Vol. 13 No. 37

TWO HANDED RODS ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND

I have played around off and on with two handed rods. There, it’s out of the closet.

True, a 14-16 foot rod with two cork grips isn’t suited to all angling situations. It is a LONG rod. In many situations, to get at its full potential, one has to have quite bit of room around one’s self, including behind you! Then again, it is awfully handy for out and across streamers on big water. With a shooting head, it can be a dandy surf rod too.

NYMPHS AS ATTRACTORS

As I was doing the research for this text I came across an interesting quote from George Washington Bethune, who served as the Editor for the first American edition of Isaac Walton's Compleat Angler published in 1847. The quote is interesting as Bethune has a thoroughly modern view of what many anglers of today still fail to recognize.

"That a lot of things work a lot of the time, and that some may work more than others, but none seem to work all the time".

AIDS TO OBSERVATION

Often in this column I have written about the importance of observation as a key to successful fly-fishing. While most of my writing is slanted toward trout fishing I have fished for a variety of different species and I believe that observation is just as much a key to catching other species, both fresh and saltwater, as it is in catching trout. While you might be looking for different things when fishing for freshwater bass or snook in the salt I am firmly convinced that the observant angler is the more successful angler.

REST OF THE STORY (part 2)

This is part 2 of Dee going over Jim's last days. Part 1 can be found here.

The nurses at the clinic on Colonel Hill, Crooked Island the Bahamas have just declared my husband dead. They give me a few minutes with him to try and get myself together. The policeman who had been at the police station a few hours ago with us came in. He wanted to know what happened.

LEFTY DAY

I have planted some garden by getting the early stuff out. Tilled everything and then got some seeds and plants in. Picked up several wheelbarrow loads of limbs and got them out to the burn pile in the back. After that it was time to go to a pond.

I had received permission to fish a pond that is on private property. The land owner does not let anyone fish the pond. He found out that I do not keep any bass and invited me out to fish the pond to get some of the panfish out.

THOSE BIG BUGS

“Have you been to the river? Are the big stoneflies hatching yet?” Those two questions start to fly through the networks of computer emails, text messages, cell phone calls, and conversations in fly shops starting in May and continuing into the middle of July in many western states. Every year fly fishers look for, wait for, and try to hit the Pteronarcys californica hatch, or as it is known commonly: the salmonfly, giant stonefly, or those big bugs!

HOUSE FLY

(This is a chapter from their most recent book, LaFontaine’s Legacy)

One of the things Gary wanted to accomplish was to have a fly for every possible fishing situation. One day he called Paul saying, “We’ve got to have a housefly.” Paul made the mistake of questioning Gary by saying, “The housefly is not aquatic.” Gary patiently explained to him that fish don’t just eat aquatic insects evidenced by the importance of grasshoppers, beetles, and other terrestrial insects as a food source. “But, houseflies?” questioned Paul even further.

Gary told him to try an experiment. Set a large pan of water outside overnight and see what would be in it in the morning. Besides a range of terrestrial insects Gary assured him that there would always be several common houseflies in the mix. After Paul ran the test he had to agree with Gary and the two set out to design a fly to fit the need.