Trout, Frozen Wading Boots, & Auld Lang Syne

New Year’s Eve had a very specific look for me throughout my teenage years: going to bed around 8:00pm, in a tent, on a frozen field.

Although there are a lot of things that one can do on that ever-so-significant midnight moment, my choice was to usually do what was most significant to me. And that was fish. My best friend and I would drive up to Southcentral Pennsylvania from Northern Virginia and proceed to confuse some campsite proprietor.

“You two want to sleep out there? For just the night? In a tent?”

Certainly there were questions of liability running through their heads. Scenarios of teenage mischief and/or inquiries as to exactly why they let two young men freeze to death probably gave them pause as they took our money and assigned us one of the many (all) vacant campsites.

Some mischief did happen. There was the year when we had to “borrow” firewood from a local citizen, as everything in the forest was covered in ice so thick so as to render it immovable. In a similar vein, one year we woke up in the wee hours of the morning to bright flames just outside the tent wall. Apparently our dousing wasn’t sufficient, and the wetted fire had rekindled itself midway through the night.

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Show Season: The Fly Fishing Show

Starting in early January, fly fishers from across the country will venture out, drive for hours, and all while braving wintery weather. Contrary to their common preferences, they will seek out crowds and austere environs devoid of fish. Vests will be eschewed for wallets, and few will come with a fly rod.

The Fly Fishing Show is back, and coming to your town.

Starting in Denver and ending in Lancaster, Pennsylvania a few months later, the Fly Fishing Show will make seven stops across the country. This annual event for many is the optimum opportunity for checking out new gear, brainstorming for fishing trips, and rubbing shoulders with other anglers.

Those facets of the show are what practically every attendee enjoys. However, there are some other exciting elements that many might not be aware of. For example, classes with individuals such as Bob Clouser, Gary Borger, and Cathy Beck allow anglers to mingle with a pro, learn something, and make the show an interactive experience. For $85 (which includes show admission), these two-and-a-half hour classes are a great deal.

Another opportunity to have a personalized moment at the show is to spend time observing fly tyers. While there are tying showcases, most individual tyers love to walk through techniques, materials, and just generally talk with passersby. Buying a fly or two from them allows you to have a tangible reminder of any tips and tricks that you may have garnered from your conversation. Plus, it is always good to patronize the men and women who post up at the show for a long weekend.

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Last Cast of the Year: 2016

Thus concludes the year 2016.  Perhaps you’re planning on getting out one more time before the calendar actually changes, or maybe your last trip out was good enough to end the year  on a high note. Regardless, you can only get .0028% value out of your fishing license.

You can get also get some mileage out of watching college football, planning what resolutions to make, and reading fly fishing websites.

That last suggestion is a pretty good one, if you ask me.  And say you were willing to take my advice. Where would you even begin reading?

Well, I have procured proven pieces of piscatorial publishing for you. Three, in fact. The three most-read articles posted on Casting Across. So go ahead, ring in the new year by joining the throngs of other like-minded fly fishers and see what thousands have deemed the best of 2016.

Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on anything in the future!

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Deliberate Repetition: Fly Fishing Focus

I think that all my rifles are laced with some scent that sends deer running.

Walking through the woods on any day that I am unarmed, I’ll see plenty of animals. It is almost like some sort of Disney movie: critters of all shapes and sizes come scurrying up to me and watch as I pass by. Deer, turkey, and squirrel all want to be my friend when I am packing only a cell phone.

As soon as I throw a gun over my shoulder? It is like I’ve drenched myself with wolf or bear odor. The woods grow silent and there isn’t anything to shoot. In a survival situation I’m convinced I’d starve – it is my plight.

Today I spent an hour walking around a rural trout stream. There were some decent-sized fish rising, and they didn’t seem to mind my presence. I, of course, was not a threat. For instead of carrying a fly rod and hundreds of flies, I was only toting a camera… and not even the lens that I should be using. I stood as absolutely no threat.

The fish finned about without a care. Why?

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How to Fly Fish During the Holidays… With Family

There is no place like home for the holidays.

Unless your home is a hostile environment, that is. Hostile, like “Uncle Clark’s digestion” hostile. Or, the “obligatory tense and yelly Monopoly game” hostile. Maybe even “post-gift exchange awkward receipt distribution” hostile.

If that is the case, or you happen to be in a scenario that is fortuitous enough, you might try to sneak out for some post-holiday fly fishing. No matter where you live, there is probably an option available to you. Plenty of other anglers will be playing nice with kith and kin, so you’ll have the water mostly to yourself.

But isn’t that the crux of the matter: How do you graciously extract yourself from familial goings-on to get a few hours of fishing in? You could just announce it in the middle of dinner, but that will break grandma’s heart (and this might be her last Christmas! Shame on you…).

Here are three excuses, or “good reasons,” for you to employ as you seek to get a few hours on the river:

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Merry Christmas from Casting Across

I sincerely hope that you  have a wonderful Christmas, and that your holiday season is blessed by fish, family, and faith.

…want to know what I want for Christmas?

I want you to share Casting Across with someone who might appreciate it. If they like fly fishing, or even if they don’t, feel free to give the gift that keeps on giving. Subscribing is the best way to always be in the loop and never miss a post.

Merry Christmas from Casting Across!

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Fly Fishing in the Winter: Embracing Deep Nymphing

Although more of a primer, this post is a serious look at fishing nymphs in the winter. If you want a satirical, pessimistic look at the technique, head over here.

If dry fly fishing is like a pitcher that can gracefully curve or spin the ball, and fishing streamers is akin to someone who can regularly hurl upwards of 100 miles an hour, then nymphing is comparable to a starter who has excellent control. These pitchers might not have as much glitz and glamour about them as the guys who can throw heat or breaking balls, but they routinely get the job done with great consistency.

Nymphing is the Greg Maddux of fly fishing. And that is a good thing.

It is no secret that fishing nymphs can be intimidating, but every fly fisherman also knows that most trout caught are on subsurface patterns. Not being able to see or feel what is happening in the same way as a floating dry or a stripped streamer can make some uneasy, but avoiding the strategy completely really limits the angler.

The winter months, and the typical conditions a fly fisher must contend with during that time, can provide  the circumstances necessary to  nudge the reluctant nymph fisher into honing their skills. The most significant factor is the temperature change. The metabolism of a fish will slow down concurrently with reduced insect activity. While not a hard and fast rule, that means there will be fewer bugs hatching (dries) and less desire to chase them (streamers). Water levels, vegetation, and other environmental variables are, of course, at play as well.

Here are three benefits to exploring, or re-exploring, using nymphs this winter:

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Fly Fishing in the Winter: Enduring Deep Nymphing

As the “humor” tag insinuates, this is a satirical look at the pessimistic perception out there among many about nymph fishing. If you want a more serious perspective, head over here.

It’s wintertime, which means that your trout tactics have to change. Across the country, most fisheries will see a significant decline in hatches as the air and water temperatures decrease. So out with the boxes of dry flies, and in with the nymphs.

Let me be the first one to express my condolences.

But the real wrinkle that gets thrown into your angling plans has to do with where the fish will be. Nymphing in the summertime might include an obligatory dropper under a big, puffy hopper. In the fall, you can send chunky stoneflies tumbling over shallow boulders. Not so in the winter. Come December, you’ve got to get deep.

Real deep.

“How am I even supposed to get a fly down that far?” you ask, incredulously.

Good question. I don’t think that it is possible for mortal fly fishers playing by the rules. However, if you’re not nymphing you’re not trying – or something like that. And deep winter nymphing requires thinking outside of the box to hook up with fish that really aren’t hungry to begin with.

Here are three suggestions for getting your bug deep enough to trick some poor, seasonally depressed trout into eating its feelings:

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Last Cast of the Week, 12/16/2016

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 Vedavoo, 2 Guys and a River, & FishFinder.

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.

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Vedavoo – Christmas Island Pack Setup

I love my Vedavoo gear. The versatility is just one reason why  they have become my go-to storage packs for all types of fishing. In a post on the blog, there is some great advice and examples for loading up a pack for flats fishing. The piece in question, the Tightlines Deluxe, is the same pack that I use for most of my trout fishing. If you’re interested in a sling that can handle mountains and islands, check out this post for some of the ways that you can be flexibile with Vedavoo.

2 Guys and a River – Fly Fishing Proverbs

I’ve weighed in on bad fly fishing sayings before. Steve, one of the two guys from 2 Guys and a River, just penned a piece on some legitimate maxims from fly fishing legends. A proverb can stick in your consciousness in a way that a prolonged discourse will inevitably  leak out and… well, just read the post.


FishFinder – Choosing Trout Flies

If you’ve been fly fishing for a long time, you probably still get stumped from time to time looking at your fly box and wondering what you should use. Imagine what it feels like for a beginner! Over at FishFinder Source, they put up a great synopsis of choosing flies. It  walks a person through some basics, like size, color, and contrast. Give it a read as a refresher, or pass it along to someone who is just getting started.

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Guest Review: Pathfinder Jacket by Outback Trading Co.

Most fly fishers are all about gear. The fly fishing industry has a product for everything – and in a size and color that  you need. But what happens now and again, even for the most gear-focused anglers, is that something that isn’t made explicitly for fly fishing enters the rotation. Sometimes, that thing can even become a favorite.

I’ve gotten to know Spencer Durrant through the fly fishing circles that we travel in. He’s had the opportunity to spend some time “getting to know” a neat product from a company that I have been a customer of for years. Enjoy the review, and take a moment to consider what other options might be out there for your fishing arsenal.

-Matthew

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Fishermen – and especially fly fishermen – are creatures of habit. One only needs to visit the Henry’s Fork two years in a row at the commencement of the salmon fly hatch to see the same anglers from the year before, in the same spots, maybe or maybe not catching the same fish.

We love habit because it’s familiar, because it’s dependable, and because venturing into the unknown isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. We stick with the same fly rod manufacturer for years (I’m guilty here – I’ll only fish Winston), the same company for our waders, and there’s always at least one brick-and-mortar fly shop we buy something at every time we drive by.

The problem with habit, though, is that it leaves little room for experiencing – and possibly better – things in the world of fly fishing.

That’s where the Pathfinder Jacket, from Outback Trading Company, enters the conversation. Outback specializes in Western apparel, with a wide range of hats, coats, shirts, and vests from which to choose. What’s interesting is how much crossover exists between the Western apparel market and what fly fishermen choose to wear. Outback’s Baron performance shirts are as comfortable, light, and moisture-wicking as any comparable shirt from Orvis or Simms.

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