Over the next few days, between the Lynwood and Pleasanton Shows, I’ll be visiting with Jason and Kelley and Brooke. Jason and I have books to discuss, rods to cast, and planning to do. Kelley and I have Brooke stories to catch up on and good times to share, and of course I have to continue Brooke’s casting, rowing, and fly tying instructions–one can’t start too early. She is already showing a strong propensity for the angling life–note the great clothing she has selected to wear.

The Show at Lynwood ran Saturday and Sunday, February 16 and 17, and was a huge success. Abundant attendance on Saturday was followed by a strong attendance on Sunday, and everyone agreed that it was an absolutely fantastic event. I offered a fly tying class from 8:30 to 11 on both days, and the students all noted that we needed to do a week-long fly tying camp. That would be fun.

Both days were so jam-packed with book signings, answering questions, and just general discussions that I only managed to find time for one photo of the event—the fist fly tying class.

Watch for next year’s Show. It will be back at the same venue and filled with all the fun and excitement that The Fly Fishing Shows have become known for. 

The Lynwood show is nearly upon us. I will be offering classes in Unique Hackling Techniques and Tips both Saturday and Sunday morning. We will have a look at over 30 techniques, giving the tyer a huge range of design features to build into new flies or with which to refresh older imitations. If you can make it, please do, it will prove to be time well spent; go here.

A class learning to spin elk hair hackles

One of the hackling tactics that we will learn is how to make an elk hair hackle.

The big elk hair hackle allow the imitation to be danced over the surface with a most enticing action.

Every year, George Anderson conducts a cast off with 5-weight rods, assigning points for their performance on several categories. For the last three years, Hardy’s Zenith 9 foot 5 weight has won. Have a look at the contest here. For all or hardy’s products head on over to their home page.

The Zenith is built with nanotechnology developed resins they call Sintrix. They are light weight and very strong. As I noted relier, more reports to follow after some actual fishing experiences with the Zenith 10 foot 3 weight.

All the Zenith models come with ferrule plugs and very strong and stable reel seat.

I will be at The Fly Fishing Show in Lynwood, Washington, just north of Seattle on February 16 and 17 and then again at the Fly Fishing Show in Pleasanton, California, just east of San Francisco, on February 22-24.

At the Lynwood Show, I will teaching a class on Unique Hackling Tips and Techniques both Saturday and Sunday morning, so if you’re able to attend, go on line and sign up right away. In addition, I will be giving demos on casting and tying and offering PowerPoint Presentations on Reading Waters and Nymphing from Top to Bottom.

At the Pleasanton Show, I will be holding a fly casting class on both Saturday and Sunday morning and tying demos, casting demos, and PowerPoint programs on Nymphing, from Top to Bottom and Reading Waters on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The casting classes always fill up fast, so it you want to participate sing up as soon as possible.

Last year’s casting class at Pleasanton had a great time learning new tricks with the fly rod. 

I recently received a Zentih 10 foot 3 weight from my friends at Hardy North America Ltd. I have been using their 9 foot, 6 weight in my casting demos at The Fly Fishing Shows, and had a chance to cast the 10/3. It seems like a really great rod for Czech nymphing and flicking tiny dries on spring creeks. When the rod came I was pleasantly surprised to see that it has ferrule plugs. Then I noticed that there’s a small pocket on the flap of the rod sock where the plugs can be stored. Nice touch.

I will be taking the rod to Argentina in March and again to Germany in April and using it for a variety of tactics. Watch for reports on both of these trips.

The Hardy 10 foot 3 weight showing the ferrule plugs on each section.

The ferrule plug pocket on the flap of the rod sock.

There is no “perfect” or “best” way to form the Three Point Grip. The point of the Three Point is to get the index finger up on the handle so that the rod is re-positioned in the hand relative to the forearm, allowing the wrist to be used fully on both the backcast and forward cast. The index finger is not merely positioned along the side of the handle, but rather is positioned either on top of, or on the upper outer side of the handle. In this position, the finger clearly re-aligns the rod so that it is at about a 30-degree angle to the bones of the forearm when the wrist is bent fully back (bending the wrist so that the thumb comes closer to the forearm).

Note the three variations of the Three Point Grip shown below. They all work just fine. Pick and choose as it feels best to your own anatomy.

Variation 1 as seen from the top. The thumb and the tip of the index finger are both on the centerline of the handle.

Variation 1 as seen from the side The thumb and the tip of the index finger are both on the centerline of the handle.

Variation 2 as seen from the top. The thumb remains on the top of the handle and the forefinger is shifted so that it rests slightly to the outside of the centerline of the handle.

Variation 2 as seen from the side. The thumb remains on the top of the handle and the forefinger is shifted so that it rests slightly to the outside of the centerline of the handle.

Variation 3 as sen from above. The thumb is shifted away from the centerline and toward the inside of the handle, and the index finger is shifted onto the centerline of the handle.

Variation 3 as sen from the side. The thumb is shifted away from the centerline and toward the inside of the handle, and the index finger is shifted onto the centerline of the handle.

South African fly fishers have both rainbow and brown trout that can be sought with imitations of feathers, fur, and steel, but like anglers everywhere, many fly rodders seek other species as well. The yellowfish is a group of giant minnows of the family Cyprinidae that fits the fly fisher’s bill very well. They feed much like trout and are every bit as selective and wary. Many articles in The Complete Fly Fisher Magazine (South Africa’s nicely done fly fishing magazine) are focused on this indigenous group of fish.

Gerrit Redpath recently sent me a story of fishing the Orange River for the Smallmouth Yellowfish (Labeobarbus aeneus). The Orange is the longest river in South Africa. It headwaters in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho and flows west through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. Its waters are not the crystalline flows that the trout fisher envisions, but the fish are there and eager for the fly. As Gerrit notes, “They are a warm water species, sharing some behavioral attributes with trout in terms of lies within a river. As opposed to trout they, however, tend to move around more between the ample lies within the river from where they feed predominantly on caddis and mayfly immature stages.”

Sounds like a nymph fisher’s delight. Actually it is, as Gerrit points out, “Prospecting glides and the heads of riffle sections soon put curves into pulsating graphite and smiling faces alike. Various nymphing methods were experimented with, but the bottom line remained heavily weighted control nymphs (sizes 10 to 8) with smaller (sizes 12 to 16) nymphs on droppers. One pleasant surprise was a number of large fish (4 to 6 pounds) taken in a very fast rapid section.”

The Orange is South Africa’s longest river and hosts good populations of Smallmouth Yellowfish.

The Smallmouth Yellowfish is a giant minnow.

While at the Western Fly Fishing Expo in Calgary, Alberta, this past weekend, I discovered a new product that is just making its way onto the market, and which I think is a real winner. It’s a rod rollup. Developed by Ken Whellem of Springbrook Fly Fishing, www.burfish.com, it will be marketed in the US by TFO. It holds up to 6 rods and will accommodate rods up to a 4-piece, 10 footer. Once rolled tightly and strapped, it is very sturdy, and according to the manufacturer can even be checked on an airline without rod damage. I have no experience with this item as yet, so I won’t give credence to the checked baggage claim, but I will say that it is a great piece of gear, and mine is headed for Argentina and Germany in the next couple of months—inside my checked bag. I will carry it all summer in the motorhome because it is lightweight, easily carried by the handle or strap, and certainly will protect my rods. Watch for this new item to be coming soon.

The rollup with 6 rods aboard, including a 10 foot 3-weight Hardy Zeinth destined for Argentina and Germany.

The rolled up rod rollup. Looks like a yoga mat,–maybe that will help get it on the airlines as a carry on. It’s very tight and compact, and quite strong, when tightly strapped.

Our friend Theo Baakelar sent a photo of a striper that ate his Eel Skin imitation of a Sand Eel while we were fishing in the fall of 2011. There is no doubt that big fish want to eat big bait. And eat they do. The striper definitely has the fly well in its mouth and half way down its throat.

For much more on fishing the Long Flies–Bucktails, Streamers, and other big fish flies–see the book, Long Flies, shown in the ad to the right. It’s loaded with information on flies (including Theo’s eel skin Sand Eel) and how to fish them.

This striper really ate the sand imitation that Theo designed from freshwater eel skin.