Post by yihunt on Apr 4, 2010 7:53:20 GMT -4
New fly-fishing book claims it's all about understanding the current
Sunday, April 04, 2010
John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Like hitting a fast ball or swishing a three-pointer, fly fishing is complicated and nuanced, yet once you get the hang of it and stop thinking about it, it's easier than it looks. And with more fly anglers on the water than ever before, it's clearly a fun and effective way to catch fish.
Tackle manufactures and some fishing pros can make it seem unfathomable, no doubt in an effort to cash in on their products or services.
"My problem with the fishing industry is they try to make it so complicated, overwhelming," said Eric Stroup, a Centre County fishing guide and author.
In his new book, "Common-Sense Fly Fishing: Seven Simple Lessons to Catch More Trout (Headwater)," Stroup breaks it all down to a few easy explanations that begin and end with comprehending the current. He'll talk about getting a good drift April 12 at the next monthly meeting of Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited.
"I was going to write a pamphlet for my [guiding] clients and send it to them for Christmas," said Stroup, during a recent fishing trip to Spring Creek's Fisherman's Paradise in Centre County. "Forty-thousand words later I realized I couldn't print it up and send it to them, so I called a publisher."
Stroup has been a trout guide for 10 years. At his Spruce Creek Fly Company, he manages a team of guides and conducts private workshops for members of the U.S. Youth Fly Fishing Team. His articles have appeared in Fly Fisherman Magazine and Eastern Fly Fishing.
Beginners struggling with the basics and fly-fishing veterans hooked on old habits, he said, can make similar mistakes on the water. In common-sense language, his 140-page "Common-Sense Fly Fishing" explains seven key elements of fly fishing: drift, casting, reading the water, line control, approach, line position and mending the line. All of them, said Stroup, are about getting the fly in the right position.
"Everything [you] do on the stream should start with drift, and I think I had that theme throughout the entire book," he said. "Drift should always be your consideration, no matter what you do. How you line yourself up in the water, the position your rod is in -- it all comes back to getting a drift. You can have the best equipment, the best flies -- if you don't get a drift it doesn't matter."
In a trout's-eye view of the world, the current is everything. With a bad approach or lack of line control, an angler's fly doesn't pass within the fish's strike zone, or the current pulls the line, dragging the fly unnaturally into unintended positions.
"Fly fishing, in a nutshell, is using the current to deliver your bait," said Stroup. "In order to get a drift you have to have a certain amount of slack -- if you have too much slack the current takes your line, you're not getting the right drift and you can't set the hook. The No.1 thing is for people to have some control of the line so they can manipulate it, and keep enough slack so they can get a drift."
In years of guiding, Stroup says he's coached many clients whose misinformed or sloppy fishing habits have kept them from catching more trout.
"I think rod position is a huge one," he said. "A lot of guys can do all of the mechanics of fly fishing and know all the entomology and have all the right equipment, and it's the small things -- like keeping the rod tip in the right place -- that make everything else they do harder."
One of the simplest things fly anglers can do to make their time on the water more productive, said Stroup, is get a grip on line control.
"It's a matter, really, of getting the line under your index finger and stripping the slack out of it," he said. "For some reason it's really hard to teach if people haven't done it, because we get so set in our ways. Your finger is your break. It enables you to manipulate the line, set the hook, do all the things we have to do."
Drift and depth, he said, are closely related. While trout can be famously selective, they're more often opportunistic. Whether you're fishing nymphs, streamers or wet flies, said Stroup, your choice of fly is often less important than getting it into the strike zone at the right depth.
"I'm a big proponent of, it's not always the pattern," he said. "Everybody always wants to switch their pattern if they're not doing well. ... Before I change a pattern, I'll add weight. You'll find, when you thought you needed two split shot you needed six, and as soon as you get to the right level you start hitting fish."
Sunday, April 04, 2010
John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Like hitting a fast ball or swishing a three-pointer, fly fishing is complicated and nuanced, yet once you get the hang of it and stop thinking about it, it's easier than it looks. And with more fly anglers on the water than ever before, it's clearly a fun and effective way to catch fish.
Tackle manufactures and some fishing pros can make it seem unfathomable, no doubt in an effort to cash in on their products or services.
"My problem with the fishing industry is they try to make it so complicated, overwhelming," said Eric Stroup, a Centre County fishing guide and author.
In his new book, "Common-Sense Fly Fishing: Seven Simple Lessons to Catch More Trout (Headwater)," Stroup breaks it all down to a few easy explanations that begin and end with comprehending the current. He'll talk about getting a good drift April 12 at the next monthly meeting of Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited.
"I was going to write a pamphlet for my [guiding] clients and send it to them for Christmas," said Stroup, during a recent fishing trip to Spring Creek's Fisherman's Paradise in Centre County. "Forty-thousand words later I realized I couldn't print it up and send it to them, so I called a publisher."
Stroup has been a trout guide for 10 years. At his Spruce Creek Fly Company, he manages a team of guides and conducts private workshops for members of the U.S. Youth Fly Fishing Team. His articles have appeared in Fly Fisherman Magazine and Eastern Fly Fishing.
Beginners struggling with the basics and fly-fishing veterans hooked on old habits, he said, can make similar mistakes on the water. In common-sense language, his 140-page "Common-Sense Fly Fishing" explains seven key elements of fly fishing: drift, casting, reading the water, line control, approach, line position and mending the line. All of them, said Stroup, are about getting the fly in the right position.
"Everything [you] do on the stream should start with drift, and I think I had that theme throughout the entire book," he said. "Drift should always be your consideration, no matter what you do. How you line yourself up in the water, the position your rod is in -- it all comes back to getting a drift. You can have the best equipment, the best flies -- if you don't get a drift it doesn't matter."
In a trout's-eye view of the world, the current is everything. With a bad approach or lack of line control, an angler's fly doesn't pass within the fish's strike zone, or the current pulls the line, dragging the fly unnaturally into unintended positions.
"Fly fishing, in a nutshell, is using the current to deliver your bait," said Stroup. "In order to get a drift you have to have a certain amount of slack -- if you have too much slack the current takes your line, you're not getting the right drift and you can't set the hook. The No.1 thing is for people to have some control of the line so they can manipulate it, and keep enough slack so they can get a drift."
In years of guiding, Stroup says he's coached many clients whose misinformed or sloppy fishing habits have kept them from catching more trout.
"I think rod position is a huge one," he said. "A lot of guys can do all of the mechanics of fly fishing and know all the entomology and have all the right equipment, and it's the small things -- like keeping the rod tip in the right place -- that make everything else they do harder."
One of the simplest things fly anglers can do to make their time on the water more productive, said Stroup, is get a grip on line control.
"It's a matter, really, of getting the line under your index finger and stripping the slack out of it," he said. "For some reason it's really hard to teach if people haven't done it, because we get so set in our ways. Your finger is your break. It enables you to manipulate the line, set the hook, do all the things we have to do."
Drift and depth, he said, are closely related. While trout can be famously selective, they're more often opportunistic. Whether you're fishing nymphs, streamers or wet flies, said Stroup, your choice of fly is often less important than getting it into the strike zone at the right depth.
"I'm a big proponent of, it's not always the pattern," he said. "Everybody always wants to switch their pattern if they're not doing well. ... Before I change a pattern, I'll add weight. You'll find, when you thought you needed two split shot you needed six, and as soon as you get to the right level you start hitting fish."