Candlewood Valley Chapter » Ask Brook

I’m Hooked! Easy, (painless?) hook removal.

Steve Zakur — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:55:29 +0000

First, a disclaimer. Try this stuff at your own risk.

I’ve never hooked myself good enough to need any method other than the “pull if out” method of hook removal. However, I have seen articles in fly fishing magazines that describe the “string” method of hook removal. I never really understood how to do it and, frankly, doubted whether it could actually work. Gary sent me a very cool video of a guy who hooked himself good (in the nose with a large streamer hook) and was assisted by a friend who successfully used the “string” method.

The video is below and I’ve also included a description of the method as well.

The Simple Survival Website describes the method as follows:

When using the string yank or pull method I believe you will find much less pain for the injured party. Also, this technique keeps the wound size down and decreases the risk for additional infection when compare to push through and cut method. It is a good procedure to use when you may not have a pair of wire cutters along as well. Once again, as in call cases where you are removing a hook, clean the wound and your hands well with soap and water prior to starting.

Tie a long length of fishing line or strong string to the bend in the hook. At the other end of the line, I usually tie it to a small piece of green wood or a pocket knife handle (closed) to give me additional leverage (handle) when I pull the line.

• Push the hook shank down parallel to the injured tissue to disengage the barb on the hook (on the inside).

• While the hook shank is down, give the line a hard and sharp jerk in the direction the hook entered the tissue. The hook will usually come right out of the entry hole with very little pain.

• Clean the injury well with soap and water and apply an antibiotic ointment if you have it available, just like the push through method.

• Use a band-aide to protect the wound from foreign matter and remember to the injury should be kept dry and clean.

How do you keep flies floating?

Steve Zakur — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:31:53 +0000

I’ve been fly fishing for about six years now and like most folks started keeping flies afloat with generous applications of gel floatant. I moved from Orvis’ brand to Gink and Aquel which I pretty much use interchangeably based upon what’s available at the fly shop when I run out. Gel is still the foundation of my floating system.

The key to gel-based floatants is not putting too much on the fly. Too much goop causes the hackle to bunch up and defeat the purpose of the floatant — to aid the hackle’s natural water defying magic with a boost of repellency. If the hackle is clumped it won’t have the right qualities to ride on the water’s meniscus. Also, too much floatant will cause a small “oil slick” to form around the fly which sure doesn’t look natural.

The method I use is to squirt a small amount on my forefinger, rub my forefinger and thumb together to warm and thin the gel and then apply sparingly to the fly. If you put too much on your finger to begin with you can either wipe it on your waders (for that cool, I’ve got waders stained from overuse look) or start with your leader (see below) and then grease up the fly when the amount is more manageable.

But floatant isn’t just for flies. I use floatant on my tippet and leaders as well. More often than not the thing that causes my flies to sink is not a sloppy cast that splats it on the water or the slow absorption of water over time, it’s the fly line and leader dragging the fly under at some point. So, I always give the tip of the fly line and the leader a quick wipe of floatant as well.

Once a fly is soggy — whether from a fish or from too much casting and drifting — I use a fairly common routine to get the fly back on top. First, if the fly has been in a fish’s mouth I cast off the slime. This is done with a few sloppy casts which splat the fly on the water (to douse it good) and then false cast the slime/water off.

Next, dry the fly manually — blow on it, then press it in your shirt/amadou/whatever. I use what is a small patch of fake amadou. It’s marketed as Samadou. I’ve also seen small pieces of “shammy” cloth serve the same function.

Now the dry-to-the-touch fly can get the final piece of treatment which is a desiccant. There are two ways to apply it, either the shake method or the brush on method.

The shake method is used with products like Shimazaki or Top Ride whereby you drop your fly (still on the leader) into the bottle, secure the cap and shake. You then remove your fly and cast. This is the most popular method of using desiccant though I think the brush method is more effective.

The brush on method really isn’t brushing, it’s more like poking. I use Frog’s Fanny. You take the fly between your fingers and then with the other hand load up the brush with powder and poke it into the fly. This method works very well though it requires good dexterity and no wind. Otherwise, you’re just scattering your desiccant to the winds.

More info can be found over on Mid-current

I’ve hooked the big fish! Now what?!?!

cvtuadmin — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:54:36 +0000

I’d like to go on record as saying I’ve never hooked a seriously big fish. I don’t fly fish salt (yet) so I have not had a big striper or tarpon rip line off my reel. The largest trout I’ve had in my net was eighteen inches and while he was a fat healthy fish that fought well it wasn’t a twenty-three inch Brown or a ten pound steelhead. So, I’m not an expert here but I think it’s an excellent topic because we all want to be prepared for when the monster fish arrives.

Gary Whipple forwarded me this excellent article from over on midcurrent.com that talks about fighting fish. The roots of this article are based upon salt water technique, but they’re equally applicable to fighting fish in fresh water. The whole notion of keeping a fish off balance and putting pressure on the fish using the rod as a lever and pulling against the direction the fish is going are techniques that I’ve used on rivers like the Housy.

Enjoy. And good luck getting your big fish.

Link: Fighting Big Fish

Why am I standing where I should be fishing?

Steve Zakur — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:42:05 +0000

A couple of years ago I went on my first guided trip. I was looking to learn nymphing and figured I could run up the learning curve a bit if I hired a guide who was experienced in nymphing. Ross and I hooked up with a guide on the Farmington River and learned a bunch that day. In fact, we’re still making the same mistakes were we taught several years ago.

One of the things I learned that day was about surveying the water before you wade in. Now, I didn’t learn it when the guide held me back a bit to actually watch the water. He was watching the water. I was thinking about all the fish I would be catching.

I also did not learn it a little later in the day when we were actually catching some fish in water that I would have thought too skinny to catch fish in. I thought the fish were on the far bank (aren’t the always). We were catching fish on the near bank. We were catching where I would have been standing. But I was happy to be catching so I didn’t consider why we were actually fishing there.

No, it didn’t all click for me until late in the day when the guide nodded downstream and said, “That guy’s standing in water he should be fishing”

Then I put it all together. Watch the water. See the fish. And even if you don’t see the fish, cast to a few of those places you don’t think will hold fish just in case they do. Don’t overdue it. But a few casts can’t hurt.

Today, I always wade in to the spot I want to fish preceded by a few casts to the places I will walk through and a few casts to the spot where I will soon be standing just in case they hold some fish. I’m rarely rewarded with a tug on the line using this technique but I am often enough that it’s become a nice habit.

Phillip Monahan has a nice article on this subject over on Midcurrent, The Inside Scoop.

What is a reach cast? Why do I need it? How do I do it?

Steve Zakur — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:29:06 +0000

I’ve needed a reach cast in my casting arsenal for some time. But until recently I’ve not really been able to get the whole thing done in a manner that was effective. A recent video clip I watched from Joan Wulff would have been very helpful a few years ago when I started trying to do this.

First, what is a reach cast? According to Tom Rosenbauer in the Orvis Fly Fishing Guide, a reach cast “is merely an aerial mend”. So, it’s a way of mending, helping you manage your line so that you get better drag free drifts as your fly approaches a fish.

Why a reach cast and not just a normal mend? Well, if you’re a “on the water” mender you know that one of the tricks that’s difficult to master is to mend the line without moving the fly. One of the tricks is to make sure you give the line some slack as you mend to help limit the movement of the fly. The reach cast is useful to master because you mend before the whole rig (line, leader, fly) hits the water. So, you get the correct mend without moving the fly.

So, how’s it done?

Rosenbauer continues, “Just before the line hits the water on a forward cast, you move the rod upstream of where it would have ended up on a standard forward cast.”

So, easier said than done. To see how it all comes together, check out this video over on midcurrent.com that shows Joan Wulff demonstrating the reach cast.

What are the best flies for hatchery trout?

Steve Zakur — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:24:39 +0000

With the frigid winds blowing through the woods of New England it’s hard to believe that opening day will be upon us before we know it. As TU members, we certainly do enjoy fishing for wild trout in small streams but there’s also going to be plenty of stocked fish out there before long. Some of us who sit at the vise during the doldrums of winter have attempted to tie the perfect “Trout Chow” fly. However, the folks over at Midcurrent have given some thought to this matter.

For freshly stocked fish, use big, bright flies, such as a San Juan Worm in hot pink or red, or an egg pattern, such as a Jighead GloBall in ‘clown’ colors.

You can check out the complete article at midcurrent: http://midcurrent.com/flyfishing/stocked_trout.aspx

I’m sick and tired of my day job! How do I become a fly fishing guide?

cvtuadmin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:42:59 +0000

Well if this isn’t “the” question that you ponder as you sit behind your desk each day then either you have a job that’s better than fishing or you have a wind knot in your imagination. Trading in all this drudgery for the glamorous life of a fly fishing guide seems like the only sensible route to take. Of course, being a fly fishing guide has less to do about fishing than it had to do with being in customer service (albeit, on a river).

I’ve fished with a few guides during the past couple of years and the ones that I liked the best were the ones who focused most on what I enjoyed versus getting all uptight about what they thought I wanted. This really came down to focusing on the client as an individual and not as “Generic Sport desiring to catch lots of big fish”. All these guys (and one gal) had skills on the water but the ones I’ve fished with more than once made it all about me. So guiding isn’t all about fishing.

Phil Monahan over at Mid Current posted the article below on what being a guide is all about and how to get a start in the business.

http://www.midcurrent.com/flyfishing/fishingguide.aspx

This is the time of year for small flies. How do I improve my hooksets?

cvtuadmin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:51:10 +0000

This is the time when small flies are most helpful for catching fish — midge hatch anyone? Midcurrent recently posted some helpful hints on how to improve your chances of hooking fish on these small flies.

On small hooks, the hook-up rates goes down exponentially with size. The solution is to use hooks with bigger gaps. A Dai-Riki 125 or TMC 2488 are big-gap emerger hooks, and you can tie a size 20 fly on a size 18 hook. Tie the flies sparse, so that the body doesn’t block the hook gap. Beadheads can block the hook gap on small flies, as well. Use a bigger gap hook or a longer shank hook, to keep the hook point available.

You can find the complete article on the mid-current site: http://www.midcurrent.com/flyfishing/tinyhooks.aspx

Currents are wreaking havoc on my drifts. How do I do this whole mending thing?

Steve Zakur — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:48:38 +0000

There are many fishing situations that you’ll find yourself in when a line mend is not required. But often, a mend is helpful. And in some cases, with complex currents between you and your quarry, they’re absolutely necessary.

Recently, Midcurrent.com has a great primer on mending. You can find the article at the link below.

http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/tech … nding.aspx

What knots do I need to know?

Steve Zakur — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:20:09 +0000

Brook Reveals the 3 Must-Have Knots –

In Brook’s opinion, a fly fisher needs knots that perform three functions:

Add Tippit to a leader – if you don’t do this, your 5x leader will quickly become a 3x leader
Connect a fly to the tippet – no need for explanation
Make a loop connector – handy if you buy a leader without a loop connector or shear off your loop at the end of your fly line.

There are more knots out there that one could possibly learn to tie in one lifetime, so here’s a few that meet the needs.

Tippet to Leader – The Double Surgeon’s Knot There are many others, but this one is simple and strong. You can even tie a triple surgeon’s knot if you want more strength. Just go a third time through the loop.
Fly to Tippet – The Improved Clinch KnotThis is likely the knot you learned if you started fishing worms as a kid. It still works great.
Loop Connector – The Perfection LoopThis creates a loop that will not slip. It’s great for the ends to leaders.