Indholdsfortegnelse for October/November/December 2019 i Fly Fisherman

EARLIER THIS YEAR WE REPORTED ON A NEW PRODUCT FROM SWEETWATER BREWING COMPANY CALLED GUIDE BEER. GUIDE BEER IS A CRISP BREW WITH LOW ALCOHOL CONTENT, THE KIND OF THING THAT SMASHES YOUR THIRST ON A HOT SUMMER AFTERNOON, BUT STILL KEEPS YOU ON YOUR TOES FOR THE EVENING HATCH. THE IDEA BEHIND THE EASY-DRINKING AMERICAN LAGER WAS TO DIRECT 11% OF ALL PROFITS FROM SALES OF THE BEER INTO A FUND TO HELP ALLEVIATE UNEXPECTED EXPENSES CAUSED BY MEDICAL BILLS, NATURAL DISASTERS, AND OTHER HARDSHIPS COMMON TO THE SEASONAL LIFESTYLES OF FLY-FISHING GUIDES. The idea of a fund for guides sounded like something all fly fishers could get behind, but there were questions: How long would it take to start helping guides, how much money would this add up…

HEROES IN THE OUTDOORS SHOULD BE REVERED NOT JUST FOR THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, BUT ALSO FOR THE WAY THEY RELATE TO PEOPLE AND PASS ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE. STEVE RAJEFF IS KNOWN FOR HIS UNPARALLELED ACHIEVEMENTS IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT CASTING, AND AS THE SENIOR ROD DESIGNER FOR G.LOOMIS SINCE 1985, BUT HIS PUBLIC PERSONA IS AN ENIGMA—VERY FEW PEOPLE KNOW WHAT HE DOES FOR OTHERS, AND WHO HE IS AS A PERSON. Those lucky enough to have had contact with him and his family know Rajeff as an extremely humble, generous, thoughtful, and lighthearted man. He has taught me a lot about casting, and we’ve shared volunteer responsibilities, great fishing, food, beverages, and friendship, and he is one of the best practitioners of the Golden Rule I know. At a…

Booking the fly-fishing trip of a lifetime in 2019 takes little more than a valid credit card and a few taps on your tablet. But in 1969, things were a bit different. When Mike and Susie Fitzgerald launched their outdoor travel business in 1969, fishing lodges were unknown entities. If you wanted to go somewhere, you talked to friends and found out where they’d been. Then you called the place they recommended. If you got through to the lodge, and were able to plan a trip, the experiences were very mixed. The Fitzgeralds’ thinking was that if someone could go and check these places out and understand them—and set some basic standards for service and accommodations—it would benefit everyone. Thus Frontiers International Travel was born. Frontiers was a fitting name…

“LOOK FOR THE SPLASH MARKS!” SAID OUR GUIDE MATT MCCANNEL AS HE WORKED THE OARS TO SLOW DOWN OUR RAFT IN A FAST SECTION OF RIVER IN THE GUNNISON GORGE. “PUT YOUR FLY JUST 2 FEET UPSTREAM OF THE SPLASH MARKS!” “That’s odd terminology,” I thought. “Where I’m from, we call the telltale rings left on the water when a fish takes an insect riseforms or merely rises. But OK, he can call them splash marks if he wants.” Then it happened again . . . McCannel was rowing us along the steep rock cliffs and coaching us to cast ahead of “splash marks” but I didn’t see any fish rising, so I just kept casting Mike Mercer’s Flush Floater Salmonfly imitation along the shore, picking my spots as best…

ONE OF THE MOST COMMON (AND GENERIC) QUESTIONS I GET IS, “WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPECIES OR DESTINATION?” MY ANSWER IS THAT IT’S NEVER A FISH OR PLACE, BUT ALWAYS A PROCESS. I LOVE SIGHT CASTING, AND THE TRIPS I ENJOY THE MOST ARE THE ONES ON THE FRINGE—PLACES THAT AREN’T COMPLETELY DIALED IN, WHERE THERE IS STILL SOME LEARNING TO DO, AND SPECIES THAT FORCE YOU TO FIGURE OUT THE PUZZLE OR CRACK THE CODE. AFTER ALL . . . THAT’S THE ESSENCE OF FLY FISHING. What’s the new new? Chasing permit in a different part of the world is new, and chasing a species of permit I’ve never seen or really heard of, that’s the new new; that uncharted territory that is only getting harder and harder to…

PURSUING STEELHEAD WITH A FLY IS IN MANY WAYS AN ANOMALY. WE ARE TRYING TO ENTICE A FISH, WHICH OSTENSIBLY HAS NO APPETITE, TO HUNT DOWN AND ATTACK AN ARTIFICIAL OBJECT THAT OFTEN LOOKS NOTHING LIKE ANYTHING SWIMMING IN THE RIVER. AT LEAST, I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY REAL PURPLE LEECHES SWIMMING AROUND SUCKING ON CHARTREUSE EGGS. WHILE THERE IS NO WAY OF EVER REALLY KNOWING WHAT GOES THROUGH THE BRAIN OF A STEELHEAD AS IT RAGES ON A 5-INCH-LONG STRING LEECH, THROUGH ON-THE-WATER OBSERVATIONS, AND MORE THAN ONE WHISKEY-FUELED CAMPFIRE DISCUSSION WITH FISHING BUDDIES, A FEW THEORIES HAVE EMERGED THAT MAY EXPLAIN WHY STEELHEAD EAT OUR OFFERINGS. “THEORY” IS THE OPERATIVE WORD HERE . . . AFTER ALL, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE MYSTICAL STEELHEAD. When a steelhead…

TO WINTER STEELHEADERS, SNOWY AND SHITTY WEATHER IS A GOOD THING. THEY ARE A TOUGH BREED, NOT FAR REMOVED FROM SIBERIAN GULAG SURVIVORS WITH ICICLES HANGING OFF THEIR LONG-FROZEN BEARDS. COFFEE MUGS, JERKY SCRAPS, TRAIL MIX, AND FAST-FOOD BAGS LITTER THEIR TRUCKS. FRESH INTRUDERS AND EGG PATTERNS ARE PINNED TO THEIR DASHBOARDS. FOR THEM, FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA ARE MERE NUISANCES INTENDED TO HINDER THEIR PURSUIT OF A SCREAMING, HALF-FROZEN REEL. AND BAD WEATHER OFTEN MEANS GOOD FISHING AS THE SNOW AND RAIN FEED THE RIVERS AND DRAW FRESH CHROME UP OUT OF THE GREAT LAKES, WHETHER THAT’S ON THE SALMON RIVER IN THE TUG HILL REGION OF NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE’S STEELHEAD ALLEY, MICHIGAN’S MUSKEGON OR PERE MARQUETTE, OR ON THE KNIFE RIVER ON THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR…

BETWEEN BREAKS IN THE POUNDING SURF, I’M ABLE TO THROW MOST OF MY LINE INTO THE HEADWIND. AFTER A FEW MINUTES ON MY ROCK PERCH, I SETTLE INTO AN UNEASY RHYTHM OF CASTING AND BRACING FOR IMPACT. GETTING MY LINE OUT ISN’T NECESSARY JUST FOR FISHING; IT’S TO PREVENT THE CONTENTS OF MY STRIPPING BASKET FROM DROWNING ME WHEN A BIGGER WAVE HITS AND SENDS ME TO AN UNWANTED MEETING WITH DAVY JONES. EVERY NOW AND THEN, MY RETRIEVE IS INTERRUPTED BY A SCHOOL-SIZED STRIPED BASS. Located 120 miles from New York City at the eastern terminus of Long Island, Montauk Point has a long and storied past. Settled in the middle of the 1600s, this quaint fishing village has seen more than its fair share of history. It was…

THE EARLY MORNING AIR FELT AND SMELLED “FISHY” AS I NAVIGATED MY SKIFF THROUGH A NARROW TULE CHANNEL FLOODING INTO A TINY, SHALLOW LAKE. JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE FULL MOON, IT WAS A TYPICAL INDIAN SUMMER MORNING IN LATE SEPTEMBER, WHERE 50-DEGREE MORNINGS GAVE WAY TO AFTERNOONS IN THE MID-80S. MY ELECTRIC MOTOR HELPED US APPROACH IN STEALTH MODE TOWARD THE HUGE V-WAKES AND TAILS WE COULD SEE PUSHING 30 YARDS IN FRONT OF US. SILENCE IS NOT ONLY APPRECIATED, IT IS NECESSARY WHEN A WOLF PACK OF TROPHY STRIPERS IS FEEDING IN SKINNY WATER. My two anglers simultaneously launched 6-inch Rattle Clouser flies from both ends of the boat. As soon as the flies hit the surface, they were instantly devoured in what can only be described…

HOOKS: #2 AND #4 DAIICHI 2461. BEADS: GOLD 5MM AND OLIVE 3D BEAD (FOR ARTICULATION) EYES: 6MM GOLD HOLOGRAPHIC DOME. WEIGHT: .020" LEAD WIRE. CONNECTION: SENYO’S INTRUDER TRAILER WIRE, THIN. THREAD: OLIVE 8/0 VEEVUS. SPREADER: GOLD ICE DUB. COLLAR: YELLOW AND OLIVE POSSUM. HACKLE: OLIVE AND CHARTREUSE MALLARD FLANK FEATHERS. BODY: GOLD ICE DUB. WING: LIGHT OLIVE, SAND, AND YELLOW RIPPLE ICE FIBER. HEAD: LIGHT OLIVE POSSUM. T’S NO SECRET THAT I ABHOR OVERDRESSED FLY PATTERNS, ESPECIALLY STREAMERS. THE PROLIFERATION OF TIE-EVERYTHING-YOU-OWN TO A COUPLE OF HOOKS, LASH THEM TOGETHER, AND ADD SOME LEAD EYES MAKES ME JUST PLAIN BRISTLE, TO PUT IT LIGHTLY. I don’t like the design method, and I don’t like the results either. Overdressed flies don’t swim as well, don’t sink as properly, and certainly don’t…