Articles

La Bomba

Permit and depth-charges on Ascension Bay

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Oct 15th, 2014

Anglers flock from all over the globe to seek out the permit of Ascension Bay. The bay is widely regarded as the finest permit fishing destination in the world, due to its bountiful populations of permit (photo: Chad Shmukler).

Antonio is a tiny man. He might scratch 5 feet 4 inches. And he’s not the shortest fly fishing guide working the flats of Ascension Bay. That honor belongs to Fabian. If Fabian mousses his hair, he’ll tickle 5 feet. Tony’s senior guide, Jonathan, might be an inch taller.

So, as I stood in the green water up to my armpits listening to Tony trying to calm my nerves as a pair of cruising permit approached from 12 o’clock, my mind inadvertently switched from panicked pleas urging myself not to screw up the pending permit shot to wondering how Tony was keeping his head above water.

“Just keep your line clean,” Tony whispered, almost soothingly in his heavily accented English. My bare feet were buried in a foot of soft mud at the bottom of the bay, leaving me to assume Tony was treading water. “Don’t worry. Just cast. Don’t think about it.”

I cast.

RIO Announces New Xtreme Indicator Nymphing Line

by Ben Kryzinski - Tuesday, Oct 14th, 2014

RIO recently announced a new addition to its selection of fly lines designed specifically for nymph fishing, one which it is calling the most "mend-friendly line ever." The new line, named the Xtreme Indicator, is also the latest in RIO's growing InTouch series lineup, which includes lines built on RIO's ultra low-stretch ConnectCore technology.

According to RIO, "Anglers looking for a line to cast nymph rigs with indicators need look no further than the new InTouch Xtreme Indicator line. This line has a short head and a powerful front taper that loads up with a single cast and is the perfect line for carrying heavy loads and for fishing out of a boat."

The Small Town River

by Steve Zakur - Monday, Oct 13th, 2014

Photo: Chad Shmukler.

At lunch on Friday I ate by the water. Ann and I sat on the back deck of a restaurant. A river ran below us. I discussed with her the form of the river. It ran over boulders and shelf. The water looked like water that could hold trout. I had not fished this water before. I told her that I thought the river held trout. I ate my pulled pork sandwich.

On Sunday I went to church in the Small Town. After worship I did my chores. I walked down to the porch. Pollen lay on the table. Water rings were made in the pollen from a dripping glass now gone. The pollen was yellow on both sides. I brushed the pollen aside. I read the Sunday paper. I was ansty. I thought of the water.

The Long Road to Marleyville

by Todd Tanner - Wednesday, Oct 8th, 2014

I’m pretty sure my fishing guide was stoned. His bloodshot eyes had that vacant, “You can knock on the door all you want, but nobody’s home.” look, and he smelled, in fact he reeked, of marijuana. Yeah, ol’ Homer Jones, who I’d known for less than an hour, seemed to have started off the morning with a good buzz on.

“Shit.” I thought to myself. “Just what I need. A one man party rowing the boat.”

My buddy Mack, who was responsible for booking the trip, looked over, caught my troubled expression, and said, “Relax, amigo. Mellow out. He’ll have his act together by the time we’re out on the water.”

Little Things

by Steve Zakur - Sunday, Oct 5th, 2014

Articulated streamers designed to imitate large meals are all the rage lately especially with the crowd that likes large fish. I suppose that includes most of us, though once you try casting those beasts you might reconsider. That is, until a large trout slams the thing, then it's all worthwhile.

The reality is that most of us spend a lot of time casting more modest flies to trout of the more common variety. This time of year the game gets smaller and smaller as we move into midge and olive season. A buddy recently wrote me about a pending fishing trip. The advice was that we'd start at size #18 flies and work our way down until we found the sweet spot probably around #22 or less.

Since we're only seeing small flies hatching, it's not a big leap to assume that's all that's in the water column. And while it might be true that these smaller bugs are the majority of the fauna all those bugs that hatch in warmer months have to be live somewhere off peak. It's no surprise that they're living underfoot.