The other day as I was driving along the Yellowstone I spotted three anglers walking in single file to the edge of the river. Since it is winter and I’m in between attending trade shows, I decided to pull over and watch the three from the warmth and shelter of my pick up truck. Upon reaching the near bank, a few words were traded; a few arm gestures followed and the anglers separated. Each headed to a promising riffle or chase between the river’s ice covered banks.

It was kind of known they were fishing nymphs. I watched gaudy yarn strike indicators wave in the breeze as the anglers launched their flies into the water. Comfortable in my heated perch I …

In part one of Tips for rod, reel and line care, readers learned the ins and outs of how to care for their precious rods. Now, in part 2, I will explain how to look after your reels. For trout fishing, a reel plays a lesser part than the rod. It is merely a fly line holder, but this doesn’t mean it is cheap and not worth maintaining. In saltwater fly fishing though, the reel plays an essential part in the fight against fast and powerful adversaries. You should always be able to rely on your fly reel but to do so, you must keep it in perfect condition. The good new is, it’s not as hard as you might …

Today’s fishing tackle has never been better: crisp, ultra light rods, super smooth reels with multiple ball-bearings, slick fly lines, braided PE lines, you name it. Unfortunately for the angler, this high-tech gear also comes with a price.Even though most tackle is made from high quality materials like carbon, aviation grade aluminium, stainless steel and even titanium, we practise our sport in a hostile environment: humidity, UV exposure, extreme temperatures, salt spray, mud, sand, coral,,,

The fishing action itself is often dangerous and our precious tackle gets knocked on boatdecks or jetties, scratched on rocks or dropped in sand. Even fish push our rods and reels to extremes: a running sailfish will make your fly reel spin at speeds up …

In the spirit of our continuing commitment to offer our readers the pick of high quality angling literature, FlyFish.com presents an extract from esteemed author Frank P. Baron’s highly informative What Fish Don’t Want You to Know…Enjoy!

Thinking like a fish
One of the keys to catching fish is knowing how they think. “Thinking like a fish” has become something of a cliche, but it is essential if you want to improve your results (By the way, it doesn’t help to stare bug-eyed at the water while rhythmically gulping air - I’ve tried it).

You need both general and species-specific knowledge to truly get inside their slippery little heads.

On the general level, fish aren’t much different from you and me. Our …

Welll, here it is! The third and final installment in a series of excepts from George Robert’s new book, “Master The Cast.” His publisher was generous enough let FlyFish.com share some of it with its readers…Enjoy!

The Wrist
The wrist has two positions in fly casting: bent forward, and straight. The bent-forward wrist position is easy to find. Holding the rod handle with the key grip, simply push forward with your thumb as far as you can while pulling back with your lower fingers. Your wrist will naturally stop in the bent-forward position. The bent-forward wrist aligns the butt of the rod parallel with the underside of your forearm.

The straight wrist position is slightly more difficult to find, but only because …

A few years ago I was fishing the Skykomish River during the Catch & Release fishery with a pair of gentlemen. As we floated past the IRS pool, we watched a couple of anglers playing a steelhead near the beach. The man with the fish on was up the bank, while his cohort was down in the water, trying to lead the fish into the shore. About the time the fish slid to the shoreline, the angler in the water comes in behind, grabs the steelhead with both hands and with one big scooping motion, flops this steelhead out of the water and onto the rocks and sand. The rod man comes over bringing his line while the fish is …

The following is the second in a continuing series of excepts from George Robert’s new book, “Master the Cast.” His publisher was generous enough let FlyFish.com share some of it with its readers…Enjoy!

Forming the Loop
A good casting stroke enacts a smooth, continuous acceleration and concludes with an abrupt stop. When the rod stops on the forward stroke and the rod unloads, the airborne fly line, which you’ve been pulling from behind you, continues to soar forward. The line is anchored at the rod tip, and when the following fly line passes over the rod tip, a loop forms. The bottom leg of this loop remains anchored at the rod while the top leg continues to unroll forward.

To become a …

I was floating a popular run on the Sauk River last spring. The April morning found the river in prime shape and I knew the flyboys were going to be out in numbers. As we rounded the corner of a long bar, there, near the bottom of the half mile run, was another fly guide boat I hadn’t seen for a while. There is a nice slot in the tailout, so I figured they probably had already fished the upper drift, and were about to fish the lower. The day was still young and there could be new fish moving in so why not give this upper pool a go anyway?

The guide and his client were just chatting in …

The recent craze for tying cheap salmon/steelhead flies is, I figure, the best way to categorize the set of patterns I have been using for the last few years. The fur comet patterns have accounted for numerous salmon, steelhead and trout being caught on some of Wisconsin’s most pristine trout streams.

These fly patterns, although being inexpensive, still follow along with the brilliant coloration of most traditional salmon flies used to attract the target fish. But instead of pricey, rare materials being used to create sleek profile flies, the comet series flies substitute a variety of differing colored and sized fur hackles to create bulky appetizing morsels.

One advantage of using these types of flies is that they can take punishment and …

For the uninitiated, fishing, like any craft, can seem inaccessible. It thrives on a secret language; “Fishing spoken here”, as one tackle shop used to advertise, says it all. But while angling skills can take a lifetime, or longer, to acquire, Atlantic salmon fishing in Scotland can be made simple and accessible to any visitor.

The Brigadoon view of a Scotland rich in tartan, tweed, malt whisky and ancestral castles is widely available. High quality fishing hotels offer deep baths and idiosyncratic charm together with enough salmon and sea trout to test your skills. But while deep pockets and high levels of skill are sometimes required the average weekend trout or bass angler with a more limited wallet or level of …