•Choosing A Fly Reel
Choosing A Fly Reel
by: Cameron Larsen
Selecting a fly reel for trout fishing has become, like many things in fly fishing, a somewhat unnecessarily complicated adventure. The problem is, reels have gotten so well-made, so functional, that you almost have to know what you are looking for. In the old days, reels held the line, your spare hand was the drag, and that was it. Tippets almost always broke when fighting an unusually large trout, and the rare one you did haul in was a great cause...
•Choosing A Fly Rod
Choosing A Fly Rod
by: Cameron Larsen
For many reasons, it is with some trepidation that I approach this subject. As I have stated in previous articles about fly fishing gear, you ask 15 people, and you get 15 different opinions. Choosing a fly rod is no different. In fact it might be the epitome of that statement. Fly anglers are picky about their fly rods, and they love their fly rods. To many it is like comparing spouses, and if you love your spouse then you have the best one. But having...
•Choosing Steelhead Gear
Choosing Steelhead Gear
by: Cameron Larsen
Steelhead Gear
Like many things in fly fishing you can ask 10 different fly anglers a single question and you’ll get 10 different answers. Asking what steelhead rod one should use for fly fishing is no different. Every circumstance is different. And the answer varies with each situation. However let’s try to get a generic answer so everyone can at least get started in this rewarding aspect of fly fishing.
RODS
Most steelheaders use at least a...
•Choosing The Proper Fly Fishing Leader and Tippet
Choosing The Proper Fly Fishing Leader and Tippet by Cameron LarsenSelecting the correct tapered leader and tippet for the type of fishing you are about to do is crucial. Nothing can spook fish quicker than an oversized tippet for the particular situation. On the other hand, and undersized tippet can result in the fly fisher losing their trophy before they even get a photo opportunity. We will start at the very basic of leader and tippet selection and then get more specific, and hopefully...
•Confidence in Fly Fishing
Confidence in Fly Fishing
by: Cameron Larsen
For those of you who, like me, have memories of fishing that pre-date memories of school, think back to as many fishing partners and trips as you can. Even those people you only went fishing with once. Then try to recall times where the success or failure of a fly fisherman seemed to lie strictly on the fly fisherman’s confidence. If you think about it in these terms, I bet you can remember numerous times, when an angler’s, confidence or lack...
•De-Mystifying Fly Fishing
De-Mystifying Fly Fishing by Cameron LarsenI remember the first time I saw someone fly fishing. I think I was five years old. My father, my sister and I had back packed to a remote alpine lake. My trusty Zebco with the closed face push button casting reel, cork bobber and jar of Puatzke’s, among my gear I couldn’t live without. Positioned on a log vigilently eyeing my bobber for movement, a one-man raft paddled past, and in no time the occupant was making wild movements with the longest...
•Do Fish See in Color
Do Fish See in Color
by: Cameron Larsen
Fish do indeed perceive color. Every fly fisher knows that or ought to know that. Like humans, the retina of a fish have rods and cones. Cones are used in the day and rods at night. Color vision evolved to help fish identify potential food. In the environment of the fish, the background will either be the bottom, the water itself, or if looking up for food it could be the sky. The bottom is normally tannish olive to green. When looking across the...
•Erie Steelhead Flies
Erie Steelhead Flies
by: Cameron Larsen
As we stated in our article on Pacific Steelhead flies, the steelhead fisheries of the Great Lakes region has developed differently. First off the Erie steelhead has only been around a little over a hundred years. First planted in the 1880’s, the steelhead nearly died off in the 1950’s due to pollution in Lake Erie. But since the 1980’s, intense stocking efforts by Ontario, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have been the reason for this area being...
•Fly Fishing and Kids
Fly Fishing and Kids
by: Cameron Larsen
I have taught all three of my kids about fly fishing, and many of their friends as well. Like all things taught to humans, some caught on faster than others. Some pursued it, so never touched a fly rod again. I have become a patient and good teacher, and now enjoy the time I spend teaching others, in particular adolescents to fly fish.
I was not always so good at this. When my two oldest kids were both younger than five, I was not as patient as I...
•Fly Fishing for Largemouth Bass
Fly Fishing for Largemouth Bass
by: Cameron Larsen
Like all bass fishing, bass fly fishing has exploded in popularity. The largemouth bass is considered by many the greatest of all gamefish. Once limited to just the Eastern United States, the largemouth bass has been introduced all over the continent. When most people think of bass fishing they think of, stiff fiberglass rods, heavy lines and large lures. But more and more fisherman are finding the advantage of fly fishing for this game...
•Fly Fishing Techniques for Steelhead
Fly Fishing Techniques for Steelhead by Cameron LarsenThere are a few basic steelheading techniques that every steelhead fly fishing angler knows, or should know. Which one you use will depend on several things including water lever, clarity, temperature and speed. Also one must take into account outside temperatures, time of year, and time of day. And finally which fly you are using, which also depends on all of the previously mentioned things and more. But we are here to simplify, to...
•Selecting Flies for Pacific Steelhead
Selecting Flies for Pacific Steelhead
by: Cameron Larsen
Popular flies for Steelhead vary greatly whether you are fishing in the Pacific region or in the Great Lakes. The fisheries have developed separately and so have the preferences anglers have for flies cast to their intended prey. We will primarily concentrate on Steelhead flies on the West Coast in this article and concentrate on flies of the Great Lakes region in a future article. There are some common patterns used in both...
•Steelhead Overview
Steelhead Overview by Cameron LarsenThis article is intended to be a basic education in the great game fish the Steelhead. Entire volumes have been written on the subject, so this article will not go into much specific detail. Those of you wanting the hottest tip, will be better off calling your buddy, local guide or fly shop. However, if you are a beginner or thinking of beginning, or a seasoned veteran looking to catch perhaps a new idea or remember a lost one, we hope this series will be...
•The Hendrickson Mayfly
The Hendrickson Mayfly
by: Cameron Larsen
Mayflies are essential to trout fly fishing. There are still ultra purists who consider casting dry mayfly patterns upstream to rising trout the ONLY form of fly fishing. I wasn’t brought up that way and find that way of thinking too limiting. For one thing it would severely limit my time on the water, and would force me to get rid of about three-fourths of my beloved fly fishing gear. However, I must admit, there is a certain timeless quality to...
•The March Brown
The March Brown by Cameron LarsenEntomologists classify it differently depending on where they are located. For the excessively curious, if you are in England you are talking about the Rithrogena Germanica, if you are on the Battenkill River in Vermont you are talking about the Stenonema Vicarium and if you are on the Yakima River in Washington you are talking about the Rhithrogena morrisoni. Whatever the entomologists call it, fly fisherman call it the March Brown. Hatching as early as...
•The Mayfly Adult
The Mayfly Adult
by: Cameron Larsen
In our last article titled Mayfly Nymph. We covered the basics of the nymph stage of this crucial insect in the world of the freshwater game fish and fly fisherman. We now will cover the adult phases of the mayfly. Although most of its life is indeed spent as a nymph dwelling at the river or lake bottom. It is the adult insect that has truly captured the fancy of fly fisherman. It’s the adults that were given the colorful names that we listed in the...
•The Mayfly Nypmh
The Mayfly Nypmh
by: Cameron Larsen
Their names roll off the fly fisherman’s tongue like the names of lost loves. Making the angler drool almost as much as the fish (if fish could drool). Hendricksons, Green Drakes, Pale Morning Dun. Just saying these names can do more to lower a fly fisherman’s blood pressure than a month of yoga. Callibeatis, Blue Wing Olive, Tri-Co. If you are not in a state of Zen yet, remembering past fly fishing experiences, then you probably are not yet an avid...
•The Ubiquitous Woolly Bugger
The Ubiquitous Woolly Bugger
by: Cameron Larsen
The ubiquitous Woolly Bugger, never quite spelled correctly to my eyes, appeals to the eyes of every gamefish imaginable. If I had one pattern to fish the rest of my life, no matter what the fish, no matter what the conditions, this would be it. Steelhead, Trout, Salmon, Bass, Shad, Pike, you name it, they will hit this pattern. And the best thing? Usually the fish will be bigger than average, the strikes harder than average, and the action...
•The Wet Fly Swing
The Wet Fly Swing
by: Cameron Larsen
The wet fly swing sounds like something one does at the square dance hall. Instead the wet fly swing is one of the oldest fly fishing techniques. It is used for all types of fish, where ever there is a current. Winter steelhead, salmon, big trout in big rivers, and even striped bass, are all prey that often require the use of the’ wet-fly swing’.
When to use it
The wet fly swing is designed to get the fly down deep quickly and swing it in front of the...
•Time for the Trico Hatch
Time for the Trico Hatch by Cameron LarsenAhh, yes. Trico time, the time of year accomplished fly fisherman throw down their rods in disgust. Take up the golf clubs, repaint the house, design the ninth wonder of the world. Anything but test their patience and skill against the dreaded Tricos and the super selective trout that feed on them. Called the ‘White Winged Devils’ in the gentlest of circles, these tiny micro hatches can infuriate the most skilled of the fly fishing angler. Huge...
•Winter Trout Fly Fishing
Winter Trout Fly Fishing
by: Cameron Larsen
It is winter time now. One step on the frozen porch steps first thing in the morning removes any doubt of that fact. Winter time brings on many thoughts, holidays, dark afternoons, football on TV and for me some of the best trout fly fishing there is. That’s right trout fishing, winter steelhead fly fishing has been around a long time, and gets more popular every season. But the truth of the matter is trout fly fishing can be excellent, the...
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