Podcast Ep. 117: Conservation Conflicts

There’s a good way to talk about conservation. There are a lot of bad ways to talk about conservation.

While it is a broad-brushed, stereotyping statement, there is some truth in the “cantankerous fly fisher” archetype. In this episode I encourage us to take a better approach. We’re not going to win people to our side and our cause if the goal is to shame, discourage, and tear down. We can avoid conflict and promote conservation.

Today I share three stories. One of which involves me falling and flailing on a streambank.

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

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5 Minutes More & One Last Cast, part III

His habit, or compulsion, was to repeat himself often while alone and on the water. A full monologue to an audience of zero was crazy. A clever quip, repeated numerous times may very well pass as three-quarters sane.

“If you’re going to fall, better to do it in front of people so they can laugh at you and offer help.”

He had already taken stock of his fly rod. It was whole. His reel hadn’t been scratched and his fly was still snugly secured in the keeper. He had also already assured himself that his tumble hadn’t ruined the pool before him. The angles of his location and the suddenness of his movements wouldn’t have been perceived by any fish that were where they were supposed to be. Plus, the whole time he was falling down the rock and through the branches his eyes were on the water. No great fish fled the commotion.

The clever quip about falling, which he had said at least once earlier in the day, was spoken aloud while touching the spots on his side and arm that smarted the most. Perhaps they’ll bruise. And no one was around to see.

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Throwback Gear Review: Sage VPS

Fly fishing gear is a big part of Casting Across. I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetics, the marketing, and, most importantly, the function of fly fishing gear. Consequently, I’ll review new products on the site from time to time. But appreciating fly fishing gear shouldn’t only be about  the latest model or newest technology. The things that you’ve fished with for years – for decades ought to be celebrated as well.

It is in that spirit that I put together this gear review. Although some products are old or even out of production, their value compounds with use, experience, and familiarity. We should enjoy what we use when we fly fish, especially if we’ve enjoyed it for a long time.

“Would you want to pick out a new fly rod for your birthday?”

I can only assume that teenage me had been talking incessantly about fly fishing. Every trip to Arkansas, my dad would take me up to one of the big tailwaters and I’d get to fish for a day. Although it was only one day, out of one week, every four months or so, I took it seriously. An entire duffel bag carried my waders, vest, and net. My two-piece rod went on the plane with me. It’s cumbersome presence wasn’t the issue that started the new rod conversation.

The issue was that I was fishing the wide rivers of northern Arkansas with a three weight.

Again, I assume that teenage me was chattering nonstop about how I should really have a six weight and how it should be faster and how it would be nice if it broke down for easier travel and… my birthday was coming up. For the late 90s, the budget I was given was quite generous. I had already established a habit of memorizing tackle catalogs, so I knew more or less what I would be able to get. And at that time, one company was first on my list.

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Podcast Ep. 116: Famous & Fishable

Some of the rivers that our grandfathers lauded as destination waters have declined in one way or another. The quantity or quality of the fish just isn’t there anymore. There are still fish present, and there is still good fishing to be had, but things have changed.

And people don’t like change.

But change shouldn’t keep you off the water. Aside from the viable fishing still present, there is a whole lot more to be gained from spending time on these famous waters.

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

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5 Minutes More & One Last Cast, part II

The angler is always unnerved when holding a fly rod and simultaneously hearing a crack. Even when a hand or eye is on the branch being broken, the ear startles the mind into thinking the thing broken is the thing that shouldn’t be broken.

Sliding down the rock face, trying to keep himself upright and alive, there were a lot of cracks. Once he stopped bouncing through the limbs and roots, he checked his fly rod. Those cracks could have been ribs. For the majority of his life he had been self-conditioned to take inventory differently.

It wasn’t his first fall of the day. The first came in front of people. “If you’re going to fall,” he thought, “better to do it in front of people so they can laugh at you and offer help.”

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A Different Color of Fly Fishing Marketing

Sunday night: the little boys went to bed around 7:30 pm. The bigger two, six and eight, stayed up until halftime of the AFC Championship game. When you’re that age 8:30 is a treat because it’s late. (I’d gladly take it, but for other reasons.) As we were heading upstairs I pointed over to the kitchen table.

“Do you guys see what you get to do tomorrow after your schoolwork?”

Both responded with exuberant, yet quiet, demonstrations. (They knew to not wake up their younger siblings.) On the dining room table I had laid out their requested coloring sheets from Derek DeYoung’s contest. One chose the trout, the other chose the tarpon. Knowing them, they had already planned out how they were going to approach the activity. Colored pencils, markers, or watercolors; realistic from a reference photo or out of their imagination.

They enjoy these kinds of things. And they learn about fish, the environment, and conservation from these kinds of things. And to be honest? They learn about brands, initiatives, and products from these kinds of things. As their father, I’m okay with that. Because I’m raising them to keep it all in perspective.

Here’s what I mean:

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Podcast Ep. 115: The Show Must Go On

Is something missing from your fly fishing this winter? You’re still fishing. You’re still tying up a lot of flies. You’re keeping your nose in a book or glued to YouTube. So what is missing?

Fly fishing shows and outdoor expos.

Large gatherings aren’t in these days. And if fly fishing events are anything, they’re large gatherings of people. You might be looking with sadness at a weekend or day that you’d usually spend in a giant convention hall that is now wide open. You might not give a hoot that they’ve been cancelled. Personally, I trend toward the former. I think there’s a lot of value in “the shows.”

Briefly, I  share how you can still get some (but not all) of the benefits of being in a room with 1,000 of your best fly fishing friends… even if you’re in front of your computer screen.

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

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5 Minutes More & One Last Cast, part I

“Of course it would be on my last cast.”

He muttered this primarily to himself. He was also aware that he was muttering those and other, more  colorful, sentiments to any startled woodland creatures in the immediate vicinity. That is if they all hadn’t vacated the entire valley from the noise he had quickly stirred up. Hanging there, stinging from  hip to armpit, he hesitated to move again and disturb the silence. One can’t offend the squirrels, grouse, and toads.

It had been a relatively normal day of fly fishing. A pleasant drive. Fine weather. Willing trout. In some ways, it was a banner day of fly fishing. A greasy fast food breakfast that satisfied without causing gastrointestinal discomfort. A full parking lot; a parking lot full of hikers – not other anglers. These are the kinds of days one expects when blocking off a calendar square for fly fishing.

The drive was only an hours, but the hike in took about the same amount of time. Just go a little farther. Once you get there, hike for five more minutes. That patient penance might not yield significantly better fishing. But it is a discipline that he had developed over years of wanting one more cast. Looking at the next pool, peering around the next bend, he always wished  he would have started farther upstream. “A little farther, then five more minutes,” was his hike-in motto.

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My Re-Invented Trout Stream

I usually make a habit of walking the banks of rivers, even when they’re closed for the season. There is a lot you can glean from water when you’re not fishing. There is a lot you can learn when you can’t be fishing. While a fall-spawning fish might not be in that same location come springtime, you gain a general knowledge of what kind of fish are in the area. As vegetation dies or flows go low, stream bottom or bank features are revealed. Plus,  the presence of water is cathartic.

Last week I needed an hour of that kind of catharsis.

It had been at least eight weeks since I walked this particular stream. It is a small, spring-influenced creek that I delude myself into thinking is my little secret. Flowing behind homes right outside of a moderately-sized New England city, it holds a surprisingly  healthy brook trout population. In all the year’s I’ve fished it, the most dramatic change has been a new landowner posting my favorite place to park. Everything else has remained the same.

This winter things changed. A lot.

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Podcast Ep. 114: The Undercut Bank

There are some spots in rivers and streams that you just know hold fish.

Deep blue pools, frothy eddies, and overhanging limbs all look incredibly fishy. Another spot that ought to be in that list is the undercut bank. Fish, especially trout, covet these spaces for the purposes of safety and food.

In this week’s episode I talk about undercut formation, why fish like them, and how I approach these productive spots. It is a broad overview, but ought to provide enough for you to get out and targeting undercut banks on your favorite rivers.

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

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