Walter & Group...
From Troy Miller:
I cracked up laughing
when I read your description of the slippery lime slabs of Penns. In my
entire life, I’ve only fallen in and submerged ONE TIME, and that was when I was
in college at PSU. Fishing Penns early one spring (Paraleptophlebia
adoptiva hatch), there was a fish across the creek that I could “almost” reach.
I was standing on a ledge about belly button deep, in a huge flat pool
just upriver from
And the situation where
you were fishing with a 9’ SH rod and the guys with the 18 footers had the right
swing? I had EXACTLY the opposite happen. They were casting to the
far bank of the River Bjerkreim (maybe 2003 or 2004) and I was impressed at
their TH casting skill. I saw exactly two Atlantics that day, both within
60 feet of me. I cast to each with a #10 double iron Bloody Butcher.
Caught the first fish on the second cast (first cast was too far upstream
and swung too far above the fish). Not a big fish, maybe 4 or 5
kilos. Released it and sat back down to watch the water. An hour
later, saw another move up through the riffles below the pool, readied myself,
and laid a sweet 40 foot cast 5 feet above the fish. Let the fly plane
within 2” of the surface and this gorgeous buck came up and literally SMASHED
the fly on the first swing. This fish was nicer, but still not big at
maybe 8 kilos or so. Neither of my two compadres scored even a
touch. But they surely looked beautiful and graceful casting continuously
for 5 or 6 hours, only stopping long enough to either change flies or repack
their pipes. Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes the bug…
J
Regards,
Troy
Miller
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Troy...
I've fallen into the river 3 years in a row in Alaska. This engendered a lively discussion for our Group messages on how to best handle that situation when wearing full waders. One day, that might well bear repeating.
I can't negate the "feeling" and "beauty" of Spey casting for salmon on the river. It is wonderful even if no fish result. The method is steeped in tradition. Once learned, the rhythmic casting is intoxicating.
The fact that it is an efficient and practical method to take fish is undisputed.
Having said that, one must look at the the other side of the coin.
Before I even knew anything much about Spey casting, I remember my best week Atlantic salmon fishing ..... catching 5 fish each 20 lbs. or better on the Restigouche in New Brunswick on a light 8 1/2' long 7 wt. rod during the 80's. (I've not come close after that.)
As most of you know, Lee Wulff was well known for his use of short light one handed rods when salmon fishing. He successfully used rods as short as 6' in length and once (to prove a point) hooked and brought a salmon to the tailer with no rod at all .... by hand casting the line and reeling with a hand held reel. He participated in "Long Rod - Short Rod" competition on the Dee in Scotland. His method (style) of casting these short rods has been called "oval casting" by some. It is clearly depicted in his writings and pictorials. *
On Long Island, I've caught many striped bass very close to shore in the slough with a 9' fly rod and small flies as a youngster while the surf casters were belting large lures and plugs way out there and catching only an occasional fish.
* THE ATLANTIC SALMON by Lee Wulff, 1983, ISBN 0 - 8329 - 0267 - 5, pp. 37-45 & 96-101.
Gordy
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BACK TO "YARN FLIES"
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From Ralph Tomacio :
Hello Gordy,
Forgive me for being a little late in responding to the topic of “Yarn Flies”. I’m behind in reading all these wonderful emails and their topics. My question:
Regarding practice flies, is it safe to assume that everyone is talking specifically about practice outside the scope of MCCI Exam preparation? I ask this because there seems to be little deviation as to what would be acceptable for both the MCCI test and its preparation. All that is mentioned is a “Yarn Fly”. And, if something other than a plain yarn fly were acceptable, what would be the recommendations for exam prep?
Thanks,
Ralph Tomaccio
FFF CCI
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Ralph ....
No aplogies needed. Reviewing past messages is OK and part of our learning experience. This one is good because it addresses the "fly" acceptable when taking preparing for or taking an MCCI exam. This may be important to othe rcandidates.
The term "yarn fly" on the Master Study Guide directions is a general generic term..... not specific.
I have not known of any variations to be disqualified. One exception might be to a fly with a hook .... for safety reasons, I wouldn't accept that. Most examiners if not all would likely take the same position. Most of the suggestions for practice flies which were sent would also apply when taking the exam.
For your exam, I'd suggest these parameters:
# A "fly" of soft materials with no hook point.
# Yarn, Hackle or any other soft material OK .
# It should be easily visable to you and to your examiners.
# Color not specified.
# Size not specified. Common sense, however, will dictate that you choose a "fly" which doesn't offer a lot of air resistance yet is large enough to be seen.
# Yarn or any other material tied sideways to your tippet may well have too much air resistance for best results especially if the wind is blowing.
# Lefty and others are correct when they point out that a piece of yarn tied to a tippet doesn't really cast exactly the way a real fly does.
# Some come closer to one which does cast pretty much the way a real fly does, when they tie a bit of yarn to a small light wire hook, as you would when tying a real fly, then clipping off the hook shank right behind the tie so no metal is exposed except a tiny hook eye.
# For most testing conditions, my eye picks up white or bright yellow "flies" best. Some prefer blaze orange. (If being tested on grass, I don't think a green fly would make good sense.)
# Changing tackle during the test to suit a particular task won't be allowed. That includes lines, leaders and "flies". (An example: It is easier to make curve casts with a weighted fly but changing to one for that particular task won't be accepted.)
# When testing on water, I doubt any examiner would be against using fly flotant or spray. (If tested on water, I'd consider a highly visible hi floating dry fly with no hook point ..... one which doesn't drown on presentation ..)
Gordy
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QUESTIONS ON THE TABLE
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Still not a single answer to Ally's advanced wind questions other than Dusty and Liam going to the pub !!!! Can they be that difficult ????????????
I'll re-print them in case some of you didn't get the message:
The wind questions that
you gave the group were too easy, how about a 30 mph wind blowing towards you
across the river at right angles to the river and also at 45 degree quarters
towards you over the river in an upstream direction and alternatively in a
downstream direction. How do you make the casts work for those
conditions?
Best
wishes,
Ally
Gowans
Gordy
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