Grasping Straws... The New Hero

Sitting at home on a Saturday, not fishing, tracking through the prolific cyber-fly world of blogs, forums, and pod cast, I'm tempted to be an anthropologist of fly casters.  The culture of fly fishing has changed tremendously in the last 15 years, and the resulting ripple effects of the "new grass" strain of fly fishers in intriguing.

Fly fishers fall into one of two mindsets.  1): Those that have life, and fishing supplements their quality of life; and 2): Those that seek life through the fly, and lust for ultimate experiential enlightement.  In my 25 plus years of fly fishing, group 2 has swollen in size under the rain of digital technology.

Let's call group 2, the "Tilley Haters." Pushing the boundaries of conventional fly fishing, this fish lusting punk culture of fly fishers hates khaki, Orvis, hero shots, and tilley hats (really, I've never seen a revolt inciting abundance of Tilley hats on the stream, and I'm sure those big brims work better in the rain than the mesh back ball caps so many of us don, but whatev).  The answer to the smiling hero shot of that trophy torpedo is a the "new hero" shot; displaying that same fish, while the angler's face hidden (with a non-tilley hat of course), blocking a presumably non-smiling mug.  Intense. Serious. Worship like.  Some of this sect are guides, some are trout bums, some are shop owners, some are college kids, some are husbands and fathers.  Most live to fish. Most seem generally pissed. No trophy will ever satisfy. These guys (gals aren't really welcomed in their crass, porn filled, cyber locker rooms) are doing some of the best cutting edge fly design, photography, and fishing. We all benefit from their drive. They are driven by a need to be fulfilled by the ultimate fishing lifestyle, but are too often left thirsting for the next dose of finned heroin to feel momentarily satisfied, grasping at straws. These folks can be skeptical, and weary of outsiders as they protect their secrets. Bitter and booze medicated.  Classic Dicken's, the best of times and the worst of times.

The Hero

The new hero

 Group A seems more diverse. We will call this bunch the Juvies.  These seem to find a kid like wonder to chasing fish, being outside, and making flies in place of tree houses and derby racers of youth.  Fishing is a enhancement to life rather than the way of life.  This group contains weekend warriors, trout bums, people who hate Tilley hats, and people who love their brimmed Filson's. Juvies won't freak if their face is in a photo, but they probably appreciate the fish shot more that the mug shot. Guides, shop owners, business men, college kids, family men, and loners can be Juvies.  Though some may hang their head after a busted fishing trip, few will have an unsuccessful fly venture impact their work, family, friends, and happiness.  Fishing is for kicks, after all (yes, i'm obviously bias).  The truly passionate in this group are about redemption.  Stream redemption, damn destruction, taking a kid fishing, or just passing on knowledge and legend to the current generation.
We need innovators who aren't haters.  Don't be a horny head.

Even since I wrote this article in 2011, there has been a subtle swing.  Orvis has rebranded themselves to engage with the young, hipster fly fisher, and other cultural shifts seem to be happening in this currently diverse sub-culture. (Amended 5/6/14)

Georgia Surprise

I'm an hour North of ATL with work for the weekend.  I've been here a number of times before, and have wondered if the little stream here has trout in it. I've seen plenty of bear, deer, and turker before, so it does feel wild even though its a stones through from a housing develoment. I had low expectations for the stream because I have spent some days down here in the summer melting under the sun. They have bermuda grass for crying out loud.  I threw my gear in the car just in case I had time to fish.



I caught this guy in the first 5 minutes, and my interest was peaked.

 Most runs and holes that looked really fishy held fish. I was catching and hooking fish very similiar to the one pictured. Then I came to this hole and got two surprises.

I caught a slightly larger fish in this run that looked like a cut bow.  It looked like a rainbow with the typical cutt throat marks under its mouth. I have no explanation for that fish.  The marks were subtle, but they were there.  It was raining, and I only had my phone as a camera, so i didn't get a picture.  A few cast later, my rod doubled over, and I had a fish hooked that appeared to be around 14 inches.  It jumped and spit my hook. I never felt like I had a good hook set.  It was one of those "Do I have a fish on...yeah I do" hook sets.

I came back to that same hole later, with hopes of hooking that 14 incher again.  Since the rain subsided, I snapped the pic of the hole, and hoped for a good fish picture to follow.  I ran a couple of nymph combos through with no luck.  I then tied on a streamer that consists of only lead eyes and gold and copper flash-a-bou. I got a couple of short strikes and saw the fish chasing it. I repositioned above the hole to let my streamer dangle in the current, and got an eat, and a hook up!  The fish quickly wrapped me around a log and spit the hook again. Freakin' bandit.

I landed 5 or six in a couple of hours and missed more. All rainbows.  I'm stoked to do more exploring and fishing next time I'm down here.  

Georgia surprised me today

Winter Fish

Today was the first real winter fishing I have done this year since we had such a mild December.  My buddy Shem and I headed to the Davidson and at 10:30 it was 30 degrees, the river was at 150cfs, and it was cloudy. Shem landed the first fish in less than 20 minutes despite being his first time on the infamous Davidson River.

Red midge strikes again

The fishing was hot for the next 30 minutes, but slowed after that. I get fired up about winter trout fishing, and today it felt great to be out.  

Enjoy the photos below (despite the smudge on the lens).

I teased Shem with succulent stories of 12 bones BBQ for our post fishing grub...

sadly, it was closed.

12 Bones alternative

The Circle of Life...or at Least Road Kill

On a bike ride today I spotted about a 100 foxy red minnows. However, they were in pretty raw form.

I pedaled over to a friends house, bummed a ride and some pruning shears, and did a little pruning.

Wearing full spandex, standing in the near dark over a dead fox on the side of the road drew a lot of looks as cars passed by.  My first assumption was that they were looking at my hot bod, but further analysis determined that most people had never seen a man in spandex cutting body parts off of road kill with pruning shears.  Now I just hope this fox died from the presumable vehicle impact and not rabies.

my prize

Below you will find the finished product that I hope will result in a willing trout, smallie, or redfish.



Foxy Red Minnow

Here is an instructional video from Kevin Howell at DRO for tying up the foxy red minnow.



Winter Go To Nymph

One of my favorite nymphs to fish in the winter is a Red Fox Squirrel nymph.  It can imitate a stonefly and it just plain looks buggy. The ones I have tried to tie have always looked crappy until my recent instruction. After learning to use a dubbing loop, I was able to get that shaggy look this pattern is known for. You can fish them as big as 6, and I have never fished them smaller than a 16 but I'm sure an 18 would catch fish. The ones pictured are 10's.

Rubber legs and beads are optional. Here is the recipe

Hook: 2x-3x long nymph hook
Thread: Black
Weight; Bead and or lead
Tail: Red fox squirrel back fur
Rib: Gold wire
Abdomen: Red fox squirrel belly fur and antron dubbing
Thorax: Red fox squirrel back fur and antron dubbing
Legs: Soft brown saddle hackle (optional rubber legs)


Screw up!
The light, or belly fur dubbing, is the abdomen and the darker dubbing the thorax.  I reversed them on this fly.  We will see if it makes a difference.

Snow Day- Gink and Gasoline

One of the best fly reads I have ever read. Maybe because it's in Southern Appalachia. Read it on Gink and Gasoline.

December 31 Wet Wade

Wednesday the 21st of December I made a trip to fish and left my Fishpond Guide pack at home with all my gear. As I confidently packed my rod, boots, camera, pack, and newly tied flies Saturday, vowing not to make the same mistake, I arrived at the river an hour later to discover I left my waders at home.  In december.  Time to roll the pants into knickers, slip into the river, and turn the dogs into concrete.

Check out my Huck Finn pants

My buddy Heath grabbed some nice pics along the way

As long as we were in the sun, the fishing was good on this little wild stream. 

great par marks is this fish

This was the "big" fish of the day

When the stream turned behind the north slope and the water had been shaded all day, the fishing became tougher. I caught 7 in sun warmed water even though time was split with two hours in each scenario.

My feet were concrete after wet wading for four hours.  The temp was in the upper 50's in the sun, and in the 40's in the shade.  It was warm for late January, but not "leave your waders at home" weather. I could see my breath when the sun was hidden behind the mountain.  

I fished a Bill's Provider and a black Copper John, catching fish on a about a 3:2 ratio Provider to Copper John. It was a great way to spend the last afternoon of the year.  Later 2011.