Monthly Archives: October 2009

Fly Fishing – from “Bust” to “Boon”

Posted on by Fly Fishing Crazy

Last week, I got up at 5am to drive 135 miles to fly fish for Kokanee Salmon (a landlocked cousin to the Sockeye).  I left Denver around 6:45, stopped for coffee in Woodland Park and was fishing on the Dream Stream (a short stretch of “Catch and Release ” water on the South Platte River between Spinney Mt. Reservoir and Eleven Mile Reservoir) in South Park, Colorado by 8:30.

The air was cool and the wind was calm.  The Kokanee should have been plentiful and range from 16 to 20 inches.  They should have been easy to spot in the river as during the spawn, they turn dark red.  I wanted to be challenged by these hard fighting acrobatic fish, so I decided to use my 9’0″ 3 weight Elkhorn 4 piece Traveler fly rod and Elkhorn T-1 fly reel.  I tied a red San Juan Worm onto my 5X tippet and then tied another foot long piece of 5X tippet to the bend of the hook and added a pink salmon egg fly to the end of that.

I had parked at the second (of 3) parking areas and started fishing downstream.  It wasn’t long before I was concerned about having a successful day.  I saw no salmon in the water and only caught a couple of small 5 to 6 inch brown trout on the salmon egg.  The air was warming and the sun climbing.  The number of fishermen were increasing as the morning wore on.  I decided to work my way upstream from the parking area and came across a 20″ brown trout lying dead along the edge of the stream.  A gorgeous fish that had the misfortune of being caught by someone who doesn’t know the proper way to revive a big fish after exhausting it in battle.  It gave me pause as I pondered the 3 weight rod I had chosen.  It’s one thing to have fun exhausting a salmon that will be dieing soon after spawning but these big brown trout and rainbows that are there to feed on the eggs of the salmon need to be revived and released properly.  I had a T.L. Johnson SLX 9’0″ 5 weight fly rod and Stone Creek M60 fly reel in the car, but I was already a quarter mile upstream and decided to continue with my chosen gear.  I knew I had to do everything right if I was fortunate enough to hook up with one of these monsters.

As I worked my way up stream, I talked with a couple of fly fishers who said they had seen a group of about 8 or 10 salmon in a hole about a quarter of a mile farther up, so that’s were I headed.  The farther I went upstream, the more crowded the river, so I decided to stop at a deep hole by a bend in the river.  As the morning neared end, the wind started to pick up.  I could see some fish moving around in the deep water and thought they looked dark enough to be salmon. As one cast drifted below the fish I was seeing, I had a strike.  My first rainbow trout of the day.  A nice fat 12 incher on the egg again.

After trying to cast a double fly rig into the wind with a 3 weight fly rod, I decided to cross above the hole and fish it from the other side.  I also replaced the dropper egg pattern with a size 16 buckskin nymph.  A few casts later, I was into a big fish.  With the 3 weight fly rod doubled almost in half, I put as much pressure on him as I could.  He cleared the water with a mighty jump and I saw it was a big brown trout.  I layed the rod over to steer him to the slack water along the edge and was finally able to grab the tail of the 20″+ beautiful male with kyped jaw.  He was fat and heavy. As I tried to remove the barbless hook of the busckskin from his jaw, a might shake of his head broke the tippet. I slid my other hand under his belly and lifted him out of the water for a photo.

Remembering the dead trout, I had seen earlier downstream, I took all the time this great fish needed to revive, holding his head facing upstream to let the water wash through his gills.  Water moving through their gills is like air breathed into our lungs. After a minute or two, I felt the pulsing in his tail strengthen.  Finally with a powerful shake of his body, he pulled away from my light grasp and swam back into the hole with my fly still in his mouth.  I tied a pheasant tail nymph on as the dropper and resumed fishing.  A Second big fish took the fly.  Fighting equally hard and on a big jump, I saw it was about a 19 – 20″ rainbow, but before I could bring it in and release it, it performed it’s own “long distance” release.  My philosophy is… fly fishing is all about “perpetrating the fraud”.  If you can get a trout, especially big trout, to take an artificial fly, it’s a successful catch.  Several more casts and I was into my second 20″+ brown trout.  Another nice fight, another safe release and I turned a “bust” salmon fishing day into a “boon” trout day.

Tight Lines———-<*))))><
Larry Snyder
FlyFishingCRAZY.com

“Accelerator” Fly Casting Trainer

Posted on by Fly Fishing Crazy

FFF Master Fly Casting Instructor and inventor of the “Accelerator” Fly Casting Teaching Device, Floyd Dean of Sausalito, CA  just stepped up to the plate for our disabled soldiers by donating an Accelerator to be used by Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing at the VA hospital in Denver, CO.  This will be huge in helping us teach our disabled vets how to cast a fly rod.  Thanks to Floyd and his lovely wife Janet, who by the way are retired, we’ll make a difference in the lives of our returning heroes.

The Accelerator is a fly casting instructional tool that Floyd developed to teach a novice fly caster (and us know-it-all veteran fly casters) the delay needed between forward and backward casts to properly allow the fly line to load the rod for the power transfer in the cast.  In casting a fly rod, if you do not allow the fly line to extend back far enough to start to bend the rod tip in that direction, you haven’t developed the loading of the rod which provides the power to make the forward cast.

The 2 o’clock  to 10 o’clock casting technique is the most common taught fly casting method.  But that’s only part of it.  When you reach the 2 o’clock, back cast, point, the fly line (and fly) is still in the process of moving backward, so you have to STOP at 2 o’clock and PAUSE until the line moves all the way back and starts to “tug” or pull the rod tip back.  This is called loading the rod.  This is needed for the rod to provide the casting power.  At that point you start your forward cast. The same thing applies on your forward cast.  When you reach the 10 o’clock forward cast point, the fly line is still in the process of moving forward, so you have to STOP at 10 o’clock and pause until the line moves all the way forward and starts to “tug” or pull the rod tip forward.  So here is the scenario.. back cast.. accelerate.. stop.. pause.. forward cast.. accelerate.. stop.. pause.. back cast.. accelerate.. stop.. pause.. forward cast.  Got it?

Here’s the RUB… HOW LONG DO YOU PAUSE?  Well, I always taught students to turn sideways and watch their back cast and watch the line tug or load the rod tip before starting the forward cast.  Then watch the forward cast until they see the line load the rod tip before starting the back cast.  Not the easiest thing for them to understand even when watching.

Enter the Accelerator!  Floyd’s invention is about three and a half feet long, has a grip at one end and a hollow tube with a stainless steel ball at the top end and is held just like your fly rod.  When you simulate casting the Accelerator, on the back cast, at the 2 o’clock stopping point, the stainless steel ball flies up to the top of the tube and you hear a click.  When pausing, to allow the fly line to straighten out and load the rod, the stainless steel ball falls back down the tube and at the point when the line would load the rod, you hear the ball click at the bottom of the tube signaling you to start your forward cast.  The theory is, never start your cast in the opposite direction until you hear the second click.

Here is the Accelerator scenario… back cast.. accelerate.. stop.. click.. pause.. click.. forward cast.. accelerate.. stop.. click.. pause.. click.. back cast.. accelerate.. stop.. click.. pause.. click.. forward cast.  You get a distinctive auditory two clicks on the forward and back casts.  The time between the two clicks is the time you should PAUSE before casting in the opposite direction. Got it?

The Accelerator can be used effectively to practice the double haul by utilizing the attached rubber strip to simulate the motion and it can also emulate spey casting.  The Accelerator is now available at Fly Fishing Crazy.

Anyone else want to “man up” and help our troops?  Big companies.. we need money to help our soldiers.  Do like Dean and donate to Project Healing Water Fly Fishing.  Thanks again to Floyd and Janet.  We need more people like them to ‘Step up to the Plate” and help our troops.  We all know our government is falling far short!

Tight Lines——-<*))))><
Larry Snyder
http://www.flyfishingcrazy.com

Support our Troops through FISHING

Posted on by Fly Fishing Crazy

There are many organizations that are helping our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Our government is falling far short of providing the support they need.  A few of these organizations, that I am aware of, are Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc., Army Bass Anglers, LLC and Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation, Inc. Many of our soldiers have life changing handicaps and these groups help them cope with their injuries, depression and overall wellness.  These groups offer fishing as a means of solace to our soldiers, who have given more for the freedoms that we enjoy than most of our politicians, by giving them something else to focus on.

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing is a nationwide group dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.  Locally (Denver, CO area), Project Healing Waters volunteers meet regularly with current war veterans and heroes and also Vets dating back to Vietnam, Korea and WWII.   Along with teaching them how to tie flies and cast a fly rod they have even enlisted the cooperation of the Colorado Division of Wildlife to fish private stocked ponds.  Other states have volunteers doing similar things.  Project Healing Waters uses private donations to take our heroes on Fishing Trips all around the world.  They don’t even think twice to ask airlines and hotels to comp. a flight or housing to help defray the cost of these trips.

Army Bass Anglers sponsors events like “Fishing for Freedom” tournaments that pair local fishermen with wounded Soldiers, for a day of tournament bass fishing on an awesome fishery, especially for them.  They depend on local businesses, volunteers, and caring local and regional anglers in the San Antonio Texas area and specifically with Fort Sam Houston’s Brooke Army Medical Center. They also work closely with ReturningHeroesHome.org a 12,000 square foot replacement building for the 1,200 square foot existing Warrior and Family Support Center formerly called the “SFAC” (Soldier and Family Assistance Center) located at Fort Sam Houston.

The Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation, Inc., a Billings, Montana based non-profit corporation, provides high-quality therapeutic and rehabilitative recreation, primarily to young enlisted servicemen and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan still in rehab in the military hospital system.  They do this by taking traumatically wounded servicemen and women Fly Fishing for trout on Montana’s rivers and streams.  A quote from the W&QWF website reads “Fishing is a solace…the opposite of war…a gentle and healing occupation.” (Luis Marden)

If you can help in  any way, either by donating your money or your time, or if you are a Vet that is having trouble coping with life at home, contact these organizations.  Reach out to help yourself by helping others.

For more information on these great groups:
Email Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing at admin@projecthealingwaters.org
Email Army Bass Anglers at Armybassanglers@yahoo.com
Contact Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation by going to http://www.warriorsandquietwaters.org/contact.html

For more information on Project Healing Water Fly Fishing in Colorado, contact me.  If I don’t have the answers, I’ll get them.

Tight Lines——–<*))))><
Larry Snyder
larry@flyfishingcrazy.com
http:www.flyfishingcrazy.com