Recent comments

Submitted by Preston Singletary on

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A very interesting article. Most of what you write is very much applicable to the popular fly fishery here in Puget Sound in the northwest corner of Washington State. Our quarry, of course, differs; the sea-run cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki, the anadromous form of the coastal cutthroat trout) being the most popular. We also fish for resident coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), coho salmon who have foregone the opportunity to go to the ocean, choosing instead to remain within the Sound and even the occasional "blackmouth", a king, or chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) which has opted to live out a similar life history. And, during the late summer and fall, mature members of all of the Pacific salmon species become available to the angler as they return to their natal streams to spawn.

Tackle and techniques seem to be very much alike. Thanks for a good look at fishing in the Baltic.

Hi pit
Sure. Booby flies flies work anytime of year. You just have to adapt your tackle and fishing technique to the depth in which the fish are holding. In my iBook on Booby flies (review elsewhere on GFF) you can find specialized Booby fishing techniques for all seasons.
Best regard
Michael

Submitted by Chris on

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Hi Martin:
I have a St. Croix Avid fly rod, 13' 6" long, 7/8 wt. I have a 9 L line that I would like to turn into a skagit shooting head. I also have a DT 11 F line. An expert like you had suggested that I get SA extreme skagit head, 440 grains. Reading through your carefully written article gives me hope I can DIY - which is great because in the end I would become smarter - at this. I wonder though what your thoughts are about building my shooting head, skagit for me, given 9 L or DT 11 F lines that I have. Thanks.

Submitted by Shawn Black on

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could give less than 1 star I would. After waiting 4 years to visit Alaska I can truly say that I will never come back to this lodge. I have so many complaints ranging from poor service to the quality of the lodge itself its hard to find a place to start.

I suppose I could start at the beginning. I was charged 850 to fly up. The flight was fine airline was good but I found out it should have only cost me 150. David the owner inflated the prices to an outrageous amount.

We were greeted by the staff, Mark our guide was the only saving grace. He was helpful and a great guide. The rest of the staff made our stay very awkward. The strangest thing was the owner was using his son to clean our rooms. I am not sure about Alaska but we in California children are not allowed to work in a place of business. He was a strange kid and kept getting into the adult conversation. we were solicitatated for tips to help pay the owners son.

The food was okay but the cook was somewhat rude and complained about his job. I wasn't expecting to much but the quality was very poor and there no selection. We had appetizers but was made to feel like we were asking for to much and that we were the hungry group.

So let me cover the lodge., it was a glorified shaq. There are so many safety violations I am surprised that it passes as structurally sound. This place had faulty electrical and I actually fell in a hole in the floor. I told the owner and he just said" oh ya we had a leak there" I couldn't believe it!

The fishing was good and our guides were good guys. I caught some great fish but didn't get all my fish that I was supposed to take home. The cook did happen to have salmon patte wich i am pretty sure came from my catch.

The guides had to struggle with poor equipment and vehicle and boat break downs. I felt sorry that they were not being taken care of.

Overall I would never ever, ever recommend this place. Unless you want constant headaches and poor service!

Poppy T, I was doing some surfing for hackle guards and discovered a product you need to look at. It is called Evergreen Hand and it is a tool designed to allow one to tie with one hand. I saw a demo of the tool on a Veterans First You tube video but it is something you should take a look at. I don't know how to post a link but you should be able to find it by googling Evergreen hand. Hope this helps and if you have any trouble finding it let me know and I will get my wife to help me with posting a link to the tool.

jakonyx

Submitted by Rudy on

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Hi, names Rudy and I'll be getting into Copenhagen on the 29th of this month and I have a day in Copenhagen and I would love to know a great spot for a sea trout and also a place I can buy a pole and fish tackle :)

I like these streamers. Good flies. Gets the juices flowing to see good work like this. I fish lots of streamers, including huge long things tied around a snelled hook, up to six seven inches long.

But I fish a lot of very small streamers too. Sometimes I think old fashioned English winged wet flies are really streamers. The original tiers didn't know it. But that's what they were making.

Itty bitty streamers only and inch long don't zero in on big fish only--the monster Roadkill Streamers do. Small streamers catch small fish and big fish. Now I'll have to try making some using your techniques. Incorporating molded plastic eyes is important. Big time.

Submitted by jorge bazan on

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Admirable - your neatly in the making of these flies, something for my inspiring and good example.

Good thread. Good streamers. I didn't read all 5 pages. Did someone mention long streamers with the hook up front might result in too many short strikes? At least in the smaller fish, fresh water context?

Perhaps that's how the good tube fly photos showed up.

I have another take. I make a lot of fresh water streamers much like the originals in this thread, tied on a snelled hook. I use a barrel swivel up front connected to a trailing stinger made with a sharp scud hook. Knot mono to the swivel. Flatten the rear wire loop of the barrel swivel. Snell on a scud hook. Poke the rear of the swivel onto a horizontal beading needle. Tie a streamer onto the flattened loop and the mono knot. Similar to a tube fly I guess. But I like it better. No photo right now. I'll add one soon. A short shank hook on trailing mono hooks more reliably than a long shanked hook. A lot more reliably. And better than a long streamer with a short hook at the head of the fly.

szn2,

I read scientific papers and books too, and sure fish have nerves and feel that the hook stings them - but the term pain is something that we as humans connect with extreme discomfort and even trauma and not least the fact that we know that we are hurting, and there doesn't seem to be much evidence that fish have the same experience from the hooking or handling. Sure they are better off without! Few anglers would doubt that, but it's a calculated risk. If we want to catch the fish, we will bring some discomfort and stress on them.

This study is pretty recent and concludes that fish simply cannot feel conscious pain the way that humans - or even mammals - can. They don't have the physiology and nervous system to do so.

My primary argument regarding the PETA statements had nothing to do with these facts (or opinions), but was a protest against the shrill rhetoric and downright insane allegations from PETA. I'm very open to discussing animal welfare and ethical treatment of animals and fish - those that will end up in my pan and those that I will release - but I will not discuss it with people who obviously live in a different world than mine (and most other people for that matter) and use arguments which are simply wrong and ridiculously exaggerated at the same time.

Martin

Submitted by Tomcat on

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I shoot fishing professionally as a staff photog for a major fishing media company. My signature shot is jumping fish. I can tell you that the most Important factors in getting a quality fish jump shot are : 1) focus. 2) shutter speed. you can point your camera where the fish is most likely to jump. So you better be shooting 1/1600 or faster. Then you need to nail your focus. 3) have a long enough lens where you do not have to crop too heavily. Shoot on bright days. You will get better pics. Don't rely on luck. Practice focusing on birds. They are easier to shoot than jumping fish, but they will help you hone your shooting skills.

Submitted by szn2 on

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Im sorry to inform you and your readers that what was on the PETA article is mostly correct. It sounds to me like you are the one quoting misinformation that you just want to hear.
Fish DO actually feel pain, and yes, they often DO get injured when caught and released(I wish it weren't true also but wishing doesn't make it so). I KNOW that this is true because I have read actual scientific studies that were written by scientists who studied fish who were caught and released. I suggest that you and your readers do the same.

Since you got this far …


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