A new year, a new list!

Wow, we are off and running with a New Year and January is already a memory. I don’t normally do New Years resolutions. I would rather take time to reflect on the things I wanted to do last year and did not get to. I find that over the course of the year I hear of new techniques, things that I am sure will help me to catch fish, or improving on things I am already doing. I am a bit of a gear head when it comes to my equipment, and finding new ways of presenting baits to fish in particular situations.

For the last 10 years or so I have made an effort to expand my repertoire of fishing styles and researching the internet to help me learn what others are doing. For the last two years I have been using Tenkara rods and flies to a great degree and success has been sweet as I have shared with you in previous articles. As with all new endeavors there are those who will learn all there is to learn and are willing tell others how it’s done. The great thing is that all those new techniques can be massaged by the user to adapt to his or hers own waters and that is what I love to do.

Last year I wanted to learn to nymph and wet fly fish on the Kern River, which for me has proven to be one of the more difficult nuts to crack as far as rivers go. I did learn nymph fishing, which for me after 30 plus years of fly fishing was something I thought I would never bother to learn. However, like a lot of things in life we think we won’t bother trying certain things until you are forced into a situation where its do or die. As much as I wanted to avoid nymph fishing it turns out that the fish on this river won’t eat much else. Again it’s catch fish or go home. So I hired a guide and said OK show me. After 4 hours I caught a few fish, but that was step one in what could be a thousand steps!

So after sending most of 2014 nymph fishing and doing rather well according to locals I thought OK lets try wet fly fishing. Time being what it is, it never happened, so it is now on the 2015 list of to do’s. I don’t know about you but for me fishing is not just a way to spend a few hours wetting a line, it’s beyond that. Fish are survivalists and adapt to their environments which are ever changing. Water levels rise and fall and water temperatures fluctuate sometimes several degrees a week depending on the time of year. All this is happening on a daily basis. This is the challenge I love about fishing, the problem solving.

Other factors are “what bug is hatching”, “what stage are they in when you arrive”, “what size and color”? They all play an amazing part of the fishes daily lives, and if you want to catch fish you better know how to figure it out. So the next thing on my list of “to do’s” is to learn more about entomology, which is another trip of a thousand steps. It’s great if you only fish one body of water because the cycle can be the same, year in, year out. The problem with this is most fisherpersons love to move around. I fish several rivers and have found, at least in fly fishing, you had better do your homework. A word to the wise would be, visit the local tackle store or fly shop for the latest intel!

Number One on my list this year is to learn to wet fly fish and have fun at it. So get out there with family and friends and have a great year, be safe and enjoy all you can. As always tight lines!