Fish, Flies & Water [blog] » Fishing Life

From the Archives: TC Tarpon Fest

JB — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:12:46 +0000

One of my famous archived “placeholder” pix while I think of something better to post (or at least more wordy—fish are always good, words or not). This was from a video-shoot at Tarpon Cay a couple of summers ago. This day was fantastic—with babies, juvies and bigger boys up to about 80 pounds—until we noticed “some [...]

Of Casting and Pedaling

JB — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 06:29:00 +0000

With the Tour de France starting tomorrow (live report), I thought I’d do a little post relating cycling to fly casting. When I was road racing (i.e. when I was younger and faster), I paid a lot of attention to the more “advanced” aspects of things like pedal/cleat interface, body position, gearing, and of course, [...]

From the Archives: Slinging Caddis

JB — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:01:42 +0000

Just a shot I pulled from the archives. Kel fishing a deserted stretch of a Montana river. Caddis adult + caddis pupa. Cast, mend, drift, swing. Repeat until it’s “fish on!”

A Favorite Reel – Ari ‘t Hart “Ari 1″

JB — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:01:54 +0000

My favorite pieces of fly-fishing gear are reels. Just something about a beautifully made fly reel that holds my eye. Of the reels in my personal gear bag, there are some that stand out as continual favorites. One of those is my Ari ‘t Hart “Ari 1″ from the 1990s era of Ari’s design work [...]

Adding a Swing

JB — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:01:17 +0000

With the recent Drawing Flies 52 emphasis on wet flies (another to come this week) I though that I’d post a bit on “adding a swing.” This really is an “add-on” tactic, not a full blown wet-fly approach, but it can still give your presentations an extra, and sometimes effective, element. August of 2005 saw [...]

Countdown Method

JB — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:57:52 +0000

Fly fishing from a boat can take many forms, whether it be sight fishing from a flats skiff or drifting the rapids of a wild Western river. Along with the wide range of boating possibilities comes a myriad of presentation techniques. In stillwaters, one of the simplest, but most important techniques is the Countdown Method. [...]

More on Fishing Dry Damselflies Wet

JB — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:01:58 +0000

After the Braided Butt Damsel post, I got a couple of questions about fishing damselfly adult patterns wet. Using the BB Damsel pattern shown, with a yarn parachute post (versus foam), the fly can be fished “damp” easily (just fish “sans floatante“). If you need to get the fly deeper, or are fishing a pattern [...]

Al Crise Has Passed

JB — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:21:18 +0000

Al Crise (or “ol’ Al” as he was known to many) has passed. Some FF&W readers may know Al from his casting classes at Federation of Fly Fishers’ meetings and so forth, or from his posts on a number of fly-fishing bulletin boards. Al was tireless in his teaching of fly casting, and had a [...]

Dick Blumershine Passes

JB — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:58:46 +0000

Another long-time friend from my youth has passed (and unexpectedly). My father has a nice little remembrance on his blog. I know that some FF&W readers likely either knew Dick (and his perfectly pressed khakis, top to bottom) or have seen him in my slideshows, most likely this photo: This day was a beautiful day [...]

Some of the Words…

JB — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:17:31 +0000

I often read passages and sections from Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. What so often jumps out at me about great narrative writing is how even the sparsest language can convey sweeping ideas and emotions. Many who have read (or seen) River Runs are familiar with the opening and closing lines. The close is [...]

A Day on the Fork

JB — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:59:04 +0000

With the recent concerns about the Harriman Ranch section of the Henry’s Fork (arguably one of the most famous stretches of river in the world), I thought I’d post a story that I wrote some years ago about a particularly memorable day on the Fork. – – – – – – – – – The [...]

“Nail-less” Nail Knot

JB — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:01:41 +0000

[See post to watch QuickTime movie] Nail knots can be a pain to tie—especially when you really need one and there is nary a tool in sight (or you don’t know how to use said tool). Well, a “Nail-less” Nail Knot is a slick and quick alternative that yields a long-term solution. There are a [...]