Trout Species – Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout Rainbow Trout are easily distinguished by the red stripe that travels the length of the fish, from the gill plates to the tail. Rainbow Trout also have hundreds of black spots that cover the dorsal of the body (the dorsal part of the body of a trout refers to the “back side” of the fish). Brown Trout : Brown Trout are the "smartest" of the trout family, frequently frustrating beginners and professionals alike. The Brown Trout, which is similar to the Rainbow Trout, is also found extensively throughout the world. The Brown Trout was originally a European and Asian fish, but has made its way to North America, New Zealand and South America. In the United States, Brown Trout are found extensively in the Rocky Mountains and also in Midwestern and Eastern U.S. trout streams.

Choosing The Proper Fly Fishing Leader and Tippet Leader and tippet is the final connection between the fly fisher and their fly. It is the section of line after the fly line and before the fly. It's purpose is to transfer energy from the fly line down to the fly, allow for natural presentation of the fly, and then be strong enough for the fly fisher to retrieve any fish that might strike at the naturally presented fly. Sounds simple enough, but this is fly fishing, and fly fishers have been around a long time. And as a group we seem to think about everything related to our sport a lot, and therefore probably have over complicated things a tad. The leader in fly fishing is tapered. It is thicker at the butt section, then at the tippet section. It is usually divided into three sections, the butt is tied directly to the fly line, and is the longest portion of the leader, about 60%. The mid-section is next and its purpose is to taper down to the tippet without losing a lot of strength. The final section is the tippet, it is the actual section that is tied to the fly. It is the thinnest section, it needs to be strong, yet allow for a natural drift, without alarming the fish that your offering is connected to a person that will pull back.

Choosing a Fly Reel The definition of a fly reel has changed a great deal in the last couple of decades. Once thought of as simply ” a place to hold your line” the fly reel has evolved into a highly specialized piece of gear. With phrases such as “startup inertia”, “large arbor”, and “heat dissipative disc drag”, the beginner can often be led to believe that they need to be an expert in Newtonian physics to make an informed purchase. I'll try to simplify things a bit. Fly reel does do more than just hold line. A poor quality fly reel is a wonderful way to lose large fish, especially when fishing on light leaders and tippets. Additionally, selecting the wrong fly reel for a particular fly rod can throw off the entire balance of the outfit. So, let's get started learning about the world of fly reels.

The Kelvin alas….
The Kelvin, alas, is still out of action after all that rain. So last Sunday was a bit of a non starter when it came to trout rising and flies hatching. I mean the water had settled from the day befo.

Trawlerman casts his own net for fans of TV series
ONE of the stars of the BBC's hit documentary series Trawlermen has started his own internet diary to allow fans of the series to follow his adventures on the high seas..

October 08, 2004
Today there was a good push of fish thru the lower river. We landed a good number of Salmon but the highlight of the day was catching this Steelhead. Andrea came all the way from Ravenna Italy for thi.