FISHING STUFF |
|||
Indicator Fishing: A Fly Fisherman's Method of Last Resort It was a curious mind with a reasonable fear of being left ignorant that dragged a reluctant fly fisherman in love with the tradition of fly fishing and casting for wild and wily trout to attend the presentation of Jim Pettis at the club this May. "Learn to tie and cast an indicator? from the consumate Lower Sacramento pro. I rose to the proper presentation and took the hook. His skill and techniqes are undeniably top notch and the result of a sharp mind and years of fishing. I thank him for sharing his knowledge with us. Indeed, I did learn. Despite the soft spoken prose that made Jim's teaching difficult to hear, I learned a new casting technmique to keep an indicator drifting drag free in a current. (Huey's riffle actually, thanks to a water hydrant, a long hose, and lots of fidgeting and fine tuning by skillful hose manipulators.) A little flick of the rod tip sending a mini loop running down the length of the fly line timed perfectly with a single haul dropped a load of line behind the drifting assembly to keep the fly presentation drag free and perfect. The only thing missing, of course, was the drift boat. Since this method is primarily predicated on the reality that one is drifting down the river in a boat. As hinted above, it is an "assembly" that is drifting down the chute to fool the fish. One would take an Umpqua 1x - 9 foot leader, cut the upper 12" off, attach that to the fly line, then add a long length of 1x Orvis Super Strong, cut this into roughly 12" segments, retie them together with surgeons knots, slide the "Pettis indicator" up on the leader, secure it with a toothpick, tie on two "bugs, a split shot or two , and "cast" that baby into the water. No casting loop necessary. Here a loop is actually undesirable. But we all know that anyway because often we need to open up the loop for casting heavy flies. The idea of all the knots is that as the water gets shallow you can slide the 'cator down to the next knot quickly and bingo you are at the correct depth of drift to fool that unsuspecting 'bow into devouring your creation of three or four glass beads, some Antron and a hook. Truly ingenious. The indicator fishing mantra: when the 'cator goes down the rod tip goes up. Set the hook. Now! It's really stretching the imagination to call what one does to get that "assembly" out to the fish casting. Certainly not in the traditional sense. But we who are out there learning, observed and practiced a new way of roll casting. Learning is learning. and it is all good. "Get to the point!" you say. Okay, here it is: I believe that indicator fishing should be the honest fly fisherman's method of last resort. There, I've said it. What do you think? No desrespect intended. I bought three of Jim Pettis's creations and would choose him to guide me down the Lower Sac above anyone else. Yes I bought his indicators because no way am I going to tie my own and I know that there will always be a moment of last resort. After his patient demonstration into the skill of indicator tying, I believe I will purchase his indicators and spend my craft time continuing to perfect the Comparadun or a no-hackle fly. It was the Kevlar thread and model airplane fuel tubing that finally did me in. Truly, I was never into indicator fishing until I was recently embarrassed by a "technical fly fisherman, a fish catching machine", my godson, one day on Utah's Provo River. That day, I vowed that I would add it as an option of last resort. And as I said before, there always will arise a time when you need a method of last resort. The strange and mysterious result is that it made me a better nymph fisherman. High stickin' and short line too. Because when I indicator fished I did catch fish. It made obvious the fact that at certain times a true dead drift at the bottom is the only thing that will entice a fish to strike. It troubled me that I hadn't worked hard enough to be a better nymph fisherman. So I consciously worked harder at nymph fishing without an indicator and it works beautifully, when done right. It seems today that on almost every stream you see rods rigged with an indicator assembly right from the start. The reason? Production. Everyone wants to catch fish. Nobody wants to get skunked. Bad for the ego. Who's to blame? Difficult call. It's a sign (sigh) of the times. The idea of the gentlemen's morning on the water casting only a dry fly, enjoying the complete experience of being in a beautiful environment, participating in a continuum of fly fishing tradition, paying tribute to the trout's natural adaptation and wiliness, endeavoring to match the hatch, concentrating to overvome the tricky currents and get the natural drift - is this all gone? Reach cast. Tuck cast. Snake cast. Roll cast. New cast... Production, baby. Everyone knows that 90% of feeding is subsurface. Go for it. Tie on the 'cator and let the assembly do the work. But is this really fly fishing? Get the digital camera out for a photo op. Show all your friends how good you are. How successful you are. Swap photos at the lodge, sip the single malt. Enjoy the results success brings. Ask the Enron hot shots. Success is everything. Or is it? Indicator fishing is the darling of the guides. Only one guide trip that I've taken recently eschewed the assured success of the indicator. The Trinity Fly Shop. Herb wont use one. Guides make their tips on hook ups, tight lines, the excitement of the run, and the photos - not on tradition and sporting behaviour. Of course, the client could set the standard, relieve the guide from production and emphasize sportsmanship. But I fear that the client will not want to spend the money for sportsmanship and "doing it the traditional, gentleman's way" and opt out for "getting my money's worth". Need those photos to email. Sigh. So it goes. Back to the guide. Tell him the way you want to fish. No indicators. Real fly fishing. Come what may. And tip him for doing a good job, whatever the job turns out to be. Let him teach you other methods, other than indicator fishing because, for sure, he knows other methods. He is a wealth of fishing and river knowledge. Just ask him. Teach yourself that " fishing is not catching." The art of fly fishing is much more than catching fish. This is expecially true in today's world of diminishing resources, over croweded rivers, and bad catch and release methods. It is well known that all fish that are released do not live. Sometimes it is better not to take that photo and let the fish live by leaving it in the water. The choice is hours. A beautiful cutthroat trout about 18" floating belly up down the Yellowstone river told the sad tale of an over exhausted fish fought with to light a tippet and released with bad techniques. This I witnessed first hand. I'm no saint and I don't say these things from an ivory tower. I love to fish and I lobe a tight line and I have been guilty of too many fishing sins. With each successive year now when I stand in the river, I vow to learn more about the environment and the habitat. Try not to step on spawning beds. Carefully ;release fish caught so that they have the best chance of survivial. Try not to coutn. Try not to measure. Try to enjoy the whole experience. It's a new way of thinking. A new way of living. Look up and see the eagle fly and the osprey dive, the otter and the beaver... See more than the mayfly and caddis fly. Feel the force of nature around you. Take a deep breath; listen to sounds of nature around you. I'm not saying that a true fly fisherman should never use an indicator. Just that its place in your arsenal of techniques should be at the last resort level not the first choice. Challenge yourself. Walk down to the water with your rod unstrung, look at the water and let the conditions challenge you, see what is happening. Look, listen and feel. Then decide. Maybe you'll tie on a dry to catch that rise over there against the far bank. With a good loop and a reach cast, just maybe... Honor the traditions of fly fishing and let the 'cator be your method of last resort.
FLORIDA BONEFISH CONSERVATION PROGRAM UNDER WAY For an extensive discussion of the plight of the Florida bonefish population see the UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI bonefish research website. The University and a number of other private and governmental entities are on a crash course to learn the causes and cures for the bonefish decline in the Keys. It appears that there has been little research on the life patterns of this fish, including where and when it reproduces and the influence of the denser population of people, boats, jet skiis, pollution and other degradations of the Keys environment and food chain. The website describes present and projected efforts to learn enough about bones to execute a recovery plan.
A THOUGHT ON HIRING FLATS GUIDES Flats fishing is a dream for many of us and some of us even go flats fishing, confident that the casting skills we have worked so hard to polish will be rewarded. But, to cast to a bone or permit or barracuda or tarpon or any other surface cruising fish there must first be a fish to cast to. So we suggest that anyone engaging a flats guide ask the guide about chumming and sight fishing before the guide is hired. Most of the magazine articles show a caster being guided - the guide pointing out a fish for the shapely or handsome fisher to cast to. That is stalking the bone and is an honorable and thrilling way to fish. However, stalking is the most difficult way to catch a bone. The fisher must see the fish - which is a skill all its own - and then must make a quick and accurate cast to where the fish is expected to be. If this is your first or one and only flats experience you may stalk all day and never see a fish or see fish that are too far or who are leaving without your permission. If there are "hundreds of fish" as described in many articles, these are schoolies. Schoolies are small fish. The bigger fish are loners or in small groups. Is there another way for the rookie flats fisher? Yes there is. It is chumming. You may notice a chum bag hanging from the transom of a flats guide's boat. All the guides know how to chum for whatever they are fishing for. It works on bonefish. The chum bag is not the way for bonefish but chumming gets fish into casting range. Lefty Kreh has a favorite bonefish chum tube described in one of his books- a plastic pipe with a removable cap and holes drilled in it on a cord. So, ask the guide about chum before you hire . Some guides may evade the question or claim that chumming is not real fishing. But chumming works on the flats and is the best chance for the occasional bonefisher to actually tie into one. There is a vast difference between the number of bones you will see just drifting around or wading as opposed to using chum in a tidal current. The next issue is how will the guide chum. The most effective way is to throw freshly cut live shrimp pieces onto a light spot in the flats - a few inches to a foot or two deep - in a place that has some tidal current running. Frequently the best spots are flats close to deeper water or channels to deeper water on the falling tide. This way the scent leaches into the deeper water. The next thing to watch for is how frequently does the guide change locations. It is acceptable for the guide to chum a good spot for fifteen minutes. If no fish of any sort - rays, barracuda, sharks or bones appear in 15 minutes, move on to another spot. An efficient guide who knows the area will have many locations in mind that produce current in the right depth at various stages of the tide. This would be in a place the guide regularly works - not seventy miles down the pike. There is no reason not to catch your first bones on chum and graduate to wading or cruising for fish after you have sharpened up your skills and dealt with your first case of bone fever. The excitement of seeing a desirable fish in range and having your casting so instinctive (from shooting targets) that you simply look and cast to where you are looking is the ultimate reward for investment in casting games. The trouble with chumming is that it is work and it is expensive. The guide has to buy live shrimp and then cut them up and throw them out and then stand there watching to see if fish come. With two rods rigged, or with a wire leader the fisher can fish for bones and barracuda on the same set. The boat is anchored so that the chum spot is an easy cast, preferably with a back cast to the side of the boat, clear of the guide and with the guide and fisher looking down sun for the fish. It helps if the bottom is light colored for ease of seeing the fish. If the chum happens to be working there can be several fish attracted in a relatively short time - but move on when the action stops or if the action does not start in 15 minutes. Chumming attracts barracuda and sharks as well and lemon sharks are frequently followed by their scavengers, jack crevalle, who will take a crazy charley just fine.Chumming works for people who rent boats but it is discouraged for waders
since it attracts sharks. Most of these sharks are not aggressive toward waders but
who likes to experiment. SOME RESEARCH ON THE EFFECT OF HATCHERIES
The following quotes are taken from a few studies and comments based on
|
