Fly Fishing Life

So, you're scrolling through the various lines available on our site or you've wandered into the fly shop, e...

Being successful at fishing in general, and fly fishing in particular, is largely a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

In Part 2 of this blog, we discussed snow, ice and safety; glare; and water conditions. In Part 3 of this series, we will look at: - Productive Techniques – flies and set-ups to use in the various conditions

In the Part 1 blog we discussed the common myth that you should focus on deeper slower water in the winter because the water is colder and the best time of day for fishing success. In Part 2, we will look at: - Snow, Ice, and Safety - Glare - Water Conditions o Low and clear o Low runoff, moderate water clarity o Moderate runoff, cloudy but fishable o High runoff, very cloudy unfishable As I work through the rest of the variables, it is good to remember that these are generalizations. As any fisherman knows, there are always exceptions to “normal.” (As if there is such a thing!) With this caveat in mind let’s dive into the list.

This is a true story that happened over the last six months. I can still hardly believe it, but I am quite certain I caught the same trout three times in this time period! And not just any trout, but a reasonably large one.

Charles Vick is the President & General Manager of J. Stockard Fly Fishing. Considering ...

On Father’s Day I drove with my family to a nice little cascading waterfall on a small stream near the southern end of Lake Tahoe. We let the doggy dip his toes in the cold water, took a few photos, listened to the water, and generally decompressed.

The Blue Ribbon Big Hole is certainly one of the top ten rivers to fish in southwest Montana. It experiences good, consistent Salmon fly hatches every year in June that draw a lot of out of state anglers.

You can never be alone on a Southwest Montana or Yellowstone River at dawn. Where ever I go, nature – the birds, mammals and fish – are there. In some places they are almost omnipresent. Their absence would be noticed. I fish a stretch of the Big Hole River outside of Twin Bridges at least a half dozen times every season. Less than a mile upriver from the put in there’s always a watchful Bald Eagle high up in a Cottonwood snag. At times the Balds are accompanied by a pair of Golden Eagles. They watch as I slowly fish past their home rarely leaving the snag.

After weeks of big river fishing with streamers, I needed a break. So on a cool Tuesday morning in July I set off early for the headwaters of Stinking Water River (better known today as the Ruby River) in southwest Montana. The Ruby flows some 76 miles from its origins on the flanks of the Gravelly and Snowcrest Ranges to its confluence with the Beaverhead near Twin Bridges, Montana. Nestled in the valley between the two 10,000 foot mountain ranges, the main stem of the Ruby starts at a modest 6800 feet just north of the remote Centennial Valley in a lovely, willow filled meadow. Dozens of small streams flow into the Ruby near its headwaters as it grows on its journey down the Ruby valley. The Ruby got its name in 1877 for the prolific garnet finds in the valley.

This book was written primarily to encourage the non-professional craftsman. The purpose of this book is to help you on your journey to make a bamboo fly rod by minimizing frustration and confusion. It is intended to take some of the anxiety out of the process, which often prevents a fly fisher’s desire to go ahead and make a fine bamboo rod. Making a fine bamboo fly rod is not as difficult as you may think. My son, Tor, made a fine rod when he was twelve years old.

Of course I am not talking about hot spots marked on maps but those hot spots we add to our flies, those little bits of fluorescent thread, yarn, and floss or dubbing that somehow standout over the other parts of the fly. I’ve been incorporating “hot spots” in some of my ties for a while now, but wanted to learn more about where they originated and why they work. (Yes, they do work).