Save the Flies

I started fly fishing at a young age. With a few silver spoon exceptions, teenage anglers generally share a particular trait while on the water:

Don’t lose a fly, at any cost.

This means that sleeves get rolled up to the shoulder to pry a streamer from a log at the bottom of the stream. Trees get scurried up, in order to retrieve a nymph rig – leader and all. Precious minutes that could be spent fishing with a replacement fly are occupied crawling around, nose inches from the grass. A fly, after all, costs at least two dollars. That is a lot of money.

But as I spend time fishing, I notice that it isn’t just young people that put themselves through the paces looking for lost or otherwise poorly placed flies. There really isn’t any sort of cure to avoid snagging a tree now and again. Furthermore, there are a lot of reasons why an angler should be catching the bottom every so often. But just losing flies doesn’t have to happen.

One of the most treacherous times in the life of any fly is the interval after it is fished and before it is returned to the fly box. Part of the problem are the standard options provided for managing flies during this precarious phase. The ripple foam patch, the faux-shearling tuft, and small magnets will all work under ideal conditions. But if you fish a lot, you’re probably out in less than ideal conditions. For the sake of your flies – whether you can afford two bucks or not – something has to be done.

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Mr. Nice Fly

I was about one hundred and fifty words in. The article was taking form. There were some decently composed sentences, attention-grabbing quips, and plenty of snark. I was writing a piece on the grumps and eye-roll inducing members of the fly fishing public. Well, another piece.

My change of heart and plans wasn’t for lack of material. I’ve got examples galore. A few fly fishing forums that I read and chime in on from time to time could produce entire blogs covering the community curmudgeons. But, as I said, I had a change of heart.

The truth is, there are a lot of genuinely nice people in fly fishing. Like, my face hurt at the end of the day from smiling at the Somerset Fly Fishing Show. And that day it was a lot of people I didn’t know. People that aren’t trying to sell me something. People happy to just be talking about fly fishing.

Nice anglers don’t just exist at trade shows, where everyone is hopped up on free stickers and cheap hackles. Here are a few examples of some great interactions from the past months:

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Dark Before Light

Fly fishers can appreciate the  necessity of the darkness that comes before the light.

It allows for rest. We can regroup, recalibrate, and  renew ourselves for another day on the water.  The night prevents fishing, but provides these important things.

It allows for reflection. A bad day can be, to a certain extent, mitigated by the natural resetting of our 24-hour cycle. There is hope in knowing dawn brings new opportunities. Light and dark, evening and morning are integral parts of that.

It allows for relation. Even contemplating what wasn’t so optimal about yesterday – or today in contrast to the coming tomorrow can change everything.  It wasn’t ideal, but it set the stage for something better.

In a small way, this dichotomy can frame and impact fly fishing. In a much greater way, understanding this universal ebb and flow can  establish each one of us in our lives.

That is why we can call it  Good Friday. Have a great weekend, and a blessed Easter.

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3 Ways to find New Water

I’m not in the business of looking a gift trout in the mouth. I’ve learned my lesson. There was a time when I lived within a few minutes’ drive of some of the best spring creek and mountain trout fishing in the mid-Atlantic. And I pined for more solitude. A hundred yards to myself wasn’t enough for me, apparently. Now, I’d give half my flies to have that kind of luxury again.

But there is something to be said for wanting to branch out. Whether it be due to a popular fishery in decline, crowded streams, or reduced access, you may find yourself looking for new angling options as this season begins to heat up.

There are some things you can do to break out of your rut of hitting the same stretch of special regulation water for the hundredth time. Chances are your efforts will simply be rewarded with new challenges, a learning curve, and that desired privacy. But just maybe you’ll find a hidden gem: wild fish, beautiful scenery, and yes, solitude.

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Ultralight Fly Fishing Gear: No Longer a Novelty

I’ve always enjoyed fishing small streams. Along with so many other anglers, the intimacy of little creeks is enticing for so many reasons: the remote locations they are often found in, the solitude that they afford, and quite frequently, the wild trout that they contain.

The trout are, of course, the focus. But unlike larger river systems, a trophy isn’t necessarily measured in inches. Without a doubt small stream anglers have no problem catching big fish. Yet these ecosystems aren’t known for, or aren’t even capable of, growing and sustaining large trout. Fly fishers plot courses on the small blue lines that crisscross topographic maps for more than quantity. For many, the experience is the motivating factor.

As in any other fly fishing destination, there are certain distinctives in technique, approach, and gear choice. Waders are often eschewed for sandals. A tool and gadget-laden vest is replaced by a box of flies in a shirt pocket. And the rod, reel, and line used on the larger freestone rivers get exchanged for something lighter, smaller, and more delicate.

There was a time when 3-weight rods were considered “too small” for reasonable fishing use. Rods in weights lighter than that weren’t taken seriously by the majority of anglers. Whippy actions and dangerously thin diameters in the tip didn’t help sell consumers on casting these rods in the applications that they were intended for.

In my years working in the industry, writing, and just fly fishing, I’ve heard plenty of comments on using ultralight fly fishing gear. “A novelty.” “Gimmicky.” “Just for fun.” While I do agree that it is very fun, modern ultralight tackle are far from novelty items. The technology used in feather light rods like the Douglas Outdoors Upstream series is cutting-edge: responsive, durable, and sensitive.

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The Fall of (Fisher)Man

There are a few moments in fly fishing that exist crystallized in your mind. A first fish, a large trout sipping a dry fly, a trophy tarpon. These events stick with us as anglers for a lifetime. They find their way into our subconscious, rising up from the depths as we warmly regard times on the water. Haunting yet reassuring, these memories tether our present to our past. They make you feel life, and make you feel alive.

You know, like falling in and filling up your waders for the first time.

Because cold water hitting your “underwaders” reminds you that you are alive and able to feel the river in nooks and crannies much more real than flowery prose can describe.

Haunted by waters? You bet I was. I was haunted until I pulled my frigid, soaked wool socks from my blue and raisiny feet. Can you appreciate the weight of a thick, top of the line wading sock that is completely saturated with water? Of course, you must factor in the number microorganisms (both flora and fauna) that somehow immediately made the incredible journey past my chest, down my legs, and into the wool/poly fibers of my socks.

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Fly Shop for the Suburbs: DuPage Fly Fishing Co.

I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. Fishing consisted of bait under a bobber for whatever happened to be nearby. I can’t remember a point in my childhood where I became aware of fly fishing. There really wasn’t any reason for me to. No fisheries capable of sustaining trout longer than the cooler months. No Trout in the Classroom. Nothing.

On a recent trip back to the Midwest, I began to wonder if I would have gotten involved in fly fishing if I’d never moved east. And if, then how? A friend who learned from a grandfather? A chance encounter with someone at a neighborhood pond? A morning out for breakfast, parked in a lot across from a fly shop?

If the latter was the case, then the only shop I would have encountered in the last few years would have been the DuPage Fly Fishing Company.

A mile or so off the major east-west interstate in Naperville, Illinois, DuPage Fly Fishing Company shares frontage in a strip mall with a tanning salon, a tutoring center, and a pancake house. If only there were as many fly shops in the greater Chicagoland area as there are pancake houses…

I stopped in just a few days over the two-year anniversary of the shop’s opening in March of 2014. Even though the heritage seems brief on paper, there is a much more established lineage for the store. Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters, the premier industry outpost in the city, owns the Naperville store. Jeremy Spaccapaniccia, partner and manager of DuPage Fly Fishing Company, walked me through the shop’s short but notable history. “I’d been guiding in Colorado for a while, since I was out of college. I began trying to get it to happen since 2010. A few years later, when the industry and economy was on the upswing, it finally happened.”

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Tomorrow’s Conservationists: The TU Teen Summit

For conservation minded anglers, one of the highest priorities involves ensuring a sustainable resource. Clean water, protected habitats, and reproducing trout populations are realities that individuals and groups strive to see on their home waters. As vital as issues like these are, the fact of the matter is that there is another priority that is inseparable from any environmental project.

Preserving trout and their habitats for future generations doesn’t just mean ensuring that kids and grandkids have a place to fish, but ultimately handing off the responsibility. It isn’t enough to hand off an ecosystem and fishery that is in “good shape.” Part of the process involves communicating the ethics and information that conservation requires.

Trout Unlimited has been the leading voice in cold water conservation for over 50 years. For half of a century, men and women have devoted themselves to trout, salmon, and their respective ecosystems. But no matter how hard volunteers work or how much a donor gives, each individual life is limited by its span. That is why an organization like TU is prioritizing passing the torch along with the traditional conservation work.

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First Fish

This may very well be where I caught my first fish.

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I wasn’t necessarily born into a hotbed of angling. My family wasn’t a fly fishing family. However, like so many kids in middle America, my dad and grandpa did take me fishing.

And this might have been that first spot.

I have some vague memories. Sunfish. Kernels of corn from a can. Rooting through my dad’s tackle box.

That tackle box actually stands out more than the pond or the bluegill or the day. Giant, one ounce weights. Old, crusty soft plastic worms. A rusty fish scaler. But the organizational element of the compartmentalized trays with the curious arrangement of lures and tools was enthralling.

Perhaps that’s where the gear obsession began. Or the semi-diagnosable compulsion to have said gear systematized. Or fishing. But probably the former two.

In all seriousness, I do recall that day with a confident level of clarity. Again, we didn’t fish often. I can positively say that it was years in between fishing outings. That initial trip stood out though. As a kid, I would have probably said that “I go fishing.” I did catch a couple of fish, or, at the very least was present when a couple of fish were caught.

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Casting Across: Flying By

Today I’m traveling and working on some exciting content. Casting Across has been  up and running for nearly half of a year, and I have been loving every minute of the writing, conversations, and fishing that has taken place because of it.

Thank you for reading, whether you’re here for the first time or you’re a regular of the site. Regardless, I have two requests:

1.  Follow me! Not literally, of course. That would be awkward given my current travels… and in general.

I do put all new content on social media, as well as a select few other items that I think are worth my time and yours. So  please take a moment to follow/like/subscribe/etc.  on Twitter, Facebook,  Instagram, & Flipboard.

Not that everything on the site isn’t already fun,  but I have some great and exclusive things in store for those following Casting Across in the next few months.

2. Contact me!  Please reach out, via social media, this site’s contact page, or even my email (matthew[at]castingacross.com). I’d love to hear what you like, what could use improvement, or just a “hello!”

Thanks again for  being on the other end of what I’m doing, I truly appreciate it.

Tight lines, or happy reading until that happens.

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