Angler's AttentionWritten by Cameron Larsen
There is something that I have called 'angler's attention'. It is developed after you have been fishing, and in this article we will be concerning ourselves with fly fishing, for years and years. You can usually tell those that have it and those that don't. Quickly rigging up your fly rod, and racing to a likely fishing spot, solely concerned about yourself and your gear, are telltale signs of someone not possessing angler's attention.I spent many years, especially when I didn't have much time to fish, ignoring angler's attention. If I could steal away even an hour or two, racing down to river I would go. In a virtual panic, scouring out my favorite fishing spots, then cursing to myself, when they were taken. Frantically I would find a spot to fish, splash out there, and heave out my line. Fishing, at last, my heart would race, I would set hook on any minute bump, and then have to untangle my line from a tree lurking behind me. Never paying attention to fly I was using, there wasn't time to change it, wheter my tippet was proper, what was happening on water, nothing of sort. Just get me to water, and let me wet my line. Maturity probably plays as much a part in developing 'angler's attention' as anythin. Although I have seen many young angler's very deliberately observing and then selecting their approach. Besides natural aging what really changed things for me, was actually observing a fellow fly fisher. Actually it was more observing him, observing me. I was fishing a small stretch of fairly remote river. Although this particular spot became 'discovered' sometime in 90's, it is still relatively pressure free after mid-June. Happily csting to rising fish, I happened to spot a gentleman stading on bank watching me fish. He was quite a bit older then me at time, but his presence somewhat annoyed me. Feeling watched, I gave it another five minutes or so, then headed in. The next thirty minutes or so were spent discussing fly fishing with this gentleman in ways I had never thought of before. The knowledge this man possessed and frankly lack of urgency to wet his fly were astonishing. He seemed quite as content to stand and talk about fly fishing as he was to actually be out doing it. He discussed with me clouds and mayfly hatches, current time of Callibeatis hatch, onset of Giant Stonefly hatch based on elevation, water flow, and air temperature, need to have your fly drift naturally. The benefit of watching naturals on water, effect of line drag, etc, etc. After I had finished my lunch, did he finish talking. And then asked if I wanted to give it another try, motioning out to water. I told him to go ahead, it must be his turn, and he said there was room for two. He was definitely a talented caster, one of best I had ever seen, gracefully placing his dry fly expertly in feeding lanes, on edges of deep pools, and right below large rocks that were all favorite holding places for trout. Stopping when hatch slowed and beginning again when hatch began.
| | Book Review: The Fly Tier's Benchside ReferenceWritten by Cameron Larsen
The Fly Tier's Benchside Reference was written by Ted Leeson and Jim Schollmeyer, and published in 1998 (wow time flies) by Frank Amato Publications. It contains 444 pages of which 7 make up index. When this book first came out ( I honestly thought it was just a couple of years ago) it cost exactly $100.00, now I have seen new ones for $68.00, and used ones for less than that. The book was billed as holy grail of fly tying and with good reason. The book simply covers every technique known to fly tying, and usually gives you more than one technique to accomplish a fly tying feat. For example, if you want to have a woven body (something I avoided in my twelve years of commercial fly tying), Leeson and Schollmeyer show you in great detail, 'The Banded Weave', 'The Parallel Weave', 'The Mossback Weave', 'The Overhand Weave', 'The Pott's Weave,', 'The Half-Hitch Weave,' 'The Criss-Cross Weave,' 'The Spotted Strip Weave,' 'The Mottled Weave,' and 'The Crochet Weave'. Not only does book describe how to do them, with very clear descriptions and more importantly pictures, but it will also tell you what purpose of each technique is, including materials it is used for, and effects of each different weave. And so it goes detailing each technique, how to tie parachute hackle, how to mount posts, how to tie split hackle tails, biot bodies, hair wings. Nine pages on spent wings, 33 on downwings, 17 on legs. You get idea. If there is ever a daunting fly tying procedure that you have never attempted or have attempted only to be frustrated so much you went straight back to first fly you ever tied for reassurance your coordination hadn't left you altogether, then this book WILL help you. And it will help you immensely. The book is different than many fly tying books, in way it is organized. Not by fly or type of fly. In fact it isn't a book of patterns or about insects or even frankly about flies. It is a book of techniques and it is organized as such. It has 15 chapters and begins with a very brief summary of fly tying materials. Something that reader of this book should already have well versed. However it does have a few handy charts and pictures. And gives a very brief explanation types of hair and feathers etc. . It then goes on to give you several methods of de-barbing hooks and then sharpening them, (yes even chemically sharpened hooks need to be honed at some time.) Then Leeson and Schollmeyer go into thread handling, again it seems perfunctory. But finally fun starts. With 21 methods of mounting and trimming materials. One thing about how-to books, I always find interesting is author's ability to breakdown and name procedures you probably discovered all on your own, and never thought twice about them. This books is no different, but it does force you to think about fly tying, taking it off auto-pilot here and there is always a good way to question and improve.
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