Gone Fishing: Late


This is about as late in the day as I’ve ever posted on the site. But it’s happening because the family and I have been in the woods of New Hampshire since this morning.

It’s a remarkably mild fall, and we were able to enjoy a beautiful White Mountain autumn without jackets or mittens.

Similarly, the trout were willing to play along. I only fished for about an hour, and many feisty brookies came to hand. Each of the boys got into fish – including the middle guy’s first trout.

A late post for a late fall day. Enjoy: I did.


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Rusty Flybox: Fall

New England has been experiencing a spectacular fall. Mornings are in the 40’s and the days are getting up to the high 60’s. The air is crisp, the leaves are bright, and the conditions could not be better for chasing fish all over the region.

Whether you are in New England, the Midatlantic, the Midwest, the Rockies, or the Pacific Northwest, you’re experiencing some of the best weather, fishing, and overall times of the year. If you’re in the South… well, you’re having to break out the sweatshirts you’ll wear until March. Enjoy, and rub it in.

Today I’m sharing three posts from the back catalog of Casting Across. Each one has to do with fall. Also, they represent the scope of the writing here on the site. There is some technique, some humor, and some whimsical pontificating. I’ll let you figure out which is which.

Read the posts below by clicking on the titles or pictures, and have a great fall weekend!

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Manchester, VT: A Premier Fly Fishing Destination?

Manchester, Vermont isn’t a premier fly fishing destination. That isn’t to say that is a bad place to go if you want to catch trout. In fact, it is home to a solid, historic brown trout fishery in the Battenkill. The smaller streams in the mountains teem with native brookies, and bass or musky can be found in other local water bodies. It just isn’t what it used to be, and furthermore it isn’t made of the same stuff as nearby options like the North Maine Woods or the Upper Delaware River system.

For me, though, it is just fine. The historic piece is a large part of it. Like many young fly fishers, I was exposed to a little fly rod company called Orvis when I started in the sport. I grew infatuated, eventually incessantly talking to a store manager until I was able to land a job with Orvis in college. With a flagship store and rod factory in Manchester, the Orvis fan in me can’t help but get excited to fish in southwestern Vermont.

Additionally, I am enamored with the history of the sport in our country. Manchester is also home to the American Museum of Fly Fishing. This quintessentially New England building is bursting at the seams with rods, flies, and photographs of presidents and industry pioneers. Some of them fished the very waters that flow near the museum; albeit in a time where the angling was more productive.

Apart from those two fly fishing monoliths, Manchester is just a great place to be. Nestled in the mountains, it isn’t that far from New York or Boston. There is an absolute wealth of non-angling options for time off the water or for any traveling companions that would rather enjoy shopping than wetting a line. Food, hiking, and, in the fall, leaves, are all part of the charm of this corner of Vermont. And all of these activities happen to occur near, and even on the banks of, the waters around Manchester.

And the Battenkill is the centerpiece of all of these waters.

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Three Months Out: Plan On The Fly Fishing Show

What do you have planned for three months from now? I can assure you that you have a lot planned for the time between today and three months from now. The last major fall fishing trips, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and everything that goes along with the holiday season is coming up in the next 90 days. After that, the winter doldrums really kick in for most of the country. So what should you do?

As a fly fisher, there is an easy answer: fly to the Bahamas for some bonefish.

There is also another less expensive and less time consuming option: go to The Fly Fishing Show.

With dates in venues across the country, The Fly Fishing Show is an annual tradition that gets penned into the calendars of anglers young and old. It isn’t a fishing trip, but it is the kind of mid-winter day or weekend that feeds into and fuels fishing trips to come. Checking out new gear, buying “last year’s” models at closeout prices, and talking to reps gets you thinking about what you need to be prepared for the spring. Listening to seminars, watching professional fly tyers, and getting casting tips will help you use what you bought to be prepared for the spring. And the numerous lodges and guides with date planners open will gladly take your reservation so you have something in the spring to prepare for.

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Flies – Just a Click Away

It was over eighteen months ago that I wrote about the concept of monthly fly subscriptions. I took a look at the flies, the packaging, the cost, and the presentation of a handful of the companies that were offering a “flies by mail” subscription. By and large, every offering was relatively close to one another in what they were selling anglers.

What I found that set some apart from others was the little things: a newsletter, a sticker, some information on the flies. These little touches not only made them unique, but they appealed to the interests of potential customers.

One company that hadn’t even launched yet was The Fly Crate. Since then, The Fly Crate has opened for business and begun to carve out a niche for itself in the angling marketplace.

Before I mention anything else, I want to make the most important thing clear:  the flies are good. I have fished a number of trout patterns and bass poppers from The Fly Crate, and they look and hold up very well. In fact, I know the source of the flies and was impressed to see where they were coming from.

But there is more:

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Catch & Kill & Release

Back in the spring I was paddling the shallows, casting into likely spots to see what kind of fish I could get into. This pond – a slow part of a river, actually – holds largemouth, smallmouth, chain pickerel, yellow perch, stocked trout and salmon, and a handful of other species. I had already landed a large pickerel and a number of perch, but larger fish were elusive. In this situation it is always and only the fault of the lure, so I decided that after one more cast I would switch to something larger. This would, of course, elicit strikes from the larger fish I had been presenting my paltry offering to already.

One more cast. Famous last words. For many anglers they mean a few more hours on the water past the point when good judgement would have had them home. For a few, it is the cast from which memories are made. “Then he hit,” you brag, “on the last cast of the day.” Incidentally, you probably made a few more casts. But what is a little embellishment between fishermen?

For one golden shiner, “one more cast” wasn’t just a phrase. It was a death sentence.

At this point in the story I have already tipped my hand. A fish died. That, both in context and in a vacuum,  is  a sentence that sends the online angling police after you these days. The shedding of innocent golden shiner blood? Too much to bear. Capitalizing on the tragedy with pictures and jocularity? Atrocious.

Let me explain.

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Fall Run: Eastern Steelhead

There is an inherent symmetry in the fall run of steelhead within the Great Lakes system. There is cool rain, and the fish move from the lakes into the tributaries. There is a run of fish, and the anglers move from the trout streams into the tributaries. The fish shed their silvery sheen, and the anglers don their fleece. All the while leaves fall, college football’s regular season begins and ends, and the world goes from back to school to Christmas decorations.

It is nonsensical to make qualitative comparisons between the fish and people. But a  quantitative analysis of the previous eight months might reveal that many steelhead have been much more active and productive than some of the anglers pursuing them. Although their life isn’t nearly as harrowing as their truly anadromous  forefathers, they’ve been cruising the depths and fattening up for the spawn. Undoubtedly, that has been a more goal-oriented existence than some folks. But who are we, or a fish, to judge?

Certainly one  can fish for steelhead year round. Powerful boats, depth-plumbing rigs, and electronic fish-finding gear make this a reasonable endeavor. However, there is something ritualistically special about pulling off the road across from a supermarket, scrambling down the gravelly edge of a bridge’s slope, and seeing a 30-inch fish in a small creek. The rod has been left strung up in the car from the last fishing trip a few days ago. The boots, waders, and fly boxes are all primed to be  equipped for a few hours’ worth of chasing big trout before dinner.

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Last Cast of the Week, 10/6/2017

Most Fridays on Casting Across are  devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on The Last Cast of the Week.

Today, I’m sharing items from  Blue Halo, Rep Your Water, & Douglas Outdoors.

If you’d like to be featured in the Last Cast of the Week, or have seen something that others might be interested in, use my  contact form  or shoot me an email (matthew[at]castingacross[dot]com). Also, be sure to  subscribe to Casting Across to never miss a post.

Check out the links, along with my thoughts, below:

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5 Thoughts for Streamers on Small Streams

I love fishing small streams, and I am not alone. The pay off from the whole experience of fly fishing on a small stream equates to a lot more than just catching fish. Usually you are alone, in beautiful places, and away from it all. Usually, you are only catching small fish. But, there is no reason why you can’t get a 12 or 14 inch mountain brookie or cutthroat into the rotation every now and again.

Larger fish will certainly eat dry flies and nymphs, seeing as they too are opportunistic feeders in these particular habitats. But how do you go about catching the largest fish in any other river? Big, meaty, streamers.

There are differences between chucking articulated flies against the bank of a roaring tailwater and fishing a streamer in a small creek. There are also differences between dapping tiny attractor patterns and fishing a streamer in a small creek. The rod, flies, and approach have to all be significantly  altered from what you’re used to. Here are five things you ought to consider if you want to get into the pool bosses of your local, small stream – including my favorite presentation:

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Setting Sail Again with Pirate Fly Fishing

If their first fly patch caught your eye on social media because of the vivid colors of the brown trout pattern, the brook trout design of the new First Mate probably had you following links to learn more about Pirate Fly Fishing.

Back in March I spoke with Justin West of Pirate Fly Fishing about the launch of their first product. Recently, I had the chance to speak with the other half of Pirate Fly Fishing, Maddie Bonthron, about the next item they will hopefully be rolling out: the First Mate Patch.

The First Mate isn’t an upgrade or replacement from the Pirate’s Fly Patch, it is just another option for anglers. The same high-density foam and near-indestructible plastic create the core product. Now, two super-strong magnets sit at either end of the patch. They allow anglers to drop flies or tools on the edges. This patch also uses Velcro to affix to surfaces – boats, car interiors, coolers, or even sling packs. And it is generating similar buzz in the fly fishing world to their initial offering.

“Since March we’ve had some great experiences with the patch,” said Bonthron. “In particular, going to trade shows was great for exposure, networking, and having people get the product in their hands. Once they did that, they saw how relevant it could be.”

The key to this relevance, and the spark of inspiration for the next project, is the simplicity that embodies the design. In a time where even the simplest fly fishing products have the tendency to be over engineered, pirate decided that there was a real benefit to the less is more approach. Bonthron explains: “Sometimes even the simplest things have a learning curve. We like the idea of people understanding what we make, but then seeing a whole range of possibilities of how they could use it.”
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