American Angler May_June 2018

THE MAGIC OF KUSTICH’S SINK-TIP SWING ®

THE FLY FISHING AUTHORITY

Bass, Muskie Carp, & Pike An insider’s guide to one of the best DIY freshwater fisheries in North America.

HOW TO:

Negotiate Tricky Drifts Match New England’s Nontypical Hatches Snare Suspended Trout

24

A Thousand Possibilities

30

The Sink Tip Swing

36

CLOSER LOOK

38

BY RYAN SPARKS A DIY fly angler’s smorgasbord waits in the unimaginably clear, fertile, and historic waters of the Saint Lawrence.

BY RICK KUSTICH If you’re not capitalizing on a fish’s instinctual triggers, you’re overlooking opportunities and missing out on a lot of fun.

Siberian Taimen

BY PHIL MONAHAN The largest of all salmonids, these voracious predators are sometimes called river wolves, and anglers travel great distances to pit their skills against such a fearsome quarry.

Mastering Technical Drifts

BY JASON RANDALL Whether you’re fishing dry flies or nymphs, not every presentation is easy, but you can gain an edge with just a few easy adjustments.

44

Nontypical Northeast Hatches

50

Caught in the Middle

62

BY ROBERT STREETER Big trout looking for an early-season meal aren’t always on the hunt for mayflies, caddis, and stones.

BY PHIL TEREYLA How to target trout feeding below the water’s surface but above the streambed.

EXPEDITIONS

Xcalak

BY NICK ROBERTS & PATRICK WILLIAMS Mixing bonefish, permit, and homemade bourbon on the Mexican Caribbean.

Features MAY/JUNE 2018 VOLUME 41 / ISSUE 3 www.americanangler.com

A. J. SWENTOSKY

COVER: Guide James Hughes with a huge smallmouth bass on Michigan’s Muskegon River. Photography by Brian Grossenbacher.

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 1

4 Editor’s Page BY BEN ROMANS 8 Headwaters 18 Profile BY GREG ROBINSON 22 Sweet Spot PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK WILLIAMS 56 Natural Reflections BY TED FAUCEGLIA 58 Fly Tyer® BY SCOTT SANCHEZ 72 Waterlines BY NOAH DAVIS

Departments BRIAN GROSSENBACHER

2 I AMERICAN ANGLER

NAUTILUS PRO GUIDE DATA SHEET

Jose David Bravo Fly fisherman from Colombia, a gifted place to live and BIO: fish! Jungles and flats is all I need. Two world records on the books and many places in my bucket list.

TARGET SPECIES: Peacocks, Vampire Fish, Permit, Bonefish, GTs, and many more GUIDED ANGLERS TO: Giant peacocks and Payaras deep in the Colombian jungles.

Nitro Z-17 BOAT: A variation of the Non Slip Mono Loop FAVORITE KNOT: Mataven River FAVORITE RIVER: Tailing Bonefish FAVORITE TYPE OF FISHING: N V-G 9/10, it ’s just perfect. Beautiful, FAVORITE NAUTILUS REEL: light, strong and the drag has the sensitivity that I need.

Payara Vampire Fish FAVORITE FISH: FAVORITE SAYING: Monkeys don ’ t eat flies dude, you have to put it in the water Not the biggest ever, but I may BIGGEST FISH EVER LOST: have lost a world record Bonefish at New Caledonia Poivre Island DREAM DESTINATION: Capt. Shane Smith, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO GUIDE ONE DAY?: in the Colombian jungles. We will have fun!

Trying to catch a world record on 8 lb.

AND ONE TIME A CLIENT: tippet, my client lost more than 20 flies and I had to take out my materials and tie some right there in the boat and in the middle of a jungle river.

NAME:

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EDITOR’S PAGE I

BY BEN ROMANS

Homegrown Adventure Some of the greatest escapes are in our backyard.

T

here’s a raccoon trapped inside my battered Igloo cooler. Everyone in camp can hear it hissing, clawing, and scraping at the lid moments before popping it open and making a beeline for the nearest tree, where it sits Islands. (See “A Thousand Possibilities” on page 24.) My friends Ben Hoffman and Kory Enck turned me on to the area after I relocated to Central Pennsylvania. We rendezvoused with my brother and father, slept in a wall tent, and caught all sorts of game fish on the fly. My father and a small Zonker put a hurt on the perch population, and he fried some fillets for dinner.

When Kory commented on the meal’s sweet taste, Dad admitted to mistakenly grabbing powdered sugar instead of flour in his haste to pack, but decided to bread the meal into a dentist’s nightmare anyway.

We ventured out in my great-grandfather’s 1963 modified V. Ben and Kory rented a slightly faster vessel. Somehow, someway, we passed them on a final race back to the marina. Turns out they forgot to pull their anchor. When the prop finally sliced the rope, the boat shot up on wake and nearly rolled Ben from the bow into the stern. The marina charged them a $25 moron tax to replace the lost

BEN ROMANS

perched like a glaring vulture. I can see its yellow, reflective eyes glowing in my flashlight beam. My great-grandmother, all 90-some-odd years of her, is watching from the other side of the campfire, and she can’t stop laughing.

My sister thought of the ruse merely as entertainment during one of many camping trips years ago, replete with siblings, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, to Wellesley Island, in the heart of the Saint Lawrence thoroughfare. We lost a fair number of marshmallows to a clan of trash pandas, so I staged a trail of white gelatin squares leading into a makeshift snare. She waited near the campfire, holding a cord trigger tagged to the lid’s front latch. Once we caged the critter, we suddenly realized we didn’t have a release plan, so watching it break free from imprisonment on its own was both comical and a relief.

The “great marshmallow raccoon encounter” is just one memory from dozens of days spent around New York’s Thousand

concrete and tether.

From that visit on, I was hooked on the Saint Lawrence’s water and fish. The river is unimaginably clear, and the chance to sight-cast to bass and pike, or hunt for the elusive muskie, is tough to beat.

I’ve revisited the Thousand Islands several times, and always returned home with new memories. My wife and I slept on the ground one cold May weekend until a wicked thunderstorm forced us into the car and flooded our boat. Near Eel Bay, my first muskie encounter ended in brokenline heartache. During a supply run, a red fox followed my truck for miles from a gas station to our tent, and I have no idea why.

And, oh, how I cowered like a six-year-old in the boat when Dad dropped an F-bomb in anger after a massive pike made off with his deer-hair slider.

There’s only one Thousand Islands, and yet there are hundreds of escapes like it stretched across every continent. Bucket lists and aspirations of New Zealand, Alaska, Chile, or some other far corner of the earth are invaluable—sometimes those dreams help us make it through one more day. But until visions become reality, fill up the gas tank, stock the cooler, and hit the road. It’s fishing season. Adventure waits beneath your nose, and there’s no better time to make the most of it.

4 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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The Name Says it All! This is the one to have on your tying bench. The ever popular and versatile 4” model is designed for small, medium and large flies. Excellent for natural and synthetic materials.

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The Multi-Tasker The most versatile clamp we make handles all streamside tasks brilliantly. Features a serrated scissor for cutting tippet/leader material or trimming flies, a hook eye cleaning pin-in-shank, and a straight edge screwdriver for streamside reel and boat repair. Closest item we make to a multi-tool.

The Classic Offered in the ever popular 5” model. Easily handles all your streamside tasks like hook removal, barb crushing, and closing shot.

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This versatile tool features a serrated scissor mounted behind the jaws for cutting tippet/leader material, trimming flies streamside or opening that pesky bag of jerky. Comes with hook eye cleaning pin in jaw, dual self-opening springs and a fullswivel coiled bungee lanyard. Make it your main squeeze!

XBC NIPPERS 2”; textured rubber grips; super sharp blades; hook eye cleaning pin

Always Hanging Around One of the most heavily used and critical tools for your vest, pack or bag.

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Metal: 400 Japanese stainless steel.

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Ben Romans

Tied in Maine Fished Everywhere

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AMERICAN ANGLER® (ISSN 1055-6737) (USPS 451-070) is published bimonthly by MCC Magazines, LLC, 735 Broad St., Augusta, GA 30901. Editorial Offices: 643 Broad St., Augusta, GA 30901. For subscription inquiries, call 1-800-877-5305.

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6 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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Where Where you you fish, fish, Bonefish Bonefish and and Tarpon Tarpon Trust Trust is is at at work. work.

Conserving habitat and protecting fisheries is Conserving habitat is of what we’re all about,and so protecting please join fisheries our network what we’re all about, so please join our network of anglers and sportsmen just like you. anglers and sportsmen just like you.

What we do: What we do: - Science for conservation -- Science conservation Habitat for conservation and restoration -- Habitat conservation and restoration Spawning location protection -- Spawning location protection Angler education - Angler education

Florida Keys – Working with anglers / guides to protect and improve fisheries for the future Florida Keys – Working with anglers / guides to protect and improve fisheries for the future Bahamas – Flats and mangrove conservation Bahamas – Flats and mangrove conservation Project Permit – Population study, what, when, how they tick Project Permit – Population study, what, when, how they tick Boca Grande, FL – Juvenile tarpon habitat restoration Boca Grande, FL – Juvenile tarpon habitat restoration Project Belize – Protecting fishing areas from development and destruction Project Belize – Protecting fishing areas from development and destruction

To donate, join, learn more about us, or identify a project Tothat donate, about orus identify project you’djoin, likelearn to be more involved in,us, visit on theaweb at that you’d like to be involved in, visit us on the web at www.btt.org or email us at info@bonefishtarpontrust.org www.btt.org or email us at info@bonefishtarpontrust.org

HEADWATERS CONSERVATION

THE PETER GRAY PARR PROJECT 8 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHIP LAUGHTON

The Peter Gray Parr Project breaks free of traditional hatchery practices by rearing Atlantic salmon in manufactured environments that are nearly identical to where biologists will later release them.

R Saving American Atlantic salmon from extinction for pennies on the dollar. BY TOM KEER WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

ewind time to about half a century ago and you’d find the overwhelming majority of fly fishermen primarily pursued trout and Atlantic salmon more than any other species.

Seeing a trout rise to a fly, or an Atlantic salmon take a Bomber, represented the epitome of sport. Perhaps because of the tremendous strides in rod, reel, and line technology, virtually anything but the largest of gamefish like marlin is fair game today. Trout still appeal to legions of fly fishermen, but the Atlantic salmon angler is possibly the smallest niche of the niche.

These days even carp get more attention than Salmo salar.

Knowing that, it’s hard not to wonder, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Did the wild Atlantic salmon appeal only to the most affluent anglers who had access to the best private waters surrounded by private clubs? Were they the only group that could afford both the time and expense to travel to Iceland, New Brunswick, and Quebec to fish hallowed rivers teeming with bright fish covered in sea lice? The answer to the last two questions is a resounding, yes. But then think about the number of anglers that travel every year to Alaska to fish for Chinook, chum, coho,

pink, and sockeye salmon. Think about the number of anglers that fish for Pacific salmon in Upstate New York, or for steelhead on both the West and East Coasts.

Then it’d be fair to say that if there are fish to catch, fly fishermen will pursue them.

For centuries, in fact, wild American Atlantic salmon were caught in New England watersheds. Atlantic salmon returned in June and in numbers up to 300,000 strong.

Folks caught them in rivers and tributaries from coastal Maine to New York, and in the pre-refrigeration era, July Fourth picnickers served fresh Atlantic salmon. Maybe dwindling salmon numbers is one reason picnickers now eat burgers and dogs.

No longer is the first Atlantic salmon caught in Maine’s Penobscot River sent to the President of the United States, either.

The tradition ceased 25 years ago when the government classified the fish as endangered, and George H. W. Bush was the last President to receive a Maine-caught Atlantic salmon in 1992. Because of the fish’s beleaguered numbers and endangered status, fishing for American Atlantic salmon is not allowed in the United States. Poor returns stemming from expensive Federal Atlantic salmon restoration programs shuttered virtually all the programs. Apparently, our native fish was doomed.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 9

HEADWATERS If It’s Broke, Fix It But maybe, just maybe, the reason salmon restocking programs failed was because those groups raised salmon like they reared trout—which would explain the lack of returns. Fortunately, there is hope in the form of the Peter Gray Parr Project (www. wildatlanticsalmon.org)—a research and stocking platform under the umbrella of the Downeast Salmon Federation (www. mainesalmonrivers.org). They’re using a proven, successful, and science-based methodology pioneered by the late Peter Gray, an experienced conservation hatchery manager on England’s River Tyne, to help salmon. And it’s working.

Fifty years ago, River Tyne salmon populations suffered for reasons nearly identical to those in New England. Only 574 adult salmon returned to the River Tyne, a fact that motivated Peter Gray to create a new rearing model. His methods worked, and there are currently nearly 11,000 returning salmon, as well many other anadromous fish like sea trout, in the Tyne, and a recreational fishery has been open for years.

The Peter Gray Parr Project differs from conventional stocking methods beginning with the most important feature for Atlantic salmon: water. Untreated, unfiltered river water sourced from the fish’s river of birth is diverted into a unique, streamside hatchery. Maturation in this natal river water helps keep a salmon’s development in sync with its environment.

Many life stage transitions, like spring emergence and smoltification, as well as rate of growth, depend on this water and its seasonal temperatures. Fish reared in ambient river water are exposed to pH fluctuations, and bacteria in the river water helps build the fish’s immune systems.

It’s one reason why inland hatcheries that recirculate filtered water have difficulty reintroducing salmon to streams.

The project also uses substrate incubation boxes to help develop alevin into the fry life stages. These incubation boxes act as an artificial redd and allow fish to emerge from the substrate on their own volition and drop into the rearing tanks.

Their movement from the box to the tank is temperature dependent, and the fish do this only once developmentally ready (around 10 degrees Celsius or 50 degrees 10 I AMERICAN ANGLER

Fahrenheit), which is in the spring.

Alevin developing in the substrate incubation boxes use the energy absorbed from their yolk sacs for growth and development rather than movement. Traditionally, hatchery managers rearing fish through this life stage held them either in an egg tray or trough setup, but such setups don’t offer any shelter for the developing alevin and make alevin move more than necessary. The result is smaller fish at emergence compared to the size of fry emerging from substrate incubation boxes, and when you’re the size of a fry, every millimeter of length increases survival rates.

Rearing tanks offer additional benefits to young salmon fry. The dark-colored tanks produce darker and more naturally colored fish, which decreases initial stocking mortality since darker fish blend in with the natural environment and are less vulnerable to predation.

Throughout the rearing season, managers increase the volume and velocity of the water in the rearing tanks. This keeps fish swimming more and more as they grow, and actively builds muscle texture so salmon are physically fit and naturally sized when released into a river.

Hatcheries release Peter Gray Parr Project fish in late fall. Cool water slows metabolic rates so parr are not searching for food. Fish can remain hidden, are able to establish themselves to river life before ice forms, and are less susceptible to predation from diving ducks, wading birds, or other fish. Prior to release, handlers mark parr for future study by clipping an adipose fin to differentiate stocked fish from wild fish. Stocking densities for particular stretches of river determine how many fish go to each site and their distributions are spread out as much as possible to achieve maximum coverage throughout documented salmon rearing habitat. Stocking typically takes place in late-October, when river temperatures have fallen to around 10 degrees Celcius.

Follow-up surveys take place through a series of seasonal studies.

Biologists electrofish parr in freshwater rearing habitat to document juvenile salmon densities, trap smolt to estimate the population of salmon smolts that migrate to the sea, and count spawning

By conducting follow up surveys (right), biologists can document juvenlie salmon densities and count the number of large smolts (middle) to help estimate how many salmon venture out from Northeast rivers (left) to the sea.

redds to estimate the number of adult Atlantic salmon returning to spawn.

Maine DMR scientists then analyze the collected data and samples from the annual surveys.

Let’s Talk Numbers Presentation without demonstration is merely conversation, goes the old adage, and the Peter Gray Parr Project shows signs of hope. The most important part of the project begins with the eggs and, in particular, with the egg-to-parr yield. First, wild parr are trapped during electroshocking studies and raised to adults in the USFWS Craig Brook National Hatchery.

When the salmon reach spawning age, eggs are harvested from females and fertilized with milt procured from the males. As a result, all eggs used in the Peter Gray Parr Project come from salmon native to the river system. What is most encouraging is the egg-to-parr ratio, which averages nearly 80 percent. The significance is that time is not lost with poor production models.

Large parr density in a unit (100m2) of habitat is another measurement showing success. In 2013, one year after the first fall stockings, there were 5.3 parr/unit.

Median parr density increased in 2014 to 10.5 parr/unit, a density not seen since the mid-1990s, and in 2016, large parr median density for the entire East Machias WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

drainage was 14.9 parr/unit, a number not observed since the mid-1980s.

Tracking the numbers of large parr to smolts is important because that information shows how many fish will go out to sea. Parr Project biologists trapped 544 smolts in the East Machias River at the project’s start in 2013. In 2017, just four years later, they electroshocked 1,697 smolts, representing a 191 percent increase in the number of departing smolts.

Determining the quality of raised fish is critical, and so Peter Gray’s principles oriented around creating what he called “little athletes,” which were conditioned fish capable of survival. Anti-hatchery proponents are highly critical of almost any stocking processes, but the fact is, when a species becomes endangered, preservation becomes mission critical. When it comes to the condition of captured parr, there is no significant difference between the length, weight, and overall condition of raised-to-wild parr.

The number of natural redds (nesting areas made by breeding pairs of Atlantic salmon) is one of the final measureWWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

ments of success because it shows how many adult fish returned to natal rivers to spawn. The project bases the estimated number of returning adults on “reddreturns,” and counts in the East Machias River ranged from 0 returns in 1991, then fluctuated erratically, with 1998 representing a high of 44 redds. Emerging is a new, consistent number of redds formed by returning Atlantic salmon adults, that ranges between 20 and 40 pairs.

Removing a species from the Endangered Species List is a numbers game. The more eggs secured, the more parr raised and stocked, and the more smolts that head to sea. Atlantic salmon return to home waters after a three-year absence, thereby making the upcoming decade one of intense activity and study, wrapped in a veil of hope. Financial support for the Peter Gray Parr Project focuses on increasing parr production to about 400,000 per year for the next five years, toward the improvement of tributary watersheds critical to stocking success, and many other habitat-management concerns.

Fortunately, the project receives support

from concerned anglers and companies.

According to Thomas & Thomas’s John Carpenter, “Few fish have the iconic presence in fly fishing that the Atlantic salmon enjoys, yet the challenges faced by the species are also unique—and enormous.

Thomas & Thomas is thrilled to support the conservation efforts of the Peter Gray Parr Project, with the goal of creating or expanding self-sustaining runs of wild salmon for generations to come. Together, we hope to ensure that our children and grandchildren have the opportunity to live in a world with these magnificent fish.”

Just what is the final cost to save American Atlantic salmon, you might ask? Amazingly, it’s just $1 a parr.

To learn more about the Peter Gray Parr Project, visit www.wildatlanticsalmon.org. Atlantic salmon can use all the help they can get. After all, they are one of America’s few native fish.

Tom Keer is an outdoor writer and magazine editor. You can see more of his work at www.tomkeer.com or at www. thekeergroup.com.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 11

HEADWATERS

COLORADO TOURISM OFFICE

NEWS

Wade vs.

Trespass Angler challenges Colorado’s public water principles.

C

olorado angler Roger Hill believes more of the state’s flowing waters should be open to public angling— so much so, he’s filed a lawsuit against Mark Warsewa, a property owner on the state’s popular Arkansas River.

Hill enters the river via public access points, but he and others have met Warsewa’s ire when approaching or walking on the streambed bisecting Warsewa’s parcel—ground he claims to own. Warsewa said on record he doesn’t mind rafters or anglers floating through his property, just no wading—an admonition he upheld in 2015 when he fired a handgun at a fisherman. Warsewa later pleaded guilty to a menacing charge.

Hill filed suit against Warsewa in early February 2018, and cites a federal doctrine called Navigability for Title, which states the streambed of any waterway used for commercial purposes at the time of statehood is property of the state. Because loggers used the Arkansas to transport timber in 1876 when Colorado joined the United States, it’s likely covered by the Title.

At stake are Colorado’s imprecise trespass laws, and hundreds of miles of “private” water that might be open to anglers.

If the court finds in favor of Hill, it may pave the way for stream-access regulations similar to Montana’s and Idaho’s. If the court finds in favor of Warsewa, anglers and rafters must remain mindful of where they walk in Colorado, and landowners favoring restrictive river access will have another ruling in their favor should the issue arise again in the future.

12 I AMERICAN ANGLER

GRASSROOTS

KENAI WATERSHED FORUM kenaiwatershed.org • By Joshua Bergan

T

HE KENAI WATERSHED FORUM (KWF) works to maintain clean water and healthy habitats for one of Alaska’s most iconic drainages through education, restoration, and research. The KWF protects the rivers by patrolling fishermen, removing fish barriers that prevent fish from reaching spawning grounds, suppressing invasive species, and by promoting community engagement through programs like the Kenai River Festival, summer camps, and more. Jack Sinclair, executive director of KWF, recently spoke about some other ways the organization is working to protect fisheries.

Of the KWF’s many programs and accomplishments, which do you think has had the greatest impact on sportfishing?

Without a doubt, it has been our Stream Watch program. Each year, we recruit, train, and coordinate the work of hundreds of Stream Watch volunteers as they patrol riparian areas where there’s heavy sport fishing as well as “personal use” fishing.

“Personal use” fishing is something that only Alaska residents are allowed to do—it involves using dipnets and/or set nets near the mouths of the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers.

Our volunteers help maintain miles of sensitive habitat, provide crucial information to anglers on regulations and wildlife

sightings, and pick up miles of discarded monofilament and bags of trash.

Why is the KWF’s work important for anglers?

We provide three main functions at KWF: research, restoration, and education. Our research includes providing necessary information on water quality and quantity to resource management agencies to better manage fishery resources. Our restoration work includes removing and replacing aging and improperly placed culverts to open up fish habitat for spawning salmon and other game fishes. And our education efforts reach anglers along the many spectacular fishing streams across the Kenai Peninsula as well as children within the school district through our highly successful Adopt-A-Stream program, where kids learn important lessons on stream ecology and fish habitat.

What does the KWF ask of anglers to support its mission?

KWF would ask first and foremost of all anglers (and every user of the rivers) to respect the place you enjoy. If you can afford to, give back to your local fish conservation organizations by contributing time (perhaps as a volunteer) or money, to support your favorite program.

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TM

TM

Not Comfortable = Not Good

ghost boxer briefs I avoid redds, but on some rivers open yearround, I know I’ve coincidentally caught fish that might have been spawning. Do trout possess any instinctual ability to find their redd again? If they don’t, can they create another?

Salmonid fishes are known for their ability to return to the stream where they were born. Both Pacific and Atlantic salmon navigate thousands of miles to return to their birth stream. This ability involves multiple sensory mechanisms including location of their oceanic position via differences in the earth’s magnetic field, and the location of their birth stream via olfactory clues specific to that stream. Young salmonids “imprint” on the specific chemicals present in their birth streams, and there is a genetic component that reinforces returning to that stream.

Homing to a birth stream has several advantages over a “random-return” spawning strategy—the most significant being that it reinforces adaptations to local conditions, as well as increasing the probability that good spawning conditions and habitat will be present. We believe that anadromy, the process of spawning in fresh water but moving to the ocean to grow and mature, evolved because of several selective pressures.

First, the ocean is much more productive than streams and rivers, so fish were able to grow much faster and larger there. Secondly, the ocean has many more predators than fresh water, so it is thought that returning to streams to spawn is an antipredator adaptation. Although there are genetic components to homing, environmental pressures may result in either loss of anadromy or inducement of anadromy. We know this because salmonids, typically trout, from non-anadromous populations may become anadromous when introduced into a new environment. This occurred when non-anadromous brown trout were introduced in the Falkland Islands, which now possess strongly anadromous brown trout populations. How does all of this relate to a trout being displaced from its redd? Given the strong abilities of both anadromous and non-anadromous trout to identify specific aspects of their habitat, it seems likely that a trout would have no trouble returning to its redd.

“ If you’re not comfortable (down there) you’re not going to have a good day.”

- Capt. Will Benson Key West, FL

Gary D. Grossman, PhD, is Professor of Animal Ecology in the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. He is also the 2014 recipient of the American Fisheries Society’s Carl Sullivan Award for excellence in fishery conservation. If you have a question for Dr. Trout, email it to drtroutamericanangler@ gmail.com.

WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 13

HEADWATERS 5 QUESTIONS

5

THE AUTHORS OF

QUESTIONS AMERICA’S FAVORITE FLIES WITH . . . How a small idea exploded into the largest assembly of favorite fly

Q A

patterns from the sport’s most venerated anglers.

How did the idea for the America’s Favorite Flies project begin, and did you envision such a huge final volume?

The original idea was Rob Carter’s.

John Bryan visited Rob’s studio in Richmond, Virginia, and saw hundreds of small jars containing flies labeled by fly name, species imitated, category, and size stacked on his fly tying desk and tables.

John suggested writing an article, but Rob started thinking about a small, modest black-and-white book that illustrated the collection. We created a list of potential participants and made an invitation packet with a letter, questionnaire, small fly container, permission form, and a return envelope. After we mailed the packets out, interest and enthusiasm for the project took off like a rocket.

At first we thought we might gather 50 people or so to send us their favorite flies and info for what might resemble more of a pamphlet than a book. But David Watterworth has a strong network of friends in the fly community and was extremely helpful getting more folks involved, including fly icons such as Lefty Kreh. Rob also developed friendships with Peter Donahower and Tom Derry of the Native Fish Society, who helped contact other anglers, like Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.

Word spread and within a few months we started to think about when we would

have to shut the door on new submissions. In the end, we had so much content, we thought the final product would have to be a two-volume set. But eventually, we decided to just do one massive book.

Q

How many hours of planning and work went into the project, and what were the highs and lows?

The book was a threeyear, full-time job for three of us. We corresponded with participants, prepared and mailed packets, processed photos, and transcribed handwritten replies.

John Henley and Rob groomed, photographed, and retouched all the fly photos, and Rob effectively organized over 500,000 words and 1,400 images into a 656-page tome. It was one big architectural process that started with a general plan, evolved into thousands of moving parts, and eventually settled into a cohesive, readable, visually stunning structure.

We don’t know exactly how much time we spent on the book, but we estimate certainly thousands of hours. The best part was receiving and opening envelopes containing

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Left to right: David Watterworth, John Bryan, John Henley, and Rob Carter autograph early editions of what just might be the most involved collection of popular flies ever published.

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BY BEN ROMANS

flies and stories. The worst part was trying to read and transcribe the handwritings, and keeping up with communications via snail mail, email, and telephone.

Q

So many contributed to this book, but were there any patterns or “stories behind the patterns” you especially enjoyed?

One of our favorite stories is from Pat English. He wrote about lassoing a swimming deer that pulled his crippled boat to safety, and that he caught a fish while trolling in the process. Another is from Earl Hamner (creator/writer of The Waltons television series) who said our invitation for the book gave him reason to fight cancer and live longer, but died a few weeks after we received his submission.

We are also thrilled President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter participated. In 2015, President Carter announced he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, but was happy

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he had a good life. Shortly after, we wrote and asked if he’d like something fun to think about—to select a favorite fly and send it for our book? We sent the same invitation to the First Lady. They said yes and provided some wonderful photos along with two of their favorite flies.

Robert Boyle provided a long essay and fly just before he died. He was a longtime editor at Sports Illustrated, which published fishing stories at one time.

Boyle was also a Riverkeeper founder, an author, and a well-respected angler. It’s likely his contribution to America’s Favorite Flies is the last thing he published.

Another noteworthy contribution came from Michael Bishop, the lead singer of Gwar—an iconic heavy metal band with a large and loyal following. Michael is the only one in the book who hadn’t yet fly fished, though he is an avid angler. He agreed to learn about fly fishing and then select a favorite fly, and he recounts his experience in a narrative.

Q

You’re donating 100% of the book proceeds to the Native Fish Society and the James River Association. What led you to that decision?

At first, we almost selected a “famous” organization like Trout Unlimited or the American Museum of Fly Fishing to receive the book’s proceeds. But as we worked on the project, the folks at the Native Fish Society were extremely helpful at connecting us with participants. As we learned more about their organization, we realized its work had a national impact.

The James River Association’s headquarters are in our hometown, and it works to protect a nearly 400-mile waterway that has all varieties of water— from cold mountain trout water to warm saltwater. We also felt good about having a pair of organizations with headquarters on both sides of the continent.

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Q

Why is there such a strong A River Runs Through It theme

throughout the book, and what was the MacLean family’s reaction after seeing it the first time?

Norman MacLean’s book spawned a movie that had a greater impact on fly fishing than anything else in the sport’s history. Before the movie, fly fishing was something that only a certain class of persons did, but the movie put fly fishing on everyone’s bucket list and allowed the sport to change in all sorts of progressive ways.

MacLean’s book itself is also arguably fishing literature’s most beautiful writing.

After we completed this project, Norman Maclean’s son, John, wrote us and said, “The book is something else; I know of nothing like it. It’s like a fraternity’s anniversary book, but one that goes beyond achievements and fond memories of its members to a kind of shared cheer for a joint enterprise, with everybody lifting their favorite cup.”

You can order copies of America’s Favorite Flies ($150) at www.americasfavoriteflies.com.

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NEWS

1ST ANNUAL SOUTHERN STRIPER OPEN Fly fishing fundraiser benefits Project Healing Waters.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH ENGLAND

SOME FLY ANGLERS VIEW FLY FISHING TOURNAMENTS

with disdain. But what if the proceeds of a tournament went to a great cause instead of the winner’s wallet? The notion intrigued Jeff Wright of Alpharetta Outfitters (AO), one of five fly shops around Atlanta, Georgia, but the only one that donates 100% of its profits to charities, so he decided to organize something that was fun and raised money for veterans. Thus, the first Southern Striper Open was born.

Capitalizing on the popularity of freshwater stripers in the region, AO held the February, 24, 2018 event on Georgia’s prestigious Lake Sidney Lanier. Manufacturers like Hardy, Winston, TFO, Scientific Anglers, and Patagonia, among others, donated top-notch prizes, so all proceeds and entry fees could go directly to Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing—the nation’s leading organization dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled military personal and veterans through fly fishing.

Thirty-two boats and four kayaks entered the tournament, and winners were determined by the sum measurements from their three largest fish. To help keep the event fun, there were even bycatch categories for largemouth, Kentucky spotted bass, white bass, and bream. For 2018, anglers caught, measured, and released 51 fish. Unicoi Outfitters owners Jimmy Harris and David Dockery (team Blind Squirrel) traveled 60 miles south to support the event, and won first place. Wright hopes to make the tournament an annual event. Visit www.southernstriperopen. com for more information or future dates.

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BY HENRY COWEN

With the help of some of the sport’s leading manufacturers, all the money raised from the first annual Southern Stiper Open went directly to help Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 15

HEADWATERS GUIDE FLIES BY DAVID KLAUSMEYER

Flies That Are Easy to See

CRYSTAL WING ROYAL WULFF HOOK: 2X-long dry fly hook, sizes 18 to 12.

THREAD: Red 6/0.

TAIL: Elk hair.

BODY: Peacock herl and red floss.

WINGS: Crystal Splash.

HACKLE: Dark brown.

CRYSTAL GRAY WULFF HOOK: 2X-long dry fly hook, sizes 18 to 12.

THREAD: Gray 6/0.

TAIL: Elk hair.

BODY: Gray floss.

WING: Crystal Splash.

HACKLE: Medium dun.

T

HE WULFF SERIES OF FLIES, created by the legendary Lee Wulff, comprises some of our most popular patterns. Unfortunately, they are also a tad difficult to make; they’re not the place to begin if you are a new fly tier. The bushy wings create bulk in the bodies, and tying the full hackle collars is challenging. These versions of the Royal Wulff and Gray Wulff, sporting wings of a material called Crystal Splash, are easier to tie and see on the water. The wings create less bulk on the hooks and leave more room for wrapping the hackle collars. If your local fly shop doesn’t stock Crystal Splash, a product of the Spirit River Company, you can substitute Krystal Flash.

Dennis Potter, the proprietor of the Riverhouse Fly Company, on the banks of Michigan’s Au Sable River, created the Crystal Wulff series of patterns. Dennis is also a terrific fly tying instructor and consummate angler. Be sure to catch Dennis’s articles in our sister publication, Fly Tyer magazine.

David Klausmeyer is the editor of Fly Tyer magazine.

BOOKS

Fly Fishing the Far Reaches

Two new guides to fishing off the fresh- and saltwater grid grid.

FLY FISHING THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE BACKCOUNTRY Bruce Staples • $29.95; Stackpole Books

Yellowstone National Park is one of the most crowded parks in the country, and for good reason: breathtaking scenery, amazing wildlife, and, for anglers, great fishing. Yet just a short hike from the road or trailhead into the backcountry of the park and the surrounding area can put anglers into even better fishing—and often solitude. This guidebook focuses on backcountry fishing opportunities in Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho (the Greater Yellowstone Area). In addition to color photographs of the destinations, the author provides information sources for visiting each stream or lake, written directions, and recommended fly patterns, gear, precautions, and timing.

FLY FISHING THE SOUTHEAST COAST Gordon Churchill • $16.99; Skyhorse

Gordon Churchill has been an enthusiastic angler all his life. Ever since he was little, he’d fish the lakes of Upstate New York with his father. In his latest book, Churchill shares his tips, tricks, and passion for fishing the South in Fly Fishing the Southeast Coast. Learn that you don’t have to travel to the Bahamas or any other island to find sought-after game fish. There are many terrific places within the United States, including Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, and St. Augustine, Florida. For each chapter, Churchill offers advice on where to find specific fish—from striped bass in the southeast region of the Roanoke River to mahi-mahi in the Gulf Stream, 40 miles from Morehead City, North Carolina—as well as specifics on the approach for catching each species.

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NEW PRODUCTS

PACK IT UP

Fly fishing backpacks let you go farther, or stay longer, on the water.

On any given excursion, many anglers plan for either a bad day, or a great one. Packing for the worst often entails lugging raincoats, extra gloves, a stocking hat, or possibly another layer of clothes altogether, whereas a “great day” assortment might include sunscreen, a light lunch, or a few extra fly boxes (which you always think you need, but almost never do). That’s when the looming question, “How am I gonna carry all this stuff?” hits you. For those long days afield, or when the weather outlook isn’t ideal, a fishing backpack might just be your saving grace. Most are large enough to hold more than you likely want to carry in the first place, waterproof, and easy on the neck, shoulders, and back. Here’s a few other fly fishing backpack considerations before you make your next purchase, and a few designs from leading manufacturers.

1

JUST BREATHE—If you expect to perspire while wearing a backpack, consider one backed with breathable material that won’t retain moisture, or a breathable design that lets air slip behind or around contact points.

4

AIRTIGHT—The extra cost of a

2

sealed pack made from waterproof materials and impenetrable zippers might seem unnecessary at the cash register, but it’s much less expensive than losing a high-end digital camera or cell phone to H2O.

5

GET MODULAR—If you’re the type of angler that thinks everything has a “place,” consider one of the “component” systems that integrate hip or chest pouches with larger two-strap compartments, so you can keep tools organized and separate light loads from the heavy before stepping in water.

1 Patagonia Sweet Pack Vest $200

3

2 Orvis Waterproof Backpack $300 3 Fishpond Wind River Roll Top Backpack $180 4 Filson Dry Backpack $175 5 Umpqua Tongass 1800 Waterproof Backpack $230 6 Simms Dry Creek Backpack $210

6

PROFILE I

BY GREG ROBINSON

Salvation on the Snake Using fly fishing to help youth reconcile with trauma.

O

UR GUIDE, CHASE HINES, maneuvers his drift boat off the chocolate-colored river and into a small spring-fed side channel for a restroom break, and to change out our Stonefly Turds for brighter San Juan Worms. Most years, the entire river is as transparent as the spring channel, with vegetation highlights strewn along its bottom. My young fishing partner for the day, Levi, returns to the vessel with a handful of plants. He throws them at me and says, “I found some mint and parsley while I was out there.”

Levi smiles, tight lipped, and squints in a self-satisfied way. He can tell I’m surprised he has an appreciation for wild herbs. For most of the day, I listened to him chest-thump about how many fish he caught the day before, how much weight he could lift, how many girls liked him, and how he never (ever) gets sunburned.

Much as the bizarre 20,000 cfs flow of the Snake River that day obscured the thriving, underwater ecosystem and 5,000 fish per mile, the veneer of braggadocio often belies the vulnerability, insight, and longing for connection shared by the teens at On River Time’s yearly Fish On camp rendezvous.

This year’s campers are similar to those I’ve met previous years—kind-hearted people from difficult family environments who struggle to overcome traumatic memories.

Over the course of the event, we see only snapshots of their coping mechanisms. In a casual conversation, Levi mentions he was held back for a couple of grades, and he just might be the only middle-schooler I’ve met who would be eligible for a driving learner’s permit. He recently changed schools, presumably when he moved away from his biological family to a boy’s ranch in Springville, Alabama.

Did somebody neglect him? Was he homeless? Could he be a sexual-abuse victim? Was he taking care of younger siblings so they didn’t go hungry? Did he watch his family devolve into criminal drug addicts?

Or did his parents die and leave him all alone in the world with no one willing to take him in? I just don’t know.

What I do know is Levi and I caught more fish than any of the other eight On River Time drift boats on the water—five rainbows and five cutthroat. Still, I was worried I’d disappointed him, as all day we were fixated on besting his previous day’s total of 11 trout. That thought faded two evenings later at the camp finale “pinning ceremony,” where each camper recognizes someone who made them feel special during their week in Idaho, and asks that person to fasten a pin to them.

Levi confidently strode in my direction and stated in a solemn, matter-of-fact

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNA DONLAN/ALCADE

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voice how much fun he had catching fish, laughing, and getting to know me on the river. He appreciated that we both remained upbeat, which may be one reason we caught the most fish. Then he smiled, made direct eye contact, and hugged me for several seconds.

A Sense of Place

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n River Time is a nonprofit that provides year-round mentoring to abused and neglected teens living in group homes. The anchor activity for the organization is a weeklong fly fishing camp on the Snake River. For the kids they serve, nothing could be more extraordinary. The group covers all the airfare, lodging, flies, apparel, gear, meals, and other expenses, and for six days and

The teens of On River Time (top) don’t just learn to fly fish, they explore a world they might never have seen otherwise (left), share time with people from various backgrounds (bottom), and share experiences (right) that help them gain a sense of their place in the world.

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nights, campers are in almost perpetual motion from all the activities. But if you watch closely, you’ll see changes happening beneath the surface.

Founder Steve Davis knows firsthand that a smile and memorable day on the water may not coincide with inner peace when it comes to surviving abuse.

He was over 35 years old before he came to terms with his own mistreatment.

Despite graduating college,

having kids, and a terrific job as senior vice president of an insurance brokerage company, he felt a secret shame. He credits therapy and fly fishing in equal parts for helping him find amity—in particular,

fly fishing on the South Fork of the Snake River during its famed salmonfly hatch.

Davis founded On River Time in 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama, with the notion that he could help abused kids begin living unbounded lives sooner rather than later—replete with vivid, positive memories and peaceful moments to counterbalance the intense negative retentions. So far, his vision changed the lives of over 60 kids.

Davis framed the Fish On camp as a reward for kids deemed mature enough to make the journey by their guardians

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 19

PROFILE and ranch directors, and the On River Time director and staff have a chance to meet and inform participants on the activities and expectations before the yearly June departure. Most kids they meet are shy and communicate in short, stiff, polite but detached sentences, coupled with shoulder shrugs and a lack of eye contact.

By the end of camp, they speak as individuals, with more intonation and a sense of humor, and proactively ask questions and express opinions.

Those lucky enough to fly fish the hallowed waters west of the Mississippi may have come to terms with the snowcapped mountains, alpine vegetation, wildlife, and crisp weather, but On River Time kids are enamored with such foreign surroundings.

Many of the kids have never traveled outside their home state or flown on a plane.

A Snake River adventure offers a complete break from their lives at home, and we encourage everyone to look around, take note, remember all the visual stimuli that

come with such a camp experience, and revisit it in their memory anytime.

Out of the gate, my partner on the river was Reggie, and I worried he’d have a tough shell to crack. I could barely get him to mumble a few words as we prepped for the day with our guide. For the first half of the day, the trout eluded us, but Reggie didn’t seem disappointed. Everything caught his eye. First it was the seagulls, then the ducks and eagles, and finally, he homed-in on one of the Snake’s iconic landmarks—a massive waterfall, probably 50 feet high. I thought he was excited when he caught a whitefish, but enamored with the roaring sound of water, he grinned and pointed, “Ooh, let me climb it!” After he reached a point the two of us remaining in the boat deemed “terrifying enough,” he slowly descended down and rode the adrenaline the rest of the day.

On dry land, On River Time director Jeana Durst made a point to share Reggie’s story with the other campers. Reggie

One of the great things about On River Time’s camp is the location. The upper Snake River region offers both education (top) and adventure (bottom) around every turn.

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acted sheepish, but I caught glimpses of pride. After that day, he was different. When the group was eating a buffet-style breakfast the next morning, who should emerge from the kitchen wearing an apron? Reggie befriended the chef and talked his way into a role as a kitchen apprentice. The other campers confided they had never seen him so outgoing. Later, Reggie told me, “I’ve never been an outside person, but this trip made it seem like I should probably go outside a little bit more.”

The Meditative Sport

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isiting the West is special, but fly fishing in drift boats on the Snake River is the cornerstone of the On River Time program—not just because it’s fun, but also because scientifically, it’s terrific medicine. Studies show combat veterans can reduce PTSD symptoms and cortisol levels for weeks after a fly fishing retreat.

In follow-up interviews, some veterans say they enjoy fly fishing because it isn’t lazy or inactive, and the rhythmic movements and quiet moments in nature prevent otherwise intrusive thoughts and anxieties from taking hold.

Within 30 minutes of their arrival on the Snake, the kids receive a crash course in basic fly fishing terms and techniques.

Splayed out in front of them are bags of gear, rods, and reels.

The guides walk them through it all and express their own individual approaches to the sport to help the campers build confidence. On the water, the guides continue mentoring, and a small instruction follows nearly every cast. It was all forthright, helpful, and honest.

If someone said you were mending well, they weren’t lying.

One giggly camper with curly red hair and big green eyes later told me how she worked so hard, and listened to every instruction, and eventually coaxed a trout to eat—her first, ever. She was so excited in the moment, she dropped her rod and pulled in the fish by the line, hand over hand. “I guess it was a good hook set,” she erupted.

Nature often rewards skill and persistence. Other times, newbies just put a fly in the right place at the right time.

Years ago, a silly young lady who referred WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

to herself as “psycho Jamey” caught a 24inch brown trout. So far, all our campers have caught fish, and many of those fish stretch well into double digits.

I laughed to myself at how fast the lodge’s casting pond became busy with kids perfecting their casts after day one on the water. By the second day, they were greedy, in a good way. The On River Time staff and myself jumped at the chance to stoke their competitive spirit and issued a fishing challenge between boats. The notion of competition in fly fishing likely sours some circles of anglers, but in this case, I think the end justifies the means.

Director Jeana Durst, founder Steve Davis, various board members and junior board members, and yours truly collaborate each year to make camp a personalgrowth experience, and as a camp group, we spend invaluable time discussing a core value of the program. The children lead the sessions, and the adults punctuate it all with activities. One of my favorites takes place on the perimeter of the fire ring. One by one, kids privately write their worries on slips of paper, before tossing them into the hot coals. Each slip carries something deep and personal, but you wouldn’t have to read one to know it.

You can see it on their faces.

On River Time is not a gift. It’s a reward for those showing resilience WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

At the end of the day, campers rendezvous around a campfire to talk, listen, and try to deal with burdens they’re carrying.

Part of the process includes writing problems on paper, and symbolically releasing them in the hot coals.

and focus. As an incentive for campers to stay on the right path, we invite exemplary former campers to return as graduating seniors and “peer mentors.” Last year, a previous peer mentor named Leitha greeted us at the lodge for a third time—as an employee. Years ago, after one camp, spending a summer working in Idaho suddenly seemed like a reasonable thing to a girl who’d formerly never left a 30-mile radius of her home in Alabama.

I became a camp fixture in 2014, when I simply accompanied the group as a freelance reporter. I didn’t expect a close-knit family to draw me in. I’m not a therapist or an outdoorsman. I didn’t touch a fish until the following year, and as far as I know, I’m the only camper who

wore a lap blanket to protect my legs from sunburn. Truth be told, I really didn’t have anything in common with anyone.

But year after year, I receive graduation invitations and thank-you letters from campers recounting specific memories.

But I didn’t “change them.” The experience changes everyone and bonds us together. Misery may love company, but not so much as visceral joy does.

Whatever your background, trials, or tribulations, On River Time encourages everyone to have the courage to value themselves, trust others, follow dreams, and keep hope for the future, no matter the challenges.

Greg Robinson is a freelance writer living in Birmingham, Alabama.

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®

SWEET SPOT Congratulations to Michael Lee of Northampton, Pennsylvania, for correctly identifying last issue’s Sweet Spot destination as the Deschutes River. For this edition, we’re showcasing a water much farther to the east and giving a nod to one of the many popular Tar Heel State streams. Submit your best guess at www.

AmericanAngler.com for a chance to enter into the drawing for a new 7-weight 3XT rod ($220) from Aleka.

Photo by Patrick Williams SPONSORED BY

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 23

RYAN SPARKS

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ERIC ENGBRETSON

A Thousand Possibilities RYAN SPARKS

A DIY fly angler’s smorgasbord awaits in the unimaginably clear, fertile, and historic waters of the Saint Lawrence.

by Ryan Sparks

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 25

Being the last in the chain of Great Lakes, Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence historically served as the downstream dumping ground for the rest of the region’s industrial and agricultural pollution. Pollution levels peaked in the 1970s, causing massive algae blooms so thick, they prevented waves from breaking, killed fish, and wreaked havoc on the entire ecosystem.

The silver lining was a renewed public focus on the problem that resulted in stricter environmental regulations. Since then, a gradual recovery has taken place with the sport fishery rebounding and many indicator species like eagles and osprey returning.

The late 1980s saw the introduction of several invasive species, namely zebra mussels and the round goby. Since then, both species have rapidly expanded and entwined themselves in the river’s biological makeup. The long-term effects of both species are not yet known, but for now they have brought the glory days of fishing back to the Thousand Islands. Zebra mussels are filter feeders, with each individual capable of filtering a liter of water per day. Given the number of zebra mussels present, specialists estimate the entire lake is filtered annually, and some experts think the mass filtering will deter the looming threat of Asian carp, which are also filter feeders. Zebra mussels are also responsible for a level of water clarity not found elsewhere in North America, with up to 80 feet of visibility in areas.

Brought to the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ocean-going ships, round gobies feed heavily 26 I AMERICAN ANGLER

Glory Days Last summer I met a friend from South Texas who came north to fish and explore the Saint Lawrence area. Being a saltwater kayak fisherman, he justifiably checked the forecast for weeks before his arrival. Big water and wind are a bitter cocktail to swallow after driving 30 hours straight, with your only companion being delusions of giant fish and perfect weather. Thankfully, the forecast looked good, and as we backed down the boat ramp the first morning, there wasn’t a trace of wind.

Motoring out to a mid-river shoal, surrounded by a labyrinth of islands, we watched the first gleam of sunlight flicker across the water. As I trimmed up the outboard, our wake faded and the water returned to glass. Not long after, a smallmouth hell-bent on throwing my friend’s hook exploded from the water. After netting the fish and taking a quick measurement, my buddy released it, rolled on his back, and declared it was the biggest bass of his life. That was quite a statement coming from a guy who lives in Texas, a state renowned for all things big, especially bass.

That fish proved to be an anomaly, not in its size but because we scooped it into the net. Smallmouths don’t give up, and big smallmouths don’t get big being timid. Our smallest fish of the morning was 18 inches, but our hooked-to-landed ratio was along the lines of tarpon-fishing success. Midway back to the boat ramp, my friend said he’d never been so happy after losing so many fish.

“Is it always this good?” he asked, smiling.

I couldn’t lie, “Yeah, pretty much.”

For many species, smallmouth included, these are the good old days of fishing the Thousand Islands.

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RYAN SPARKS

A Troubled History

on zebra mussels and mature to adulthood within a year. Female gobies can reproduce up to six times during the spawning season, laying egg clutches that contain over 5,000 eggs. With successful hatch rates up to 95 percent, goby densities amount to more than 100 fish per square meter in some areas. Predatory fish like bass, walleyes, pike, trout, and even carp have taken notice. In the Thousand Islands, gobies provide an almost limitless food source for sport fish. The massive amount of forage the small fish provide has had an effect on the entire fishery, with many game fish species focusing on gobies as their main food source.

Today, the future of Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence looks brighter than ever. After 14 years of scientific study, the International Joint Commission recently began a new approach to water-level regulation. Plan 2014 replaces the old regulatory system by allowing natural water-level variations to restore ecosystem health. Outside of the current battle to save Florida’s Everglades, Plan 2014 represents the largest wetlands restoration project in North American history. The more natural ebb and flow of the river will restore more than 64,000 acres of wetlands on Lake Ontario and the upper Saint Lawrence. The wetlands act as a natural water filter, retaining nutrients that support the forage base, and create habitat for a wide range of plant and animal life. Wetlands are also the preferred spawning grounds for many fish species.

Thanks to the odd combination of zebra mussels, round gobies, and natural water-level variation, right now might be the best time to catch a trophy fish of any species in the Thousand Islands.

ERIC ENGBRETSON

F

ew things in fishing are as alluring as discovering the next “secret spot”— the place no one has heard of, and where fish are abundant, strong, and wild. Who wouldn’t want to fish such a place before everyone gets in on the secret, before lodges pop up, and before you have to hunt for the next great place to dodge the crowds?

Often these locales are isolated and tucked off in some remote, unpeopled corner of the world.

Other times, they are hiding in plain sight.

Until recently, fly anglers have somehow neglected the largest inland bodies of water in North America. Vast and treacherous, with over 10,000 miles of coastline, the Great Lakes are intimidating to even the most experienced anglers. Certainly many know of the steelhead and salmon runs in the tributaries, but few fish the lakes themselves. Even more obscure, the Saint Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands drain the entire Great Lakes system. With over 1,800 islands, unrivaled water clarity, and more than 30 game fish species, the Saint Lawrence and Thousand Islands watercourse is a world-class fishery and a gigantic playground for fly anglers.

RYAN SPARKS

Ironically, the amazingly clear waters of the Saint Lawrence (top) weren’t always that way, and it wasn’t until the introduction of zebra mussels (top left), which can individually filter up to a liter of water per day, that the river saw a rebound of sorts. Soon after, another non-native species, the round goby (bottom left), made its way into the system, and have not only helped supress the proliferation of mussels, but also provided game fish like smallmouth bass (bottom) a seemingly never ending food source.

RYAN SPARKS

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 27

Tough Decisions The fishing opportunities in the Thousand Islands can be overwhelming, and one of the greatest challenges is deciding what species to pursue.

While the fishing is good across the board, there are a handful of fish anglers cannot ignore.

The eastern basin of Lake Ontario contains some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the world. In a 2013 Bassmasters tournament, angler Brandon Palaniuk ran over 100 miles from Waddington, New York, to fish the waters around Henderson Bay. The run was so long, he had only 45 minutes to fish before heading back in time for the weigh-in. Yet he still averaged 22 pounds for his five-fish limit each day. The next year, tournament officials made the area off-limits. While many fly anglers roll their eyes at competitive bass fishing, the incident shows just how good the smallmouth fishing can be—a “22 pounds in 45 minutes” level of good. If a smallmouth over five pounds is on your bucket list, there aren’t many places better than the Thousand Islands to find one.

While bass are highly sought after by conventional anglers, one species fly anglers have almost entirely to themselves is carp. Europeans have long known the Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario as the North American carp destination, although carp have never gained the recognition they deserve from locals. For fly anglers, carp are one of the greatest fish swimming in the Saint Lawrence.

Enormous flats, crystal clear water, and numerous technical shots at fish 20 pounds or larger make the Thousand Islands a carp anglers’ paradise. Brush up for your next saltwater trip or come solely for the carp, either way you can fish the flats in solitude.

If you can’t get over your carp prejudice or just want to target something a little more predacious, the Saint Lawrence has produced numerous world-record muskies. Fall is high season, with gear anglers traveling from all over the world to fish with charter captains out of Clayton and Alexandria Bay stateside as well as Gananoque and Brockville in Canada. These charters typically troll large swimbaits in 20- to 40-foot-deep water, and even with a fast-sinking line and lots of patience, it would be difficult to target fish with a fly at those depths. However, the lower stretches of the Grasse, Raquette, St. Regis, Deer, and Little Rivers all hold healthy populations of muskies in both wadable and floatable stretches. With restrictive harvest limits, an increasing forage base, and more spawning habitat, it’s only a matter of time before another record muskie is hauled out of the Saint Lawrence.

With the world-class smallmouth, carp, and muskie fishing, it’s easy to overlook lesser-known species. Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands are unique among the Great Lakes in that they 28 I AMERICAN ANGLER

harbor a healthy population of longnose gar. Sight fishing for these prehistoric predators is a great way to spend a day, and there’s a real chance at catching a five-foot-long fish. You’ll usually find gar on the same flats as carp, so always have a few gar flies close at hand. Highly aggressive, gar are usually easy to hook, but hard to hold on to. If you manage to land one, consider yourself lucky, you’re holding a fish species that’s been swimming the earth for 100 million years.

The beauty of fishing the Thousand Islands is that if one species isn’t cooperating, chances are another one will. Dredging heavy flies on sinking lines for walleyes, casting gaudy deer hair flies for pike, or targeting all species of trout is possible. The greatest asset you can bring is an open mind. Needless to say, to take full advantage of what the Thousand Islands have to offer, you can’t be a one-trick pony.

Island Life Countless campgrounds, marinas, boat ramps, boat rentals, and parks present limitless possibilities for planning a trip. Timing your visit really depends on what you want to catch, but the Thousand Islands can be a year-round fishery if you don’t have your heart set on a particular species. To help, break the fishery down into two distinct areas; the eastern end of Lake Ontario including the waters around Prince Edward County on the Canadian side and Henderson Bay to the south, and the heart of the Thousand Islands, straddling the border for 50 miles downstream of Kingston, Ontario, and Cape Vincent, New York.

While there is plenty of fishing available from shore, having access to a boat opens up another world of opportunity. There are numerous marinas on both sides of the border with everything from big-water fishing boats to houseboats for rent. It’s also possible to fish sheltered bays and quiet backwaters with a canoe or kayak. As if boat fishing needed to be more attractive, there’s a new bill that allows boaters to cross the border freely. The only stipulation is that boaters from a visiting country cannot drop anchor or set foot on land. With a passport and dual fishing licenses, anglers now have access to the entire fishery. There’s so much area to cover, an angler could explore the Thousand Islands their entire life and never run out of new places to fish.

For a true Thousand Islands experience, try camping on one of the numerous mid-river islands. Thousand Islands National Park is one of Canada’s oldest national parks, and contains a group of 21 islands available for camping. On the U.S. side, Wellesley Island and Robert Moses State Parks offer a variety of walk-in and boat-in campsites. While some larger islands hold multiple campsites, there are others where you can have a private island all to yourself. These islands make a perfect base camp for fishing the area. For modern conveniences, there are dozens of homes and cottages for rent, and many are on private islands with boat docks and beaches. (Searching www.vrbo.com is a good starting point.)

So why look south, when crystal clear waters and thousands of islands await you in the North? With so many fishing and camping options, your imagination is the only limitation.

Ryan Sparks writes, fishes, hunts, cooks, and talks nonsense to his English pointer, Tippet. You can follow his writing and photography at www.flywatermedley.com.

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RYAN SPARKS

RYAN SPARKS

BILL TIPTON

One of the great things about the Saint Lawrence waterway is that it’s relatively untouched by fly anglers, and only a stone’s throw from many Eastern metropolitan areas (middle left). Moreover, because of improved water conditions, game fish like muskie are returning in greater numbers than yesteryear (middle right), and prized fly-rod quarry like carp (top) and gar (bottom) are virutally ignored by conventional anglers, so it’s easy for fly fisherman to find vast swaths of open water and solitude.

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k n i S e g h T Swin p i T al u t c tin and s n i s ities ’ h s a fi ortun n o p tich g p n i o z i l g ck Kus a n t i i k p o a o c y Ri l B r t . e o n ’re ov un f e r f ’ o u If yo ers, you on a lot trigg ing out miss

BRIAN GROSSENBACHER

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One final mend of the line

allowed me to make the perfect presentation as my fly swung into a soft inside seam. In an instant, a jolting take shattered the tranquility of the morning. Ten pounds of pure silver tore through the water and catapulted downriver with amazing aerial acrobatics. After a thrilling battle, I brought the fresh steelhead to hand and, just as quickly, released it. I remember sitting there, reflecting on the exhilarating series of events that just transpired and reaffirming my belief that catching fish on a swinging line is one of the most exciting aspects of fly fishing.

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Although it seems to be a fairly simple concept, fishing a sinking-tip line on the swing is somewhat of an art form. Controlling the line depth, speed, and angle of the presentation has a direct impact on fly presentation and success.

Don’t get me wrong. I prefer to fish a floating line so the fly sits on or near the surface when I’m targeting steelhead, salmon, trout, or warmwater species. But when water temperatures are low or fish aren’t in the mood to move toward the surface, a sinking tip is perfect for placing a fly at the right level to fish.

Swung properly, a fly on a sinking tip will swim and move in the current right after a completed cast, and in some ways, offer the greatest odds of success because you’re maximizing the amount of time your fly looks alive in the water.

The key to successfully swinging a fly on a sinking-tip line below the surface is to understand and envision the presentation.

In other words, try to play on a fish’s natural intuition. Something alive and fleeing the scene often catches the attention of a predator, which instinctually chases and attacks.

If you’ve never fished with a sinking-tip line before, or have always wanted to learn how to properly manipulate a line to get the most out of your swinging presentation, here are a few thoughts on how to set yourself up with the proper line, notes on sinking-tip connections and leaders, and advice on the best methods for making your patterns look alive in the water.

Selecting A Sink Tip

chart on the packaging, though it’s an indicator of how fast a line sinks in still water only. From there, you may have to make some educated guesses on the effects of things like flow rates and hydraulics for where you plan to fish before selecting a tip. You’ll need a dense line for fast currents or water with a heavy surface tension to attain the same depth as you would with a slower sinking tip in soft currents.

What many anglers fail to consider is that sinking-tip length is also a factor of its density. With all factors being equal, a long tip gains greater depth throughout the swing than a short tip composed of the same material. You can make selecting the proper sinking tip as much about science as you like, but trial and error will always be part of the equation. That’s why getting to know the water you regularly fish and how various water levels impact tip selection is such an advantage. I maintain detailed notes on the tips I use to successfully fish various waters.

Most sinking-tip leaders are short, stout lengths of monofilament, since the tippet needs to be strong enough to withstand the heavy grab of a fish positioned downstream from your casting position. It’s common to use 10-, 12-, or even 15-pound test depending on the size of the fish you’re targeting—and don’t be afraid of visibility. Because fish see a fly from the side or rear, heavy tippet is usually obscured from view and won’t deter a fish from chasing. In the end, most leaders are typically three to four feet long, so the fly remains fairly close to the heavy tip of the line. Personally, I use two to three feet of heavy tippet, and then

Practically speaking, a sinking-tip line is any single line with an integrated sinking portion at the front end. This could include a full floating line with an added dense section connected to the tip. In

fact, the concept of using exchangeable tips to attain various sink rates has become quite popular, and the versatile angler who can do it well has the ability to cover a wide range of depths on the water.

Most interchangeable sinking tips range from 10 to 15 feet long, although shorter tips or even 7- to 14-foot-long tapered sinking leaders are useful on small waters. To make exchanges simple, use loop-to-loop connections on both ends. Some line manufacturers create loops on both ends, but if you have to add a loop yourself, it’s easy. Simply fold the tip of the line onto itself to create a loop.

Then secure it with heavy tying thread until it’s so tight, the wraps cut into the line coating. Then just knot the thread, cut the tag end, and apply flexible cement. If you’re fishing large patterns, be sure to oversize the front loop so you can use a loop-to-loop connection to the leader and not have to reattach the fly.

To help you determine how fast or how deep you want your line to sink, most manufacturers include a sink-rate graph or 32 I AMERICAN ANGLER

Because sinking-tips are available in countless lengths, tapers, and densities (let), you can customize a line setup specifically suited for the water you plan to fish, and because so many line manufacturers add welded loops to both ends (middle), it’s easy to change out one tip for another as conditions, or the fish’s mood, change. On the water, cast a sinking-tip like you would any other line—it will follow the same path as your rod tip on the forward stroke after a smooth acceleration and abrupt stop (top).

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RICK KUSTICH STEVEN YOCHUM

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another foot of heavier material for the butt.

In clear water, you can extend the leader up to eight feet long, but in those situations, you’ll also want to consider a weighted fly so it sinks at a similar rate as the tippet. Moreover, a long leader combined with a heavy fly is a great combination if you need to get down deep in fast currents. The bottom line is to have even a few line-density and leader options so you can tailor your setup and present a fly in the lower one-third of the water column.

Lastly, know that the angle of your cast and any mends impacts the depth a sinking tip attains. A cast angled across or slightly upstream will sink freely before the line is under the tension of the swing. This allows you to achieve a greater depth compared to a cast angled slightly downstream. Moreover, mending the line upstream allows a tip to sink deeper because you’ve reduced line tension. Use multiple or stack mends to set up the swing and allow the tip to reach its greatest depth, or tie on a heavier fly if you’re not dropping deep enough. A heavy pattern breaks through the surface and sinks at a similar rate as the tip.

I normally attempt to fish a pool with the same sinking tip rather than make line changes in the middle of a rotation through a pool, though sometimes it’s easier said than done, and if I have to make a choice, I prefer a tip that’s too light versus too heavy. Since pools vary in depth and current from top to bottom, it can be a challenge to effectively cover an entire pool with the same sinking-tip line. Change the angle of your cast, your mends, and add or remove a weighted fly to control depth with one sinking tip. Feeling an occasional bump indicates your fly is touching bottom and drifting through the lower portion of the water. However, if you’re constantly scraping or contacting the bottom during a swing, you’re countering the effectiveness of the presentation.

Working the Belly The key to an effective sinking-tip presentation is a straight-line forward cast. The leader should uncurl in one direction so the line and leader turn over without any slack. This maneuver allows the fly to begin its swimming motion immediately after a mend. Anything but a straight cast introduces slack into the line or causes the fly to veer to the left or right, and you won’t get so good a presentation, because it takes more time for your fly to get pointed in the right direction.

Remember, your line follows the same path as your rod tip during the forward cast. Keep the tip moving in the same plane throughout the forward motion, and complete the cast with a smooth acceleration and abrupt stop so the line and leader completely straighten out.

BARRY & CATHY BECK

STEVEN YOCHUM

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RICK KUSTICH

Once you deliver the fly, you can control its speed during the swing by varying the rod angle and manipulating the line. For most situations, I recommend avoiding a fast or rapid swing. Yes, the swimming or escaping movement of a fly is what triggers a take, but making a fly accessible to fish is also important, and one that swings too fast is less desirable for a fish to chase. There are no definite rules in fly fishing, of course, so exceptions do exist.

The downstream belly of the line in the water affects the speed of the swing. If you make subtle upstream mends to eliminate the floating belly portion, you slow the swing but can still maintain continuous movement in the water. Water with a uniform current requires few or no adjustments; whereas, flows with a strong pull in the middle and significantly weaker movements on the inside require more attention.

After a cast, hold the rod parallel to the water (middle) and control the belly of the line during the swing by mending upstream or down to either speed up or slow down the presentation. At the end of the swing, let the fly swim in the current below your position and “hang” for a moment (left), and be prepared for a strike. Predatory fish (right) might believe the fly is taking a breather, and capitalize on the opportunity for an easy meal.

During the swing, position the rod parallel to the water’s surface, point the tip at the fly, and follow it through the presentation. This tactic helps keep the fly at a broadside angle to fish.

For coldwater conditions, or for fish that need extra coaxing, change the angle of the rod and point it toward the opposite bank so the fly swings at a slower speed. With that approach, a fish will also see the fly from behind instead of broadside as it slowly moves across the various current lines.

I tell people that one key to a proper wet fly swing presentation with a sinking tip is to visualize the path and movement of the fly. Water type varies from river to river and pool to pool, and areas with complex and varying flows can be more challenging to fish than those with uniform currents. Anglers who are new to these techniques sometimes struggle with depth and speed control, especially in varying currents. When fishing irregular flows, it’s critical to read the varying currents and allow the pushes of water to move the sinking tip. In some situations, making an aggressive upstream mend allows the tip and fly to sink. At other times, you might need a downstream mend to create enough belly in the line to move the fly. In either scenario, reading the currents and the effects on the swing is what makes WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

this style of fishing so interactive and rewarding.

Typically, you can simply allow a fly to swing, and the fleeing action is enough to entice a fish. However, if that’s not working, or you want to be a little more active with your presentations, you can impart additional action on the fly by slightly twitching the rod tip, or making a slow, one-handed, line-retrieve motion.

In my experience, I’ve found both techniques work best in clear water or on fish under heavy fishing pressure.

At the end of a swing, allow the fly to swim in the water below your fishing position and hang in the current, but be prepared for a strike. Any fish that followed the fly to the end of the swing might capitalize on the moment when your pattern might appear as though it’s resting. The important thing is not to let the sinking tip and fly drop to the bottom during the hang down, though it might try if it’s in a soft current or shallow water. Allowing the fly to swim or undulate in the current at or above a fish’s eye level increases the odds of a take. A fly that hangs up on the bottom will lose its enticing appeal.

If you’re having trouble keeping a fly alive and active at the end of a swing, try to wade deep enough to where a sufficient amount of current suspends the main line and sinking tip, or try adding a slow strip to coax the fly off the bottom. You can also add a mend toward the near shore to create a belly in the line that can help a fly slowly swim off the bottom.

Overall, I prefer to keep any mending to a minimum.

You can easily over-mend and impede the enticing swing of a fly. However, the most important aspect of this technique is to study the impact of the current on the line and make any adjustments necessary to swing the fly in an alluring manner that keeps it from contacting the bottom.

When I talk with those anglers who have tried it, most agree that the excitement of swinging sinking tips is the final payoff— the take, the grab, the pull. When an aggressive fish commits to a fly presented on a tight line, it feels like a lightning bolt shooting up your arm. The hard part is having the patience to ensure a solid hookup. Feel the weight of a fish before moving the rod, and remember that fish often hook themselves on the turn after the take. Some anglers hold a small, loose loop of line in their rod hand, which they feed to a fish when it takes to make sure it firmly grabs the fly. I personally like to extend my rod arm downstream to slightly reduce the tension of the line, though most of the time it doesn’t matter, especially if it’s an aggressive take.

Finally, never react to a simple bump, tap, pull, or any other feeling that is anything but the weight of a fish on the line.

Almost all species, especially steelhead and salmon, have the tendency to follow and touch, or attempt to inhale a fly without actually grabbing it. Reacting too early will pull the fly away.

The next time you’re trying to cover a wide body of water, or mine the depths of a productive pool, swing a sinking tip.

Not only is it a fun way to fish and rotate through a pool, but you also just might experience one of the most exhilarating fish strikes of your life.

Rick Kustich lives in Western New York and has been in the fly fishing industry for over 30 years. He is the author of Advanced Fly Fishing for Great Lakes Steelhead and Hunting Musky with a Fly. MAY/JUNE 2018 I 35

Siberian Taimen

The largest of all salmonids, these voracious predators are sometimes called river wolves, and anglers travel great distances to pit their skills against such a fearsome quarry.

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true river monster, the taimen (Hucho taimen)—also known as the Siberian taimen—can grow to proportions that seem incredible to your average trout fisherman. Whereas John Gierach once wrote about “trout as long as your leg,” taimens can grow as long as your whole body, over six feet, and the largest recorded specimen weighed in at 231 pounds!

Armed with stout fly rods and foot-long, articulated streamers, fly fishers in Mongolia or Russia can spend days looking for a taimen willing to feed, but once a fish makes up its mind, it chases down its prey with remarkable speed and aggression. If the angler’s skills are up to the task, he or she will end up cradling a trophy of a lifetime.

Dark olive head

Flattened head

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White to gray belly

Gear and Flies

Siberian taimens are big fish, and you’ll need gear to match. Most anglers use single-hand or switch rods in weights 8 or 9 with a reel capable of holding 200 yards of backing and featuring a drag system capable of slowing down a 60-pounder. Because the fish tend to attack their prey near the surface, there is little “dredging”; the standard line is a weight-forward floater, although it pays to take a multitip sinking-line system, as well. Ten-foot leaders tapering to 0X or 20-pound-test will allow you to really put the wood to a fish and bring it to hand as quickly as possible.

Believe it or not, taimens will hit dry flies, but not reliably. Large, splashy surface patterns, such as mice and baitfish poppers and sliders, trigger the fish’s predatory response. However, Siberian taimens are mostly piscivorous, so large streamers that imitate fleeing baitfish produce best.

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BILL TIPTON

Threats and Conservation Efforts

Throughout its range, the Siberian taimen has suffered from habitat loss, reduction of water quality, overgrazing, damming, and poaching. Because these fish are slow growing—they take up to seven years to reach sexual maturity—populations can’t bounce back very quickly, and the taimen is listed as “vulnerable” on the Red List of Threatened Species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to its research, taimen populations have declined by between 50 and 95 percent, depending on location, with the worst losses in China and the most stable populations in Russia’s Arctic drainages. Mongolia has been the most progressive in its conservation efforts, introducing catch-and-release regulations on all rivers and working with local outfitters to build awareness of how important healthy taimen populations can be to local economies. Enforcement of anti-poaching laws remains a problem, however.

Body fades to reddish brown toward the tail

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DUANE RAVER

Adipose, anal, and caudal fins are often red

Close Relations

There are four recognized members of the Hucho genus, the others being the huchen or Danube salmon (Hucho hucho), the Sichuan taimen (Hucho bleekeri), and the Korean taimen (Hucho ishikawae). The Sakhalin or Japanese taimen, formerly known as Hucho perryi, was reclassified into its own genus and is now Parahucho perryi. The Siberian taimen and huchen are impossible to distinguish visually, but because they inhabit nonoverlapping ranges separated by the flatlands of Central Asia, they are distinguished by geography. None of the other species reach the same proportions of an adult Siberian taimen, but the huchen can grow to almost five feet long and weigh over 100 pounds. The others are more trout size, topping out at 20 to 26 inches.

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Range & Species History

THE ORIGINAL RANGE OF THE SIBERIAN

taimen spans from the Upper Volga River basin in far Western Europe to the Pacific drainages of the Amur River in China, which is also the southern boundary. To the north, the species can be found in the Pechora and Yana Rivers, which empty into the Arctic Ocean. The taimen’s native range has seen some reduction along the western slope of the Aral Mountains, as well as in Mongolia and China, but overall, taimen continue to inhabit the vast majority of their native range, albeit in much reduced numbers.

Taimen are potamodromous, which means that they spend their entire lives in fresh water, usually in swift-flowing rivers with high oxygen levels, and they often move up- and downstream extensively. Using telemetry equipment, fisheries biologists recorded one taimen inhabiting a home range of almost 60 river miles throughout the year. Spawning generally occurs in late May or June, depending on water temperature. The fish travel upstream to smaller tributaries, where spawning occurs, and then drop back into the larger rivers.

Siberian taimen do not spawn until they are five to seven years old and can live for decades. Although some sources put the species’ life span at a conservative 30 years, others claim that taimen can live for half a century or more. Because of where they live and how relatively few fish there are in a given location, the species has not been extensively studied, which accounts for some of the variance in “life facts.” Adult fish are generally solitary, as well, which increases the difficulty of observation.

The largest reliably recorded specimen, caught in Russia’s Kotui River in 1943, measured an astonishing 83 inches long and weighed 231 pounds. The IGFA all-tackle record was a relative minnow, at 92 pounds 8 ounces. A 50-incher is considered a true trophy, and fly fishers land Siberian taimen that large every year in Mongolia and Russia. It is the desire of anglers to experience landing such a river monster that may ensure the species’ survival.

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Mastering Technical Drifts Whether you’re fishing dry flies or nymphs, not every presentation is easy, but you can gain an edge with just a few easy adjustments. By Jason Randall

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BARRY & CATHY BECK

In spite of that love affair, spring creeks make fickle mistresses, on occasion rewarding my best effort, but other times stingy and sometimes downright unyielding.

The skinny water of spring creeks challenges our presentation skills; tight and narrow current lanes mean the fly must effectively navigate multiple threads of competing current speeds, not to mention the plethora of small whirls and swirls behind every rock and submerged stone. My dry fly might drift at one speed, while just a few inches away, the leader moves at a different speed.

And if that’s not enough, my leader often lies across a half dozen different current threads, some only inches wide, turning the length of my leader into a small series

of S-curves that makes a natural drift difficult. Complex underwater currents also affect nymph presentations, but additionally create subsurface slack as natural forces pull the leader in different directions, and compromise the ability to detect strikes.

I’ve been “schooled” by a lot of spring creeks. In other words, I’ve gotten my butt kicked. This happens to all of us, but along the way, you receive an education. You learn to master technical drifts—and you can apply those skills to every river, no matter how large, and ultimately catch more fish.

Presentation Presentation trumps fly selection. You’ll catch more trout with the wrong fly but the right presentation than you will with the right fly and a poor presentation. I’m not saying fly selection isn’t important, because it is. I give a lot of thought to choosing the best fly and almost always find one fly outproduces another. But even the best fly won’t produce unless you present it in a drag-free manner, at least when a drag-free drift is the goal.

I define drag, the archenemy of presentation, as “the loss of random, unrestricted movement of our fly, which is a characteristic of a natural free-floating insect or other food item.” In other words, your fly needs to display the same capricious, unencumbered drift characteristics of the natural food item it imitates. Drag results from the unnatural influence of your line or leader on the fly. If you simply dropped a dry fly on the water, unattached to line or leader, it would drift perfectly downstream and look great (aside from the fact you just lost a fly). But as soon as you attach a fly to tippet, leader, and line and then cast across different currents, you encounter drag—and the more varied the current, the more technical and challenging the drift.

Drag comes in varying degrees. At one extreme, large-scale drag causes dry flies to skate across the surface like a miniature Jet Ski, and subsurface flies to shoot through the water like tiny torpedoes. But

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mall spring creeks hold a special place in my heart. Lost in a sense of intimacy, I wander through tight turns and close quarters, relishing a one-on-one relationship with the stream. I even enjoy the sounds they make compared to large rivers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very fond of large rivers, too—the kind you can fish from a drift boat. But there’s just something about skinny water.

BARRY & CATHY BECK

JESS MCGLOTHIN

The visible effects of drag aren’t always apparent to the human eye, but fish can see even the slightest presentation flaws (bottom left) no matter how small the fly (bottom right) or supple the tippet.

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Even a smooth, slow moving river (top left) can have varying degrees of current that can make a drag-free presentation tough. To minimize the effects of drag, get as close to your target as possible (top right) and mend line up or downstream.

small-scale drag also foils presentations by impeding a fly’s ability to freely interact with the subtle nuances of the current, including the tiny whirls, swirls, and narrow slivers of current. Anglers new to the sport quickly appreciate the more obvious effects of drag, but often fail to appreciate the importance of the small-scale features and the large a role it plays in determining the difference between good fish days and great fish days.

The most obvious way to deal with complex currents is to avoid them altogether, or at least minimize the amount of variation you have to deal with. A simple change in your position often turns a nearly impossible presentation into a much easier one, simply by reducing the number of current threads you encounter. For example, rather than making a cast directly across stream, try an upstream or downstream angle of around 45 degrees to the target and you’ll minimize the impact of drag. Once you find the optimum position, try elevating the rod to lift the line and as much of the leader as possible from the water’s surface, hold it above the tricky currents, and follow the presentation downstream, taking care not to pull the fly toward you in the process. Mending also serves to combat drag, provided you mend the entire line and even the upper part of the leader–but not so much, you pull the fly out of the drift lane. To that point, reach casts, pile casts, or other casting corrections can introduce slack into the line and leader and reduce the onset and impact of drag.

These measures are just one way to deal with challenging presentations and effectively combat the large-scale, visible effects of drag—it WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

takes more line manipulation and planning to prevent the small-scale effects of drag. Simple things, like your choice of terminal tippet, also affect your ability to navigate a fly through the subtleties of current without undue influence or restriction. A tippet’s size and stiffness determine a fly’s freedom of movement. Use the lightest tippet you can get away with, but also a soft, subtle tippet. For dry flies, monofilament, made from the softest nylon, outperforms fluorocarbon, which has a reputation for being stiff. Products like RIO’s Suppleflex and Stroft GTM make good choices for dry fly terminal tippet, and Stroft GTM in particular offers a good strength-to-diameter ratio, which means the diameter will be thin, yet still provide adequate strength.

Ever notice a little coil of your tippet curling up from the water near your dry fly? Sometimes it tilts your fly or alters its “footprint” on the water. That’s a telltale sign of a stiff tippet and a sure indication that it’s prohibiting your fly from interacting with the current and not allowing the freedom it needs for a drag-free drift. To that point, don’t forget to straighten your entire leader before you use it to remove any residual memory and lessen the risk of annoying coils.

A few years ago, I nymph-fished Timber Coulee, a well-known Driftless Area stream. A blitz of hatching MAY/JUNE 2018 I 41

blue-winged olives convinced me to switch to a dry fly.

To save time, I used a fluorocarbon nymphing leader, rather than replacing it with mono. Many fishless casts convinced me to change it and I started catching fish.

But there are other adjustments you can make for technical drifts. One of my favorite methods during almost any insect hatch, not just BWOs but also other mayflies and midges, includes a two-fly combination with a visible dry fly and a second, usually “hard to see”

Long-range tight-line techniques like French nymphing allow the angler to fish from farther distances, often beyond the angler’s ability to elevate the sighter, so your rig begins the drift lying on the water’s surface. Casting upstream but also across currents, when the sighter is lying on the water at the onset of the drift, means it often crosses different current threads. A simple flip of the rod tip mends the sighter so it lies parallel to the current and the entire length of it travels at the same current speed. That way, when you go to elevate the sighter as it approaches closer, you avoid pulling it and the flies toward you as would be the case if the sighter remained diagonally across the currents.

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BRYAN GREGSON

fly trailing behind, like an emerger hanging in the film.

I hope to catch trout on the point dry fly, but if a trout takes the trailing emerger, the dry fly serves as a strike indicator. But if two flies drift at different speeds, drag affects them both, and each can inhibit the movement of the other. I might not notice the subtle effect, but trout notice, and usually respond with indifference. For technical drifts, shorten the distance between the flies.

Space them about 10 inches apart, but in complex current situations, shorten the spacing to about six inches or even less to prevent the flies from landing and drifting in different current threads.

Another trick is to keep the two flies in the same current lane to the best of your ability. If you cast parallel to a current thread, both flies will likely land and drift in the same thread, at the same speed. This often means a cast directly upstream or downstream, though a reach cast that lays the leader parallel to the current, or an aggressive mend, can achieve the same result. Sometimes a downstream drift is easier than an upstream presentation. Not only does this let the trout see the flies first, but it also avoids lining the fish, which can occur when the fly line lands or drifts over a fish while casting to an upstream target.

The same principle applies when crossing multiple current lanes while tight-line nymphing (sometimes called Euro-nymphing). These methods avoid flotationstyle indicators by replacing them with a highly visible segment of monofilament (sighter) incorporated into the leader that serves as a visual aid for strike detection.

Complex subsurface currents impair your ability not only to accurately target fish while nymphing, but to detect strikes as well. Even in uncomplicated currents, you can’t always be certain your fly hits the target—and the more complex the current, the greater the chance of error.

For challenging nymphing presentations, make multiple passes to ensure your fly drifts to the fish before giving up.

How do you assess the current and anticipate complex nymphing presentations? By reading the water and looking for clues visible on the surface.

Look for shifting currents or other variation as indicators of complex subsurface currents. If threads of surface current seem to wander a bit or seem to roll with some inconsistent pattern, you can bet the same thing occurs beneath the surface. Visible surface boils mark subsurface obstructions and indicate hydraulic features, and complex currents also occur in most pocket-water locations, where multiple layers of cross currents make fly presentation a challenge.

Maintain contact with your flies as much as possible while nymphfishing complex currents. A little extra weight can help you efficiently cut through competing layers, especially in pocket water, where the chaos of current can otherwise create the same S-curve of subsurface

R. VALENTINE ATKINSON

BARRY & CATHY BECK

Detect Strikes

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For trout holding on the fringe of water with varying degrees of current (left), try to cast from a positions directly downstream to minimize drag, and use a dry-dropper approach if it’s too tough to see your fly among thousands of naturals (middle). In fast and deep water (right), you are better served by getting close to a trout lie, raising your line high and off the water, and making high-stick presentations.

slack in your leader as it does on the surface. I often use anchor flies instead of adding split shot, if for no other reason than shot interrupts the connectivity to my flies. In tricky current, rely on a heavy fly to cut through the competing currents. This not only keeps patterns in the strike zone, but also improves strike detection. With your flies in the strike zone, raise and lower your rod to follow the contour of the streambed. I’ve picked up many trout by lowering my rod as the flies pass over a submerged boulder, before letting them drop into the pocket behind it, where trout often feed.

Even with tighter contact with your flies, strike detection remains challenging. Try to rely on a visual strike indication as much as possible to augment other means. Look for a sudden juke or movement of a fish up into the current or side to side as a clue of a strike. Sometimes this appears as a sudden flash of silver or gold from the side of the fish.

If you see a flash, even if you don’t think the flies are in the vicinity, set the hook immediately. You might be surprised by the number of times you catch a fish. If you pause to wonder, you never catch anything.

Think Outside the Box Even after making every correction for large- and small-scale drag you can think of, sometimes you might get only a few feet of perfect drift before drag takes over. If that’s the case, make sure it’s the “best” few feet, right when it counts—just as the fly approaches the fish. When you just can’t seem to get a good drift no matter what, it’s time to think outside the box.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “I destroy my enemy by making WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

him my friend.” I don’t think he was talking about fly fishing, but it applies here. If you can’t get a drag-free drift, try an alternative tactic that turns drag into an ally. Swing a wet fly or soft-hackle. Let patterns drift naturally, as long as possible, then when drag hits, let them swing and even add some animation by twitching the rod. Another option for nymph fishing uses drag for tension drifts and allows the flies to tighten to the line after a period of dead drift, causing them to lift and swim in the current.

Current is a bit like wind—sometimes a steady breeze, but other times variable and gusty. And just as we find it hard to fish in a gusty storm compared to a light breeze, we struggle with fly presentation in complex currents. Look for a solution for every presentation problem. You’ll probably need to make adjustments and even a few compromises. In the end, you may even resort to Honest Abe’s advice. But you’ll have the satisfaction of solving the challenges of technical drifts. You won’t catch every fish, but at least you’ll have a chance.

Jason Randall is a frequent contributor to American Angler and the author of the Fly Fisher’s Guide trilogy.

His latest book, Nymph Masters: Fly-Fishing Secrets from Expert Anglers, was released by Stackpole/Headwaters Books in 2017.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 43

Nontypical Nor Big trout looking for an early-season meal aren’t always on the hunt for mayflies, caddis, and stones.

By Robert W. Streeter

“When is winter going to end so we can fish?”

That question is a common theme around the table at the fly tying events I attended this past cold season. At my home in Upstate New York, Old Man Winter dealt a healthy streak of snow, sleet, freezing rain, slush, weeks of below-zero nights, and regular daytime wind chills that dropped well past the null set during the shortest days of the year.

BRYAN REYNOLDS

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theast Hatches

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Daydreams of epic hatches on favorite streams can help you get by until spring, and while eager anglers sometimes experience good early trout fishing, it’s not until the lakes and ponds absorb the ice, that the fishing really turns on. In fact, what many people don’t know is the early season is an excellent time to fish Northeast stillwaters. Moreover, the trout ponds and lakes from New York to Maine offer up some incredible oddball “hatches” in the spring that are as predictable as the first emergences of the Hendricksons on a river. Here’s a brief look at a handful of the most abundant, yet often overlooked, food items trout are filling up on as the days get longer, and why you need to imitate them.

Hatching Salamanders Fishing salamander patterns might certainly be a new one for most anglers, but Adirondack guide Joe Hackett of Tahawus Guide Service has measurable success catching big brook trout during the spring imitating these small amphibians.

“Spotted salamanders are candy for brook trout,” Hackett said. “They migrate to the ponds to breed following the first heavy rains of the spring. Brookies gorge on them, and a threepound brookie can actually put on an extra pound or two in just a matter of days. They’re [salamanders are] impossible to

use as live bait because they secrete a foul-tasting slime when they are handled [Hackett’s dog can attest to this] on land.”

Apparently a trout grabbing a swimming TED FAUCEGLIA salamander doesn’t get the same effect, so Hackett uses a simple fur-strip fly tied on a small jig hook to mimic them. He also recommends rigging up with a sinking-tip line so you can twitch a salamander pattern a couple feet under the surface.

“The brook trout hit violently, and with reckless abandon for only about two days after any rains,” Hackett said. “Then the salamanders simply disappear under the leafy cover until next year.”

Red-spotted newts (the adults are actually a dull olive) are also common in northeastern forests, and when there’s a rain, newts get washed into trout ponds and lakes.

“It is very difficult to imitate the action of a salamander in the water. They have a unique buoyancy that allows them to swim in an odd manner,” Hackett said. “I lose a lot of flies to the brush, but it’s usually worth the trouble.”

In order to find places where salamanders wash into lakes or ponds, look at drainage patterns. Any place a small stream enters a stillwater is a good place to start. Gullies or drainages along

When spring finally rolls around, trout in the Northeast (bottom left) are strapping on the feed bag to replace lost calories, and while several noteworthy insect hatches appear from time to time, other food items like leeches (top left) and newts (top right) offer a greater protein packed meal.

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shorelines are other potential spots, since those are areas the sheet flow from a rain event washes anything into a pond.

The Annelid Experience BRIAN GRATWICKE

FLY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN ROMANS

GREG VINCI

Another one of Hackett’s favorite hatches is the leech “hatch.”

“We used to catch leeches for bait,” Hackett said.

“We’d leave some Coke in a soda bottle and add sand to it to keep it on the bottom, then sink it in the pond (with the top off) and hang a lantern over it at night. By morning, the bottle would be full of leeches that were drawn by the light and the sweetness of the soda. It’s amazing how many leeches are in these ponds.”

Leeches emerge from the lake bottom and become more active in the spring, and show up in large numbers as soon as the ice melts.

“When the ice is finally gone, leeches begin to ooze from the muck, often along eastern shores where the west winds push the warm, surface waters,” Hackett said. “Warm water is more dense than cold water, and the first hot days of the season often prompt this ‘subsurface’ hatch of both olive and black leeches.”

The late Adirondack fly tier and writer Fran Betters tied Hackett’s favorite leach pattern out of a jig hook and strips cut from an old otter fur coat.

“I prefer to use an otter fur strip on a lightweight jig hook,” Hackett said. “Though I also catch fish on an olive or black Matuka streamer fly on a sinking-tip line when leeches are around.”

Fishing a leech pattern in a pond requires a slow retrieve. Real leeches aren’t speedy, so a finger-twist retrieve with an occasional twitch of the rod tip is the best way to imitate the undulating motion of a swimming leech.

“When you find fish eating leeches, and bump your flies along the bottom during the retrieve, bringing the fly back a couple inches at a time, it just doesn’t seem fair, because the trout like them so much,” Hackett said.

Articulated Salamander

HOOKS: Saber 7380, size 4.

TAIL: Short bunny strip tied on a hook shank cut near the bend with wire cutters.

JOINTS: 15-pound-test monofilament.

CENTER HOOK: Sheet foam trimmed to look like legs under rabbit dubbing, and a trimmed-rabbit-strip shellback.

FRONT HOOK: Sheet foam trimmed to look like legs under rabbit dubbing.

EYES: Five-millimeter black plastic bead chain.

HEAD: Olive craft fur pulled back over the eyes and fixed with Clear Cure Goo.

Dragons and Damsels Evan Bottcher, manager of the Hungry Trout Fly Shop in Wilmington, New York, also has plenty of experience with Northeast stillwaters. One of his favorite “nontypical” hatches is the Odonata hatch—or, without the Latin, damselflies and dragonflies.

“We use a lot of damselfly nymphs.

They make a great point fly on a two-fly rig,” Bottcher said. “It’s important to know damselflies are excellent swimmers, but dragonflies aren’t as proficient. You should fish both flies with a lot of movement, and move the rod tip left and right, because the WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

Bead-Head Leech

REAR HOOK: Saber 7254, size 10.

THREAD: Black 6/0 Euro Thread.

TAIL: Two short sections of black rabbit strip glued together along the leather side.

JOINT: 15-pound-test monofilament.

FRONT HOOK: Saber 7380, size 4.

BODY: Black rabbit dubbing WINGS: Two rabbit-fur strips tied on opposing sides of the hook over the dubbing.

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REAR HOOK: Mustad 36890, size 8.

FRONT HOOK: Mustad 3665A, size 6.

THREAD: Black 6/0 Euro Thread.

JOINT: 10-pound-test monofilament.

TAILS: Red strip of goose wing feather.

BODY: Silver braided tinsel.

WING: Four peacock herls over bright pink bucktail, over bright yellow bucktail, over white bucktail.

CHEEKS: Silver pheasant.

BEARD: Red calftail.

Mini Humungus

HOOK: Sabre 7254, size 10.

THREAD: Black 6/0 Euro Thread.

TAIL: Olive marabou.

BODY: Olive fine Estaz.

RIB: Gold wire.

HACKLE: Grizzly saddle tied at the head and palmered to the tail, tied down with rib wire.

HEAD: White Ice Dubbing.

EYES: Three-millimeter bead chain.

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Sniff Out Smelts Recently, when I took a new job with the conservation department in Warrensburg, New York, I had the added benefit of fishing a smelt “hatch” that starts when the pond ice melts. My buddy Brian and I set off in the dark one morning and motored up Lake George to a tiny creek in Northwest Bay. I cast and retrieved a tandem hook smelt streamer linked to a medium-density sinking shooting head. As Brian landed his second fish on spinning gear, my fly suddenly stopped mid-retrieve, and the rod throbbed as a hooked lake trout shook its head. After that fish, my beginner’s luck kicked in, and I landed and released several nice “lakers” using a Margo Smelt pattern the late Ed Bendl, the “Adirondack Fly Tyer,” taught me to tie, and I’ve caught many lakers on its trailing hook, so there is wisdom behind the classic two-hook streamers.

Smelts are about six inches long and a common Northeast baitfish. On that particular day, the lakers were feeding on rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax). In the spring, spawning smelts congregate near the river mouths and run up streams that flow into big Northeast lakes like Lake Champlain, Lake George, Lake Winnipesaukee, and Moosehead Lake to name a few. Some feeder streams can be quite small in some cases, and smelts will stage on shallow flats before moving upstream. That’s where predator species like lake trout, landlocked salmon, and in some cases, large brown trout, lie in wait to feast.

The best strategy for the smelt “hatch” is being on the water when smelt are running. Contact fishery biologists, conservation officers, or fly shops to find the streams smelt prefer, and get firsthand reports on smelt activity. On sunny days, the hour or so right after sunrise is when fish are most active in the shallows, and the same goes for the last hour before sunset. On an overcast WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

BRYAN REYNOLDS

Bendl’s Margo Smelt

Bottcher also recommends departing from the usual pondfishing techniques and employing some ideas from across another “pond.”

“Loch-style fishing from a drifting boat like they do in Europe works here, too.”

Loch-style fishing involves backcasting into the wind and fishing in front of the boat on a drift. Let the wind push the boat across the pond or lake and use it to punch out long casts and cover a lot of water. It’s active cast-and-retrieve-style fishing, not trolling around holding a rod.

“Let a fly hang down directly underneath the boat and retrieve it vertically when you can. You might be surprised how many hookups you’ll encounter,” Bottcher said.

Bottcher’s recommended rig for fishing ponds with a damselfly nymph is a 10-foot-long, 6-weight rod rigged with a full-sinking line.

“You can use full-sinking lines to cover a variety of depths, but there are times when floating lines, intermediate lines, and light sinking-tip lines are effective for pond fishing.”

Bottcher recommends two fly patterns for imitating damselfly nymphs—the Mini Humungus and the Fulling Mill Living Damsel.

“Both flies work with dumbbell eyes or unweighted. A weighted fly in the back and a lighter fly in the front on a tandem rig also works, and sometimes it helps to have the weight variance.”

SEAN LANDSMAN/ENGBRETSON UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

naturals also move that way when they are swimming.”

Bottcher looks for trout activity near structure during the spring when damselflies are moving toward shore to hatch.

“Cast a fly near structure and retrieve it with six- to twelveinch strips. When damselflies are hatching, they swim toward shore and look for something to climb out of the water upon.

Sometimes you’ll see a lily pad with ten or so bugs on it. When that’s going on, the trout key in on the nymph.”

Rainbow smelt (bottom), damselflies (top), and dragonflies are just a few other Northeast spring “hatches” many fly anglers don’t pay much attention to. If you happen to be on the water when any are present, remember an active presentation is key, though you can also attract strikes letting a fly “hang” in the water column before recasting.

day, the bite can last longer, and if there are seagulls swarming near a creek mouth, the smelts are there.

Trolling flies during a smelt hatch is popular in the Northeast, and the technique likely fostered the creation of tandem streamer patterns. But trolling isn’t the only way to catch trout and landlocked salmon in the spring. Casting and retrieving variations from a boat work just as well, and when a big smeltchasing trout grabs a streamer, hang on! Lake trout in particular fight like bulldogs, and dive right down to the bottom, shaking their head and pulling line from the reel as you try to horse them away from submerged logs or rocks.

Fan-cast streamers toward shore and strip line all the way back to the boat, with the fly swimming just off the bottom.

Trout sometimes follow a fly for a long way, and hit right below the boat, so be alert during the entire retrieve. As the morning sun gets higher, the bite may progressively move to deep water, until trout leave the flats entirely.

Ten- or 11-foot-long, 7- or 8-weight rods are easy to cast from a boat (especially while fishing) and very useful for this type of fishing. Sinking-tip lines will work, but shooting heads rigged with floating, running line offer so much more versatility on a lake because they are easy to switch when fish change depths. Large-arbor reels are a plus, especially when using sinking shooting heads, and since hooked trout and salmon sometimes run at the boat. Use four-foot-long, 6-pound-test leaders (with a surgeon’s loop to attach it to the shooting head) to handle most fish, unless fish over 10 pounds are possible, in which case, 10-pound-test tippet is a worthy precaution.

Spring weather is unpredictable—almost more so than predicting winter weather. So when your favorite trout stream is a blown-out mess after a heavy spring rain and not worth fishing, or you simply want to try something different, there’s predictable hatch activity you can count on in Northeast stillwaters. The methods and flies take a bit of getting used to, but the adjustments are worth the work, especially once you realize those ponds and lakes can grow some mighty big trout.

Robert Streeter is the author of Warmwater Fly Fishing: Finding and Catching Warmwater Species, and in 2015, he released a DVD, Tying and Fishing for Smallmouths.

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 49

Caught in the Middle

R. VALENTINE ATKINSON

50 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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HOW TO TARGET TROUT FEEDING BELOW THE WATER’S SURFACE BUT ABOVE THE STREAMBED.

BY PHIL TEREYLA

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PHIL TEREYLA

It’s not uncommon to see trout feeding in the middle of the water column (middle), especially on tailwater streams like Colorado’s South Platte where any sort of dislodged food item might be carried downstream, or ascending to the surface to complete its life cycle. Fooling fish in those situations (left) means adjusting the weight of your rig so the fly drifts at a depth that isn’t too deep, or too shallow, in relations to your target (illustration).

PATRICK CLAYTON

The challenge of fooling and catching trout with a fly is a never-ending puzzle. Not only do you have to locate a fish, but you also have to figure out what the fish is eating and, most important, place a fly as close to the trout’s mouth as possible.

On many technical and pressured trout streams, fish may move only a few inches to one side or the other in the current to feed on whatever is zipping past their face. If your fly drifts to the right, left, above, or below the fish, it will most likely simply ignore your offering and choose to focus on those easy meals that require little to no work to obtain.

While guiding and fishing many days on Colorado’s South Platte River, I have witnessed many a trout’s selective and discerning behaviors on a daily basis. On any given day, I can walk along any of the deep runs or pools and witness fish actively feeding. One of my most memorable encounters was while walking upstream along a rock garden, when I saw several flashes in front of a large boulder. There was a handful of bugs on the water, but nothing that I could see would really get fish excited enough to come up with consistency.

For five minutes, my client and I watched the fish eat every four or five seconds while it remained only a foot or so under the surface before we finally sent a nymph rig its way. On the 52 I AMERICAN ANGLER

first drift, he snagged a large rock and broke the tippet. After some leader patchwork and knotting some fresh flies on the end, I added the smallest split shot I could find in my pack, and watched as the first cast drifted the fly at just the right depth, and proved too much for the large cuttbow to handle.

Depending on the time of day or the season, you, too, might find a similar aquarium-like section of river and be able to see fish eating nymphs on the bottom, adult insects on the surface, and other fish elevated or suspended from the bottom, moving different directions to eat, without going to the surface or streambed. In some cases, these are the most aggressive fish in the water, more than willing to eat a fly—if you can get your flies to them. The trick is to adjust the weight, fly depth, and presentation technique and fish suspended.

THE SUSPENDED ZONE I think it’s fair to say most fly fishermen tend to approach tactics in terms of fishing above or below the surface. We are all familiar with the draw and visual suspense of fishing a dry fly, as well as that sudden strike and pull that comes with using streamers or nymphs to imitate foods knocked loose from their perch on the river bottom. While thinking in terms of focusing above or WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

THOMAS BARNETT

ANGUS DRUMMOND

below the surface helps keep things simple, it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding trout feeding behavior or approaching fish that move only short distances to eat.

The river bottom is reserved for those fish that want to sit in the slowest currents, where food items roll along and require little to no effort to eat. Typically you’ll find most trout in the bottom third of the water column when there’s no substantial hatch or bug activity or during the coldest winter days, when a trout’s metabolism is slow, calories count, and fish avoid any abundance of motion. Conversely, surface feeding occurs during the opposite windows—when the warm water and air encourage insect life to become active, and adult insects ride on, or fly just above, the water’s surface.

The middle, or suspended, zone is a little tougher to define.

That’s why I like to break a river down into three or four different zones based on depth. I then take into account what I can see, whether it’s a fish feeding, or increased bug activity. I categorize the section of water flowing a foot or so above the streambed as the bottom or low feeding zone, and the top six inches to a foot of water as the upper water column or surface zone. I call the piece of water between the two the middle column or suspended feeding zone, and it tends to be where some of the WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

heaviest feeding patterns occur. Suspended trout holding in the middle column are burning calories, so they need to consume calories, and will focus on food sources working to the water’s surface.

Obviously, the suspended zone varies in size and depth, depending on the river. The important note to take away is that there is a place to drift your flies that is not flush on the bottom or the top.

If it helps, think of it as though you’re finding fish in a still water. Stillwater trout will eat adult insects on top, as well as crayfish, leeches, and other forage foods from the bottom, depending on which is more plentiful. However, any angler with a fishfinder or who tirelessly goes through trial and error to find trout will often find a specific depth somewhere between the lake bottom and surface where fish are satiating their hunger pangs.

The reason is partly because fish feel safer staying away from the surface, and because any insects in larval form transforming and moving to the surface have to travel through that middle feeding zone. Likewise, emerging midges, caddis, mayflies, and other insect life that begin the journey on the river bottom bombard fish that are elevated and suspended.

SUSPENDED TACTICS It might go without saying, but when most anglers think of MAY/JUNE 2018 I 53

TOSH BROWN

One technique for fooling suspended trout (right) is to allow the fly to rest in the water for a few moments at the end of your presentation, just before you begin a backcast.

Trout that are keyed in on insects rising to the surface (middle) may be curious about your offering, but won’t commit until the pattern seemingly “hangs” just under the surface, and makes for an easy target (illustration). You can use the same method on stillwaters (left) by simply pausing a moment before casting, just in case a fish followed the fly up from deeper water.

PHIL TEREYLA

targeting subsurface trout, the first thing that comes to mind is a weighted nymph rig. It’s hard not to think otherwise when the diehard nymph angler’s mantra is, “The difference between a good nymph fisherman and a great one is one split shot,” which means that if you’re not getting your flies deep enough or close enough to the slow water along the streambed, you’re missing fish.

However, I believe the saying can go the other way around.

Even if your nymph rig is weighted properly to get flies along the bottom to where they occasionally bump or snag rocks until a trout filters your offering into its jaw, you may be too deep and drifting well below the most attentive fish.

To dead-drift nymph to suspended, feeding trout, there are two tactics that will help you keep flies in the feeding zone longer. First, choose the proper weight for the water you plan to fish.

Stereotypical nymph rigs incorporate enough weight to keep patterns deep. However, if you simply add just enough weight to keep your flies submerged, you can fool more fish that are intentionally on the lookout for food carried through the middle column or on the way to the surface. Even during a large hatch, there are times when adding just enough weight to keep your flies 12 to 20 inches below the surface can result in exponentially more hookups. This strategy also gives you a little leeway in 54 I AMERICAN ANGLER

your drift because it doesn’t require the same absolutely perfect presentation you make to stingy rising fish.

The second method is all about the placement of your strike indicator. While traditional indicator guidelines say to put a visual cue up the leader anywhere from 1 to 2½ times the water depth, I suggest shortening that placement of a marker to the exact level at which fish are holding. If an indicator isn’t your thing, use a large, colorful attractor pattern and tie a submerged pattern off it, dropper style. Adjust the indicator or dropper length up or down until you think you’re presenting flies right next to fish. Then, as you get closer to figuring out the depth, change to an emerging mayfly or pupa pattern for whatever is beginning to hatch, and wait for the fish to eat.

One of the most successful ways to target suspended trout is with controlled hopper–dropper tactics. The traditional mind-set of hopper–dropper fishing is to give trout two food options—one above the surface and one below—which makes the rig perfect for suspended trout scenarios. If fish aren’t keying on the dry fly or you need to make a switch to a two-fly nymph rig, measure the distance between the dry and the dropper and adjust an indicator accordingly. In my experience, a dry fly often serves as a better option over easily spooked fish. I’ve also seen WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

CHAD CHORNEY THOMAS BARNETT

fish attracted to the dropper quickly notice the dry and decide it looks more enticing, regardless of whether the fish was actively feeding on the surface. But each encounter is different, so go with whatever method the situation dictates.

Another way to target suspended fish is to take advantage of the reason they are suspended in the first place. I’d like to think a trout is looking for insect life on its way to the surface because it’s aware that if said food items reach the surface, said food items become that much more difficult to eat. The answer is to swing. (See “The Sink Tip Swing” on page 30.) Swinging mayfly emerger patterns or soft-hackle patterns gives fish exactly what they are looking for. Standing upstream from the holding water and casting at a downstream angle to the far side of a run, pool, or riffle, creating a downstream belly in your fly line, and allowing the current to pull the flies across the holding water in front of the fish can work like magic.

Swinging flies slowly rise to the surface and imitate an emerging insect, and kick-start a killer instinct in any trout that sees it. At the end of the swing, allow your flies to hang in the current for 5 to 10 seconds, similar to swinging a streamer and imitating the motion of an injured baitfish or backward scurry of crayfish. You might be surprised by the number of WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

fish coming up and aggressively eating.

If you need more convincing, remember that while trout can and do feed on the water’s surface, it is well documented that fish consume the majority of their food below it. At times, fish will feed directly on the bottom, providing as little effort as they possibly can in order to take in calories. However, with slight increases in water temperatures, insects begin moving and become more active throughout the day. As these little morsels shoot toward the surface, trout have learned they can intercept easy, bountiful meals by suspending themselves not too deep, and not too shallow.

By using less weight or adjusting the distance between your flies and your strike indicator, you can keep flies in a trout’s feeding zone longer than you would by adding enough weight to reach the bottom per the traditional nymphing line of thought.

Take these tactics to the river and add them to your tried-andtrue techniques for continued success while fish change their feeding activity throughout the day.

Phil Tereyla lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and guides full-time on the South Platte River. You can see more of his work at www.addictiveanglingcolorado.com.

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NATURAL REFLECTIONS I

ARTICLE & PHOTOGRAPHY BY TED FAUCEGLIA

Summer Clinger Nymphs Heptageniidae

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fter you neatly pack and store all the Christmas decorations, and the out-of-town relatives and friends are safely back home, you finally get the time to focus on the coming fishing season. Preparing for the new season is a lot of fun, and a lot of work. For me, it starts with a check of all my equipment and gear. Lines and waders are particularly important to me; I don’t like cracked or blackened lines, and I really dislike leaky waders.

But to be sure, I spend the majority of my preseason time at the tying desk, trying to improve existing patterns and attempting to devise new ones. Like most dry fly enthusiasts, I direct my early season tying efforts almost entirely at the mayfly and caddis hatches, with mayflies getting most of the attention. I’m not sure why, but it seems the fish’s selectivity for mayfly patterns increases every year.

For this reason, and just in case the trout are even more fickle, I try to tie exact, species-specific patterns for all the stages (nymph, dun, and spinner) of my mayfly patterns.

Notwithstanding the fact that I go through this every year and have accumulated a backlog of patterns I’ll probably never use, I have an incurable passion for creating better patterns. Unfortunately, save for the summer Trico, sporadic blue-winged olive, and late-season white fly hatches,

by June, mayfly hatches have diminished to the point that they are no longer my focus. Terrestrials and midges are my primary dry fly targets. But there is some sporadic mayfly activity that needs to be addressed. Lesser members of the Heptageniidae family of mayflies hatch throughout the summer. And while the adults (Light Cahill look-alikes) hatch sporadically, their hatches are sparse and have rarely induced more than an occasional “rise.” There are, however, enough Heptageniidae nymphs present to warrant a nymph pattern that has annually worked for me as a “searching” fly. Heptageniidae nymphs are known as clingers. Measuring from 12 to 16 millimeters long, they have flattened bodies with broad, blunt heads and muscular, spiderlike legs. Their strong legs and three long tails enable them to freely navigate in fast water, where they live and flourish. Their colors range from a light to dark mottled tannish red-brown. Contrary to the species-specific nymph patterns I tie for the spring mayfly hatches, I don’t tie a nymph pattern that specifically represents any of the lateseason clinger species. Instead, I tie and carry a supply of size 12 to 16 Hare’s-Ear Nymphs. The Hare’s-Ear Nymph is a staple of my nymph collection and easily one of the most productive all-purpose go-to nymphs that I fish. But just in case the trout get a bit selective and fickle, I alter the fly just a little by adding a wing case, brushing out the guard hair under the wing case to represent legs, and adding a pinch of reddish-brown squirrel dubbing.

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TF’s Hare’s-Ear Clinger Nymph

HOOK: Tiemco 5262, sizes 12 to 16.

THREAD: Camel 8/0 Uni-Thread.

TAILS: Lemon wood duck breast feathers.

ABDOMEN: A mixture that’s three parts #4 Hareline Hare’s Ear Plus Dub and one part rusty brown Wapsi SLF Squirrel Dubbing.

WING CASE: Dark brown wild turkey quill.

LEGS: Picked-out dubbing on each side of the wing case.

HEAD: Camel 8/0 Uni-Thread.

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 57

FLY TYER® I

ARTICLE & PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SANCHEZ

Salty Snacks In some situations, the biggest fly in your box is not the best, and the smallest, might be the most appetizing.

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CAN’T SAY I’M A SALTWATER expert, but I’ve spent enough time in the salt to figure out a few things.

Fortunately, some of my knowledge came from guides, but I have also figured out many things on my own by just observing and trying different approaches. That’s the advantage to do-it-yourself and family trips—you learn a bunch.

Case in point is a fish’s disposition when it comes to food selectivity. It’s one of those facets that I have to admit I don’t consider often when I’m on the water. Sure, there are plenty of productive chuck-and-chance fly patterns out there, and a few work with dependable regularity. Fish can be opportunistic omnivores, and yet at other times, prefer something specific that replicates bait, and size, shape, color, and action (or a mix of all four) become critical to success. But figuring out the trigger can be one of the most enjoyable parts of fishing. Learning through experience what works and what doesn’t is a rewarding endeavor that far too many anglers don’t take the chance to do.

For this column, I’m going to dive into one of those key fly attributes—size.

There is something to be said about using big flies to target big fish, but that isn’t always the case. There are occasions when smaller offerings may be more productive

than larger ones. When it comes to saltwater fly fishing, sometimes less is more.

Eating a big bucket of buttered popcorn one piece at a time, or in handfuls, may have more calories than a small cheeseburger engulfed at once. Having a selection of small flies can save the day. And though I know small is a relative term, I’m thinking about saltwater flies that are less than two inches long, but especially those that are around an inch.

Matching the Pseudo Hatch

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hen it comes to small saltwater flies, there are some parallels to using small flies on selective trout. First is that there are specific reasons why fish key in on even the tiniest food items. Sometimes small prey is the most common and predictable food source. For example, think about the life cycle timing of certain prey (young-ofthe-year fish) or seasonal migrations—their predictable movement patterns and/or timing might make them an easy meal.

A prey’s propensity to become a meal (how easy it is to catch) is another reason fish pursue certain foods. In some situations, big fish can easily swim through masses of small fry and simply open their mouth to make a living. When it comes to

the sea, the biggest, fattest fish survives, and it gets that way by eating the most and expending the least amount of energy—not unlike a trout zeroing in on a hatch.

Another point in favor of small flies is knowing some species and age classes of fish feed on small life-forms. Young versions of game fish generally eat small food, and even though they aren’t brute adults, they’re still great fly rod quarry. Also, juvenile game fish and small inshore species are the often reachable by shoreline or inshore anglers. A good example is fishing to adolescent (five- to seven-pound) little tunny feeding on inch-long glass minnows.

They look like a bunch of sunfish eating on the surface—more like a feeding frenzy than an explosion—and an inch-long fly works really well. When big predators are out during low tide, juveniles sometimes ravage the inshore, and small jacks, Spanish mackerel, stripers, speckled trout, and snook are all lots of fun. Other times, visible small species taunt you as you walk along a beach, reef, or dock. It can be fun to target these fish with trout-sized gear and flies. On any tough day, I’m of the opinion that I’d rather catch something small than nothing at all.

Small flies also come into play when targeting obscure fish—those brightly colored shapes that pop out of reefs, rocks, and jetties. I love it when I have to look at a fish ID book to figure out what I’ve caught.

The fact is, many reef fish have mixed diets of minute organisms and coral, while others just eat coral or are strictly vegetarians and standard fare like baitfish isn’t on the menu. Those fish that feed on minute stuff seem to occasionally bite more than they can chew when given the chance. Oddball fish can be very entertaining, and if you’re savvy enough, you might have a shot at a class-tippet world record.

Tidal flows, currents, and wind can Large fish, especially large saltwater fish, don’t always eat large meals, so it pays to carry a box of flies that mimic small morsels.

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Tying the Son of Conehead SON OF CONEHEAD

HOOK: Dai-Riki 930, sizes 2 to 8, bent to a bendback shape.

THREAD: Red 6/0.

HEAD: Nickel 3/16- to Âź-inch conehead with recessed eyes.

WING: White bucktail, glow-in-the-dark Flashabou, pearl Krystal Flash, and tan bucktail.

EYES: Orange 2-millimeter adhesive eyes stuck into eye bores on conehead.

GLUE: Cyanoacrylate (superglue).

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the hook shank in the opposite direction of the hook gap about one-third of 1Bend the length back from hook eye. Then slip the cone on the hook. a drop of cement on the hook shank behind the eye and wrap a thread base 2 Add over it. the cone forward to make sure it fits snugly over the thread base. When it 3 Slip does, whip-finish, cut the thread, and apply cement to the thread head.

4 Attach the thread to the hook shank behind the cone. a sparse wing of bucktail and flash behind the cone. Then whip-finish and cut 5 Add the thread, and add cement to the thread and base of the wing.

6 Adhere the adhesive eyes in the eye sockets of the conehead.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 59

FLY TYERÂŽ

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Tying the Chenille Crab CHENILLE CRAB

HOOK: Gamakatsu C14S, sizes 4 to 8.

THREAD: Tan 3/0.

EYES: Small or extra-small silver bead chain to match hook size.

TAIL: Tan marabou.

LEGS: Tan spandex.

BODY: Medium or small tan chenille.

SHELLBACK: A drop of clear UV-cured adhesive or cyanoacrylate glue.

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the thread and secure bead-chain eyes behind the hook eye. Then, one1Attached third of the way down the hook bend, add a marabou tail to simulate claws. chenille at the base of the tail, and then three spandex legs spaced evenly 2firmAttach on the hook shank. Make soft figure-eight wraps to attach the spandex and then wraps to secure them. the chenille around the shank and between the legs. Then secure the che3 Wrap nille with thread behind the eyes. Whip-finish and cut the thread. and push the tail and chenille body toward the hook eye to make a compact 4 Pinch and round crab body.

5 Trim the legs to the length of 1 / shanks. a drop of cyanoacrylate or UV glue to the top of the chenille to help invert the 6 Add fly in the water.

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push small bait around and concentrate them into small schools much more easlity than larger specimens. A heavy tidal current may wash everything in all directions, but a light current can corral a smorgasbord of predominately small, mobile-limited foods. Strong winds can also flood bays and shorelines, expose new food, and concentrate small food items along shorelines. Extended winds from a constant direction can also create or enhance a tide and congregate a steady stream of food. I’ve watched tarpon feed on small wind-driven shrimps by just sipping them off the surface like trout eating midges—which should give you an indication that if something as large as a tarpon can eat small flies, so can most any other big game fish.

Shallow or calm water is another area conducive to small flies. I think that many times fish in the shallows would eat larger flies, but from an angling standpoint, it’s easier to deposit a small fly with less disturbance than a large one, and pressured fish often respond better to smaller fare. In fact, I’ve caught many nice redfish and bonefish on flies that were probably smaller than what fish were eating.

Under the Lights

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ne of my favorite small-fly scenarios is casting under the lights at night off a dock because in some cases, the catching can be better that what you’ve experienced during a long day on the water. These mini-adventures have entertained me from Florida to California, in the Gulf and places in between. Docks and boat moorings in general are food factories day and night because the structures act like artificial reefs and provide food and cover for a variety of small critters. One of the best things about docks is you can consistently find fish regardless of conditions. Sure tides, water levels, and wind affect the fishing, but to a lesser degree compared to other scenarios.

The best fishing docks have a consistent long-term light source, and whether you’re fishing from a dock or casting toward it, the odds of success are in your favor. Light is a magnet that attracts microorganisms, which in turn attract small bait to feed, which in turn attracts bigger predators. Proximity to cuts or channels WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

MICRO SHRIMP

HOOK: Gamakatsu Octopus short-shank hook, sizes 6 to 10.

THREAD: Gray 3/0.

TAIL: Light dun Scud Dub. RIB: 3X monofilament tippet.

EYES: Plastic bead chain or damsel eyes.

CARAPACE: Pearl tinsel.

BODY: Light dun Scud Dub.

is helpful, and docks with fish-cleaning stations are a bonus because the constant chum attracts fish. It’s one reason some hotels in Texas are booked year after year— because of their proximity to productive fishing docks, not the pillow mints.

Predators can use the shadows of a dock and also the dark edges outside a light’s reach to hide in and ambush bait either by waiting for bait to slip inadvertently into the shadows or by darting into the light themselves and grabbing a bite before retreating back into the cover of darkness. Bait is a loose term and could be fish, shrimps, crabs, or just about anything else.

Whatever is present, you can likely bet the largest quantity of food is relatively small and best imitated by small patterns.

That said, if you’re fishing small flies among a multitude of bait, a little “exaggeration” can help fish find your fly among the masses. Bright color highlights can also make a pattern easier for fish to find, and glow-in-the-dark materials can also be an aid. I sometimes fish multiple flies for better odds of finding what fish prefer, and sinking lines can be helpful with any fly, but especially small flies that don’t weigh much. Plus, when there is heavy current, swinging and dead-drifting small flies is a good alternative to stripping line.

Small Hooks

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tandard-shank saltwater hooks are usually available in as little as sizes 6 or 8. The Mustad 34007 and Dai-Riki 930 are a smaller size 8 than other brands.

For even smaller flies, the most common hook is a Mustad 7766, which technically

is a short-shank, heavy-wire tarpon hook that goes down to size 12. Short-shank hooks allow you to tie small flies without sacrificing strength, since many times you need a small fly and a solid hook.

Octopus-style hooks like those from Gamakatsu are also good options, as are egg–stinger hooks with corrosion-resistant finishes. The key to targeting larger fish with small flies is to use the strongest hook you can get away with. Then rely on sparse dressings and translucent materials to make your fly look small.

Many good small-fly options are just simply tinier versions of the originals. The Clouser Minnow is a great fly that downsizes well, and bonefish flies are easy-to-tie patterns that double as small prey. Experiment and find a few patterns that work well, and replicate them at the bench. I have a set of my own flies and adaptations that have worked well for me over the years.

One of my favorite small flies is a conehead bucktail Bend-Back, a little brother to my Conehead the Barbarian, and a relative of Popovics’s Jiggy—I guess I could call it Son of Conehead. Another old friend is my vinyl tubing Lipstick Minnow. The Chenille Crab is an easy small pattern to tie and is essentially a saltwater Yuk Bug that works on flats, reefs, and under lights.

Micro shrimp patterns are basically scud patterns tied on heavy-wire hooks that work on a number of species and scenarios. My mini fly is just a bead on a small hook with a few strands of flash, and I use it for reef fish, vegetarians, barnacle-biters, and about anything else that refuses reasonable offerings. For the lack of a better name, I simply call it the Petri Dish, and salty versions of my Ultra Zug have also worked as a micro saltwater pattern. All these flies are exceptionally easy to tie, can be weighted differently, or fitted with weed guards.

While there is a propensity with flies to always go big or go home, having a selection of small patterns can help you save some days on the water, and definitely open up new horizons.

Scott Sanchez is the shop manager for JD High Country Outfitters in Jackson, Wyoming. He won the first Federation of Fly Fishers Iron Fly Contest in 2014.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 61

EXPEDITIONS

Xcalak 62 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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Mixing bonefish, permit, and homemade bourbon on the Mexican Caribbean.

S t o r y by Ni c k Ro b e r t s / P h o t o s by Pa t r i c k Wi l l i a m s

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 63

EXPEDITIONS

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HE SUN IS SETTING OVER the sleepy fishing village of Xcalak, Mexico, casting the barrier reef in amber light and bringing out the vibrant green and blue hues of the oceanside flats. We’re on our way back to Costa de Cocos resort, idling down the outside edge of a long expanse of turtle grass, when suddenly our guide, Julio Gomez, cuts the engine and plants his bamboo pushpole, bringing the panga, aptly named Permit Me, to a halt.

“Palometa—alla,” he whispers, pointing into the glare.

Julio’s younger brother and apprentice, Eduardo, spots the fish right away.

I’m not far behind. There they are—three zigzagor four tailing permit leisurely zigzag ging across the flat, their sickle fins slicing

64 I AMERICAN ANGLER

through the water’s rippled surface.

“Get in, amigo,” Julio tells me as he hands off the pole to his brother. We zip up our wading boots and slide over the gunnel into the lukewarm water as quietly as possible. The permit are still there, about 20 yards out, foraging in the turtle grass, perfect cover for crabs and shrimps.

As it tends to do at inopportune moments, the wind—today blowing a steady 15 from the east—picks up, increasing the chop. Julio and I stealthily close in on the fish, their black spikes silhouetted in the fading light. The permit are swimming right to left, on a diagonal line, but suddenly, they start coming toward us. Julio raises his hand, signaling me to stop.

“Go now,” he whispers excitedly.

I toss the Rag Head Crab into the air, load my 9-weight, and aim a couple feet in front of the lead fish. The cast is decent, and the 12-foot, 16-pound fluorocarbon leader unfurls in the path of the school, and the fly lands with a subtle plop. I make a long, slow strip.

Southbound Shots at permit are what brought my fishing buddy Patrick and me to Xcalak—a small pit stop on the Yucatán Peninsula at the southern end of Costa Maya, perfectly situated on one of the last undeveloped stretches along the Mexican Caribbean. Home to fewer than 500 people and only about six miles from the Belize border, Xcalak remains free of tourist traps and condos

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The small fishing village of Xcalak, Mexico neighbors countless miles of saltwater flats (top) and a seemingly never ending maze of lagoons (bottom left) where anglers can find bonefish, tarpon, and of course, the elusive permit (right).

As if that weren’t enough, the Costa de Cocos Resort makes its own liquor (top left), which certainly comes in handy after a long day of dealing with fickle fish.

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 65

EXPEDITIONS by virtue of its remoteness. From the city of Chetumal, just 30 miles across the bay, the village is a 2 1/2-hour car ride up the coast and back down the peninsula. For the majority of anglers traveling from the United States, the most direct route is to fly into the spring-break mecca of Cancún and drive the rest of the way, which takes about five hours. There is a landing strip in Xcalak, but Patrick and I can’t yet afford to charter our own plane, so we opted for Cancún, where Miguel and his brother Alberto, the amicable drivers of a shuttle arranged by Costa de Cocos, met us amid the throngs of vacationers outside the airport.

The long ride south to Xcalak along scenic Highway 307 offers a fascinating look at the countryside and the villages dotting the eastern edge of the Yucatán Peninsula. The farthest most tourists go is Tulum, a lively resort town named after the nearby Mayan archeological site and lined with hostels, cafés, bars, and openair restaurants. At Miguel’s suggestion, we stop for a late lunch at a taco stand, where the four of us eat our fill of pollo and carnitas for only eight dollars.

Beyond Tulum, the communities become more rural and become fewer and farther between. The jungle starts to encroach on civilization and lines the

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road like a solid green wall. Home to jaguars, howler monkeys, and the deadly fer-de-lance pit viper, this land, along with the rest of the Yucatán Peninsula, was ruled by the Maya for centuries. Today, tourists come from around the world to visit the temples dotting the jungle, just as anglers from far and wide travel to the peninsula’s flats in search of its bonefish (macabi) and permit (palometa). We emerge from the jungle after a couple hours, and when I spot a stand of mangroves sprouting in a pool of water along the road, I know we’re almost there.

Ilana and David Randall founded Costa de Cocos over 25 years ago on an idyllic 350-foot stretch of oceanfront property a half mile north of town. A pair of windmills power the resort, and like any good fishing lodge, it has its own restaurant and bar, which is where Patrick and I head after stashing our gear in our cabana, one of 16 spread along the water’s edge. We’re pleasantly surprised to learn from the bartender, José, that Costa de Cocos not only brews and bottles it own beer but also distills its own bourbon and corn liquor, which could double as fuel for the pangas anchored out back. Known as La Mula Blanca (The White Mule), this Mexican moonshine has no doubt comforted many permit-scorned anglers;

a few days later I, too, order a round to ease the sting of rejection.

It’s early June, the official start of hurricane season, and the only other guests of the resort are pairs of anglers from Argentina and Texas. Like us, they’re here to take advantage of Costa de Cocos’ great off-season rates. The downside is the weather can be unpredictable this time of year. The upside is the permit fishing is consistently good through June and July (Julio notes that May is typically the best month), and June is also when big migratory tarpon begin to show up along the reef. Targeting the plentiful bonefish is always an option. Even if the wind is howling out of the east, there are plenty of sheltered places to fish in Chetumal Bay, which is as large as Espiritu Santo and Ascension Bays combined.

Stalking Bones in the Bay On one especially windy day, Julio and Eduardo motor us through a man-made channel next to a military outpost in Xcalak, and then on into the bay’s maze of lagoons. We wind our way from one to the next, eventually arriving at the end of a narrow flat, inches deep. We leave the boat behind and take off sloshing into the mangroves. After a 15-minute hike, we emerge at the edge of an isolated system of three or four interconnected lagoons lined with mud flats.

Julio surmises that during periods of high water, bonefish slip into the shallow lagoons to feed, but wind up staying because of the abundance of prey and the lack of predators. Chowing down in relative safety, the resident fish become bigger than the schooling “dollar bill” bones found in less remote areas of the bay. Most range between five and seven pounds— nice bonefish for Mexico and Belize.

Within minutes of arriving, we spy several fish tailing around a sparse cluster of mangroves. Patrick and I are rigged with a size 4 tan mantis shrimp, which Julio suggests we retrieve with steady fiveto six-inch strips. As I’m approaching the tailing bones, a closer school materializes. The fish are cruising at a good clip, so I lead them by a couple yards and don’t start stripping the fly until they are within about two feet of it. A chunky one WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

The author and photographer’s trip to Xcalak was part fun, and part work. To gain a better understanding of permit and bonefish habits, they helped net, document, and tag fish.

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pounces, but in the blink of an eye, the fish disappears into a nearby row of mangroves and snaps my 12-pound fluorocarbon tippet on a barnacle-encrusted shoot.

After I express my dissatisfaction with a string of words not fit for print, Julio and I have a good laugh at the schooling I just received. Patrick comes tight to a fish a few minutes later, and we’re off to the races. He and Eduardo go left, while

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Julio and I keep fishing our way down the right edge of the mangroves. The four of us reconvene at the next lagoon, where Julio and Eduardo immediately spot a large school of bonefish excavating crabs in the middle of a mud flat. I switch over to a simple tan pattern with hot legs and retrieve it with long, slow strips, making sure to pause after each one, as crabs typically do not scurry away from predators

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MAY/JUNE 2018 I 67

Classifieds Classifieds

EXPEDITIONS EXPEDITIONS EXPEDITIONS

FISHING GUIDES/LODGING

butIthunker down in the sediment. It’s not communities have begun to see that the was Alan’s long before I hear the drag sing. fish are more valuable alive than dead and It was Alan’s turn on the castARKANSAS WHITE RIVER! ARKANSAS WHITE RIVER! McKenzie driftboat flyfishing on turn on the castso have started to informally manage their ing platform.

McKenzie driftboat flyfishing on McKenzie driftboat flyfishing on Beaver and Bull Shoals tailwaters.

Scott ing platform.

Shared Fisheries bonefish fisheries as catch-and-release for The quarters Beaver andand Bull Shoals tailwaters.

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Branyan, Ozark Fly Flinger, 888-99The quarters As I release one of several memorable fish fly fishing. In Belize, bonefish, along with were tight and he Branyan, Ozark Fly Flinger, 888-99Scott Branyan, Ozark Fly Flinger, FLING. www.flyflinger.com were tight and he Patrick and I caught from the school, I tarpon and permit, are catch-and-release had to watch his 1-888-99-FLING. www.flyflinger.com FLING. www.flyflinger.com had to watch hisit will go—will the fish stay nationwide, although there is still some netwonder where backcast.

FightMISCELLANEOUS backcast.

Fightputthe in urge these lagoons in Mexico, or will it ting that takes place and lax enforcement.

R O D S , TA C K L E ing to MISCELLANEOUS FLY-FISHING ONLY, BOOKS AND ing the urge perhaps endto up on a flat in nearby Belize?

Pérez and his research team, consist& A C CONLY, E S S O BOOKS R I E S AND let more line out FLY-FISHING DVDS --- For home, travel, or on let more line outmove, will it return to this If the fish does ing of his ECOSUR colleague Roberto on the backcast, DVDS --For home, travel, or on Think a bamboo is out reach? the water, take rod along a ofselection on thelocation backcast, same in the bay? The Belizean Herrera and Belizean fly fishing guides he dropped the the water, take along a selection Headwaters makes quality bamboo fun from the FLY SHOP BOOK STOP! he dropped biologist Addiel Omar Arceo and José “Chepe” Polanco, halfway tothe the Pérez, a PhD candidate and affordable. an additional off. fly from the FLYGetSHOP BOOK 20% STOP! www.flyshopbookstop.com fly halfway to the at Elof Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOhave been conducting monthly fieldwork www.headwatersbamboo.com/fly20 or edge the vegetawww.flyshopbookstop.com edge ofinthe SUR) Chetumal, Mexico, is working to for the past two years. On the last day of info@headwatersbamboo.com tion where avegetafish TACKLE & ACCESSORIES tion where a fish like mine on a regional or toll-free 866.432.3928 answer questions the trip, Patrick and I tag along to help would be holding.

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Despite the rod to recast, Cefe Boatrule.

Guide made in the www.rodrule.com USA. Online at : tested, rod to recast,cast, Cefe bonefish using two 50-meter-long nets, socioeconomic importance of bonefish said, “Don’t USA. Online at : www.rodrule.com BLUESKY FURLED said, “Don’t cast, little research has been and then gathers them into submerged to the two nations, start stripping.”

TAPERED LEADERS. start stripping.” holding tanks. One by one, Pérez measures conducted infly the border region.

Before the The most complete line of exquisite, Before the fly each fish and inserts a tiny plastic tag, each “The study 10 feet, a will fill in gaps in knowlhand-woven BlueSky Furled Leaders. See moved moved 10 feet, coded with a unique number, beside the edge about the dorado made aa ecology of this shared our new drifter Strike Indicator Leader dorado awill improve the manageBLUESKY FURLED TAPERED LEADERS. dorsal fin. This way, if the fish is recapresource and dash formade the baitplus anexpanded selection of accessories.

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We’re the Leader in Furled Leaders. dorado in In Mexico, fishing for bonefish is tagged over 8,000 bonefish and more than quarters is tight chaotic FLY-FISHING ONLY, BooksLeaders. and We’re the Leader in Furled Ph/Fax (920) 822-5396. quarters isleast. chaotic DVDs — For822-5396. home, travel, or on the Ph/Fax (920) 200 permit caught as “bycatch.” largely to say theunregulated, The and they can be www.FurledLeader.com to say thefor least.

The www.FurledLeader.com water, take along a selection from the fish made a run “My preliminary findings are incaught consumption or sale in artifish made run SHOP BOOK STOP! toward theaboat teresting,” he says. “There seems to be a sanal and subsistence fisheries. The good FLIESFLY & FLY TYING toward the boat www.flyshopbookstop.com FLIES & FLY TYING and jumped 15 seasonal migration of bonefish between news, Pérez points out, is that many local and from jumped feet the15 end F L I E S & F LY T Y I N G feetAlan’s from the end of The eyesight required to spot bonefish and Havingrod. the keen of Alan’s rod.

The minute it hit the permit on saltwater flats is one thing—accurately casting minute it hit the achanged andthe presenting fly to one directions of these fish is another. it end of a golden dorado is no joke, TheWhen business water, dorado Thestrong business endand of awire golden dorado joke, water, the dorado changed directions allsprinted comes together, there’s no greater sensation.so leaders tippets areisa no must.

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Alland classifieds need be prepaid or break the line, spitvegetation the hook or entangle For morethe than 30 years, Gary reserves the right editcard and/or rejectand all ads and inappropriate copy). themselves in the before we has traveled globe, hunting andKramer fishing accompanied by ato credit number expiration date. (The publisher reserves the right to edit and/or reject all ads and inappropriate copy). themselves in the vegetation before we has traveled the globe, hunting and fishing headed back to the lodge that day.

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70 68 II AMERICAN AMERICANANGLER ANGLER 70 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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BILL TIPTON

IF YOU GO TRAVEL

There are several flights a day to Cancún, Mexico. To get to Xcalak, you can either rent a car at the airport, or the Costa de Cocos Resort in Xcalak can arrange for a complimentary shuttle to pick you up.

The scenic, 250-mile drive from Cancún to Xcalak takes about five hours. On the way to Xcalak, you can stop for tacos and a cold beer in Tulum.

LODGING

Costa de Cocos Resort (www. costadecocos.com) near Chetumal Bay accommodates 20 anglers per week in cabanas that sleep two people. There is a full-service bar and restaurant on the property, but no fly shop, so take enough flies and tippet, and a backup rod and reel. The guides at Costa de Cocos fish out of traditional pangas and will pick you up from the dock each morning after breakfast.

SEASONS

Chetumal Bay is a year-round fishery. The target species are bonefish, tarpon, permit, barracudas, jacks, and snook. Costa de Cocos Resort offers discounted off-season fishing packages from June 1 through November 30, which coincides with hurricane season. The weather can be harder to predict during this time of year, but the fishing is consistently good. The best months for permit are May through July. Bonefish can be caught all year, and big, migratory tarpon show up along the reef in June. Juvenile tarpon can be caught in

bay areas of Mexico and Belize into an area of the Caribbean coast of Belize from November through January. This area is likely a prespawning site, meaning the spawning site could be near. During the rest of year, bonefish can be found in the same area where they were tagged.”

The existence of a spawning site shared by bonefish from Mexico and Belize further highlights the need for the countries to take a collaborative approach to conservation. The more Pérez WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

the creeks and lagoons throughout the year.

GEAR

The ideal setup is an 8-weight for bonefish, a 9-weight for permit, and a 10-weight for tarpon. If you’re going to take only two rods, bring an 8- and a 10-weight—that will cover the three main species. The only time you won’t fish a weight-forward floating line is if you are targeting tarpon in deep water along the reef.

In those situations, an intermediate line may come in handy. Under most circumstances, you can fish a 12-foot, 16-pound leader for permit, and a 9- to 12-foot, 12-pound fluorocarbon leader for bonefish. If you have any interest in fishing for barracudas, make sure to take a 20-pound (or heavier) wire leader.

continues to learn about the habitat use and movements of the region’s bonefish, the better he’ll be able to advocate for improvements to the management and regulations of the fisheries.

“I’d like to see Mexico adopt the same catch-and-release laws as Belize,” he says.

“That would go a long way toward helping conserve the bonefish of both nations.”

End Game Watching Pérez tag a pair of tiny juvenile

permit netted along with the schools of bones, I think about how these little silver fish, hardly bigger than saucers, will one day grow up—if a barracuda doesn’t eat them first—to be the black-tailed devils that both fascinate and torment anglers like me. Like the rest of their species, they will frustrate us with their elusiveness, superb eyesight, and moody disposition, but permit also challenge us to be better anglers, bringing out our best, and these two will hopefully make fishing dreams come true for a lucky few.

Patrick and I spent our good-weather days fishing for permit in Chetumal Bay and on the oceanside flats north of Xcalak.

We relied on the usual suspects: Mantis Shrimp, Rag Head Crabs, EP Spawning Shrimp, and the versatile Squimp, to name a few. In general, the fish in the bay tend to be bigger but spookier, probably because they see more boats and casts; guides from both Mexico and Belize routinely fish the areas where the permit are known to feed.

While we had some close calls in the bay, the fish were more squirrely than usual.

Julio decided that our best bet would be to concentrate our efforts on the grass and hard-bottom flats out front, which is where we began to hit our stride. The fish were far more active than in the bay, leading to more opportunities, which is all any permit angler can hope for.

Now, I’m far from being a permit pro, but I do know one thing: These fish reject even the most perfectly presented flies way more often than they pounce on them. That’s why when the line finally went tight, as it did for me that evening on the way back to the lodge, and for Patrick the following afternoon, we owed it to ourselves to soak up the moment and take a celebratory swig of La Mula Blanca—you never know when one like it will come around again.

Nick Roberts is the director of marketing and communications for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and the editor of the Bonefish & Tarpon Journal. He lives in Miami, Florida.

Patrick Williams is a freelance photographer and fly fishing guide based out of Asheville, North Carolina. See more of his work at www.ecoclinephoto.com.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 69

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WATERLINES (Continued from page 72) and brother via Skype in my dorm.

A

porcupine scrambled up a maple as we turned a bend. Our heads were down and our chests heaving from trudging in deep snow when we heard its claws scratching the trunk. Its two orange front teeth were faint on its dark face, like fire in the distance.

“He better watch out, that fisher might find him,” I said, using the excuse to stop as a moment to drift through a slow run on the far side of the stream.

“He’s breathing as hard as me.” Dad took off his wool cap and ran his hand through sweat-drenched hair.

I threw a size 12 Royal Wulff as an indicator, 16 inches up from a size 18 Rubber-Legged Copper John. On the fourth pass, I snagged a rock and had to replace the dropper. My heart pounded under my coat at first, thinking I’d caught a 12-incher. By the time the tippet was through the eye, the pulse of adrenaline wore off, and I swung my arm around in the hope some blood would work to my fingertips.

“Nope, this isn’t a nymphing stream.”

Dad returned the cap to his head and made his way to the deer path we decided to follow. The sound of the porcupine raking its teeth against the bark trailed off as I patted the tree and stepped into Dad’s tracks.

W

e might not win any games, but we’re going to be in great shape!” Coach hollered. Our six-foot-nine-inch-tall center curled around the trash can at half court, releasing the Christmas dinner he ate two days before. My lungs and feet seemingly changed places. Good air so far away from my mouth, and each step shaky and labored. We would play a game Friday, but hadn’t touched a ball in two practices.

When we collapsed at the end of the drill, I took three quick breaths, then recited louder than I should have: “I went out to the hazel wood / Because a fire was in my head [cough] / And cut and peeled a hazel wand / And hooked a berry to a thread—” “Davis, shut the hell up! I don’t want to hear you talk while we’re working!”

During the next suicide drill, I completed the verse in my head, and tried to convince myself that at the end of practice, WWW.AMERICANANGLER.COM

instead of trout transforming into girls, the long drive up the hill to our college would become a river with blue-winged olive spinners fluttering above the riffles.

T

hat was a fish. Damn, that was actually a fish, and I missed it.” My yellow line wrapped itself around a snow-covered rock in the middle of the stream. The brook trout flashed once, just enough so I could see its silhouette in the current, just enough to see that it was close.

My guides were iced shut, and I stopped every two revolutions of the reel to break apart the small crystallized buttons.

“How great would that be if one just came up and ate your Wulff? That’d be great.”

“They’re not going to.” I hooked my nymph to the seat of the rod handle and scrambled up a bank.

“I know they’re not going to. I was imagining.”

A

gainst East Stroudsburg University, I made two shots and missed nine.

Driving from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania to the southwest corner takes just under six hours by bus. More than enough time to imagine those shots bouncing off the rim, over and over again.

In the dark we passed dozing trout streams. I couldn’t see them, but something behind my eyes told me that the brown trout in Spring Creek were still looking for scuds, and that the next day, in some hidden mountain pool warmed by the weak winter sun, a brook trout would be eating midges.

After unpacking the equipment bag and leftover bottles of water, my teammates and I sat on the steps leading from the locker room to the gym. It was early in the morning, and our forward snored wildly as drool ran down the length of his arm.

Coach didn’t notice.

“I know it’s late and you’re tired. I’m tired, too. Tired of losing.”

“Jesus. It’s three a.m.,” our point guard whispered beside me.

Coach continued, “I know tomorrow is supposed to be an off-day, but I want to give you the opportunity to get better, to get ready to win!”

The fatigue, mixed with Domino’s piz-

za and waxy Red Delicious apples, created delusions of trout swimming beneath the tiles where Coach stood. If they’re spawning, I won’t mess with them, I thought. But they should be done, it’s January.

“So, the other coaches and I are going to be here tomorrow—well, later today, at noon, for those of you who want to get better. Not mandatory, but strongly suggested. All right, let’s go.”

The fish disappeared when we stood up to huddle.

“We spooked them,” I told my roommate as we walked back to the dorm.

“Spooked what?”

I decided to keep the fish for myself.

D

ad and I saw the snow come through the forest. It was dry and light and took a while to reach the ground, hovering like fog in front of our eyes.

Dad looked at the sky and stuck out his tongue. “This snowpack will be good for the trout in June.”

“I’m going to work the head of this pool.” My knees cracked as I squatted on the bank, and the bruise in my right calf tightened against my hamstring.

The Royal Wulff didn’t go under, but hesitated in the riffle where nothing should slow.

When brook trout are young, and their sides are not yet scarred from the misses of kingfishers, and their fins not frayed from digging spawning beds in October—their bodies appear to be covered in thin glass. Each yellow dot is distinct and saturated. Every ring of blue finely dusts around splotches of red. And the lines, where feathered flesh merges with scales, seem electrified along the belly.

“You should put her back before she gets too cold.” Dad’s face was set and his eyes skated along the markings of my fish’s backside.

“A little longer,” I half pleaded. Flakes landed on the fish’s gray flanks and slowly melted. “I don’t know if we’ll see another one till April.”

Noah Davis hunts and fishes along the Allegheny Front near his home in Tipton, Pennsylvania. His essays have appeared in The Fly Fish Journal, Angler’s Journal, Fly Fishing & Tying Journal, and The Drake.

MAY/JUNE 2018 I 71

WATERLINES I

BY NOAH DAVIS

Until April Treasure the solace of a moment, especially when you expect the future to mirror the past.

T

“You saw me stringing up at the truck.

You could have said something then.”

“I guess I had some hope, too. Feel stupid now, though.”

Crows cawed from the other side of the stream, then lifted above the naked canopy and glided down the valley; their calls echoing through the frozen woods.

“I’d like to try the Slate Pool if we get there.”

“May will come. Just be patient.”

W

e hadn’t won a game since before Thanksgiving. On December 15, our small Catholic liberal arts college was deserted, and the men’s and women’s basketball teams were left with the cafeteria workers and nuns. In the little bit of downtime after two-and-a-half-hour practices, weight lifting, and film sessions, I tied Elk-Hair Caddis and sulfur duns while binge-watching episodes of The Office on Netflix.

“What’s that?” my roommate asked.

“Dry fly hackle,” I said, not wanting to take my eyes off the wrapping.

“Did you kill it?”

“No, I had to buy this.”

The team’s losses, combined with the extensive time spent with the same faces, wore on our young morale quickly.

“Where’s your damn moxie, boys?” our 74-year-old coach screamed. His lapdog barked at the end of its leash and nipped at our ankles as we ran line drills.

“You’re men, aren’t ya? You gotta wanna kick someone’s ass to win!”

I’d been on only one other losing team, during peewee football seven years before.

I learned quickly that hitting other people wasn’t what I liked to do, so I ignored our record. But basketball was the family sport.

Both my parents played college ball, and my brother was a year away from signing his National Letter of Intent. The disappointment of a loss didn’t end in the locker room. I still had to talk with my parents (Continued on page 71)

WINTER FISHING, ARTHUR SHILSTONE

HE STREAM WAS A BLACK VEIN running through stands of oak and hemlock buried under two weeks’ worth of January snow. Deer had come down off the mountain to lie beside the water. They herded under rhododendron, the only space where bare ground could be found. A mile from the truck, a fisher’s tracks disappeared, then reappeared in the snow along the current.

“I came for a walk, Noah. This isn’t the time to be fishing.” Dad’s red Woolrich coat was muted in the shadow of a cloud that made its way over the ridge and covered the hollow. “You should never fish for brookies unless you’re using drys. Nymphing in January isn’t fun.”

I wasn’t fishing for fun. I was fishing so that during basketball practice back at school in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, I could remember trout were still swimming. Remember that two hours to the east of the hardwood floor I was sweating on was this crease, a world away.

72 I AMERICAN ANGLER

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