I learn how to set a hook... and how to lose a fish

T
Tinker
Gloomy weather down here this week, but I took the fly rod out this morning for a short jaunt. Nothing much going on, and lots of little, teeny tiny fishes drowning my dry flies - does anyone make a battery-operated hair dryer I could tuck in my back pocket?

Upstream a bit something more bragging-size kept making a ruckus and staying just beyond my casting range, and since I was only going out for a few minutes, I was just wearing my mud-boots, not my waders, and the stand-off between me and this fish started to ruffle my Fruit of the Looms.

It started to rain true raindrops and the "the heck with it" attitude overtook me, so I pulled off the boots and my socks, rolled up my Wrangler's and waded across the steam to a spot where I could cast to The Fish. It boiled the surface again, and I cast just where I wanted to put the fly, and something sucked it up immediately and I reared back on the rod and set the hook just below my right ear. Another one of those itsy-bitsy fish attacked the fly and when I set the hook, I yanked the fly out of the water (and maybe out of the minnow) and into me.

Not so bad. It was one of the flies I'd filed the barb down on, until it was more of a bump than a barb, and the hook came out of my precious hide easily enough that I didn't even cuss or cry very much. But I also had an overhand knot in the fly line. Don't know how I tied an overhand knot with no hands, but there it was.

Twenty minutes later I had the knot out. I don't think I'll go too far into that tale right now, but I managed to tangle everything up so thoroughly that I was holding what looked like a professional grade backlash on a baitcaster, not a flyline.

Fly was dry, line was clear, and I made my next Perfect Cast that resulted in nothing more than a set of snakey "S"'s for maybe ten feet out in front of me, and now I was cussing and carrying-on and making a spectacle of myself and The Rotten Fish decides that now's the time to take the fly. Maybe becasue the fish gods didn't want to risk getting me really angry, The Extraordinary Fish heads for deeper water, straightens out the "S"'s mess, and hooks itself! All while my brain was still trying to accept that I'd had a strike and shift out of cussing mode.

Nothing epic about handling The Magnificent Fish. It stayed low, ran back and forth, and all-in-all made it pretty easy for me to keep it on the hook, but it was fun. It finally tired out and I brought it smartly to the bank - a 12 to 14 inch rainbow, just as pretty as you may please - and that's when I remember the landing net that's over on the opposite bank. Where it was safe and dry.

I paused, trying to decide what to do with The Incredible Fish. It's the largest fish I've caught on a fly and I was wondering if I should try to hold the 9-foot noodle of a rod in a pose that makes ballerinas jealous and land it by hand? Or maybe I should try to drag it up on the rocks and deal with it there? Or would it be more satisfying to just keep standing there staring at it?

In the end, The Buggered Fish made the decision for both of us when it turned sideways to me - eye-to-eye in fishy universe - opened it's mouth and clearly called me "The dumbest damn Irishman (it had) ever seen," and spat out my hook.

You gotta love it to take that kind of abuse from a Stupid Fish.

The whole experience left me with one burning question: I've been using Frog's Fanny flotant, and I'm not too successful with keeping dry flies on top of the water. What's your favorite flotant?
 
E
eugene1
Glad you're getting into them (well, it), can't help ya with flyfishing info since I know nothing about it.

Best,
 
F
FishFinger
I didn't catch what type of fly your using, however applying Scotch guard after tying your dries or 12 hrs in advance if you want to water proof ones already residing in your fly box
 
O
OnTheFly
I hate it when fish do that. If they had hands I'm sure they'd spit the hook at the same time giving you the flying finger sign. Take your file and hone that hook until it easily grabs your thumbnail. That always humbles an arrogant fish.

Try Loon: Top Ride and Aquel. Aquel is a goo that goes on first then the Top Ride is a moisture wicking dry shake. https://www.google.com/search?q=loo...gLy6ICgCw&ved=0CDsQsxg&biw=1440&bih=785&dpr=1 False casting buys you a little time between applications too.;)
 
T
Tinker
FishFinger said:
I didn't catch what type of fly your using, however applying Scotch guard after tying your dries or 12 hrs in advance if you want to water proof ones already residing in your fly box

Just a mess of flies whose names I've already forgotten. Sorry. I've promised The Boss that I won't leave llittle bits of fly-tying material floatig around her kitchen, so I'm buying them and that doesn't make it easier to remember what they're called. A couple of Wulffs, a few Adams and Parachutes Adams... beyond that, I've forgotten. Someday I'll remember them all.

I have Scotch Guard around, somewhere. I'll sure test it.

OnTheFly said:
I hate it when fish do that. If they had hands I'm sure they'd spit the hook at the same time giving you the flying finger sign. Take your file and hone that hook until it easily grabs your thumbnail. That always humbles an arrogant fish.

Try Loon: Top Ride and Aquel. Aquel is a goo that goes on first then the Top Ride is a moisture wicking dry shake. https://www.google.com/search?q=loo...gLy6ICgCw&ved=0CDsQsxg&biw=1440&bih=785&dpr=1 False casting buys you a little time between applications too.;)

I debated Frog and Loon products and went with Frog. It's not horrible, but two casts (or one cast and a dumb minnow) and the fly won't float. That seemed a bit quick to me. Will try the ScotchGuard until I can get to some Loon products.

I'm famous for whining about how small the eyes are on trout flies when you're trying to tie on a new/drier fly in the breeze. World renowned baby about it, I believe, so anything that allows me to fish and not sit on the bank squinting and getting an eyestrain headache would be quite a bonus. I was bringing the flies in and blowing on them to dry them out this morning, and then crabbing about struggling to get enough line out to make The Cast again, but I had a chance to notice that a couple of false casts helped dry the fly a little and I don't have to crab about getting the line back out. Not a cure, but it was better than making no false casts at all.

Maybe I'll just switch to nymphs. Probably not. I like watching them grab a fly floating on the surface.

ScotchGuard and Loon. Writing them down, and thanks!

P.S. That part of my cheek, just below my right ear, will testify that the hook was pretty sharp this morning. Haven't gone back to check the hooks on some flies I've used in the past week, and will write down that tip, too.
 
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T
Tinker
eugene1 said:
Glad you're getting into them (well, it), can't help ya with flyfishing info since I know nothing about it.

Best,

Me neither. Know anything about fly fishing, I mean. You can count on the fingers of your left hand the number of times I've fished with my fly rod and you'd still be able to signal "OK".

Still too early for salmon in my area and the rivers are so far down that 99.5% of the trout are too small even for ultra-light gear, but can still be fun on a light weight fly rod, so I'm trying it out. A fish larger than 8 inches is exceedingly hard to find right now and hooking one was a surprise both to me and to The Buttheaded Fish this morning.

Thanks.
 
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S
Spydeyrch
Tinker,

Sounds like you had a great day man!! Even if you hooked yourself, even if the minnows kept getting on your fly, and even if you lost that nice fish. Remember, it is fishing, not catching ….. yeah yeah yeah, I know, that phrase is over used, hehehehehe. :rolleyes:

I think that you are progressing quite well, really you are. Sounds like you are getting out there as often as you can and that you are getting some good practice and catching in. Keep at it man. Try to learn the names of those flies that you use.

Regarding floatant. I haven’t ever tried Scotch water proofing spray or anything else like that. But what works for me is using gink/aquel paste. Before your fly even gets wet at all, apply a sufficient amount to the hackle, body, wings, and first few inches of your tippet. Blow on it a little to puff up the hackle some. Then fish away.

After the first fish, or after it not floating any more, try and do a quick succession of short lined false casts to rapidly flip the water off the fly and dry it. Then plop it in your fly in your loon dry fly powder. Close that lid and shake it around for a good few moments. As you pull it out, be careful to not spill the powder all over the place, it comes out easily!!

Throw it around in the air a little, then fish away. You should be good to go for a while. But typically after catching a fish, you will need to do the whole process again with the powder.

I use the grease/paste for only the first application. Then switch over to the powder from there on out. Also, some fly shops sell little drying cloths. Mine is like a false leather / micro-fiber cloth. It is skin color. I use it to straighten my leaders, dry my flies, and do other things too. It works well!! I mash my fly in it to really dry it out, then shake it in the powder.

-Spydey
 
T
Tinker
Thank you, Sydey - as always, a fountain of useful information!

I didn't lose the fish, the whole adventure is locked in my head and that's darned near just as good. And yesterday I saw it's big brother (or one of it's offensive linemen). Really BIG, and at least twenty feet beyond the longest cast I can possiibly make with a strong tailwind on my finest day. I'd just released another minnow and was drying the flyh when I saw it leap. And again, a bird was involved, but this time it was a duck, not a heron. Coincidence? I think not. I believe there's a population of bird-eating mutant fish breeding along the coast to deal with the cormorant menace.
 
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T
Tinker
FishFinger said:
I didn't catch what type of fly your using, however applying Scotch guard after tying your dries or 12 hrs in advance if you want to water proof ones already residing in your fly box

Alrighty, I tried it on a parachute Adams (one of the few I can identify on sight) and it's somehat better than Frog's Fanny alone. I can still drown the fly pretty easily, but it dries much more quickly with a couple of false casts and seem to recover it's bouyancy more completely than it did with just flotant. So it's directionally better and I can keep a fly on the water longer than before.

I treated it the day before I used the fly, and I could still smell it on the fly. I'm not sure I'll try it too often, but it did help.

Thanks.
 
S
Spydeyrch
Something that Brad mentioned from your other thread, if you are using floro for your tippet, treat it with some floatant too. Floro is dense and will sink if un-treated. That is one of the reasons why I use mono the majority of the time for my leaders and tippet. It doesn't tend to sink.

Just a thought ... :D

-Spydey
 

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