Flyfisher Spring 2019

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EURO-NYMPHING:

TACTICS for Local Waters

A Legacy of

Women in

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Versatile Bucktail Patterns

Cape Fear Coast

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

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CONTENTS

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IN EUROPE – IT’S JUST NYMPHING RUSS MILLER

There are now DVDs, articles, YouTube channels, Internet forums, specific gear from mainstream manufactures, and global insights into these techniques. So, with that, my hope is that the following words will provide some insight into what Euro Nymphing is, and will inspire you to find a mentor and explore these techniques on your local waters.

DPS IMAGE: PHOTO CREDIT SETH VERNON COVER: PHOTO CREDIT BRANDON HEALEY

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

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CAPE FEAR COAST: ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES SETH VERNON

Whether you’re new to saltwater fly fishing or an accomplished angler, the Cape Fear coast of North Carolina has an incredible variety of inshore and nearshore species to satiate the demands of any fly-rodder. With a bit of research and/or the help of an area guide there’s an endless amount of water to explore with each season.

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AN EARLY HISTORY LESSON JEN RIPPLE

The fact that women are the fastest growing demographic in fly fishing today is no surprise. What may come as a surprise is that women are not new to this sport. In fact, women have a long history in the fly-fishing world, and our sport would not be what it is today without the influence of these brilliant women.

DEPARTMENTS:

8 9 10 16 38 42 46 50 52

Editor’s Message Leadership Message Community Conservation Casting Fly Tying Fly Fishing Skills Profiles Streamside Q&A

Contents

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KEEPEMWET ® &

RELEASE GO

FISH PROPERLY

BARBLESS & LEAD-FREE

PACK OUT CLEAN

ALL TRASH

YOUR BOATS, BOOTS & WADERS

conservation / education / community

F LY F I S H E R S I N T E R NAT I O NA L . O R G KEEPEMWET® is a registered trademark of KEEPEMWET FISHING™

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

Board of Directors Tom Logan Chairman of the Board Len Zickler (Non-Voting) President/CEO Development Committee Chair Tilda Evans Secretary Expo Committee Chair Jim Maus Treasurer Finance Committee Chair

FLY FISHERS INTERNATIONAL 5237 US Highway 89 South, STE 11 Livingston, MT 59047-9176 (406) 222-9369 flyfishersinternational.org President/CEO Len Zickler | ceo@flyfishersinternational.org

Jim Schramm (Non-Voting) Legal Counsel

Operations Manager/Webmaster Conservation & Education Coordinator Rhonda Sellers | operations@flyfishersinternational.org

Dutch Baughman Executive Committee Education Committee Chair

Expo Coordinator Fly Tying Group Jessica Atherton | fair@flyfishersinternational.org

Keith Groty Executive Committee Senior Advisor

Membership Coordinator Guides/Retailers Kat Mulqueen | membership@flyfishersinternational.org

Dave Peterson Executive Committee Conservation Committee Chair

Clubs & Councils Coordinator Donations Administrator Lindsey Webster | clubs@flyfishersinternational.org

Burr Tupper Executive Committee Membership Chair

Casting Coordinator Merchandise Nikki Loy | casting@flyfishersinternational.org

Kuni Masuda International Programs Committee Chair

Bookkeeper Sharon Cebulla | bookkeeper@flyfishersinternational.org

Tim Papich Marketing/Communications Chair David Paul Williams Fly Fisher Editor-In-Chief Board Members Bruce Brown Dave Boyer David Diaz Glenn Erikson Bud Frasca Carole Katz Geoff Mullins Dennis O’Brien Jen Ripple Richard Ross Conservation Senior Advisors Rick Williams Bob Tabbert

Administrative Assistant Alex Williams | admin@flyfishersinternational.org Museum Information (406) 222-9369 | museum@flyfishersinternational.org Flyfisher Editor-in-Chief David Paul Williams | editor@flyfishersinternational.org Flyfisher is the official publication of Fly Fishers International, published two times a year and distributed by mail and online free to members. Send membership inquiries, fees and change of address notices to the FFI Headquarters at the address listed above. Flyfisher is produced for FFI by Bird Marketing Group Inc. Editorial & Advertising Inquiries: Editorial queries are welcome and should be sent to Bird Marketing Group Inc at the address listed above attention to the Editor. Email queries can also be emailed to editor@flyfishersinternational.org.

Visit flyfishersinternational.org for the full writer and photographer guidelines.

Advertising inquiries can be directed to jbird@birdmarketinggroup. com. Visit flyfishersinternational.org for Ad rates and spec guidelines.

Reprints & Permissions All facts, opinions and statements appearing within this publication are those of the writers and are in no way to be construed as statements, positions, or endorsements. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written consent of the publisher. Copyright 2019 Fly Fishers International.

Letters to the Editor Send your comments about any aspect of Flyfisher to the Editor at editor@flyfishersinternational.org. We will endeavor to reply to each letter. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Letters published in Flyfisher become the property of Fly Fishers International.

FLYFISHER Flyfisher is published for FFI by Bird Marketing Group Inc. PO Box 227A Eastport, ID 83826 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER JENNIFER BIRD jbird@birdmarketinggroup.com GROUP ART DIRECTION TERRY PAULHUS OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR KIM CARRUTHERS DEPARTMENT CONTRIBUTORS CONSERVATION DAVE PETERSON FLY TYING JERRY COVIELLO CASTING JEFF WAGNER FLY FISHING SKILLS DUTCH BAUGHMAN CONTRIBUTORS JAKE DARLING RICK HAFELE BRANDON HEALEY RUSS MILLER JEN RIPPLE SETH VERNON



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EDITOR’S MESSAGE

I DAVID PAUL WILLIAMS David Paul Williams is an author (Fly Fishing for Western Smallmouth), editor, freelance magazine writer, writing teacher, lawyer, real estate broker, public speaker, and demonstration fly tyer, who has been fly fishing since Ike was President. editor@flyfishersinternational.org

t’s spring and for many snowbound fly fishers the end of winter and the arrival of spring marks the start of their fishing year. Some fly fishers have found it excessively difficult the last few months to drop a fly in a six-inch hole in the ice, and singularly unrewarding even when accomplished.

When I was a youngster living in Oregon, the eagerly anticipated trout season opened on a Saturday in April. My father spent Friday night going over gear not seen for many months, counting hooks, greasing reels, looking for rods hidden in numerous locations. The next morning Mom, Dad and the three kids were packed into the station wagon and off we went in search of recently-stocked rainbow trout. But my season had already started a month or more earlier when my grandfather, an emigre from Missouri, kick-started things by taking my brother and me to local waters for black crappie and largemouth bass.

Fishing has always been about more than trout. At least one angler survey concludes that crappie is America’s favorite fish. An entire industry worth billions of dollars annually has been created around largemouth bass, a fish beginning to draw more attention from fly anglers. Walleye anglers have their own tournament trail with big name sponsors. In 2018, a friend and I added walleye to our list of fly-caught fish and expect to go back for more of those aggressive and toothy critters this year.

Fishing is more than focusing solely on freshwater species—a bit of salt frequently improves the dish. The entire Pacific Coast from Blaine, Washington to Chula Vista, California offers some form of spring saltwater fishing from beach or boat. April means spring chinook swimming back home from the Gulf of Alaska. The southwest desert closes out the trout season and ushers in the warmwater season as air and water temperatures rise. Lake Powell stripers and Lake Havasu smallmouth begin to come alive. A day or two of warm spring weather makes the chironomids pop and brings out the cabin-fevered fly fishers on Rocky Mountain trout rivers.

Gulf Coast fly fishers can target every species that lives in the backwater sloughs, or catch shallow-water redfish. In New England, spring can mean Connecticut River pike, Kennebec River trout, Long Island Sound stripers or New Jersey bluefish. In Florida, fly fishers have their choice of saltwater or freshwater fish. Snook and tarpon come in April, just as the black crappie and sunshine bass phase out.

This issue highlights the incredible variety of fishing in the area of the South Eastern Council—from the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina to the South Carolina tidewater— the land of gamefish and gators. It also clearly brings home our All Fish, All Waters credo—16 letters configured into four simple words that define who we are and distinguish Fly Fishers International from all other conservation organizations.

Artist Showcase Josh Uedsen has traveled extensively to over 50 countries, has taught in Alaska, Oregon, Central Asia and Idaho, spent years guiding on the Deschutes River and has finally landed on his “other” profession as an artist. He resides in Idaho where he continues his adventures with his daughter. To see more of Josh’s work, visit him online at tightlinestudio.com.

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

I

t’s the middle of the outdoor industry’s trade-show season with events taking place all across the country. At the recent Outdoor Retailer Snow Show held at the massive Colorado Convention Center, vendors made their pitch amidst three floors of exhibitor space totaling 1,000,000 square feet, 63 meeting rooms, two ballrooms of 85,000 square feet and a 5,000-seat theater. The challenge for a vendor is to get its voice heard, clearly and distinctly, in the figurative (and perhaps literal) din of multiple vendor-voices pitching the same type of product.

You may wonder why we are talking about a snow show in a fly-fishing magazine. The OR show is simply an example of the challenge of a vendor, or in our case a fly-fishing organization, in getting its message heard in a crowded marketplace. And the recreational market is indeed crowded. People have plenty of choices of how to spend money and an even more precious resource—their time. To attract attention and induce action, the message must demonstrate value and differentiate from all others.

A common question posed to Fly Fishers International leadership and individual members goes something like this: “I’ve heard of you but how are you different from...” fill in the name of another fishing organization. Trout Unlimited limits its focus to coldwater fisheries.

Coastal Conservation Association deals with conservation of marine resources. Izaak Walton League’s mission is “to conserve, restore, and promote the sustainable use and enjoyment of our natural resources, including soil, air, woods, waters, and wildlife.” Other organizations such as the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and U. S. Sportsmen’s Alliance broadly address hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and trapping activities.

To answer the posed question, we can talk about the three fundamental pillars: conservation, education and community. We can provide details and descriptions of conservation grants awarded in the United States and internationally. We can provide access to the marvelous education resources of The Learning Center, the fly-casting instructor program and fly-tying library. We can tell people about all the local, regional and international fly-fishing expos and fairs put on by clubs, councils and headquarters. Those are all examples of the valuable and much-needed work that we do. But this is what we do, not who we are. Those examples do not differentiate Fly Fishers International from other outdoor organizations.

Our name is part of our message. We are fly fishers with members around the world.

Our name sets the stage for the real message, All Fish, All Waters; words that clearly and distinctly set FFI apart from any other outdoor organization. We include all coldwater fish, all warmwater fish and all saltwater fish. We include all the waters of all the natural systems that sustain all our fish.

Four simple words that make FFI relevant in the world of outdoor recreational organizations.

LEN ZICKLER Len Zickler, currently serves as President and CEO of Fly Fishers International and Director at Large for the Washington Council of the FFI . He is a member of the Spokane Fly Fishers and Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club. Len is a life member of the FFI and Trout Unlimited. ceo@flyfishersinternational.org

TOM H. LOGAN Chairman and Senior Conservation Advisor Tom H. Logan is a retired Certified Wildlife Biologist with 47 professional years in the research and management of endangered and other wildlife. He is a life member of Fly Fishers International, Senior Conservation Advisor, Certified Casting Instructor and Chairman of the Board.

Tom teaches fly casting and tying, writes articles on the Biology of Fly Selection and Fishing and is owner of North Florida Fly Fishing Adventures. tomlogan@comcast.net www.northfloridaflyfishing.com.

Leadership Message

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COMMUNITY

Council Presidents Chesapeake Council Pete McCall / Dianne Tidy president@ccffi.org Eastern Rocky Mountain Council Bruce Brown colo.bruce@gmail.com Eastern Waters Council Sam Decker samfishes@gmail.com Florida Council Tom Gadacz thomasgadacz@yahoo.com Great Lakes Council Dennis O’Brien dennissueob@aol.com Gulf Coast Council AJ Rosenbohm nolaflyguy@att.net North Eastern Council Burr Tupper nhflyangler@gmail.com Northern California Council David Pellone troutflyfisherdave@gmail.com Ohio Council Jeff McElravy jmcelravysr@cinci.rr.com Oregon Council Sherry Steele steelefly@msn.com South Eastern Council Dick Handshaw dick.handshaw@handshaw.com Southern Council Ron Knight ron79580@gmail.com Southwest Council Steve Schalla (Pro Tempore) president@swcffi.org Texas Council Jerry Hamon president@texascouncilifff.com Upper Midwest Council Ralph Johnson rj4par@aol.com Washington State Council Bill Wheeler wwheeler48@hotmail.com Western Rocky Mountain Council Dave Londeree dlonderee@roadrunner.com 10

Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

Eastern Rocky Mountain Council The Eastern Rocky Mountain Council of FFI held a regional Expo at the Montrose County Fairgrounds in Montrose, Colorado on September 29, 2018. Noted fly tiers from the area participated, including some who made the trip from Idaho. Presenters included Landon Mayer and Duane Redford. Our local MCI, Jonathan Walter, provided free fly-casting instruction. The weather cooperated and a good number of area people

attended. A special thanks to the the local FFI affiliate club, Gunnison Valley Anglers, which provided “boots on the ground” assistance. It was a great day of fun and fellowship.

The ERMC, along with excellent support from the Denver charter club, High Plains Drifters, put on our annual Learning Center at the Denver Fly Fishing Show in January. A large number of new memberships were obtained. Thanks to Lindsey Webster, the Club/Council Coordinator for FFI, who provided tireless support for the cause and provided welcome ME

Chesapeake (PA-WV-VA-MD-DE) Eastern Rocky Mtn (WY-CO-NM-AZ) Eastern Waters (NY-NJ) Florida Gulf Coast (LA-MS-AL) Great Lakes (MI-IN) Northern California (CA-NV-HI) North Eastern (VT-NH-ME-MA-RI-CT) Ohio Oregon South Eastern (KY-TN-NC-SC-GA-AL) Southern (NE-IA-KS-MO-IL-OK-AR) Southwest (CA-NV) Texas Upper Midwest (MN-WI-IL) Washington (WA-AK) Western Rocky Mtn (UT-ID-MT-ND-SD)

WA

VT ND

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MI

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OR SD

ID WY CA

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CO

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IA

NE

NV

NY

WI

IL

MD WV

KY

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KS

AZ

NM

AR MS LA

TX AK

HI

AL

VA NC

TN OK

NJ

PA OH

IN

NH MA CT

SC GA FL

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RI

company from the FFI office to local FFI folks who worked the Center. We really hope she comes back next year.

The ERMC received a grant from the Conservation Committee of the FFI, with matching funds from the Council and High Plains Drifters Club for the reconstruction of a fishing pier on the Big Thompson River near Drake, Colorado, which was destroyed by the 2013 flood. The Big Thompson Watershed Coalition, from Loveland, Colorado, was formed and thrives today, helping with the restoration of the river and watershed. The coalition is comprised of area landowners, government entities and local stakeholders. While foundation issues and unpredictable flows from water releases prevented construction from starting in earnest, Kiewit Construction has done some work. The plans call for the use of Trex decking and the new pier will be ADA accessible. The river is below road grade in this area but has a number of nice pockets and pools that hold wild rainbow and brook trout. I am on the planning committee for the Pier opening event, which is scheduled for June 10, 2019. It will include the planting of vegetation on the banks and attendance from local government officials and project participants. I claim the Big T as my home river and as a frequent visitor to the area and Estes Park I’ll continue to support this pier and provide future assistance by monitoring vegetation growth, maintenance needs and litter control. This is truly a labor of love.

I invite anyone who visits the Estes Park area (with or without ADA issues) and wishes to experience the fly fishing this great facility provides, to contact me for further information.

Florida Council Growing up in Fort Lauderdale and Vero beach, David Olson was introduced to fly fishing by his uncle.

Fly fishing was not his uncle’s cup of tea so David inherited a fly rod at the age of 12. David became friends with the rod, but did not have a mentor, as fly fishing had not yet caught on in Florida. He practiced and learned from watching others and occasionally received some tips from the likes of Chico Fernandez, Lefty Kreh, and Jon Cave. A friend invited David to a South Eastern Council Conclave in Ashville in 1990.

David was tying flies at the time and one of his patterns earned him a seat at the Conclave. It was at this time that David joined the Federation of Fly Fishers. He became interested in the fly-casting program and became a certified instructor.

He was later certified as a Master Certified Casting Instructor by Dusty Sprague. Fly casting and fishing have become his career and he has worked

primarily in southeastern Florida.

David is an excellent fly fisherman and enjoys reconnoitring the beaches with a spey rod.

David is a very active supporter of the Florida Council and has put together our Council Expo programs for the last five years. He has given programs on distance casting, spey casting, and fly casting from a paddle board.

David has also competed in several distance-casting events, including the Big Gun Shoot Out, started by Dan Lagace in 1993 and sponsored by the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club.

David has competed in this event for nine years and won it several times.

In 2010 he set an event record with a cast of 138 feet, 6 inches with an 8-weight rod. David also won the Shoot Out session in the Ritz-Carlton Outfitters Event on January 12 of this year with a cast of 112 feet, 11 inches.

Not bad for a lefthanded caster!

We greatly appreciate the contributions David continues to make to fly fishing and the Florida Council.

Community

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COMMUNITY

North Eastern Council The North Eastern Council (NEC) continues to support the wild brook trout studies being conducted

by Dartmouth College and New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Several FFI volunteers helped with electroshocking that was conducted late last year to determine the migration habits of native brook trout during spawning season in the Magalloway watershed, which includes parts of New Hampshire and Maine. The NEC provides financial as well as volunteer support for this ongoing program.

NEC attended the Fly Fishing Show that was held in Marlborough, MA. Volunteers manned the Learning Center where they taught casting and fly tying to show attendees. NEC volunteers also helped Boy Scouts from Peterborough, NH, who were working on their fly-fishing merit badges. Even with a major snow storm on the Sunday of the show, we were able to keep the Learning Center functioning. Many of the attendees commented on how professional the FFI booth looked.

We are pleased to announce that this year the NEC Board of Directors has been joined by Abby Larrabee and Bryce Knight. Abby is a 15-year-

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

old student from southern Maine. She is an avid fly fisher and a member of the Trout Unlimited Youth Council and attended the 2018 TU Teen Summit. Abby will be helping us with programs and communications aimed at young people who are fly fishing or would like to learn. Bryce is a recent graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University and resides in Amherst NH. He fly fishes in both salt and fresh water. Bryce will be helping us determine the best content and means of reaching out to young adults in the fly-fishing community.

South Eastern Council The South Eastern Council wishes to thank Gary Jones and his team for representing the council in our FFI booth at the Fly Fishing Show in Atlanta on February 1 and 2. Gary has been leading this effort for us for more than ten years. This year, in addition to signing up new members and demonstrating fly tying and casting, his group helped eight Boy Scouts complete their merit badge requirements for fly tying.

The South Eastern Council wishes to express its appreciation to Gary and his team for another job well done.

Southwest Council Steven Fernandez was the fifth member of the SWC to receive the Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award in 2012, joining previous recipients Darwin Atkin, Bill Blackstone, Wayne Luallen and John Vanderhoof.

He is a self-taught tier, who as a

teenager tied for Ned Gray, one of the major fly-shop owners in Southern California.

Steven is the current SWC fly-tying director, and does a great job of lining up fly-tiers for our Annual Fly Fishing Faire & FlyBuy, which is a one-day event held at the Long Beach Casting Club and is also our second-largest fundraiser.

He coordinates the layout of our annual Fly Fishing Faire, utilizing his talents as an architect to set up a great “flow.” His background as an art-school graduate is apparent when viewing his beautiful flies, including his original Atlantic salmon flies tied on hooks he has made, and his gorgeous Catskillstyle dry flies. His Tutti Fruiti Ben Franklin pattern is an awesome dry fly for both fast freestone water and pocket water.

Steven has a wicked sense of humor and is a generous fishing partner. We had a fun day fishing the Firehole while attending the 2015 FFI Fly Fishing Fair in West Yellowstone, Montana, where the accompanying photo was taken.

This was just before he suggested I holler at the three bison that were crossing the river surprisingly close behind me.

Fly fishing guides and outfitters provide valuable services to members of the fly fishing community around the world each year. Many Fly Fishers International (FFI) members are guides who provide fresh or salt water fishing experiences to their clients. The Fly Fishers International Guides & Outfitters Association is a community of men and women dedicated to promoting and enhancing an angler’s fly fishing experience by helping fly fishing guides connect with people interested in fly fishing. The recently-expanded program further provides members with substantial benefits including the industry’s best liability insurance as well as access to FFI Learning Center materials.Fly Fishers International partners with

ESP Specialty to deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective insurance protection for members of Fly Fishers International. The FFI Insurance Program protects guides and outfitters for covered activities during fresh or saltwater fishing and guiding operations, including bird and big game hunting. Active members can save as much as 25% on annual insurance premiums with the FFI Insurance Program. It is the mission of FFI to support and protect fly fishing opportunities around the world for “all fish – all waters.” It further is our intent to support members of the Guides & Outfitters Association as ambassadors who assist in the achievement of the FFI mission. For more information, search “Guides & Outfitters Association”

on flyfishersinternational.org or email membership@flyfishersinternational.org.

Key Program highlights: • Insurance (United States only) • Access to Learning Center materials for client skills-development • Listing on FFI website, including qualifications and contact information • Promotion of services through FFI social media, publications and trade shows • Referrals from FFI headquarters when potential clients are looking for guides in specific areas.

© Photo Jim Klug

Guides & Outfitters Association

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Community

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COMMUNITY

In Memory of FFI Members Norm Norlander Norman Norlander, one of the preeminent fly fishers of his time, died peacefully at his home in Kelso, WA, on Monday, May 14, 2018. Norm changed the world of fly fishing by inventing and developing the first rotating flytying vise, called the Norvise. He was featured in countless articles, videos, television programs, and public events around the world, teaching others practical techniques and sharing his vast knowledge on catching fish. He was extremely generous, and always took time to talk with people and help them through their challenges, either personal or fly-tying related.

He enjoyed cooking, laughing, and sharing time with friends.

Frank Johnson Frank Johnson, of Sheridan Wyoming, passed away on January 7, 2019. Frank was a devoted FFI member, starting his long history of service to FFI in the Phrozen Phantoms in the early 1980s. He ultimately became very active in the Fly Tying Group (FTG). Even in the last few months of his life he helped establish a fly-fishing club in his hometown.

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

Fly Tying Group The Fly Tying Group of FFI was established in 2007 and is dedicated to the preservation, enhancement and support of the art of fly tying as a historic element of the fly-fishing experience.

Archiving historic documents, developing educational and instructional materials, teaching and demonstrating the use of materials and tying techniques are fundamental to perpetuating the art of fly tying for anglers who fish with the artificial fly. Significant projects the FTG has undertaken in recent years are the Fly Tying Skills Awards Program, the Tier Directory and the Fly Tying Video Library.

The Skills Awards program provides a vehicle for the fly-fishing community to test their skills against a standard by tying a pre-determined set of flies. They can achieve a bronze, silver or gold award, with each set of flies getting more complex as the tier takes on the challenge. Frank Johnson, the craftsman of the

program, provided guidance and did an immense amount of work to get the program established and functioning as it does today. He also instigated the Fly Tying Directory “Find A Fly Tier” on the FFI website, where tiers who are members of FFI can be listed on the directory so the community has a resource for qualified demonstration tiers and instructors.

The Fly Tying Video Library is a unique collection of tying videos that has been reviewed for quality and is available to the community. The late Norm Norlander, owner of Nor-vise at the time, was a great supporter of the project. Without Mr. Norlander’s financial commitment, the project could not have moved forward. The library has grown from 20 videos to over 300 videos and provides flies in four different categories.

All of these projects have become great resources, not only for FFI members, but the general fly-fishing community. You can find these by exploring the “Tying” and “Resource” menus at flyfishersinternational.org.

Fly Tying Challenge The Fly Tying Group is proud to announce the first Fly Fishers International Fly Tying Challenge.

There are 5 categories for each group.

Overall, Dry Fly, Wet Fly, Nymph/ Crustacean Fly and Streamer. There are two Contest Age Groups; Group 1 is open to all fly tiers and first place overall will receive a medal, certificate plus 3 Nights/2Days with the Land of Enchantment Guides at the Quinlan Ranch in New Mexico from our Sponsor at Fly Tyer Magazine.

Group 2 is open to junior fly tiers age of 16 or under at time of entry.

First place overall in this group will receive a medal, certificate plus a Dyna-King Kingfisher Pedestal Vise

donated by Dyna-King Vise.

Entry deadline is June 7, 2019.

Judging will take place at Fly Fishers International Expo on July 23, 2019, at the Montana State University in Bozeman, MT and the winners will be announced at the President’s Awards Banquet. Winners need not be present. For more information and entry guidelines, look for “Fly Tying Challenge” under the Tying menu on flyfishersinternational.org.

Cuttcatch Recipients Announced

in general and, in this particular case, value the many subspecies of cutthroat trout. Learning to value these cutthroat in their native range is a critical first step for their recovery.

Patrick Rowland of Medford Oregon received recognition in 2018 for his efforts on rivers in Montana and Wyoming. James Gruetzman of Brooks Oregon received his recognition in 2019 for his catches in California, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.

The Cuttcatch Project is part of an effort by FFI to express the value of species diversity in fisheries. The project is designed to help flyfishers appreciate diversity of native species

Community

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CONSERVATION

FFI’s Climate Change Policy: Protecting Our Fly-Fishing Legacy

W DAVE PETERSON FFI Conservation Chair

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hat impact is climate change having on the beautiful places where we fly fish? What effects will it have on the fish we pursue and their fragile habitats? What can fly fishers do to mitigate the effects of climate change and preserve these places and waters? What can Fly Fishers International do to raise the awareness of fly fishers regarding climate change? FFI’s recently adopted policy on Climate Change addresses these and other related questions. Fly Fishers International, dedicated to “all fish, all waters” and the voice for fly fishers around the globe, determined it was time to tackle these questions.

For some time now, increasing numbers of credible conservation-minded groups have begun calling for concrete, sciencebased action on climate change. These calls have been driven by a strong consensus among highly respected climate scientists that climate change is occurring at an increasing rate and having an adverse impact on our global climate as well as local habitats and waters.

Answering the critical questions related to climate change required that the FFI Conservation Committee begin a deliberate and thoughtful process, examining the scientific evidence on climate change that has been consistently replicated.

The Committee examined the impact that

Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

climate change is having on cold and warm water fishes and their habitats as well as on marine fisheries and saltwater habitats.

These efforts focused on how a changing climate might affect the sport we love and what we, as fly fishers and conservationists, might be able to do about it.

The Conservation Committee made a concerted effort to focus on the science of climate change, and not to become embroiled in the vitriolic political arguments about the issue. We consulted carefully vetted studies compiled by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the Royal Societies of Canada and Great Britain as well as reports prepared by Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and the Wildlife Management Institute.

What did we find out? Here’s an excerpt from FFI’s Policy Statement on Climate Change: “…there is now clear consensus within the scientific community that climate change is real, change is occurring at rates that exceed those of history and human-caused carbon emissions into the atmosphere are contributing to this accelerated rate of global climate change.2 Climate change has always been a part of the evolution of our natural world, but natural rates of change

Conservation

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occurred in magnitudes of geologic time. It is now recognized conclusively that the earth’s climate is warming at rates that can be measured from one decade to another. It further is understood that this warming is being accelerated by human activities; particularly significant increases in carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases.3 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports that impact of climate change and warming is seen in rising temperatures across the globe, the warming of the world’s oceans, the shrinking of the polar ice sheets and glaciers, decreased snow cover, rising sea levels, increasing frequency of extreme weather events and ocean acidification, among others.4 These and other “…cascading effects…” of climate change are “…affecting our natural resources, fish and wildlife and outdoor opportunities…” according to a 2012 Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership report.5 It is beyond the scope of this policy statement to enumerate all those factors but some examples that should be of particular concern to fly fishers follow.

The effects of unchecked climate change on freshwater fishes, particularly cold water fish, will be dramatic. Changes in water temperature and reduced flows will cause the loss of trout and salmon habitat, reducing their distribution from historic locations and overall abundance where they will survive. Warm water fish will also be impacted as they are stressed by

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drought and drastic fluctuations in water levels.Their ranges have already changed as they move into waters previously inhabited solely by cold-water species of fish. Other concerns include the advancement of exotic species and invasive plant species due to warmer water temperatures that are more conducive to establishment of invasive species.6 Marine fishes and their habitats are also at risk. Rising sea levels threaten coastal areas resulting in a loss of warm coastal waters and riparian and upland habitats.

Warmer waters, decreased levels of dissolved oxygen and higher salinity will modify habitats and affect the distribution of saltwater species and their ability to reproduce. Marine fisheries will be adversely affected by inundation of coastal marshlands and loss of sea-grass beds caused by rising sea levels and severe weather events.

Clearly, our review of the scientific literature and recommendations indicate that climate change will be a defining issue for our membership and for FFI’s future conservation efforts.

We determined that it was not only prudent, but urgently necessary to join other groups in calling for meaningful change.

What can FFI and its members do? The policy concludes with FFI’s position: It is the policy of Fly Fishers International to advocate scientifically sound public policies, management practices and educational efforts to minimize and mitigate accelerated rates of climate changes caused by human activities.

Most important to these efforts are the positive steps that must be taken to move our nation and encourage other nations

toward a more carbon-free energy economy by minimizing the burning of fossil fuels. The current trend toward accelerated global warming is changing our natural world in a way that is not sustainable of human quality of life and enjoyment of our natural world.

Other specific actions we advocate include: • We must inform and raise awareness among fly fishers and others who enjoy the outdoors, of the impacts of climate change on fishes and their habitats so that they may, as an informed citizenry, assume personal responsibility and support local, regional and global actions that mitigate rates of climate change.

• Support and encourage conservation projects that mitigate the effects of climate change on all habitats. All habitat conservation planning must include evaluation of project effects on climate change.

• Advocate for laws, public policy and practices that address climate change through our participation in strategic conservation partnerships and FFI conservation actions.

• Encourage Fly Fishers International Councils, Clubs, members and our fly-fishing community to become informed and support local programs and public policies that address climate change issues.

Renowned conservationist and fly fisher, Craig Matthews, who along with Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard, founded 1% for the Planet, said, “FFI is taking a leadership role in the fight against

climate change, the single largest threat to our future. If we cannot get a handle on climate change we put everything we care about at risk.

Our conservation legacy will evaporate and all benefits of past habitat and fishery projects will disappear if we can’t get greenhouse gas emissions and climate change under control.

Our kids, and grandkids, and future generations will thank the FFI for stepping up and using the science-

based approach to climate change and climate-change mitigation.”

In the same way that FFI’s Public Lands and Waters Policy affirms our dedication to protecting our nation’s public lands and waters, Fly Fishers International hopes that this Climate Change policy will play some small part in helping to alleviate the impact climate change is having on our natural world. Please share this policy and begin discussions with fellow anglers about climate change and its

effects on our fisheries. Finally, take personal action and advocate at the local, regional, and national levels for policies and laws that address climate change. Your actions and commitment will help preserve the legacy of fly fishing for generations to come.

For a complete copy of the policy go to https://flyfishersinternational.org/ Conservation/Policies/Climate-Change.

Selected References Used in Developing the Policy Fly Fishers International Policy on Public Lands and Waters of the United States. 2017. www. flyfishersinternational.org/ Conservation/Policies

1

Joint Science Academies Statement: Global Response to Climate Change.

2005.

2

National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. 2008. Climate Change Evidence and Causes reports on Climate Change. http://nas-sites. org/americasclimatechoices/

3

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2108. Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. https://climate.nasa.gov

4

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. 2012. Sportsmen and Climate Change: A Long Hard Look at Reality. http://www.trcp. org/2012/08/14/sportsmen-andclimate-change-a-long-hard-look-atreality/

5

Wildlife Management Institute.

2008. Seasons End: Global Warming’s Threat to Hunting and Fishing. https://wildlifemanagement. institute/outdoor-news-bulletin/ june-2008/climate-change-reporthunters-and-anglers-now-available

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In Europe – It’s Just Nymphing Author: Russ Miller

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I

was asked to put together something on Euro Nymphing or the European methods of competitive fishing, since it has now grown into a popular way to attack rivers in other parts of the world, including North America. The challenge was finding what has not already been said about this technique. When I got my start in this style of fishing in 2005, there was virtually nothing available on the subject. There was really only one book printed in English, called Czech Nymph, which by today’s standards is basic, but lays out the foundations of short-line nymphing. Fortunately, what I did have was a mentor, Rob Kolanda, who handed out nuggets of information to me from the techniques developed by members of the US Fly-Fishing Team. This team traveled internationally to compete using this fishing style, saw the evolution of the techniques first hand, and shared some of the knowledge with those who were interested. I then took these small lessons out to the creeks and rivers here in Colorado. That desire to learn pushed me to work and qualify as a member of Team USA Fly Fishing in 2012, and the World traveling team in 2013.

At first, I saw my catch-rate decrease as I learned the do’s and don’ts of this new-to-me method of fishing. As my confidence and knowledge increased, however, my catchrate mirrored that progression. I reported back to Rob what I saw, what I did, and what I learned, and he listened and asked pointed follow-up questions that led me to discover the answers. These conversations were my roadmap for learning.

Fast forward almost 15 years and there are now DVDs, articles, YouTube channels, Internet forums, specific gear from mainstream manufactures, and global insights into these techniques. So, with that, my hope is that the following words will provide some insight into what Euro Nymphing is, and will inspire you to find a mentor and explore these techniques on your local waters.

© Photo Russ Miller

Origins First off, in Europe they just call it nymphing. Naturally, that’s how I refer to it these days as well. Europe is special in the fact that the countries are small with lots of national pride, and they are home to beautiful waters. For a North American comparison consider Colorado and Wyoming. The locals in Wyoming feel the need to prove that they know their home waters best, while the Colorado out-of-towners work to show that they too can catch fish like a local. Take this same level of friendly competition to a national scale in Europe and you

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© Photo Russ Miller © Photo Russ Miller

find international competitions to see who can actually do it better. This is where Euro Nymphing was born, out of pockets of local anglers, competing to figure out how to catch fish on any stretch of river.

The Polish and the Czechs became masters of the shortline techniques because of the type of water they have. This style of fishing right under the tip of the rod with heavy flies - often caddis pupae (Czech nymphs) - and short accurate

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casts, is deadly in faster pocket water. These presentations are very accurate and you can mentally “grid out” the water to cover it all. Regionally this became the “Czech” style of fishing. In North America when you show someone this way of fishing they say, “Well I’ve been doing that forever and I call it tight-line nymphing.” That would be correct, except that the European tackle and rigging methods are different.

Further to the west, France and Spain have rivers with much lower gradients and plenty of flat water. The short-line techniques simply did not catch fish there because the fish are ultra-spooky and require a perfectly quiet presentation at distance. Fly fishers in these two countries started to stretch out leaders to 20 and 30 feet and fish small “pellet flies” which are now popular as Perdigon-style nymphs. This longline or Spanish style of nymphing was born out of necessity.

Fished nearly straight upstream with the flies drifting back towards the angler, the technique is deadly. When fished upstream it is much easier to keep the flies in the proper currents for a dead drift. The rod, arm, and line-hand are used to retrieve the flies back, while the angler watches a slight belly in the line to detect a strike. This is done with rods 10- to 12-feet long. The use of fine tippets, colored tippet sections, and small flies make this technique vastly different from short-line style.

As more competitions began and more countries became involved, new techniques and new ways to catch fish emerged.

Like all things globalized, we take what we think is the best from another region and bring it back home to integrate it and make it our own. Today Euro Nymphing allows anglers to move between short- and long-line techniques seamlessly

reason to pick up this skill: you can fish the way the trout want to be fished to. Learned well, it can be very effective, but learning the method simply to catch more fish is missing the boat in my view. An increased catch rate is the natural bi-product of developing a more intimate knowledge of your actions and intentions as an angler.

When people ask me about getting into Euro Nymphing I ask them a couple of questions. Do you like the tight-line grab you get when swinging a soft hackle? When streamer fishing do you love to put the fly into fishy spots, make it come to life and swim it out? Euro nymphing is a combination of those things. You get to fully manipulate your drift and put flies directly into the spots you believe fish are in, and when they jump on the hook you feel the take right down to the rod-grip. It can be addictive.

Tackle Considerations A “standard” North American fly-fishing outfit can be used, but to maximize effectiveness some adjustments will help.

A good Euro-Nymphing rod is long - somewhere between 9 and 12 feet to allow maximum control of line after the flies are in the water.

The most effective fly line is a level #3 or #4 floating line.

© Photo Russ Miller

while mixing in dry-fly, dry/dropper, and streamer fishing.

Many folks have little desire to compete, so what does competition have to do with wanting to get into Euro Nymphing? Answer: It teaches you so much about fish.

Again, I’ll speak to learning through competition. You may be assigned a beat of water as short as 50 meters, to fish for three hours. So you have to figure out how to catch as many fish as possible in that short stretch in that time. More often than not you are assigned a stretch of water that you would normally ignore in hopes of finding a better spot. This fishing of “poor water” forces you to adapt and learn how to be effective.

While fishing these beats, I’ve learned how particular fish are in what they want to eat. When there is a big hatch and nearly all the fish are keyed into that food source, you can say with confidence that they are feeding nearly exclusively on these flies. When that is not the case, I’ve found that some fish will only will eat a dry or only eat small bugs, while some love to chase streamers. Some love to swipe at flies that are swung, and others love junk food.

Euro Nymphing allows you to practice each of these techniques with one rod as you work through various water types and different emergences. That to me is the biggest

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© Photo Russ Miller

The lack of taper reduces “sag” in the line between the rod tip and the water, which reduces drag on the nymphs.

Much of the secret sauce for fishing these techniques is the leader. It’s a very important part of the equation, and again while a “conventional” leader can be used, the one I describe here is is designed specially for Euro-Nymphing.

There is virtually zero sag in the line, and since the weight has been removed from the butt end of the leader it doesn’t drag the flies back towards you faster than the current.

Butt Section: 12 feet of 8lb Maxima Chameleon Sighter: two feet of 4x Umpqua sighter material Tippet: two to six feet of level tippet The sighter and tippet are joined via a tippet ring The sighter is a two- to four-foot piece of hi-viz monofilament that’s placed immediately above the tippet. Sometimes it will lie on the water, other times at close range it will hang above the water. It is used instead of a strike indicator and is what the angler watches to detect the take of a fish.

The likely difference between your standard rig and a Euro rig is that everything is tied inline. Inline rigging means that you have one continuous leader, without any breaks. Flies are

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tied to long tags in surgeon knots. This means that strikes at either fly position register up the leader exactly the same way. With a “standard” rig, when a fish eats your small fly the fish has to strike so hard that it moves the next fly above the small one, the split shot, and finally the indicator before you get the message to set the hook. With our inline rig, the slightest pull on the bottom fly gets the leader moving, and more often than not,you feel the bite as much as you see it.

I love casting a fly rod and a line; watching a loop unfold is a thing of beauty. While you don’t get to watch tight loops unroll in front of you with this method, you still get the opportunity to haul the line, make aerial mends, and be precise in your casting. All are rewarding and all require a high level of proficiency to achieve the best presentation. The mechanics of the cast are similar to any other single handed cast; good casters will adapt to casting a level fly line and weighted nymphs. The secret is in waiting and not rushing the cast. How many times have we heard that before?

Fly Depth There are a few things anglers can do to help get flies to

Strike Detection Instead of a bobber or a dry fly moving on the surface current, the sighter is our visual cue to know how and where our flies are being fished. In very shallow areas my sighter will be held above the water at a 45-degree angle or less. For slow, deep spots, I keep a very high rod tip, creating a slow, deep presentation, and my sighter will sometimes be at 90 degrees to the surface of the water. You can adjust these angles as needed. For instance, when fishing a sudden drop-off I start with a low sighter-angle as the flies come through the riffle, and raise the rod tip as the nymphs approach and fall off the drop. I hold my tip high, my sighter hangs vertical above the water, and the nymphs roll down the drop.

I tend to fish a spot in three ways to feel confident that I’ve covered the water completely.

Dead Drift Here I just match the speed of flies to the depth of water. The current gets slower closer to the bottom. Thin tippet helps to cut through the surface tension and not affect the speed of your drift nearly as much, allowing your bugs to behave

© Photo Russ Miller

depth properly. In a typical cast with a “standard” nymph rig, the hope is to have everything lay out on the water in a straight line: fly line, indicator, split shot, first fly, second fly.

The same principle applies with the Euro-rig when you are trying to fish in the upper portion of the water column. For this I keep my sighter floating on the surface to best detect strikes.

Other times we want to fish nymphs near the bottom, and the cast is your first step to getting them there. Instead of trying to have everything land in a straight line, the goal is to have everything land close together. Point fly (bottom fly), followed by your top dropper, then your sighter straight on top of that. A tuck cast facilitates this and helps you get the flies deeper quicker with less weight.

When making a tuck cast the rod tip stops well above the water. By keeping the rod tip high after the cast you’re set up for depth control as well as strike detection as your nymphs fall through the water column and start to drift. If your rod tip is near the water after the cast is made you have to pull line out of the water to remove slack. This pulls your flies as a result, and is not what you want to do. A high rod tip allows you to sink your flies and feel early strikes on a taught line.

Many early strikes go undetected because of the slack in the line.

as naturally as possible. When they’re near the bottom they should drift slower than the surface speed of the current to mimic the drift-speed of naturals.

Active Nymphing I make gentle bounces of the rod tip while the flies are drifting. The quick rising and falling of the flies will often elicit a reaction to the fly. Often times when the dead drift does not get a bite this technique will.

Swinging the Sighter To perform this I cast and keep my rod tip high, let my flies begin to drift, and instead of tracking the drift with the rod, I let the sighter start to pendulum back and forth. This allows the flies to really pause down deep before they start to swing up towards the surface.

Consider these European techniques an opportunity to expand your angling horizons. Learning to Euro Nymph is a great way to add versatility to your bag of tricks. Consider it the Yin to the Yang of fly casting. I enjoy this as much as I do fishing my two-hander for steelhead or searching the flat water of the Henry’s Fork for rising fish. As a student of fly fishing, Euro Nymphing has provided the opportunity to better understand trout and our sport, by using an approach pioneered and ably practiced by our friends across the pond.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Modern Nymphing (DVD) – Lance Egan/Devin Olsen Dynamic Nymphing (book) – George Daniel

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Cape Fear Coast: Endless Opportunities Author: Seth Vernon

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© Photo Seth Vernon

T

he sun has not fully crested the horizon. The morning light paints a flock of white ibis pastel pink and gold as they soar quietly overhead. As they glide past en route to some mysterious place, intermittent flaps of wings belie the perception they were painted here.

The skiff glides over the water, twisting and carving through a maze of spartina-lined creeks that serpentine through this landscape of sky and water and grass. The humid air clings to my face and fills my nose with the smells of salt and mud.

As the skiff comes off-plane my angler removes an eightweight from under the gunwale and makes his way to the bow to strip line off the reel in preparation for a cast. With the engine killed, the only sounds are the muted buzz of the flyreel’s drag as the angler readies, water settling as our wake kisses the bank, and the soft hush of the push-pole slipping through my hand. An osprey cries. In the distance a wake emerges along the shallow edge of the bank where an oyster point has formed. Shadows appear, slide closer and reveal copper colors reflecting from beneath the water. They’re here. All the preparation, the anticipation, the travel, the sleepless nights, and that which separates the dream from reality is packed into the next fifty feet.

The Cape Fear coast of southeastern North Carolina is home to year-round fly-fishing for our state fish, the red drum or redfish as they are more commonly known. Prime fishing occurs between April and November. Seasonally the clear waters surrounding the coastal city of Wilmington offer terrific opportunities for anglers ambitious enough to venture into the many backwater sounds in pursuit of redfish, spotted sea trout and flounder, while the area’s beaches offer the challenge of tarpon, jacks, cobia and albacore.

Wilmington is accessible by air through ILM, a friendly and quaint airport with daily flights to many major cities.

Whether arriving by plane or driving through on US17 or I40 from Raleigh, it becomes evident that Wilmington has managed to provide every amenity desirable, including dining, arts, outdoor recreation and accommodations, while retaining its charming identity and southern hospitality.

The three principle beach communities along the Cape Fear coast are Topsail Island, Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach. While each has unique fishing opportunities, I prefer Wrightsville both for the clarity of its waters for sight fishing, and for its diverse fishery. With regard to tides, Wrightsville is a terrific port to disembark, as anglers can then travel south towards Carolina and Kure Beaches or even Bald Head

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© Photo Seth Vernon

Island at the southern tip of the Cape Fear River. Venturing north along the Intracoastal Waterway past the private island of Figure Eight and several undeveloped islands such as Lea Island, one can find Topsail Island. At 26 miles long and bordered by sound waters to the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern beach, Topsail has remarkable fishing and acres of sight-fishable waters. On any given day an angler may cast to blitzing bluefish, swing a fly to sea trout lurking under a tidal seam, hurl a crease fly to surface-feeding albacore, or pursue shallow-water redfish tailing, schooling or cruising along a bank with their backs out of the water.

Tides along North Carolina’s coast are large, averaging four feet of tidal fluctuation during neap tides approximately every six hours and fifty minutes, while flood tides, which occur on new and full moons, can reach close to six and a half feet of inundation. Flood tides are a rare gift to those lucky enough to experience this fishery under favorable conditions. During these large high tides the spartina marshes that are home to various crabs and shrimp become flooded with enough water for tailing redfish, black drum and even the occasional sheepshead, making it a true sight-fisher’s paradise. Picture standing on the bow of a skiff and casting to these fish tailing

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in mere inches of water as they root out crabs and shrimp from their hiding places. Often these fish feed aggressively and reward anglers with stunning visual takes.

If you’re planning your fishing around these events it’s best to charter a guide and plan according to the moon phase. Peak flood tides occur all along coastal North Carolina from May to October. While most guides utilize technical poling skiffs to target fish through these tides, it never hurts to consult with your captain on the possible need for wading boots in the event you want to stalk the flats on foot. Small oysters, snails, clams and the prickly spartina marsh underfoot make barefoot wading unappealing. The most important thing to remember about tides is that fish prefer to feed when the water is moving - either in or out. Rising tides can disperse fish or move them further up or down a beach or creek.

Falling tides tend to corral baitfish and prey into edges of flats or lagoons and often create scenarios for finding schools of game fish feeding in a niche zone. The old adage that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water does hold some truth.

Fly selection for Cape Fear is as varied as the species that swim here. When fishing for redfish I’ve had tremendous success with Borski’s Bonefish Slider in tan or chartreuse, the

Š Photo Seth Vernon

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fishing will be more enjoyable. The double haul allows you to overcome the challenges of wind and cast a greater distance as well as to deliver the fly to a target quickly. It takes some time to get comfortable and develop muscle memory for executing the double haul under pressure, but the rewards

© Photo Seth Vernon

Mighty Minnow in white/grizzly and my own patterns which are commercially available, including Vernon’s Killer Kwan in tan or white or Vernon’s Salty Shrimp. When casting to tailing redfish in heavily fortified spartina grasses, a selection of crab patterns with stout weed-guards is necessary. Trout are commonly fooled with Clouser Minnows in a variety of colors; however I’m fond of pink over white or chartreuse regardless of water clarity. One of my patterns that works on both gamefish is Vernon’s Jalapeno Popper, a topwater foam slider with a small glass rattle inside that mimics a fleeing shrimp. Puglisi minnows in tan, black/purple, tan/ orange and chartreuse all are excellent for tarpon, cobia and jacks. During the fall months anchovy patterns and Clouser Minnows do the heavy lifting for false albacore. Fly choice is influenced by the conditions, be they tides, winds, light, and water clarity. While variety is a good thing in a fly box, many of the anglers I meet through guiding are overly concerned about it and tie up a storm in preparation for their trip. I always remind them that I have plenty of flies that catch fish, and that casting ability and angling prowess are far more important.

The vast majority of fly fishing along the Cape Fear coast involves the method known as sight-fishing. This is the game of visually searching for a fish or school of fish - typically in clear, shallow water - and presenting the fly in a quick and skillful manner. Most anglers agree sight-fishing is something like spot-and-stalk hunting for deer or turkey. The thrill of sight-fishing is that the angler gets to observe the fish inhaling the fly. It’s exhilarating.

While sight-fishing is not the only way to be successful, it has advantages over blind-casting or prospecting in an area that you think should harbor fish. It’s my experience that blind-casting should only be employed as a last resort, both to conserve the casting arm and because it’s so easy to line an unseen fish with a cast. This, of course, results in a spooked fish and a missed opportunity. As it does everywhere, sightfishing here requires a good set of polarized sunglasses.

Prior to your trip, make time to hone your casting technique, focusing on distance - both in forward and back-casts, line management, and accuracy. All of these skills are necessary be successful. Always strive to improve your casting, especially for saltwater endeavors. Casting often, working with a casting instructor and learning the fundamentals make this game all the more rewarding both for you and your guide. If you’ve begun to work on the double haul, a technique that allows you to achieve more line speed with less effort, your saltwater

of learning to do it without thinking about it are significant.

Whether you’re new to saltwater fly fishing or an accomplished angler, the Cape Fear coast of North Carolina has an incredible variety of inshore and nearshore species to satiate the demands of any fly-rodder. With a bit of research

and/or the help of an area guide there’s an endless amount of water to explore with each season. If you find yourself traveling to or near the southeastern coast of North Carolina you owe it to yourself to test your skills and wet a fly line in the salt waters these magnificent fish call home.

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An Early History Lesson Author: Jen Ripple

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An Early History Lesson

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O

n June 4, 1919, the US Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, the Women’s Right to Vote.

At a time when the world was abuzz with women’s suffrage, one woman was quietly retiring from an empire she had created in 1896. It was her company, C.J. Frost Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Company, which made Steven’s Point, Wisconsin the “Fly Tying Capital of the World.”

The fact that women are the fastest growing demographic in fly fishing today is no surprise. What may come as a surprise is that women are not new to this sport. In fact, women have a long history in the fly-fishing world, and our sport would not be what it is today without the influence of these brilliant women. Let me whet your appetite with a brief early-history lesson, which is by no means an exhaustive list, but quite likely the only story you won’t hear in your local fly shop.

The year was 1496 and Henry VII was King of England.

While he signed a grant to John Cabot, commissioning his exploration of new lands, in a very different part of England, Dame Juliana Berners lowered her pen completing A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, the earliest known volume on fly fishing. Berners was high-born and welleducated. She grew up exploring the outdoor worlds of hunting and fishing with other fashionable court ladies, as was the practice during this time period. Having earlier adopted the monastic lifestyle, she became the Prioress of St. Albans and had already written The Boke of Saint Albans, a book on hawking, hunting and blasing of arms.

The Treatyse would become her final contribution.

This small book is a complete and concise writing of all things fly. It covers topics such as how to construct a rod, how to make a line out of horsehair and dye the hair for different water conditions. It details how to make a hook and fashion a fly. There are even sections on trespassing and conservation – topics that would not appear again until well after the priory was in ruins. It is Berners’ work that Izaak Walton credits for his book The Compleat Angler.

The Treatyse is the first book of fly fishing, and it was written by a woman.

Fast forwarding to the 1850s brings us to small-town America and the town of Ralston, PA, situated on the banks of Lycoming Creek. Elizabeth Benjamin, a summer resident of Ralston, spent her days watching anglers attempt to catch the creek’s elusive trout. While many

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went home empty-handed, Benjamin realized that there was one man, the local tavern owner, who never had difficulty filling his creel. Wondering why this was, she secretly followed him down to the river where she did a bit of spying. She noticed that the largest trout only rose for a certain type of fly. That night, she had her husband fashion nets much like today’s butterfly nets and went down to the river to catch the bugs that were hovering over the water.

She returned to her home and created flies that looked like the bugs she had caught. We now know this type of fly pattern as a natural, imitative fly pattern. Up until this time, most fly anglers only used attractor patterns, which did not resemble actual bugs. When you catch your next fish on a natural pattern, you can thank Elizabeth.

Sara Jane McBride was born in Caledonia, NY in 1845 to a family of five children. Her father was a prominent angler and professional fly tier. It was likely her father’s influence that instilled in her a love for the insect world.

After leaving school, she did what any self-respecting woman of her time would do: she took a year to explore the waters behind her home. Finding herself a decent husband and settling down as was customary, could wait. During her studies, she discovered that water temperatures affect bug hatches. She went on to publish her findings in a three-part series titled “Metaphysics of Fly Fishing” in Forest and Stream magazine in 1876. Her work was deemed so important that her writings are considered the first American papers of any consequence on the subject of aquatic insects from the angler’s point of view. You can think of Sara the next time you pull out your thermometer and check the water temperature or fish a good hatch.

While many women during his time were finding their own place in the world of fly fishing, none did it with more flare than Cornelia Thurza Crosby, of Maine. Crosby learned to hunt and fish from the local Indians as a young girl in the 1880s. As an adult, she left the outdoors and took a job as a bank teller until one day she became so ill she needed to see a doctor. She left the doctor with strict orders to “get a good dose of the outdoors.” She promptly quit her job and, as fate would have it, was gifted a fly rod for her 30th birthday. She went on to become so proficient with a fly rod that she was given the nickname “Fly Rod.” Most widely known for her syndicated column “Fly Rod’s Notebook,” she is also credited as the first person to ever market a state. Traveling by train, she attended expos where she erected a log cabin and spoke about the

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hunting and fishing available in Maine. She did so much for the state of Maine that on March 19, 1897, when Maine created the guide license, they gave her the first one.

While a champion for many things, she was known as an active proponent for modern-day conservation practices, and guided Teddy Roosevelt on many a fishing trip. In the words of Fly Rod herself, “I am a plain woman of uncertain age, standing six feet in my stockings … I scribble a bit for various sporting journals, and I would rather fish any day than go to heaven.” Amen sister, Amen.

Mary Orvis Marbury was 20 years old when she took over the fly-tying operations at her father’s company, C.F. Orvis Company, in 1876,. It was her work, not that of her older brothers, that made Orvis what it is today. By 1890, under her charge, the company was tying and selling upwards of 400 different fly patterns. That was when she

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noticed the company had a major problem. Flies were known by different names in different parts of the country.

There was no standardization in fly patterns. Given this dilemma, Orvis sent out hundreds of letters to fly anglers around the United States asking about patterns in different regions. Mary compiled all the data and in 1892 published the first definitive book of fly patterns, Favorite Flies and Their Histories, which set the standard for fly names and patterns. If you love that H3 rod and appreciate being able to buy a Quill Gordon from any online store you like, you can chalk that up to Mary.

And so we come full circle to the beginning of this history lesson and end on the first day of trout season in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Carrie Frost’s father, a prominent guide in the area, had been waiting for flies to arrive from Europe for opening day. When the mail arrived but without a box of flies, Carrie sat at the table and tied flies out of local feathers and fur to look like the local bugs. Her flies were quite productive and led to many orders from local anglers and guides. Frustrated that no flies were being manufactured in the United States, and with growing demand for her flies, she created C.J. Frost Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Company in 1886. C.J. Frost became the first commercial fly-tying company in America and it is estimated that by 1906 her company had sold more than 4,000,000 flies. And so it was that as the ink dried on the 19th Amendment, Carrie signed the papers that sold her company, leaving behind a legacy and adding to the foundation of women in fly fishing.

Those mentioned above are only a small part of our vast history. Brick by brick they contributed to the strong foundation that allows women of today to feel confident in our sport. Our history is extensive and shouts from the rooftops that we belong.

We belong in the river. We belong in the driftboat. We belong in the fly shop.

Thanks to our ancestors, we’ve come a long way, baby.

Jen Ripple loves to speak on the history of women in fly fishing. To have her speak at your club, contact jen@dunmagazine.com

An Early History Lesson

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CASTING

Loop Shapes, What’s Important, What’s Not…

A

few months back, Bruce Richards and I traveled to Utah to film short videos on fly casting for FFI, Scientific Anglers and Orvis. In the months prior to the filming we spent a fair amount of time discussing the content. For almost every

JEFF WAGNER Jeff is Director of Sales Strategy and Analytics at SmartWool, Fly Casting Field Editor for Fly Fusion Magazine, Master Certified Fly Casting Instructor and most importantly husband and father of two.

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

episode we discussed the importance of loops - their shape, speed, qualities and how to make them. The conversation also went deeper than the usual wide and narrow. There is far more to loops than just those simple concepts that are widely known and accepted today. Do you need

to know more than this to fly fish?

Absolutely not. Just as you don’t need to know the difference between the Ephemeropterans and Plecopterans.

However, like knowing your entomology, knowing loop-shapes can make you a better fly caster and that can make you a better fly fisher. Fly fishing cannot be separated from fly casting. They are inextricably linked.

Fly line is weighted, tapered line that is the object of the cast.

Fly casting is easy to describe as a smooth, constant acceleration ending in a rapid deceleration of the rod (often described as the stop). As the

rod slows, the fly line continues on, moves past the tip of the rod, and creates the loop. The loop is the shape of the line as it travels through the air and is typically described as a horizontal U-shape or a candycane shape.

A key factor is the path the rod tip follows during the casting stroke. For a good loop and efficient cast the path of the rod tip should be as straight as possible. To get this straight tippath the rod must be accelerated smoothly, the casting arc must match rod bend, and the stop must be firm.

This is because of a single immutable principle: The fly line follows the path of the rod tip. This is logical, as the fly line can only go where the tip of the rod goes. Even though the line goes through the guides and is connected to the reel, it is the rod tip that pulls the fly line.

We see loops in three basic shapes.

Tight Loops – Tight loops are the most efficient loops and what we strive for most of the time. They are typically less than three feet in height and the top leg of the loop is very straight. They are formed from a mostly straight-line path of the rod tip. These are loops that work well in the wind and are good for distance and accuracy.

Wide Loops – Wide loops are typically four feet or greater in height.

They are formed by an upward arcing or curving path of the rod tip which causes the top leg of the line to be similarly curved. This is often the result of bending the wrist too much while casting. Wide loops can still be good for fishing rigs that are prone to tangling, like nymph and streamer rigs.

Tailing Loops – Tailing loops can be any size, but they all end with the

top leg of the loop dipping below the bottom leg of the loop. These loops are often formed by an erratic application of power or an otherwise non-smooth acceleration.

The top-leg of the loop can be called the fly-leg, and the bottom-leg the rodleg. The forward-most portion of the loop, where the legs come together, is called the apex. The fly-leg extends from the middle of the apex to the fly. The rod leg is from the middle of the apex to the rod tip. To fully understand loop shapes it’s important to understand how fast the parts of the loop are moving.

While it may appear that the entire loop is moving forward at the same speed, it is not. Fly casting depends on the fly-leg of the loop moving fast and the rod-leg moving slowly or not at all. This gives loops stability. To know the speed the loop’s apex is moving, you simply add the speeds of the fly- and rod-legs and divide by 2. Example: If fly-leg speed is 50 mph and rod-leg speed is 0, 50+0=50, divided by 2 = 25 mph. If the rod-leg speed isn’t 0 (ie, if line is being shot or hauled) the calculation is done the same way, and apex-speed will be a bit higher.

Why is all this important? It all boils down to wind resistance. Wind resistance is the mechanism by which most of the energy of the cast dissipates. If we want to cast efficiently and accurately we must reduce wind resistance as much as possible. An interesting fact of physics is that wind resistance increases exponentially as speed increases. If you double the speed of something, wind resistance

Casting

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quadruples! If you increase speed four times, wind resistance increases 16 times. Obviously, simply increasing line speed is not the whole answer to casting farther or in the wind.

Because the fly leg is the part of the loop that travels the fastest, it’s the part of the loop that is most susceptible to wind resistance.

By controlling the shape of the top leg we can control and minimize wind resistance.

Look at the two loops above. Both are about the same size but one is much more wind resistant than the other due to what we call “exposure.”

The small horizontal line at the apex

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

of each loop divides the fly-leg and rod-leg. Everything above the apex is moving very fast and is therefore quite wind resistant. You can see that the upper loop has much less exposure to wind resistance than the lower loop.

Remember, only the moving portion of the line is affected by wind resistance so if you’re not shooting line, only the fly-leg is moving. As fly casters our mission is to make the flyleg as straight as possible rather than reducing the size of the entire loop.

It is the exposure to the wind that effects the efficiency of a loop. At the extreme end of casting is distancecasting and nothing exemplifies this concept more. Casting far requires efficient loops and high line-speed so the loop will travel a long way before hitting the ground. Here we can start to relate distance casting with speed

and wind resistance.

Many casters can make a 75-foot or even a 90-foot cast. That task can be achieved by people of all shapes and sizes. I contend that about 25% of the people who can cast 90 feet can cast 100 feet. Similarly, 25% of the people who can cast 100 feet can cast 110 feet, and so on. The reason is that it takes a lot of skill and practice to cast loops with very straight fly-legs at high speed. As with any sport, maintaining perfect form at high levels of exertion is very difficult. Casting 100 feet takes a certain amount of effort. You would think that casting 110 feet would require 10% more, but it takes much more than a 10% increase in force because of the dramatic increase in wind resistance at high line speeds.

At extreme distances loops must be perfect. Simply adding line speed will

not make the line go farther if the top leg isn’t straight.

You may have seen some distance casters making extremely long casts with what appear to be large loops, and wonder how in the heck they make them go that far.

In every example of this I have seen, the actual loop size from top leg to bottom leg may be large, maybe even more than four feet (technically a wide loop), but the fly-leg is very straight and the apex of the loop is very near the top. The bottom leg of the loop may sag, droop and even have some waves in it. The secret to effective fly casting is learning how to cast a very straight top leg, which comes from a very straight rod-tip path during the casting stroke.

Okay, so that’s all great, but what does it mean to you in practical application?

1. Smooth Acceleration. Accelerating the rod smoothly through the proper casting arc causes a straight line path of the rod tip, and a straight top leg. Concentrate on making the top leg straight and almost all your casting woes will disappear.

2. Stop! A smooth acceleration with an abrupt stop helps form the loop and transfer energy. Stop the rod as abruptly as possible while limiting shock waves in the line through practice and experimentation.

The best way to practice these concepts is by reducing the amount of power used in the casting stroke.

Most casters use too much power most of the time. Extra power can cover up a less-than-smooth acceleration or a poor stop. To practice, start casting 30 to 40 feet of line and begin reducing the power. Maintain good loop-shape with smooth acceleration and an abrupt stop. Keep reducing the power until the loops are almost touching the ground and failing.

3. Increasing Line Speed. This is an important skill not only for distance casting, but also for in casting into the wind, throwing wind-resistant flies, and simply using less energy to make a cast. To work on it, first concentrate on the acceleration and stop, then increase line speed by adding a haul and by smoothly accelerating to a higher maximum speed. As you practice, keep loops tight, maintain smooth acceleration and an abrupt stop.

Practicing these things can make your casting better and even improve your fishing. At the very least, it will improve your efficiency and reduce the power you’re using.

This will limit the strain on your joints and hopefully keep you fishing for many more years.

Casting

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FLY TYING

Tying Flies with Bucktail

I JERRY COVIELLO

remember the first time I wanted to learn to tie flies. I signed up for my first fly tying class where the Woolly Worm was the first fly. Next was the Black Nose Dace, a simple streamer, but a fly that showed different tying techniques for handling hair and showed the basic streamer/bucktail pattern. Bucktail helps give the streamer a slim baitfish-look. Many salt and freshwater fish like a big meal and bucktail streamers give that illusion.

Fly Fishers International Fly Tying Group Chairman Jerry is serving on the FFI Education Committee, newsletter editor for Delaware Valley Fly Fishers an Affiliate FFI Club in Bucks County PA. Fly Tying Demonstrator at the FFI Fly Fishing Fair, International Fly Tying Symposium, Edison Fly Fishing Show and the Fly Fishing and Wing Shooting show.

Fly Tying Instructor at Project Healing Waters in Coatesville PA. Member of the Dyna-King Vise Pro Team and Solarez UV Resin Pro Team Member

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

Today’s streamers and bucktails, such as the Clouser Minnow, Lefty’s Deceiver, Mickey Finn and Black Nose Dace, have stood the test of time and are made partly of bucktail. And they are all known for catching all types of fish in both salt and freshwater.

Today you can purchase every conceivable color of bucktail, even including ultra violet and fluorescent.

SIMPLE PROVEN BUCKTAIL FLIES Black Nose Dace

Mickey Finn

In 1947 Art Flick, an accomplished and innovative fly tier from the Catskill Region of NY, published his best known book, Art Flick’s Streamside Guide. This is where the Black Nose Dace was first introduced. Art invented it to imitate the dace and chubs that lived in the streams he fished. Today this is one of the most popular flies for trout and bass.

I always have a fondness for the Mickey Finn. My first landlocked salmon was caught with one on Lake Millinocket in Maine.

The Mickey Finn was tied in the 1930’s by Quebec fly tier Charles Langevin. “Mickey Finn” was slang for a drugged drink, and this fly was reputed to be similarly dangerous to fish.

Hook: 4X- to 7X-long shank, #4 to #12 Thread: Black 6/0 or 70 denier Tail: Red yarn

Hook: 5X- to 7X-long shank, #4 to #12 Thread: Black 6/0 or 70 denier Rib: Oval silver tinsel

Body: Silver mylar tinsel Wing: Brown over black over white bucktail Head: Black thread

Body: Silver mylar tinsel Wing: Yellow over red over yellow bucktail Head: Black thread

OTHER BUCKTAIL STREAMERS Thunder Creek Series Keith Fulsher developed and popularized the Thunder Creek style of tying a bucktail streamer. He tied the bucktail in pointing forward, and folded it back both over top and beneath the shank of the hook to create a large minnow-type

head, which he then coated with epoxy. The result was a sleeker looking streamer and less chance of the wing fouling the fly by wrapping under the hook shank. With the newer UV Resins on the market, the Thunder Creek is easy to tie and have ready to fish in minutes.

Black Nose Dace Thunder Creek Hook: Straight-eye, 4X-long, 4# to #12 Thread: Red 6/0 Tail: Red wool Body: Silver mylar tinsel Belly: White bucktail, folded back under hook shank Wing: Brown over black bucktail folded back over top of hook shank to make head Head: Solarez UV Thin Resin Eye: 3mm Ice Living Eyes

Fly Tying

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DECEIVER PATTERNS Olive Lefty’s Deceiver Hook: Saltwater #2 Thread: Color of your choice Wing: 6 white saddle hackles at the rear, with an olive-dyed grizzly saddle on each side of them, and 10 to 12 strands of gold Krystal Flash.

Body: Silver mylar tinsel Beard: - Red Krystal Flash Collar: White bucktail with a short olive dyed grizzly hackle on each side Topping: 10 to 15 strands of peacock herl, mixed with 10 to 15 strands of lime green Krystal Flash Head: Green

Rainbow Thunder Creek Hook: Straight eye, 4X-long, #4 to #12 Thread: Red 6/0 Body: Silver mylar tinsel Eye: 3mm Ice Living Eyes Belly: White bucktail folded back under the hook shank

Wing: Olive over pink bucktail folded back over the top of the hook shank to make head Head: Solarez UV Thin Resin Eye: Black/white stick-on

1

Secure the hook in your vise, attach tying thread and wrap thread to the bend of the hook, then forward to the head position (1/5 of a shank-length behind the eye).

Chartreuse Clouser Minnow Hook: #1/0 saltwater Belly: White bucktail Wing: Chartreuse bucktail Flash: Chartreuse flash Eyes: Brass dumbbell eyes Thread: White 3/0 Head and Belly coated with Solarez Bone Dry Tie in the mylar tinsel at the head position with gold side facing you. Secure with five wraps of thread, fold over the tinsel to expose the silver side and wrap over the fold. Wrap tinsel, silver side out, to the bend of the hook and then forward to the point it was tied in. Tie off and cut excess tinsel.

Wrap thread forward to the eye and back to the head position

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2

3

Turn the hook back right side up in the vise. Tie in a small bunch of olive bucktail with the tips extending past the eye of the hook the same way you did the white bucktail. Trim the butts of the olive bucktail.

Turn the hook upside down in the vise. Tie in a small bunch of white bucktail with the tips extending forward past the eye of the hook.

The length of the bucktail should be the length of the hook shank plus the length of the head, so when you fold the bucktail back towards the bend of the hook, the tips will extend a gap-length past the bend. Trim the butts of the bucktail.

4

5

Secure the bucktail with loose wraps of thread and spread the olive ducktail over the top half of the head to hide the under-wraps of thread. Then take some tight loops to secure the bucktail.

8

9

Tie in a small bunch of pink bucktail with the tips extending past the eye of the hook the same distance as the olive bucktail. Cut the butts of the pink bucktail.

6

Turn the fly upside down in the vise and fold back the white bucktail and tie it down. This is the belly of the streamer.

10 Turn the fly right side up. Take a few wraps of the red thread to form the gills. Whip finish and cut thread.

11

Fold back the pink bucktail to start forming the head of the fly.

7

Turn the fly sideways and stick the eyes on each side of the head separately.

Fold back the olive bucktail and secure it on top of the pink bucktail. After you’ve folded back the pink and olive bucktail the pink will be the middle color, and the olive will be the top

Apply Solarez Thin UV resin to coat the head. Use a little at a time and after each coat hit it with a UV flashlight to harden it.

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Fly Tying

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FLY FISHING SKILLS

Knowledge at Your Fingertips

T DUTCH BAUGHMAN

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he mission of Fly Fishers International is to support, enhance and preserve fly-fishing opportunities. Fundamental to this mission is education. In August, 2015 the FFI Board of Directors approved a new Strategic Plan. This was a milestone event because among its many provisions the plan committed FFI to create and support a comprehensive education program.

This commitment specifically identified the development of a Fly-Fishing Skills Educational Learning Center to provide educational and instructional resources to the entire fly-fishing community in four resource areas: casting, fly tying, conservation, and fly-fishing skills.

After three years of development, the new Learning Center was established in 2018 to create the best educational program possible.

The Learning Center is a combination of annual in-person workshop instruction, as well as an electronic source of downloadable instructional materials on the FFI website.

The in-person Learning Center workshops were offered at the 2018 FFI Fly Fair in Boise, Idaho. The instructional online Learning Center was launched in June, 2018, and is

Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

available to FFI members, as well as everyone in the fly-fishing community. Of particular note is the opportunity for fly anglers to download the educational and instructional material from the FFI website free of charge.

The Learning Center is available at www. flyfishersinternational.org, in the Education tab menu.

What follows is a summary of topics addressed on the Learning Center.

Comprehensive Fly-Fishing Skills This resource area offers fly fishers slide presentations and documents on all aspects of fly fishing. The curriculum includes a slide presentation entitled “A Comprehensive Introduction To Fly Fishing,” covering topics such as equipment, selecting a rod, casting, knots, rigging, characteristics of fisheries, fish habitat, stream anatomy, types of fisheries, fish behavior, strategies and tactics, entomology, reading water, finding fish, setting the hook, playing fish, landing fish, handling fish, reviving fish, releasing fish, fly-fishing etiquette, fly-fishing safety, fly tying, and preparation for a fly-fishing trip. One document here provides an agenda for a beginning fly-tying class, with an overview, references, and tips for the class.

Another document describes 20 preferred knots for six different locations where a knot is needed to properly rig a fly rod.

The etiquette document covers fly-fishing etiquette both off and on the water, float fishing, fly fishing from a flats boat, and tipping guides.

The section on fishing safety includes preparation for weather conditions, hook safety, fish safety, wading safety, reading the water to wade safely, wading-safety with a buddy, and watercraft safety.

An extensive fly-fishing glossary is included to help fly fishers understand all aspects of fly-fishing skills. Additional references for books and videos regarding fly-fishing skills are provided.

Conservation The Fly-Fishing Skills curriculum also includes a slide presentation titled “Understanding Freshwater Fish Behavior” to help the fly angler develop understanding of sensory abilities of fish (vision, hearing, thermo-reception, chemoreception, olfaction, and taste); search-image formation; environmental factors (time, temperature, and oxygen levels); feeding behavior; needs for shelter, comfort, and food; locations and lies in streams and lakes; water conditions; and reproductive behavior.

Note: Facilitator guides are now in development to support the Comprehensive Introduction to Fly Fishing slide presentation and the Conservation slide presentation.

Casting FFI has been the leader in providing opportunity for fly fishers to obtain certification as casting instructors. The Casting Instructor Certification program and the Learning Center provide opportunities for fly fishers at all levels of experience to develop casting skills.

Development of the fundamentals is at the heart of casting instruction. This portion of the Learning Center offers three areas to support fly-fishing skill development. The first is dedicated to four fundamental casts: roll cast, false cast, pick-up/lay-down cast, and

change-of-direction cast. It also includes instruction on loop-development and shape, straight rod-tip path, and rod acceleration to an abrupt stop.

The second is is the Casting Skills Challenge. This is designed to assist an individual or club in measuring progress in fly-casting skills. The challenge is intended to be instructional and fun. The menu clearly describes the goals of the program, shows how to document successful completion of each level, provides performance and tackle guidelines, presents the tasks for the bronze, silver, and gold levels, and provides a facilitator’s guide and score sheets. Videos will soon be added to the casting area of fly-fishing skills to supplement the written material already available.

The Fly-Casting Skills section also includes a teacher’s package, including a teachers’ guide, along with descriptions of beginning casts and fundamental casting principles.

All of the casting, educational, and instructional materials are endorsed by the FFI Casting Board of Governors, and were authored by Bruce Richards, Jeff Wagner, Molly Semenik, Rick Williams, Bill Wheeler, Jonathan Walter, Shekhar Bahadur, and Macauley Lord.

Fly Tying The opportunity to develop fly-tying is available through the “Introduction to Fly Tying” slide presentation in the Learning Center. It was developed by the Fly Tying Group Board of Governors as a beginners fly-tying manual.The Learning Center also includes a fly-tying video library where there are links to more than 350 instructional videos of specific flies, showing material recipes and tying instructions.

Women Connect Current research indicates that over one third of fly fishers are women. Women Connect is a program within the Learning Center that focuses on educational programs and other activities specifically for women. In addition, the FFI Expo features extensive opportunities for women to participate in hands-on workshops taught by women.

The Women Connect Fly-Fishing Workshop is held over two days and is for women who have some fly-fishing experience, as well as those with advanced skills. The program begins in the classroom each day with instructors who are passionate female fly fishers, and then moves to some prime-water locations to apply the skills and concepts learned in the classroom. Women Connect Fly-Tying Workshops offer fly-tying instruction taught by women.

Women’s Beginner Fly Tying is a twoday workshop and Women’s Advanced Fly Tying is a one-day workshop, as is another workshop, Salmon-Fly Tying, taught by Peggy Brenner.

Youth Camp The Learning Center also includes an outstanding youth camp, which offers an extensive twoday program. It provides thorough

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instruction in entomology and “matching the hatch,” as well as instruction in knot tying, fly-tying, streamside ethics and etiquette, water-safety, casting, and in-the-water fly fishing.

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Salt-Water Fly-Fishing Skills The FFI motto is “All Fish, All Water” and the Fly-Fishing Skills curriculum includes an introduction to saltwater fly fishing. This material was provided by the FFI Club in Naples,

Florida, the Backcountry Fly Fishers.

The FFI Education Committee will continue to gather and offer educational and instructional material to include in the Learning Center.

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FLYFILMFEST.COM

Fly Fishing Skills 49 PHOTO

BY FACELESS FLY FISHING

PROFILES

Featured Industry Partner RODS DESIGNED WITH FUN IN MIND

P

erhaps it was hand-lining for perch off the San Francisco docks or maybe summer vacations on Oregon’s Rogue River that planted the rod-building seed in Tim Rajeff. The path to starting a fly-rod company took Tim through guiding in Alaska, building Atlantic salmon fishing camps in Russia, winning competitive casting awards, and designing rods for Loomis.

Rajeff says he is “trying to make a living at something that should be a hobby” with Rajeff Sports, the umbrella company of Echo Fly Rods. Initially the company was a distributor of Airflo lines, before expanding into designing and building fly rods. Today, Echo offers single-hand rods, two-hand rods,

Cortland Indicator Nymph Fly Line Decades ago we experienced the “British Invasion” of rock and roll. Now we have another invasion from across the pond—Euro-nymphing. It started in Poland, then the Czechs perfected the style, then the Spanish lengthened the leaders to 25 or even 30 feet. With these styles dominating the European and World fishing competitions, line manufacturers jumped into the fray with the goal of producing fly lines that made it easier to cast long leaders.

Cortland’s Indicator Nymph Fly Line

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

and a center-pin rod. Two-hand rods are changing - getting shorter - and the trout-Spey is blossoming in the market.

Echo has a variety of two-handers, including the Full Spey, Compact Spey and Trout Spey, for 2- through 4-weight lines.

On the single-hand side of the ledger, Echo has graphite rods in both freshwater and saltwater designs and recently added two fiberglass rods.

The Bad Ass Glass is for heavy fish or saltwater use. The River Glass is a lighter weight trout-series available in colours of stealthy amber or look-atme-aqua.

In keeping with the popularity of Euro-nymphing, Echo has the Shadow X, a lightweight, responsive rod that Rajeff says was the most challenging series of rods ever developed by his company. The Shadow X is 20-25%

lighter than the Shadow 2, yet can handle the heavy nymphs or cast a delicate dry fly.

Fly fishers with some understanding of the equipment used by competitive fly casters, and an awareness of Tim’s background as a competitive fly caster, might assume that Echo rods are designed with competition in mind.

Actually they are designed with fun in mind, and to fit the way that most of the fly fishing population actually casts. In the past couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of testing some Echo rods, including the Ion XL, which turned out to be a fantastic beach rod for coho and coastal cutthroat. Echo rods are known for their built-in durability, their ability to fit a wide range of casting styles and their easy-to-afford price. The rods can be purchased under the FFI Industry Partner Program.

comes in line weights 4 through 8, with grain-weights ranging from 120 to 210.

I tested the 5-weight coming in at 140 grains.

I’m not an experienced Euronympher, but have years of tight-line nymphing and some indicator-fishing experience, so it was easy to evaluate the performance of this line. Welded loops at both ends make it easy to attach leader and backing. The heavy weightforward design makes it easy to cast two small weighted flies attached to a very long leader using a water haul. The line hangs in the air properly, acting as an

extension of the leader, with very little sag. Compared to a standard weightforward fly line, I found the Indicator Nymph Line made it easier to detect strikes. cortlandline.com

Jake Darling UNICOI OUTFITTERS WWW.UNICOIOUTFITTERS.COM

T

he Internet is a wonderful tool for getting a wide perspective on people and so it is with Jake Darling, manager of Unicoi Outfitters on the Chattahoochee River in northern Georgia. There’s the bland Linkedin profile listing his college and work place. And then there’s the blurb that calls him a “legend in North Georgia,” skilled at catching huge trout— the picture posted shows a huge trout lending much credence to the legend label. On the phone he’s low-key, personable and makes it apparent that he loves his work.

But for a closer look I dug a little deeper into Jake’s past. His father placed a Martin reel and Eagle Claw rod into his son’s hands when Jake was five. Casting practice was on the lawn—Jake could come inside the house once he learned how to drop the fly into a five gallon bucket. Jake got his first trout a couple years later when his mom took him to the Tallulah River. At 14, Jake lost his fishing partner when his dad

died. He quit fishing and would have never gone again but for one of the Unicoi guides asking him to come on a camping trip. This rekindled his interest in fly fishing and the appearance of a driver’s license had Jake guiding for Unicoi through high school. After a year of collegiate soccer, Jake told his coach he wasn’t coming back because he was going back into the fishing industry.

He moved back home and worked at the shop while going to school. He was made assistant manager at 24, and was promoted to manager three years later.

For several years, Jake guided trout out of a drift boat on the local rivers.

More recently he’s focused on striped bass that make a spring spawning run from local impoundments. Most of the fish run up to 12 pounds with some two or three times that weight. Jake also guides for shoal bass, a black bass found only in the Apalachicola River basin. Shoalies are an interesting fish with a mouth like a largemouth, a fight like a smallmouth, and a fast water, rocky home like a trout.

With Jake at the helm, Unicoi Outfitters was named Orvis Fly Shop of the Year in 2018.

Profiles

51

STREAMSIDE Q&A

From Hexagenia to Bug Man RICK HAFELE

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David Paul Williams: Let’s start off talking aquatic insects in my graduate work. about bugs. How did you get into the bug D.P.W.: From Hexagenia to Bug Man. R.H.: That’s right. game?

Rick Hafele: I grew up in Illinois in a little D.P.W.: There’s a lot of buzz about Czech farm town. And I always had an interest in nymphing and Polish nymphing and French just hanging out outside and playing around nymphing. What’s your take on Euro in creeks and lakes, and always had an nymphing? eye for the insects when I was a kid. One R.H.: I wrote a book on nymph fishing way particular time I was out at a little farm back when - ten years ago now, I guess. pond and right at dusk there was a big huge And I just mentioned it in the book, I didn’t get into any details. But I hatch of Hexagenia, the knew about it and dabbled big burrowing mayflies. in it a little bit. But since And of course it almost then it’s become more looked like little birds popular and more and were flying off the water. more people are doing This was bluegill and it every year. Just this bass fishing and the last year I played around whole lake just erupted. with it more. And it is, But it was just more the no question, an effective event than anything that way to fish. All those sort of stuck with me. I competition fishermen moved out to Washington wouldn’t be doing it if it state to go to college. didn’t really produce fish.

Then my interest was Rick Hafele in fishery science and I was going to be It has some limitations in terms of the a fishery biologist. After some summer kind of water that you can easily do it jobs in fisheries, I was kind of debating in. You’ve got to wade close to the water whether I wanted to do thirty years of that. you’re going to fish. There’s water in But the head of the biology department at some of our big western rivers that Western Washington University had his you’re not going to wade very close to.

PhD in stoneflies, and he taught an aquatic But within those limitations, it’s an entomology class my senior year. I was the extremely effective method for two reasons, only guy that signed up, but he taught it I think. One, your flies sink very quickly to anyway. So he and I would get together in the bottom where you really want to fish his office every week and talk about aquatic your nymphs. Two, it’s very sensitive to insects. It was an experience that sort of detecting a strike, which is, of course, the big pushed me towards getting involved in challenge with any type of nymph fishing.

Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

Streamside Q&A

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And it’s not difficult. It requires some special leaders and fly line, a little different rod, perhaps. But if you’re set up for it, it works really well. So, I think there’s a lot of validity to going out and playing with it and learning it.

D.P.W.: What prompted you to start writing books?

R.H.: Well, that goes back to college days when I was a grad student at Oregon State University, in the mid70s. They had a little system then called “The Free U” where any person could organize a class and write up a syllabus, what they wanted to teach, and turn it in to the university. They would advertise it and find you a room to teach it in. It was all free, the teacher didn’t get paid anything, the students didn’t have to pay anything, and it could be on any topic you wanted. So, I thought, “I’m

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Flyfisher Spring/Summer 2019

going to teach an aquatic entomology class and see if anybody shows up.”

This would’ve been probably1976. And lo and behold, there were a handful of people that signed up and I taught it and it was a lot of fun.

Around the same time I met Dave Hughes, when he audited an aquatic entomology course where I was the TA. I said to Dave, “You and I should do a course together.

Let’s organize this and make it a little more comprehensive.” So, we created a class called “Understanding Western Hatches.” And we put that out there through the Free U and we got more people signed up. Then we put together a pretty comprehensive syllabus for this and showed it to Frank Amato Publications in about 1978 and they thought, “that looks

like it could be a book.” Dave really had the interest to become a fishing writer at that point so we kind of jumped at it. And that became The Complete Book of Western Hatches. I never relied on the fishing books and things for my income because I was working full-time as a biologist. So, I did other books just as I could get to them over the years. But it was really through that connection with Dave and doing that workshop and putting together the syllabus that got the ball rolling early on.

D.P.W.: Do you have a favorite book that you’ve written?

R.H.: I don’t know that I do. I guess The Complete Book of Western Hatches always has a soft spot because it was the first one and it’s still out there after forty years, thirty-five years, whatever it is, in print. But I do like the nymph fishing book I did because nymph fishing, to me, is a real real art-form that you can really practice and develop. So I like that book, too.

D.P.W.: In your working career and your fly-fishing career, I’m assuming you’ve been involved in some conservation work. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about that?

R.H.: Well, I have been and I guess the first real jump into that happened in the late ‘80s. I was one of the founding members of Oregon Trout. That was at a time when there were quite a few fly fishers in the Portland/Salem area concerned that there really wasn’t any management for wild trout.

We really felt there needed to be an organization to focus on wild fish and wild trout and their protection and management. So we got some really good-thinking people together and some money together and started Oregon Trout. And I was on the board

and involved in that from the getgo. Oregon Trout now has morphed into a group called Freshwater Trust, which is a big organization centered in Portland, doing a lot of good things.

Right now, I’m very involved in an organization called the Deschutes River Alliance, a nonprofit that started about five years ago over some issues that have transpired on the Deschutes River in an effort to re-introduce salmon and steelhead above the three dams on the river. To do that, they’d made changes in how they release water from Lake Billy Chinook, one of the big reservoirs.

That reservoir used to be a completely bottom- water release and now, for nine months of the year it’s a completely surface-water release due to some interesting limnology in that reservoir with the three different rivers coming into it. The surface water has a lot more nutrients, it’s a lot warmer. And so, now, they’re releasing that water downstream. It’s affecting the ecology and the water quality in the lower Deschutes in some negative ways that a lot of people are concerned about.

It’s a long story but that group has been very active and I’ve been a part of that, doing a lot of the science work and writing reports. That information is all on a website under “Deschutes River Alliance.” So if anybody’s concerned about the Deschutes, I hope they’ll check that out.

A trend I see now that really concerns me is that agencies are becoming more reluctant to enforce the regulations that actually exist for protecting water quality and managing fishers. The political climate is such that anything that appears it might be detrimental to jobs or private citizens is looked down upon. So the trend has been for these

agencies to take a softer approach to enforcing the regulations. And as a result things don’t get protected the way they should.

D.P.W.: Let’s talk a bit about Fly Fishers International. What impact do you think FFI has had on angling in general? Not just trout.

R.H.: I’ve been a member of FFI for decades and was awarded a life membership years ago. And so, I really appreciate the work they’ve done.

I think education is really where they’ve done a lot of great things. And I think that’s an area where they need to continue to do good work. And by “education,” I mean in all aspects, not just “What flies do you use?” They’ve got a great casting certification program that’s been very popular and useful. And they do a lot of education, just teaching younger kids and anyone interested in fly fishing. But I really get concerned about conservation and water quality in our streams. If you’re into trout fishing, steelhead fishing, salmon fishing, these are all coldwater fishes that need really highquality water quality to thrive. And I think we’ve reached a point in a lot of places where that is really challenged.

Climate changes are part of that but just with the increasing population and pressures from agriculture and urbanization, that is another pressure that’s been ongoing.

We need people to step up and really do what they can to protect what we’ve got right now. Because if we don’t, we are going to lose it. So, education in conservation issues is a critical area that the FFI has a great voice in. And certainly, I think the more they can exercise that voice, the better.

D.P.W.: Now, let’s talk a little bit about flies. What makes a fly work? Is

it size? Color? Presentation?

R.H.: When I give programs to clubs, that’s often one of the big parts of the discussion. First of all, I think it depends on the situation. When trout are feeding selectively because there’s a big hatch going on, there’s a concentration of food of some type; it could be nymphs drifting underwater, it doesn’t have to be the adult insects on the surface. But whenever you get a concentration of food, trout tend to feed fairly selectively.

In those situations, you need to be a lot more attentive to the characteristics of the fly you’re using and how it matches what the fish are eating.

When you’re fishing in those selective situations really zero in on size. Adult insects look bigger when they’re flying in the air than they really are. If you can put one in your hand and hold your fly up next to it, you’ll realize that what you think is a 14 is really a 16 or an 18.

And I think that’s very important.

Color is less important in my mind.

From collecting thousands of natural insects over the years, I’ve seen that the color varies naturally for the same species on the same rock. It can certainly be a factor and people all know of a time when they’ve changed the color of a fly pattern suddenly and it worked better. So, it is a factor. But I think size is more important.

Now, when fish aren’t selective or there’s not a big concentration of food, I think you have a whole different set of factors, and attractor patterns could be one of your better choices. A big fly to catch their attention might be a better choice, or moving the fly to catch the trout’s attention when they’re not feeding selectively. So, you might end up fishing quite differently in those situations.

Streamside Q&A

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