This year, the week between the Pleasanton and Pasadena Shows is affording an opportunity to fish at a new venue here in California. Roy and Daneen Gunther have invited Chuck and Janet Furimsky and I to join them at their facilities on Goodwin Lake near Jamestown. This long, narrow lake sports very healthy rainbows in the 16 to 27 inch size, with the potential of some even larger ones. I’ll post a complete fishing report in a few days, after our trip there. You can see photos of the lake, the fishing, and the lodge facilities at www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p370547.

My friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland sends his salute to all U. S. fly fishers. He has been experimenting with eel skin sculpin designs for European waters. These are foam headed flies that are fished on a sinking line. In my forthcoming book, Long Flies — Streamers, Bucktails, and Other Big Fish Flies, I discuss this tactic. Here’s an excerpt:

“Anti-Jigging”

The concept of using a sinking line with a floating long fly has been taken to refined heights (and depths) by British stillwater anglers. Using foam-headed imitations-often with paired Plastazote spheres-the specialized British patterns inherently want to head to the surface. The fly is cast on a full-sinking line (usually a type IV or V), which is allowed to sink completely to the bottom. The foam-headed fly, however, will hover above the bottom. As the line is retrieved, the fly remains elevated in the water column, but dips and rises with each pull on the line. Depending on the type of retrieve, the fly can be moved in different ways. This dip-and-rise motion can be thought of as an “anti-jig,” but with a similar quality of fish-attraction. It is a great example of coupling long-fly design with specific equipment and a specialized angling technique.

Depending on the gear used, these same foam-headed long-flies can also be fished at depths ranging from the film to the mid-waters. For example, by using an intermediate or type I sinking line, the fly can be worked along through the mid-waters, dipping and rising as it goes. This can be particularly effective when fish are stratified at a uniform depth in the water column, or when you want to fish a fly over a bottom where it is not conducive to drag a fly line. Of course, you don’t have to use one of the specific British-designed long-flies to make the tactic work on your home waters. Really just about any floating foam or foam-headed fly can be pressed into service. And you don’t have to restrict the tactic’s use to stillwaters.

One time, Jason and I were fishing a northern Wisconsin smallmouth bass river. The bottom was composed of rock slabs and boulders with mostly gravel and sand in between. It was an ideal place to employ an anti-jig. We’d been fishing most of the day with our usual line-up of smallmouth bass flies, and catching one here, and one there. Then I decided to try the anti-jigging tactic. The fly I chose was one of Lee Haskin’s Slide Ball Slider patterns that I had tied up in a bright yellow color. I knotted it to a 10-foot leader and crimped on a couple of split shot about two feet above the fly. Then, I cast down and across stream and used an anti-jigging retrieve. As soon as the fly landed, I’d pull it under with a loud “kerplunk,” and then work it back on a Jigging Swing. The shot held the fly under, and as I pumped the rod tip, the fly would dive near the bottom and then rise into mid-waters. The bass were indeed intrigued by the fly! Long flies have so much to offer to the angler who’s willing to explore some seemingly offbeat tactics.

Salute to U.S. Fly Fishers from Theo.

Theo's Anti-Jig, Eel Skin Sculpin.

I saw my good friend Capt’n Jake Jordan at the Raleigh Show and he told me of all the recent adventures of fishing for sails and marlin. Here’s a report from his group in Guatemala.

Greetings from Guatemala, just to keep you up to date, the fishing has been good to say the least. Some big numbers have been posted as far as 40 miles and as close as 3 miles with some Blue Marlin in the mix as well. The Samanka group fished the Rum Line the end of Jan. and in three days raised and incredible 112 sailfish and catching almost 50. Ross Darling brought his father and son down the begining of Feb. and saw 60 sails and caught 26 using fly and spin tackle. Chris Martin had his brother and son aboard and raised over 100 fish, including 3 Blue Marlin and they caught 23 sails on fly and 1 Blue on 30lb. Kirk Weisman, daughter Kara, and Chris Malkin fly-fished for three days and raised 57 sails, catching 23 of them, however the last fish of the trip was the most impressive. Chris caught a 70lb+ sail on 2lb tippet! The only thing harder would be to levitate one on to the boat. The Batesko group just finished today raising 68 sails and catching 32 of them.

A steady stream of fish seem to keep moving in from the west as the current keeps pushing them in. Some eddys in the shallower waters are pushing up bait and giving everyone a look at small bait ball feeding on the surface. Breeding packs have also jumped up behing the boat in the spread, where a quad of 70lb males are joined by an emormous 110-150lb. female! All and all, fishing is very good and very steady. I’ll see you soon,

Capt. Chris Sheeder

Rum Line

Can you believe it! Look at his great sail on 2 lb.

The Raleigh Show was a great success. Lefty Kreh, Joe Humphries, Bob Clouser, myself, and others offered classes, gave tying and casting demos, and spoke with PowerPoint presentations. Sunday morning I had a couple of hours to tour the show, and bumped into my old friend, Jay Bergan, who owns and operates the Five Rivers Lodge in Montana: www.fiveriverslodge.com. As we were chatting, he showed me some photos of Jason that I had taken several years back when he and I fished with Jay. To my surprise, the first photo he showed me is the one that appears on the cover of Reading Waters—Jason fishing a particularly nice pool on the Big Hole River! Rather amazing, indeed.

I also had the chance to talk with the guys at Fish Skulls. They have a new product called Articulated Shanks—a hook shank with a loop at each end. One serves as the eye of the fly, the other end serves to connect this shank to the hook behind. Great idea! I also picked up some of the new Sculpin Helmets from them. These are a variation on their original Fish Skulls that give the fly a flat-head, sculpin look. They make great jigs! See more at their site: www.flymenfishingcompany.org

Articulated Shanks from Fish Scull come in three lengths, allowing the tyer to build the exactly right-sized, articulated fly.

Sculpin Helmets from Fish Scull come in a several sizes and colors. They make great sculpin , minnow, leech, and crayfish imitations that ride hook-point up and can be bounced right along the bottom.

An olive Down & Dirty Sculpin with an olive Sculpin Helmet is a great bottom bouncing imitation.

My old pal, Theo Bakelaar, sent me a URL for a site that he writes for that you, my readers, may find interesting. It’s written in Dutch, but there is an opening video that has some great riseform shots in it. Have a look: www.flyfever.com.

A Bighorn bow that John Beth took on a dry fly. He read the riseform correctly.

I will be at the fly fishing show in Raleigh, NC, this weekend. I will be offering a casting class, a fly tying class, and giving fly tying demonstrations, casting demonstrations, and Power Point presentations on several topics. There wll also be time to sign books.

A Casting Demo at last year's Pasadena Fly Fishing Show. I will be giving casting demos both days in Raleigh.

If you can get there this weekend, stop by and say “HIi.”

A very fast, easy to tie, and effective caddis pupa can be built from just a touch of dubbing and a little poly yarn or Antron yarn. It’s on of the flies in my Down and Dirty (D&D) series of imitations. It can be dressed in any needed colors, and the tyer can manipulate the dubbing materials (from coarse to fine, from natural to synthetic, from single to blended colors, and so on).

Step One. Attach the thread at the eye and wrap rearward. At about the half-way point, stop and apply the dubbing to the thread. It’s much easier to apply the dubbing at this point than when the thread has been wound completely to the rear of the shank. It’s also easier because one can twist the material on an inch or two below the shank. As the thread is continued rearward, the bare thread will be used up to wind the shank, bringing the dubbing right up to the shank and ready to wrap forward.

Step Two. Wind the dubbing forward to form the body, leaving a couple of head spaces at the front, Form a spinning loop and insert the fibers of poly or Antron into the loop at right angles to the thread, Twist tight.

Step Three. Wind the Poly or Antron hackle at the front of the body. Stroke the fibers back after each turn so that they are not trapped by the subsequent turn.

My friend, Theo Bakelaar, sent me photos from Holland of people skating on the canals. It’s been cold enough there this winter to freeze the canals, and  thousands are enjoying the great skating.

Skaters enjoying this year's icy canals in Holland

Europe's cold winter is a great time for skating in Holland.

Every once in a while someone creates a new and better mouse trap. Here’s the best hackle pliers I’ve seen in many a day. It holds a hackle feather like you can’t believe. It’s super light so it doesn’t break delicate feathers, and it’s formed in a loop so that one can merely insert an index finger in the loop and wrap the feather under constant pressure. It’s my go-to hackle pliers for serious production tying. Try one, and it will be your go-to pliers, too.

You can get them for $12.00 each, postage paid, from Tyflyz Toolz, P. O. 94, Cascade, CO 80809.  Dealers inquires are welcome.

The Tyflyz Toolz hackle pliers are high quality, light weight, and super easy to use.

The Tyflyz Toolz hackle pliers hold the feather better than any others I've used.

In my travels around the US I run into products that certainly need to be publicized. Goat Head Sole Spikes are one of those items. This year, felt soles are banned in Alaska and a number of other states. This means, of course, that we will all be wading with rubber soles. And although wading rubber has improved markedly in the last few years, it has not improved to the point of equality with felt. The answer is Goat Head Sole Spikes. Back in the old days, we all screwed pan head sheet metal screws into the bottom of our boots to convert them into spiked soles. Goat Head Sole Spikes take that idea to a whole new level. See them at goatheadgear.com. Here’s the info from their site:

Goat Head Sole Spikes™ are carefully designed traction spikes that screw directly into the soles of most any outdoor shoe. Unlike clumsy strap-on devices that rob the feel and agility of your performance shoe, you’ll hardly notice your Sole Spikes except for the earth-gripping traction you gain. Each cup contains 24 Sole Spikes made from cold-forged, heat-hardened, corrosion resistant stainless steel for maximum durability as well as a 1/4″ nut setting drill bit; 28 biting edges on each head offer superior traction with fewer spikes. Serrated flange “locks” the spike into the sole to prevent back-turning and fall out. Needle point screw allows for easy installation without pre-drilling. Short tip and beefy flange prevent accidental push through to the foot. Bright finish makes it easier to find if you happen to drop a spike in snow or gravel. Use of Sole Spikes™ can increase the life of your sole wear and the small gauge of the tip means minimal impact to your sole if you remove the spikes later but most importantly, they can help keep you safe! In April of 2010 my friend Jeff came up with the idea of engineering a screw for use in trail and winter running and approached me about partnering with him to see if we could design and sell a cool and useful outdoor product. I immediately saw the potential for applying these to fishing and thought we could bring something interesting to the market. I made our first rough models for the spikes and we had them refined and enhanced with the help of a gun parts engineer. We collaborated on the name and feel of our brand and I designed the logo and packaging. It has been a fun journey these last 20 months and we are so excited to finally bring them to the public. Given the industry shift away from felt soled wading boots we think our spikes will make a real difference for anglers and hopefully help them feel more confident in their wading and ultimately keep them safe.

Goat Head Sole Spikes come with a magnetic driver that makes putting them in breeze

Goat Head Sole Spikes are ideal for rubber soled wading brogues.