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New Fly Guy

New Fly Guy – Pin Trick

Anyone else out there bugged by hooks with plugged holes from sloppy tying?  I am. Over the last several years, I was frustrated trying to clean these up using the available tools – clipper end and even the Orvis forceps.  I finally hit on sewing needles and pins as an easier to use alternative. Not […]

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New Fly Guy – The Davy Knot

The Davy Knot (created by Dave Wotton) is amazingly simple to tie.  Follow this link to the instructions. It is much easier to tie than a clinch or improved clinch I normally tie using my forceps. Now…. the website with the instructions claims that the knot retains almost 100% of breaking strength based on the fact that

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New Fly Guy – Easy Droppers

As I rapidly approach 60 years old, I have to put pride aside and admit my eyeballs are not as precise as they used to be. The immediate problem this presents for fly fishing is the ability to thread a barely visible tippet through the invisible hole that exists on teeny tiny size 20 and

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Equipment – Knot Strength

You should get this months issue of Field & Stream if the only thing you read is the article by John Merwin titled, “The Ultimate Line Experiment.”  John discusses the best knots to use for different situations and completed a thorough regimen of strength testing that reveals some surprising results. The article includes a discussion

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Review – Quigley Furled Leaders

Capt John Quigley is an accomplished guide in the San Francisco Bay area whose specialty is targeting striped bass using fly gear. In addition to that primary business, he applied his experience both as a guide and a fly fisherman in creating some of the best furled leaders on the market.  I started to use furled leaders

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A Frog’s Fanny Surrogate

Lon put me onto this.  Apparently, the main ingredient of Frog’s Fanny is hydrophobic fumed silica.  I’m sure they have some other secret sauce mixed in there as well, but the fumed silica looks like it will do the job just as well.  I tried it on some dry flies and did not detect any

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Trout Camoflage

You do not have to read many books to understand that when fishing mountain streams, you have to be sneaky. In addition to not kicking rocks and stepping on branches and doing other things and make a lot of noise, you have to pay attention to how you are dressed and present yourself. Not that

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New Zealand Nymphing Technique

Contributing Author – Patrick Taylor Moormans – North Fork, July 5th 2009 I fished the North Fork of the Moormans today (July 5th) and had success. The water levels are dropping but it is still fishable (well maybe not after today’s constant rain!). The lower section is highly pressured due to easy access, so you have to

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Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire?

“Really honey, it was THIS big!”  Who has not exaggerated the size of the catch? After all, fishing is one of the areas where, for many of us, size does matter. The reason we all have such a poor reputation for honesty is that none of us has eyeballs that are calibrated with anything approaching

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New Fly Guy – Basic Strategy

It’s been three months since I started fly fishing, what have I learned about strategies, flies, and the proper fish attack weapons? Here’s where I am (and welcome advice): Rods:  On small water that is covered with trees (Big Hunting Creek, Accotink, Morgan Run), use a 7 foot, 4 wt rod.  On the bigger water

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New Fly Guy – Fly Boxes

When you are a new fly guy, the tendency is to overspend, and get one of everything.  Since that included a whole bunch of flies, I immediately assumed a large box was better.  There are a thousand fly choices that cry out to be matched to a hatch… somewhere… and all need a home. So,

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New Fly Guy – Fishing Vest

Now that I have all this fly stuff, what’s the best way to haul it around? In a previous post, I commented on the type of bag I used for spin gear.  I’ve been using the pouch system shown at the bottom of that posting for the last 6 months with great results.  It’s perfect to

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New Fly Guy – The Cast

After watching the Lessons tape twice, I worked on putting the pointers into practice.  With the great weather we have been having this January, it’s a no brainer to do something that will get you outside. As I mentioned before, I did buy two books: Getting Started in Fly Fishing LL Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing

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