Bow to a trout to reduce losses.
When a fish jumps bowing the fish is the best way of avoiding a
tippet break or hook pull.
Fishing 'on the swing' is simplicity itself.
When ‘traditional’ dry fly or nymphing is just not getting the
job done, swinging a wet fly or nymph through likely water often gets
results.
Trout dying for a photo
When grip and grin becomes grip and kill.
Big brown trout in New Zealand.
Catching a big brown trout in New Zealand - an obsession?
New Zealand High Country,
High Tussock, Huge Hideous Fly - Perfect!
Blind to opportunity How fishing dogma can blind us to reaching our fishing goals.
Tenkara Fly-Fishing System
- The Good, Bad and Downright Ugly
What does fly-rod 'action' mean
and how does it affect casting?
Unexpectedly great fishing strikes again
- at Taupo, New Zealand.
Tenkara and European nymphing
- where the old becomes new.
The Frisbee cast
- The perfect cast for very tight places.
Do big bright flies catch brown trout?
The answer is a definite maybe - in the right time and place.
Does a ten foot fly-rod
for light line-weight rods make you a better caster and angler?
Read about my conversion to the long side.
Fly-fishing after a flood
How to find trout to fly-fish to after a flood or high water.
How to fight and land a trout - Books and articles are full of information about fly-fishing and fly tying, but fairly light on how to fight and land fish when you finally manage to hook one. This might help fill some of that hole.
Fugly Foam Flies - How Foam flies can make for fabulous fly fishing all year round.
Fly Fish Taupo - All the information you need to fish this world famous trout fishery. Situated in the Central North Island of New Zealand the rivers and streams that flow into Lake Taupo provide great fishing, much of it all year round.
The Very Famous Fisherman's Dirty Little Secret
So I take a leaf out of the sensational magazines and tell a story
about a very famous fly fisherman, and how the camera can, an often
does, lie.
Was the fishing that good back then?
The Other NZ fly-fishing Destination
The South Island Fishery has a great deal going for it; big fish in
clear water. But the North Island too, has superb fishing, in clear
streams and rivers as well, especially throughout the central North
Island, and especially for anglers prepared to venture off the beaten
tracks.
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Imitation or Approximation
Bit of a post Christmas dinner rumination on tying effective flies.
Should we try for approximation or shoot for imitation?
To cast better
Try start slow, finish fast, stop dead. It really is that simple, but
we humans seem to have made taking something simple and turning it
into something difficult an art form.
Catch & Release Dogmatists
A bit of a rave on one of the more prevalent bits of dogma that pop-up
too often in fly-fishing.
Introduction to 'Czech Nymphing'
A highly effective nymphing method that can be used in roily and
turbulent water. Saves your casting arm too!
Bead Fly Updated
One of the most read articles on my site is a short little piece on
Bead Flies. Here is a new article that updates what I have learned
about these lethal flies, since 1998.
Best Time to go fly-fishing?
What is the best time to go fishing for trout? Well there is plenty of
advice if you listen to the 'conventional wisdom'. But is this wisdom
wise? Try these thoughts.
Reading the Water
How to find lies, the ones trout lie in, not the ones fishermen tell
when they can't find those lies.
Spotting Trout
Finding trout to toss a fly at, can be the most important skill for
success. Here are some proven methods to help you spot more fish.
Expect the Unexpected
Sometimes the best planned, most anticipated fishing trips just do not
deliver - then there are dream trips that pop up out of nowhere.
No Great Expectations
Sometimes a dream fishing experience just seems to pop up out of the
blue. For no particular rhymes or reasons - it just happens.
'Rufazgutz'
How to make a store-bought fly more 'fishy'. Most store bought flies
are designed to catch fishermen, here are some thoughts on turning
store-bought flies into fish catchers.
Lose More Flies!
Have I gone mad; am I seriously suggesting losing flies when fishing
the big rivers of the Central Plateau in New Zealand's North Island -
there is a method in my madness.
Blue Moon
Do trout see colours we cannot - is there more in feathers and fur
than meets our eyes. There sure is, and it is best to know about it.
Fishing in a Goldfish Bowl
Truly standout days are rare, otherwise they would not stand-out.
Eddie my boy, and I had a stand-out day on smelting trout recently.
Nymphing The Rip
Use a nymph where rivers enter the lake? Sure, and it can beat
traditional methods such as casting and retrieving streamers and wet
flies.
Plucking Pluckers
Why do trout sometimes just nip and pluck at a fly? Or Do they? I
reckon the Jury is out on this question.
Lurking Around Lakes
Sight fishing to trout around lake edges is superb sport.
Booby Flies
Maybe the strangest fly ever tied, but perhaps the most lethal, in
lakes, and sea.
Big Brown Bogey
Finally, a ten pound brown trout. It took a while but finally I got
lucky.
Night Moves Part 1 and Introduction
Fishing at night produces big trout, on lakes and on rivers. But
fly-fishing at night exposes the angler to a whole range of new things
to consider. Here is what I have learned.
Night Moves Part 2
Fishing lakes at night introduction and where to find fish.
Night Moves Part 3
The tackle and how to use it in lakes at night.
Night Moves Part 4
Fishing rivers at night, effectively and importantly, safely.
Picture Perfect Memory
How a computer can help enhance memory of the size of fish.
Logs, Hogs and Fogs
Big brown trout in a small stream - narrow enough to step over? Yes
Sir!
A Fish Called Nelson
Why we should break the 'rules' when fishing.
Temptation
The urge to go fishing can tempt us all - sometimes there is nothing
to do but give in - a bit of humour.
The Most Expensive Fish of All to Catch
The title says it - well, nearly all.
Catch a Salmon and Live to 152!
Every hour spent fishing is added to your allotted life span
Zorro and Roses
The trials and tribulations of split cane rods.
Article written by Tony Bishop
My first trout fishing book Fishing Smarter for Trout is
now up on this site and free to read. Includes regular updates and new stuff.
Bead 'hot spots' on flies
Of course we all know that beads are very common now at the hook eye, mostly to add extra weight to the fly to help it sink.
But beads can add real extra 'eat me' signals to a fly. Many flies now include 'Hot spots', a spot of colour or shine to attract the eye of a trout to the fly. Coloured beads added either weighted or made of glass are a great way of adding hot spots.
In the example above the black tungsten bead at the eye provides weight, the red glass bead behind it provides a hot spot.
Read More
Grip and Kill
The way a trout is held when taking a photo, (aka 'Grip and grin'), can easily turn into 'grip and kill' if the fish is not handled carefully and correctly.
The area above the pectoral fins, (the fins just behind and below the gills) contains the fish's heart and other organs; too great a pressure applied to this area can lead to the death of the fish.
Read More
Catch and Release Dogma
Most aspects of human endeavour have collected their share of dogma and cant.
Trout fishing is one sport where a short-sighted, blinkered view of how things could and should be done is rife amongst a self appointed ‘elite’.
One aspect these dogmatists latch onto with total disregard for the fishery they are fishing in, is catch and release. According to them, all trout should be released in any water, anywhere. This is nonsense.
(In fact strict adherence to C & R in all trout water may indeed kill off the sport - a number of European countries now ban Catch and Release.)
