Northwest Reel Life April 2023 Volume 2 Issue 8 - Flipbook - Page 35
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Updated website with new products
KOKANEE — TROUT
LANDLOCKED
ED SALMON
Matching lures: NEW Kokanee Krill, Beaded Spinners, Super Squids, Spin Bugs
Only the finest fluorescent (“UV”) materials used. Tandem Gamakatsu hooks.
FISH WITH GARY TACKLE CO.
La Pine, Oregon
www.fishwithgary.com 541.536.1002
Home of Kokanee University
The act of “mending” your
fly line, or manipulating
the fly line, upstream or
downstream of your fly will
either speed up the fly or
slow it down to the point of
eliminating the V-wake.
Trying to put in to words
how to mend fly line in
order to achieve a drag free
drift is like trying to write
down instructions for riding
a bicycle for the first time.
Hands on handle bars, feet
on pedals, pedal fast, hold
tight, and hope for the
best. Mending fly line is
best learned through visual
aid. Hire a guide or watch
a video from Rio Products
on YouTube. It will be the
difference in catching and
flailing.
We have covered a lot of
ground here, but one last
thing. What do you do when
the fish does actually eat
your fly? You’ve made a good
cast, good drift, and a trout
graces your ego by taking
your synthetic offering as if
it were a tomahawk ribeye.
Dear baby Jesus, this actually
worked. What now? I’m
willing to bet the first time
it happens, you will set the
hook well before the fish
has the fly in its mouth.
Most anglers react upon the
visual of the fish breaking
the surface resulting in the
fly being pulled away from
the fish before it has time to
come down on top of the fly
to ingest it.
If you can somehow force
yourself to wait on the hook
set until after you can see the
dorsal fin, your success rate
will increase substantially.
I once had an Alaska client
that came every year only to
fish Arctic grayling on dry
flies. He would stand in the
run and say “God save the
queen” every time a grayling
rose to his fly. After he said
the words, he set the hook.
That was his way of metering
his hook set so it wasn't too
quick. After about the 50th
time hearing it, I was hoping
for a new phrase or no phrase
at all, but it worked for him.
It's summer. Get your gear
sorted out, find a village of
idiots, have some fun, and
God save the queen.
JUNE 2023 | 35