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The Soul of Fly Fishing
CONTENTS 12 THERE’S NO CRUEL SUMMER IN FLY FISHING
George Daniel Depending on the geography of where you fish, the term “summer season” will have a different meaning. But, regardless of where you live, summer can be the best weather and angling opportunities of the year. George Daniel shares his favorite summertime fly-fishing tips for trout and covers some non-trout species you can target to avoid the crowds.
20 A RUGGED TRIP OF DREAMS
Juliette Larocque Join adventure-photographer Juliette Larocque on a breathtaking expedition. In the heart of the Muskwa-Kechika wilderness she captures the spirit of fly fishing and the raw beauty of the surrounding landscape. Inspiring encounters, abundant wildlife, and untamed nature shape her journey, which celebrates adventure at its finest.
26 THE EVOLUTION OF JIG HOOKS
Jeremy Davies Fly tying has been in a constant state of innovation for decades. The flies covered in this article by tying mastermind, Jeremy Davis, are a part of that process. Over the past few years, he has been tying more of his favourite patterns on jig hooks, which has proven effective on the water. They make an excellent dropper when fished under a foam attractor and they can be very effective in small to medium creeks or rivers.
34 A STILLWATER PRIMER
Phil Rowley Fly fishing for trout is skewed towards moving water, so much so that we often don’t consider the challenges, rewards, and charms that stillwaters offer. Phil Rowley covers the numerous reasons why anglers should give lakes a try and offers helpful hints and strategies for finding fish in lakes. 10 32 42 44 50
Stream Lines Flybrary Project Stillwater Secrets Tight Loops, Tight Lines On the Vise
56 60 64 66
Long Lines Wandering Currents Water Marks End of the Line
On the cover: George Daniel Contents: Derek Olthuis
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STREAM LINES
By the Numbers Psychoanalyzing a Fish Counter
Derek Bird I’m always willing to share a few fly-fishing secrets. My favorite fly, for example, is the one the trout are taking. My favorite season is the one when trout are biting. My favorite stream is the one where the trout are plentiful and the anglers are few. Mandy Hertzfeld @mandyhertz_flyart mandykhertzfeldart.com
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The Soul of Fly Fishing
I
often hear people bandy about the age-old question when it comes to catching trout—would you rather be lucky or good? I’m not sure a person can surgically isolate one from the other. Skill is something a person can control, and luck is something an angler needs on those days when everything appears to be tilted in Mother Nature’s favour. I’ve run into a few people over the years, who by all appearances have short circuited this long-standing debate between angling luck and skill. On the surface they’ve developed a strategy to always outwit Mother Nature. And I’m not sure if this person is lucky or good, so I’m going to explore the anatomy of a fishing affliction I call fish counting or bloviating piscis numerus if you’d prefer the more medically legitimate Latin terminology. You know, that angler who you run into every so often who announces the exact number of fish they caught and that number suspiciously appears to be grossly inflated. I have a few people in mind who always do better than everyone else, if better is defined as most fish caught. To protect identity, feelings, and dignity, I’ll treat this more like a case study. Please note, I’m more generally discussing a type of person, so if you’re offended, then you likely suffer from this condition. If, on the other hand, you think, “Hey, I know someone just like that” then you’re not the person I’m analyzing, or more hopelessly you are and you have no self-awareness. Either way, the psychological condition bloviating piscis numerus cannot be treated with medication. Though it’s not incurable, the cure likely starts with a healthy measure of what this individual lacks, which is self-awareness. To avoid a common human error, which is to read about a psychological condition and then self-diagnose you have that condition, I’ll start by defining my terms. First, what a fish counter is not: you don’t suffer from bloviating
piscis numerus if you’ve spent a day on the water and you’ve caught three fish and you text your friend and say, “I had to work really hard. Spent the entire day and only caught three.” If you’ve ever communicated something like this then you do not need to be treated for BPN. A true fish counter would never admit to catching only three fish. In fact, a three fish day for an angler afflicted with bloviating piscis numerus is likely reported as a 16 fish day. An angler who spent the entire day on the water didn’t count the three fish they caught, they simply remembered the three fish they caught. I’d even say this number applies to a five fish day. Beyond that, you’re likely trying too hard to remember the fish you caught and are borderline diagnosable. Also, you’re not a fish counter if you’re in the age range of child to teen. There’s an age of innocence where it’s excusable to count fish for very legitimate reasons I don’t have the space to explore. Another excusable reason to be someone who counts fish is linked to personality. The Enneagram 1 personality (rule keepers), who naturally gravitate toward accounting and legal careers, have a knack for knowing exactly how many fish they catch in a day, and they’re very precise in their recollection. If a Type 1 personality says they caught 16 fish, it’s because they did and they state it as a matter of fact and not a matter of bloviation. The two motivations are often conflated by a person with an untrained ear, but the former will just as likely declare a three fish day or an 11 fish day, and the latter will only ever declare a 16 fish day even in the event of three. One other addendum. A person who counts steelhead does not suffer from bloviating piscis numerus no matter age or personality. When an angler goes two weeks without a fish and then catches one or two, this is a recipe for involuntary memory. Therefore, a steelhead angler will likely remember how many they’ve caught in a season without actually counting them.
Ok, so now that I’ve defined what bloviating piscis numerus is not, I’ll delve into what it is, which is quite simple really. A fish counter always “knows” exactly how many fish they caught, and they seem to never catch less than 16 fish. Why 16 you ask? They know enough to understand that if they say they only caught 15 then someone might assume they’re rounding up from 11. They also know the number one rule when lying about catching fish: never toss out a round number. That, and they’ll subconsciously throw out a number that’s going to be higher than anyone else they’re talking to. An angler with this condition avoids phrases like “I had a really good day on the river today” and instead replaces it with “I got 32 fish today.” If the condition is extreme, then they’ll follow that up with something along the lines of “which wasn’t as good as two days ago when I caught 46.” You may think I’m using hyperbole to emphasize my point, but the most extreme case I’ve run into, which non-professionally I refer to in mixed company as stage four code brown bloviating piscis numerus, is a 78-fish day. At this level, the condition is easily diagnosable but very likely incurable. I’m not saying it’s impossible for an angler to catch 78 fish. What I question is the ability to remember each and every one of those fish. So why? What’s the primary cause of this condition? Fair warning—this is going to touch a nerve. Experts say the leading cause of BPN is insecurity. Ouch. That’s an uppercut to the ego, but honesty is the best place to start. Don’t worry. The only way the experts extrapolate insecurity as the leading cause of fish counting, is because of the common human condition of a person desiring to be better than they actually are. It takes deep personal growth and maturity to move beyond insecurity as a primary motivator. The moment a BPN sufferer acknowledges the truth about fish caught is the same moment true learning can happen. I’m not saying a fish counter is not a good angler. I’m saying a fish counter could be an infinitely better angler if they
were always truthful about how many fish they caught. Not that the number of fish you catch makes you the best, but if that’s your standard, then tell someone that you only caught three (and don’t multiply that by seven), and you might learn something by having an honest conversation rather than torpedoing the conversation with an inflated number. Here’s the crazy thing. Over the last number of years, I’ve had the opportunity to fish with some of the best fly anglers I’ve ever seen, far better than I am or will ever be. And all of them have one thing in common: not one of them has ever told me how many fish they caught at the end of the day. They’ll say things like “that was a really good day” or “that was a really tough day, but I found a few good ones.” I’ve never heard any of them say “I caught 32 trout today. Sixteen on dries. Sixteen on droppers. And three on a secret pattern.” Wait? You can count but you can’t add? That’s a pretty cool paradox. The best anglers I’ve ever fished with have never told me how many fish they caught, but the most insecure anglers catch the most fish out of anyone I’ve ever met. Weird. With that little nugget, I need to add a caveat to the timeless question “Would you rather be good or lucky when it comes to angling?” I guess if it is all about the numbers, then neither. I’d rather be insecure.
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There’s No Cruel Summer in Fly Fishing
Tips for making the most of your summer season George Daniel
D George Daniel George Daniel’s true passion is fly fishing education George is an author, a clinician presenter, and currently is the lead instructor for The Pennsylvania State University Angling program. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, two children and Boykin spaniel. Photos George Daniel
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The Soul of Fly Fishing
epending on the geographic location you fish, the term “summer season” has a different meaning. During the summer months around my home state of Pennsylvania our trout season is still happening, but peak opportunities left the region weeks ago. Low water conditions create some of the most challenging conditions of the season: compared to the rocky mountain regions where fishing is just starting to heat up, where runoff is done and both hatches and stream conditions are in the best shape of the year. No matter where you live, some anglers feel the summer season could be the best weather and angling opportunities of the year. My goal with this article is sharing my favorite summertime fishing tips for trout anglers but suggest trying out some non-trout species to avoid the crowds.
Summertime is Terrestrial Time East or west, summer heat translates into terrestrial activity. Often the drier and warmer the conditions, the better the terrestrial fishing, as insects move closer to water. Wind and rain are two excellent reasons to fish a terrestrial, because these weather events help relocate land-dwelling insects into an aquatic environment. Known as Plan B, when in doubt, fish a terrestrial. This was a favorite tip I learned from a Mike Lawson presentation, in my late teens, and I’ve used it ever since with excellent results. Even if wind and rain are not currently in Mother Nature’s plans, it never hurts to throw a terrestrial when you feel clueless to what trout are feeding on. Below are a few suggestions for fishing terrestrials. Beetles are my favorite terrestrial for eastern waters, especially the way I like to fish them. The presentation is often aggressive, so the fly lands with a “smack” on the water. Beetles are hard bodied insects and create a “plop” when falling onto the water. Using a powerful downward casting angle (even including a haul) the angler aggressively lands the beetle on the water to imitate a fallen beetle. The ideal beetle presentation is like a euro-nymphing cast where only the fly lands on the water, while line and leader remain off the surface. Spooking fish is likely, if too much line and leader aggressively fall on the water. Another key element to getting this aggressive hookset is the beetle’s profile. I purposely use wider foam strips on beetle patterns to create
more commotion on impact. Think about slapping water with a narrow hand/karate chop versus a flat hand/slap. The wider hand position creates more sound. If you cast to a visible fish with a beetle, make your first cast, behind the fish. The fish likely will feel the impact, turn around and head towards the fly, seeing the fly first, not the line or leader. The lower and clearer the water, the farther away the plop needs to be away from the trout. I’ve seen trout move more than 10’ for an aggressively placed beetle. An aggressive beetle-presentation is a good choice when fishing undercut banks, where trout position for safety and to stay out of the current. This trout may not see your fly drifting, but it will certainly feel the fly, aggressively landing on the water. What I love most about this presentation approach are the aggressive strikes that quickly follow. Even better, is the fact that shorter and heavier leaders are used for this tactic. Bob Williams, a longtime friend and client, is one of the best terrestrial anglers I know. Bob rarely fishes a leader longer than 9’ or a tippet diameter thinner than 4X, even during low-water conditions, so this is one situation where you can use heavier tippets during summer conditions. If this presentation spooks fish, it may be time to use a longer leader, finer tippet, and switch to an ant pattern. Dry Dropper and Sunken Ants: Anglers usually think dry flies when fishing terrestrials. Good idea but don’t neglect fishing sunken terrestrial patterns. Terrestrials will float when falling onto the water, but passing through turbulent water will drown these land-dwelling insects. A favorite summertime approach is fishing an ant and dry dropper. You “kill two birds with one stone” when fishing a combination of a high floating ant and sunken ant. I don’t feel the need to fish the sunken ant deep, so placing the nymph 12-24” under the dry fly is ideal, since trout eat sunken terrestrials right below the surface. Summer is peak for both fish and bug activity, so there’s less need to use euronymph patterns near the stream bottom. This is why I enjoy summer, the ability to catch fish on or near the surface so my “go to” tactics are single-dry or shallow-dry dropper. I do everything I can to avoid euro nymphing in summer months and seek locations and times that offer the best surface or near surface opportunities. I enjoy euro nymphing but use it more regularly during the colder months when fish feed deeper in the water.
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