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BONEDALE FISHING REPORT #17

WORK WORK WORK SIX DAYS OF THE WEEK YOU SHALL WORK ON THE SEVENTH YOU SHALL THINK ABOUT IT

Anywhere you go fishing there’s an A-team, and the Roaring Fork valley is no exception. There’s nothing worse than ending up on a group trip with another slappy who’s a complete hack. Certain guides are not team players, and it’s a drag to spend the day with them. They’re either trying to “out fish” you, if there is such a thing, or they’re not competent–both scenarios are a waste of time. As Tony used to say, “Everybody plays, everybody loses.” At the top of my list of favorite A-team members is “Big” Steve Avery. He’s been driven into property management but still can be talked into a trip from time to time. Avery invented the triple-trouble fly rig, which was, and still is, a boon to retailers valley wide. A few years back, Kid Super and I launched mid-morning at BONEDALE and broke off our bugs before Kelso Bridge. Avery drifted by with his clients, who happened to have three doubles in a hundred yards, so of course, we were watching his rigs with glazed eyes. I could see a big Stimi dancing above the water with a fish in tow. Then we saw a nymph pop up without a fish, and we knew: three flies. Avery described it this way, “I woke up one night in a cold sweat, and I don’t know if it was a dream or vision, but I heard a voice in the distance say, ‘Three flies…’” And so it’s been three flies ever since. Every day with Avery is running blind channels, flipping boats and even one morning backing his trailer through the window of a movie rental store. My hope is the economy forces “Big” Steve back into guiding full-time, and Mr. T and the rest of the A-Team are waiting.

Live from the WORLD HEADQUARTERS

Kea C. Hause esq.

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Kea shadow casting somewhere on the upper Fork, BONEDALE, CO. Photo: Copi Vojta

If You Aren’t Casting, Are You Really Fly Fishing? 

Ask the fly-reluctant what prevents them from fly fishing, and it usually boils down to three things: tricky knots, the challenge of picking flies and casting. And of these three, the cast is usually barrier number one.

I used to think the focus on casting was misplaced. It upset me that people made a cottage industry out of explaining the technicalities of a fly cast. Being “certified” to teach casting seemed like a bunch of hooey. Those were entry point barriers to the sport, and we didn’t need any more. After all, there was no such thing as a “perfect cast” in my mind, only casts that catch fish, and casts that do not.

But I’ve mellowed on all that, and in some regards, have experienced a wholesale change of heart with regard to casting. Two factors influenced that.

First, I visited The Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club in San Francisco. This place is to fly casting what Cooperstown is to baseball. It’s the cradle of casting. Originally completed as a Civilian Conservation Corps project during the Great Depression in the 1930s, GGACC has had an immeasurable impact on casting, and fly fishing, around the world. Whether you realize it or not, many of the rods you fish with today have ancestral roots leading back to GGACC, and many of the casting techniques anglers employ were developed, or at least honed, in these concrete pools.

And it attracts people from all walks of life. If we really want to make fly-fishing more accessible, younger and more diverse, especially in urban areas, I think we should follow the proven examples from Golden Gate Park, or Pasadena, California, or Central Park in New York City. Put casting in more cities, and more anglers will emerge. 

Casting isn’t a “barrier.” It’s the gateway. 

The second reason for my change of heart is that a generation or so ago, the fly-fishing industry decided that to keep participation levels steady and ensure the future of the sport, they had to make it less intimidating, and that led to devising methods with which people could catch fish (trout, specifically) without having to mess with all the challenging casting stuff.

That may have been well-intended, but it developed an expectation of instant gratification. And thereby, a different cottage industry of catering to the folks who do not know how to cast, and do not care to learn, but still want to catch “50 fish in a day” was born. That mentality continues to hammer resources and certain rivers today. 

You’re a snob if you criticize the fluorescent, plastic bobber, of course, and there is yet another cottage industry dedicated to describing the three-dimensional intricacies of fly fishing with methods where you don’t really have to cast. I actually find Euro nymphing to be pretty interesting, and it’s not at all simple. But it’s essentially like using a Carolina rig in a trout river.

I think there’s a reason why so many fly-fishing aficionados gravitate toward the salt. It’s because you must be able to cast to catch fish in the ocean.

So, are you really fly fishing if you aren’t making fly casts? This question is an open debate, but I personally don’t feel like I’m fly fishing if I’m not casting.

The tug is the drug, but the cast is a blast…

Ten Tips For Netting Fish

Fly anglers should utilize landing nets for a number of reasons when they’re on the water, but primarily to keep fish de-stressed and safe after they’ve been caught. If you’re not utilizing a landing net on every outing, you should be. It’s not only an insurance policy for your flies and terminal equipment, but also for healthy fisheries and fish populations.

Here are some basic tips to elevate your “fish netting” game…

1. Consumer choice: With so many quality manufacturers (Fishpond, RISING, Wayward Trading Post) in the landing net space, it’s a great time as a consumer to find the specific products (correct size, length and materials) for the fish and angling situations you’re pursuing. Landing nets, like everything in fly fishing, are evolving, providing anglers longer, larger, lighter and more buoyant product offerings. Whether you’re thinking about a small, packable net for mountain hikes, a floating, long-handled version for your next river trip or a custom, handmade build, almost every conceivable material and sizing scenario has been considered by the wide array of manufacturers.

2. Go bigger when you can: As the packable weight of landing nets has decreased with the advent of lighter, carbon fiber frames, anglers can increasingly carry nets with longer handles and wider hoops, providing key advantages when fish come in close. An extra 6 to 10 inches of net handle can make a giant difference in rocky terrain, lakes or just about anywhere. The closer fish come to the shore, boat or you, the angler, invariably, the more things that can go wrong. Netting fish when they’re further out and “quieter” can have lots of practical benefits.

3. Head up, game over: When you’re playing a trout to the net, it’s all about angles. If the fish is pointed nose-down, bulldozing toward the bottom, it’s not ready, and if you try to horse it in, that’s when you are likely to break off. When its head breaks the surface, however, the fish loses its leverage, and is at your mercy.

4. Getting the head up: To make that fish ready, drop the rod parallel to the water surface, maintain a solid bend in the rod and steer the fish toward you. At the critical moment when the fish is within reach, abruptly lift the rod tip skyward, changing the angle of the fish so that its head points upward.

5. Stay below: In rivers, you should always be netting a fish from below their position in the current. This helps to avoid interactions with the line, leader or fly rod, which can change the hooking angle and release fish unintentionally.

6. Slow, purposeful movement: Watch a really great fly-fishing guide net big fish, and you’ll realize how quiet, purposeful movements are intended to keep fish calm. The calmer the disposition of the fish, the easier they are to subdue. Think about staying calm, and your netting proficiency will go up dramatically.

7. The slide: During the final stages of a fish fight, the fish is often tracking (with momentum) in a clear direction through the water. In these instances, and if the angler can get the fish’s head up to the surface, you can often “slide” the fish into the net (head first) without a lot of fanfare. The key is for the angler to apply strong, even pressure on the fish with the fly rod–over-pressuring the fish will often cause a negative, flight reaction, and the opportunity is lost.

8. Avoid the tail: You should always attempt to net a fish in the vicinity of its head, while avoiding the tail. Fish don’t like being approached from behind, and doing so often elicits a flight response.

9. Keep fish wet: Seems simple enough, because they live in the water, but as an angler, it’s your job to keep them in the water where they can breathe comfortably, not gasping for air in the bottom of a boat, or on the rocks. Step one is to have a proper landing net (with a rubber bag, not mesh), so your flies can be removed quickly and easily and in a controlled environment, after a fish is netted.

10. Reviving fish is essential: After a stressful fight, your second job as an angler is to adequately revive your fish and release them to swim another day. If a fish is struggling to get going, take some extra time to revive them, holding them by the tail, in the water, until their strength returns. Never release a fish that’s turning its belly up in the water; they will certainly perish. They need more time.

How to Net a Fish

Colorado guide Tom Whitley literally nets fish for a living. As we all know, this is where many hooked trout get away.

Here are the keys, according to Whitley.

First, note the fish’s body position. Tilted at a 45-degree angle (head pointed toward the bottom) and finning away wildly, the fish isn’t ready for the net.

To make that fish ready, drop the rod parallel to the water surface, maintain a solid bend in the rod and steer the fish toward you. At the critical moment when the fish is within reach, abruptly lift the rod tip skyward, changing the angle of the fish so that its head points upward.

When this happens, or when the fish’s head breaks the surface, maintain that tension and control. The trout has lost his leverage, and that’s when you can scoop him with the net.