Flies, Flies, Everywhere

If I were a man of lower morals, and it was possible to take out an insurance policy on fly boxes, I might be the victim of an unfortunate and devastating fire.

Nothing that would damage my home, mind you. It would probably happen in a trash can out in my driveway. The only casualties suffered would be a dozen or so plastic cases and hundreds of flies.  By the time fire and rescue would show up, all that would be left might be some hinges. Interspersed in the carnage would be the larger hooks with synthetic yarn melted on in a black mess.

I’d shake my head and lament the loss. “So many nymphs… they never had the chance to grow up.” But right beneath the mournful veneer I would be rejoicing.

Why would I wish such a horrible fate upon my flies and fly boxes, you ask? Things have gotten out of control. There are flies of unknown origin and dubious quality interspersed between by go-to patterns. I have imitations for bugs that don’t live anywhere near me, and boxes that don’t really fit anywhere. Can you see why I’ve been pushed to the edge?

If you follow these simple guidelines you’ll probably avoid the desperate measures that I’ve hypothetically sunk to.

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Last Cast of the Week, 5/13/2016

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 Sight Line Provisions, DoubleHauled, and Gink & Gasoline.

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).

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Under the Tuscan Trout, part 4

The famous "Ponte Vecchio hole" in downtown Florence.
The famous “Ponte Vecchio hole” in downtown Florence.

I woke up that morning in the apartment that my wife and I rented in downtown Florence. The noises of the nuns bustling about in the courtyard below were the first reminders that I wasn’t home. After getting everything prepped – train tickets, extra pants and socks, a wad of Euros to pay and tip my guide – I headed across the city to the rail station.

It was a surreal scene to be in an ancient city before it wakes up. I was excited to go fishing, but there was a part of me that also would have liked to stay and explore. My wife had a day of gelato, art, relaxation, and more gelato planned out. There was a twinge of regret that we’d be apart, too.

But like with any day fishing, all of the sleepiness and discomfort is quickly shaken when the reality of a day fishing sinks in. At the train station, sipping my coffee, it hit me that I was about to drive into the mountains of Italy to catch trout.

This was perfect.

Fast forward six hours, and I was watching my guide cast to rising fish.

This wasn’t perfect.

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Casting Digitally: Fly Fishing Podcasts

Ten years ago, podcasts had just been introduced to Apple’s iTunes. Long before This American Life, TED Talks, and NPR’s various shows were seeing downloads in the thousands every day, the medium was being filled by various niche hobbyists. Mostly a sensation in the techie world, podcasting was done by a select few for a select few.

But in 2006, Zach Matthew’s Itinerant Angler debuted as one of the first fly fishing – or outdoors, for that matter – podcasts. “There was a time,” Matthews recalls, “where a few shows in I actually got up to the 17th most downloaded in iTunes overall. Then the next year, ESPN, NPR, and the BBC all got into podcasting.”

The Itinerant Angler now has a back catalog of over 100 episodes, and still ranks as one of the most popular fly fishing podcasts. Shows generally run half an hour, and feature Matthews interviewing a guest. With that many shows all revolving around fly fishing, the variety of topics is quite impressive.

Authors, product innovators, guides, conservation pioneers, and bloggers have all been on the show. “My real job is as an attorney,” says Matthews. “So I’ve been trained to talk to people. From there, the challenge was really just finding good guests and figuring out the technical issues. But it is really all about that interview process.”

***

By and large, interviews and interactive dialogue are the format of most fly fishing podcasts. Of the over 50 shows that iTunes lists as being primarily about fly fishing, the most popular follow that formula.

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Last Cast of the Week, 5/6/2016

Although I doubt that it will ruffle many feathers or result in any fanfare, I’m making a change to the format of Casting Across. For the first six months of this site, I’ve published basically original content every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I love to write, and the topics in and around fly fishing are so diverse that I can’t imagine ever coming close to exhausting the possibilities.

But I have some changes coming up. I’ll be moving in less than two months, starting a new job, returning to graduate school, and welcoming another child into the family. And I’ll try to fit fly fishing in there somewhere, too.

I want the posts on Casting Across to be of a caliber that I think is worthy of your time. I’d never want to put something on the site “just because.” There is a lot of other good content out there that I already share and comment on time to time, so I want to expand on that concept.

Consequently, I’ve decided to turn Fridays into something devoted to other people’s contributions to the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on what I’m calling the “Last Cast of the Week.”

I’m hardly breaking new ground, here. There are some sites out there that do this on the daily, and do it very well. I’m a big fan of Moldy Chum, Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman, the Orvis blog, and others.

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Under the Tuscan Trout, part 3

Finding Italian trout… “da solo.”

I’m always fascinated by the dynamic of same/different on the stream. One example is how I can be on a mountain trout stream anywhere in Appalachia, and there is going to be some geological similarities. But if my eyes wander up the banks, the foliage will be completely different north and south. Another is a Colorado trout in a feeding lie, watching natural bugs drift overhead may be a cutthroat. But I’m not thinking any species-specific thoughts when I’m casting to it as opposed to a brown exhibiting the same behavior. I’ll be happy catching either, and the experience will only differ a little. But the backdrop of the Rockies is wholly different than the rolling hills of the Mid Atlantic.

To give one more example: hearing a group of older men talk loudly on the streambank when you’re trying to fish can happen anywhere. Having it be in Italian, and on top of my guided trip, was unique to my current situation.

Especially since my guide was part of their boisterous antics. But that was just one more thing in an interesting day fly fishing, stile Italiano.

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Kicking the Conservation Bucket

I never saw myself as the chain-yourself-to-a-bulldozer, repel-from-a-dam-to-paint-a-crack type. But I wasn’t totally disengaged from the environmental side of fly fishing. As a teenager I had been involved in some conservation. Stream clean ups, seminars, science fair projects – those sorts of things.

So I was a little surprised at myself at what I did on the stream that day.

***

It was summertime, and a friend and I had quite the day fishing. I can’t remember how it started, but I know that it involved catching catfish and carp on the fly way before it was a thing. We were flabbergasted, and admittedly somewhat put off that we weren’t catching bass. Today I know our responses would be much different.

New to driving ourselves around, we bounced from spot to spot. Towards the middle of the day we had found our way to a local creek that we routinely passed, but had never fished before. In the heart of suburban hustle and bustle, the word was that the smallmouth action was decent. We rigged up and began to walk upstream.

Then it happened. Under a noisy, northern Virginia overpass, I had my throw-red-paint-on-a-fur moment.

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Casting Across Six Months (and a Contest!)

Casting Across has been up and running for six months. I’ve really enjoyed the ride thus far, and I’m very glad that friends and family finally convinced me to start putting my writing online.

I’ve gotten back into the fly fishing community after a six-year hiatus of sorts, and it has been a great half of a year. Because of this website, I’ve had some amazing conversations, experiences, and opportunities.

Although six months is somewhat of an arbitrary benchmark, I thought I’d take this opportunity to do a few things:

  • I want to highlight my three most popular posts.
  • You’ll get a chance to get in on my first giveaway. (Details on how to get some great items are below.)
  • I’d be remiss to not acknowledge and thank all of those who have contributed in some way to what I’ve done.

In many ways, those who read my work are the most important part of this whole adventure. Honestly, every read, subscription, follow, and “like” means a lot to me. Thank you!

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Backing

I wonder if I’ll ever see this backing again.

I might. The reel that it is going to be spooled onto is going to feature a six-weight line. There are plenty of circumstances where I could get into a very large trout, a steelhead, or carp that could run me out a hundred feet.

But, the reel in question also has a click-check drag. Chances are, I’d take one of my large arbor, disc drag reels out if I’m targeting one of the aforementioned species.

So, I’d have to say that the odds are against this backing seeing the light of day.

Of course, I will try a hero cast with the rod that this setup is going to be paired with. It is a pretty full-flexing fiberglass model, but I think that I should still be able to shoot out at least 90 feet or so. And even if I can’t, I’ll strip enough line out to give it a go.

But I don’t think that counts. Neither would cleaning the line.

All of my reels were spooled up tight with new backing. Most of them only get unloaded in the case of a rare cleaning. (I should do that more often.)

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Hashtag Fly Fishing

The hashtag is a funny thing. I think that most of us resent the concept to a certain degree, but ultimately appreciate how the things can sum up a lot in a few letters. And it isn’t all #yolo anymore, as every corner of social media has their set of hashtags and language.

Fly fishing is no different. The needles of Twitter and Instagram move based upon the content posted by users, but it is the skillful and prolific use of hashtags that garners an audience.

If you’re a beginner, and are frustrated that your amazing 20-inch trout pic isn’t getting hundreds of heart-taps, you might need to up your hashtag game. I’m no expert on all of this stuff, but from observing the trending trends I’ve put together a bit of a primer.

Use some (or all) of these, and I guarantee that you’ll get at least the same amount of likes and followers as you currently are seeing.

–

#flyfishing This one is obvious. You’re letting everyone on the interwebs know that this picture, pithy statement, or link has to do with fly fishing. It might be a selfie with your cat, but you have your Rep Your Water hat on, so #flyfishing.

#catchandrelease Because if you don’t use this hashtag, people will automatically assume that you’re into #killitandgrillit or something like that. Very un-#flyfishing.

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