Fish, Flies & Water » Lessons Learned

Be the Heron!

JB — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:07:27 +0000

I have a live show that I do called “Approach & Presentation Strategies for Trout.” In addition to the rather pedagogical title, the discussion delves into how trout perceive their environment (and ours) and how we perceive the trout’s environment. It then goes onto talk (at some length) about, well, approach and presentation, taking into [...]

A Few C&R Ramblings

JB — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:01:36 +0000

Just a few ramblings that I wrote some years ago on the subject of catch-and-release. Since the majority of my fishing is C&R, I figured that I might as well toss this up on the blog. Here you go: – – – – – – – – – - A number of factors can come [...]

Jelly Water

JB — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:07:21 +0000

This is an old article of mine, spruced up a bit for an upcoming book in the 20-title “Fly Fishing” series (it is likely to show up in The Angler as Predator). Figure that I might as well give a (very) advanced preview of that book here on the blog. Hope you like the read, and [...]

A Small-Stream Secret

JB — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:07:07 +0000

Small streams usually don’t force much in terms of wading, aren’t typically the realm of long casts and, with their shallower waters, can be dry-fly heaven. However, just because a stream is small doesn’t mean that it can’t also have secrets. Perhaps the biggest small-stream secrets are undercuts, those dark places where water carves at [...]

Behavior Modification

JB — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:22:15 +0000

So I got an email complimenting the current art posts, but asking if I was going to do some more purely “how-to” posts soon. How about today? This is from an old article that I did in “Fly Fish America” magazine: – – – – – – – – – - As a kid I [...]

Fishing the Film – “Dry and Dropper” Stories

JB — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:11:31 +0000

Here are a few stories excerpted from the end of Chapter Three in Fishing the Film. To put them in context, these follow GB’s discussion of the Dry and Dropper tactic. I have few other dropper-fly stories of my own, and they may appear in another book. Hope you find these enjoyable (and perhaps even [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

The Jelly Water Puzzle

JB — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:43:58 +0000

Since I’m going to soon be heading back to my old column in “Fly Fish America,” I thought that I’d post what is perhaps my favorite column from the “old days.” I suspect that parts of this story will show up again in another guise in a future column (and I can pretty much guarantee [...]

Prototypes 1-3

JB — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:04:15 +0000

Spent an hour today casting and assessing three prototype finished rods and build kits. Need to tweak the last few inches of the tips (a little soft, I think), as well as the power low down in the butt sections (they’re strong, but they also cast an SA ED Sharkskin like a shot). Also need [...]