Dave gets a Red on his Helios 7wt

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Dave gets a Red on his Helios 7wt

Just heard from my buddy Dave down Punta Gorda way. Man, he is a fishing machine! Great angler. He sent me this picture of redfish he got on his new Orvis Helios 3 fly rod. As you can see from the skies, the rainy season is underway down in Punta Gorda. And the color of the water is another solid clue.

Dave gets a Red on his Helios 7wt

His new rod is a Helios 3F, 9′, 4 piece, 7wt, courtesy of his stimulus check. Orvis makes  Helios 3 rods in both F and D models. The 3F being called a “finesse” action and the D a distance tool. Now Dave is a sight-fishing fanatic; hunting “tailing” reds is in his blood. So naturally he went with the “F'”. It was the smart choice.

Orvis calls their Helios 3 rods super light, but I can’t find an actual published weight. Ummm, seems odd. It may be a marketing strategy as rods weights have been a battleground between manufacturers before. Orvis and Sage locked horns years back. Still Dave tells me the rod is in fact light in hand, a great caster, accurate, and a “blast” on “tailers”. Adding that it reminds him of the old Scott STS. He and I both liked those rods. Dave went on to say that he knows some tarpon anglers that love the 10wt Helios 3. Well given that Dave is gifted angler with oodles of experience, those Helios 3s must quite good.

Posted in Fly Fishing in Salt Water, Fly Rods | Leave a comment

My Son Found some Schoolie Bass

Posted on June 6, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

My Son Found some Schoolie Bass

A few days back, my son took his kayak down to the mouth of the Connecticut River. Things have been pretty slow, but this time he found some schoolie bass.

My Son Found Some Schoolie Bass

He tells me the tide was slack high and the bass were pushing bait up in the weeds. Where lucky egrets were scarfing down anything the bass missed. You gotta love it. Using his new Wild Water fly rod, the one I told you about awhile back, he landed several stripers. Nothing huge, but it must been fun. Nice going.

Posted in Fly Fishing in Salt Water | Leave a comment

American Angler’s Digital Version goes Belly Up

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

American Angler’s Digital Version goes Belly Up

American Angler’s Digital Version goes Belly Up

Not long ago, I posted on the demise of American Angler’s print edition. Well guess what? Back in July, American Angler’s digital version went belly up too. Granted I’m way the hell late in reporting it, but felt all along it was inevitable. Here’s former editor Greg Thomas’ final thoughts.

When American Angler stopped the presses and shut off the lights, the writing was on the wall. (terrible pun) The magazine wasn’t making moola. Frankly I doubt even American Angler’s parent company, Morris Publications, is on rock solid ground. Publishing is a troubled business, my friend. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Well, I guess the Coronavirus fiasco was a factor. Yeah, the bat bug gave the fly-fishing industry a blackeye. Retail shops had to close, at least temporarily. I bet some went belly up too. Guides, a fragile business to begin with, got an avalanche of cancellations. Some of which landed at the height of the fishing season. Even the big boys like Orvis and Sage had to mask up and shut down. And the worst of it landed in the fly-fishing travel industry’s lap. Man, they got both barrels. Anglers didn’t want to travel and even if they did airlines and lodges were closed.

On another level I would have thought our yearlong hermitage might have given American Angler a new lease on life. Internet traffic soared. Man, some states experienced upwards of nearly a 50% increase in internet traffic. The UK had nearly an 80% boost in demand. People were on their desk tops; on their laptops; on their IPads; on their mobile phones – all wandering the web. And sportfishing saw a huge surge during the Coronavirus. Folks hit the water in record numbers. Yes, fly-fishing is the smallest segment of sportfishing, but it saw growth too. Believe me. In fact, it may be at its highest level in a long, long time.

Still done is done. The magazine had a long wonderful ride, dating back some 40 years. Born under the name Fly Tyer, it was the brainchild of Dick Surette working out of his fly shop in North Conway New, Hampshire (Now called North Country Angler). Slowly it morphed into American Angler & Fly Tyer, and then simply American Angler. May American Angler rest in peace.

Posted in Fly Fishing in Freshwater, Fly Fishing in Salt Water, Outdoor Writing | 2 Comments

Is Euro-Nymphing Legal?

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Is Euro-Nymphing Legal?

Is euro-nymphing legal in a fly-fishing only area? This question keeps coming around again and again. Oh boy, here we go once more.

To get to the bottom of it, (pun intended) a few years back I called fishing departments all across the country researching this question. And here is the answer: it depends on how fly-fishing is defined in a given state. The resulting article appeared in Fly Fisherman magazine ‘s October 2017 Gear Guide. Its entitled Fly-Fishing Outlaws, and can be found on My Magazine Articles page. If you euro-nymph, I encourage you to read it.

Ps. Note that Tenkara anglers can run into the same problem.

Posted in Fly Fishing in Freshwater | Leave a comment

A Vintage Fly Rod Day

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

A Vintage Fly Rod Day

Recently the weather here in Connecticut has been yucky. Mother Nature was throwing us a curve ball. Memorial Day weekend held three day of cold, rain, and wind. Three days. Go figure.  Terrible for this time of year. Well yesterday was an okay day. And given that tomorrow may hold more rain,  it was time to get back on the water.

A Vintage Fly Rod Day

Halfway through a second cup of coffee morning, I opted to make it another vintage fly rod day.  Drag out the “glass”. Hey, why not I’m a vintage angler. So between me and the rods this outing was going to be totally retronaut. The two rods in question were Winston fiberglass rods, the ones I did a post on a few days back. A 4wt and a 6wt. Nice combination for a trout trip. If any dry fly action appeared the 4wt would get the nod. For swing wets, nymphing or streamers the 6wt would step up to the plate.

As you can image the river was up after all this rain. That made for some careful wading. No sense taking a dunk. Right off, I saw a few fair size caddis come off and I did see some Vitreus later in the morning. Not a lot still they were around. But once again no rising fish.  Too bad, I was hoping for dry fly action. Yeah fishing is wishing. The action was all subsurface. Maybe next time.

Rainbow bends the 6wt

 

Posted in Fiberglass Fly Rods, Fly Fishing in Freshwater | 2 Comments