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TIP OF THE MONTH
DECEMBER 2000 READER'S TIP
In a perfect world. when we buy a new reel, the shop graciously offers to put the backing and the line on the reel spool for you. And in fact, that is indisputably the best way to do it. But, alas, it's not a perfect world, and, sooner or later, you’ll have to install your own line and backing. What a pain. The catalog talks about 50 yards of backing. Or a hundred yards. Or, sometimes, even 200 yards. So how much is that? Most of us are doing this more than once every couple of years or so (if that), so it's not like we have the benefit of lots of practice at estimating backing length. Most of us just punt and reel on backing until we think we have “enough.” Then, we put on the line, and somewhere before we get the entire line reeled in, it starts rubbing against the cross pieces in the frame. And if we've really screwed up, then with ten or fifteen feet of line still off the reel, the whole thing grinds to a halt, defeated by friction and our bad guess. If you're not a complete slug about these things, you’ll pull all the line off, clip that knot that you so painstakingly tied, and pull off what think is enough backing, retie your line to the backing, and try it all again. If you're lucky, you don’t have to do it a third time (I know one guy who became so undone by this process that he threw the entire mess, reel, line, and backing, into his fire place . . . while the fire was roaring—ah, the simple joys of fly fishing). So, just how do you get the right amount of backing on there the first time? One of our readers, Anthony Blackwell, of Hinckley, England, has come up with a simple, foolproof solution. Here it is:
Many people, when fitting a new line to a reel, have difficulty assessing the amount of backing to wind on. Here's an easy solution. First wind on the new line—tippet end first—then attach the backing to the line as you would in the normal way. Then it is possible for you to wind on exactly as much backing as you need to do the job. Pull the backing, then the line off the reel and wind it on backing first. It should be a correct fit.
NOVEMBER 2000 READER'S TIP
Mending—It's a key element to controlling the drift of your line–and consequently your fly–on the water. And we've talked about the basics of the mend in our May 2000 Tip of the Month. But Marshall Miller of Ann Arbor, Michigan offers some great advice to prevent that pesky drag when you really need to do a big mend. Here's what he says.
I noticed in your May 2000 Tip of the Month that you talk about the need to mend quickly, and not overdo it. I think that's good advice, but sometimes, when I'm casting across an eddy or the wind puts a big loop in my line, I need a really big mend, and "lightening up" as you put it, just doesn't get it done. But I have a solution. In my normal small mend, I used to keep any slack line left after my cast, pinned beneath the index finger on my grip hand. When I tried to increase my mend, the mend would drag the fly. My solution? First, I make sure I have a little slack left below my reel at the end of the cast. Then when I do my mend, I just lift my index finger and let the line run freely through the guides during the mend. This allows me to move a big loop without dragging the fly. Also, it allows me to do repeated mends without drag as my fly moves downstream. This has worked so well, I use it on almost all my mends.
OCTOBER 2000 READER'S TIP
Anyone who has spent any time on a spring creek or a tailwater river will have weathered this month's nasty little problem. You get to the river and fish are up everywhere (most likely on some variety of Blue-winged Olive this time of year), poking those noses (or those backs of emerger-feeding fish) through the surface film. And, wonder of wonders, they're in casting range. But, something else is up in force this time of the year—weeds. Big, stringy strands, floating mats of weed, and little stray weedlets, everywhere. And at the end of every cast, you are sure to catch something, if not a fish. Sometimes it's big, sometimes it's little, but like clockwork, it's there, a weed caught on your fly. The strike is sluggish and so is the fight. Sometimes you can get it off with a good backcast, but often that's not enough, and you end up retrieving all your line, swinging the fly within reach (while all that line drapes around your thighs) and tugging the weeds off by hand. It's enough to drive you over the edge. Well, Tim Gonzalez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has a great solution that we have had a chance to field test. For lack of a better term, let's call it the slapping false cast. Here's how it works. When you feel the tell-tale tug of the demon weed, strip your line in until you have two, three or four feet of line out beyond the end of your rod. Then, starting with your rod tip at the water, Backcast high and aim your forecast so that the leader unrolls the fly inches above the water and a few feet in front of you. As the fly starts to settle to the water, backcast hard again, so that your fly just rips through the surface. Nine times our of ten, this will clean the weeds off. And, if it doesn't work consistently on a particular water, it's time to fish somewhere else.
SEPTEMBER 2000 READER'S TIP
Have you ever been in the midst of a delicate presentation, poised to make the perfect cast when, sploosh! off comes your rod tip? This annoying little surprise has ambushed most of us at one time or other. Or how about this? You hit the end of the day, you're ready for that post-fisting burger and beer, and, ugh! your rod won't come apart. You tug hard, but gingerly at the ferrules, your hands slip on the finish, and you generally feel like a weakling. But the rod won't come apart. Well, cheer up. Peter Anderson of Canmore has a solution for both of these situations:
To connect those rod sections tightly when you set up your rod, dip both sides of the ferrule in the river and connect them without drying either side. The joint bonds extremely effectively.
To break the rod down, do NOT use:
a) heat from a hair drier;
b) cold from the freezer section of a meat processing plant; or
c) the hands of the strongest mechanic in town.
They don't work, and they can do more harm than good. Instead, try these two options:
1) If you can get the rod home in one piece, suspend the rod from the ceiling ad apply WD-40 above the ferrule, and leave it for awhile. A few minutes of this, and it should come easily apart.
2) If you have a buddy on the stream, put on a pair of textured-palm rubber gloves and adorn a partner with the same. Brace each other by sitting across from one other on the ground, sole to sole. Place the ends of the rod under your armpits as you grasp the rod near the ferrule. Pull firmly until the rod pops apart at the ferrule.
AUGUST 2000 READER'S TIP
The August reader's tip comes from Warren Frank of Plymouth, Minnesota. Being a Minnesotan, Warren has a perverse affinity for fly fishing in the dead of winter. As a hard-core winter fly fisher, he's had to cope with the dreaded pox of water freezing in the guides of his fly rod. The less intrepid among us usually just pack it up and head indoors when the ice becomes too persistent. (Editor's note: As one of the less intrepid, I always thought ice in the guides was God's way of telling me it was time to go skiing. Or ice skating. Or bowling. Or big-time sports spectating. Anything but fly fishing.) But Warren has come up with a simple, yet wonderfully effective way to deal with the problem:
Here in Minnesota, and other northern states with winter trout seasons, water freezing in the guides of your fly rod is always a problem. Seems that every third cast requires that you stop and knock the ice out of your guides. This past winter when I was cleaning and preparing my line after having stored it for a few months, I coated the line with 333, a pump spray product which cleans plastic and protects it from ultraviolet rays. What I didn't realize is that it is also highly water repellent. I fished for 4 hours in 24 degree weather without ever having to clear the guides. This makes for a more productive fishing trip as well as warmer hands. You should be able to find 333 at your local hardware store.
JULY 2000 READER'S TIP
Our very first reader's tip comes from Mario Atencio of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Loose tippet and leader end up getting stuffed in pockets and reappearing at the most annoying times. And, if we simply discard them on the stream, they are potential hazards to small birds and mammals. Mario suggests a great way to take care of those annoying pieces of tippet and leader:
Take the hooked half of a strip of velcro and fix a strip of double-sided-tape to the back of it. Trim it so that, when you wrap it around your flotant bottle, it is short by about 1/8" (this part is important). As you fish through the day, and have short lengths of tippet or leader, wrap them around your flotant bottle. When you get home at the end of the day, run your scissors through the space you have left and pull all of the line from the velcro and discard it into the garbage. That's all there is to it.
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