In my last Reader's Cast article I wrote about how we perceive objects in our environment. Our brains rely on shape and behavior to quickly identify objects that we encounter. We don't need to stare intently at objects that we routinely encounter in order to identify them. Likewise, it seems logical that fish use the same system when determining if something they encounter is food or not. If it has the general shape of a food item and it moves like a food item then it must be a food item. However, what about color? How does the color of the object affect their reaction?

I had a day off. There was a slight wind and the temperature was warm enough to just wear a shirt. Although it was March and still too wet to drive into any ponds it was time to go to a pond

I grabbed two rods and headed out. I had a fanny pack with a fly box and five hook boxes of flies in it. My forceps were on a lanyard, with a pair of nippers. The fish basket completed the equipment list.

Another great historic recipe from my father's old book entitled, "Famous Sportsmen's Recipes," compiled by Jessie Marie DeBoth.  The book by copyrighted in 1940 by the author but there is no indication that it was professionally published.  I am assuming that it was self published by some 'vanity' press. 

Stepping onto the water in wading shoes and shorts always feels like pure escape to me when fishing moving waters. Since most of the waters I frequent stay colder than I like for wet wading most of the year, a chance to rid myself of the waders is an absolute blessing. And so it was as I stepped into the waters of Pennsylvania's Big Pine Creek. I was fishing a stretch several miles above the canyon section near the Batterson farm, and hopes were high for this humid summer evening.

Congratulations.  You just finished your finest foam Popinator.  Sitting in your vise, this star of your collection looks like something you're sure any bass would be proud to eat.  On a beautiful day you head to a favorite bass-filled lake.  Two hours of fishing later, without a strike or swirl, you curse the weather, the lake and the fish.  Sorry, not their fault.

Our story begins in the small community of Onaway, Michigan with a consistent population of about one thousand residents.  Onaway is located in the northern half of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, in Presque Isle County.  The town was founded in the 1880s and was originally incorporated as a village in 1889.  Like so many of the early Michigan towns it was supported by the logging industry.

Yesterday I was rearranging some of the books in my library when I happened upon an old letter, a printed list of fly patterns, and two black and white photographs. The letter was dated July 1970 and was from the Orvis ® Company. The letter was in reference to a copy of one of the black and white photographs which was an image of a young, dark haired man wearing a fly vest with a bamboo fly rod in one hand and a white meerschaum pipe in the other. Arranged in the foreground on a bed of Braken ferns were 4 respectable brown trout. The letter was an acknowledgement of my "Record Catch" and contained a round silver pin that still adorns my fishing hat and is inscribed – Orvis Record Catch Club.

July 2nd, in early July I spent several evenings on DePuy's Spring Creek in the company of the FAOL Editor Neil Travis. We have been fishing partners for years, and the purpose of this foray was to catch the PMD Spinner falls, which can be epic, however the wonderful thing about fly fishing for trout is that no two days are ever the same.

Even on those days where the weather is the same, there are so many variables that the angler is always challenged to solve the problem of what the trout are eating. The next few sections of this chronicle will relate the events of those evenings along the stream.

Bass particularly like a noisy fly. Some simple experimentation produced a modification of a very successful panfish fly that now manages to move an astounding amount of water with the slightest tug retrieve. The advantage to this fly is that it takes just a couple of minutes (literally) to tie once you have the components assembled.

Once in a while, a new fly pattern comes along that quickly becomes an indispensable part of your arsenal. There are a few fly patterns that seem to catch all fish, just about everywhere, all the time. Prime examples are Russell Blessing's Woolly Bugger, in 1967, and Bob Clouser's Clouser Deep Minnow, in 1987. Most experienced fly anglers would agree that you should never hit the water, anywhere, without a few of these in your fly box.