Fly BlogFly BlogMusings on fly fishing, fly rods, and rod building. Articles
What do you know about the fishing hook your fly is tied to?
2007-11-16 18:40:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com We all probably start our fly fishing fly selection by looking for the right fly pattern immediately followed by the right hook size. But what do most of us really know about hooks and hook design? Are you buying a fly on a quality hook or are you buying ... More About: Fishing , Hook
Stripper guide selection is more important than you may think
2007-11-15 18:43:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com The stripper or stripping guide is the first guide encountered on the rod when working up from the grip. So called because this is the guide that is worked the hardest when you are stripping line in or (even more so) when a fish is stripping line off your reel. The ... More About: Guide , Stripper , Selection , Ripper , Guid
Fly rod backing knot - making a bimini twist
2007-11-13 17:04:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com A few articles back I gave some advice on fly rod backing knots. A great knot to use for this is the bimini twist. In this article I explain how to tie a bimini twist. Hold the backing in your hands like you are going to make a cat’s ... More About: Backing , Twist , Knot
The importance of fit and finish in a fly rod
2007-11-12 17:44:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com I don’t know about you but if I buy a new car I don’t want blemishes in the paint and I want the hood to align with the fender in a nice tight solid fit. None of these things is going to affect how quickly the car accelerates ... More About: Finish , Nish
Rules of Engagement -choosing the right fly knot
2007-11-09 18:13:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com Choosing the right knot for your tippet to hook can mean the difference between hooking and landing a fish. The right knot will make the fly behave more life like and be strong enough not to break. No single knot is going to give you consistent results ... More About: Rules , Engage , Engagement , Knot
How to compare fly rod guides
2007-11-08 18:22:00 Classic fly line guides are snake guides. Snake guides are named as such because of the snake-like curl the guide has. It is in short a spiral shaped guide with a foot (the point at which the guides is bound to the rod) at each end. The spiral can rotate clockwise or counter clockwise. A ... More About: Guides , Compare , Guid , Pare
Fly rod building - tip #8
2007-11-07 17:35:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com Most fly fishermen choose an up locking reel seat when building a fly rod. The hood of an up locking reel seat fits up into the cork grip. If you use an uplocking reel seat you are going to have to counter sink the fly rod grip to accommodate it. Most ... More About: Building
If you insist on using a clinch knot?
2007-11-06 17:10:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com The clinch knot is an almost ubiquitous method for making your fly to tippet connection. Some fly fishermen use an improved clinch knot. Neither of these knots is usually the best knot to use from a performance standpoint. In tests of the improved clinch knot ... More About: Clinch , Knot
Best Backing to Fly Line Connection
2007-11-05 17:55:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com Ever want to change out that weight forward line for a shooting taper, or go from a floating line to a sinking line? Ever consider the best rigging to do this efficiently and with a solid connection? Here is one of the best set ups. The best way ... More About: Connection , Line , Backing
Add another false cast to your fly fishing regimen?
2007-11-02 16:31:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com Some experts may tell you that many fly fishermen false cast too much. A reasonably good fly fisherman should be able to pick up 30 feet of line, go through one false casting cycle and drop the fly fifty feet on target. That is indeed true, ... More About: Fishing , Cast , Fly Fishing
How to tie a ligature knot for leader to tippet links
2007-11-01 05:15:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com A few articles back I discussed how useful a ligature knot is for tying tippet to leader. In this article I’ll show you how to make a ligature knot. Ligature knots are easy to tie, require more line than some other knots and can be a bit tricky ... More About: Links , Leader , Tipp , Knot
Fly rod building - tip #7
2007-10-30 16:53:00 by Mark Waldin, www.flycatcherinc.com What to do with bubbles that get embedded in your thread wrap epoxy, is a common question. Of course, the best answer is to not get bubbles in the epoxy in the first place. Here are a couple tips for avoiding bubbles in the epoxy. Warm your epoxy ... More About: Building
What size tippet is right for fly rod rigging?
2007-10-29 17:45:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com We all know that the smaller the tippet diameter and longer its length, the more fish you are going to catch. We also know that getting your fly to turn over properly gets harder, the smaller the tippet. What is the right size tippet to ... More About: Size , Tipp
Fly Rod Building Tip #6 - Mounting Tip Tops
2007-10-26 17:37:00 by Mark Waldin, http://www.flycatcherinc.com .. many rod blank manufacturers provide an extended warranty on their rod blanks. If a rod tip breaks when you are fishing there is a good chance you will be able to get a new fly rod tip under the warranty. Rod line guides are easily removed from the ... More About: Building , Tops , Mount
Make your fly fishing leaders last longer
2007-10-24 16:52:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com — Most people use knotless leaders when fly fishing. As they fish they cut back on the leader adding new flies, the tippet becomes shorter until they need to add new tippet to the leader. When the new tippet is used up they cut off the old knot ... More About: Fishing , Make , Fly Fishing , Leaders , Leader
Is your fly line tippet to leader link strong enough?
2007-10-23 18:59:00 by Mark Waldin www.flycatcherinc.com –You probably connect your fly fishing tippet to your leader using a blood knot, don’t you? Did you know that a blood knot is going to break before your line breaks, meaning it is the weakest link? According to tests done by Art Scheck and reported in his book, Practical ... More About: Link , Line , Strong , Leader , Tipp
What reel seat is right for your fly rod?
2007-10-22 17:26:00 Reel Seat The reel seat is the device that holds the reel on to the rod. Selection of a reel seat has more to do with aesthetics than anything else, with a couple of exceptions. A decent reel seat will hold the reel in place as well as a top of the line reel ... More About: Reel
Fly rod building tip #5 - wrapping thread color preserver
2007-10-20 18:32:00 by Mark Waldin Flycatcher — if you haven’t built a fly rod before, or if you haven’t built a lot of them, you may think that choosing a thread color is going to get you a fly rod with thread wrap that looks like the color you chose. This couldn’t be further from the ... More About: Building , Color , Thread , Reserve , Wrap
Is your fly fishing leader the right length?
2007-10-19 17:08:00 by Mark Waldin Flycatcher — as if there weren’t enough variables to control, they had to come up with different length leaders, on God’s green earth why? The longer the leader, the longer the distance between your heavy fly line and that delectable fly: less action to spook the fish. A longer ... More About: Fishing , Fly Fishing , Leader
Is a lighter fly rod better?
2007-10-18 18:07:00 by Mark Waldin Flycatcher — You might think that the advantage of casting a rod that is 1/2 oz lighter than another is better because it is less strain on your body. This is not the main reason a lighter rod is better. A lighter rod is inherently good because it means that less of ... More About: Lighter
Why put a 5 weight line on a 4 weight fly rod?
2007-10-16 16:46:00 by Mark Waldin Flycatcher — Should you always use the line weight recommended by the fly rod or rod blank manufacturer? Remember that casting a fly is an art form that involves skill, technique, and preference. A fly rod manufacturer specs a fly rod based on their taste and perceived user’s ... More About: Weight , Line , Weigh
Building a Fly Rod Tip #4
2007-10-15 17:21:00 by Mark Waldin Flycatcher — Its the stupid mistakes that will frustrate you the most. That is especially true when the mistake is expensive, and this one is. You have found the spine on each section of your fly rod blank and marked each section for the spine location. You have reamed your ... More About: Building
Rod Building Tip #3 - Cork
2007-10-12 18:16:00 by Mark Waldin Flycatcher — Ever find a cork grip quality grading system? Is it A, AA, AAA, Flor? You probably have seen all of these quality gradations but do you know what they mean and do you know what you are getting when you buy one? Probably not. There is NO grading ... More About: Building , Cork
Where in the world is fly fishing news?
2007-10-11 17:42:00 I’ve started doing some deep research on fly fishing news articles on the Internet. I’ve used Google News . I’ve used general searches. I’ve used feed readers of various kinds. I even investigated Second Life where you can create another world of imaginary people and interact with them. One thing that ... More About: World , Fishing , The World , Fly Fishing
Fly Rod Building Tip #2
2007-10-09 18:03:00 Mark Waldin, Flycatcher– when you wrap your fly rod guides, don’t use your drag mechanism to create tension for wrapping. Set the drag so that it provides more tension than you want during the wrapping. Pull a length of thread through the drag (by pulling the rod toward you so tension is kept ... More About: Building
Is fly fishing really a competitive sport?
2007-10-08 18:11:00 Mark Waldin, Flycatcher –The US National Fly Fishing Championships, NFFC, finished three days of intense fly fishing competition yesterday. Summing it up, Eddie Pinkston in an interview with the Daily Camera, said, “This is really made for those fishermen who are in their prime, but have still had enough experience on the water.” But I have ... More About: Sport , Fly Fishing , Competitive , Ally
Is your fly rod giving you the most casting distance it can?
2007-10-06 19:18:00 A couple days ago I zero balance tuned two identical St Croix SCIII fly rod blanks. Same length, same weight, same model, even came in the same shipment. Different results. Optimal placement of the fly rod guides was different by almost an inch and a half with one rod needing all the ... More About: Giving , Casting
Is your fly rod?s stripper guide in the right place?
2007-10-05 17:32:00 Is that an odd question? Is there such a thing as having a stripper guide placed wrong? Place ment of a stripper guide is dictated by two things a) stripping and b) casting. For stripping, you want the guide to be at a distance up the fly rod in such a way that ... More About: Guide , Stripper , Ripper , Guid
Fly Rod Building Tip #1
2007-10-04 17:33:00 Here’s a tip for wrapping thread on your guides so you get a nice even wrap. Start your wrapping so that the thread comes off your tension mechanism and wraps over the top of your rod, not under the rod. Keep the rod at a slight angle to your feed mechanism, only ... More About: Building
Whew, how do you keep up with the all fly fishing web sites?
More articles from this author:2007-10-02 07:41:00 As I created this blog and posted it, it occurred to me that many of my fly fishing buddies out there are a lot more interested in fly fishing, fly rods, flies, and tackle than they are technology. Who has time to or better yet who cares about all this technology. I’ll bet ... More About: Fishing , Web Sites , Sites , Fly Fishing , Web site 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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