Confidence in Fly Fishing Three quick stories come to mind illustrate this. First off let me say there have been plenty of times when I have been on both sides of the confidence equation. A few years ago, I was steelheading with a couple of fly fishing buddies. Unlike me, though there guys weren't purists. And we were using terminal gear. Although were just dead-drifting jigs, very similar to fly fishing, I felt about as coordinated as a monkey performing brain surgery. As the day wore on more and more steelies were caught. Huge steelies, the biggest I had ever seen! None by me. I could feel my confidence shrinking. And I mean my confidence in all kinds of things, like being able to read the river, being able to detect a strike. Things that had no connection to me using unfamiliar gear. The pressure inside my head built, until I HAD to catch a fish. I didn't catch one fish that day, although I finally had a strike, and set the hook so hard I jerked it right out of the fish's mouth. And I fished longer and harder than anyone else on the trip.

Selecting Flies for Pacific Steelhead Popular flies for Steelhead vary greatly whether you are fishing in the Pacific region or in the Great Lakes. The fisheries have developed separately and so have the preferences anglers have for flies cast to their intended prey. We will primarily concentrate on Steelhead flies on the West Coast in this article and concentrate on flies of the Great Lakes region in a future article. There are some common patterns used in both regions as well, and we will point those out as we go along. Fly fishing for Steelhead can be traced back to the Eel River, in Northern California, during the late 1800's.. And many of the first Steelhead pattern's roots can be traced back to the same era as well. There were a few problems during this time, and none more crucial than lack of material with which to tie flies. Standard featherwing trout patterns became the foundation of many steelhead patterns. Other patterns were adopted from English trout patterns and Atlantic Salmon patterns. Many of today's most popular Steelhead patterns can be traced back to these beginnings. Green Butt Skunk, Skykomish Sunrise, Purple Peril, to name just a few all hail back to these early beginnings.

How To Find Fish New Body Of Water If you are going to start fishing a newly created body of water (like a reservoir), here are some things to keep in mind. For the first 2 years, it will be very easy to catch the fish, though they will be smaller (t though about 50% larger in the second year). The 3rd year will prove more of a challenge, as the fish are larger and savvier. It is important to move around the lake and watch where the experienced anglers are getting action. Also keep tabs on where and when each species is feeding. Also, make a note of the moon phase when you record this information, so that you can refer to it during the same phase in following years. You will probably discover that the bass feed best at dawn and dusk, bluegills during midmorning and midafternoon, crappies under lantern light at night, and white bass at high noon.

Maine Record Thresher Shark
Tammy York sent us some pictures of her husband and his record breaking shark. It seems Steve York went on his first shark fishing trip ever and is now....

Plan for fishing future launched (BBC News)
An action plan aimed at securing the long-term future of Scotland's fishing industry is launched..


.