Why are fly lines still sold with integrated running lines?

Why are fly lines still sold with an integrated running line?

I have tons of fly lines (now used as lawn casting lines) with 'worn out' heads, usually just the first 4-6 meters, and all with running lines that are still able to be of service for many years.

Why don't fly line manufacturers sell fly lines as a 'shooting head plus' with, say 2 meters, running line to prevent hinging effect at the head/running line connection?  Fly lines for double handed rods are sold this way and changing heads (e.g. floating line to a sink tip to fish with streamers) is a breeze.

Maybe this way the price of fly lines can be kept at around $60 maximum? ;)
This also helps keeping the carbon footprint of the fly fishing community lower.

Less tiring streamer rod

I've had a few typical streamer rods (9ft #6) in the past. All these rods cast amazing but the leverage of the 9ft length and the force generated by the rod on the wrist was really tiring. When fishing streamers you are making a lot of casts. The wrist gets quite a beating during a day. The typical streamer rod is not for me. I'll look for a shorter 6 weight rod one day.

Many years have passed and after much looking around I think I found a solution in a Steffen Brothers fiberglass blank: 8.3ft #5/6 in easy to travel 4 piece. Of course my friend George was the one to build it.

The Steffen blank, the last one they rolled in the 4 piece configuration as they now only make 2 or 3 piece, is supposed to be a smooth medium action with a not too soft tip. A too soft tip makes casting large wind resistant flies like streamers difficult. Although I intend to use it as a heavy trout rod, I also would like to be saltwater ready for ultra light saltwater application when needed.

And grips! George and I had many chats about grips. And I'm really picky on grips. At first I thought about a snub nose grip, but it would probably feel too flimsy when chucking large streamers all day. How about a full wells grip? After a while I said I'm looking for a heavy trout rod rod with the looks of a mini bonefish rod. The result is a mix of a snub nose and a full wells grip.

George did a great job on this. The rod is in transit right now, but I'll post an update after it arrives and give it a few casts.

Watch this classic!

Watch this classic, Doug Swisher - Strategies for selective trout, now for free on Youtube!
I watched this video back then (late 1980's?) many times and learned a lot.

More classic videos, these two are about casting, by Doug Swisher

Graylings and bows

It has been a while I have caught some serious numbers of graylings. When planning the trip for september I looked for a stream with abundant amount of graylings. Not an easy task since the grayling population has diminished in many rivers and streams in central Europe. And the very unstable summer to boot, some serious weather luck was needed. But boy did I luck out...

This trip I was supposed to be accompanied by two friends but they both had to cancel due to various reasons. The 4 day trip turned out to be pretty epic! Also thanks to the great, albeit a bit hot, weather.

The first two days were spent on a tributary of the river Inn in Austria, about an hours drive from the historic city of Passau in southern Germany. Too bad I didn't had the chance to visit the city of three rivers. This stream is divided into several sections, belonging to several leaseholders. The two stretches I fished were held by the local hotel where I stayed. All together almost 8 km long. What a great stream it turned out to be.

From the moment I stepped into the water, I saw several pods of fish cruising along the banks. In fact I was surprised the number of fish count this stream holds. Within minutes I was into a small grayling. The typical erratic shakes of a grayling trying to get loose of the hook felt very familiar.

With the anticipating heat I should have started earlier, but from about 8 AM up to around 1 PM turned out to be the most productive part of the day. After around 2 PM, the temperatures hit the high mark of 30 degrees celsius making the fish slow down their activities as well as the fisherman. No need to say that you have to keep yourself hydrated all day long. Also keep yourself protected from the harsh sun rays.

During the heat the best spots were found around deeper areas as well as faster currents with ample oxygen. What a joy to fish a stream full of graylings! I can't remember catching this amount graylings the past 15 years or so. Among several graylings barely not reaching the magic 50 cm mark (most were around 35 to 40 cm) I also caught a couple of chubs as well as rainbows. I even caught a bunch of roaches in the slower parts!

The next day was even better. I fished the other (longer) stretch and while again a very hot day the fishing was amazing. Besides the obvious looking spots, I also enjoyed looking for that only fish in a small seam under the bank or just next to a fallen tree. With just a flick of the wrist, casting a couple of feet of line is all that is needed. This stretch turned out to be very diverse. Just be ready for some serious physical exercise with long walks, rock climbing and bush whacking.

For the second part of the trip I visited my favorite river in southern Germany. Boy what a treat I was given. The fishing was spectacular to say the least. Rainbows as well as brown trouts were in great numbers and in very good condition in spite of the very low water conditions.

It's always amazing in how shallow spots fish manage to hold. I encountered fish in spots that most would never consider even have a look at it. This fellow was spotted in a shallow moss covered gravel area that barely covered its back. Although the fish manage to hide between, under or maybe in the rocks it's still a good idea to look for that familiar shape of a trout. I've seen and caught many fish by wading slowly spotting the gin clear water and sight casting it with a nymph.

The past four days really made me realize how much I enjoy fly fishing. The stress relief and relaxation it gives as the result of pure focusing on the fishing as well as the physical work out of wading all day, climbing rocks and miles of walking. The days were over before I knew.

After a long day 'at the office' the food at the local Italian restaurant was nothing short of spectacular. Great to know that all the guys working at the restaurant are football maniacs like me, so between the servings we watched matches of the Champions League on a huge screen next to the counter.

To show how lucky I was with the weather, the evening of the last day the dark clouds gathered above the hills and started raining. The next morning I left with some very welcome rain for the river to recover from the heat of the past days.

Update 30 Sep 2016:
Rods I used are the G. Loomis NRX LP (8.8ft #3), custom built G. Loomis IMX (9ft #4) and the Epic 580 Limited Edition. I'll do a short review on the NRX LP and the Epic 580 soon.


A short video I made from a couple scrapes of tape:



Watch the video in high quality (at least 720p) by selecting the HD button.

Douglas Upstream

Oops, I forgot to mention the rod called Upstream from Douglas Outdoors in my previous posting about my 4 weight rods. Well, only because the ones I mentioned were all 9ft rods while the Douglas Upstream 4 weight is just a few inches short at 8.8ft.

I fished the Upstream a couple of hours during a short trip to southern Germany this past weekend. The weather was glorious after several rainy days. The river was slightly higher than I wished, but hey I finally got to fish the Upstream!

I really loved the smooth medium action of the rod on the lawn. Loads of feel on even the shortest casts. So much the opposite of all the fast rods that has been flooding the market the past years.

On the water it proved to be a smooth casting and fishing rod too. Fishing a hopper dropper rig as well as a double nymph rig was no problem for this ultra light (weighing a mere 1.7 Oz!) rod. Hope to fish it more extensively during my coming fishing trip in september.

The three musketeers

The nice weather inspired me to have a look at my 9ft 4 weight rods (yes, I love 4 weight rods!). The three musketeers are the G. Loomis 490-4 IMX, Sage 490-4 RPL and the Sage 490-4 LL. All three from the same era of fly fishing history.

The fast graphite rods as we know today began in the end 1980's with the introduction of high modulus graphites developed by the aircraft companies like Boeing.

G. Loomis introduced in 1987 the IMX graphite and the rods with the same name. Sage (originally started as the Winslow Manufacturing Co.) introduced in 1989 Graphite III with the legendary Sage RPL series. These days we might even call these rods medium-fast action rods as rods have become faster and stiffer.

The RPL (Reserve Power Light) series were manufactured for quite a long time. Starting from 1989 and discontinued in 1997. The blank reincarnated in 1997 as a budget rod series called the VPS. In 1987 the LL (Light Line) series started as rods using a slightly lower modulus graphite called Graphite II. In 1989 the LL rod series (discontinued 1999) were also built with the new Graphite III.


Update March 2019:
I sold the Sage 490-4 RPL

Walt Mossberg on the influence Apple has had the past 20 years

Walt Mossberg tells about the influence Apple had, especially the past 20 years.

Jeez, I was there when it happened!

Drones

Every once in a while I wished I had some Steven Spielberg DNA. Not because I want to produce a Hollywood block buster, but because I really like to make a fishing trip memory to be captured worthy to be watched and enjoyed.

How to capture the sometimes amazing scenery I run into when traveling to my fishing destinations? Filming with even an iPhone can be done in 4K these days, so affordable quality isn't much an issue anymore. Nice destinations? Check! For more advanced shots with nice depth of field (blurry background while the subject is in focus) effects you'll need a camera with interchangeable lenses. Check!

How about shots from the air? Adding some aerial shots dramatically enhances the video. Hiring a helicopter was the way to go, but these days drones are getting more advanced every day, both in aerial capabilities (however still limited to about 30 minutes of battery life) as well with on-board cameras (4K!). So being a real fly-fishing-Steven-Spielberg is pretty close to reality. Check out this capture made with one of the most advanced drones at the moment (costing about $3500, ouch…).

Goiserer Traun 2006 - 2016

Didn't noticed it right away, but it has been 10 years ago I fished the Goiserer Traun for the first time.
Although I missed the opportunity to fish this spring, maybe later this year?

2016

2007

2006

EWF 2016

Attended the EWF Show in Fürstenfeldbruck in southern Germany near Munich for the first time as a fly tier after winning the Open German Fly tying Championship in 2014, the award ceremony is held at the EWF. What a great show! The people are great, the organization is superb and the venue of the show stunning. Thank you Michaela, Robert and Armin. You made me feel like a Hollywood star!

It has been about 20 years I tied at a fly show. I can't remember seeing such a relaxed atmosphere as I saw here. Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad on saturday. Because of the rain, the people all gathered inside. It was crazy! Met some old as well as made some new friends.

As usual I had lots of people smiling when they see the colorful deer hair bugs. Especially the frogs and mice were real magnets. I think I tied 95% of the time my mouse because people were desiring a mouse. Many times they asked me what do I catch with these mice. I told them it doesn't catch fish but families! The following smile is priceless.

After the show I headed with two of my friends to the town of Bad Goisern in Austria. The goal was to fish the Goiserer Traun river. Unfortunately the water was, after many wet days, too high for my taste. We looked at several spots to fish but the high water made wading down or up the river pretty difficult. Since there are several rivers and streams in the proximity of the Goiserer traun, we headed for the Ischler Ache on saturday and the Rettenbach on sunday.

The weather was amazing on saturday. The Ischler Ache is one of the many tributaries of the Traun and looked like a dream in the sun. The lower part near the town of Bad Ischl the river meanders a bit before joining the Traun. At a slow and deep bend we saw several big fish, probably barbels, cruising along the deep edges. The fish we caught were sparse and rather small.

The upper part of the Ischler Ache looks quite different as it more resembles a canal with very few diversity in structure or vegetation for the fish to hold. It was a pretty barren stretch with a couple of fish holding against the few boulders. My buddy Marcel caught a nice little grayling on a dry fly. I caught a few graylings amongst most rainbows. I really couldn't find any fish above 12-15 inch. Maybe we're just too early.

The Rettenbach, another tributary of the Traun, is a very different beast so the speak. A small freestone type water with many boulders, corners and vegetation for the fish to hold. Not a stream to fish for the faint hearted or with bad physical shape. We had a 3 hour period of drizzly rain, so fishing was a bit challenging at times. One nice fish managed to open up the bend of my nymph and get away...

I really love this type of streams as it challenges one to sneak up to a fishy spot and move to a strategic spot to cast that one and only chance to stir up the big guy waiting for a nice meal. This is a great stream for a 3 or 4 weight rod, be a graphite, glass or bamboo rod. I'm for sure returning to it when the conditions are better.

I later heard that our friend Rudy did manage to fish the Goiserer traun a few days later. He caught a couple of very nice graylings.

Bjarne Fries, an extraordinary rod maker

Bjarne Fries is a Danish rod maker who has been building bamboo rods for more than 30 years. His rods are very distinguishable, unlike any other rod available today. I rarely, if ever, see a Fries rod on the secondary market. His rods have achieved a true following by Japanese fly fishermen.

Recently Bjarne and I were back in contact again after many years and he offered me to cast a newly built rod. Bjarne generously sent me two rods last week to review: one from the Katana series (8 ft #4) and one from the Pendular series (8.6ft #4, his favorite rod for dry fly fishing).

One can distinguish a Fries rod from miles away. The grip has this gorgeous torpedo-style shape. I just love the proportions of the grip and they feel very comfortable in my hand. The reel seat is all cork (including the reel ring!) and the butt cap is also finished with cork. The underside of the butt cap shows what he calls 'the window to the soul of bamboo'. I really like the looks of these rods.

Fries is the inventor of the bamboo ferrule which he calls F.I.B.H. (Fries Integrated Bamboo Hexaferrule). Seeing a bamboo rod without a nickel silver ferrule is quite a different sight. These FIBH ferrules makes his rods very light, the action of the rod remains continuous and no more need to align when putting the parts together.

The two rods are very different characters indeed. The Katana has what Bjarne calls a 'New semi parabolic' action. The Katana series is probably one of his most sought after rods. The rod feels extremely lively and light in the hand. The rod follows the lengthening of the line very smoothly without ever being sloppy. The Katana just becomes an extension of your arm. At a mere 3 oz (86 grams) this is one extraordinary rod.

The Pendular rod series could be called one of Bjarne's signature series. If one has never cast a parabolic actioned rod, he might be very confused at the very first casting stroke as it feels very tip heavy and sloppy. It takes a while to understand this action and needs some adjusting of the casting stroke.

Although the parabolic action feels quite slow due to the lower section being more flexible than the mid and tip section giving the feeling that its action is 'upside down', this rod was also able to keep up with a more aggressive casting stroke. But the real strength of this action is the way it is capable of 'catapulting' the fly line from the lower (and strongest) part of the rod. Probably hence the name Pendular.

Even though the Pendular feels quite tip heavy due to the taper this rod just weighs only 3.1 oz (89 grams)! That's astounding. In fact Fries' rods are probably the lightest bamboo rods in the world. Quite an achievement since his rods are not hollow built. The diameter of his rods are very small compared to other rods I've seen in the 8-8.5ft length.

His catalog shows an amazing array of rods in several rod series with mostly his own proprietary tapers. One of his most extraordinary rod is called the Noodle, an 8ft #2-3 (!).  Bjarne recently told me that he stopped offering rods with nickel silver ferrules. All his rods are now built with his FIBH ferrules.

Rods built by Bjarne Fries aren't cheap starting at around 2000 Euro's (about $2300) and comes with one tip. An additional tip adds 1000 Euro's ($1100). His rods are immaculately finished (his rods aren't varnished but hand rubbed with polyurethane giving the rod a very stealthy look) and details (like the heavy brass tube cap with an inlay of a piece of the hexagonal bamboo) really show his aim for perfection.

Thank you Bjarne for letting me have a look at your amazing rods!

Update Feb 2018:
Bjarne retired from rod making in 2017. This is too bad for me as I was about to order a rod...

The best of Field & Stream magazine

Here are a bunch of nice articles I found in old issues of Field & Stream magazine thanks to Google Book's search option.

Best way to read these articles is to place the mouse pointer on the article and press right button to 'Open frame in new window' to get a full screen view.


Yellowstone river:




America's fish:




Making sense of trout (or why the nice fish are gone when you arrive):




Of course we already knew these, but always nice to read them again:




Best of the West, a nice list of rivers to fish in the American Rockies:




Fly fishing gets ugly, some nice tips on fly fishing for carp (yes, carp!…):




Going deep in the name of the trout research. A rather long title but some really interesting (nymphing) tips.
I really like tip number 1:

Joe Messinger Jr.

Update Dec 2023:

Read the Q&A I did with Joe.

I've been fortunate to call the legendary deer hair tier Joe Messinger Jr. a friend. I have been corresponding (no internet back then!) with Joe since 1994. Along the end of the 1990's we lost touch due to finishing college and being busy with work.

Almost 20 years later we got in touch again and our friendship is continued like it was never lost. Meeting Joe one day would be a huge honor. Maybe I'll convince Joe one day to visit Europe.

Yesterday the postman delivered a Bucktail Frog and a DVD from Joe. Joe is now in his 70's yet his tying is still immaculate! Thank you Joe! In the DVD Joe shows the unique tying technique Messinger Sr. developed in the 1920's. I think I need Joe's guidance to really understand the technique. Messinger Sr. is also the inventor of the Irresistible.

Anyone interested in the history of the Bucktail Frog I definitely recommend Mike Valla's book 'The Founding Flies'. This book also covers other fly tying legends like Lee Wulff, Rube Cross and the Dettes.

Inspired by Joe's Bucktail Frog, I tied this 'leaping frog' somewhere in the mid 1990's. The picture was taken by Hans Weilenmann during a DAAFT (until some 15 years ago a club of tiers from both the USA and The Netherlands called the 'Dutch American Association of Fly Tiers') get together. I have no idea where the frog leaped to, but Hans later generously gave me a big print out of this picture as a memory.

Here's the only article (American Angler - July/Aug 1991) ever published on how to tie the Messinger Frog. Here's another article (Jan 2020) about Joe and how he is trying to keep the legacy his father started with the deer hair frog alive.

Here's a nice article from Field and Stream, 1991 august issue about the history of Joe Messinger Sr. and his Bucktail Frog. The best way to read this article is to place the mouse pointer on the article and press right button to 'Open frame in new window' to get a full screen view.

Whiting Farms - a video profile

I've written various postings about hackle and the history of genetic hackles. Here is a great video on the history of Whiting Farms and its current operations. No chickens running around the barn yard here. It's basically a laboratory.

Tying at fly fishing events

It has been a while I've tied at fly fishing events. I used to tie more regularly at events when I was in college some 20+ years ago.

This year I'll be tying at two shows no less: the Experience the World of Fly Fishing (Erlebniswelt Fliegenfischen / EWF) in Fürstenfeld, Southern Germany early april. I'll add a few days of fishing with friends in Austria after the event. The second event is the good old Dutch Fly Fair at the end of may.

Maybe I'll get to meet some of you at one of these events?… Please drop by!


Update 1 okt 2016:
I'll also be tying at the Niederrheinische Fliegenfischertag (NFFT), an event organized by Finest Fly Fishing, a fly shop just over the German border.

Elk River near Fernie, BC

After watching this video about the Elk River near Fernie in British Columbia, I had a flash back.

The Elk river is one of the prettier rivers I've fished. I fished the Elk river in 1998. A few years earlier I was supposed to make a nice float trip down the Elk river on a pontoon boat with my friend Doug, but that fell threw due to his busy schedules.

Last time I saw the Elk river was in 2005 when I drove highway number 3 which runs next to the river for miles, on my way to Doug in Coeur D'Alene in Idaho. Why didn't I just stop and toss a fly?...

Just over the borders of Alberta, about an hour drive from the Crowsnest River, the Elk river meanders through valley along the continental divide of the Canadian Rockies. Home of lots of wild cutthroats and bull trouts. There are some tributaries of the Elk river that's famous for large cutthroats. I still wished I had fished the Wigwam river...

The picture I took of the house with the bright red roof is located near the road ending at the Elk river. I always wondered how nice it would be to live in that house right next to the banks of the Elk…

By the way, do you recognize the other picture? :)

Feathers as artwork

We try to make nice flies out of feathers.
Here is someone who really makes art out of feathers. Wow...

What rod companies forgot to tell you...

I've posted several posts on the subject on fast rods in the past and wondering why companies like Sage keep on churning out fast and stiff rods. 99.8% of the time fly fishing isn't about casting 100ft or even 'performing'. Most fish is caught between 20 to 40 ft at the most. The rod should deliver a tiny fly. That's it!

Today Kelly Galloup posted a video and talks about fly lines, but he really hits the topic on the ever faster rods of the past 20 years in the first part of this video. I guess he is saying that rod companies (and the line companies following the rod companies) forgot to tell you something…

At the end Kelly also gives a great tip: stalk more, cast less.