fishery, but it can also be overcrowded. However, this video manages to focus on what's really important: the steelhead.

New species alert! This is one big female cobia to handle on a fly rod, and it takes this angler almost an hour and a half to land it on a sandbar off Hilton Head, South Carolina. Luckily, someone edited the fight down to 4 minutes.

This documentary-style video focuses on a young angler from Idaho and features plenty of great fish action and beautiful scenery. Plus, you might learn something.

I love it when I stumble on a fishery I never knew existed. Here, anglers chase sea-run whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis leucomaenis), called Iwana in Japanese.

For me, this one is all about the music. Sure, the footage of Tenkara fishing in Wisconsin's Driftless Region is cool, but I've been a fan of obscure band The Rural Alberta Advantage for some time. A nice surprise to find a fly-fishing video using the band for a soundtrack.

In this week's episode of The New Fly Fisher, the boys are after smallmouth bass in Ontario. There's some great topwater action and some serious hog smallies here. Have a great weekend!

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REPOST: Drift-Boat Manners

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:03:00 -0400

If both anglers in a drift boat or raft adhere to some simple guidelines and respect their boatmates, it makes a long day on the water much easier.
photo by Phil Monahan

[Editor's Note: Here's another useful how-to piece from the archive. Many readers may have booked a float trip for this season, and it's a good idea to brush up on your boat etiquette and technique.]
Fishing from a drift-boat or a raft with another angler is one of the rare instances in fly-fishing where your actions directly affect someone else’s fishing. Therefore, you’ve got to be constantly aware of what your partner is doing and show good manners at all times. The biggest problem is when one angler cuts off another’s access to good water. Usually the problem is caused by the bow angler casting too far upstream, thus leaving the stern angler with nowhere to cast. However, the stern angler can make things difficult for his bow counterpart by casting too far downstream, as well.

The root of both of these problems is that casting from a boat is different from casting while wading. Because the boat is moving downstream with the current, although often at a different rate, the anglers’ relationship to that current is constantly changing. If you’re fishing with a guide, he will usually tell both anglers what their correct casting angles should be—usually quartering downstream—depending on the relative speeds of the boat and the current, as well as the angle of the boat. (Rule number 1: Listen to your guide!) If both anglers maintain the correct angles, both can achieve long dead-drifts, which is often the key to success when fishing from a boat.

Fly fishermen are accustomed to casting directly toward the bank, but if the bow angler does this, he forces the stern angler to do the same, often making it impossible for the stern angler to get a good drift. This is why most people agree that the bow is the best place to be. You get first crack at the water, and there’s no one in front of you to throw a line in your way.
On the other hand, the bow angler is most open to razzing and ridicule, since both the rower and the stern angler can see everything he does. The stern angler can often screw up in secret.

Listen to Tom Rosenbauer's podcast on this subject, below:

If you cannot see the podcast player, please click this link to listen.

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Fish Facts: Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)

Thu, 03 May 2012 08:42:00 -0400

From Maine to California—and in many large reservoirs in between—striped bass
provide great angling action for fly fishers.
photo via NYDEC

The striped bass is kind of like the rainbow trout of the sea in that, a native of the Atlantic coast, it has been transported and stocked successfully around the world. The original range of the striped bass stretches from Canada’s St. Lawrence River to the St. John’s River in northern Florida, as well as along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana.
The species was introduced to the West Coast in 1879, when 132 fingerling bass from the Navesink River in New Jersey were transported by rail to San Francisco Bay, and by the end of the century, there was a thriving population that supported both commercial and recreational fisheries. The West Coast striped-bass range now stretches from Los Angeles north to the Columbia River.

John Kaufmann caught this 44-inch striped bass off Montauk, New York. .
photo courtesy John Kaufmann

In 1941, stripers were accidentally landlocked during the construction of South Carolina’s Santee Cooper Reservoir, and both anglers and fisheries managers were thrilled to discover that the species could not only survive, but prosper in large impoundments. Although most freshwater striped-bass populations are maintained through stocking, some lakes are fed by rivers suitable for spawning. More than 30 states now have freshwater stripers, as well as hybrids—called wipers—created by crossing stripers with white bass. Wipers can tolerate higher water temperatures and are therefore better for southern climates.

In more recent times, stripers have been introduced in large lakes Ecuador, Iran, Latvia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey, to name just a few. The species is prized for both its sporting qualities—including its willingness to take flies—as well as its value as a source of food. The species is now being commercially raised to service the demand from restaurants and fish markets. This could help with conservation in the oceans, where East Coast stocks are showing signs of trouble.

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Fly-Fishing History: Trout Evangelism, Part I

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:07:00 -0400

It always amazes me that trout have been introduced in so many places across the globe. When I was in Tasmania a few years ago, I visited Salmon Ponds, built in 1861 and the oldest trout-rearing facility in the Southern Hemisphere. There’s a little museum there that explains how the English managed to transport brown trout so far.
They’d pack salmon and trout eggs in ice in the hold of a ship, which had to make the months-long journey around Cape of Good Hope and halfway around the world. The first time they tried it, all the eggs perished en route, so they tried again. The second attempt also failed. But so desperate were the English in Tasmania to recreate their home angling experience that they wouldn’t give up. Finally, on the third attempt, the ship arrived in time, and the fishery was born. Check out the video above to see what Tasmania offers today.

The Salmon Ponds hatchery has a park-like atmospher.
photo via flickr

It reminds me of the King of Swamp castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up.”
The trout raised in the hatchery were then carried on horseback to lakes and rivers all over the island. Tasmania now has several incredible and unique fisheries. In the Western lakes, you can even sight-fish to cruising double-digit browns. The salmon, on the other hand, were a disappointing failure: once released, they went out to sea and never returned.
The British Empire has much to be ashamed about, but anglers in many different countries owe their sporting lives to the Brits. You can learn a lot more about the history of trout in Tasmania at the Salmon Ponds Web site.

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Video: How to Tie Two Rusty Spinner Patterns

Wed, 02 May 2012 11:17:00 -0400
Are you a natural-materials kind of fly tier, or do you love using all the cool synthetics hanging on the walls of your local shop? This week's fly-tying selection from our friends at Tightline Productions is a two-fer, pitting the all-natural stylings of Matt Grobert against a more modern pattern by Tim Flagler. Of course, you could simply tie up both and see which one fishes better for you. Then you could report back to us the results of your experimentation as a way to put this naturals-vs-synthetics debate to rest forever. Just kidding.

In these great Tightline Productions videos, first author and blogger Matt Grobert ties his version of a Rusty Spinner, using natural snowshoe hair for the wings, and then Tim Flagler ties his version of the same spinner, but with a Polypropylene wing. Each offers a neat method for splaying the tails and keeping the wings perpendicular to the hook. So no matter which one you choose to tie, you can learn something from both versions

Grobert's Rusty Spinner
          Hook: Standard dry-fly hook (here a TMC #100), size 14.
Thread: Olive, 6/0.
Wings: Natural snowshoe rabbit.
Dubbing ball: Rusty Australian possum.
  Tails: 2 light dun Microfibbets.
Abdomen & thorax: Rusty Australian possum.
  Head: Tying thread.

Flagler's Rusty Spinner
          Hook: Standard dry-fly hook (here a Dai-Riki #305), size 14.
  Thread: Rusty Brown, 70 denier or 6/0.
  Tails: 2 Microfibbets.
  Abdomen: Rust Super Fine dry-fly dubbing.
Wings: Polypropylene yarn.
  Thorax: Rust Super Fine dry-fly dubbing.
  Head: Tying thread.
Note: Apply floatant to wings and body while fly is still in the vise.



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How to Catch Smallmouth Bass in Spring

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:23:00 -0400

Springtime offers the chance to catch some of the biggest smallmouths of the year.
photo by Drew Price

When April begins, I start thinking about smallmouth bass. They will soon start making migratory spawning runs out of lakes, and some huge fish will be caught. It can be some of the most fun fishing of the entire year.
When smallmouths make their spawning runs not all of the fish in the population will enter rivers and streams to spawn. Instead, it is a portion of the population, and the numbers that do migrate can change from year to year depending on conditions. Lower water years will often see fewer fish return than higher water years. Interestingly, a bass that spawns in a river one year could spawn out in open water the following year. There seems to be no real reason why they decide to make the run, and while I would love to know what makes them run, ultimately, that they are in is all that matters.
Gearing up for spring smallmouths is pretty easy, and most trout gear will work fine. A 5- to 7-weight outfit is perfect for chucking the flies you’ll need. Because bass are generally in water less than 5 feet deep, and often much less than that, a floating line is fine. Although standard leader will get the job done, I recommend fluorocarbon tippet. Fluoro will help out in several ways, but of the greatest importance is the abrasion resistance that it provides. It will help fishing some of the tight spots bass are in, and it will also help guard against sandpaper-like teeth. When you are catching smallmouths, definitely check your leader frequently. Those small teeth will slowly grind down your tippet, eventually causing it to fail. If your tippet feels rough, then cut your fly and some of the tippet, and then re-tie your fly on. I find this is necessary every half dozen fish or so.

Your streamer box is all you'll need for high, dirty water.
photo by Drew Price

A well stocked streamer box will be all that you need to chase these bass. Woolly Buggers and Zonkers in a wide variety of colors are some of the most productive flies, with black, olive, and chartreuse as some of my favorites. Bob Clouser designed his Deep Minnow specifically for smallies, and it is worth having a variety of colors of those, as well, but especially chartreuse-and-white, pink-and-white, and olive-and-white. Other flies that work well include crawfish patterns, weighted muddlers, and other baitfish patterns. Quite honestly, if any fly is moving through the water, a bass will probably hit it this time of year! They are pretty aggressive, most notably during the first few weeks that they show up.
When bass initially enter a river, they will be found primarily in deeper holes. In the spots I fish year after year, there are always a couple of holes where I expect to get my first bass or two of the season, and invariably that is just where I find them. They are in the deepest pools, near the back end, or the slack water on the inside of a corner pool. During periods of cooler water, earlier in the run, this is where you should concentrate your efforts. As it warms up, the bass will spread out more thoroughly through the river, and you will find them in faster water like tailouts, the heads of pools, deeper runs, and even riffles. As they prepare to spawn, the bass will also be found in slack water near faster water. Other areas to concentrate on are spots where there is a lot of structure. Smallmouths love woody debris, so make sure you put casts near deadfalls. Big rocks and other current breaks are also places to focus on. Don’t be surprised if you lose some flies doing this, but if you don’t try, you won’t catch those fish that are in the tight spots.
Some of the largest fish I catch every year are in the very beginning of the run, and certainly some of the most heavy bodied fish can be found in the first couple of weeks. Generally, the females show up first, and they are gravid, filled with eggs. The water tends to be cooler in the first few weeks, so successful techniques are a bit different than you may be accustomed to. There are two different things I try this time of year to entice the bass to take, and both work quite well.

Slow down your retrieve, or even stop it altogether, when the water is still cool.
photo by Drew Price

First is what I call the “strip, pause.” I cast the fly out (usually a Clouser), let it sink, strip in about a foot of line, pause for a couple of seconds, and then repeat until I am ready to cast again. This is especially effective in deeper water. Bass often grab the fly when it is on the drop, so make sure you have a tight line. Another useful technique is to dead-drift a bugger through a likely holding area and occasionally twitching the fly with my rod tip or stripping in a bit of line to move it. If the line stops at all, raise your rod. You will often find a feisty bass on the end of it.
As the water warms up into the 50s and 60s, the action will get hotter. You can strip flies through pools and runs to get explosive takes. It pays to experiment with what retrieves work best. Sometimes it is a fast erratic stripping motion that does the trick, and other times the “strip, pause” is more to their liking. Either will catch fish on any given day, but sometimes one technique will out fish another.
As the spawn continues you will find males sitting guard on beds. These fish will respond to a fly stripped through the area they are monitoring. They will be quite aggressive when they have just started guarding their brood and may become less so as time goes by. They can also be somewhat spooky. Use common sense when it comes to targeting these fish. If you do, land the fish as quickly as possible and release it close to the nest. However, I will caution you about doing this frequently. These fish are very vulnerable to exploitation. They are visible and often in shallow water. Removing them from the eggs or fry they are guarding can lead to high mortality rates. While this is not likely to have significant impacts on the overall population of smallmouth in the area, it is a practice that needs consideration.

Standard trout gear works for spring smallmouth fishing, as well.
photo by Drew Price

There are times when the water levels get low and there is excellent clarity. This is when the bass can get down-right “snotty,” as my friend Tom Rosenbauer calls it. He really seems to relish when they get like this because they can be much more challenging. There are a few tricks to help out with a situation like this. First is to drop down in tippet size, even if you are using fluoro. A less visible leader will help get takes. Also reduce the size and weight of your fly. You may need a size 8 fly to get them to take. Concentrate on deeper water and make longer casts. A great fly in this situation is a simple black bunny leech with little or no weight and no flash. Dead-drifting this fly can be a lethal tactic.
When the water warms up significantly, possibly in the 60’s or 70’s, you can have a great time using smaller Dahlberg Divers or poppers. Smallies seem to relish topwater flies, and any lingering fish can be tempted to come up to grab a fly from the surface. Size 2-8 flies will cover you well.
Spring smallmouth bass can offer some of the best fishing of the year. There are lots of big fish around, and they put up an awesome fight on light tackle. If you do it right you could end up with that most pleasant of all angling afflictions: the Bass Thumb!

Clouser Deep Minnows in various color combinations are great smallmouth patterns.
photo by Drew Price

Drew Price lives in Northern Vermont and is the owner and head guide for Master Class Angling. He fishes Lake Champlain and surrounding waters targeting carp, pike, bowfin, gar, bass and other species (even the occasional trout).

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Trout Bum of the Week: Matthew Owen

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:31:00 -0400

Trout bums in Tennessee learn to love largemouth bass.
photo courtesy Matthew Owen

[Editor's note: Back in March, we featured a great photo of a young angler named Matthew Owen, who had recently lost his father. Blog reader Joe Millner wrote a nice post to go along with it. Well, it seems that young Matthew has a lot of fans, since I got another email from a blog reader, Walter Haze, who suggested that we make Matthew a "Trout Bum of the Week." Below are Walter's pitch to me and then his post about Matthew Owen.]
The Pitch: I would like to submit a nomination to the "Trout Bum of the Week" (which I've noticed ya'll haven't had in awhile): Matthew Owen. I'm in the fly fishing club he started at his school and have witnessed first-hand the severity of his addiction to fly fishing. In the blog post it mentioned a lot about how his father paid for guide trips, which he did; however, Matthew is pretty much self-taught. He didn't have anything given to him if that makes sense.
We live in Memphis, three and a half hours away from the nearest trout stream, so we kind of have to do with what's local around here. Matthew took advantage of this muddy, polluted river that flows through our dirty city and pinpointed gar and carp hotspots. Seriously, this kid treks through huge distances of gross swampland to get a shot at a surface strike from gar he catches on a fly made out of nylon rope. I didn't even know you could catch a fish on rope until he showed me! Before his mom and dad would actually allow him to make the long distance drive to Heber Springs, Arkansas, he would tell them some excuse as to why he wouldn't be home for the whole weekend and would drive up to the river and sleep in his car just to fish. Before he had a car, I would always see him riding his road bike all over town to sneak into golf courses and other little ponds and things he discovered that no one has ever heard of. He goes the freaking distance to fish.
Did I mention that Matthew is an excellent fly tier? He ties flies in his study hall for goodness sake....
But what really makes Matthew Owen a trout bum is his amazing outlook on life, his eccentric personality, and his dedication to the sport. He's just an all-around solid guy who is willing to go any distance just to cast a line. He introduced me to fly fishing and instilled in me a love for the sport. I just wanted to nominate him because beside all the crap he's gone through in the past few months, dealing with his dad's death, he is still maintains his love for life, his god, and fly fishing. I just think he deserves it. I hope you'll consider him, Phil.

Matthew with a big brown from the Little Red River in Arkansas.
photo courtesy Matthew Owen

The Post: Matthew Owen is 17 years old and is among a select few that earn "trout bum" status so young. He attends White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee, and is the president and founder of his school's fly-fishing club. He began his fly fishing career at the ripe age of 9 and has been addicted ever since.
Matthew plans on being a guide when he grows up, and when he's not in school or on the river, you will probably find him in his room, huddled in the corner tying up something massive to fool the local bass. He's a solid kid with very developed and mature skills with a fly rod that rival those of men much older and experienced than him. He also has a flawless chaco tan. We asked him a series of question about his favorite sport, and below are his replies:
When did you start fly fishing?
I started fly fishing when I was around eight or nine, when my uncle took me up to the Little Red in Arkansas one weekend to relieve some stress from my parents, who were taking care of my sister who had the flu. I don't think he had any idea what he was getting into because he gave me the bug and I've been bugging him ever since.
What's your favorite river?
I'm a big fan of the Wolf River that runs through my dirty city of Memphis. I don't think any one realizes the sheer size of the carp that reside in its feeder creeks. It's beautiful, close to home, and I have it all to myself.
What's your favorite fly-rod quarry?
Alligator Gar because, beside the fact that they're HUGE, they pull extremely hard and readily take flies fished on top. It's such a rush throwing a 9-inch nylon rope fly to a 4-foot monster just inches under the surface. Plus, I like to imagine I'm fishing with Jeremy Wade on the next episode of "River Monsters."

Matthew with a fly-rod smallmouth.
photo courtesy Matthew Owen

What's your most memorable fly fishing moment?
If I was to narrow it down to one moment I would have to say the beginning of this year, hooking three 20-plus-inch browns in about a mile of river on the Little Red. Best day of chucking streamers I've ever had, it was unreal. But really, any time spent in a boat with good company and beautiful fish.
What's your most forgettable fly fishing moment?
I sneaked off one weekend last year to the Little Red to fish with a good buddy of mine. This was before my parents had started letting me drive that far, but that didn't stop us. Beside the unfortunate argument with a small-town cop as to whether or not speed traps were constitutional (I'm still paying off that ticket), we actually managed to get some fishing in. My friend had a canoe that we fished out of, but we had only one car. So then who would shuttle us back to the put-in? This is where I came up with the bright idea of bringing a bicycle to bring along on the canoe. The plan was to simply ride up ten or so miles of Arkansas highway back to the car, so I could drive it back to the canoe. It sounded great on paper but two-lane highways wrapped tightly against the Ozark foothhills that were congested with bug gas trucks and crazed locals who seem to travel a hundred miles an hour zooming around the turns made for a treacherous ride. It took four hours to get back to the car, half of which were in the dark. I'll never forget that ride.
What do you love most about fly fishing?
For me, I love that fly fishing takes me to the most beautiful places in the country and gives me a deeper and more profound appreciation for nature. I see the river as God's canvas, and I love to admire what he painted for us all.
What's your next dream destination?
I haven't dipped my toes in the salt yet, and I so desperately want to go tarpon fishing. I've thought of the Florida Keys, and I'm sure they're pretty great and all, but Cuban cigars are also quite appealing, as I'll be 18 in a couple months. Castro won't know what hit him.

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Lunchtime Video: Swedish Salmon the "Local Way"

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:01:00 -0400

Rolf Nylinder is back with the fifth installment of his series about the Vindel River Valley of Sweden. In this episode:
we follow Erik and Stefan who go up to Gargnäs/Råstrand Fishing Area to try to catch salmon. They have heard that salmon fishing can be very painstaking and in order to improve their chances they ask for help from the local expert, Daniel "DJ" Jonsson. He is the one who has the best knowledge of all the pools in the river and where salmon are found at the moment. What they could not guess was that the DJ had another ace up his sleeve, a local method to get the salmon to strike. Let's watch and see if they succeed in their fishing.

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Tuesday Tips: 5 Unrelated Tips for a New Season

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:34:00 -0400

Here's a wound I suffered last summer from a dried tree branch. I was wearing glasses at the time, but without them, I'd likely be signing my name as "Lefty" right now.
photo by Bryan Eldredge

[Editor's Note: Falcon's Ledge guide Bryan Eldredge wrote this piece in March, but it's just as relevant on the first of May.]
It’s snowing outside right now. In fact, it looks like we may get enough snow to require some shoveling. It will be only the third time all year, and it’s the middle of March. Temperatures last week got downright balmy here in Utah. Mid 60’s left little doubt that spring is on the way, and tonight’s new snow isn’t going to quell that hope.
A warm snap like that in March does a couple of things to fly fishermen. Obviously it signals the beginning of another season, and that brings a certain excitement, to be sure. Most of us spend a fair amount of time during the winter piddling around with gear, fly boxes, flies, and waders, but when spring’s arrival becomes apparent, it seems like there is always more to do. This year is no exception. So, I’ve spent the occasional free moment futzing around, channeling my anticipation into action.
Sometimes my March preparations actually end up being productive, and sometimes it’s just, well, futzing around. That got me thinking about some tips that might make this year’s fishing more enjoyable for others. I’ve come up with five unrelated tips for the new season. Here goes:

1. Get some clear glasses (with magnifiers built-in) for low light.
Recently, a photo was floating around Facebook and in emails that illustrates the importance of wearing eye protection while fly fishing. This gruesome shot shows a fly lodged in the eye of a very unfortunate angler.
A lot of us recognize the importance of good eyewear, not just as a fishing aid but also as a crucial piece of safety equipment. Polarized glasses make wading safer and protect the eyes from UV rays, errant flies, and vegetation, particularly in our area the dreaded Russian Olive trees, with their three-inch thorns.
The irony is that although in every fly fishing class I’ve taught I’ve stressed the need for eye protection, I’ve been guilty of fishing unprotected a number of times. It almost always happens late in the evening and into the night. The sun goes down, and I get all worked up. I know I need the protection, but the dark lenses diminish the experience, and so next thing I know there am I, exposed to who knows what.
I’ve finally wised up, and I now carry a pair of clear protective glasses. I bought my current pair for $9 at the checkout stand of a hardware store. The clear lenses are fine in low light (polarization isn’t an issue at night), they are comfortable, and as a bonus they even have a bifocal magnifier that makes tying flies to tippet much easier.
The chances of catching a fly in the eye has to go up a little at night, but more often these glasses will keep you from taking a tree branch or string of barbed wire in the eye.

Don't let a broken bootlace ruin the start of your day.
photo by Bryan Eldredge

2. Replace the shoelaces in your wading boots.
No shoelaces wear out as fast as those in your wading boots. If you’ve had your boots for a season or more now, just get some replacement laces and change them out now in the comfort of your own home. Every parking lot at every fishing access point in America has wading bootlace ends on the ground, and a broken lace can take the shine off a day in a hurry.

3. Make a junk box.
When you are organizing your flies into tidy collections of whatever this year’s system will be, set aside one box as a “junk box.” This one medium-size box should contain a variety of flies to cover many situations. You’ll just need a couple of each, except for those that you fish the most. Stock up on those. I find that on most days only ever open this one box. (Of course, I usually end up carrying somewhere between 3 and 10 others.)
I far prefer a compartment box for my junk box. I can clean out a compartment of say, BWOs when the PMDs come on, for example. Being able to drop in a handful of flies without the need to insert each one into foam slots saves time and keeps this box full.
As for organization, I will dedicate a few compartments to go-to flies, such as small parachute dries (e.g. Adams or Klinkhammers), PMXs and Bugmeisters, Hare’s Ears and Higa’s SOS. Most of the others are a mixture of flies only roughly grouped by size and purpose. I find that most of the flies from my drying patch go straight to the junk box. If they are flies I’ve used recently, there is a good chance I’ll want them again soon.

A toiletries kit is a hedge against on-stream discomfort and safety.
photo by Bryan Eldredge

4. Make a toiletries pouch.
This one is simple but VERY important.
Step One: Get a quart-size ziplock bag, preferably a freezer bag.
Step Two: Pull about twenty or so yards of toilet paper off a roll and fold it until it fits nicely in the bag.
Step Three: Insert a small tube or bottle of hand sanitizer.
Step Four: Insert a travel-size bottle of Gold Bond Medicated Powder. (It’s for chafing! If you don’t know what I mean, count yourself lucky and then go Google it. Enough said.)
Step Five: Squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag and zip it shut.
Step Six: Put the pack into your vest, pack or waders. If you use a variety of bags and packs like I do, you should just make one for each.
Do this, and sooner or later, you’ll thank me.

5. Practice casting to ropes in front of a large object.
Finally, we all know we should practice casting before we head out to the water. Those of us who do usually buzz over to the local park or school and throw some paper plates or other round objects on the ground for targets and then commence trying to cast as far past them as possible. This lasts for a few minutes until the effort required to disentangle ourselves from our line and leader while not calling attention to ourselves suggests that maybe it’s time to go make more toiletry pouches.
Still, as we all know, practice makes perfect. . . . The hard part is figuring out how to make practice come anywhere near perfect. Here are a couple of simple suggestions:
First, in addition to your plates or hoops, lay some lengths of rope roughly parallel to each other in the target zone. These rope sections should suggest seams in the current, places where the water on either side moves and different speeds. Now cast to hit these seams and then cast to land your line and leader in ways that the imaginary currents won’t drag your line. Practice for no more than 3-4 minutes and then change your position relative to the targets to create new angles and distances.
Second, always practice this kind of casting facing a wall, a tree or other large object that is just a few feet beyond your targets. It’s the only way I know to keep accuracy casting from morphing into “I’ll-bet-I-can-throw-this-3-weight-70-feet” casting in 42.3 seconds or less. Someone out there might have the self-discipline to stay on task when the opportunity to attempt a hero cast calls, but I know I can’t. Physical barriers work much better than psychological ones.
Okay, that’s enough. After all, I gave six tips when I only advertised five. Now put on your waders and Let’s get ready to stumble!
Bryan Eldredge is an Orvis-endorsed guide (and recent Trout Bum of the Week) who works at Falcon's Ledge in Altamont, Utah.

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Tom Rosenbauer's 15 Tips on Switching from Freshwater to Salt

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:55:00 -0400
This week, in preparation for the best months of saltwater fishing from Maine to Florida (May and June) we explore the idea of moving from freshwater to salt. Trout anglers are seldom prepared for the transition to saltwater fly fishing--although the equipment requirements are easy enough to understand and you only need a few extra knots, it's mainly the casting and the expectations that throw trout anglers a curve ball. There are 15 tips for making this transition easy and fun. Also in the Fly Box this week, we answer questions about the Surgeon's vs. Clinch knots, knots for attaching wire bite tippets, polarized sunglass colors, hook styles on nymphs, trout stream ettiquette, and how to balance a reel with a rod (or not).

Click the play button below to listen to this episode. Go to orvis.com/podcast to subscribe to future episodes

If you cannot see the podcast player, please click this link to listen.

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Photos of the Day: More Giant Trout from Argentina

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:03:00 -0400

Marcus Baughman shows off a huge Argentina brown trout with brilliant red spots.
photo courtesy Rio Manso

Roberto Pandolfi of Rio Manso Lodge sent us a few recent images of Orvis customers fishing. Rio Manso is about 90 minutes south of Bariloche, Argentina, and there was a volcanic eruption in neighboring Chile last year that temporarily closed the airport. However, it's clear from these photos that the ash didn't hurt the fishing. It was a relatively warm, dry summer in Patagonia, and the fishing was sporadic, but as you can see, Marcus Baughman and John Walton did pretty well.

John Walton's lunker looks extremely well fed.
photo courtesy Rio Manso

This sleek river fish isn't as fat as the lake monsters above, but it's a beauty nonetheless.
photo courtesy Rio Manso

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How to Fish High, Off-Color Water

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:34:00 -0400

Gerry shows off one of many trout that fell for a jigged nymph during high water.
photo by Tim Linehan

In the spring, daily conditions can change dramatically. Wednesday it’s cool, overcast, and the river is in great shape. Thursday you show up at the boat ramp to find that thunder storms in the high country have tributaries running high and pushing color into the main river. Such was the case for me last week. I arrived on the Bitterroot and discovered that, in the previous twenty-four hours, the river had risen 2,000cfs and visibility was no more than 6 inches. For all intents and purposes, the river was out, and I considered telling my client, Gerry B. from Boise, that the day was a bust and we should just go find a bar in Missoula and watch the Red Sox.
But then I thought, just maybe, with a little luck, we could pull a rabbit out of the hat. Under similar conditions in the past, I’ve had success by jigging nymphs in deep holes and eddies caused by the rising water. It’s not traditional dead-drift nymphing by any means, but it works and it’s simple.
I rigged a long leader with a butt section of 10-pound test followed by straight 3X Mirage. Off that, I tied two size 8 Skwala nymphs, weighted with two AB split shot and a big, white Thingamabobber. Instead of fishing every inch of the river, I floated downstream to the first big, foamy eddy.
Gerry plopped the rig into the foam and after letting it sink for a moment, I instructed him to start jigging the rig. Within seconds, the indicator disappeared, and he was fast to a 16-inch rainbow. First time is just luck, I thought to myself. He plopped it into the foam again, jigged it a few times, and wham! Into another one. Second time is coincidence, right? Again, he pitched the rig into the eddy, let it drift for a few feet, jigged it, and was met with a violent strike that broke off the point fly. Hmm. . .third time is a charm, and this might actually work, I couldn’t help but believe.
And so it went throughout the day. We floated bucket to bucket, eddy to eddy, and had as good a day as ever. We even took off the indicator just to make it easier to cast. We got no hits when we dead-drifted the nymphs. Clearly the fish wanted to eat but would only take when they saw movement in the muddy, off-color water. In the end, there’s no doubt we got lucky and normally under such conditions I would have cancelled the trip. But we were there, and sometimes thinking outside the box works.

Tim Linehan is the owner of Linehan Outfitting Co. on the Kootenai River in Troy, Montana.

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Picture of the Day: Jurassic Rainbowasaurus

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:23:00 -0400

We knew that Argentina's Jurassic Lake grew big trout, but we didn't know they got this big. (The photo obviously came right off the camera, which explains the control bar. Doh.)
photo courtesy Estancia Laguna Verde

Last night, I checked my cell phone and saw that I'd received an email from Luciana Alba at Estancia Laguna Verde in southern Argentina. Since they fish Lago Strobel (also known as Jurassic Lake), I knew it would have a picture of a big fish attached, but I didn't actually see the photo until I got to work this morning. Wow! It makes yesterday's brown trout look like a dink. Here's what Luciano wrote:
Yesterday, while doing a video shoot, our head guide Juan Pablo Marcheletti caught in new waters this great female fish that measured 38 inches and weighted 24 pounds! The good thing was that we could fish new waters for this video because we opened up a new trail to go with our ATVs. So now we guess this new area will become popular pretty fast!

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Friday Film Festival 04.27.12

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:36:00 -0400
Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Web for the best fly-fishing footage available. This week's collection is quite eclectic, with big fish, small fish, and no fish. As usual, there's an international flair to the group, with Europe and Canada leading the charge of foreign lands. The comments are short because today is "Green Up Day" here at Orvis, and we're all heading out to pick up trash and junk along the roads of our small Vermont town. It's an annual tradition that's actually a lot of fun, as teams compete to find the most, weirdest, and largest chunks of refuse. Remember, we surf so you don't have to. But if you do stumble upon something great that you think is worthy of inclusion in a future FFF, please post it in the comments below. See you next week with a fresh set of films!

Ah, Rolf. The boys at Frontside Fly continue to find new and fun ways to make videos about the sport. Here, Rolf rewrites Leonard Cohen on an el-cheapo New Zealand guitar, and the results are uplifting.

Here's proof that a good fisherman is a good fisherman, no matter what species he or she is after. Tarpon expert Andy Mill heads to British Columbia to try his hand at wild steelhead. Guess what happens.

Speaking of Canada, here's some lovely Atlantic-salmon footage from the season opener in Quebec. That fish at the end is a true monster.

Cuba is still mostly off-limits to Americans, but based on the video coming out of that Caribbean nation, many anglers can't wait until the restrictions are lifted. (Note: This is an angling-only perspective and is not meant to convey political views.)

This video combines some beautiful cinematography with less-than-great GoPro footage, but the results are quite good. It's the story of a day on a high-country stream in Australia, and the ending features a stunningly beautiful brown trout.

Here's another one for you small-stream fetishists like me. This video comes from Germany and features what looks like an old industrial canal or irrigation ditch. Luckily for the anglers, the water holds some sweet browns.

We featured a fishless video last week, so I figured we should keep the tradition of "skunk films" going. However, this one does feature an extremely irritated bonnet-head shark that does not want to be on a boat.

This is a kind of fun video that really tries to make a Scottish salmon guide seem heroic. But what I really like are the colorful scenes at the end when he's on the water. There are no fish, but the cinematography is great.

Here's one posted in the comments of last week's festival. North Georgia brookies don't grow large, but they live in beautiful places and have lovely spots.

Here's another great episode of The New Fly Fisher, this time featuring 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Lodge of the Year Falcon's Ledge. Have a great weekend!

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Training Native Alaskans to Work on and Protect Their Watersheds

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:48:00 -0400

Editor's Note: Orvis is one of the Program Supporters for this year's Bristol Bay River Academy. To learn more visit the organization's website.
It started when I found myself standing alone in a pelting rain on a gravel airstrip in the Yu’pik village of Ekwok. I’d just taken a mail-run flight from Anchorage to the Bristol Bay, seated next to bulk boxes of rice and paper towels. I was already wondering how I’d get home when an old pickup truck pulled up moving no faster than a riding mower. Out popped Tim Troll of The Nature Conservancy, and soon after, 73-year-old Luki Akelkok. It was a high honor, being welcomed by the village chief. They drove me to Luki’s home and fed me a sandwich of chopped “three-day smoke” salmon.
I’d made the trip to take part in the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy, a cooperative project of The Nature Conservancy, the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, Trout Unlimited, and the Bureau of Land Management. I was assigned the role of junior guide under head instructor Dan Plummer. The mission of the academy is to find teenagers and young adults from villages around the Bristol Bay region—places like Togiak, Naknek, New Stuyahok, and elsewhere—and teach them the basics of fly fishing and guiding.
For years, commercial fishermen, natives, and more recently, sport fishers have been at odds in this part of Alaska. Many natives have long wondered whywealthy catch and release anglers from the Lower 48 would want to go all that way to fish those rivers and “play with their food.”
But the common threat of a proposed mine is creating strange bedfellows—anglers and gillnetters—to fight the project. The Pebble Mine plan calls for massive tailings ponds contained by earthen dams—in one of the most seismically active regions in the world. The potential environmental contamination could devastate the salmon fishery, an issue eloquently documented in the film Red Gold by Felt Soul Media.
I spent a week with the native population, sleeping in a bunkhouse lodge, sharing meals, and running around in search of silver salmon. The lessons went both ways. It was immediately clear though that nobody had to teach the students how to find fish: they have a deep, physical and spiritual connection to the water and land.
The catch-and-release topic was more nuanced. I was struck by a poignant conversation I had with Reuben, a student-turned-instructor, on the topic. “When we moose hunt,” he said for an example, “We believe the animal presents itself tous as part of a plan. That is the same for the fish we catch. To not make full use of the animal that has given itself to you is disrespectful.”
I thought of the “whack it, take photos, and hang it on the wall” mentality that’s glorified on Saturday morning cable television, and couldn’t come up with a response.
“But I guess, if a salmon or trout presents itself to you, and you respect it, and release it in a way that has benefit to the people and the fish as a whole, that would be good also,” he added.
I felt better. Later in the week, I watched as another student, Fernando, landed a few fish, then simply stopped fishing to crouch on a rock and admire the silver fins as they dipped and slashed in the riffle in front of him. “I like to catch them, but I like to watch them too,” he shouted to me. Whether he becomes a guide or not, I don’t know many others who “get it” like that kid did on that day.
Kirk Deeter is an editor-at-large at Field & Stream and appears in The Kodiak Project, from LDR Media, featured in the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour. This article first appeared in Stonefly magazine.

Announcing the Winners of the 2012 Orvis Guide, Lodge, and Outfitter Awards!

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:30:00 -0400

Massachusetts-based striper specialist Capt. Kalil Boghdan was named
2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide of the Year.
photo by Tom Rosenbauer

For over twenty years, the Orvis Company has been recognizing excellence in sporting experiences through its Endorsed Lodges Outfitters and Guides (ELOG) program. Each endorsed operation has its own character, but all share the same high standards: great service, great fishing or wingshooting, and an experienced, professional staff. These standards of excellence are continually reviewed by the Orvis staff and evaluated by visiting guests in post-visit critiques sent directly to The Orvis Company. Orvis-Endorsed operations cater to every ability from beginners to experts.
“Every year here at Orvis we ask how we can possibly have a better selection of quality lodges than we do now, and every year we are gratified with an ever remarkable collection of lodges that make up the Orvis endorsed group,” explains David Perkins, Vice Chairman of Orvis. “The difficulty in choosing who to recognize is indicative of the quality of the people who are part of the program. The good news is that winners are selected as a result of the feedback from the people who matter most to all of us, and that is the customer. Each of these operations adhere to the highest Orvis standards for customer service, professionalism, commitment to conservation, and respect for our natural world as well as continue to be an example not only to their peers, but to us at Orvis as well.”
This year's honorees were named at the Orvis Lodge Retreat in Key Largo, Florida, and at the Western Endorsed-Guide Rendezvous in Missoula, Montana. Join us in congratulating these individuals and organizations for a job well done, as judged by the toughest critics: their clients.
The 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide of the Year is Kalil Boghdan (above), a U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain with over twenty-five years experience on Massachusetts' Essex River and the waters of Crane Beach and Plum Island Sound. He earned his Ph.D. in biology and is a retired science teacher and principal. He is thoroughly versed in the behavior of striped bass and bluefish, as well as the natural history and ecology of the area. Conservation of our natural resources is very important to Kalil, and he is currently a member of several conservation and wildlife associations and serves or has served on their board of directors. Kalil is a past president of the Massachusetts Wildlife Federation.

Dave Danley, Spencer Higa, and Jason Danley (from left) of Falcon's Ledge display the 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Lodge of the Year award.
photo by Carol Ellis

The 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Lodge of the Year should be no stranger to OrvisNews.com readers. The folks at Falcons Ledge have provided us with many great pictures, videos, and stories over the last year. Set in a private 600-acre canyon, Falcon's Ledge provides a bird’s eye view of the surrounding cliffs, stillwaters, and wildlife. Utah’s finest fly fishing on unpressured mountain freestone streams, blue-ribbon tailwaters, or trophy stillwaters is available within minutes of the lodge, and adventures are led by Orvis-endorsed guides and instructors. Falcon’s Ledge also won the 2001 Orvis Endorsed Fly-Fishing Lodge of the Year award.

Jamie Rouse (holding award) and his team pose with Orvis's Dave Perkins and Jim Lepage after being named 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide Service of the Year.
photo by Tom Rosenbauer

A guide service specializes in putting together custom trips and handling all the details, from lodging to fishing tackle. Our 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide Service of the Year, Jamie Rouse Fly-Fishing Adventures, is led by Jamie Rouse, who has 17 years of guiding experience in both Arkansas and Alaska. He and his team lead trips year-round for trophy trout on Arkansas’ famous rivers. Their trips to area lakes and streams provide exciting action for stripers, hybrids, smallmouth, largemouth and walleye all on a fly.

Damien Nurre of Deep Canyon Outfitters displays his 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Expedition of the Year award.
photo by Tom Rosenbauer

Orvis Expeditions are caretakers of the wilderness, guardians, and ultimately teachers. They have an understanding of the importance of the wilderness and the fact that without it, life on this earth would be a poor proposition at best. By introducing their customers to this experience, they not only share it, but perhaps more importantly they give their clients a new love and respect for the wild. Our 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Expedition of the Year, Deep Canyon Outfitters, has over ten years experience in Central Oregon and specializes in one-day to five-day guided Oregon fly fishing trips on the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers. They are the only Orvis-Endorsed operation on the Lower Deschutes.

Dave Leinweber and crew from Anglers Covey clearly enjoyed being named
2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Outfitter of the Year.
photo by Hannah Perkins

The very center of the fly-fishing business is the fly shop with resident guides. It offers not only the tools, but the expertise to help the fly angler enjoy his or her experience. The 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing Outfitter—Anglers Covey in Colorado Springs, Colorado—has been providing the services, products and expertise that enhance the experience of the fly fishing angler for over 30 years. Their state-of-the-art facility allows for inside casting when the weather is bad, as well as two casting ponds outside the store.

Buzz Cox received the first Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide Lifetime Achievement Award.
photo by Tom Rosenbauer

“There are many who guide, but there are select groups who make it their life’s passion and excel over a period of many years,” explains David Perkins, Vice Chairman of Orvis. “This award goes to an individual that has dedicated his life to that of a professional guide and host. The career of Orvis-Endorsed Fly-Fishing Guide Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Buzz Cox spans three decades and ranges from the Northeast to the Rocky Mountains. He has specialized not only in sharing the great outdoors with his guests, but he also teaches them to respect and honor natural resources. Whether it is sharing the secrets of a small stream, river or lake, or teaching the importance of safety in the field or on a mountain top, he has been a steward of conservation, professionalism and a lifestyle we all can admire.”
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Pictures of the Day: Limay Monster Brown Trout

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:50:00 -0400

Carlos Fernandez hoists a hog of a brown trout taken from Argentina's Limay River.
photo courtesy Carlos Fernandez

The Nature Conservancy's Carlos Fernandez was fishing the famed Limay River outside Bariloche, Argentina, on April 15 when he laid into this monster brown trout, which tipped the scales at an astonishing 11 pounds. Check out the kype on that thing! When Carlos isn't working hard for The Nature Conservancy protecting the grasslands of Patagonia, you are most likely to find him on a trout stream, either in Patagonia or in the intermountain west of the U.S.
There is a somewhat sad end to the story, however, as Carlos explained in an email:
Semi bad news . . . A friend asked me to lend him my Helios rod to float the Limay River and broke my rod’s tip. I was very upset when I learnt about it but couldn’t say anything. But I called Orvis and obtained a fantastic customer service from the rod repair department. I got a rod repair number and will be able to bring it to Colorado with me next week and drop it at the Orvis store in Denver and will be ready in the next 3-6 weeks. Fortunately, the fishing season ends next Monday, so this happened at the end of our fishing season.
Note to that friend: Don't count on borrowing Carlos's rod next October when fishing season rolls around again.

Carlos's huge trout lies alongside his ill-fated Helios 7-weight.
photo courtesy Carlos Fernandez

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Your Chance to Own a Piece of Angling History

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:16:00 -0400

Ted Williams's Orvis Batten Kill bamboo fly rod is just one of hundreds of items up for auction.
photo via huntauctions.com

As a lifelong Red Sox fan and fly fisherman, this is the kind of thing that might cause me to lock up the credit cards for a couple of days, just in case. On Saturday, an auction of items belonging to Hall of Fame icon—and hardcore outdoorsman—Ted Williams will be held at Fenway Park in Boston. (Online pre-bidding runs through tonight at 11 p.m. EST.)
Among the more than 700 items are lots of rods, reels, and flies that the "Splendid Splinter" used on the water, including the above Orvis rod. (Lots 474-548 are listed as "Fishing related materials.") It's clear from the description of the Orvis rod that the auctioneers aren't exactly knowledgeable anglers:
Description: Fine Ted Williams personal Orvis model fly fishing rod with autographed travel case. Finely crafted custom made wooden fly rod marked near the handle, "Ted Williams Orvis-Impregnated Bottom Kill 7oz". Rod retains its two original shafts along with linen sheath: EX. Includes metal rod travel case, which has been autographed by Ted Williams in black marker on the exterior: VG-EX. Includes auction LOA from JSA (autograph) and vintage 8"x10" photo of Ted on a boat with fly rod and trout: EX
Estimated Price Range: ($300-$400)
Seriously? Bottom Kill? Perhaps this lack of knowledge means that there are a few steals for anglers. But even if you do have to pay top dollar, a portion of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to The Jimmy Fund, a prestigious Boston charity which is forever affiliated with Ted Williams, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Boston Red Sox.
To see all the items, visit the Hunt Auctions website and click on "The Ted Williams Collection" link.

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Pictures of the Day: Eastern Guide Rendezvous Brown Trout

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:52:00 -0400

The wild brown trout of the Battenkill are wary and big, but a Hendrickson
spinnerfall will bring them to the surface.
photos courtesy Michael Steiner

[Editor's Note: Someone commented that, based on the pictures published on OrvisNews.com, the Western Guide Rendezvous looked like it was more fun than the Eastern version. To prove that the Eastern guides got a chance to lay into some nice trout, too, here's a post from Michael Steiner of Nemacolin Field Club in Farmington, Pennsylvania.]
This past week we were in attendance at the Orvis Endorsed Guide's Eastern Rendezvous, held in Manchester, Vermont. This was our first opportunity to vist the corporate facilities, rod-building factory, flagship Orvis school facility, and flagship retail store. I must say that all of the above facilities are second to none, and my personal favorite was seeing where the rods are constructed.
The actual meetings were held on Tuesday the 17th and Wednesday the 18th. This was a great chance to see and hear how Orvis plans on moving forward in the next 12 months and beyond. There is a lot going forward, so definitely keep on the lookout for the NEW product (some sick stuff is on the horizon). These meetings are always a great time to catch up with our fellow guides and the Orvis guys/gals. It was a great Rendezvous and can't wait to do it again.
Now for the good stuff: We also tried to get on the water as much as possible while at the meeting. The big fish above was caught on the Battenkill on a great one-winged cripple Hendrickson-spinner pattern (our guide Antoine's). In total, we brought close to 20 fish to the net on the Battenkill, and we were told that wasn't to shabby. As we were driving back to Pennsylvania, we decided to stop and fish the West Branch of the Delaware. That turned out to be a great call, with tons of bugs and big fish eating them. (The bottom two fish are from the WB.)
I would like to send an extra special thanks to Antoine Bissieux, who really took care of us while in Vermont. He put us on fish and is a lot of the reason we had the success we did. He is really a top notch guy/guide, and if you are ever headed to the Battenkill, I would not hesitate to give him a call.

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Video: How to Tie an Egg-Laying Grannom Caddis

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:28:00 -0400
Before the rains came over the weekend, the hatches of American grannoms (Brachycentrus americanus) on the Battenkill were monstrous. Each evening, driving home from work, I'd have to turn on the windshield wipers because so many of these caddisflies were in the air. My kids first thought that it was raining when they heard the sound of the bugs hitting the car. Grannoms generally hatch in the morning, and they return in the evening to deposit their eggs. These flights of egg-laying (or "ovipositing") caddisflies bring trout to the surface, and you can tell by the splashy, violent strikes that the fish are eating these elusive bugs.

In this great video from Tightline Productions, Matt Grobert ties his version of an egg-laying grannom, using Zelon to imitate the egg sac. As usual, Grobert, an author and blogger, demonstrates some useful tying tips. I especially like the way he attaches the Zelon with just a couple wraps and then slides it into place before he secures it. That surely saves material and lessens the need to trim.

Egg-Laying Grannom Caddis
          Hook: Standard dry-fly hook (here a Dai-Riki #305), size 16.
Thread: Olive, 6/0.
Egg Sac: Green Highlander Crinkled Zelon.
Abdomen: Natural gray Australian possum.
  Underwing: White Straight Zelon.
Overwing: Natural snowshoe rabbit foot.
Thorax: Natural Hare's Ear dubbing.
  Head: Tying thread.

Video: Giant Mayflies of Vindelälven

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:50:00 -0400

Rolf Nylinder is back with a wonderful video about fishing the hatch of giant mayflies (Ephemera vulgata or green drakes) in Sweden's Vindelälven Valley. There are some spectacular takes, gorgeous fish, and, as usual, a good amount of humor. Rolf's friend Stefan has the magic tough, forcing Rolf to swallow his pride. The brown trout Stefan catches at the end will blow your mind. In Swedish with English subtitles.

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Tuesday Tip: How to Set Up a Trout Reel

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:25:00 -0400

Editor's Note: Here's a great video lesson that we posted 15 months ago (1/27/11). Since so many folks have joined OrvisNews.com since then, I wanted to call attention to this useful information. Of course, most good fly lines now come with a loop on the front end, but it's still useful to learn a proper nail knot.
My good friend Zach Matthews, editor of The itinerant Angler website and host of the podcast of the same name, got a new video camera from his wife for Christmas, and he's putting it to good use. Here's a great lesson on setting up a fly reel, from start to finish—getting the backing on the reel, attaching the fly line to the backing, attaching a butt section to the fly line, and then attaching a leader. In the process, you'll learn the double surgeon's loop, a new arbor knot, the nail knot, the perfection loop, and the loop-to-loop connection.

If you're doing this for the first time, you'll need the following items:
1. your trout reel,
2. a spool of "backing" (for trout, 20 lb. test is typically plenty),
3. a fly line,
4. some 20 lb. monofilament, and
5. a tapered leader.

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New "Sight Fishing Trout Rivers" DVD

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:33:00 -0400

Dave and Amelia Jensen of Fly Fish Alberta spend three months a year in New Zealand, providing us with fantastic photos and video, and then return to their home waters of Alberta for the guiding season. So they know a thing or two about catching big trout, and their favorite way to do it is sight-fishing. They've just a released a DVD called "Sight Fishing Trout Rivers" that contains all they've learned over the years about spotting and stalking big trout. As you'd imagine, there's lots of incredible footage to go with it.
Click here to see all the details and to order a copy of "Sight Fishing Trout Rivers."

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Video: A Lesson in Rod Rigging from Dave Perkins

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:13:00 -0400

When you work for Orvis, you discover that lots of people have preconceived notions of the company and its owners. Especially in the West, there's an impression that Orvis is somehow "tweedy," upper-crusty, and tradition-bound, and I would guess that most people who believe this also assume that Orvis executives are the kinds of guys who only fish with guides on private waters. I mean, they may fly-fish, but surely they're not hardcore anglers, right? Guess again.
Above is a piece of video I shot of Orvis vice chairman Dave Perkins during the 2012 Orvis-Endorsed Guide Rendezvous in Missoula, Montana, last week. The gathering was lots of fun, with more than 200 guides, shop owners, and lodge employees making the trip. As part of the festivities, attendees could participate in a "Guide Olympics," testing their skills against their peers. Events included a casting course, throwing a rescue bag from a raft, and assembling a complete fly-fishing outfit while racing against the clock. Dave stepped up to the table and calmly crushed most of the professional guides in the rigging challenge.
As you'll see, though, Dave was only interested in beating one man: Orvis Western Regional Business Manager Hutch Hutchinson. You may remember that Hutch is an accomplished casting competitor who came in second in this year's Best of the West Casting Event. In the video below, you can see how Hutch fared in this contest.
If you think this is easy, you haven't tried it. Many competitors fell apart under the pressure of the ticking clock. So go ahead and give it a whirl at home. Lay out all the components and time yourself putting the whole outfit together. Post your time in the comments below.

Dave Perkins ties his final knot against the clock.
photo by Phil Monahan

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Picture of the Day: What a Gorgeous Prom Date!

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:55:00 -0400

Thomas Nave knows how to kick off Prom Night with a bang.
photo courtesy Thomas Nave

Fly-fishing guide (and sometime employee at the Orvis Roanoke, Virginia, facility) Mark McKinney sent us this great photo yesterday. It seems that Thomas Nave, senior at Hidden Valley High and soon to be freshman at Virginia Tech, had few minutes before he had to get ready for his senior prom. So what did he do with that time? He headed to a creek just down the road from the Orvis warehouse in Roanoke to get a few last casts in, of course. Good thing, too, because he landed this huge rainbow on a small Olive Woolly Bugger. We don't know how the rest of his night went, but even the worst prom date couldn't ruin a day that included a fish like this one!

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Slideshow: Skwala Hatch Celebration on the Bitterroot

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:15:00 -0400

When the Skwalas are out, the dry fly fishing can be outstanding on the Bitterroot.
photo courtesy Triple Creek Ranch

Deb Schara of Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana, sent us these great photos from the recent Craig Barrett Skwala Hatch Celebration. According to Deb:
A great time was had by all, and even the fish were smiling! Both well-seasoned and green-horn fly fishers were star participants with Craig Barrett during the 2012 Skwala Hatch Celebration! In fact, it was so much fun that we are doing it again next spring (April 11-16)!
Click here for more information.

Created with flickr slideshow.

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Friday Film Festival 04.20.12

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:42:00 -0400
Welcome to another edition of the OrvisNews.com Friday Film Festival, in which we scour the Web for the best fly-fishing footage available. This week's collection is quite Euro-centric, with great videos from Germany, Scandinavia, and even (maybe) a new country for the FFF—the Republic of Lithuania. There is a wide variety of fishing, video styles, and music here, so I expect that anglers will differ on which are the best. We're still a little light on Southern Hemisphere films, though; yeah, that's right—I'm looking at you New Zealand. With seasons open now all throughout the North Country, I expect we'll start seeing more domestic videos (Made in America!) in weeks to come. Remember, we surf so you don't have to. But if you do stumble upon something great that you think is worthy of inclusion in a future FFF, please post it in the comments below. See you next week with a fresh set of films!

Spring Training from scumliner media on Vimeo.

Here's some killer footage of spring fishing on the Missouri River in Montana. I love the head shot at :46, as well as the cold-pizza breakfast.

Dave and Ryan go Tarpon Fishing from southern culture on the fly on Vimeo.

The guys from Souther Culture on the Fly head south for some Keys saltwater action. For a couple of good ol' trout boys, they do pretty well, too.

Here's a stunningly gorgeous trailer for an upcoming film about the great Atlantic salmon rivers of Scotland.

Topwater Cod - Flyfishing for Australian Murray Cod from Nicholas Kneipp on Vimeo.

I'm kind of a little obsessed with Australia's Murray cod, which acts like a smallmouth bass but grows to enormous sizes. This video features some topwater action for these predators, and the strikes are unbelievably violent. If Australia weren't on the other side of the globe and full of nasty things that will kill you, I might be checking flights right now.

Truite à la mouche-Fly fishing trout in France from maxime miquel on Vimeo.

I am constantly surprised by how many good fly-fishing videos come out of France, given that the country is not on most anglers' minds as a trout destination. But the fact that some of the world's top fly-fishing competitors are Frenchmen suggests that we might think about their rivers a little more.

Pukka Destinations from Gin Clear Media on Vimeo.

This is an advertisement for a German travel company, but it features some breath-taking visuals of waters, fish, and the heavens.

More netcam action from Colorado's Elevenmile Canyon. I love the clarity of the underwater stuff, too.

Fishermen - Frederik Lorentzen from Inwaders Media on Vimeo.

Have you ever wondered why no one has made a fly-fishing video featuring the music of the late Cornelis Wreeswijk? Me neither. But there is some sweet footage of fishing for seatrout in Denmark on display here.

Not sure what country this one is from, but Google Translate suggests Lithuania. The angler's ability to curse in English is therefore even more commendable.

This isn't the best video, but it represents something pure and unpretentious, which is why I included it. Here are some guys with very little gear or swagger just doing what they love. I think most of us started out this way, and some of us are still there.

Terrific Anglers from Eugenio Celedon on Vimeo.

Finally, some good stuff from South America! There's been a dearth of Southern Hemisphere video this season, so it's nice to see Chilean countryside and trout.

You ever been ice-fishing for perch? Yeah, these ones are a lot different. The Nile perch has big teeth and grows to frightening sizes. Plus, you have to ride a camel to get to the water.

Tastes Like Skunk from Outside Bend Productions on Vimeo.

We end with an entirely fishless video, but one that really captures how a skunking can still be valuable. Beautiful scenery, solitude, and the rhythm of the cast are good for the soul. Have a great weekend!

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Fly-Fishing Program for the Deaf Taking Off

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:28:00 -0400

Orvis-endorsed guide Bryan Eldredge's video series designed to introduce
fly fishing to the deaf is gaining in popularity.
photo courtesy Bryan Eldredge

Last month, we featured a video by former Trout Bum of the Week Bryan Eldredge—a guide at Falcon's Ledge and director of the American Sign Language and Deaf Studies Program at Utah Valley University in Orem—in which he uses American Sign Language to teach fly-fishing to the deaf and hearing-impaired. The video is part of a series, called "Sight Casts," on DeafTV. As this story from yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune makes clear, Eldredge's efforts are having an impact:
"Bryan’s ASL explanations about how to fly fish are much better for me than just reading captions," said Glen Parker, a viewer from Fort Worth, Texas. "I remember the information so much better."
Parker, an avid angler who hasn’t tried fly fishing yet, found the videos on DeafTV and is considering a trip to Utah and Falcon’s Ledge to spend some time on the water with the creator of "Sight Casts."
The story also notes that viewers outside the deaf community are also learning from the videos, and newer videos feature captions and voice-overs.
Click here to read the full story.
Click these links to check out Bryan's two shows, "Sight Cast Tips" and "Sight Casts."

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Slideshow: 2012 Western Rendezvous Fishing

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:33:00 -0400

Guide Pat Kane (left) and Orvis's Steve Hemkens show off a nice Clearwater brown trout.
photo by Shawn Brillon

Last week, the 2012 Orvis Western Guide Rendezvous was held in Missoula, Montana. More than 200 Orvis-endorsed guides from around the West gathered to mingle, swap ideas and stories, learn about new Orvis gear, and generally have a good time. As the event organizers, we had to get out there early and set everything up, but we couldn't resist getting out on the water.
On Thursday, I floated the Clearwater and Blackfoot Rivers with Jim Lepage (Vice President of Rod & Tackle), Steve Hemkens (Head Product Developer, Rod & Tackle), and Shawn Brillon (Product Development Specialist, Rod & Tackle). Our guides were Dave Meador and Pat Kane of PRO Outfitters in Helena. They showed up to the event a day early to show us where the fish live. A couple days of very warm weather had caused a minor runoff event, making for high, muddy water, but that didn't deter us. We don't need to catch fish to have a good time. . .but it sure does help.
The next day, I hit Rock Creek with my friend Lisa Savard, who owns Lopstick Lodge in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Lisa and her husband, Tim, spend April at their house on the creek, before heading back East for their fishing season. Lisa and I go all the way back to middle school, and we had a great time reminiscing about the old days (and catching fish, of course). The water was high and off-colored, with about a foot-and-a-half of visibility, so I used the dead-drifted-streamer technique that Drew Price wrote about yesterday, and did quite well.

Created with flickr slideshow.

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