Tuesdays Tips - Picking Your Target

Time and again I see clients who are, at very least, decent casters bonk fish right on the noggin. One of the biggest reasons (I think) for this is where we focus our eyes. Once a fish is spotted, the anglers recognizes direction of movement, distance, etc. anglers should focus on where the fly should land, not solely the fish.

If their eye is focused on the fish then that's what they're going to hit. Focus on where the fly should land and make the cast! (this is that split second where that couple hours worth of practice before the trip goes a long way).

So, that's fine and dandy, but where in tarnation should one put the fly? Well, as it was put to me a long time ago "you might start by throwing at the end that eats"
After that you might want to get a tad more technical, but not much. To present the fly to Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, etc., there are a few things I think are a must.
**note: everything here is general, the nuances of migratory Tarpon fishing with regard to angles, etc. is much more complex. We'll save that for another day.
1-  I always want the fly in front of the fish. The fish swims into the fly.
2 - wherever possible I want the fly to cross the fishes direction of travel when it is retrieved.
The best way I have found (for me, and others seem to get it as well) to achieve these are to throw at a box, not at the fish.

To try and make sense for you, once you spot the fish, picture a 2 foot square box in front of the fish. (**this 2 foot box doesn't work for deep water, over 4 feet deep,  you need to increase the box size. This will get the fly deeper and to the fish) 
Always focus, and try to land the fly on the forward, far side corner of that box from the fish. If you do this, and the fly goes where you focus, the fly will be in the perfect spot. 
If you focus on the fish, you'll probably hit the fish.

Here are some examples to outline what we're talking about:

Crossing shot: fly line lands front, far side of box. Fish always sees fly. This shows left to right cross, for right to left same principle...far front of box.

Approaching Shot: fly lands forward corner of box, whichever side fish is traveling (fish going left, throw left corner, going right, right corner). **Even if a fish is coming straight at you throw to one side of the box. This will cross the fish with the fly. If you are right handed, throw to the left corner, opposite for left handed caster.

Going Away Shot: You're probably screwed, but you never know. Think of the box ahead and to the side of the fish. The fly should land in the farthest corner of the box from the fish and direction of travel. Drawings show both left to right and right to left scenarios. **If you take this shot, don't move the fly when it lands. Let the fish turn and react to the fly and then retrieve as appropriate. If you strip immediately you will likely spook the fish.
If the fish doesn't react to the fly then you chalk it up to a low percentage shot anyway and move on.

Tuesdays Tips - Cleaning Your Rods

For most of us, our fly rods get a little dirty through the course of a season. Especially on the Bow, due to the large biomass in the river, the cork handles get very dirty and the rod blank gets dirty, particularly around the guides. 

If you fly fish in the salt water, like in the tropics, you should always clean your rods and service the ferrules when you get back from your trip. It's really easy to keep rods and cork handles clean after use in fresh or salt water.

Heres what you will need:

- clean terry cloth towel
- old toothbrush that isn't soiled 
- cleaner **best material for cleaning rods is AC Delco Foaming Glass Cleaner. You can get it from any GM dealership's parts department. It cleans the cork best and removes salt or grime deposits on the rod and doesn't damage the finish.
- ferrule wax (paraffin)

Step #1 - Rinse all pieces of the rod with warm water. Best way to do it is hold them under the shower head in your shower with warm water for about two minutes.

Step #2 - Set the rod pieces on a counter top and spray completely with the foaming glass cleaner.

Step #3 - Starting with the butt section and moving through the rod pieces, completely scrub the rod with the toothbrush. Pay a lot of attention to the handle cork, reel seat pieces, and around all the guides. Scrub the cork completely. Do not use too much force on the cork. If you scrub too hard on the cork you can scrub out the filler on lesser quality handles, leaving little pits in the handle.

Step #4- Using the terry cloth towel, buff the cork to dry. Scrub the cork hard with the terry cloth towel, this will clean the cork up to almost like new. Continue and dry the rest of the rod with the towel. Make sure you get under any hardware on reel seats and under and inside 
guides.

Step #5 - Once the entire rod is cleaned and dried with the towel you should apply wax to all of the male section of ferrules (connections). This will be 3 on a 4 piece rod. Rub the wax wafer on the rod blank all the way around and back about 3 inches so that blank is completely covered with wax. Once you have done that you need to polish the wax to a shine with the towel. You want to polish wax down so that there is no residue, just a shine. If you leave any wax on the blank the ferrule may not fit properly for future use.
If you perform this maintenance with wax a couple times a season you will find your ferrules stay together better and they will have less tendency to stick (they'll pull apart easier when you're taking it down).

Step #6 - Last step! Set the rod with the three (on a 4 piece rod) female ferrules down and the rod butt up in a window for about 6-8 hours. (Ferrule positioning just like in photo) This will make sure that rod is dry but most important, the cork will be completely dry before you store your rod away. You're done and your rod looks awesome!

Politically Incorrect Mondays

Give Them Some Love Back!

Field Collection Square Dog Bed

Our handsome Field Collection canvas dog bed features bead fill that conforms to his shape.

• Durable cotton-canvas cover
• Beaded fill conforms to your dog's sleeping position
• Shotshell-inspired rivets
• Pure cotton cover
• Washable

Medium 34"x 34" outside dimensions, dogs 40-60 lbs.
Large 41"x 41" outside dimensions, dogs 60-90 lbs.
Inspired by the upland hunt and designed to go anywhere from your truck bed to your living room.

Deep Dish Field Collection Dog Bed

• Durable cotton-canvas with microvelvet sleep surface
• 4"-thick memory foam cushion supports joints and reduces pressure points
• Streamlined polyester-stuffed bolster adds security and comfort
• Water-resistant liner keeps memory foam clean and dry
• Polyester sleep surface
• Pure cotton cover
• Cover is removable and washable

SIZING
Small 35½" x 25½" outside dimensions, dogs up to 40 lbs.
Medium 40" x 26½" outside dimensions, dogs up to 40-60 lbs.
Large 44" x 31" outside dimensions, dogs up to 60-90 lbs.
X-Large 50" x 37" outside dimensions, dogs up to 90-120 lbs., multiple dogs.

Inspired by the rugged materials and iconic colors of the upland hunt, this handsome canvas bolster dog bed with a supersoft sleeping surface is designed to support the most hardworking sporting dogs.

Now in stock here at the shop.

Tuesdays Tips - Playing Fish Close to the Boat/Skiff

When playing a fish, once you get it within about 40 feet of the boat, always stay on the front of the deck until the fish is landed. If you stay forward and the fish runs under the boat you can quickly and smoothly take the rod tip around the bow, following the fish to the other side.

This will also keep you in a better position and height to maximize angles of pressure at the end of the battle. It's way easier for your guide or fishing partner to subdue the fish if you're up and forward, not standing right next to him or her

If you step back into the center of the boat and a fish runs under and out the other side you're running a pretty high likelihood that you'll lose the fish or break your rod or both.

This applies for Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, Jacks, etc.

Spring Newsletter

Of Fly Reels and Superheroes

New Costa Models

Some great new models from Costa are here!

Hard to get spots open at The Palometa Club

Check out Tarpon Week on Instagram

Check out Tarpon Week 

on Instagram @cp-flyfishing and Facebook all this week.

Howler Guayabera Shirts On Sale

Super special this week, Howler Brothers Guayabera Shirts...70% OFF. 

Now only $53.60.

A few left, they're a super nice shirt....it would just seem that not everyone gets into the Mexican wedding look. Available in Caribbean Blue or Patriot Tan

How Fly Rods Break

This article is from Louis Cahill at Gink & Gasoline. You should give this a read!

Louis Cahill Photo

Broken fly rods are a fact of life, but there are things you can do to stop it from happening to you.

It happens to all of us. We all know the sinking feeling of holding that treasured favorite fly rod, shattered in our hands. Most of us can’t help but form emotional attachments to our gear. Favorite rods and reels become old friends, with whom we share memories of great days, special fish and life lessons learned. Warrantees are great, but it’s hard to replace an old friend.

I hear a lot of anglers complain about specific rods or rod brands, saying things like, “ I’ll never but another ‘Brand X’ after breaking two in a month.” It’s a delicate topic to address without hurting someone’s feelings, but the truth is, fly rods don’t break for no reason. While a high performance carbon fiber rod is certainly more fragile than its soulful fiberglass counterpart and a full spectrum between, the truth is that anglers break rods.

With extremely rare exception I have never seen a rod break for no apparent reason, even the ones I’ve broken my self.

If you are stewing over that statement, I ask you to bear with me for a bit and entertain the possibility that I’m right. Building and fishing bamboo rods for decades has taught me a thing or two about breaking rods and shedding tears. I’ve seen a lot of rods break and I even saw one catch fire and burn. (Long story.) In the interest of keeping those great fly rods fishing, I’ll share with you the most common reasons fly rods break and how to avoid them.

6 Reasons fly rods break

Physical Trauma
This covers some very obvious issues as well as some very tricky ones. With no scientific evidence I’ll say that the three most common causes for broken fly rods are ceiling fans, car doors and spurned spouses. If you’ve run afoul of any of these, you know it instantly. The remedy is simple. Be more careful handling your rod and you spouse.

PTs can be pretty sneaky though. A rod can be damaged without you even noticing and may not break for some time. Then one day you hook an unremarkable fish and it shatters dramatically. That was the case with the rod pictured in the header. This beloved Scott S4s was most likely damaged when it slipped out of the rod holder on a rough boat ride.

Some of the ways rods are most commonly physically damaged include being hit by flies during casting, being transported in cars or boots, being dropped and being left in hot rooftop rod lockers or rod tubes left in the sun. The latter is particularly tricky because a rod can begin to delaminate without showing any sign.

Of course, physical traumas can occur in manufacturing and shipping. I have found rods on my doorstep, still in the box, in more pieces than normal but while accidents happen, they are rare and manufacturing flaws are even rarer. I have visited the rod shops of many major brands and I can tell you the folks there take care and pride in their work.

Breaks at the ferrules
It’s pretty common for fly rods to break at the ferrules. The female ferrule can split and often the shaft will snap on the male end, either inside or near the ferrule. Frequently it will be the butt section of the rod that breaks, leaving the angler puzzled how the thickest part of the rod could just snap.

These breaks are not mysterious at all. The ferrule junctions receive more stress than any other part of the rod. They are stiffer, and therefore, more prone to stress. This is why one-piece rods are stronger than multi-piece rods. When a rod breaks at the ferrule, it is almost always because that ferrule has become loose. Either during casting or transporting, it has begun to unseat, causing the stress to be distributed unevenly.

Still photos of anglers casting show that a rod is frequently under more stress during casting than when fighting fish. If this force becomes focused on a specific spot by a loose ferrule, even the heaviest of rods can snap. You will likely not feel any difference in the rod when a ferrule is loose, so check them often, especially after transporting them.

High Sticking
High sticking is the most common reason rods are broken when fighting or landing fish. Not to be confused with the high sticking nymphing technique, high sticking when fighting fish refers to the angler applying an un-natural bend to the rod, over-stressing some part of the blank. This usually happens when landing a fish and results when the rod is lifted up, rather than back. The rod will often break in two places. Once in the tip or tip mid, and a second time farther down the rod as the pressure is unevenly released.

Supporting the rod
Another very common way for rods to break while fighting fish is when the angler uses a second hand to support the rod during the fight. It seems like a good idea to put a little extra pressure on the fish by supporting the rod farther up the shaft, but it’s a recipe for disaster. By taking the bend out of the butt section of the rod, you are forcing the stress farther up the blank, where it is not as strong.

Keep your hands on the cork during the fight and you’ll be fine. If your rod hand is getting tired or you just need a little extra leverage, try pressing down on the top of the reel seat or fighting butt. You’ll get just as much relief, while keeping your rod properly flexed.

Sudden Shocks
Fly rods are designed to be loaded smoothly. Sudden shocks can cause the delicate tips to shatter. This can easily happen when your fly catches something, like a tree or guide, in your backcast. I’ve also seen anglers do it willfully, trying to snatch a fly out of a tree. Never use your rod to clear a snag. Point the rod at the snag and pull the line.

Impact
This is really obvious, but rods break when they get whacked against things. Boats, trees, other fly rods, pretty much anything hard will do it. They are especially sensitive to being poked tip-wise into immovable objects. Be careful walking with your rod pointed forward. These kinds of breaks often happen while anglers are using the tip of the rod to dislodge a snagged fly. The sudden shift of a boat or loss of footing can invite disaster. Always expect the worst. Because these are physical traumas, the rod my not break right away, but later when casting or fighting fish.

Know your rod
While I do not know of any fly rod on the market, which I would say is poorly designed or manufactured making it more likely to break, certain types of rods are inherently stronger than others. Fiberglass rods, for example, are much stronger than graphite rods. Most graphite rods have some fiberglass in them to make them stronger. This strength, however, comes at a price.

Fiberglass is a heavier material than graphite. The more fiberglass in a rod blank, the slower the action will be. Many of today’s high performance, fast action rods have little to no fiberglass in their construction. This does not mean these rods are weak, but they are more prone to breaking when mishandled.

If you have been fishing the same fly rod for ten years and decided to upgrade to a new hot stick, you may have experienced this. A good friend of mine went through the same thing. He replaced an old Orvis rod with a brand new Helios-2, 7’ 9” 5wt. He broke two of them in short order. Is the Helios-2 a bad rod?

Hell no! It’s one of my favorites. I have four of them ranging from 4wt-11wt, and I fish them hard with no problems. I have learned from years of saltwater fly fishing for species like tarpon, how to use a fly rod under the most stressful circumstances. My buddy, who I love dearly and I’m sure is reading this, has a bad habit of high sticking fish, and he catches a lot of big fish. These days he’s much happier fishing a Superfine Glass rod. It’s the perfect tool for the way he fishes.

I hope this helps you keep your favorite fly rod in service for many years to come. When the worst happens, don’t cry. There’s a new love for you, right around the corner. 

Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline  
www.ginkandgasoline.com

After 35 Years We Would Like To Thank.......

Well, it is now official, we are 35 years old. We would like to take a second and thank some who made it possible for the shop to stick around this long. Some have been partners for a long time, some a short time, but you all are important to us.

Of course our oldest partner would be all of you, our customers. Some of you have been coming to the shop since 1982 and others are more recent, but all of you keep the wheels turning. We cannot say a big enough 
THANK YOU!

And also, kind of behind the scenes, are all of our supplier partners. Over the years we have enjoyed some great relationships with some great people, and had the privilege of offering some great products for our customers. People maybe don't realize it, but the products in our store are all used out on the water by shop staff. Every item (rod, reel, line, wader, boot, etc.) in our store is familiar to us. If a product isn't in here it's likely means it's not good enough. So, that speaks volumes in our minds, and should in yours as well, as to how great the products these companies are. Thanks to all of these great companies...you know who you are out there.

 






Before we sign off, a little extra thanks to 
Orvis Fly Fishing, who have put up with us since the very first day we opened, 35 years ago.

Thanks again everyone!

Mike, Maureen, Kevin, Kelly, Josh, Quinn, Joe, and Blair.

So Many Pretty Buffs

Between Orvis, Blackstrap, and Flood Tide Co., we have some very nice sun protection for the tropics or closer to home.

 

New Orvis Tee

Men's Orvis Brown Trout drirelease® Long-Sleeved Tee

This updated Orvis drirelease® long-sleeved T-shirt showcases colors of the brown trout.

A new look for your favorite drirelease® wicking T-shirt as our logo proudly sports the colors of a brown trout. Soft, superlightweight, breezy drirelease fabric dries four times faster than cotton and wicks moisture from your skin so it evaporates fast to leave you dry and cool on hot or humid days. The patented blend of poly/cotton—with no chemical treatments—makes it possible. No other blend keeps you drier, or more comfortable. FreshGuard® for odor resistance. In heather gray. Polyester/cotton. Washable.

In stock here at the shop.

Two New Orvis Helios2 Rods

Put a bunch of guides and a couple of rod designers at a table with the world's finest fly rod, add a few cold ones, and ask them: "If you could do anything you wanted to customize this fly rod, what would you do? Thus the birth of a special edition Helios 2 rod, the Helios 2 Covert.

Totally blacked out with matte black finish, black guides and black hardware, this small batch 9-foot 5-weight rod not only looks great, it eliminates reflection and flash from the sun that may spook wary fish. 

The Covert is the finest fly rod in the world with the added dimension of being a wicked-looking fly rod, the likes of which have never before been seen. The Helios 2 performance is still there, the pure pleasure of casting a Helios 2 remains, but now there's some serious attitude. Proudly made in Manchester, Vermont, USA.

Also available in 8 weight

Come by and cast one.

Sage Method Rod Blowout

Three left! 

Sage Method Fly Rods. 

A 10 weight, an 8 weight, and a 7 weight. 

Blowout priced at $675 CDN plus GST. 

Regular price is $1100 so this is a smoking hot deal.