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Saturday, February 21, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
The River of Rivers
On January 8th the area saw some very above normal temperatures, so Randy, Tom and Brian took advantage of the situation and headed for the South Fork for a day away from the tying bench. The thermometer read 45 degrees when the boat hit the water and it made for a very comfortable day on the river. The boys floated the lower end of the river from Twin Bridges to Lorenzo. River access was quite difficult and almost impossible. All the boat ramps are covered with snow and nearly impassable. The trick was to find an alternative location to access the river.
With that out of the way the boys were off and fishing. For an early season trip it was quite successfully. The only flies fished were streamers and the fish were sure on them. Trading off rowing duties every two fish landed the boat looked a little like a game of musical chairs.
By the end of the day the guys had each traded seats 19 times. If you do the math, that is 38 fish per fisherman and 114 fish for the boat! Fishing started at 10:30 am and we finished fishing at 4:30. With a half an hour lunch break that makes 5 and 1/2 hours of fishing which comes out to over 20 fish per hour.
That is great fishing. This is the kind of fishing that the South Fork offers. There is no other river in the world that can boast the kind of consistent fly fishing that this beautiful river can.
If you are looking for that great secret river that has fishing like existed 100 years ago, look no further. The South Fork of the Snake is the river of rivers
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tips to Immediately Improve Your Fly Casting
Eyes forward - Quarterbacks, pitchers and golfers don't watch their backswing. You shouldn't be watching your backcast. Keep your eyes forward and watch the spot where you want your fly to land.
Limp wrist = limp cast - Nothing takes the power out of your cast like bending your wrist. Keep it stiff to get longer more accurate casts.
Fools rush in - Hesitate at the top of your cast. You have to wait for the line to load.
Be the fly danny - Different weights and sizes of flies call for different casting methods. Casting big, heavy flies requires a longer hesitation at the top of your cast. Very heavy flies like weighted streamers, requires a pause that is felt by the jerk of the fly, then go forward. Lightweight flies can be cast with less hesitation. Cast the fly you have on.
Whose line is it anyway - Line management is key. Keep some extra line off your reel at your feet. When lifting your line off the water, hold the line firmly in your non-casting hand. Casting a short distance with long line is poor practice in most instances. If you want to shorten your cast, strip the line in before casting. Lets say on one cast you land on the bank. Strip line in before casting again. Casting the same length line again will just catch the bank again. When trying to lengthen your cast, strip line off your reel before you begin casting. Stripping line off your reel a foot at a time while false casting, wastes time and energy.
Two lovers in the moonlight cast one shadow - You should limit your false casts to one too. One false cast is plenty to get your fly the distance needed. It also means your fly is in the water more, and that is where the fish live.
Snap to it - Start slowly lifting your line off the water, then speed up with a snap to the top of your cast. Make the stop at 10 to 12 o'clock very firm. After a hesitation, bring the rod forward.
Limp wrist = limp cast - Nothing takes the power out of your cast like bending your wrist. Keep it stiff to get longer more accurate casts.
Fools rush in - Hesitate at the top of your cast. You have to wait for the line to load.
Be the fly danny - Different weights and sizes of flies call for different casting methods. Casting big, heavy flies requires a longer hesitation at the top of your cast. Very heavy flies like weighted streamers, requires a pause that is felt by the jerk of the fly, then go forward. Lightweight flies can be cast with less hesitation. Cast the fly you have on.
Whose line is it anyway - Line management is key. Keep some extra line off your reel at your feet. When lifting your line off the water, hold the line firmly in your non-casting hand. Casting a short distance with long line is poor practice in most instances. If you want to shorten your cast, strip the line in before casting. Lets say on one cast you land on the bank. Strip line in before casting again. Casting the same length line again will just catch the bank again. When trying to lengthen your cast, strip line off your reel before you begin casting. Stripping line off your reel a foot at a time while false casting, wastes time and energy.
Two lovers in the moonlight cast one shadow - You should limit your false casts to one too. One false cast is plenty to get your fly the distance needed. It also means your fly is in the water more, and that is where the fish live.
Snap to it - Start slowly lifting your line off the water, then speed up with a snap to the top of your cast. Make the stop at 10 to 12 o'clock very firm. After a hesitation, bring the rod forward.
Monday, December 15, 2008
10 Fly Fishing Equipment Terms You Need to Know
1. rod - Yea, its not called a pole. Don't call it a pole. A dead give away you need some help.
2. guide - Not only is this a guy that usually can get you into loads of fish, it is the shiny metal loops that hold your line to your rod. Every rod has between 8 and 10 guides. You should run your line through them prior to tying on your fly. If you do it the other way, this list isn't going to help you. Stop reading now and go golfing.
3. ferrule - These are the joints where the pieces of a rod are put together. A quick tip on ferrules: when putting your rod together, place the guides (described above) at a 90 degree angle to each other. Don't make the connection between the pieces to tight yet. Then when you have them at a 90, twist them straight and at the same time make them tight. What does this do? Well, it will drastically reduce the amount of times your rod comes apart, and reduce the amount of times you nearly go swimming for a piece of your rod.
4. butt - This is the end of the rod near the reel. And some rods have some very nice ones at that, including fighting butts that are longer than normal and even have a bit of padding to rest on your hip for fighting the lunkers.
5. reel - Most reels are more like "man jewelry". They look cool and are expensive. For trout, you don't need an expensive reel just to hold your line. Most fish you fight you can just strip your line by hand. On the fish you need to reel in, most reels will work, even the less expensive ones.
6. reel seat - The reel connects to the rod at the reel seat using a type of slide and washer that tightens with a threaded twist. Make sure your reel is not on backwards. The line should come off the reel on the bottom, not the top.
7. backing - Your last hope at getting a tough and fast fish to the net, is the backing. This ties to the reel and the fly line. It does not float and is not really all that technical. It is fancy kite string coming in 20 and 30 pound strength made of dacron. Usually you will have about 100 yards of backing on a reel.
8. line - Your fly line makes casting your fly possible. Usually brightly colored, it is easy to see on the water. For most types of fly fishing you will use a floating line. Each line has specific characteristics. Most fly lines you will use will be a weight forward. This makes casting easy. Each line is designed by a weight system. This weight system is used with rods also. You match a line weight with a rod weight. 6 weight lines go with a 6 weight rods, and so forth. Lines are 90 to 100 feet long.
9. leader - A leader consists of clear plastic material that attaches to your fly line on one end and the fly on the other. The leader will be tapered, being thick at the butt section that connects to the fly line, and thin at the fly. This allows the leader to be strong. It also makes it difficult for fish to see.
10. tippet - This is used to add length to your leader. Over the course of a day you will have to change flies to match what the fish are eating. You will lose flies in trees and fish. This will eventually make your leader too short for fishing. Tippet is then tied to the leader to add length . It is also used to keep the leader tapered down to a small size to hide it from the fish. Both tippets and leaders come in different lengths and diameters based on strength, for example, 3x diameter tippet is usually 8 pound strength.
2. guide - Not only is this a guy that usually can get you into loads of fish, it is the shiny metal loops that hold your line to your rod. Every rod has between 8 and 10 guides. You should run your line through them prior to tying on your fly. If you do it the other way, this list isn't going to help you. Stop reading now and go golfing.
3. ferrule - These are the joints where the pieces of a rod are put together. A quick tip on ferrules: when putting your rod together, place the guides (described above) at a 90 degree angle to each other. Don't make the connection between the pieces to tight yet. Then when you have them at a 90, twist them straight and at the same time make them tight. What does this do? Well, it will drastically reduce the amount of times your rod comes apart, and reduce the amount of times you nearly go swimming for a piece of your rod.
4. butt - This is the end of the rod near the reel. And some rods have some very nice ones at that, including fighting butts that are longer than normal and even have a bit of padding to rest on your hip for fighting the lunkers.
5. reel - Most reels are more like "man jewelry". They look cool and are expensive. For trout, you don't need an expensive reel just to hold your line. Most fish you fight you can just strip your line by hand. On the fish you need to reel in, most reels will work, even the less expensive ones.
6. reel seat - The reel connects to the rod at the reel seat using a type of slide and washer that tightens with a threaded twist. Make sure your reel is not on backwards. The line should come off the reel on the bottom, not the top.
7. backing - Your last hope at getting a tough and fast fish to the net, is the backing. This ties to the reel and the fly line. It does not float and is not really all that technical. It is fancy kite string coming in 20 and 30 pound strength made of dacron. Usually you will have about 100 yards of backing on a reel.
8. line - Your fly line makes casting your fly possible. Usually brightly colored, it is easy to see on the water. For most types of fly fishing you will use a floating line. Each line has specific characteristics. Most fly lines you will use will be a weight forward. This makes casting easy. Each line is designed by a weight system. This weight system is used with rods also. You match a line weight with a rod weight. 6 weight lines go with a 6 weight rods, and so forth. Lines are 90 to 100 feet long.
9. leader - A leader consists of clear plastic material that attaches to your fly line on one end and the fly on the other. The leader will be tapered, being thick at the butt section that connects to the fly line, and thin at the fly. This allows the leader to be strong. It also makes it difficult for fish to see.
10. tippet - This is used to add length to your leader. Over the course of a day you will have to change flies to match what the fish are eating. You will lose flies in trees and fish. This will eventually make your leader too short for fishing. Tippet is then tied to the leader to add length . It is also used to keep the leader tapered down to a small size to hide it from the fish. Both tippets and leaders come in different lengths and diameters based on strength, for example, 3x diameter tippet is usually 8 pound strength.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Streamer Fishing Basics
Streamer fishing is a tried and true method for catching trout. While fishing dry flies remains the most exciting method of fly fishing, fall and winter fishing in the Rocky Mountains is usually limited to nymphs and streamers. While both of these other methods are productive given the situation and water type, fishing with streamers is usually more enjoyable than nymph fishing. There is real excitement when you cast your streamer in a great looking spot, strip your bug through it and...Wham! Feeling a fish hit your streamer and then bringing him in is a real rush.
Unfortunately for most fisherman using streamers is "the last resort". Many fishermen only employ streamers when nothing else seems to be working and they are throwing in the towel. Many more fishermen also believe that the pattern or color of the streamer is of no real consequence. "Any black or yellow streamer will do." What other time when you are fishing does the fly pattern not really matter as long as it is a certain color? None, and it does not apply to streamers either. Sure you may be able to catch a few on any streamer, however, finding the killer one is the key. We all know how picky trout can be. At times it seems they are truly smarter than we are. Finding the correct streamer for any given day or river will bring you success. Just throwing any streamer on as long as it is black will not. You should work just as hard to find the best streamer the trout want to eat as you would in matching a hatch when trying to catch trout on dry flies. There will be times when fishing to rising trout you will try a dozen different patterns trying to match one or two bugs the fish are keyed into. You will have to do the same trial and error with streamers. Really experiment and find one that the fish can't live without. You will know once you have found the one the fish want.
Many feel intimidated by the streamer. They can be difficult to cast and you can't see the fly in the water. With dry flies you get to see the action at the surface and nothing can beat the visual excitement. With nymphs you are watching an indicator, or bobber. So called sophisticated people cringe calling an indicator a bobber, but that is what they are, bobbers. Streamer fishing is all about feel. You will feel the trout hit the streamer. Sometimes you will even see him hit the streamer if the light is right. Occasionally the trout will take your streamer the second it hits the water right at the surface. Feeling the trout hit your streamer is a close second to seeing the fish strike a dry, and is far more fun than watching a bobber.
Choosing the correct pattern just takes practice. There are some guidelines to help you narrow the search, however. When fishing in off-color water you are better off using a dark fly. Some rivers in the west have large stonefly nymphs that begin moving to shore in the spring. Using a dark fly in either black or browns is a good bet. As you experiment and learn you will develop a method for picking your best flies.
Finding the best streamer water takes practice. There are specific things to look for. Feeding fish are a great target. Yes, rising trout. In the colder months you will often still see rising trout. Usually they are feeding on midges. You could take the time to switch over to a dry or you can keep using the streamer. Most rising trout have no problem taking a streamer. Put the right streamer in front of them while they are feeding and they rarely turn it down. Water that is best suited to streamer fishing in the winter months is different water that you will normally find trout in the summer. This water is the soft edges or insides of bends of the river. The slower water if preferred by the fish. This water will normally be shallower as well. Trout love shelves and drop-offs. Key in on these types of water. Many midges will congregate these areas too. Trout will pod up in larger groups in the winter months. When you find a fish, keep fishing that area until you feel you have caught, or scared, all the trout in that spot.
When fishing a streamer from a drift boat there are certain things to consider. The person rowing the boat must keep the boat going slower than the current. If they can't keep the boat going slow, you will be wasting your time with a streamer. You have to be going slower than the river. This is important because the streamer has to be pulled through the current, not floating with it. This is true even if you are dead drifting the streamer. If the boat is going slow, the streamer will still pull through the current when dead drifting. I can't stress enough the importance of drifting slow. Angle your cast at about 45 degrees or an even steeper downstream angle from the boat. There are situations where this is not critical, however it holds true for most. One such instance is if you are fishing a very slow backwater or still water, there is no real current to cross at 45 degrees. Slow strips in lengths of 10 inches give the best speed and look to your fly. Dead drift is also a very effective presentation. You must adjust your stripping speed to the water speed and your boat speed. If the boat is going fast or the water is very fast you will have to strip faster to keep up. Fishing water that may be only inches deep may require you to strip fast, however if you are constantly fishing very shallow water it is best to adjust the weight of your fly to compensate for the water depth. This will allow you to fish the streamer at a slower speed.
While all sizes of fish will take a streamer, you have a better chance of catching a large fish using streamers than other methods. Large fish are aggressive toward perceived threats and invaders to their territory. They also eat more small fish and sculpin, where small fish mostly feed on insects exclusively. Another benefit to fishing streamers over nymphs is whitefish almost never take streamers. A big plus.
When you plan your next outing keep in mind and prepare for the opportunity to fish with streamers. They will challenge you at first You may feel like you should give it up if you don't have success right away. Stick with it and try many different patterns. You will be rewarded for your efforts.
Unfortunately for most fisherman using streamers is "the last resort". Many fishermen only employ streamers when nothing else seems to be working and they are throwing in the towel. Many more fishermen also believe that the pattern or color of the streamer is of no real consequence. "Any black or yellow streamer will do." What other time when you are fishing does the fly pattern not really matter as long as it is a certain color? None, and it does not apply to streamers either. Sure you may be able to catch a few on any streamer, however, finding the killer one is the key. We all know how picky trout can be. At times it seems they are truly smarter than we are. Finding the correct streamer for any given day or river will bring you success. Just throwing any streamer on as long as it is black will not. You should work just as hard to find the best streamer the trout want to eat as you would in matching a hatch when trying to catch trout on dry flies. There will be times when fishing to rising trout you will try a dozen different patterns trying to match one or two bugs the fish are keyed into. You will have to do the same trial and error with streamers. Really experiment and find one that the fish can't live without. You will know once you have found the one the fish want.
Many feel intimidated by the streamer. They can be difficult to cast and you can't see the fly in the water. With dry flies you get to see the action at the surface and nothing can beat the visual excitement. With nymphs you are watching an indicator, or bobber. So called sophisticated people cringe calling an indicator a bobber, but that is what they are, bobbers. Streamer fishing is all about feel. You will feel the trout hit the streamer. Sometimes you will even see him hit the streamer if the light is right. Occasionally the trout will take your streamer the second it hits the water right at the surface. Feeling the trout hit your streamer is a close second to seeing the fish strike a dry, and is far more fun than watching a bobber.
Choosing the correct pattern just takes practice. There are some guidelines to help you narrow the search, however. When fishing in off-color water you are better off using a dark fly. Some rivers in the west have large stonefly nymphs that begin moving to shore in the spring. Using a dark fly in either black or browns is a good bet. As you experiment and learn you will develop a method for picking your best flies.
Finding the best streamer water takes practice. There are specific things to look for. Feeding fish are a great target. Yes, rising trout. In the colder months you will often still see rising trout. Usually they are feeding on midges. You could take the time to switch over to a dry or you can keep using the streamer. Most rising trout have no problem taking a streamer. Put the right streamer in front of them while they are feeding and they rarely turn it down. Water that is best suited to streamer fishing in the winter months is different water that you will normally find trout in the summer. This water is the soft edges or insides of bends of the river. The slower water if preferred by the fish. This water will normally be shallower as well. Trout love shelves and drop-offs. Key in on these types of water. Many midges will congregate these areas too. Trout will pod up in larger groups in the winter months. When you find a fish, keep fishing that area until you feel you have caught, or scared, all the trout in that spot.
When fishing a streamer from a drift boat there are certain things to consider. The person rowing the boat must keep the boat going slower than the current. If they can't keep the boat going slow, you will be wasting your time with a streamer. You have to be going slower than the river. This is important because the streamer has to be pulled through the current, not floating with it. This is true even if you are dead drifting the streamer. If the boat is going slow, the streamer will still pull through the current when dead drifting. I can't stress enough the importance of drifting slow. Angle your cast at about 45 degrees or an even steeper downstream angle from the boat. There are situations where this is not critical, however it holds true for most. One such instance is if you are fishing a very slow backwater or still water, there is no real current to cross at 45 degrees. Slow strips in lengths of 10 inches give the best speed and look to your fly. Dead drift is also a very effective presentation. You must adjust your stripping speed to the water speed and your boat speed. If the boat is going fast or the water is very fast you will have to strip faster to keep up. Fishing water that may be only inches deep may require you to strip fast, however if you are constantly fishing very shallow water it is best to adjust the weight of your fly to compensate for the water depth. This will allow you to fish the streamer at a slower speed.
While all sizes of fish will take a streamer, you have a better chance of catching a large fish using streamers than other methods. Large fish are aggressive toward perceived threats and invaders to their territory. They also eat more small fish and sculpin, where small fish mostly feed on insects exclusively. Another benefit to fishing streamers over nymphs is whitefish almost never take streamers. A big plus.
When you plan your next outing keep in mind and prepare for the opportunity to fish with streamers. They will challenge you at first You may feel like you should give it up if you don't have success right away. Stick with it and try many different patterns. You will be rewarded for your efforts.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
New Facebook Page
We have just added a Facebook page for Teton Valley Lodge. You can join as a fan and upload photos and videos. You can tag these photos with you or your friends. You can also join or create discussions and give reviews.
TVL Facebook Page
TVL Facebook Page
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
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