Archive for the ‘Fly Fishing Tips’ Category
Fish Types For Fulfilling Fly Fishing Off Alaska
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the November 15, 2008
So, you’re planning on fishing in Alaska? Do you know the area’s different species? What types of fish you can expect to encounter? If not, keep reading for an overview of the area’s most abundant fish species during your next fishing vacation.
Pacific Salmon
There are four major species of Pacific salmon in Alaska: Chinook salmon (also known as king salmon), pink salmon, silver salmon and sockeye salmon or reds. They’re a great game fish, but usually less popular with cold water fly fishers than, say, trout or Arctic char.
Pacific salmon only spawn once in their lifetime and then die. And though they don’t eat upon returning to fresh water, they will strike surface and subsurface flies. Fly fishers also need to be prepared to do battle with strong fighters. With sockeyes and chums weighing in at 3 to 10 pounds and king salmon tipping the scales at 12 to 100 pounds or more, fly fishers need to be ready.
Steelhead Trout
The steelhead is actually a type of rainbow trout, named for its beautiful silver body and steely color. Like salmon, they like to swim in open ocean or bigger lakes, however they’ll spawn in nearby rivers. The steelhead will spawn multiple times in its lifetime.
The steelhead is strong, large, high-leaping and long-running, making it highly prized among experience fly fishers. It’s also a great catch for the dinner table and an overall tasty fish. The fish averages between 4 and 12 pounds, but can often exceed 20 pounds, particularly in Alaska.
The Grayling (Trout Family)
The graying is a unique fish, easily identifiable by its high and broad dorsal fin and almost neon blue color on its body and fins. For fly fishing, Alaska graylings are both prized and easy to catch. The fish aren’t very discriminating and tend to go for almost any fly.
That said, Alaska graylings do have a few preferences. They tend to like active, moving insects, smaller insects and also dry flies. The fish will also feed on minnows and crustaceans, though traditional light flies seem to be the most effective.
An Alaskan grayling will typically grow to about 4 pounds, but they’re a tasty catch and well suited to the dinner table.
Alaskan Arctic Char
As a trout, the Arctic char lives for the pure and cold waters of Alaskan lakes and streams. The fish makes a great catch that’s lively and strong, though willing to fall for more flies and slightly easier to trick than the rainbow trout. For fly fishing, Alaskan arctic char is an easy lure, but a fantastic catch on any fishing trip.
Fishing Rods And Reels Tips
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the October 5, 2008
You have decided that you want to learn to fish. We will call it Fishing 101. There are several ways of learning, the hardest is trial and error. It sure is better to find a trainer for one-on-one courses. But lets stick to the basics of learning how to fish.
1. Buy seasickness medication
There is nothing worst than seasickness to ruin your fishing. Seasickness medication such as Bonine can do the job. Even seasoned fishermen are known to take some on rough days. Take one prior to go to sleep, another when you wake up and one more before you get on the boat.
2. Go to a party
There are party boats that hold from fifteen to as many as fifty anglers. The boat offers everything like bait, reel, rod, sinkers and hooks. They help you with fishing and take the fish off the hook for you. Other fishers will see you and will usually stay close to help you. Party boats generally will cost you between 25 to 70 dollars a day, and the fish are yours to keep. The party boat is a bargain for beginners.
3. Pick your pier
Assuming you have already acquired skills to operate a rod and reel, you need to look for a fishing pier. Majority of coastal cities have one public pier or pay-to-fish pier. You can buy bate and rent tackle at the piers. If you’re having trouble, there are many pier anglers willing to help and offer you tips.
A Few Simple Guides On Bass Fishing
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the September 23, 2008
Sit down and learn a few very simple bass fishing tips that you will definitely want to be aware of. There is literally no end to the amount of information you can find about what lures to use, what bait is best, what waters are good, and how to get those elusive fish in your boat. Apparently everyone who has actually been out there and has caught the “Big One” has many great bass fishing tips to share, well this is great of course, so why would you want to keep the secrets to yourself anyway?
There are times however, that you need to be cautious when sharing bass fishing tips You can quite easily assume that one set of lures will work for others when it works really well for you. This however is not always the case. So many factors need to be considered when catching fish, and occasionally it is not possible for bass fishing tips to take all this factors into account. Many factors such as the season or time of year, the weather or climate, the water temperature, and the amount of sunlight need to be considered as they factor into the feeding patterns of the fish, and sometimes bass fishing tips simply forget or cannot to put these into account. It’s not just your lure or your bait. All these items need to be in harmony and aligned for them to work.
Which Direction To Go?
The best bass fishing tips you’ll get will take everything into account but will keep everything simple as well. Trying to over-think or over-plan your approach isn’t going to help you be successful at all. There are many factors that go into catching your fish, but fish are still fish. If you’re sorting through bass fishing tips and they are too detailed and expect you to get absolutely everything just right, they may not be practical.
Easy bass fishing tips include casting past your schools and slowly retrieving the lure over them. This won’t startle the fish the way trying to get your lure right on top of them will. You might want to practice some different types of casts; take the hooks and lures off and try some in the backyard or your living room. Use an underhand cast or sidearm cast to get past some cover in the lake; these will need some practice as well. Some of the best bass fishing tips will tell you how to practice these casts until you’re comfortable with them.
Using the right lures is too part of the best bass fishing tips you’ll get. Crankbaits are good in the morning and grubs later in the day. Make adjustments if you’re not getting hits. Make use of lighter lures when it is bright outside and darker ones when you are fishing in darker waters; if don’t then quite obviously the lures will simply look unnatural and the fish are likely to stay away.
What you have read are indeed very simple and basic bass fishing tips, then again the simpler the better. You should just get to know your fish and discover what will attract them but this task cannot be over done either. If you take these tips and figure a way to maximise their uses then you are on your way to successfully catching those big bass.
Some Very Clever Fly Fishing Tips
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the September 13, 2008
There are thousands of live-bait anglers, who are excellent sportsmen, but the fly fisherman can practice better conservation from the beginning.
Basically, fly fishing is not only one of the fastest growing sports; it is one of the foremost forms of conserving natural resources as well as providing aquatic recreation.
Fly fishing is, very simple when three things are right: you must have a suitable rod; you must get a line to match it; and you must learn correct casting technique.
For people who wish to know some tips on fly fishing, here is a list of some pointers that could help anglers harness their fly fishing skills:
1. Material of the rod
For one of moderate means, and especially for the beginners, hollow glass is advised since it will require less care than bamboo and will not take a set if improperly handled or stored.
2. Line
Your fly casting skill will not progress with a mismatched rod and line. About 99 times in 100, the troubled fly caster has a line much too light to bring out the action of his rod.
That is why it is important to know that on any given rod, the fly fisherman should use the same size line for anything from small trout and bluegills up to the largest sea fish.
In choosing the size line, anglers should get a C level, an HCH double-taper, or a GBF three-diameter. This choice is based on the fact that a high percentage of fly rods bought nowadays are hollow glass, and that a great majority of these works best with lines of those sizes, almost regardless of lengths or weights.
3. The correct casting technique
In casting, it is important to get about 20 feet of line out front. Anglers should always remember to cast a straight line. Avoid jerky movements even if it is on a faster mode in order to do so.
Best of all, the angler should be relaxed because taunt muscles will ruin his casting.
Boiled down, there should be no reason why you should not learn the fundamental principles just as easily as those who now enjoy fly fishing.
Probably, the best and surest way to learn to cast successfully is to spend a day on the stream with some fisherman who is a competent caster.
Lessons learned on the stream are the best tips you can acquire anywhere in your quest for learning fly fishing.
Some more Fly Fishing articles
Guidelines In Fishing
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the June 18, 2008
We live on a lake in central Minnesota. This lake is one of the premiere fishing lakes in the state. Many people come here on day and week fishing trips. Most people bring their own boats, but there are others that go out on launch trips or hire one of the many private fishing guides to take them out fishing. This allows for business opportunities for many people that live on the lake, but people should make sure that the fishing guides that are hired know the lake as well as the feeding patterns of the fish.
We had fished this lake for many years prior to buying our home. My husband had been fishing here when he was a young boy. With the modern technology of GPS and lake mapping on marine electronics, it is very easy to find different depths and fishing spots on the lake. After we had lived on the lake for a year my husband contacted one of the local fishing guides and asked if he could enter some his fishing spots on the lake on his GPS. This particular guide has been very successful on the lake. He told my husband that he did not want to share the fishing spots because he did not want a lot of other people fishing where he was. My husband mentioned this to a friend of ours that owns the local bait shop. The bait shop owner laughed and told my husband that this particular guide does not know how to use GPS and so he does not own a unit, which is why he did not share any of the fishing spots. The bait shop owner told us that there are no requirements to pass in order to be considered a guide. He said that many of the people that advertise their services as fishing guides simply take people out in their boats and hope to catch some fish. Some people are more successful at this than others, but there are no requirements.
I was surprised by this information. If I was going to a lake to fish I would assume that the people that are listed as fishing guides would have safety training and other certification in order to take others out onto the lake. You do have to have coast guard training if you have a launch or a boat over thirty five feet, but there are many guides that have twenty foot boats that take people out fishing. This was disappointing to my husband because one of his retirement dreams was to be a guide on the lake. Now that we live here we realize that there are more than enough people already offering to guide. I told my husband that we should look into having an actual service that would provide a more special outing than just a day in a fishing boat. We are going to plan a business around the adventure of fishing rather than just advertising guide services.
Fishing Adventures and Informal Education with Your Children
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the May 15, 2008
Parents often enjoy sharing in the activities of their children, especially when the time involves a trip. An option that typically provides not only fun but educational opportunities as well is a trip to the water to catch fish.
Safety as Your First Consideration
When you are fishing with children one of the most important considerations is safety. You need to assess what type of fishing you are going to be doing. There are so many different variations of fishing options, and you need to make sure you select one that is suitable for the children you will be bringing along.
Though many kids will not want to wear one, a life vest is a critical part of the equipment they will need to bring - and use! Bring along a kit with standard first aid bandages, gauzes and ointments to take care of scratches and cuts that can happen when handling fishing gear, boat equipment, and the fish themselves.
Fishing Equipment for the Trip
Get your children their own personal fishing tackle boxes. This will not only make them feel as though they are in charge of their own equipment, but you will be able to obtain a children’s version of equipment for them to use.
A “starter” tackle box does not need to include too many items, and certainly not expensive ones. As your children grow older and learn for themselves what they need, more essentials can be added along the way.
Letting Children Take Responsibility
Once a fish taken the bait on your child’s line, allow him or her the greater role in reeling it in. Certainly you should drop what you’re doing and instead be available to assist as needed. However your child will experience a real sense of accomplishment by engaging in the battle to pull his catch into the boat or onshore.
It is normally best to introduce a child to fishing early in life. This is useful in many ways. The younger children begin, the more they will take in - although never take a child who is too young to understand what is going on.
Early life experiences also provide children the opportunity to see the how fish are cleaned and realize that this is not a disgusting practice but rather part of the fishing trip experience. You can also let your children learn as you go concerning the rules of fishing. Doing this will help keep fishing fresh in their minds.
Holding Their Attention
You can never be completely sure that your children will take to fishing as there many factors that could detract from their attention. Your initial fishing trip out on the water could be a slow day and you might not even get a bite, let alone haul anything into the boat.
This could result in your children becoming bored. If this happens don’t loose heart. Let your children know that this not unusual when fishing. You never know, you could turn their initial disappointment into a plus as your children may become more excited about finally catching a fish next time.
Children love to feel as though are in charge of doing almost anything, and fishing is ideal for this. Fishing is a great learning adventure, and doing this together should prove to be a wonderful experience.
Wet Nymph Fly Dry Fly Fishing and Poppers
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Flies on the August 6, 2007
Dry Fly Fishing on the surface and wet fly subsurface flies are the two most common fly fishing categories. Just as the name indicates the surface flies usually suspend themselves on the surface of the water. The submariners or wet flies go below the surface of the water imitated the aquatic life cycle of the mimicked insect.
Popovers, oops that’s breakfast!
Fly Fishing Tips Poppers are one of the most popular and effective fly baits. The popper is simply trying to pass itself off a member of the fish’s food chain. Imitating larger insects, frogs and even bait fish just for starters.
You will find fancy paint jobs, doll eyes and rubber legs dressing the poppers, making them look great to us, but do you for one second think that a largemouth bass really cares.
The most important thing about poppers is well, they “pop”. Their flat and concaved heads cause and gurgling and popping sound when retrieved across the surface of the water.
Sub surface flies come in three main types. You will find the nymphs, wet flies and the streamers.
Nymph flies imitate the nymphal stage of aquatic insects. This is the stage before the adult, the dry stage of aquatic insect life. These flies certainly weigh more than the dry flies and of course you can easily add weight to help them sink to the proper fishing depth for the conditions you are in. The additional weight will make them a little more difficult to cast but, the wind resistance will be a lot less.
You will notice that most wet flies imitating the adult stage will have wings where the nymph will be wingless. Some nymphs represent small crustaceans like the scud or sow bug.
Streamers are the final group of the sub surface baits. Steamers are usually meant to resemble minnows or other types of bait fish like perch or shad. A streamer is usually tied to a longer hook and has long sloping wings to form the body of the fish.
You will often find them in larger sizes up to 5 inches long and sometime even bigger. Often they will have lead weights for eyes at the front. This extra weight can give the steamer a jiggling motion, and even causes the hook point to ride point up making the streamer a snag less as it rides across the bottom of the lake or river.
Imitating the subsurface aquatic life cycle of many insects is the wet fly. Often lacking in the feathery collar and wingless and by designing them to be heavier by wrapping lead wire on the hook shank before tying the fly making it sink to be fished below the surface.
Keeping your surface fly “high and dry” will be easier with the aid of fly floatant, a silicone gel you work into the fly feathers with your finger tips, or you can also find it in a spray bottle variety. Many anglers prefer the Gink and Aquel brands which prove to be very effective.
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Whether you are dry fly fishing, popping for blue gills and largemouth bass or working a minnow-imitating streamer always be prepared for the whack and very hard pull of a strike. There is nothing more thrilling than catching a trophy fish. You can find more informative Fly Fishing Tips advice and Fly Fishing Tips tips!
Fly Fishing Tips Catching Fish is the Game Plan
Posted in Fly Fishing Bass, Fly Fishing Tips on the August 4, 2007
Fly Fishing Tips . Catching fish is the name of the game, getting out to your favorite river, stream or lake to test your mettle against a worthy opponent is a pleasurable pastime. If you are like me you certainly do not to wet your flies often enough. It is still easy to stay up to date with great information about fly fishing from the many blogs and websites found on the internet.
Fly fishing and if you are new to the sport or even an “old salt” you will undoubtedly want to learn a few Fly Fishing Tips to entice those trophy fish to strike your fly the next time you venture out to the waters edge.
One of my favorite Fly Fishing For Trout is sharing information with others. I often hear people say that fly fishing is a solitary sport. It may appear that way at first, but rest assured you will discover a wealth of information from your fellow anglers.
So the next time your in your favorite fly fishing shop, just try my favorite fly fishing tip.
Simply ask the older Gentleman or Lady sharing the fishing supply isle and studying the local fly selection a simple question.
Excuse me, Could you explain, “How to…? What does this…? What is the best…?
Now, get ready because here comes the fun part. fly fishing techniques
Listen.
Yes, it is that simple. You will be amazed at the gleam in the “Old Angler’s” eye and the passion with which they love to share stories of this great pastime you are embarking on.
Now, there is now doubt in my mind you will hear about how fly fishing for “Rainbows” or “Browns” is so popular. Did you know that trout live in shallow pristine waters and eat small insects.
Yeah, flies!
One of their favorites being the “Woolly Buggers,” dragon and damsel fly nymphs, sounds appetizing doesn’t it. Then of course you just might need to present those cantankerous stubborn trout a special morsel, a black or green olive leech or two to convince them there is a buffet awaiting their next intake of food.
Paying particular attention to your presentation of the fly and the retrieve of the bait. Now, vary the retrieve slow and steady at first, then going to a fast retrieve.
Patience, young man is a virtue.
Keep trying remember you might need to do a strip and pause or even a short two inch strip to entice your prey into a strike.
Yes, keep trying until you find what works the best at the moment.
What a great opportunity to learn. Listen closely and you will find those little tidbits of Fly Fishing Tips that will make you next fly fishing expedition a very rewarding experience.
Catch More Fish Now click here fly fishing secrets
The Best Fly Fishing
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing on the August 4, 2007
A fly fishing tips article - In choosing the size line, anglers should get a C level, an HCH double-taper, or a GBF three-diameter. This choice is based on the fact that a high percentage of fly rods bought nowadays are hollow glass, and that a great majority of these works best with lines of those sizes, almost regardless of lengths or weights.
In casting, it is important to get about 20 feet of line out front. Anglers should always remember to cast a straight line. Avoid jerky movements even if it is on a faster mode in order to do so. Best of all, the angler should be relaxed because taunt muscles will ruin his casting.
Boiled down, there should be no reason why you should not learn the fundamental principles just as easily as those who now enjoy fly fishing. Probably, the best and surest way to learn to cast successfully is to spend a day on the stream with some fisherman who is a competent caster.
Lessons learned on the stream are the best fly fishing advice you can acquire anywhere in your quest for fly fishing perfection.
Understanding Fly Fishing Targets On Flowing Water
Posted in Fly Fishing Tips on the July 5, 2007
When it comes to fly fishing, the jargon can get a bit overwhelming if you let it. Here’s the plain English scoop on some common terms used.
Understanding Fly Fishing Targets On Flowing Water
Fly fishing is many things to many people. For some, it is a zen like way to interact with nature. For others, it is test of skill in the act of competing with tricky little fish. For yet others, it is a ballet of artistic movements and techniques to obtain the perfect cast for the perfect fly placement that produces the perfect catch. For most, it is just good, clean fun. Whatever your preference, fly fishing has a definite language you will need to learn.
Traditionally, fly fishing takes place on flowing water such as a river or stream. There are variations for lake or ocean destinations, but they represent a minority. Given this fact, following is an explanation of some of the terms associated with traditional fly fishing.
A “riffle” is an area with fast moving water broken up over some solid structure, most often rocks. A rifle can be an excellent location to cast for a number of reasons. The riffle tends to be an area where insects congregate. Where there are insects, there are fish. In particular, try to cast to areas just downstream of blockages as your catch should be residing in such locations.
A “pool” is an area where fast flowing water enters a deeper pool of water. Often found just after riffles, a pool offers little in the way of prospecting in the interior. It does, however, offer excellent prospects in the areas where water flows in. More than a few species of fish feed at such locations as the water flowing into the pool brings food and nutrients with it.
“Dead water” refers to an area where there is little or no current. This tends to occur in odd geographic areas, large rivers or areas with flow problems. Dead water is rarely a good place to fish, so avoid it like the plague.
Although not a term per se, vegetation that grows out into the water and shady shoreline locations are often excellent places to fish. These locations offer the combination of shade and nutrients, which are popular with fish. When referring to shade, it is important to understand that fish are not generally worried about sunburns. Instead, they are worried about dive bombing birds such as Osprey. A fish that cruises along the top of a pool of water in direct sunlight tends to have a very short life span.
Obviously, the above represents a small sampling of terminology related to rivers and moving areas. Nonetheless, you will at least know why so many anglers talk about riffles.
About the Author
Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of fly fishing journals. Visit us to read more articles about fly fishing.