Fly fishing Tips You Can Use:

Fly fishing advice from one of the top Grand River fly fishing guides in Ontario. Fly fishing tricks and fly fishing tips which you will use, not only on the Grand River in Ontario, but across Canada. This is the original fly fishing Tips and Tricks Page on the Internet. Don't be fooled by imitations.

Here Are the Fishing Tips:

Archive #4 : January, 2001.

"It is minus 24 with the wind chill factor."

A voice booms out from my radio saying "it is minus 24 with the wind chill factor." Just the thing to get the fly fisherman motivated to tie up some summertime flies. Start tying your summer flies. I said this before, but I'm going to say it again! Start tying up your summer patterns NOW! At the very least go through all your boxes and make a list of the patterns you will need. Hint: those are the ones you probably don't have a lot of in your boxes. If you have a list, you can easily figure out what materials you will need. Collect them now and you won't be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off looking for something as obscure as primrose tying thread on the evening before the season opens.

While you are checking through your gear, make sure you have all those other trinkets you will need for the fishing season. Things like a valid license, fly floatant, a hook sharpener and the rest of those little items you discover you need when you are knee deep in your favorite trout stream, two miles away from the car.

Hang out at the fly tying shops.
Tiz the season! Like black bears congregating at a municipal garbage dump, the lads and ladies will soon start to gather at fly tying stores. Listen to what they are saying and don't be afraid to say things like, "I have never heard of that pattern - can you show me what it looks like?" Another good one is "how do you fish that?" Generally speaking, fly folk like to exchange info and help out other members in the brotherhood, so ask and ye shall receive. However, NEVER ask where they are fishing. Hint: Try not to drink too much coffee before you go into the store, in case you have to leave just as a "tell all" conversation is heating up!

Practice.
Lots of folk - usually those who are good at it - will tell you that fly fishing is an art. I am not so sure about that. I have always believed it is a craft and a sport, both of which can be learned with practice. So get out and practice. String up the rod, tie a bit of mono on the fly line, tie a small bit of wool on the mono and hit the back yard, the local soccer field or the nearest park. WEAR GLASSES! Never start to cast a fly line without wearing some form of eye protection. REMEMBER the biggest error folk make when casting a fly rod is to let the tip travel too far behind them on the back cast. When this happens, the line is driven down toward the ground. TRY STOPPING THE ROD A SECOND BEFORE you think you should. This will keep the rod tip "high" and prevent you from dropping the fly into the grass behind you. They added bonus to dropping the rod tip on your back cast is that when you bring the rod forward, the flies and line will whack the rod. Not a good thing!

The second biggest error folk make will also have the flies whacking the rod. If you hang the back cast out for a millisecond longer than you think you should, the line will tangle on the rod on the way forward. So, if your flies and line are getting tangled up with the rod, you now have two methods of rectifying the problem. Having taught quite a few folk to cast, the line you want to learn on is without question a DOUBLE TAPER #6 FLOATER. The trick here is that you want to learn to cast accurately and this line will do the job. Now I know there are some folk out there who would argue a weight forward line is the way to go, but it's not. Any questions, send me an e-mail.

Getting Down.
This is what I said last time out about using lead free paste. "Take a small blob of the putty and stick it to the top of the rod handle. Then when you need it, you don't have to go digging around in your vest to find the stuff. Make sure you wet your fingers before you start playing with the stuff. It is very, very sticky. Having said that, wrap a bit of tape around the handle before you stick the putty on it. At the end of the day, remove the tape and the cork remains clean." Now we are in the deep freeze, lead free paste can be a huge pain in the ass to work with. It is very un-pliable. This is a good time to go outside and try playing with this type of stuff so you can see - and feel - how it will work when you try it in the early spring. It will save you hours of frustration on the river.

A New Year resolution.
Why not make this the year when you go out and target a new species of fish! Something "local" which will snarf in a fly. You know, maybe one of those incidental species you catch when going after bass, trout or steelhead. You might end up expanding your angling horizons and having a ton of fun.

By the way - all this is copyrighted. If you want to use some of it for publication - or anything else - please send me an e-mail and ask first. Thanks!