Flat Out is a collection of the CAST family DIY saltwater flats fishing in Australia and some highlights from an exploratory trip to the Deep South of the Red Sea, Sudan. Have you voted for your Stimmies Awards favourite yet? VOTE TODAY! Winner will be announced October 8.
Filmmakers Chris Walley & Pierre Joubert take us dry-fly fishing for yellowfish in Africa! Smallmouth yellowfish are usually caught with heavy nymphs, right on the bottom. In this short film, we introduce a part of a river system where the fish have adapted to feed predominantly on the surface.
Make sure to watch all Stimmies 2021 Top-12 finalists and VOTE today. Winner will be announced October 8th.
Time is our most valuable asset that we possess, once spent, we can never get it back. Like fatherhood, spent wisely, it will return tenfold. Being a father is a privilege, and one not taken lightly for Quinn Styles. Join Quinn and his son Jack as they spend the day fishing for brown trout, spending their valuable time together!
Vote for your favourite Stimmies Awards Film today!
If you have picked up a copy of the Fall issue of Fly Fusion, you are already enjoying the artful tying of Irene Vucko (@speygirl)! Well, here’s one more bonus pattern along with the full recipe so you can try your hand at tying a few beauties for your fall fishing!
Freestyle Spey #3
Hook: Salmon Wet Fly
Thread: Purple Textreme, 6/0
Tag: Fine Oval Silver Tinsel
Tip: Purple Glo Brite Floss
Tail: Golden Pheasant Crest, Chartreuse
Butt: Peacock Herl
Body: Rear Half: Charcoal Floss
Front Half: Blue Pheasant Rump, palmered over 50/50 blend of Charcoal Seal dubbing & Purple Ice Dubbing
Rib: Medium Oval Silver Tinsel
Collar: Teal Flank, Purple
Wing: Grizzly Hackle Tips, Blue
Shoulder: smaller Purple Pheasant Rump, Jungle Cock
The latest edition is headed to mailboxes as we speak! Keep an eye out for your copy arriving in the next week or so. Here’s a little peek into what you can expect from this issue…
LL’s Perdigon Torch
Hook: Daiichi 4647 Size 16
Bead: MFC Slotted Tungsten Lucent Bead-Orange
Thread: Uni 6/0w-Doc Blue
Tail: Calftail-Orange
Body: Veniard Stripped Quill-Orange
UV: Solarez Bone Dry
Wingcase: Solarez Thick/Hard and Solarez UV Fly Finish-Black
Featured in “End of the Line” in the Summer 2021 issue of Fly Fusion
Sometimes the best way to say something difficult is just to say it. So here it goes. Fly fishing sucks.
It’s actually really hard. The visuals presented in fly-fishing films and Instagram photos are quite misleading. Sure it looks inviting, but there’s so much you don’t see…like how many mosquitoes and black flies the angler had to swat away while holding that prize trout at just the right angle, which is only slightly out of the water (like only one third of the fish). And you also have to position it at the perfect angle, with one hand holding the fish’s tail just slightly outstretched and the other arm, bending only slightly at the elbow, holding the fish’s body nearly fully extended. There’s a reason it’s called “angling.” It’s so complicated. And if you have really large hands and are naturally “big boned” then you need to really question whether or not you want to take up fly fishing at all. Trout appear smaller when held by large people, which will not make for enticing social media images.
Hook – Firehole Sticks 516 #14-16
Bead – 3mm Slotted Tungsten
Thread – Olive UTC 70D
Tail – Coq De Leon Med Pardo
Body – Olive Hareline Turkey Biot
Rib – Olive UTC Ultra Wire
Thorax/Collar – Natural CDC/Hares Ear
Tied by Jake Vanderweyden (@theflyfiend)
Featured in “Best Ties for Summer Flies” in the Summer 2021 issue of Fly Fusion
The logjam provided enough depth and structure to hold decent sized trout. I waded in just below it to about thigh deep and made a good cast up to where it looked like the large fish should be holding. My beetle pattern bobbed and drifted a foot or two from about the half-way-point of the jam where a few larger logs protruded into the river. I pulled quickly at the line to manage the slack as the current pushed the terrestrial toward me.
This is a very realistic hopper pattern that is quite easy to tie and floats like a cork. You simply have to buy the foam bodies and tie legs, antron wing and an indicator on it. I started using this pattern about three years ago and was immediately impressed by how it accurately mimics a hopper and that it was impossible to sink. I have found this pattern to be particularly effective in late summer when streams are low and super clear. It also quite easy to see and takes are often very subtle almost like the manner that a trout sips a caddis or mayfly.
Hook: 2x long dry fly hook sz 8 to 12
Thread: Tan Uni-Thread 8/0
Body: MFC Foam Hopper Bodies- tan, yellow or gray
Wing: Tan MFC Widows Web or Antron yarn
Indicator: Orange foam or yarn
Legs: Barred Tan rubber legs
Featured in “Best Ties for Summer Flies” in the Summer 2021 issue of Fly Fusion
