RG Saga,fly fishing & beyond

2011-01-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

Have Vice will Travel Kit…..

Another equipment review is like another vice, ALWAYS in order…..

This is one of the quality affordable vices available through fisheadsfliesnlore.com

First of all I would like to say I have dressed flies on fly tying vices from every manufacturer there is and some that don’t exist anymore, not the vices, the manufacturers..(Well except for the “J vice”, that guy wouldn’t even return my call, email, Face book…I think it’s because I drive a Chevy)

Any way because I have tyed flies on so many vices I can honestly say that it is more than the vice itself that makes a certain vice “The Best Vice Ever”. Some of the things that might add to the equation are: craftsmanship, special materials, design, service, attachments, afford-ability and for some it may be as simple as color or convenience. I have found that the vice I find to be perfect for me changes with the flies and materials I am working with. An example might be midges -vs- Barracuda flies, can you picture some basic differences needed in the jaws alone ???

reverse side of the vice

This Article however is in referance to the many requests we have here at fisheadsfliesnlore.com for affordable quality kits. These kits specifically, come from a good friend and fly fisherman Rg Saga. You don’t have to purchase them from us you can go straight to da man….http://www.rgsaga.com/index.asp however you won’t get the kits that say fisheadsfliesnlore.com on the side, nor will you get the totally cool awesome tool package, nor will you get the ice cream and cookies we hide in the kits…but go ahead do what ya want ya will anyway…

delicate ribbing and strong wire accompanied by lead spools all come in this fine kit..

I think the first thing that comes to mind when I think of fly tying kits is the first kit I ever received. Herters was the supplier, a vice with butterfly nut adjustment, one bobbin, an old style whip finisher (that was really good for shooing rubber bands at my sister the troll) some completely useless duck feather tips dyed so thick they bled everywhere, several 6″ lengths of wire, tinsel rib, and chenille. Oh yes lets not forget the really incredibly hard dense piece of dubbing wax that came along with the kit…cut from wax rock I believe,,, couldn’t melt it with a torch..I got that kit when I was 11 yrs old and I tyed the heck out of allot of ugly flies…And now, as I look back, I wish I could have had “this” kit !!…I would have been a wealthy boy for sure !

Of course I am not complaining about the great times and memories I had as a child and later I would have killed for a kit like this when I was in Korea as military guy..hours of hurry up and wait would have been far more tolerable with a sweet portable stash-able tying kit along for company…better than BEER …especially since there wasn’t any Coors Light … The components of these kits is that which makes the father buying it for his son want to keep it and tell the kid he can have some nice flies for his B-day or Christmas. OK NOW, hold on,,, I didn’t say girls couldn’t ty..have a look at Judy Lehmberg or Lois Kilburn..they are girls…and they ty beautifully. I was making reference to boys because no father would ever steel a tying kit or anything else from his daughter….everyone knows its OK to steal from yer sons.

Quality is another fine factor that I would like to discuss for those gifting a tying kit to their loved ones….here’s a tip, When the dye on the feathers wipes off on your fingers,,don’t buy them. Also, when the salesman tells you his name and it doesn’t match the name on the badge on his chest..don’t trust him. Perhaps you could remember there is also a basic necesity to ty flies called a HOOK or a TUBE, one of which requires another vice entirely or at the very least a tube adapter…

There is that feeling of warmth that the giver receives when passing along a tying kit to a younger member of the tribe. As well, there is the feeling of warmth the receiver receives when receiving that which is being received from the giver…LETS NOT forget the feeling of warmth the jealous bystanders receive as they pee their pants with envy…

The steel used in these tools is of high quality hardened material. The vice is carefully lubed and adjusted. The tools fit perfectly in the loops designed to hold them and the materials are held neatly in mesh pockets. There is room for personal touches, like preferred hooks and a small fly box or small camera and a tooth brush or two fake passports and a computer chip…whatever…

Bottom line here folks is there is a bottom line a person should not go below when searching for a fly tying kit…this kit is well above that bottom line. I recommend this kit for every level of fly tyer no matter what the skill level. This really is the perfect size for anything from the car to the backpack, the briefcase to the TV tray…the airplane to the car while driving…I promise this is good stuff Maynard..You will not find a better deal on this planet..

2010-11-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

Tune in Tomorrow Night

From the heat of Africa to a backyard blizzard. It's been snowing and blowing like crazy today. I think I'll keep the tigerfish slime on me and save a trip to the South Fork for later in the week. I wanted to let you know, tomorrow night at 7 PM MT I am being interviewed on Ask About Fly Fishing Internet Radio. I'll be talking about my Africa trip and how you too can go catch a tigerfish. It should be great fun. Just tune in relax!

Today's photo is my backyard full of sharptail grouse. They show up during the first winter storm every year and demolish all my crab apples. Fun to watch but they better be careful, I like a little upland bird hunting now and then!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

All Great Trips Come to an End

November 8-9, 2010

It’s hard to believe it’s over. According to the KLM map on the seat in front of me we are over the heart of Sudan and will be landing in Amsterdam in about 5 hours. Yup, it truly is over but this adventure will definitely go down as one of my favorites. And there’s no doubt I’ll return again.

I give a special thanks to Jim Klug and Chris Patterson of Confluence films for bringing me along on this epic trip. There was a tremendous amount of planning that went into this expedition and we are all thrilled that it went so well. This movie, which has not yet been named, will be released around November 1, 2011. The segment we just filmed is just one of several incredible shoots from around the world. The movie will launch on the big screen in Bozeman, Montana and will tour nationwide at many favorite fly fishing destinations and fly fishing shows. It will also be purchasable as a DVD.

We could not have made this incredible segment without Keith Clover, Rob Allen and Leonard Flemming of Tourette Fishing – Fight it in Africa. These guys have the exclusive on what may be the best fly fishing in Africa. They were the most incredible hosts we could have asked for!

I can’t forget Jim Klug’s Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures. They organized our entire itinerary from start to finish and all was smooth. Smooth is a rare thing with such exotic travel. I can’t recommend them enough for any fly fishing travel you can think up. Also a special thanks to Simms who not only sponsors the Confluence Film projects but provided us much of the gear. Not only did I have the perfect attire for the heat of Africa but everything from my wading shoes to dry packs to tackle bag, it all kept me organized and prepared for Tanzanian tigerfishing.

This is a MUST trip for every adventure fly fisher. Don’t put this one on the back burner. I’ve fished a bunch of places and this one ranks at the top as do tigerfish. Feel free to contact me to help you plan your own trip for the biggest tigerfish of your life!

If you’re free Wednesday night I will be talking tigerfish live on Ask About Fly Fishing Internet Radio at 7 PM MT. It should be a fun and entertaining show. If you miss it, you can catch it at a later time. Ask About Fly Fishing Internet Radio archives all interviews.

That’s about it. I guess it’s about time for me to get my presentations ready for the Fly Fishing Shows, catch up on my artwork and oh yea; it’s my favorite time to fish the South Fork! Stay tuned for some much tamer reports in weeks to come. . . .

Last but not least, here’s a few more photos from the trip – enjoy!

Special Note – Because I was busy fishing for the Confluence Film project I didn’t have time to take many of my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Saturday, November 13, 2010

The Unknown Specie & a Monster

November 7, 2010

Its hard to believe today was our last day. It’s possible we might get out on the water for a couple hours in the morning but it’s doubtful because we need to catch up on interviews for the film. Today was likely it. And knowing that, the South Africans put on their best show yet. Of course, we were up at 4:45 am. Then after a quick breakfast and coffee we were in our safari vehicles crossing the Mnyera on the ferry before entering the blood thirsty tsetse fly forest. Tied on top of one of the vehicles was a small inflatable raft. The South Africans had big plans for us. The whole travel time was about an hour to what is simply referred to as the rapids.

These beautiful rapids are home to numerous tigerfish of the Mnyera River. Most don’t think of tigerfish as a fish of rapids but they can be. I’ve fished them before in the Chobe River rapids in Namibia and the Zambezi River Rapids in Zambia. Both places provided superb fishing but the tigers are much smaller than here. Yellowfish, a group of fishes made up of many species, also thrive in the rapids and before we began tigerfishing Chris filmed Leonard and I sneaking around the rocks and river channels trying to catch one of these popular African game fish.

The yellowfi sh fly of choice is a nymph. Leonard recommended a pattern to me but I chose one of my favorite Euro nymphs tied by no other than my good Polish friend Vladi Trzebunia. As you know from past blogs Vladi's flies are always good luck for me. We could see the yellowfish slowly milling around the back eddies between the rocks and riffles. They were incredibly spooky. The sun was blocked by clouds making it even more difficult. While Leonard headed towards a small waterfall I slowly stalked my way towards the main river.

I gave up on trying to sight cast to yellows. The light was terrible. I rigged up a dry dropper rig and started covering water. Right away I caught a tiny fish with gorgeous colors. Keith told me the name but it’s slipped me now. He said it’s a miniature cousin of the tigerfish and definitely a popular food for them. In fact as I lifted him from the water a 5lb tiger nearly took out my kneecaps trying to eat him off my line.

Chris and the crew continued to follow Leonard and me with the cameras, never losing hope that we would catch a yellowfish. Sure enough I connected while nymphing a seam against a very powerful rapid. I didn’t know what to expect from a yellowfish. Seeing pictures of them led me not to expect much fight but this fish took off. I was using my 6-weight Ross and it was all I could do to fight him in the rapids. As I finally subdued him, Leonard was at my side and he started going ballistic. This was a kind yellowfish that has yet to be named. Leonard is the only other person to catch this unusual species. He was thrilled. Evidently, when he caught one earlier this year he thought he’d go home and look him up. But he couldn’t. This yellowfish is a new species not yet even named or documented. If you remember from previous blogs, this entire fishery wasn’t discovered until 2008. I caught a fish that has yet to be discovered! Very cool!

Leonar d very professionally took a fin clip. Because of the high chances of documenting a new species he even carries a vial and we carefully put the fin clip in the vial. This area is so new to the fishing world several ichthyologists eagerly await to study DNA collected by the Tourette fishing guides. It was only recently that they classified these unique species of tigerfish we’ve been chasing all week (Hydrocynus tanzaniae).

I thrive on adding new species to my personal life list but this was over the top. I was so excited about catching a species that has yet to make the text books that I could hardly think straight. I could have continued to stalk the rapids with my nymphs the rest of the day, but it was time to climb aboard the rubber raft. I was a little uneasy on the whole raft deal. My closest ever to drowning was on the famous Zambezi River whitewater below Victoria Falls. I haven’t’ been on much whitewater since. These rapids weren’t really much but I had no idea how well Rob and Keith could row a raft. We also had concerns of crocodiles and hippos. This is a crappy little rubber raft!

What the heck - before I knew it we were dropping through the rapids. First the raft was a tool to get from one pool to another then I was casting as we drifted. We’d row through some little rapid then hold against some rocks and make some casts. Fishing was superb to say the least. At every good pool we hooked up and landed some nice fish. 10lbers were a dime a dozen and then we landed back to back 14lbers. These rapids were unreal! Due to the heavy current, we were back to straight 30lb Rio Saltwater Tippet and the 40lb wire. We allowed no mercy on these powerful fish. It was simply clamp down on the line and hold them and strip them in. Let the line slide from your clenched fingers and you were sliced wide open and your tiger was gone. It was about as exciting as fly fishing gets. Then it happened. I hooked into a beast.

I’ve had a few fish take off on me this week and I fought them with the drag of the reel. But none like this. All I remember is strip setting once and then my Ross Momentum LT reel was singing like I was standing in the floor seats at Aerosmith. The ***** just hit the fan!

At the same instant Rob also hooked up and he too had the line taken away. Then mine jumped. Only I wasn’t sure it was mine because both Robs and my fish were steaming the same direction. All I knew was that the leaping tiger was one to remember. He was significantly larger than any we hooked all week. And most serious, he was at the tail out of this deep pool and another ten feet to his run and he’d be in the next rapid likely never to be seen by humans again. It was then that I realized it was my fish. I peered down to my smoking reel and heaps of backing was missing. I don’t know what got into me then but it was a good thing. I cranked my drag two spins, lowered my rod towards the fish and began reefing on him and reeling. It was like I was brutalizing a yellowfin tuna from the depths of bluewater. I’ve been dreaming of this monster all week and I was going to land him – period! Meanwhile Keith was frantic. He wanted this fish as much as me and was blurring instruction that I could not comprehend. By now Rob was holding a respectable 12lber. He thought briefly about hanging on to him for pictures of a double tiger catch but then thought wisely. He realized I was going to need some help. He released his tiger and came to the front of the raft to assist.

The immense tiger was close by now. He made a few heart stopping jumps next to the boat but I had him hooked well. I tried my best to get him to Rob and then the usual craziness began. Every time I hoisted him to the surface he spooked and shot deep and under the boat. Nets are useless on giant tigerfish because their teeth chew right through the mesh. The only way to get them is to tail them. Several times I got his head up but the tail dangled three feet below the fish. Finally after numerous scares, Rob got two hands around the tiger’s tail. I yelled with delight and dropped down to Boga the prize.

We never weighed this incredible tigerfish. Lifting heavy fish by their jaw on the Boga grip is a practice that often injures such large fish. There was no way I was taking that chance. I would have easily estimated him at 20lbs, but the final vote went to the South Africans – it was 18lbs. Like I know a 6lb trout from a 4lb trout, they were probably right on. Until I make it to the Congo for goliath tigerfish, this will probably be the biggest tigerfish of my life. Fantastic!

All the excitement in our rubber ducky kept us unaware of the excitement that Leonard was experiencing. He too was fighting a great fish from shore. His fish was 15lbs and soon we were posing for a double with our fish. Then he released his and we all went to work for Chris. My fish was what this film was dreaming of and we had to work fast to keep the tiger safe.

After a serious filming session and some photos, I watched the remarkable creature return to the Mnyera River rapids. This place is so rarely fished that it’s likely he will go on to pass the 20lb mark and most likely will never see or meet a human again. He was truly one of the great fish of Africa.

We continued to catch the tigerfish for the remainder of our float. Except for a very scary run in with some hippos I was daydreaming, continuously replaying the incredible day in my mind. It was epic to say the least. I caught a species that’s not yet documented and a tigerfish so big that I will have difficulty believing it until I see the photos and film.

We spent the later part of the afternoon relaxing on a beach while Chris interviewed the South Africans for the movie. I leaned back on the raft and before I knew it I was down for the count. The trip had reached its peak on the last day and as a team we may have made one of the coolest fly fishing film segments ever. Today will go down as one of my most memorable fishing days of my life!

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Friday, November 12, 2010

Day 5 The Wind has Stopped

November 6, 2010

It’s always nice to wake up fully intact after a nights camping in Africa. It was a baboon spider free night and quite honestly one of the soundest sleeps I’ve had in a long time. But deep inside I thought I heard some commotion in the wee hours. Sure enough, I did. The South Africans got attacked by army ants! I wouldn’t have even known what to do. Actually they just ran from their tent swiping the biting ants from their bodies and ended up sleeping down by the beach without a tent. It was their only choice and I guess I’d of done the same.

As always, we were up at 4:45 am this time driving across the bush back to the Mnyera River. We stopped for some sunrise photos then proceeded through the tsetse fly infested forest. From there we crossed the Mnyera on the ferry and moved back into our original camp. We’ve still yet to film what the South Afric ans consider a big fish so after a quick breakfast we headed upstream to some new water in the hunt for a big tiger.

The only thing Chris could use to spice up this film segment is more wildlife. In fact we quit fishing early today just to do a wildlife drive at sunset. Fortunately along the way to the fishing spot this morning we ran into elephants, hippos and crocodiles. Chris got some great footage and it took off the pressure to find animals tonight. Once we started fishing I noticed a big difference from days before, the tigers were eating with vengeance. What I mean is almost every strike I got ended up with a hooked tiger. The tigers weren’t just striking and getting off but they were hammering the fly and getting hooked. I wasn’t the only one to notice either. Keith was quick to point out the fact that the wind was gone and now the tigerfishing was improving. Boy was he right. Every time my fly landed in a good looking spot I caught a fish. I knew a big one was coming soon and sure enough I strip set into a new personal record – a 15lb tiger. It is amazing the difference between a 12lber and a 15lber. This fish had tremendous girth and Chris filmed the fish at every angle imaginable. Then Klug and Harris stepped in and took some fabulous still photos. Then Chris got out the underwater camera and filmed me releasing the giant tiger back to the river.

At that point we made an already great movie segment even better and it was all high fives. I was in awe. While I was preparing for this trip weeks ago in remote Victor, Idaho I never would have dreamt of catching such a huge tigerfish on film. Meanwhile, Leonard was in croc danger while casting off a drop-off and he too connected to a large fish. Keith whom was helping us film my tigerfish screamed at Leonard for his carelessness. Fortunately all was good and Leonard retreated from the edge and remained hooked up to his hefty tigerfish. This tiger looked like the twin to my tiger and once again Chris, Klug and Harris went to work.

These two big fish were the icing on the cake. So much so that Klug actually put away his camera and started fishing for the first time all week. And yes he hooked up. Klug landed the biggest fish of the week, a 16lber!

Klug is not in the film so after few pictures of him with his tigerfish of a lifetime, Rob took over and Chris filmed yet another beast of a tigerfish. Man do these big tigers have some teeth! When I was holding my big tiger I was in such la-la land that I didn’t even admire the teeth. They are just plain serious! For the first time all week the South Africans were finally at peace, the big fish were eating.

Unfortunately it was time to head on out. We bolted downstream and back to camp and loaded up on the safari vehicle for a trip to the bush in search of some wildlife. Along with us was Masai warrior Michael, the guy that watches over camp at night. Michael was born in the bush and a great guy to have along when searching for African wildlife. We drove a four wheel track for at least ten miles but other than numerous pukus and waterbuck, the wildlife viewing was extremely slow. Even the elephants were somewhere hiding.

The highlight however was Michael. Michael was a great model for photos and showed us some of the Masai traditions. He doesn’t speak much English but it was really fun hanging out with him. Michael went as far as to loan me his club of which I gave some elephant crap a good ride. Then he gave me a lesson on the Masai high jump dancing. That guy can jump! Dare I say another great day in Africa!

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Day 4 The Distant Edge of Civilization

November 5, 2010

We had a little excitement last night. Fortunately it wasn’t in my tent. The South Africans had a baboon spider sharing their residence and were nice enough to show us before they carefully released him back to the wilds. Evidently there are many species of baboon spider but no matter how harmless they are this truly massive spider would of scared the living ***** out of me had he been in my tent.

We got another early start. We were up by 4:45 am and motoring up the Rhudji River with coffees in hand. Today was a true expedition run. We drove upstream for 4 hours. We went to where the South Africans have been only three times since they discovered this tigerfish filled river. The ride was scenic to say the least because we started in near darkness and watched the sunrise. Surprisingly we only saw two hippos as far as mammals. Sadly, this particular area gets poached. However, what we didn’t get to see in mammals was easily made up for with amazing bird species.

Three hours into the ride we came to the first local village we’ve seen all week. We were quite a sight for these folks and I think every single one of them came down to check us out. They seemed very friendly and nearly all of them waved to us from the minute we popped in their sight until we went around the next corner. It was what fishing and travel are all about.

We began fishing on the upstream end of the village. Local kids lined up to watch the mysterious visitors. In my boat were Rob, Keith and Chris. Chris has been filming from the other boat these first three days so today he climbed in with us for some new camera angles. The pool we started fishing had a lot of current and Rob and I sort of swung our flies through its tail-out. Each time Rob and I got jolted by quick striking tigerfish but could not connect. Just as we were getting frustrated I tagged into a 9lber. The kids of the village watched curiously as I battled the leaping tiger to the boat. Then I revived the tiger and let him swim away. In the distance I heard a mom yelling something to the kids. I could only guess she was telling them to ask for the next fish, but they ignored her because they weren’t up for the language barrier challenge with their strange guests.

Our plan was to drift and fish our way all the way back to camp. A four hour drive upstream against the current would likely only be about a two hour boat ride back. By drifting down all day we could hit so much good looking water we’d be bound to catch the giant tiger we are dreaming of filming. Pool after pool we pounded the banks and dredged the depths. We caught some fish but it was surprising just how slow the fishing was. At last we hung our first good fish. Rob had gotten strikes three casts in a row with his Rio deep 300 grain shooting head. Then on his fourth run through the pool he came tight and shouted big fish. I reeled in to make sure my line wouldn’t be in the way and got ready to see a giant.

The strike was bigger than the fish. Although it was no tiger to baulk at, Rob was disappointed as we tailed the 12lber. Nonetheless, Chris went into action and filmed the entire catch as if it would be our biggest. Realistically it could be as we will be half way through our trip at noon today. And if 12lbs is our biggest only the South Africans will be disappointed – a 12lb tigerfish looks like a beast to we Americans!

We drifted downstream and fished through some gorgeous African scenery today. I too landed a 12lb tigerfish and like Robs, we worked him with the cameras. All these tigers have the most incredible looking blue adipose fins. This segment of the Confluence Film #3 will be about 12 minutes long and already they have enough to make a great one. At this point a tigerfish larger than 12lbs would simply be a bonus.

Fishing became red hot at sunset. Rob and I were fishing as Keith poled us into some fast water. We both cast to the bank and on our first strip we were doubled up. We’ve doubled up a few times this week but never got both fish to the boat. This would be our first as we each hoisted hefty tigers for the cameras.

It is absolutely essential to be back at camp by dark so even though the tigerfish were on a tear we had to reel in after we released the two fish. On the short ride home we saw two hippos. One was especially cool because he was trapped in shallow water. He charged downstream ahead of the boat in a desperate search for a deep hole to hide in. I was just starting to wonder when he’d turn around and fight when he found his hiding spot. In he went. Of course, we had to drive the boats through the deep hole to get by him. It’s not uncommon for hippos to attack a boat but luckily we slid on by without confrontation. We made it home just in time and after a great dinner out on our beach we were in our tents resting for a trip back to the Mnyera early in the morning. Another great day in Africa!

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Day 3 Tsetse Flies and the Rhudji River

November 4, 2010

With the exception of some wild pigs foraging through the leaves on the forest floor outside my tent it was a quiet night. But somehow I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t fearing the arrival of African wildlife and should have been tired from long day of casting, but instead I just laid there. I heard Michael the Masai warrior that patrols camp all night approach my tent to wake me up at 4:45 am. I surprised him when I was already up gathering my fishing stuff. I felt like crap but we had a long day ahead of us. We were switching to a different river.

The Rhudji River flows 40 kilometers adjacent to the Mnyera River. 40km doesn’t sound far to travel and isn’t, but when you have nothing more than a dirt track to take you there in fully loaded safari trucks it takes about two hours. That also includes taking both trucks across the Mnyera River via a homemade ferry system. Oh, and one flat tire. Normally a ride across the African plains at sunrise would be a joy but we got absolutely annihilated by blood thirsty tsetse flies. Tsetse flies would eat you whole if they could but instead they pick you apart piece by piece. When we got to our new camp I was so tired and chewed up I could hardly set up my gear. The South Africans motivated me by assuring me there were enormous tigerfish waiting and fed me some strong coffee. In no time we were fishing and filming again.

The Rhudji River is slightly smaller than the Mnyera and very clear. You can easily see your fly coming through the water column as you retrieve it. Sure enough, I watched a 7lb tiger inhale my black whistler minutes into our first drift. Despite his insane leaps I proudly stripped him in with authority and smiled as he threw water all over us before announcing him a rat. We hammered numerous rats up to 10lbs and then like yesterday the fishing completely died. The temperature definitely rose but the wind continued to crank. We pulled under some overhanging trees to get out of the broiling sun and ate lunch, sipped beers and rested for the late afternoon session.

Before returning to fishing we took a rare African swim. There was a shallow flat near our lunch spot. If you sit in the middle you are at least 30 feet from the drop-off to deep water. I promise you, if you get within ten feet of such a drop you will get eaten by a crocodile. The crocs of Africa frequently surpass the length of 18 feet! They are sneaky, can mimic a floating log and often lie completely submerged just below the surface by these drop-offs just waiting for an easy meal. We’ve all seen them eat zebras, wildebeests and etc on TV. Crocs are the real deal and you don’t mess around.

Fishing turned on in the afternoon. We changed the boats around so that Leonard and I fished while Rob poled. We floated down to one of their favorite places, the Casino. The Casino is infested with protruding logs and sunken trees mixed with strong current. We rigged our leaders with straight 30lb Rio Saltwater Tippet and attached the 40lb Rio Wire. When you hook a tiger here you can not let him run an inch or you will lose him to structure. On nearly every cast Leonard and I put a tiger in the air. And on each hook up I clenched the line with all my might. Sometimes I’d win and get the tiger to the boat while most times the line would slip loose from my grip and the fish would put lines scars I thought only possible from saltwater fish. It was amazing!

We drifted the Casino several times and then drove 30 minutes back to camp and drifted the camp water until we couldn’t see anymore. Leonard and I must have landed 20 tigerfish up to 10lbs. I was thrilled with these gorgeous fish but somehow the South Africans seemed disappointed and even stressed. There are obviously some much larger tigers in these rivers and they simply aren’t eating right now. That’s what the South Africans want us to film.

We sat around the campfire tonight and drank Kilima njaro beer and shared stories while listening to the distant grunts of hippos and trumpeting of elephants. All the time the orange glowing eyes of crocodiles watched secretly waiting for us to have one too many. Fat chance crocodiles!

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

TUBE or “Guess what I’m doing this my way…” Big surprise !

2010-09-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

There are some flies everyone should know how to ty because they work in a magnitude of colors and sizes, and for any variety of fish. Intruders are such a fly, These flies have become not so much a specific patterns but an idea free for the tyer to base from and use his or her imagination and artistic skills to create whatever comes to mind.

Bead heads, cone heads, waffle heads, spinner blades, monster heads, heavy tubes light tubes every material known to mankind and a couple casts in a cold river…..all adds up to STEELHEAD for me..and heres where it all starts…..
Attach the tube however you wish. Some tyers use super glue, thread base soaked with crazy glue, gorilla glue, head cement, or thread wraps to pin the hook sleeve to the tube……I like to leave the hook sleeve off and add it on the water choosing from an assortment of colors I keep in my vest.
Forming a dubbing loop and using a material that breathes yet creates bulk will help set the foundation for a full wing that breathes well in the water and wont lay flat or stick to itself….Arctic fox Tail, Badger, Coyote tail, opossum, or some synthetics will make for a breathable material and dyed in many colors there are many to choose from.
Once I have formed this base I start layering different wing material with various fiber length, starting with the shortest like dyed Amherst, Silver or Golden Pheasant tails. Then adding dyed Pea Fowl, Rae or Blue Eared pheasant fibers…and then for longer fuller feathers I use stiff stemmed Ostrich dyed to my liking..
Working these fibers into a dubbing loop seems to help them “stand up” better than tying them in separately…
Tying the dyed Pea Fowl in separately allows for specific placement….
I like the fuller body Ostrich and ty it in separately so I can get the most out of the stem angle adding to the action of the fly in the water…
The body of the Tube can be as simple as the tyer would like it to be or it can be a place to practice some skills needed to dress more difficult flies later…..Either way this is a fun change of pace literally right in the middle of tying this fly…
This dyed deer hair collar makes for light weight bulk and a sure-fire way to keep your front wing formed up and out allowing it to breathe and create action away from your body and rear wing…..
Adding dyed Badger or Arctic fox will place a layer of color and add movement in the foundation of the front wing..Then I add Amherst fibers spacing them individually for a more symmetric layered wing…
finish adding what ever wing material desired and then finish the head with Hackle, spun dubbing, spun synthetics or as in this case a spun deer hair head will push more water and with a monster cone can add a lot of movement…
Almost finished..Just in time to call in dead to work and head to the river….
Some tricks may be needed depending on the length of tubes you use and the equipment you have to ty with….I enjoy tying long tube flies holding the tube and dressing the fly in my hands without a vice, However this may not work well for others and being fluid in your approach to tying will improve your skills…
Gotta love big fishy flies and the chance to apply multiple skills during the same project…and flies this size are Projects…
When tyed on light tubes like plastic or aluminum these huge flies are lighter than their counterparts when tyed on hooks or waddington shanks with stingers…

Terry Can be contacted at http://fisheadsfliesnlore.wordpress.com/

CHOOSING YOUR WEAPON

2010-08-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

Try out as many weights and lengths of rods until you find your personal
style and feel, something that’s not too flimsy and not too stiff. It should
cast the line easily and fit the type of game fish being hunted. Materials
have changed greatly over the years and every year there are variations of
composites. Make sure you handle the rod before buying, preferably
casting with it or an identical piece.
Many rods may seem clumsy at first but after practice and correct
technique, these become irreplaceable tools. Bamboo is like this for many
who first try it. The feel of bamboo is quite different than fiberglass or
graphite, a bit more like graphite than fiber but still unique unto itself.
Veteran bamboo fishers will say it’s like no other material and they would
be right.
Much like a pole-vaulter who changes from a metal pole to fiberglass,
the flyfisher must learn to change his timing to allow the limberness to
work for him. A stiff rod will allow fast casts with minimum flexibility but
may sacrifice distance, much like casting with a broom handle. Casting
with a limber rod will take longer because the caster has to “dance” with
the line and rod, making sure each is synchronized but the spring in a
limber rod can send a fly much farther. Play around with various types of
fly rods before making up your mind. Before long you will find that one
rod that feels like an extension of your arm.
Garage sales and online auctions
Garage sales are great places to find sports equipment, especially old
rods and reels. Mostly these sales will offer older fiberglass rods and rarely
graphite and bamboo. Make sure you check for nicks and deep scratches
on fly rods found at garage sales, estate sales and auctions. A deep nick or
scratch will destroy a graphite rod and can shorten the life of fiberglass
and even bamboo if it is severe enough.
I prefer to buy my primary fishing rods new, at places I can handle
them but for my backups and collections I go for online auctions. There is
always a wide selection on eBay.com of new, old and exotic fly rods and
reels. As of today, I haven’t had a bad experience with the sellers on eBay
and I have purchased eight rods so far, including three bamboo, two metal
and one big sucker about fifteen feet long, made from a small tree and
detailed with brass, engraved with the words, Forrest Maker. This is my
favorite, with a foot of cork grip, thirteen inch fighting butt and finished
off with tight wraps of cord around the burgundy wood, which dates to
the early nineteen hundreds, I’m told. It’s a fine specimen of a spey rod.
Speys are two-handed rods of British origin.
One caution when bidding online, the cheaper bamboo rods usually
have a flaw or two and will require a little finishing…mostly a missing eye
or tip that can be replaced very easily. Newer graphites, are usually in very
good shape at a fraction of their original price. Remember to check out the
seller. I always like to bid on equipment from someone with a high number
of successful sales. Each person who buys something from someone on
most online auctions is allowed a chance to post positive or negative
feedback.
Online auctions are a great place to sell your old equipment as you
move up to more advanced systems.
Also, pick a final price that you are willing to pay for your prize and
stick to it, its too easy to get in a bidding feud and suddenly spend all the
egg money. Of course, its fun sometimes to get into a good bidding war,
bid heavy then back off…just when your opponent thinks they’ve won,
Kerplow! “Granny, sell the hog!”
[An online auction tip to save you money: don’t put in your bids until
about an hour before the auction is set to close. That will give you a chance
to put in the winning bid, without getting into an expensive bidding war,
because there’s less time to really boost the price.]
Look on the rod section next to the cork grip for length and weight of a
fly rod. It should say something like 8’6” #5. This would indicate an eight
foot, six inch rod in a five weight. You’d want to match it with a fiveweight
line for a balanced cast.
When choosing a personal rod, go with the feel that best fits you, not
with just a name. Graphite is the best for lightness and quick action.
Anywhere from 6ft to 8ft of #4, #5, #6 and #7 weights are fine for trout
and average size fish (lighter for, say, brookies or bluegills), while 8 ½-ft
up and #9 plus and longer for larger fish such as big pike or salt water
species. Tarpon etc. may require rods that are10ft plus with corresponding
line weights.
What should I pay for a fly rod?
Not an easy question to answer, since a fly rod becomes a close and
personal friend.
Combinations or kits are usually packaged with a fly rod, single action
reel, fly line, leader, tippet, perhaps some flies and maybe a how-to video.
These prices vary from season to season and year to year.
Beginning flyers can pick up a cheap Pfleuger fiberglass combination
outfit in the $40 range, and graphite combinations by Cortland around $60
Harry P Davis 45 Guerrilla Flyfishing
at Wal-Mart. Combos of this type are more for the occasional family
camper or someone who is not sure fly fishing is for them but wants to try
it without investing a lot of money. Remember, these cheaper kits usually
contain cheaper constructed rods and reels and are in sealed packages
preventing the buyer from handling and inspecting them.
Professional combinations run around $150 and up. Redington Rods,
which has a package with Red Fly rod, Red Fly palming reel with fly line,
backing, leader and carrying case. Scott has a combo featuring their
Voyager rod, palming reel with fly line and backing and carrying case
starting at around $250. Professional lines use a known model rod and reel
in their combos and are usually backed up with a lifetime warranty. The
carrying cases are quality zippered types.
Most beginners, who don’t have a pro shop to help them, find buying a
combination will take care of the guesswork of piecing everything
together. It’s always best to work with a local tackle shop or fly rod dealer
who cares about your budget and personal needs. Most shops are low key
and great to be around but there is always the exception. When you find a
fly rod shop always pushing the most expensive equipment they have on
you–it’s time to mosey on down the block.
Purchasing your rod, reel and leader individually is always the best way
to get the balance you want. This way, you can customize the look and feel
you want for the style of fish and conditions you are after.
You can spend $30 or $2000 on a rod. I keep telling myself the action and
quality of graphite rods today are so much better than even a few years
ago, the cheaper rods are equal to the moderate priced rods of a few years
ago and today’s moderate priced ones are equal to the expensive rods of
earlier models…I’m gonna snap ‘em anyway, so might as well look for
bargains.
The same rule goes for single rods as with combos. If you are going to
just fish a day or so during a vacation, I would suggest going with a
fiberglass or lower end graphite with brand names like Eagle Claw,
Pfleuger, Martin or Renegade and paying anywhere from $19 on up.
Some of the cheaper brands have foam grips instead of cork and the
graphite of lower end rods may lack the backbone of moderately priced
graphites. Foam grips are a bit too squishy for me and I found that
varmints love to chew on them in the wild.
If you want a rod to investigate the sport and think you will spend more
than just vacation days on the water, the moderately priced professional
models, those under a hundred bucks just may be the ticket. Redington has
a full line of fresh and salt-water graphites starting at $75 with an
unconditional lifetime warranty that applies to the rod, not just the owner.
Scott starts their Voyager series at $150 and lifetime warranty. St Croix
begins their fly rod series at $85. I list other manufacturers in the web
site section.
Recently I bought a new Redington Red Fly 9’5/6 and am impressed
with the action. I like a fast rod and the Fly has a nice backbone but isn’t
too stiff where it sacrifices a good play. This rod feels like a much more
expensive rod feels and I like the subtle color with no flashy reel seat to
scare fish. One reason I bought this rod is because the owner never
pressured me to buy anything, just treated me like an old fishing buddy.
Say hi to Bill next time you’re in Littleton Colorado at Anglers All.
What is my rod worth if I break it in half?
Be very careful with graphite rods…if you nick them they will snap! It
may be wise to carry them in a rod holder when not in use. A strong point
about fiberglass is that it holds up to a beating but you sacrifice on
flexibility and action although Lamiglass boasts some new technology in
fiberglass crafting that cuts down on weight and increases flex. They also
have some travel models, which I would consider if going deep into the
wild for a few weeks because of the material’s toughness.
There are some new materials on the market, including one known as
nano-titanium. This product of the space age is combined with graphite
and makes the molecular composition adhere more tightly than graphite
alone. Nano titanium also gives the graphite a tough coat, resisting
scratches and cuts while keeping the action of graphite.
There have been some supernatural graphite blank manufacturers,
claiming to have a graphite rod that you can stomp on, drive over and tie in
a knot. Companies like these seem to vanish like a writer’s muse, leaving
only urban legends behind. The only way to ensure you have a rod that is
worth the same, broken, as it was when you bought it, is to buy one with
an unconditional, lifetime of the rod warranty. This is a must, particularly
once you move up to higher lines of professional rods and that day will
come as you grow in the sport.
Grips can be made of wood, cork, foam or a combination of materials. I
like the cork grips because they provide a firm, non-slippery surface. The
choice of styles is a personal taste but some basic ones are: cigar (looks
like it’s name but makes an expensive smoke and tastes like burnt cork),
full wells, half wells and reverse wells (these are a bit thicker toward the
tip end than the cigar grip without such a severe taper). There is also a
coke bottle grip and other variations.
A common style of holding the grip is to fold your fingers around it,
with your thumb facing you…similar to holding a hammer except with a
thumb up. Your thumb is straight up when you hit 12 o’clock and straight
out from you when at nine. Knowing and following the thumb’s up grip
will keep the caster from having to watch the rod tip…simply point the
thumb in the positions you want the rod tip to be in and it will follow.
Remember, the rod tip is the end of a lever and you are the axis every time
you move your wrist or arm, the rod tip will move further. Being limber,
the rod will flex back also and the tip will move in the direction given by
the thumb. This is why I say, even the professionals don’t hit a perfect 12
o’clock because the rod flexes.
Anyway, it’s just a marker to shoot for and you will get better the more
you do it.
Shorter, ultra-lite fly rods can be cast with the same grip except using
the forefinger in the place of the thumb, pointing toward the tip gives a bit
more control. Everything else is the same.
The most exotic rod I’ve ever owned
My most exotic rod is a small block of wood, wound with
monofilament…attached are two hooks and a piece of lead tied to the end.
This efficient device came to me during a volunteer trip to I took to
Honduras with a group of men who had each given up ten days of vacation
time to help out after Hurricane Mitch. We were there working in a small
village called Flores des Oriente (Flower of the East) with two local Youth
For Christ leaders, Mauricio and Anna Erazo based in San Pedro Sula.
Most of the trip was just plain hot work, either mixing concrete on the
bare ground with shovels and wheel-barrows for a new house that had
been totally washed away, or tearing away old asbestos roof tiles from a
small school that had been gutted by the flood waters. The great reward of
the trip was seeing the smiling faces of the children helping us haul bricks,
or just following along behind us.
On the last day of the trip, we were treated to some time on the beach at
Tela. I had packed my fly rod and heavy duty reel, “just in case” we got a
break like this on the trip and “yee haw”, it was gonna happen!
Well, a couple of things happened that would have stopped a rational
guy from going fishing. One thing was the inlet around Tela had been
polluted by Hurricane Mitch, and the other was I forgot my fly reel at our
base, a morning’s drive away. But I wasn’t a rational guy, I was a guerrilla
(‘course, I didn’t use that word in Central America) and I was going
fishing! Pollution or no, I didn’t take all those shots for nothing . . .and as
for my fly reel, well, I remembered my roots, long ago when I first started
flyfishing. The only thing I ever used the reel for, in those days, was to reel
up any excess line when I was through fishing. I used my thumb and
forefinger as a break and hauled in line and let it drop at my feet or float in
the water, dragging it around behind me. Playing a fish was always done
with my hands back then, switching line from my free hand to my
forefinger, pressing it against the cork grip and taking another length with
my free hand. Now I have been civilized and use the reel…uhhhh,
sometimes.
At any rate, I knew I could fly fish just as well without a reel as I could
with one, so I unwrapped an extra pack of fly line, rigged up a marabou
streamer, tied on some nylon cord as a backing, stuck the cord in the
pocket of my shorts and headed for the beach.
The surf was up a bit higher than I like it–but what the heck–it’s the
Caribbean! Guerrilla Flyfishing the Caribbean . . .it would be a bestseller!
Except, Mitch had gutted the inlet and there were no fish!
Undaunted, I exited the water and headed for the pier, a ways south of
our group. We were warned not to go north because of “banditos” hiding
out there–I think it was north. Anyway, I walked out on what was once a
road-sized pier, but now a bit shaky having felt the full force of a killer
storm. Ah, no banditos, just fellow fishermen.
The pier was missing quite a few beams out near the end, where the few
hardy fishermen were perched, casting out some short lines. I remember
trying to keep my balance a while trying not to crowd anyone’s fishing
spot. Fishermen the world over, understand this phrase in any language: “a
respectful distance please!”
“ Hola, amigos…pescas…pescados?” I asked, pointing to the water and
trying to pronounce ‘fish’ in a Honduran lilt…one of the few words I
could halfway remember.
“Non, acki…pescados ahi! (No fish here…fish there),”one of the older
gentlemen said, pointing far out to a portion of the pier left standing that
could only be reached by boat and was full of people. “Mitch!” the
gentleman said, shaking his head.
“Ah, Mitch, Diablo!” I nodded, hoping I didn’t just call someone’s
mother the devil. Another sad result of that devastating storm, even a mess
of fish for supper was just out of reach for those without fancy boats but
still I was to learn of yet another guerrilla tactic in the arsenal of fishing:
Making equipment from what you have.
I had packed some extra fishing supplies to give away to villagers we
met along the way and I had a large spool of Eagle Claw fishing line with
me and lots of hooks of all sizes. I motioned to the fishermen around me
and gave them what I had and to my surprise they whipped out some flat
pieces of wood that had been smoothed by lots of handling. They tied their
lines to the wood, wrapping it around like a spool of kite string around a
stick.
They then tied a couple of the small hooks onto the line with nice
looking knots I still can’t duplicate and finished up the assembly with a
lead weight on the end. The rig was ready to go.
I watched the gentleman rig this up, bait it with a bit of cut bait, and
drop it straight below us. He immediately caught several small, “sardinas.”
He then put together another rig, with more line spooled around the
wooden block and several of the sardinas (sardines to us ‘gringos’) were
baited on the hooks.
Stepping back a bit, the Honduran spun the weighted end of the line,
sardines and all and then let it go…out…out…out and away! I couldn’t
believe how far the line went out…it sounded like it was spilling off of a
two hundred dollar Shakespeare…and not one backlash!
I was impressed; I think I said something like, “aye, yi yi!” or,
probably, “momma mia!” I was always saying things that sounded more
Italian than Spanish but anyway, everyone laughed and then he made
another and gave it to me to keep.
I whirled the lead weight around and around like David’s sling, sharp
hooks whizzing an uncomfortable distance from my face (mamma’s voice,
“you could put an eye out with that” suddenly very clear inside my head!)
then–whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr–and a distant– kerploosh! I placed the wood
block down on the pier, put my foot on it, and watched it as I tossed a
shrimp pattern at a school of needlefish with my fly rod.
With a wink, the fisherman looked at the distance of my cast, turned to
tend his lines and said, simply, “Barracuda!”
Well, I didn’t get to fight a barracuda bare-handed but I did get a stringer
full of memories and a reinforced sense of camaraderie among fishers
regardless of any language barrier. I also learned how to make a really
efficient rod and reel with a short piece of flat wood. This gift holds a
place of honor in my memories and in my house.
Rod cases
Protection of rods is very important because of the type of material they
are made of and also because exposure to certain weather elements can
impair the action.
Nicks and cracks on a fly rod can quickly transform a fine casting
instrument into a broken casting instrument. Blemishes occur by
transporting rods in truck beds, out car windows, dragging them through
trees or using them as pet chew toys.
Graphite and fiberglass rods can be protected from all these
catastrophes through the use of rod cases. Most modern rod cases are
plastic or lightweight metal tubes lined with foam and equipped with a
handle or strap.
Post W.W.II, the Japanese made some very nice rod holders from light
veneer plywood. These boxes held a companion split bamboo rod with at
least two tips and were built with compartments in the lid, holding strike
indicators, handmade flies, leaders and other neat stuff. The fly rods could
be reversed and used with a bait caster or spinning reel as could some
American made bamboos of that era.
One of the old Japanese bamboo rods I have on my wall is finished in
a delicate rice paper from the butt to the tip and shows the effect of time
and the elements as the paper is brittle and peeling in some areas. But so
am I, so it’s a good fit.
Another Japanese made split cane of the same age is made of plain
blonde bamboo and the case is a simple box, demonstrating a different
craftsmanship and marketing styles of that period.
The third bamboo on my wall is an American beauty of the same age.
This piece of art is split bamboo painted with black enamel it also can be
switched to either fly or spin.
All of these bamboo fly rods are about the same age and yet the
American is fishable today and the other two are too brittle to be used. The
only difference in them is the finish. One has a thick coat of black enamel
and the other two were not covered with enough protection to last over a
few years. I’m sure there are other factors but you can see the two that
were made to sell and the one was made to last. The same idea holds on
some American rods I have that were not coated well.
Build your own rod holder
Rod holders come in all shapes and sizes, from cardboard tubes to
guitar cases. The cheapest rod holder that holds up to real punishment is a
simple PVC pipe from your local hardware store! It’s a no-brainer, but is
as good as most rod holders on the market for protection.
First, measure the intended rod (this is much cheaper than placing the
rod into the pipe and then cutting it) and cut the pipe about two inches
longer than the rod to allow for end caps and foam to be added. Cap the tip
end and place a chunk of polystyrene water pipe insulation into the pipe.
This makes a cheap and simple rod holder and that can be further
customized, with a few cuts of a hacksaw to allow the reel to be attached
and protrude from the side of the butt end. Add a rope or strap to the unit
and it is as good as
any rod holder on the market. Rod cases can cost several hundred dollars
or you can make this one for five bucks.
A classic rod holder used by old timers is a solid piece of wood a bit
longer than your rod lengths when broken down and about the diameter of
a heavy walking stick. The wood is then shaved or routed out on each of
four sides so the individual routs create a channel where a section of the
rod can be placed. Two tight straps around the holder restrain the rod
sections, and you’re off. The holder also doubles as a stream crossing and
walking stick…pretty nifty.
My wife gave me my first “store-bought’n” case for Christmas. It’s not
as classic as the walking stick rod holder but it sure keeps the elements out
with a secure zipper. Enemy dust and sand is kept away from my reel and
sunlight and moisture wicked away from the rod. Sunlight and moisture
can ruin a good rod through heating and warping, and even with a rod case
you should always store rods and reels in a clean, dry area. It’s not a good
idea, either, to store rods in a closed car or truck during the day for long
periods, because of the solar heat build up. Cracked finishes and brittle
glue spots will result from overheating.
Instead of tossing away those old fly reels, I like to sort them in shapes and
sizes and use them as coffee coasters when I’m entertaining special friends.

Extracted from
Guerrilla Flyfishing
by
Harry P Davis
-also Author & Publisher of
Tales of 5 Rivers
Founder
SOS -Gulf Campaign
Daphne Al
Harry Outdoors
Gulf Coast Recovery
251-279-7055
harryoutdoors@gmail.com

Fly Angler of the fortnight Emily Neiley

2010-05-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

For some, a fun fishing trip has some key ingredients—like beautiful weather, lots of hungry fish, and insects rising like steam from a nice, calm stretch of water. Ideally, the trip should be relaxing, quiet, and free from technical difficulties and irritating complications.
For me, trips like these are nice, but I really start having fun when the going gets tough. Wind? I can cast in wind. Rain and snow? I’m not made of sugar! Below zero weather…well, all right, I’ll nip into town until it gets warm enough for a hatch, but once the thermometer rises to double digit degrees Fahrenheit I’ll take my shivery self back down to the water and dare those fish not to bite.
Unfortunately, if I’ve learned one thing since I first picked up a fly rod at the age of nine, it’s that trout will take a dare up in an instant. That’s why I’ve learned to tie flies the same way I fish—the trickier and more technical, the better. Fish may get choosier as the water and weather get worse, but I can always get smaller hooks and hone my skills a little more. Eventually, I know I can come up with something that will fool them, even if I can barely see the fly.
When I sit down to tie flies, especially midges, I don’t concern myself too much with what looks good to the human eye—after all, humans prefer nachos and fried chicken to pinhead-sized insect larvae. I don’t try to exactly imitate what the bugs look like, either; I’d rather save my patience for catching fish than for tying a size 24 replica of a midge that won’t swim naturally.
Instead, I try to tie what I see them eating—which is not necessarily what I find under rocks (in winter, it’s a little too cold to go spelunking for insects anyway). Sometimes, the best course of action is to sit on the riverbank and watch the trout rising. I not only look for what the fish are eating, but what they’re almost eating as well; if a trout rises to an insect on the surface and then turns away, I try to figure out what about the bug made it lose interest. Sometimes it’s a little thing, like the lack of an air bubble or a millimeter’s difference in size. But, no matter how tricky the details get, the fish are always worth it.
***

Emily Neiley has been engaging fish in battles of wits for most of her life, and still doesn’t win as often as she’d like to. She currently lives and fishes in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA, and is a contributing editor for Blood Knot Magazine.
http://bloodknot.net

Trout Fishing in India

2010-05-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Why I like to fly fish for Trout

Don't get me wrong. I didn't always fish for trout. And when I did it was not only with a fly either. That's just not the way it happens. It's something you grow into.

As a kid in Delhi with the fishing bug we fished for goddamn anything we could. I remember cycling daily past a dirty jheel in the Cantonment behind 240 S.U.A.F.in Delhi , I was convinced there would be some catfish in there! (they almost always are ) and so one day I took the time off from pedaling past and stopped to put a piece of raw mutton onto a hook with a hand held line and let it drop. In a while I felt a tug and sure enough there it was..I pulled out an 8 inch catfish, whiskers and all. And the amazing part was he wasn't even on the hook! He'd just jammed his jaws onto the mutton and refused to let go! Even out of the water it was easier to release the hook from the meat than the meat from the fish. I did that and threw him back with the meat still in his jaws. Let him have it. Who wants to keep a catfish? They keep alive for hours outside water and are still thrashing in your bag when you get home, making you feel terribly sorry for them. They're also slimy slimy ( different from trout slimy!) and eat all kinds of shit anyway.

It's not as though I only pulled out catfish with mutton. Oh no sir, back in the 70's we cycled across Delhi on a Sunday morning to under ITO bridge and fished for carp and even Mahseer! Can you even imagine that! I know you can't do that now. Though you can still spend a day down at the Barrage at Noida hunting carp, but certainly not maheseer , I wouldn't recommend you take anything back from there. There have been bad reports for some time and some really scary stuff happening there lately.

And then there were the summer holidays, following my Scottish grandmother, Jean , on her cycle with her dogs behind her, around Bhimtal where she lived, we would spend the best part of many days casting for the mahseer in the lake. We always put them back. `They taste like rubber and more so the larger they grow",she would say. Over the years we got to recognise some of these fish and even had names for them.

And later as we grew older and could wander further from home and met other fishing nuts like ourselves , we formed a fishing club and set up camps in a variety of locations-Tajewala on the Yamuna, Phoolchatti under the Thapar's estate on the Ganga, Kumharia on the Kosi, Marchula on the Ram Ganga, Loharghat on the Kali , Bhakra on the Satluj and the stretch from Mandi to Pong on the Beas.

We named our attempts `Camp Misery' on account of something going drastically wrong most of the time. There was this one trip to Phoolchatti where we forgot the bag with the kitchen utensils, (characteristically we never ever forgot the booze or cigarettes) and had only a pressure cooker that was hand held through the journey. Have you ever tried your morning cup of tea from a Bisleri bottle sawed in half? It's only slightly better than sipping it directly from a pressure cooker.
And another time a big old storm came up one night on the Kosi and we were camped on the riverbed at Kumharia. A tearing wind lifted the tents with us in it. We put stones into the tents to weigh them down but that just ripped out the bottom and we watched the uppers of two tents and our gear fly into the river. We spend the rest of the night, six of us in the third tent behind a big rock, shivering, bailing out the rain with our shoes. The next morning the mahseer were biting like crazy and we had a ball.

Angling for mahseer is gungho stuff. It's macho. It's wild. It's big. The rods, the reels, the lines .The mosquitoes molesting you at Loharghat or Bhakra are like helicopters but this more than compensated by the testosterone rush of hooking and landing a big one. This is really big boy stuff and if you're in it you got to play it seriously. In the winter when the water is cold and the fish lie deep the only way to get to them is to drop weighted deadlines baited with ragi or atta balls. Most fishermen have their own `secret' concoction of what goes into a ball and some of these can let off quite a pong. `Master Bait ( that was Ramsey, a hard headed ragi ball fanatic)..Tie your balls on the roof ', was a common refrain when settling into the van on a fishing trip. Once at the river the way to do it was to bait out the area by chucking in the balls little upstream from where you intended to fish. Bags full of them. Then set up the rods with heavily weighted 30 pound line , put a ragi ball onto your hook, cast it so that it sinks to the bottom to lie among the other ragi balls in the river. And wait. The first day might go a little slow but by the second morning the little ghungroo bell strike indicators can set up quite a jangle. With the ragi balls you set the stage, the fish start the play. You have to be ready at any time to battle what may be a 40 pounder and ask anyone who's done that, it's no mean feat. Even with your reel set to a strong drag the fish can take 50 metres or even more of your line in the first run and leave your reel smoking with the friction of the drag. I've heard of real hardassed anglers actually jumping into the river to follow their fish making a run downstream.

Myself I was never too fond of using bait. I found the balls too smelly and the worms downright nasty. I prefer the lures. They're clean and pretty and shiny. My own favourites were the Mepps no.3 Extra deep Aglia spinners, spoons like the Toby in a variety of sizes and as I discovered, to my dismay, by default the Blue Fox sonic plug, a pretty little blue fish with some kind of balls rattling around inside it sending sonic waves through the water as it passes. It was quite early one morning at Marchula. I was sipping on my first cup of tea , head tousled and groggy from camp sleep and the partying of the previous night, dressed just in shorts and rubber chappals, dragging on my first cigarette and contemplating the beauty of the morning river flowing past me. And there in the middle of the river I watched a fish rise and it gleamed golden against the silver of the water reflecting the sunlight. I shouldn't have but I did. I reached out beside me for a 14 foot Shakespeare lying there and loaded on it was the said Blue Fox sonic plug. Not mine but conveniently nearby. And I cast. Once. Twice. Thrice. And he took it! Fish! I screamed as my tea went for a toss and I chucked my cigarette dangerously close to a nearby tent. And the fish ran. It took some thirty to forty metres out my reel before I was able to rein in his first run. Now one began the task of putting that line back in which meant slowly inching my way towards where he'd stopped. My rubber chappals weren't helping any, and at one point the river bank was not negotiable and I had to move inland some 10 metres or so gingerly holding a taut line high over my head to avoid the bramble as I stumbled and tumbled over the rocks. At another place I had to cross a small stream where the rocks were slippery with slime. I slipped and splashed and banged my elbows and back and head through that but the rod was held high and the line remained tight. And then as I got closer he made a second run and then a third when he actually saw me at the end of the line. It was some forty minutes before I had him in some control and by the side. I was maybe 50 metres downstream from where I started. But there he was. A beauty. Scales gleaming golden. Over three feet long. 20 pounds at least. The guys came down to look at him. "Maybe we should eat him," suggested someone. "Tastes like rubber," I replied echoing my grandmother as we watched him slowly recover in a small side pool. And then in a flash and a flick of the tail fin he was gone, disappeared into the main river. And I stumbled my way back to camp. The bruises and scratches were beginning to hurt bad. It was hard to tell who won the bout. And from then on whenever I cast for Mahseer deep beneath lay a dread that an even bigger one might get on and then I'd be sorry. And playing the game just to beat up a small guy didn't gel. Gradually I cast less and less until I stopped casting altogether.

By this time my trekking interests had led me fairly deep into Himachal and there I discovered the sheer joy of walking or resting by the crystal clear glacial streams that the state is full of. And to my delight I found many of the streams teeming with trout that the British had seeded into these Indian rivers as early as 1860. And the Trout cooked easy and tasted wonderful. And so I got myself some appropriate gear, a telescopic 9 foot rod with a tiny reel with hair thin 8 pound line, and some of the tiniest little size 0 and 1 spinners and from then on a trip to Himachal was never complete without a brace of trout for dinner. It would take less than an hour to get four pan sized trout and then we'd spend the rest of the evening sitting by the stream watching the trout rise for flies off the surface. It intrigued me that these rising trout never took the spinners I cast, but feeding they were and I knew if I could match what they were feeding on, they could be caught. At first having little knowledge, I tied whatever flies onto my spinner lines but the `presentation' wasn't quite upto the mark and the trout would hardly look at them. The next step was obvious and I got myself a fly rod and line. Little did I suspect that this one act would open up a world of learning and research on fish and angling, an entirely new approach to something I thought I already knew a lot about.

Angling for trout with a fly is more than just about catching fish. In this regard it's somewhat like golf, putting that small ball into that small hole 200 yards away. It's not about why. It's not the easiest and most efficient way to catch trout either in the same way as there are easier ways to drop a ball into a hole. But it definitely is one of the most interesting. Some anglers would even regard it as a religion. And it is no new fad. The science of it has intrigued man since time began. About the earliest record is a description by Aelian, the Roman historian from the 2nd Century who wrote

"I have heard of a Macedonian way of catching fish, and it is this: between Berœa and Thessalonica runs a river called the Astræus, and in it there are fish with speckled skins;(trout are speckled) what the natives of the country call them you had better ask the Macedonians. These fish feed on a fly peculiar to the country, which hovers on the river."

He then goes on for a short while on the history of the insect and how inappropriate it is to use the fragile thing as bait and how this problem was solved by tying an artificial fly. He continued with

"They fasten red (crimson red) wool round a hook, and fix on to the wool two feathers which grow under a cock's wattles, and which in colour are like wax. Their rod is six feet long, and their line is the same length. Then they throw their snare, and the fish, attracted and maddened by the colour, comes straight at it, thinking from the pretty sight to get a dainty mouthful; when, however, it opens its jaws, it is caught by the hook and enjoys a bitter repast, a captive."
So there we have the earliest records of fly tying and fishing. The Trout and the insects they feed on have remained much the same over the years but the equipment has undergone a sea change in quality and functionality. The graphite rods of today are light and have a superb action and the lines are varied to handle all kinds of wind and river conditions. Modern fly tiers have access to hackle feathers from cockbirds genetically engineered to perfection for this purpose, and to a range of exotica such as seal's fur, hare's ears , squirrel tails, cul de canard(ask a frenchman what that is) and what not from the chain of fly shops all over. Research in Entomology ( I have my friend Angelica from Heidelberg Univ. to thank for her thesis on the river fauna of the streams of our area) ,a range of literature and informed instruction on the web are available fairly easily and widely. All this has led to a growing widespread interest in the sport and these days I meet more fly anglers from India and the rest of the world than ever before.

Traditionally the best known and classic form of fly fishing is with the dry fly. To do this an angler ties an imitation of what he sees the trout feed on and the fly floats on the surface, passing over the fish that will hopefully rise to bite it. Many anglers prefer this method because everything can be seen. He casts to a fish he sees rising, watches the fly float down the drift and can take in the moment the fish takes the fly. From then on it is upto him and how well he handles the situation. Expertise is everything. Fly fishing allows the fish a good chance to escape because as soon as a fish bites on a fly it realizes it is not food but a combination of fur and hair and foam and stuff and will spit it out. This ensures that a fish caught on a fly is almost invariable hooked just by the mouth and therefore can be released with the least damage back into the river. Many fly anglers also use barbless hooks as we mostly return fish to the river.
This is one of the specialities of a fly angler. Like a photographers he rarely takes away from nature. The demands of the sport take him deep into the micro nature of the streams environment, the food cycles in action and the participation of the surrounding wildlife in this life drama and therefore he is also the first to spot any symptoms of early environmental problems when he sees any link in the chain broken and so becomes an important part in the preservation of nature's special places.

The author, Christopher Mitra lives in Nagini, a village on the Tirthan stream in the Kullu of HImachal. He runs the Himalayan Trout House which offers accommodation and extensive courses on fly fishing from March to June and then again in September and October.He can be contacted at christophermitra@hotmail.com