Indholdsfortegnelse for October/November/December 2018 i Fly Fisherman

THE GREEN AUDIO waves of my recording software pitch as the fire crackles and snaps beside us. I wonder briefly how I’m going to edit out the noise, but my concerns are quickly overtaken by Mark Johnstad’s charisma and jovial smile. He finds it amusing that I’m so interested in his history; quick to derail any thorough questioning, ya-deeya-da’ing through his intense climactic story arc. As so many of my podcast guests do, he warns me that his story isn’t really all that interesting—that is, until we start to piece together his time line. As the wine flows and the fire spits, I get the feeling that even he can see his accomplishments are truly special. Though technically born in Minnesota, Johnstad is from Montana. Since he was two years…

LET’S TALK SERIOUSLY about dubbing. In fly tying, the word is both a noun (the material) and a verb (the act of applying the material) and is the cause of more headaches than it ought to be. The act of skillfully twisting fur and other fibers tightly around tying thread is one of the most basic skills of fly tying, yet one that few tiers have mastered. I have to admit, I often judge other tiers by their dubbing and I am often woefully disappointed. The best tip I can give right off the bat—before we even get into the details—is that you’re probably using too much. But before we return to that topic, let’s look at some more nuanced points on attaching dubbing to your thread. To dub well,…

PIVOTAL ROLE It is hard for anglers who got into the sport within the last several decades to appreciate the pivotal role that FLY FISHERMAN magazine has played in the development and growth of fly fishing. When I began tying flies and dabbling with a fly rod in the mid-1950s, information was hard to find. Trout Unlimited, The Federation of Fly Fishers (now Fly Fishers International), Saltwater Flyrodders of America, and most similar organizations were not yet founded. The so-called “Big Three” hunting-fishing publications (Field & Stream, Sports Afield, and Outdoor Life) devoted relatively scant attention to fly fishing. And, of course, there was no Internet. Naturally, like most fly fishers I started to amass a formidable library. We relied on books by Bergman, Flick, Jennings, Schwiebert, and scores of…

THAT MAGICAL, TERRIFYING, INTENSE TIME BETWEEN THE LATE 1960S AND EARLY 1970S SAW CHANGE SWEEPING ACROSS AMERICA IN STEADY WAVES. People were rioting in the streets protesting the Vietnam War. The Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, and Black Power movements were at their apex. But quietly overshadowed by these, you don’t often hear about the Red Power movement or the Battle of Four Corners. Between the sleepy Northern California hamlets of Burney and Fall River Mills, the fires of change were also smoldering, poised to ignite. It would take 50 years, passionate people, and two bridges to finally make things right, one metaphorically between groups of diverse peoples, and another made of steel and concrete over a struggling wild trout stream. This is the story of how the restoration of a few…

These instructions show how to use long-fibered, fine dubbing—in this case Superfine Dubbing—to build a dry-fly body. (Superfine is a polypropylene fiber with a slight crinkle and a staple length of about 1.25 to 1.5 inches.) Start by lightly swiping the pad of your dominant index finger across the top of the wax, then touch your thumb pad to your index finger to lightly coat both surfaces. Pull a tiny clump of fibers from the bag, drawing out the fibers so they align themselves and lie relatively parallel to one another. I don’t use dubbing boxes, as I find wadding these beautiful long, straight fibers up into a clump and shoving them in to a small compartment misaligns the fibers and creates folds. Boxes are fine for short-fiber dubbings but…

ALL THE FISH belong to the king, and it is forbidden to fish for them. This isn’t 14th century literature but modern-day Bhutan, or rather the Kingdom of Bhutan. Bhutan translates as “the land of the Thunder Dragon.” The name explains the sound of storms that frequently roll out of the Himalayas, and also touches on the fact that everything about this place instills a sense of magic, myth, and adventure. This kingdom is slightly larger than Maryland, nestled between India and Tibet with a population of only 800,000. Bhutan is fascinating in its obscurity. It’s one of the few countries in the world that has never been colonized. For centuries, the kingdom consciously remained isolated from the world to ensure its culture and heritage remained intact. This combination of…

1. Lefty Kreh 2. Joe Brook 3. John Voelker 4. Tom Rosenbauer 5. Lee & Joan Wulff 6. Dave Whitlock 7. Cathy & Barry Beck 8. John Randolph 9. Nick Lyons 10. Ernest G. Schwiebert 11. Yvon Chouinard 12. Oliver White 13. April Vokey 14. Gary LaFontaine 15. Al Caucci & Bob Nastasi 16. Flip Pallot 17. Chico Fernandez 18. Steve Huff & Del Brown 19. Tom Maxwell & Tom Dorsey 20. Ted Leeson 21. George Harvey 22. Mel Krieger 23. René Harrop 24. Steve Rajeff 25. Norman Maclean 26. Art Lee 27. Blane Chocklett 28. Vince Marinaro 29. Perk & Dave Perkins 30. Craig Mathews 31. Doug Swisher & Carl Richards 32. Simon Gawesworth 33. Bob Popovics 34. Dan Blanton 35. Lou Tabory 36. Arnold Gingrich 37. Trey Combs…

“MY JOB WAS TO ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY AND GIVE BACK WHAT IT GAVE TO ME,” SAYS FLY-FISHING LEGENDJACKDENNISIN LEGACY,AFILM BY AMERICAN RIVERS ABOUT DESIGNATING WYOMING’S SNAKE RIVER HEADWATERS AS WILD & SCENIC. “My grandkids will come here with their kids and say, ‘My grandfather fished here and it’s exactly the same as when he was a kid,’” Dennis says. That’s the power of a Wild & Scenic River designation: leaving a legacy of pristine rivers for our children and grandchildren. Golden Anniversary Fifty years ago, on October 2, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act to protect beautiful, free-flowing rivers nationwide. It provided for a system of permanently protected rivers with outstanding scenic, recreational, fish and wildlife, historic, and cultural values. Like America’s national parks,…

WHEN THE FIRST ISSUE OF FLY FISHERMAN HIT NEWSSTANDS IN 1969, THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE WADING SHALLOW SALTWATER FLATS FOR BONEFISH WERE PIONEERING A BRAND NEW SPORT. Fishermen are always guilty of seeing the past through rose-colored glasses when they talk about the “good old days,” but the facts are that 50 years ago, it was the dark ages, and we had caveman tools for saltwater flats fishing. The May 1969 issue says that guides on Grand Bahama disdained fly rods, and preferred to chum the bonefish flats with fresh shrimp. “They’re beginning to savvy fly fishing, now, but they still need to be humored.” The recommended tackle tip in that issue was to wear a surgeon’s mask to protect your face from the sun. The third issue…

THE MORNING SUN was still behind the ridge beyond the river when I hooked the fish. The fly, a riffle-hitched Purple Peril, had nearly finished its swing near the tail-out of the pool when the fish knifed through the surface, grabbed it with a great splashing rise, and bounded high in the air at the first touch of the hook. It was big and bright, perhaps eight or nine pounds, a large summer steelhead for this river. I felt the spurt of adrenaline that always comes when a big fish is hooked and tried to follow as it ran downstream over the lip of the pool into a long stretch of choppy water below. I like reels that make lots of noise, and mine was obliging now, issuing a veritable…