Fish, Flies & Water [blog] » Rigging

Selective Droppers (2010 Re-Play)

JB — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:11:32 +0000

This is just a quick re-play of a previous post-turned-page. I occasionally re-post older posts and/or pages since that info sometimes falls by the wayside (at least if my Google Analytics are any indication). In addition, with the recent hopper-based link from FlyTalk, I figure a little post on easy droppers is a good idea. [...]

Greased Leader

JB — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:49:12 +0000

A bit of writing from about 10 years ago in which I actually use the term “most-subtle” with a straight face. Hope you find it useful (even if the wording gets a bit fluffy in spots). – – – – – – – – – Fly fishing for trout can be a most-subtle affair. The [...]

Perfection Loop Knot

JB — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:01:48 +0000

Loop-to-loop junctures allow for a rapid change-out of a leader. If you pre-tie your own leaders or buy your leaders pre-made, you can go from slinging muddlers to dead-drifting mayflies in about two minutes—including the fly change. You can also refresh a worn leader system in a hurry. I have had days when my terminal [...]

5/7 Blood Knot

JB — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:55:42 +0000

GB has a good post up about the 5/7 Blood Knot, a variation that I grew up tying (the “School of GB” was a great, if sometimes demanding, one). Personally, I use this knot for leader butt/taper interconnections, then move to a three-turn Surgeon’s (or Water) knot for tippet section(s) (talking trout/salmon, etc. here, but [...]

Roll/Spey Grass Leader

JB — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:45:17 +0000

Yep, a pure lazy well-timed re-post. True, there is a perma-linked page over in the sidebar, but my web stats say the pages often get missed, so here it is again. This is an almost-verbatim snip from my Nature of Fly Casting book about one potential aid in grass-casting. And yes, you’ll probably see it show up again [...]

Selective Droppers

JB — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:33:46 +0000

A bit of “re-play” from an old “Fly Fish America” article (which I think made the rounds three times in various states of tune). – – – – – – – – – - The use of droppers is a staple technique for many fly fishers around the world. During opportunistic (“eat what comes by”) [...]

Roll/Spey Grass Leader

JB — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:01:07 +0000

I occasionally get e-mails asking about roll and Spey casting on grass, and ways in which to make land-bound practice more useful. What follows is an almost-verbatim snip from my Nature of Fly Casting book about one potential aid in grass-casting. – – – – – – – – – - It can be difficult [...]

Leader Math (or, the Mystery of “X”)

JB — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:01:40 +0000

I originally wrote this for the Federation of Fly Fishers’ newsletter, “The Loop.” Figured it couldn’t hurt to post it here, too. – – – – – – – – – - In the U.S. leader and tippet material diameters are typically measured in thousandths of an inch, with tippets also given an additional “X” [...]

Trout Leader Re-Post

JB — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:12:58 +0000

For those who attended the Bend seminar last week, here is the trout leader post/page that I referenced during the leader-building session. I figure that it is easier to just re-post it so you don’t have to dig around the blog. Put those three-turn Surgeon’s Knots to good use… – – – – – – [...]

Micro-Indicators

JB — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:16:47 +0000

Versions of this little article have floated around various magazines and Web sites over the years. Not the most glamorous of fly-fishing topics, I know, but an approach that can be of real help when conditions warrant. – – – – – – – – – When fishing the small stuff, a strike indicator of [...]

Some Leaders for Trout

JB — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:50:30 +0000

Okay, enough of the “re-loading” and “new stuff soon” posts—here is some actual new stuff (while chunks of this article have appeared in various forms elsewhere, they have not appeared at FF&W, so I’m going to call this “new”). Actually some of the following includes excerpts from the book, Presentation (penned by my father), so [...]