Fly Fishers, Pandemics, & the Woods

I’m writing this article the weekend after the president declared a national emergency. COVID-19, or the Novel Coronavirus, has taken the United States to a very strange place. In the past century, the only comparisons might be the responses to world wars and terrorist attacks. A lot could be said about the virus, the government’s response, the media’s role, and dozens of other variables that won’t be truly understood for months – if not years.

Many fly fishers are just choosing to head outside. Quarantining in nature. Social distancing on the water.

I did that very thing. My family and I spent an afternoon playing outdoors. The big boys plinked targets with their pellet rifles and climbed trees. The little ones ran around and picnicked. The weather was beautiful and there was nothing  felt either constricting or contagious.

Then I picked the first tick off my hand.

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Podcast Ep. 70: Fly Fishing Accusations, VII

What do fly rod material debates, bad tying equipment, and a little county in Pennsylvania have in common?

These are the topics i discuss in this episode. And I’m discussing these topics because you have emailed, commented, and chirped on social media about these things. I get a good amount of feedback, and I enjoy being able to answer questions and comment.

Also, I talk  for a bit about fly fishing podcasts. There are some truly great ones out there. That being said, I have a request that I make at the end of the episode.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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The First Fly Box

This was my first fly box. Things were pretty simple then. I don’t remember how I came across the “Plano Micro Magnum.” There is a good chance that I bought it at The Sports Authority. I can say with great certainty that it was inexpensive, that I didn’t deliberate over the choice, and that I was just looking for something to hold the dozen or so flies I owned. The Plano did that just fine.

Dry flies went in some compartments; nymphs went into others. On the reverse side I kept some big streamers. This arrangement still afforded me enough space to drop in a few split shot and strike indicators.

All my flies, and some tackle, all in one place.

In hindsight, that wasn’t so bad. When you only have so much you can only use so much. Furthermore, you only have so much to carry. It made sense to me. And believe it or not, I still managed to catch fish.

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Fly Fishing Podcasts Worth Listening To, part XII

Scroll down if you just want the good stuff; the links with the great podcast content from some of the best in the business. …but I did want to say something about why I’ve chosen the five podcasts that I’ve listed below.

I’ve found myself reading less and less contemporary fly fishing writing. Part of that has to do with my limited time. Casting Across isn’t my full-time gig. If it comes to reading or writing, I’m writing. If I read, it is the classics. The other part of it has to do with a sensitivity to maintaining my own voice. I don’t want to emulate someone who is doing what I am doing when I am doing it.

Enter podcasts. Perhaps hearing someone’s inflection and personality makes the whole experience very different than reading an article or essay. While I’m reading mostly classic fly fishing literature, I feel like I’m still hearing contemporary voices through the actual voices of anglers. I think I’ve honed in on these podcasts because they have different experiences, different perspectives, and different voices than me. I don’t think I sound like any of them in my writing or in my podcast.

And these are five of the voices that I think you’ll enjoy listening to; including one specific episode of each:

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Podcast Ep. 69: 5-Star Fly Fishing (…or not)

How would you rate your favorite fly rod? 5 stars? 2 thumbs up? Are you not into rating things?

Regardless, people rate, review, and chime in on rods, reels, nippers, marabou feathers, fly shops, guides, and even moderately interesting websites and podcasts.

This all begs the question: What do you do with this information?

In this episode of the podcast I talk all about ratings and reviews. I also explain why I don’t give out one particular piece of information when I talk about gear on Casting Across.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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Small Stream Fly Line: More Than Flicks & Flips

How often do you have more than fifteen feet of fly line out of the end of your rod?

For most trout anglers, and virtually all saltwater fly fishers, the answer is always. You’re never that close to fish. Casts have to be 30 or 50 or 70 feet… if you’re lucky. After all, fly fishing is about fly casting. Right?

If you fish small streams, the answer to that  “fifteen foot question” might be hardly ever. In high-gradient water, the distance between you and the fish is measured in vertical feet – you’re casting from the pool below. In small, densely vegetated waters it might be impossible to make a traditional back cast. Textbook technique gets thrown out the window. All that matters is getting the fly to where the fish are.

But how?

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Brown Trout & Fly Fishing Ghosts

Most nights I’d time leaving home so I could gear up right as the frogs began to sing in earnest. That wasn’t the event I was  targeting, but the amphibian chorus corresponded with the evening hatch. Trout could be taken all evening long. But the action intensified once the sulphurs started hitting the water. Seeing that little spring creek come alive was always amazing. Reclusive brown trout of all sizes would come out from underneath the banks and thick weedbeds to feed on fluttering mayflies.

Those bugs had the Letort Spring Run under some kind of spell. One year I was drawn in as well.

Early in the week I fished the headwaters. In places the channels were deeper than they were wide. Bonny Brook was always my favorite, and it yielded an unusual number of fish on the surface during this hatch. The sulphurs were present, but the slow and silty water isn’t ideal for mayflies. After a few days I focused on the quarry stretch. The vast system of riffles was perfect habitat for both bug and trout. It certainly still looks like a spring creek, but it lacks the character of the rest of the upper Letort. One night I caught three trout without moving my feet – the only time this has happened to me on the stream. The only downside of that section was the noise of the active rock quarry that was a short cast from the water.

After four or five days I decided to concentrate on the meadows just upstream of I-81. Vince’s Meadow, perhaps the most famous extant spot on the Letort, had always proved difficult for me. Earlier in the week I had talked to an angling mentor about my reticence to leave fish to find fish there. He lived on the stream. He knew the stream.

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Podcast Ep. 68: Taxes, Trespassing, & Trout

Some people fish in places where access isn’t a problem. By and large, most anglers are content to drive up to a state maintained parking lot or a well-used pull off. However, there is a lot of fishable water that isn’t so convenient.

In this episode I talk about a different kind of map that is useful for finding all sorts of fishing access. Not only might you be able to find new ways into public water, but there is a chance the information will lead you down a lawful path to “private” water.

Also, in this week’s recommendation I talk about one of my favorite panfish patterns: the triangle bug from Panfish on the Fly. It is easy to tie and incredibly effective. Now, you’re able to buy kits with special hooks and a material cutter that make the whole process even quicker and easier.

Listen to the episode below, or on your favorite podcast app.

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Brookies at the Ballpark

Minor league baseball is all about fun. Sure, the players are doing everything they can to succeed at the lower levels of professional baseball with the hopes of getting to the majors. But while they’re giving it their all on the field, there is a whole lot more going on around them. T-shirt cannons, “bring your dog” nights, and appearances from  B-list celebrities draw crowds that include die hard fans and families looking for a night out.

If you are an angler who lives around Altoona, Pennsylvania, the draw to come watch the Curve this June might be their new look. For one weekend, the Altoona Curve will become the Altoona Brookies. Complete with new jerseys, hats, and more, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to celebrate the state fish of PA.

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I Don’t Hunt Anymore

I really like hunting. I enjoy the hunt itself, including the animals I do or don’t pursue. A hunt might have equal parts camaraderie and solitude, which I appreciate in equal measure. And then there’s being outside. It’s hard to have a bad day when I’m in the woods. Hunting the right way, you get a chance to enjoy the woods and all that they offer in a way that you can’t when fishing or hiking. Plus, I have no ethical problems with it. Fairly harvesting an animal is an experience I think more people should have.

I just don’t hunt anymore.

To be fair, I don’t golf either. Or ski. Or have season tickets to the local minor league team.

As a younger man I had a job, not a career. I had a wife (who was in graduate school), not a family. I lived in rural Pennsylvania, not suburban Boston. It was easier to spend a Saturday in the woods. Waking up early to be in the tree stand at dawn before work was simple. 5am to 8pm could be hunt, work, fish: it wasn’t unreasonable or irresponsible.

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