Category Archives: commentary

Part 1 of 2: Is the fly line industry running out of superlatives?

Scientific Anglers UltraI just can’t seem to leave well enough alone. Dogged determinism has me squinting at the screen digesting numbers and errata when I should be mowing lawn or squinting at a small fly going in harm’s way.

Like the evolution of medicine, fly line manufacturers are no longer content with a general practitioner, they’ve pushed us down the specialization path with glee – leaving us to ponder whether Mango is better than Avocado, slick is superior to textured, and whether a line called Salmon is needed for Salmon, or just another gimmick to add to the already horrendous weight of our vest.

Much is made of all the differences, with anglers professing allegiance to one camp or another, or merely shivering in the middle; unsure and undecided whether the voices of vendors and vendor-backed media are taking them down the primrose path.

Our angling publications aren’t much help, authors vie to give manufacturers the least offense, hoping the flow of freebies continue unabated. Product reviews always contain superlatives, the marketing materials contain even more  – and  end prematurely with little more than, “it’s cool, definitely slick despite the ridged and  bubbled finish and the Puce polka dots allow you to maintain contact despite blending with bankside shrubbery.”

Vendors are in constant competition, and pricing depends on mass production, each manufacturer wants as few pots of bubbling plastic polymer as possible. Cortland and Scientific anglers prefer PVC, Airflo likes Polyurethane, and everyone touts their mixture as the “one true God.”

But with the plethora of specialty lines and the maker’s desire to ensure you own all of them, they’ve trapped themselves. The AFTMA standard requires the line adhere to a given grain weight in its first 30 feet. Like NASCAR, everyone has a similar rule set – and there’s only so much you can do to a fly line taper. Shorten, lengthen, make “stairsteps” of increasing or decreasing line size, but when you’re done it’d better weigh within a fixed range just like your competitor.

We’ll assume everything they say about coatings, compounds, and textures is true, allowing us to get past the nouns and acronyms, past the religious fervor of Sharkskin, SYLK, and softeners, and focus on the product’s taper. We may not be able to discern the difference between hydrophobic and hydroponic, but we’re expert in soft butts,  big bellies, and a long tip when cast.

That “feel” comes from the taper – and whether it’s a sinking line imbued with Tungsten dust or a floating line with microbubbles, we’ve flung them with great passion for years; we know what we like, and might be able to answer, “are all these specialty lines really necessary?”

Remember, “as few pots of bubbling plastic as necessary” – and regardless of the spittle and vitriol, it’s likely all these lines use the same basic formula of plasticizers and polymers.

Method

I chose a AFTMA WF7 F/I/S to show the taper of each vendor fly line. These numbers are taken from the vendors website and/or discrete PDF’s constructed by the vendor which contain their line specifications.

We’ve ignored sink tips intentionally as their taper is compounded by the sinking portion.

Length = Total length of the fly line (feet)

Running Line = Length of the level running line portion (feet)

Rear Taper = The length of the rear taper of the head (feet)

Belly = The length of the fly line belly (feet)

Front Taper = Length of the front taper (feet)

Tip = the length of the level tip (feet)

If the line has a compound taper in the belly portion that taper is denoted by its overall length, and the steps of the taper in parenthesis. 35(Front20Rear15) is 35 foot overall belly length, the front 20′ is different from the rear 15′.

Lastly, I took every WF7 the vendor sold and compared their respective tapers in a chart, allowing you to see real differences in the line taper without being swayed by box art and advertising.

Scientific Anglers

Scientific Anglers fly linesScientific Anglers fly lines

I’d describe Scientific Anglers as the most prolific of the fly line kingdom. It’s apparent that almost every discrete line they manufacture has some small difference. These differences are not drastic and begs the question, “can the average angler detect the taper, and will it make much difference in his casting?”

Example: Take the Lefty Kreh Signature and the SA Professional floating line.  The differences between the two are a 2.4 feet longer rear taper on the Kreh line, and the Professional floater is the converse of the above, a 2.4 foot longer head taken from the rear taper. Both are the same price at Cabela’s.

All other line specifications are identical, suggesting the Kreh and Professional are largely the same. Manufacturers would claim the Kreh gives the softer presentation due to its longer tip – you’ll note in the marketing material below taken from the 3M and Cabela’s websites – no mention is made for the longer tip – it’s not considered an asset.

The marketing at Cabela’s is very different, differentiating the two, and there’s no mention that the Professional series contains the Lefty Kreh Signature line, as demonstrated by the Scientific Anglers website. That’s not an indictment so much as demonstrates the pains by which advertising attempts to make them all quite different.

Lefty Kreh:

It’s specially engineered by Scientific Anglers to possess optimal density for high-flotation applications. Both supple and easy to use, this line has a versatile midlength head that makes it suitable for a wide range of fishing situations. Special 3M lubricants increase the slickness of the Signature Series, resulting in superior casting performance.

Professional:

Scientific Angler’s new Professional Series Floating Line has optimal density for high flotation, and is supple for ease of use. With a braided multifilament core, internal lubricants to increase slickness and enhance shootability, and integrated UV inhibitors, this line is ideal for a wide range of conditions.

The Scientific Anglers website is terse in its prose, listing an abbreviated preamble and bullet points to describe each line’s attributes.

Lefty Kreh Signature

Applications:

  • Excellent general-purpose line
  • Easy to cast and high floating
  • Optimal line density for high floatation
  • Supple and easy to use in most conditions

WF taper characteristics:

  • Versatile mid-length head designed with input from the master himself – Lefty Kreh

Core:

  • Braided multifilament nylon

Coating:

  • 3M PVC formulated with special internal lubricants to increase slickness and enhance shootability
  • Integrated UV inhibitors for increased durability

Professional Series Floating

Applications:

  • Excellent general-purpose line for all weather
  • Optimal line density for high floatation
  • Supple for ease of use in all conditions

WF Taper Characteristics:

  • Group-tailored heads for general use

Core:

  • Braided multifilament nylon

Coating:

  • 3M PVC formulated with special internal lubricants to increase slickness and enhance shootability
  • Integrated UV inhibitors for increased durability

We find both have the UV Inhibitors, both have the same superlatives in describing function and use, the only difference being that the Lefty Kreh line is “designed by the Master himself” and “easy to use.”

I’d suggest that the lines are identical (except for the 2.4 foot reallocation) and that a casual angler isn’t looking at two different lines – but is in fact looking at pretty much the same line.

So why would a vendor go to the trouble of building a feature into the line that was singular when compared to other tapers, yet make no mention of it?  It’s likely they’ve used the superlative already in a half dozen other lines, and it’s important to distinguish each line as an asset to the angler’s overall quiver.

So you feel you need them all.

Note that the SA Mastery Stillwater has the 2nd longest front taper of any fly line they make, but it’s length isn’t mentioned in the marketing material. Ditto for the Supra Floater, it’s the third longest forward taper SA makes – yet no mention of that attribute on their website.

The Mastery Bonefish and Sharkskin Ultimate Trout Taper both advocate their long tips to provide graceful presentation, and there’s no sense confusing you as to how many “long tip” fly lines you really need, is there?

Both the Mastery series and Sharkskin lines are more expensive than the Professional and Supra series – why not save the best superlatives for your high end lines? That’s good marketing.

Scanning the chart of the Scientific Angler lines above, many more similarities announce themselves, like the Saltwater Specialty, and the Specialty Bonefish line – a mere two foot difference in taper location akin to the Lefty / Professional.

There are many pronounced differences in the tapers as well, what the angler needs to ask themselves is outside of the marketing hype of slickness, texture, color, plasticizers, and coatings – is there much difference between my choices for a Carp line – and would the Bonefish taper be just as good?

Most anglers won’t be able to discern the difference between 2 foot of taper shoved forward, and as we’re ignoring all else other than their functional spec, it appears much of the cornucopia of fly lines tapers are not as distinct as we’ve been led to believe.

Airflo

Airflo_Lines

Airflo fly linesAirflo has a much smaller stable of fly lines than Scientific Angler, and like SA they’re showing the same advertising tendencies.  Both Airflo and Cortland include a full foot of level taper at the tip, unlike RIO and SA which opted for 6″.

The Delta, Sixth Sense, and 40 Plus all have long front tapers to ease the splash of presentation, and the balance of the Airflo suite are roughly similar with the weight shifted forward or backward by less than 5 feet.

Despite the differences between the two basic groupings of Airflo lines, only the Delta advertising mentions the long tip. The Sixth Sense and 40 Plus make no reference to the tip at all.

(The 1.5′ tip on the Ridge Delta Floating appears to be a website typo)

We should be asking ourselves when the manufacturer touts his “extra long belly” as an aid to long casts, long as compared to what?  There’s no such thing as a normal belly, tip, or rear taper, ensuring every possible change to the line can be touted as a benefit.

“With the debut of the Singlebarbed line and it’s Zero-Taper tip, the sumbitch lands like a gutshot mallard – offering the angler the advantage of visual feedback on the location of his fly. Available in Raspberry Red, Lemon Yellow, and Orange Orange..”

Whether it really makes a difference in your casting, you’ll have to try one and find out. 

I fear there’s plenty of lip gloss in fly line advertising, largely to differentiate similar products – giving us anglers the illusion we need multiple lines.

Wednesday, Part 2 of the series, “Are they Rogues or Demons, and why didn’t they tell me snipping 3 ” off the tip of a RIO Striped Bass line yields a RIO Clouser and $9 savings?

If we are most of the known killers, why must they die

How dare they do what comes natural? The cake exists until the last slice vanishes, then we finger the culprit and demand satisfaction – despite our distended belly and inability to eat anything more. It begs the question, how does not inhaling the last slice exonerate us of eating the rest of the cake?

Somehow our sense of proportion is out of whack, which isn’t surprising, the banks did similar by leveraging assets 30 times – and only claimed foul when everything fell apart.

Now we’re going to kill Sea Lion’s that had the audacity to eat salmon on the Columbia River – after farking the salmon completely with  over-harvest, pollution, and encroachment of watershed. We’ve bulldozed the spawning gravel for the foundation for our McMansion, cut the bank timber to build yet another strip mall, and now we’re incensed that something else on the planet has the chutzpah to want some too?

It’s comforting that we’re so distraught over the salmon’s plight that we’re willing to kill crap out of anything looking to harm one, but as Sea Lion’s aren’t killing for glee or leaving the unwanted carcasses on the bank – and if they outnumber the salmon and that’s not fair, whose fault is that really?

California isn’t the only state with it’s head up it’s collective arse.

We know that sea lions are not to blame for the demise of Columbia salmon. The fish runs collapsed because of dams, overfishing and habitat destruction. Even today, these are more significant causes of salmon mortality than sea lions. But we also know that the Northwest has no choice now but to address every killer of wild salmon.

As we remain “most of the killers”, I’d like to see the list of homes we’ll raze, timber acres to be restored, dams eliminated, and strip malls bulldozed for spawning gravel, because that might give the silvery SOB’s a fighting chance.

Seals, Otter, Osprey, and the American Fish Eagle dine on Salmon – I’m sure we’ll be properly outraged at each affront and insist on blowing a gaping hole in a Liberty Pigeon’s plumbing …

Can clarity exist in Brown water

I’ve always been comfortable with the Bull in the China shop approach, it’s a mixture of distaste for societal norms, tolerance for physical pain, and diminished IQ.

 and now, a word from our watershed

Ardor is useful for the young, but is often confused as evangelical when you’re older. “Religion” tends to breed cliques and the us-versus-them mentality, useful when you’re the underdog, but has little place in fly fishing.

We’ve got enough fractious behavior, backbiting, and cliques to rival any public middle school.

The recent article on “Brownlining” appearing in the Wall Street Journal, bred commentary that reminded me of the issue. While I cannot speak for all devotees, I’ll suggest this is largely perception, and will expand on the topic below.

…but I do think the author missed an opportunity to expand on the gentleman’s comment that brownlining is a “sanctioning” of nature’s destruction. At first I thought that these men were doing something novel in making the best of their environment, but then I realized, yes, they’re giving up in the fight to preserve nature spots.

Not so. Take an ardent fisherman whose got to work for a living, who – like you – has half a weekend afternoon to get in some “decompress” time, draw a circle around his house of an hour or less – and that’s what he’ll fish.

The fact that he represents a small voting minority comprised of like minded individuals means he’ll be fishing soiled water. Most of us live in urban areas whose voters deemed water quality and riparian habitat less important than green lawns and cheap rutabagas.

… which lie lonesome and congealing on children’s plates.

We’re still the only fellow keeping an eye on the drainage, the only guy packing out discarded water bottles, or alerting the authorities to the car or corpse in the streambed. We haven’t given up on the environment, we’re merely fishing the Now rather than gash our bosom over “how it ought to be.” At each opportunity we vote our belief, donate time or money to organizations that avow the same principles, but our lobby is weak, our collective voice a murmur, and our numbers diminish with every passing year.

Pristine blue water can turn into brown water by adding industry and people – and once brown, stays that way. As new watershed can’t be created and what’s left is either fenced or in slow decline, our children won’t understand this color distinction as they’ll be drinking it.

I enjoyed this article, but I think it gives the false impression that fishing in these marginal waters is relatively new. Other than the name “brown lining”, it is certainly not new.

So true. The earliest civilizations are synonymous with great waterways; the Thames, Nile, Tigris, Ganges, Yalu, Yangtze, etc., all spawned civilizations whose waterways boosted the flow of goods with other countries and municipalities. Untreated sewage and wastewater were intermingled with fishing nets and bathers, and the only new wrinkle is leisure time, a modern invention, and the concept of fishing as sport rather than subsistence.

Interesting story, but I’d still rather catch a 10-15 inch trout in clear water than a 10-15 pound bottom feeder in a toxic cesspool. Call it elitism if you like, but these guys will be happy I’m not into it.

I’m not so sure. Firstly, “toxicity” is a shifting target largely dependent on the government for “recommended daily dosages.” When we discover that  (2R)-2-[(4-Ethyl-2,3-dioxopiperazinyl)carbonylamino]-2-phenylacetic acid makes your children unable to reproduce, some fellow in Washington exclaims, “oOpsie” – and then a decade later – adds it to the long list of things to monitor in your drinking water.

… and secondly, a 10-15 pound bottom feeder has physics on his side. Whether lethargic or acrobatic it’s still twice the size of your tippet and glued to the bottom. It’s something to do while waiting for your daughter at band practice, and it’s something that keeps your reflexes sharp and your form true, so the first day of your vacation isn’t wasted as you relearn how to cast …

Clear water is toxic too – brown only gives you an extra visual cue.

…These are quite possibly the hardest fish to catch in fresh water on fly rods…they have some of the most advanced senses of smell of any animal and are easily spooked by even the most gentle casts.

Precisely what we’ve discovered, a one pound trout on a four pound tippet is a test of the trout, a fourteen pound fish on six pound tippet is a test of the angler. Isn’t that what we’re really looking for?

I bet these men would still jump at the chance to go fishing in pristine nature settings.

Also true, but nature is many hours distant and requires a weekend to be truly efficient. A two income household in a declining job market with an onerous mortgage, a 201K, and a kid needing orthodontia … Nature might have to take a backseat to food on the table.

To me the brown water is something close by that I can fish daily without endangering the family unit. No different from the practice range for golfers, who despite the decline in the economy, still have 51 weekends of desire, and a 16 weekend budget.

Beats crap out of painting the living room or remaining cloistered on the couch.

It’s certain some will prefer a secret society and claim to rival Theodore Gordon, but I want no part in it. I just want to make fish suffer.

Given the circumstances, Brown water with it’s miles of river and the solitude of Nature, with working fish and no human competition, contrasted with tales of overcrowding and traffic, rising costs and the diminishing returns of blue water, might make it the last frontier.

It doesn’t make its practitioners anything special unless the wind shifts.

A green solution to Carp infestation billed as an infrastructure project?

It's the Green Solution Commissioner Gordon had the Bat Signal to summon reinforcements, and based on a roll up of recent headlines I’m not sure some type of Brownline Reaction Force isn’t needed to assist ailing cities, states, and foreign continents.

Australia is about to be eaten from the inside by invasive carp, and there’s a steady litany of similar stories worldwide. Naturally, us fellows that trod brown water gets ignored – as each municipality hatches some potent toxin to kill the underwater cockroach, and maims half their population in the doing.

“Delta Force” would be a handsome label – but it’s taken already, and even legions of fly fishing carp aficionados wouldn’t risk angering Chuck Norris. His carefully pressed black fatigues don’t do justice to the brownish toxins we wade through, although years of watery diversions to feed the voracious lawns of Southern California have reduced our Delta to a fetid porridge.

Sigourney Weaver had a great idea with, “… nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure” – but that was said before the housing crisis, and nobody wants to depreciate precious lakefront real estate further…

Taiwan is appealing for foreign fly fishermen to assist in depopulating a couple of carp infested creeks – and begs the question, “if we lent all those F-16’s and M1A1 Abrams to the Saudi’s and Iraqi’s to lift the yoke of the despot – can we spare a couple of C-47’s to get us and our tackle to Taiwan?”

With the Army Corp of Engineer’s drawing straws to see who licks his fingers and touches the carp barrier to the Great Lakes, and plodding local agencies fist fighting over who gets the biggest bailout if they make it past, maybe it’s time to unleash a brigade of oversexed, opinionated, foul smelling fishermen on the problem.

There’s an even chance they’d make a much bigger problem, but “kill your limit and don’t limit your kill” would likely trigger a mass migration to the afflicted region and since half are out of work, perhaps a small bounty (based on raw tonnage) would keep body and soul together for a couple more mortgage payments.

Call it an “infrastructure” buildout – as that crowd could assemble a couple extra bridges from their empty beercans and discarded monofilament.

You could start with an officer cadre of Roughfisher, 40 Rivers, Fat Guy’s Fly Fishing, Michael Gracie, Fishing Jones, and John Montana of Carp on the Fly – and let them pick a brigade or two of the deadliest potbellied killers, give them fancy camo, teach them a parade formation, and you’d have the makings of the better mousetrap – assisting in restoring relations with alienated dictators, tribal leaders, and the balance of NATO.

Now loan them to whichever city or state had seen enough civilian posterior tossing bread slices into brackish water, hide the cold beer and wimmenfolk and run for cover.

It’s a “Green” solution, and while the rest of us are busy expending normal energy at work, they’d be burning “alternative energy” draped across lawn furniture stroking a couple days growth of beard and sporting yesterday’s underwear. Boost the GDP with the addition of a couple Sushi chef’s, a refrigerated truck, and we could export flash frozen fillets to whomever developed a taste for watery bovines.

No smell except for them, no toxic backlash except for them, and a pristine riparian enclave the result. Isn’t this what was meant when the President suggested we were going to have to buckle down and do our share?

Why would I look to a social network whose content was created by the antisocial?

You’re an antisocial bunch – and while we may cross paths in our adventures afield, none of you have waved me over and breathlessly insisted I fish, “…right here, I just caught three big SOB’s, and help yourself to my flies, you hungry?”

With all the imponderables that is modern angling – social networking is merely apoplexy in 140 characters or less.

 Do yourself a favor and unplug

Both vendors and the angling media are flocking to these sites in droves, and the result is understandably poor. Which Grade B movie graces their TV screen and what sharp object the baby just ate – intermixed with cutesy links to off topic material and a dearth of fishing information.

Not surprising for a medium popularized by the entitled offspring of the attention deficit MTV crowd, not us aging boomers. Simply put, we don’t know what to do, other than to build a presence.

I’d think the social networking stuff would be well suited for fishermen as we excel at non-verbal communication; grunts, hand signals, pantomime, and thrown objects.

But with 98,000 known sexual predators removed from MySpace in the last month, I’m not comfortable discussing a potential trip with “BigBob,” the fellow that keeps messaging me about the Trinity River. Sure, he claims he’s got a cabin on the bank and insists May is the best time – but I’m wondering why his profile mentions a trapeze, lubricants, and the airy spaciousness of his soundproof basement.

Woot!

Which fly you’re tying is great, the river you’re fishing this weekend is better, but your mood is akin to mine … inconsequential. When fishing it’s a mixture of optimism laced with reality, and the fact that you waded through my fish to inquire has changed it to pissed.

Woot!

The real value of social networking is to serve up your eyeballs to vendors and vendor spam. That’s why both vendors and the blog crowd are headed there by the bushel. Space limitations ensure no real information is passed between author and reader, but there’s plenty of space to exploit your eyes from both host company and the ravenous offshore hordes trying to make a buck.

Considering that 95% of all email sent on the Internet is spam, social networking is the unguarded portal to millions of impressionable eyeballs, whose metric of popularity is the size of their friends list. Auto-acceptance of these unknown “friends” ensures that 75% of your messages are from LL Bean or similar spam source.

The other 20% are gorgeous babes searching for me specifically. Unknown to me, I’m legend in both the Eastern Bloc and the Orient, and the young ladies on those continents insist on personalizing my Facebook/ MySpace / Twitter experience if only I’d surrender my credit card number first. You’ll endure the installation of three Trojan horses and identity rape, but a girl that loves fly fishing is worth all that, right?

Provocative

You create the content, someone else gets rich, and you get spammed by fly shops, video producers, bloggers, and Albanian peasant girls who’ve accumulated an extensive Victoria Secret collection despite the drudge of milking cows and churning butter.

It’s failure on an epic scale, and for obvious reasons; a Tweet book report on Homer’s Odyssey and a Louis L’Amour western reads the same:

He rode into town, he shot up the town, chicks dug it

… and the more traditional, “the Internet assaults us with reams of information, much of which isn’t reliable, and we’re evolving from digital overload to selective feeding.”

We adore fishing because it allows us to unplug. For the moment the piney woods lacks Internet jacks, wireless hubs, and porn. It won’t last much longer, but dammit – I like it that way.

Doubly unfortunate because my job is to bring those communication networks into the woods … I create what I do, and destroy the thing I love – all with a twist of a screwdriver.

I assume this lust for phrases is a logical derivative of the sound bite. Condense a president’s speech into a single sentence, then splatter that all over as the essence of his 90 minute oratory. Now we’ll distill the soundbite into a tweet – so any real meaning is lost.

Twitter is a great tool to send hyperlinks of decapitations to an unsuspecting buddy, he can respond in kind hoping you’re the first to throw up. It’s a great place to have your pals send you their favorite porn links so they’re not intermingled with your spouses email.

Despite these seeming “advanced” tools, they cannot convey enough information to sustain interest – what with all the other communication tools available.

Anglers are blowhards and orators whose bully pulpit includes tailgates and dusty parking lots, we require a couple pages of windy before we can really tell you how big that fish was …

Full Disclosure: The author has both a Facebook and Twitter site, created in the interest of science, and of no lasting value.

Organic drift – Under the protective blanket of darkness there’s plenty of activity

Placing drift netsIt doesn’t take a Ph.D to notice it’s easier to fish and wade downstream versus fighting the current or moving upstream. Despite our best efforts, fishing upstream is mostly slack management, the line’s pouring towards you at the speed of the current and you’re doing you’re best to keep some small connection with the fly.

If we struggle with two legs, wouldn’t the same be true of critters with six?

Organic drift is an entomological term describing the tendency of aquatic insects to move downstream. Despite their clinging, crawling, burrowing, behavior – once they’re exposed to the current, they’ve all the same issues we do.

In a widely cited paper, Muller (1954) noted an apparent paradox in the downstream movements of insects, suggesting that with the large numbers drifting downstream, one would expect to see a depopulation of upstream reaches. However, this was never observed. He proposed that upstream flights of adult aquatic insects compensated for the downstream movements of the larval forms, thus resolving the apparent paradox. Waters (1972) proposed the ‘excess production hypothesis’, which
suggested that the production of insect progeny was in excess of the stream’s carrying capacity, compensating for the drift (i.e. these drifting insects are ‘extras’). The true explanation is probably a combination of both colonization hypothesis and the excess production hypothesis, and perhaps some other factors. Researchers continue to look for answers (e.g. Hershey et. al. 1993).

Mother Nature knows humans and insects are prone to fits of laziness, and she’s lent considerable help by making the egg laying phase of aquatic insects the winged form. Prevailing theory suggest that adults have a tendency to fly upstream to ensure eggs and nymphs are redistributed throughout the watershed.

CaddisTo us lay scientists it makes perfect sense, at the point the female daubs the water surface with an egg packet, the current assists the eggs to find purchase downstream of the point of impact.

Proving the theory via research has been largely unsuccessful, but there’s a lot of really useful information that could explain fishing phenomenon we’ve witnessed.

A 1964 study of the river Yarty, a chalkstream near Devon, England, suggests areas of bank and stream erosion releases more insects into the water column than solid substrate.

It was found that the more abundant species of the bottom fauna were likewise the most abundant in the drift, with the exception of some common benthic organisms which live in more sheltered niches or have a strong means of attachment.

Anglers are notoriously poor with numbers, but even we know which insects hatch day after day for the bulk of the season. While the time of emergence will change due to seasonal changes in water temperatures and available light, it’s safe to assume a prowling fish will see more of these abundant bugs than anything else.

This verifies some of our “prospecting” theories, if the Blue Wing Olive is the main course – prospecting through the doldrums with no visible fish activity might be best served with … a Blue Wing Olive imitation.

A 1986 study of the Consumnes River in California suggests long pools absorb drifting insects, and unless the pool itself is replenishing the insects, there’s more to eat at the head of a pool that at its tail.

These findings lead us to hypothesize that long pools act as barriers, not filters, to stream macro-invertebrate drift. The composition of drift leaving the pools in this experiment appeared to be controlled by the composition of the benthic habitat at the tail of the pool and not by the composition of upstream drift entering the pools.

Insect drift may also be one of the causes of the “complex” hatch, as many insects (especially midges) will drift en masse during low light or nightfall. Many reasons account for drift, but the low light surge is thought to be a response to visual predators like trout, where the low light increases the chance of survival.

We’ve seen nymphing trout during the evening hatch numerous times, and while emerging insects are present, it’s possible they’re dining on a smorgasbord rather than the hatching insects we can see.

A study in Otsego County, New York, counted drifting caddis over two evenings and found evidence that moonlight depresses the number of caddis in the water column, and of the 152 caught all were members of Caddis families that construct hard cases.

Makes an interesting twist on the theories espoused by practitioners of Czech nymphing – whose imitations are all worm-outside-the-case style.

MayflyMany of these studies show that Midges and Mayflies comprise the bulk of drifting insects, and Stoneflies and Caddis are relatively small in number. This is consistent with what we know of insect behavior, as both midges and mayflies have entire species that are free swimming.

More drifting insects are available in Spring and Summer, correlating studies suggesting increases in water temperature and volume causes a proportional spike in insect numbers.

The obvious question is, if the insects are in part tumbling about looking for the safety of reattachment – and part intentional drift (overpopulation, predation, hostile environment) – what happens when they have a chance to grab bottom again?

Drifting organisms apparently seek actively their places of protection again in the bottom substrates in response to increasing light intensity in the morning, since drift rates decrease sharply at this time (Waters 1962).

One study suggested that all three (mayflies, caddis, and stoneflies) have a tendency to remain drifting at night even with reattachment possible. The species of mayfly observed only sought attachment during daylight, and the caddis only landed on similar fauna – suggesting there’s some type of preference at work.

Studies on how far insects will drift suggest that 50-60 meters per night is not uncommon. The speed and volume of water movement roughly dictates distance.

As drift levels are not uniform – and one section of creek can contain more bugs mid column than another, it’s left to us lay scientists to correlate all the information into a place to stand shivering.

I’ll take failing sunlight on an eroding bank, upstream of a pool, close to dark, on a waning moon. The rest of the creek we’ll leave to the dry fly fishermen who’re fighting over our scraps in the flat water below.

Two if by Sea, three if they attack from freshwater

Trained, angry, and potentially lethal With their backs against the wall due to pollution, and global warming, with estrogen laced runoff blurring sexual identity, and victims of a focused campaign of extermination, are fish forming an insurgency intent on terrestrial Jihad?

Reports from across the globe suggest unprecedented levels of tool use among fish, never chronicled in many hundreds of years of observation.

Dolphins in Australia have been observed using tools, and they seem to pass on their specialist knowledge to others. This is the first time cultural transmission has been confirmed in a marine mammal.

While the military is mum on details, recent documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act detail the escape of 36 trained “killer” dolphins during Hurricane Katrina, most were wearing uniforms, complete with lethal darts.

Are “killer dolphins” on the loose off the Mississippi coast? And are they a danger to divers and surfers? This is not the first time military-trained dolphins have escaped from their human masters. Up to 20 per cent of navy dolphins are said to escape each year.

A steady increase in trained cadre, a whale-based global communications system, and migratory regiments waiting to take the fight to fresh water. Have fish finally realized it’s us terrestrials that pollute their homes, altering mood and sexual orientation of their children, and the source of stupid triploid slaves who swim in netted enclosures waiting for their turn at the fillet knife?

Considering the ocean floor is littered with unexploded ordinance, is it only a matter of time before some Orca grabs a torpedo and detonates himself in the engine room of the Royal Caribbean?

Earth has nine terrestrial countries that possess nuclear weapons, and two species, fish have 92 known nuclear weapons in their arsenal, perhaps it’s time to dig a fallout shelter, as it’s only a matter of time before fission clouds envelope Asia – the source of so many Japanese seafood internment camps.

Salmon farmers suggest it’s Seals that rend nets and release brigades of recruits into the brine, possibly swelling the ranks of shock troops destined for our estuaries and freshwater impoundments. Quagga and Zebra mussels infiltrate our freshwater supply, while Rock Snot follows to exploit and train Asian Carp, and perhaps Goldfish.

Fishermen have insisted fish are growing smarter with every outing, and while skeptical non-anglers are asleep in their beds, it may only be our “thin green line” that’ll defend the interior.

Hell, with all the wealth of the oceans at their disposal, Sponge Bob could be sending subliminal messages emasculating our children; PETA and the “Sea Kitten” campaign was just the opening gambit in a global war of supremacy.

Can you put a face on the creator of “Catch and Release?”

Is there two kinds of cheap

Defiant until SquashedLike you I received my latest fishing catalog and saw carbon rods had finally surpassed the thousand dollar price point. My thoughts on this topic are well documented,  but I couldn’t help wondering – has the price of graphite made bamboo rods a bargain?

Prices listed in the H.L. Leonard and Orvis catalogs of the 1980’s were more pronounced, a graphite rod was in the vicinity of $165, and their bamboo counterpart somewhere between $800 to $1000 each.

Today the graphite is $1000, and the handmade bamboo is somewhere between $2000 and $3000 per rod. Comparatively that’s a decline in the difference between the two of nearly 50% in 28 years.

The raw material used to make carbon fiber is called the precursor. About 90% of the carbon fibers produced are made from polyacrylonitrile. The remaining 10% are made from rayon or petroleum pitch.

During the same period bulk pricing of Polyacrylonitrile fiber has decreased from roughly $6 per pound (1984), to about $0.30 per pound (2005). Once used solely by the military, carbon fiber precursor is now part of everything from cars and cement to roof tiles and outerwear.

Tonkin cane has always been the preferred bamboo source, and while prices spiked in the late 60’s and early 70’s (because we were napalming it with great gusto), relationships in the region have since normalized. Tonkin cane was about $10.00 per bale in the middle 70’s, and today a bale, 20 culms, is nearly $400. (Cheaper if you travel to China and purchase your own.)

Figuring the balance of parts used on graphite and bamboo rods are similar; Portuguese cork, carbide guides, stainless snakes and tip, etc., we can assume the material costs of making a bamboo rod has risen considerably while carbon fiber has declined during the same period.

As carbon is tied to petroleum costs, it fluctuates with energy prices, but as carbon fiber and precursor is used by hundreds of industries and world production is in excess of 500,000 metric tonnes, mass production has lowered the cost dramatically.

So, why have graphite rods prices increased so dramatically?

I can’t answer that, and rod companies won’t.

Some  rod company executive is likely spitting venom at his screen – claiming I’m one in a long line of simplistic rubes that couldn’t possibly understand the economics of rod construction.

Largely true, but only the TARP bailout has less transparency than rod companies and their cost structures.

I think it’s time to buy Bamboo. I haven’t heard of any breakthroughs in mass production that would account for the decline in bamboo rod pricing, it’s plain that these rare craftsmen charge less per hour today than they did 28 years ago – and should rethink that.

$6500 per handcrafted and handrubbed specimen would restore parity, until then $2000 per rod is a bargain.

Add "age defying" to a long list of superlatives

The Anadromous Greatest HitsI could be a celebrity doctor without half trying. No credentials needed just some whispered word-of-mouth from one besotted celebrity to another and my phone is ringing off the hook.

Howard Hughes spoiled it for everyone else, we figured he was wiping his arse with Ben Franklin’s and only later found he didn’t  bother to do that. Now I’ve got to endure Madonna proclaiming Salmon is “age defying” and the more you eat the younger you look?

These poor fish just cannot catch a break…

Normally, I’d snort and turn the page – except I know better; some pristine watershed will be snapped up to ensure some celebrities deteriorating looks are preserved for all time.

“Madonna has embarked on a January salmon ‘retox’ regime to “knock 12 years off her appearance”.

The 50-year-old singer is so determined to make herself look younger she has enlisted the help of health experts who have devised a new programme for her packed with the oily fish.

A source said: “The new ‘retox’ means she has got a more cardio-intensive gym regime and a diet overhaul. She will also be eating a lot more salmon as it’s got age-defying properties. Her aim is to knock 12 years off her appearance.”

If you want to take 12 years off your life, just drink a water glass full of the crap I fish in – it’s cheaper than salmonids and available year round.

My apologies for even commenting on the story, but as it was paired with the Chilean “Salmon Anemia” crisis, I couldn’t help wondering how much  pink dye she can ingest before extremities start to glow.

Fishing gets a makeover

I’m assuming the desire to rename fishing to “sea kitten hunting” makes for better mental imagery; enormous weapons toted by laughing killers intent on bloodshed is much more menacing and dangerous than a fellow armed with rod, lawn chair, and cooler.

I think “harvesting” vegetables is a trifle mild myself, and “decapitation” or “maiming” conveys a better picture. Grinning swarthy field hands lopping off arms and legs, ignoring the screams of immobile creatures bent on photosynthesis.

We’ve got killers, they’ve got killers. We club baby seal’s and they kill adolescent asparagus, I figured we were well matched – only our killers are licensed …

The banned PETA Superbowl ad that was never telecast … at least we don’t torture our food or the folks watching … More importantly, we don’t SCREW our prey, we leave that to real deviants further down the food chain.