Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2024 i Fly Fisherman

I STARTED WRITING THIS COLUMN ON VETERANS DAY 2023 . . . THE SAME DAY I RECEIVED A LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM LARRY MACE OF WARDENSVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA. Larry shared a passion for the outdoors with his son Stephan Mace, and together they fished the alpine Chicago Lakes while the younger Mace was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. Larry lost his son a few months later. Stephan was one of the eight American soldiers killed in the Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan. Most people are familiar with this event due to the many medals that were awarded, media coverage, and the Hollywood film The Outpost. FLY FISHERMAN has previously written about fly-fishing programs designed to help wounded veterans, but perhaps hasn’t done enough to highlight the programs that help…

FLY FISHERS ARE FULL OF GOOD IDEAS. JUST ASK THEM. THEY DON’T ALWAYS AMOUNT TO ANYTHING, BUT, IN THE CONFINES OF A FLY SHOP OR BETWEEN THE GUNNELS OF A DRIFT BOAT, THE IDEAS POUR FORTH. But one good idea, launched during a southwest Colorado environmental symposium a few years back, has taken root. And this past summer, it sprouted some important international branches that will hopefully help climate scientists better understand how the world’s existential climate crisis is impacting our rivers. At the conference in Telluride in 2019, Dr. Max Holmes, president and CEO of the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, met John Land Le Coq, the founder and CEO of Fishpond, where the two discussed the idea of monitoring rivers over time for their chemical composition,…

FLIES FOR ATLANTIC SALMON & STEELHEAD Flies for Atlantic Salmon & Steelhead: A History of the World’s Most Elegant Fishing Flies by Trey Combs. Wild River Press, 2023, 384 pages, $150 standard hardcover, $500 limited edition, ISBN 978-1735541549. In October of 1992, I was in a tent on a gravel bar at the junction of the Nilkitkwa and Babine rivers. The spot is miles from the road, and the forest around it is a dark, mysterious maze of downed timber, witches hair, wolf moss, and grizzly feces. Despite all that, I carried with me a 512-page hardcover book that weighed nearly 3 pounds. In the tent at night I used a flashlight to once again read the pages that had inspired me to drive 14 hours and camp on what…

Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC) has used interim funding to purchase the 159-acre Dunton Meadows tract—a critically important alpine meadow that contains the headwaters of the renowned Dolores River. Situated between the East and West forks of the Dolores at around 10,000 feet in the San Miguel Mountains, Dunton Meadows feeds the headwaters of some of the best habitat anywhere for imperiled Colorado River cutthroat trout. The property is mostly a broad wetland meadow near the southern edge of the Lizard Head Wilderness. It is surrounded by national forest. WRC is now holding the property to protect it from development until permanent funding can be raised through the Land and Water Conservation Fund to convey Dunton Meadows to the San Juan National Forest, and protect the property for the public in…

AUGUST 15, 2022 BEGAN LIKE MANY OTHER DAYS FOR MICHELLE BRIGGS IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. HER ALARM RANG AT 5:15 A.M. SHE MADE COFFEE, AND 45 MINUTES LATER SHE BOARDED THE NORTHWESTER AND DEPARTED FROM BRIDGE BAY MARINA TO BEGIN HER DAILY MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY DISSERTATION WORK ON YELLOWSTONE LAKE. ON THIS CHILLY MORNING—ALL MORNINGS ON THE LAKE ARE CHILLY DUE TO ITS 7,733-FOOT ELEVATION AND FRIGID WATER TEMPERATURES THAT INDUCE HYPOTHERMIA IN MINUTES—BRIGGS WAS CHECKING THE TRAP NETS USED TO CAPTURE YELLOWSTONE CUTTHROAT TROUT FOR HER STUDY. HER BOAT STOPPED AT THE PUMICE POINT TRAP NET, AND HER TEAM BEGAN THE WORK OF MEASURING, TAGGING, AND RELEASING THE CAPTURED FISH, INCLUDING ONE BEAUTIFUL BUT OTHERWISE UNREMARKABLE NATIVE CUTTHROAT SPECIMEN SHE IDENTIFIED WITH FLOY TAGS NUMBERED 4809. The exact number…

NATURE’S HEALING I was excited to read “Saving Lives in the Boundary Waters” by Trevor Hubbs in the Oct.-Dec. 2023 issue. As an Army veteran with two tours of duty in Iraq, I know firsthand the challenges faced by those who serve in our nation’s armed forces. There are many fine organizations such as the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Armed Forces Institute that get service members and veterans out in the woods and on the water, teaching lifelong skills and the restorative benefits of nature. The feature film Mending the Line, reviewed in the same edition, illustrates this wonderfully. Just being outdoors benefits body and soul. I don’t understand the science behind it, but I know it works for me. DAVID BOWERMAN  CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA The Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Armed…

"ALL I NEED YOU TO DO IS JUST SUCK A LITTLE LESS FOR ME ON THIS NEXT CAST, OKAY?”I HAD JUST MET OUR GUIDE KYLE CONE ABOUT 30 MINUTES PRIOR AND HE WAS ALREADY BUSTING OUR CHOPS JUST AS MUCH AS MY TWO BUDDIES AND I WERE BUSTING ON EACH OTHER. AT THAT MOMENT, I KNEW THAT KYLE AND I WOULD BE FAST FRIENDS. We caught a lot of football-shaped rainbows over the next day and a half while fishing with Frog Hollow Fly Fishing on the Chestatee River in northern Georgia. I still can’t remember laughing so much on a fishing trip. Cone is fishy, and funny, as hell. However, it’s Cone’s journey from a typical suburban teenager to becoming a top fly-fishing guide that I found compelling. Cone…

Four fly-fishing legends were inducted into the 2023 Catskill Fly Fishing Hall of Fame at a ceremony October 7 at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum. The latest inductees were John Atherton, Will Godfrey, Frank Mele, and Arnold Gingrich. The same night, the Lee Wulff Conservation Award was given to former President Jimmy Carter. Carter—who was born Oct. 1, 1924 and entered hospice care in February of 2023—was not in attendance. His wife Rosalynn Carter passed away Nov. 19, 2023. Carter was a dedicated fly fisher for more than 40 years, traveled the world with a fly rod, and wrote six feature articles for FLY FISHERMAN magazine. In 1978, President Carter established more than 73 miles of river between Hancock and Sparrow Bush as the Upper Delaware Scenic and…

IT’S AN EARLY FALL MORNING AND THE SUN IS JUST STARTING TO RISE. THERE’S JUST ENOUGH LIGHT TO START SEEING THE 3-INCH BAITFISH FLICKER ON THE SURFACE. YOU NOTICE THE BAIT IS PACKED CLOSELY TOGETHER IN A BALL ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BASKETBALL COURT. AS THE SUN RISES, THE BAITFISH BEGIN SPRAYING OUT OF THE WATER AS IF THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED FROM BELOW. THEN YOU HEAR POPPING AND SUCKING SOUNDS, AS WELL AS THE CANNONBALL SPLASHES OF FISH FALLING INTO THE WATER. YOU SEE STRIPED BASS FROTHING AT THE SURFACE AS THEY CHASE THEIR PREY, AND YOUR SENSES FEEL CHARGED WITH ELECTRICITY. You position the boat with your trolling motor. Other than the carnage in front of you, everything is calm and peaceful. As you make your presentation…

Fly selection for striped bass at times can be just like trout fishing where matching the hatch is important. When stripers are feeding on smaller shad, I like my Micro, Mini, and regular Finesse Game Changers as well as Clouser Minnows and Henry Cowen’s Somethin’ Else. There are many other good baitfish patterns that mimic shad, like Whitlock’s Sheep Shad and Cowen’s Coyote tied in sizes 2 to 4 inches. When moving into bigger flies from 5 to 7 inches, I like my Hybrid Game Changer and Jerk Changer, Bisharat’s Spot On Baitfish, Popovics’s Hollow Fleyes, Deceivers, Half & Halfs, and Blanton’s Whistlers. For topwater flies try Bisharat’s Pole Dancer, Crease Flies, poppers, Gurglers, Bob’s Bangers, Wiggle Minnows and Jerk Changers. I also always carry Dahlberg Divers, Schultz’s Swinging D,…

MOST OF US HAVE LOOKED AT A GLOBE OR ATLAS JUST TO IMAGINE THOSE PLACES ON THIS BLUE EARTH THAT MOST FLY FISHERS WILL NEVER SEE. OUR FINGERS TRACE US TOWARD SOME ISOLATED BEACH ON THE COAST OF AFRICA OR A JUNGLE STREAM IN THE HEART OF SOUTH AMERICA. ONE PLACE YOU MIGHT DREAM ABOUT IS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN SEVEN DEGREES SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR; A ROCKY ATOLL AT THE END OF THE CHAGOS RIDGE NAMED DIEGO GARCIA. IT IS LIKELY THE MOST INACCESSIBLE TROPICAL FLY-FISHING LOCATION ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. As with most coral reef atolls, it supports a diverse environment that has abundant tropical fish and beautiful natural scenery. While there are innumerable angling opportunities, few people ever experience it because access is tightly controlled. Diego Garcia…

Project Healing Waters (PHW) is a Department of Defense/Veterans Administration-sponsored volunteer-run program that serves more than 200 communities nationwide. Much more than a one-day fly-fishing trip, PHW provides basic fly-fishing, fly-casting, fly-tying, and rod-building classes for participants whose skills range from beginners who have never fished before, to those with prior fly fishing and tying experience. All fly-fishing and fly-tying equipment is provided to the participants at no cost. Fishing trips, both one day and multi-day, are also provided free of charge to participants. For many participants, like combat veteran Kyle Cone, the socialization and camaraderie of the classes are just as important, or perhaps more important, than the fishing. To become involved with Project Healing Waters, as a volunteer or a participant, visit their website at projecthealingwaters.org.…

Capt. Austin Kane of Atlanta, Georgia, may have set a new benchmark for exotic species in faraway places: In 2023, he landed a red kaloi on a river in Borneo. He used a size 2 black foam fly with orange rubber legs—sort of a cicada/beetle/cockroach imitation—with an 8-weight Hardy Zane Pro rod, a classic Ross Gunnison reel, Scientific Anglers Jungle Titan fly line, and a leader made of straight 60-pound-test fluorocarbon. The red kaloi is so unknown to sport fishing it’s not even listed in the compendium of IGFA records—fly tackle or otherwise. According to Kane, these fish have been observed eating berries, fruits, blossoms, and insects on the surface. Borneo’s rivers are also loaded with baitfish, so kaloi may eat those as well. To get to the jungle rivers…

MOST PEOPLE THINK OF ME AS A TROUT FISHERMAN BUT MY OBSESSION (AKA MUSKIE MADNESS) OVER THE LAST NINE YEARS HAS BEEN CHASING MUSKIES DURING THE COLD SEASONS. THEY SAY A MUSKIE IS A FISH OF 10,000 CASTS. IN MY CASE, IT MAY HAVE TAKEN 15,000 CASTS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS REDUCING THAT DREADED 10,000 NUMBER BY PROVIDING SEVERAL OF MY FAVORITE MUSKIE TIPS—THINGS I WISH I KNEW WHEN I BEGAN. This is not an article for intermediate to advanced muskie anglers—I’m not qualified to provide such information. After almost a decade of muskie fishing I still feel like a newbie, but I’ve acquired enough examined experience to provide tips for those starting out muskie fishing. PICK PRIME REAL ESTATE The CEO of McDonald’s once said he was…

The natural life history of striped bass is that they spawn in fresh water, but grow large in the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean. However, the 1942 completion of two dams in South Carolina—one on Santee River in St. Stevens, the other on the Cooper River in Moncks Corner—accidentally trapped striped bass in the newly created Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion. This unintentional creation of a new fishery surprised fishermen in the early 1950s, and by the late 1950s, popular magazines like Sports Afield and Field & Stream were writing of the exceptional fishing for striped bass in these watersheds, bringing fishermen from across the country to South Carolina. Of course, other state game and fish agencies recognized this opportunity, and stocked striped bass in their own reservoirs either…