Articles

RIO Introduces Yet Another New Two-Hander Line

by Ben Kryzinski - Monday, Dec 2nd, 2013

The new RIO Switch Chucker line.

RIO has been introducing a bevy of new products into its catalog of lines for spey and switch rods. RIO recently introduced three new skagit heads and also expanded its shooting line offering with two new shooting lines. Now, RIO is introducing a new line geared specifically for switch rods in its new Switch Chucker line.

The Switch Chucker is intended for switch rod applications where big flies, sink tips and heavy indicator rigs are the order of the day. Based on RIO's description of the Switch Chucker, this new line sounds like it offers a very similar suite of benefits to rigging up their switch rod with a skagit head and shooting line, but as one complete, integrated line designed specifically for switch rod use.

The Switch Chucker is also recommended by RIO for casters new to switch rods and two-handed casting, due to the powerful head and front-heavy weight distribution, making the line "extremely easy to cast."

The Future of Striped Bass

by Chris Goldmark - Saturday, Nov 30th, 2013

George Costa hooked up to a Jersey striper, after spending time covering ground.

When I was asked to write about pursuing striped bass in the fall and fly fishing techniques used to target them, I almost passed on the offer. I thought back on how, 20 years ago in my home state of New Jersey, you could walk down to a jetty or groin on the right tide, time of day and pick away at all the schoolie bass your heart desired simply by throwing an appropriate pattern into the rock pockets and letting the fly breath in the tide.

We did this back then with a floating line, mostly 8 and 9 weight sticks and stripping baskets. The idea behind the floating line was to keep hammering the pockets using a quick water haul and to keep presenting the fly to a target in a coordinated rhythm with the surge. A jetty ace from back then used to call this process 'fishing the hydraulics'. It was killer. And, of course, there were fish everywhere -- which made the whole picture complete. Variations on this approach involved using poppers or crease flies and changing patterns appropriately as the bait changed, but always using floating lines. The presentations were generally very short in duration and you timed your casts between waves so the grab of the floating line by the surf never became an issue.

As years passed, more and more fly anglers ventured to sink tips or full sink and intermediate lines and employed a style of fishing I typically refer to as 'covering ground'. These tactics are an effective way to fish, but are as different from fishing the hydraulics as blind casting is to sight casting. Repeatedly blind casting to quadrants is a dramatically different fishing experience than the visual one that comes with casting to a fish boil behind a rock or nervous bait in a close rip.

Elwha River Greets Largest Chinook Salmon Run in Over 20 Years

by Chad Shmukler - Wednesday, Nov 27th, 2013

A returning Chinook salmon jumps at the former Elwha Dam site (photo: Matt Stoecker).

Could it be said that the Elwha River has become the celebrity figurehead of the growing trend of dam removal in the United States? And if not, should it be? Since dam removal efforts began just over 3 years ago, the Elwha has show the world much of what can happen -- and happen quickly -- when impediments in a river are removed. The images have been dramatic, not only at the two dam removal sites, but all the way to the mouth of the Elwha where it meets the Pacific Ocean. Most recently, Olympic National Park officials released information which indicates that the river is seeing the largest run of chinook salmon in over two decades.

According to park officials, "biologists representing Olympic National Park, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and NOAA Fisheries navigated over 13 miles of the Elwha River and tributaries with the goal of counting all the living and dead adult Chinook and map the spawning salmon's redds. Biologists walked and snorkeled the river from Glines Canyon Dam to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as the lower portions of three of the river's tributaries - Indian Creek, Hughes Creek, and Little River." Park officials noted that the returns were "the largest run of Chinook salmon since 1992".

Allen Fly Fishing Releases New Xa2 Rod Series

by Colin K. Breck - Thursday, Nov 21st, 2013

The all new Allen Xa2 fly rod.

Allen Fly Fishing has just made available its latest rod series, the Xa2. Based on Allen's most popular rod to date, the Xa, the new series is intended to deliver all of the performance and versatility of its predecessor by utilizing proven tapers while leveraging improved materials. The Xa2 is also the second rod available out of a series of products for which Allen is moving to production to the states. The new Xa2 series rods are hand rolled in Pennsylvania, by rod builders Allen is calling a "masters of the craft".

According to information released by Allen, "The original Xa series was our best selling, most popular rod series since it released in 2011. We have taken everything that both us and our customers loved about the series and built an entirely new rod ... each finished with the utmost attention to detail. The Xa2 series, like its predecessor, is about versatility. If you're the type of angler who likes to switch tactics, and don't like packing multiple rods, the Xa was designed with you in mind. From our small stream specialized 6'6" 3wt, the classic 9' 5wt, or any of our 10' nymphing rods, there is a rod for any situation."

Reading Rapids: The Secret River

The river within the river

by Gary Borger - Wednesday, Nov 20th, 2013

A surprising number of stout brown trout were taken from the less than knee-deep "secret river" (red dots) that lines this stretch of the Gardiner River (photo: Tom Estilow).

Rapids are a place of extremes -- extremes in water depth, extremes in bottom erosion, extremes in even current speeds, as we shall see. Rapids are always better places to be searched carefully by the fly fisher -- carefully in terms of wading, and carefully in terms of making certain that no good water goes unexplored.

Rapids are tough places to put a fly down and expect it to float with any sort of dead drift. But there are some tricks to it. First comes reading waters, then comes the fishing. In all rapids, there is a "secret river". It may be quite narrow, and then again it may be fairly wide. It's the easy water, the place one can toss a fly without much need to do more than use a Harvey-style leader to get a good float. During the salmon fly hatch [on Montana's Madison River] (and every other hatch for that matter), the fishing can be fast and furious in the secret river, and it's the first place I hit. It's the water right against the bank -- you know, that stuff one wades through to get out there into the "real" river. But think about it for a moment: Where's the best place for an energy-conserving trout to park itself while getting food in the easiest fashion? That's right: In the slow water next to the shore where the stoneflies are hanging on every bush like overly ripe fruit.

When guiding anglers on the Madison, my long-time friend, Mike Lawson, tells clients to cast into all those places where one wouldn't normally fish -- in other words, the secret river. Those that pay attention to his advice find out very quickly that Mike is a shrewd water-reader, indeed. Most anglers use the secret river as their wading lane, when in fact, it should be their fishing lane.