Fly Fishing

Everyone knows the basics of fishing. There's a rod, reel, fishing line, hook, bait; you cast the line, wait for a bite, and reel in your dinner. Experienced fishermen
know there is more to it than that, but for most of us that description appropriately sums it up. However, there are many types of fishing, such as salt water and fresh water, and perhaps the most artful of them all, fly fishing. You have probably heard of fly fishing - it has been in recorded history for nearly 2000 years - and you probably know that it does not involve fishing for flies, but if that is all you know then a primer in fly fishing basics can bring you up to speed.

Fly Fishing for Bass

If you are going to catch a bass, act like a bass. This doesn't mean you have to eat frogs and harass cute little baby ducks. But you need to think like a bass. When I talk to bass fishers, I often get a similar reaction. Fishing for bass inclines you to stalk them like they stalk their prey. Trout are more refined, gentle fish. Trout in a lake, you wait for; you can troll, but most lake trout fishing involves keying into the basic fact that the fish are on the move, cruising. They do some stalking, but they don't have the explosive body/muscle type that makes a bass attack like a linebacker through the weeds and into their prey.

Fishing for bass reminds me of fishing for trout in rivers. I enjoy anticipating where a trout lies, and then stalking them. Fishing for bass forces me to have a similar degree of awareness, observation and anticipation. I stalk them, I'm careful and quiet and patient, and I use all my senses just a little bit more than I am accustomed to.

I try to anticipate any potential ambush point. A small rock pile. A stack of brush half-submerged in water. Logs diving into the water. And my favorite: yard-wide floating islands of tules and bulrushes. These little moving forests may not be ideal bass cover, but they fascinate me. Try picking one up out of the water, and you'll see what a perfectly messy little moving shield they offer for bass. I usually fish the shady side of these little islands.

Fly Fishing the BIG ONES!

EARLY FLORIDA KEYS GUIDES George Hommell, Jack Brothers and Jimmy Albright pioneered many of the big-fish fighting techniques that are used today to subdue fish that to the average onlooker are far too big to be landed with a fly rod. Stu Apte and Lefty Kreh popularized and perfected their techniques. They did it pursuing tarpon with fiberglass fly rods whose design emphasized durability and stiffness over ease of casting, and later with improved tackle on blue water species like sailfish.

By removing the question of gear endurance from the equation — and by bringing leader systems up to par with the size of their quarry — these pioneers were able to bring technique into focus. The methods they popularized had to do with applying the most amount of pressure, most consistently, to the fish. It laid the foundation for thoughts about keeping a fish off-balance, and for the psychological wager an angler could place by using each piece of his equipment to the limits of its ability. Stu Apte carried both to the extreme and was the first to develop the “down and dirty” method to reduce a fish’s will to fight. It made fly fishing a more physical challenge as well, and if you look at some of the early pictures of Lefty and Stu at the time they were setting the tarpon world records, you see Jack LaLanne look-alikes, albeit in sun-worn khaki.