Seeing as how we are in the middle of an epic heat wave up here in the high country, and everywhere else in the Southeast, we figured it would be a good time to break out some more SCOF style sun protection. I’m not gonna say these shirts are the only thing standing between you and spontaneously combusting in ball of fire that burns with the intensity of the sun, well actually that is kind of what I’m saying. So buy a shirt, don’t burn alive, and help my kid go to the dentist…win…win…win. Click on a shirt to check them out in the store.
The long anticipated new addition to my little boating nuclear family has arrived. She runs in less than an inch of water on step, and drafts 6 or less on the oars. I do have a poling platform for various flats related activities, and I will be obtaining a prop for that yami’ so she’s salt ready for the winter. I’m thinking I’ll call her….”perfect”.
By sheer magic, grit and a little bit of elbow grease, the good folks at Hunter Banks have managed to bring the Yellowstone to Western North Carolina…sort of. Where the Yellow Stone Goes is a new film with what seems to be a really killer concept. Dudes floating the longest un-dammed river in America, from one end to the other. Hunter Banks has wrangled a showing for June 28th at Highlands Brewing. So slap the pic to get more info and we’ll meet you there. I’ll be wearing wearing a red rose on my lapel…and nothing else.
It was so popular last week we had to bring it back again. We have some excellent toothy grin folks to showcase on this Friday’s favorite game show, Hold a Fish and Smile. Congrats to Scott, Chris, Kyle, Matt and Brian (who officially submitted the first video grip and grin…good show old man…good show). Now bask in the glow that is other people’s happiness, and have a good weekend.
Keep sending us pics and we’ll keep broadcasting them to the two people that read this.
We’re not all fart jokes and girlish giggles here at SCOF, and most of us have more than a few days on the water. We do a regular stratergizing piece in each issue of the mag, but why should it stop there? So, without further delay let’s start the knowledge droppin’.
I am by no means a FFF casting instructor, but as a guide I see a lot of bad casting. I’m not talking about the beginner whose whipping the air like it stole something, but I’m talking about really bad intermediate casting from folks who have the tools to create good loops but for some reason can’t seem to get out of their own way to do it. If your cast is great up to 30 or 40 feet but then seems to breakdown into a disheveled shell of you short cast, I can almost guarantee you that you’re either muscling up, taking entirely way too many false casts or both.
It is human nature to apply more muscle to make things go farther…throw a ball…swing a bat…try to pee on that car 30 feet away (yes that is a muscle…ever heard of male kagels?). Unfortunately in casting a fly rod human nature only works against you. Ever see Joan Wulff cast the whole line? She is not in any danger of anyone accusing her of juicing. The reality of the mechanics of the fly cast is, the longer the distance that you need to cast, the longer the stops on your back and froward cast need to last in order to allow more line to straighten. I promise if you use the same amount of force in you 20 foot cast as you do on your 40 foot cast, but just wait longer for your loops to unfold you will be able to starighten the line out with minimal effort. If you don’t believe me check out Joan.
The second thing I see more than anything else is intermediate casters that are in love with their own false cast. I was once told that flies in the air don’t catch fish, and it kind of stuck. It’s simple math, the more time your flies spend in the air the less fish you catch…it’s just that simple. False casting also exponentially increases the chance of tangling your rig with each roundtrip flight your flies take. The last thing to consider about the sheer amount of false casts you might be making is that in saltwater situations shots are fleeting, and the fish don’t wait around for you to execute the 6th false cast in your routine. You’ll catch more fish by picking it up and putting it down. Most folks would be way better casters if they eliminated 80% of their false casts (and 90% would be even better).
Don’t Be THAT Guy
Hopefully somebody finds this helpful, but if not we will get back to the regularly scheduled fart jokes soon…no worries.
You may have noticed that there aren’t too many pictures of dudes holding fish in the mag. We’ve done that on purpose because we kind of feel that the grip and grin has done nothing but contribute to the big swinging dong contest that fly fishing all too often turns into…for some. That being said, and to once again prove we are hypocrites of the worst order, we are now instituting “Grip and Grin Friday” on the blog. This way those of you amongst the swinging dongery have a place to show your pics. Send us your photos and we’ll try to put up the best ones every Friday (Put Grip and Grin Friday in the subject line of the email). Ya’ll should also know that your odds go way up when you’re wearing SCOF swag. We’ll go ahead and get the ball rolling with some musky and carp. Be sure to check out the summer issue for a film on the same musky seen here. The carp are from all over but the anglers are friends of our that would rather remain anonymous.
