Articles

A flawed casting stroke

Could your rod be to blame?

by John Juracek - Tuesday, Jun 7th, 2016

Angler Earl Harper tosses a cast at a school of Ascension Bay bonefish. The demands of saltwater casting can highlight casting flaws. Keep the right stroke length and your loops will stay tight (photo: Chad Shmukler).

As a casting instructor, I’ve been privileged to witness and analyze pretty much every kind of flycasting flaw imaginable. For a variety of reasons, those flaws most in need of correction are self-induced. But not every one. Not entirely, anyway. Though we’re all ultimately responsible for the shape of our own casting strokes, our rods can also bear some responsibility. Here’s a flaw not always of our own making: A casting stroke which is too long for the length of line being cast.

Gearing up

The current state of the art

by Todd Tanner - Sunday, Jun 5th, 2016

Wrangling a bonefish on the Orvis Hydros SL3 reel (photo: Chad Shmukler).

As a fly fishing writer, I always seem to end up with a boat load of new fly fishing gear to look at, and write about. Instead of following the traditional Hatch Magazine route and offering a detailed look at one particular rod or pair of waders, I wanted to share my impressions on the most notable products I’ve run across since last fall.

Sunfish

Teacher, savior, dinner

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Thursday, Jun 2nd, 2016

Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain

Sunfish are my practice fish.

While a blast on the fly rod, they don’t trigger the dump of adrenaline that a bass does. This is more an indictment of my calloused system than the fish, but it is what it is. The sunfish plucking tiny poppers from the scummed surface of a local farm pond elicit a deliberate reaction from me.

It wasn’t always like this.

Blood sacrifice

Heaven and hell in search of pre-runoff brook trout on the edge of Yellowstone

by Chris Hunt - Wednesday, Jun 1st, 2016

Photo: Rueben Browning

It was to be a stealth operation, quickly arranged and executed.

On a brilliant mid-May afternoon, I just couldn’t help myself. Punctuated by the knowledge that the sun is setting later, I knew it was feasible, after a day spent toiling over the the computer, to drive a bit farther and see if that little-known brook trout stream on the shoulders of the Pitchstone Plateau had cleared up enough to make a few casts possible.

Stoned

Big bugs, big fish and the big buzz that goes with them

by Kris Millgate - Tuesday, May 31st, 2016

A Lower Deschutes River salmonfly (photo: Arian Stevens).

Both of my boys fished the stonefly hatch before they could walk. That’s my oldest with bulging eyes and bug on hand in the picture below. I can only imagine what’s going on in that brain of his that can’t verbally form cuss words yet.

The rest of us can cuss and always do when we miss a fish, but the beauty of the stonefly hatch is you won’t miss much. Fat fish are eyes up in feast frenzy fashion when you hit the hatch just right.