1. Don't bother flyfishing until the leaves on an apple tree are the size of a mouse ear.
Take the above advice and you will miss the Quill Gordon hatch and a good part of the early caddis. That sage advise didn't work 50 years ago and it doesn't work now!
2. Trout need to eat a lot in the Winter to survive.
This would make perfect sense if trout were warm blooded BUT THEY ARE NOT. They are cold blooded which means that as the water temperature drops their metabolism slows down and they don't
need as many calories. They eat more at 60 degrees than at 40 degrees. One guy was so pissed off at me for exposing his flat earth theory that I had to ban him from this blog.
3. Online Guides To Rivers
I wrote the Millers Guide after accumulating over 20 years of knowledge on this river from top to bottom and I have no plans on tackling another river. That's why I was pleased to see a few years ago that someone had written an online guide to the Swift. As it turns out this writer started his Swift River Guide with the disclaimer and I paraphrase: " I have little experience fishing below Route 9". What kind of a Guide is that? I rest my case.
4. Bad Advice On Playing A Trout Part 1
I will paraphrase: Turn your drag totally off and when you get a hit point the rod at the trout and let him run until he has to stop and catch his breath. RIGHT, THAT WILL WORK!!! Let the trout go where it wants and it will go to any snag it will find. I knew a striper flyfisher who would do the same thing just to say that they 'ripped line from his reel". Flush this advice.
5. Bad Advice On Playing a Trout Part 2
"If the trout pulls to the right, you pull from the left and vice versa while always keeping the rod low to the water." Keeping the rod low to the water is a perfect way to allow the trout to run deep and wrap itself around something. I've seen this happen with people that I've guided who were taught this bogus advice on YouTube or paid good money to learn this at a fly fishing school.
It's best if you KEEP YOUR ROD UP!!! It will force the trout to stay off the bottom where it (and you) get into trouble with snags and it will force the trout to thrash on the surface where it will tire itself out quicker (being half in the water and half out of the water will do that to a trout).
Ken
11 comments:
Ken I like the one about the mouse ear! Great stuff! Chet
Chet,
Thank you!!
Ken
Positive conventional wisdom when apple trees bloom in the Merrimack valley sometime early as end of april or late as mothers day the stripers will be guaranteed in catchable numbers in the plum island area. Also in late may or early june if the apple trees are still in bloom in the Greenville maine moosehead lake area the lower roach river will be great fishing. And the black flies will still be a week to 10 days away. Answering your last question Yes good harvest year one 8 point 2 large does, all with bow. Plenty of protein and tying material. Looking for a warm day soon to fish the swift. Been putting time in parker and mill river in west newbury for searun browns and brookies but only a few large white perch to show. I heard the mousum in maine is giving up some fine 3 to 5 lb browns bring on spring
"Playing a fish" is what you do in order to land a fish.. and to land a fish, you have to control the fish. Exclusively pointing your rod up, left, or right while trying to land a fish doesn't really give you much control. You should pull the fish toward your net and away from snags.
tincup,
You did well with the bow!!!
Central/western Ma black flies are in attack by early May.
Fisherman,
We are talking about fly fishing, right? We don't see most of the snags/weeds in a river but they are usually near the bottom that's why I point the rod UP to get the fish near the surface and avoid trouble.
Ken
Ken,
Side pressure advice I had read did me in a couple of years ago on the Farmington. I am not a prolific fish catcher, but this particular day I had landed a few nice browns and was darned happy. Wading that river is hard for me though, so I was sitting on the bank taking a rest when I notice a big brown rising not 20 feet upstream of my position on the bank. The way it was rising I could gauge the size from dorsal fin to tail and this was a nice one.
Casting straight upstream I had some good drag free drifts, but didn't connect. Thinking I had put the trout down, I cast the stimulator a little further away from the bank as one last try. Son of a gun if the trout doesn't take and I am solidly connected. After a few head shakes it takes off across to the opposite bank taking line out faster than I had ever experienced. I worked it in within 20 feet of me and once again off to the races it goes this time downstream.
A few minutes later I have the upper hand, all the while keeping my rod tip high. The trout, I won't venture a guess at size, is coming in slowly but surely. At a bit of a stalemate I had heard side pressure will end the fight and that is what I tried being I don't want to over play fish. That ended the fight all right as after all that time of having the fish on the hook let go. I blame the side pressure for repositioning the barbless fly making for the release. No regrets though, that brown made for a great memory for me.
Sam
Sam,
I remember the trout I lost as much as the ones I put in the net!
If I can get that trout to slash away on the surface I know I'll win the fight in short order. Basically I don't want that trout to do what it wants.
Ken
"I don't want that trout to do what it wants..." Well said.
I've not heard the mouse ear one, but man, that would lead to missing out on a lot of fly fishing wouldnt it?
You have me curious on the fish landing one Ken. So I ask for clarification. My sense has always been you work the fish some what opposite of what it wants to do, and in your favor. IE, Fish wants to go down, you err to up. Fish wants to run left, you err right. Fish wants to jump, in a boat I've stuck the rod straight down in the water to prevent that... cant do that fly fishing so I tend to quickly go to the side and sometimes into the water, again, trying to go opposite the fish.
If the fish is running hard, I let the drag or palm pressure do the job, and I dont try to gain line until the fish can be moved.
(I tend to err heavier tippet wise than many as well to be able to put a an end to things a bit sooner).
Am I crazy? Should I just keep pressure up all the time, or should/can rod action relate to fish behavior during the fight?
Frankly, I'm sure the "stick the rod in the water" thing came from my wannabe a pro bass fisherman for a living days in grade/middle school, but overall I dont remember ever being taught or reaally even reading this stuff... it's just what I do at this point. I'm sure I read it some where, so I'm curious about my approach and would love to see what the "forum" has to say so I can improve!
Thanks folks!
Hibernation,
Gary gets my point: don't let the trout do what it wants. Making it move to the surface instead of sounding deep where it will hang up or use the current to its advantage. Fishing from a boat is a different situation. All my advice is for the wading situation.
I like your point on heavier tippet. We tend to go too light. As I've written in the past: I know guys who use 5X with wide eyed size 28 hooks to help land the fish and they still get trout to strike their flies.
I love this sport and the discussions it generate!
Ken
Gotcha Ken. So it's work the fish away from danger/where it "wants" to go. Thus opposite pressure may be needed, but likely still involves upward angles to some degree while wading.
Cool! Thanks!
Totally on the tippet!
Post a Comment