Colorado Fly Fishing by The Flyfisher

Z-AXIS Review

I have only owned my 590-4 Z-Axis from Sage for a few weeks and I have already had mixed feelings about it. I fished it very hard last week in an all day fly fishing tournament and was extremely pleased with how it handled the nymph rig and the big fish that we got into. My overall impression of the rod was that it fished far faster than it had cast. Allow me to explain; about 1 week before the tournament I took the rod and new 2550 reel out into the grass for a quick test drive. I was not an immediate fan - It was a bit slower than I had hoped for and I was struggling to throw big casts into the wind. Eventually, I discovered that I was trying to carry too much line in the air. It seemed to cast best when I would carry less line and shoot more on the delivery. On the water however, my opinion changed greatly - this rod was a CHAMP from the get go! The Z-Axis is extremely light, responsive, and has plenty of backbone for any type of fishing situation and/or size of fish. I am very glad that I own one. OK, I confess, I actually own two...you just never know. Which brings me to my other portion of the review; durability. One of the rods broke the day of the tournament. Granted, the air temps were in the mid 20's and the rods were icing up every 10 minutes, but I have to say I was a little shocked to see it break on its first time out of the tube. The good thing is that it will be repaired or replaced in no time. Sage has always been good about repair times. Despite the breakage, I am in love with the rod to say the least. It is my new favorite 5wt, and that is saying a lot! Stay tuned for a review of the Sage 2550 reel.

Ethan Emery   

Tying Table Tips - improving your speed

If you are anything like me, you enjoy tying flies but you see it as more of a prerequisite to fly fishing. It is something that you do as a step toward accomplishing a bigger goal. For me, that goal is fishing! Since tying flies is only a stop toward accomplishing my larger goal, I like to minimize my time at the vice. Over the years I have found that there are a few tricks to cutting off minutes here and there. Here are some of my suggestions:
1. Use the largest thread you can - This leads to fewer break-offs.
2. Tie flies in dozens, even if you don't think you need that many - you will spend less time digging for materials and more time making flies.
3. Tie flies in steps - for example, if you are tying bead-heads, put all the beads on at the same time. Making epoxy backs? - apply epoxy to an entire batch of flies all at the same  time.
4.  Substitute more user friendly materials - Instead of true epoxy, use UV Knotsense, an easy to control UV cured epoxy that dries in seconds when exposed to UV light (the sun works great!)
5. Learn to tie with your scissors in hand - every time you have to go back to the table you are wasting precious seconds that all add up!
6. Use your rotary vice, if you don't have one, go get one! - Many tiers don't really know how to effectively use their rotary vice. Rotary vices can save you lots of time when wrapping materials like hackle, wire, and ribbing onto the fly, and they usually produce better results.

There are lots of tricks out there, but these are some of the more common ones that apply to lots of different fly patterns. Enjoy!

Pick up more helpful hints by taking a private fly tying lesson. Learn more at: www.theflyfisher.com/anglinguniversity

Ethan Emery - Angling University Director

Adding power to your cast

There are a lot of analogies when it comes to tightening your casting loop and adding power to your dry fly cast. The one I like the most has to do with the back-cast and how it lays the foundation for the entire casting motion. There are a few common mistakes that anglers make that weakens the effectiveness of their back-cast. They are as follows: 1. A weak back-cast, 2. The back-cast comes too far back, and 3. The back-cast never truly comes to a stop.

Let’s take this one at a time, starting with the weak back-cast. Think of it like this; if you need to cast 30ft to reach a rising fish in front of you, you first need to get all 30ft of that line behind you, and it won’t happen with a weak back-cast. The back-cast should be equal to, or greater in force than that of the forward cast. When in doubt, add power to your back-cast

Bending the wrist is THE most common mistake in all of casting and it leads to the cast coming too far back. To eliminate this, shorten your cast by bringing in line, run your index finger up the SIDE of the rod, not on top. Pretend you are 6yrs old again playing cops and robbers and you are shooting the bad guy with your finger while you cast. This “finger on the side” technique prevents you from bending the wrist because your finger simply doesn’t bend that way.

Lastly, you will notice that casts are just like people, their past shapes their future. Failure to stop the rod at the end of the back-cast never allows the rod to properly load for the forward cast which leads to a very underpowered forward cast. If you don’t know what I am talking about, watch your back-cast some time. For shorter casts, those less than 30 ft or so, stop the rod at the 12 o’clock position. For longer casts up to 60ft, stop the rod closer to the 11 or 10 o’clock position.

These are not hard rules, more like guidelines to help you improve a vital part of your fishing experience. Don’t get too caught up in casting though, after all, the fish are in the water and seldom care how your flies get there.

To learn more about casting or sign up for a private casting lesson log on to: theflyfisher.com/anglinguniversity. Or call 303-733-2672.

 

-Ethan Emery

What Convinced You to Start Fly Fishing?

Have you ever taken the time to reflect upon what convinced you to start fly fishing? It is the start of another season and Colorado is on the verge of another fantastic season. When I need an escape from the daily grind, I often grab a cup of coffee and sit on the back deck in the cool morning air looking out towards magical Pikes Peak. No two days does this range look the same, and I tend to drift off into vivid memories of yesteryear’s days fishing in: Colorado, Idaho,  Montana, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, West   Virginia, and others.

I have tried to explain the majestic reward of fly fishing to others who have never tried. It does not matter where you are in the world. The American Museum of Fly Fishing has a new DVD titled “Why Fly Fishing” that is done in HD. There are 11 chapters capturing all aspects of our sport. You can get this DVD directly from the museum, and $25 of the DVD is tax deductible, since the American Museum of Fly Fishing is a 501-c-3 charitable organization.

Midcurrent email newsletter has a featured section of this video at: http://www.midcurrent.com/video/clips/wff_1.aspx

This clip captures the essence that is so hard to explain. My mantra is chasing after the perfect trout. Having been asked what is the perfect trout? I like to respond with a zen-like statement of, “You need to understand what that is for yourself.” When my time comes, I know that I will have tried to capture the perfect trout as defined sitting on my deck looking into the Rocky Mountains.

Maybe fly fishing is just a quintessential journey that needs to be experienced to understand the dimensions.

So, why did you start fly fishing?

Anthony Bartkowski

 

Tying Tip- Magnets

Late Night Tying Disaster!

I spilled an entire storage box of hooks into my wastebasket and all over the floor. I had to come up with a way to recover my hooks. A magnet had to be the easiest way to accomplish the recovery. So in the morning I headed off to Home Depot in search of a hook picker upper solution. I found some small high powered magnets that I attached to a tongue depressed with 5 minute epoxy and presto a home made hook picker upper. This worked remarkably well. I got 99% of the hooks. I'm sure I will find the remaining 1% when I am walking around barefoot. I used the new "wand" in the wastebasket and it got the majority of the hooks there too. 

After looking round my tying desk I realized that magnets could be used in a number of applications. The 25 packs of Umpqua hooks come on a magnetic square. I had always pitched the squares in the past. After a new purchase of hooks, I took the magnetic square and permanently attached (5 minute epoxy) them to the bottom of my tying wastebasket (A clean 5 gallon paint bucket). Now, stray hook that make their way into my wastebasket stick to the magnets. When I empty the basket I recover the stray hooks that are sticking to the magnets on the bottom of the wastebasket.

I also use a magnet to magnetize my tying scissors slightly to aid in picking up hooks off of my tying desk while I am tying.

Something to try.

Scott M

Snow = H2O

107 +107 +107 +127 +137 +140 151 +160 = 126.......Huh?

It actually does add up. As of March 15th 2008 the state of Colorado is sitting at 126% of normal for our snow pack.

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/CO/Snow/snow/watershed/daily/co_update_snow.pdf

This is great news for our rivers, reservoirs and especially our fisheries. After years of lower than average snow levels, 2008 is shaping up as a banner snow year. Have we finally shaken the drought? Only time will tell.

Look for our rivers to experience a longer than average run-off period, perhaps well into July. In the short term, that's not the best scenario for fishing but if we end up getting some flushing flows, watersheds like the South Platte Drainage (Especially Cheesman Canyon) will benefit immensely.

My advice: Get out, go fish and enjoy the Spring fishing because the run-off is right around the corner!

P.S. As I am writing this, it is snowing and the weather service is predicting 6"-16" inches of the white stuff.

Scott M 

When will the Fish Arrive

I felt like the tribe living on the other side of the mountains in the movie I saw last week 10,000 BC. It was pretty good... but standing in the river above Chatfield last Friday I felt like I was waiting for the ever elusive Mastodon to make its annual migration. The anglers were there. I counted over 50 in the 4 hours I spent looking for the fish. We were in the right place, just not at the right time. The flows looked good, best I have seen this time of year in a while. Let's hope the fish show up soon. Please someone send them the memo!

mattieb

Catch & Release vs. State Record

Today I was reading a variety of posts on another blog and stumbled upon a statement that is quite frankly disturbing. The post was about how a southeastern fly angler caught a 21-inch smallmouth bass and kept it to verify the record. In doing so, the fish died and he proudly had it stuffed. His dad had to use his name for the record as the angler is not of legal age. So technically speaking the record is not in his name.

That is completely wrong!!! One of the leaders in catch-and-release fishing was BASS founder Ray Scott back in 1972, long before the above mentioned angler was even conceived. BASS has been conducting events for 40 years and using catch-and-release methods for research on bass, and releasing them back into their native waters allowing the fans to chase after the same fish.

The fly fishing industry has also been a leader of this conservation method. Today's technology has allowed for many different ways to verify records: pictures, witnesses, measuring length and girth, and using handheld scales.

The Flyfisher Guide Service, along with other guide outfitters, practice catch-and-release and we preach it to our clients. Just think how rewarding it is to have your photo taken with a large trout, and then release it back into its habitat and to have someone else reap the same feeling of catching the same trout.

This past summer I was able to witness many different clients catching the same trout and having their pictures taken with the same fish. This is the true meaning of a sport fisherman. Who cares about records? If you care about records, find out from the local department of wildlife on how to verify your catch and have your record count only when you return your catch back into the water.

What are your thoughts on catch and release?

Anthony Bartkowski

Sharpen your skills for Spring!

    Spring is right around the corner...Are you ready? It is good to prepare your gear for the spring and a new fishing season, but don't neglect your own skills when it comes to preparing your fishing tools. The more you grow as a fisherman/women, the more you realize that fly fishing is about 75% mental, 20% physical, and 5% luck. Although, there are times when it seems those odds change. Being successful on the water has more to do with your mental game than your physical ability to cast, mend, set the hook, etc. Before any of that takes place, you need to have a plan of attack including what flies to use, how to set up your rig, where to fish, and even what you will do when you hook a fish.

   Need a refresher on the basics? Book a private lesson today and build your own agenda and curriculum to focus on your areas of growth. Starting at only $275, we can get you on your way to that next step in your fly fishing game.

Ethan

Tying Table Tips - attempting new patterns

Over the years I have seen a lot of fly tyers make all sorts of flies for all sorts of fishing conditions. I have watched Jack Dennis tie all of his favorite cutthroat patterns, Shane Stallcup tie lake flies, Gary Borger tie streamers. The list goes on and on. Inevitably, I am inspired to tie up what I just saw, but of course, it looks nothing like what they just made...that is until I keep practicing. In fly tying there is no substitute for time at the vice, so when attempting a new pattern I always tell people to plan on making about 6 bad flies before you get a good one. Concerned about your materials? Buy a razor blade, take your "bad flies" and cut everything off of the hook. This allows you to salvage the hook and the bead if applicable, and keep on tying. Practice, Practice, Practice!

Ethan