Fly Fishing

Many of my first years fly fishing were spent following a few good friends around many of the notable streams in western and central Pennsylvania. Ron, Greg and a few others would take me along and were kind enough to teach me quite a bit along the way. Incursions to Spring Creek, First Fork, Yellow Creek and Oil Creek proved to be very productive. I soon became very fascinated with the sport and realized some of these guys actually knew what they were doing.

As my interest increased I would listen to them explain the importance and characteristics of hatches. Blue Winged Olives (BWO), Red Quills, Sulphurs and Green Drake were much the fan fare to a neophyte like myself. With some experience and a little book work over the winter my fly fishing prowess began to grow.

After a few years I really felt I had mastered this fly fishing thing and truly knew quite a bit about many aspects of fly fishing including hatches. That was so I thought.

One May evening I started to see a hatch take to the air on Penns Creek. With my now vast experience I confidently announced to all that a Sulphur hatch was beginning to take shape. A silence fell over the stream. That in itself was very unusual because peace was usually left back at the side of the road with quiet when I fished with this gang.

Ron then shouted over that this was not an Ephemerella dorothea hatch and wasn’t sure what was coming off the stream just yet. Now it was my turn to pause. Who da whaddity? Ron was a teacher, but it wasn’t science. Ron normally spoke in barley and hops not foreign tongues. Could it be I was I not paying attention to our secret assault plans for the evening when I was filling the cooler with ice?

Greg, the real science teacher, could see I looked a little confused and chided in that there are thousands of different types of mayflies, caddis and stoneflies in the streams and each species had...

Humm, looked like there might be some members who do not think the stream reports are a good idea. But then again 11% think they rule so are the results really reliable. I use stream reports for entertainment purposes.

Mark your gear
Easy enough to do, but often overlooked is marking your gear with a phone number. There is nothing worse than losing a flybox or leaving your vest in the brush and then driving home. Simple solution is a putting you phone number on all you gear with a Sharpie.

Practice casting
Take some time and tie a small piece of red yarn at the end of your fly line and give it a go in the backyard before you head out. This works well if this is your first time out or you have not gone out since last June. Confidence is king.

Know your knots
Practice and know when and where to use some of the basic fly knots. An Improved Clinch and Blood knots get me through many situations. Check out Grog's fishing knot index for more help.

There are several new waterproof cameras that have been announced and released recently. Digital cameras have been making significant advances and anglers are taking advantage of those new features. Most notably waterproof features that protect cameras and even provide add new functionality over older models.

Canon launched the PowerShot D10, its first waterproof digital compact. It touts to be waterproof up to 30 feet, freeze proof up to -10 degrees, shockproof when dropped from a height of just over three feet. The Canon camera provides a 12.1MegaPixal sensor; 3x optical zoom, 2.5" LCD, Smart Auto Mode, Blink Detection, movies and Face Self-timer. It uses a rechargeable Li-ion battery. Canon claims to have an underwater scene mode that would be fun to try out. The street price is $329.

The Fujifilm Z33WP is design and styled more for the younger set the feature that works for angler is the waterproof capabilities to 10 feet. Fujifilm likes the style and size as its big difference. Fujifilm offers many nice features that include: movies, underwater scenes, 10 Megapixel sensor, and Li-ion battery. The suggested street price is $199.

These cameras offer a lot for the price. Both cameras provide JPEG pictures, but not any RAW format options. Anyone looking for a new waterproof camera should look into these new offerings.

Thanks to Nittspike for the topic.

For many of you newer fly fishing anglers who are just getting started, there are a few videos from Orvis providing some techniques for casting and other principles. They can be found on You Tube and can provide some basic concepts that are hard to visualize from a book. Since about 50% of all anglers on this site have started on their own, the first time angler might like a little extra help.

ALEXANDRIA, VA (August 28, 2008) – The winner of the national Take Me Fishing™ baseball sweepstakes is William Rocco of Reading, Penn., who beat out baseball fans from 32 other minor league and independent teams to take home the grand prize. Rocco and his family will be presented with a 17-foot Lowe boat and trailer during a special on-field presentation tonight at FirstEnergy Stadium.

ALEXANDRIA, VA (January 3, 2008) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) today announced that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will participate in a direct mail marketing effort to increase fishing license sales. Twenty states have currently signed on to participate in the direct mail marketing initiative, a program designed by RBFF to increase participation in the sport and generate awareness of the connection between fishing license sales and conservation efforts. Only 10 open spots remain for states to participate.