Thought I’d give all of you a heads-up to keep your eyes open for the summer issue of Fly Rod & Reel, which is hitting the stands right now. There’s an article, in particular, that you should read. It’s called Fishy Jobs, written by Oregon-based author Chris Santella, and it details careers in the fly-fishing industry. This is a great read if you want to make fly fishing a career choice. In addition, I penned a piece on where to catch 30-inch trout in Washington and there’s a super cool article by Zach Matthews on how to make welded loops. I also included a piece on Russia’s Kola River and what it’s like to be on the water during a 250-fish Atlantic salmon week. Ran a profile on Staton Klein’s “Swimflies” and Ted Leeson penned a great article on gear you need for time off the water, camping and hanging out around a fire. Let me know what you think of the issue.
That’s a very nice looking cover.
Solid issue. I really dug the “Dream Jobs” article and imaging Ted Leeson on a slackline cracked me up.
Thanks for the comment. I, too, thought the jobs piece was unique and gave people a clear idea of what it takes to get in the biz. Leeson on a slackline? Big laughs.
Does anyone know where you can get the “swimflies” I presume Rainy’s will not have them until next year since they are not on the website.
Hunter: As fly-fishers, we obsess over the meticulous details of size, color, translucency, gills, tails, shucks, eyes, legs, up-wing, down-wing, crippled-wing, delta-wing, etc. among aquatic insects, but commonly refer to forage fishes as “shiner-minnows” and “sculpins”. When in reality, streams, lakes, and estuaries that are able to support apex predators are ecologically diverse.
Over millions of years groups of fishes have evolved distinctive morphological and behavioral attributes. For example if you were to examine the outline of a brook trout, brown trout, grayling, taimen, or any other salmonid, they all have similar body profiles. You might have also noticed that other fishes are laterally compressed but have deeper diamond shape bodies such as crappies, sunfishes, shads, herrings, and certain minnows. Other fishes have a more robust cross section and are more torpedo- shaped such as suckers, dace, darters. Lastly, the broad head and pectoral fins of sculpins make them uniquely identifiable. The truth is, many fishes exhibit a combination or intermediary morphological shape between that of species with a more standard shape. For example the body shape of a tuna is referred to as fusiform. Fusiform is the most hydrodynamic morphology exhibited by extant fishes. The deepest part of their body is 33% back from their head, the rearmost part of their trunk is very narrow, and they have crescent shape tail.
But given that on planet earth there are more species of fish ( 27,000+) than any other vertebrate, I generally fish 4 basic shapes. Predators recognize shape, color, and behavior when crushing meat just as they do when selective feeding on PMD’S, BWO’S, trico’s, etc. The joints and materials incorporated are a practical way of giving the appearance of life, and not some hard exact replica, much like the “Realistic” fly patterns and hard plugs.
Greg, his staff, and Kelly Galloup feverishly helped me to get the article published, but due to the late submission on my behalf there was only enough space to feature 2 patterns from more than a dozen.
Single and articulated streamer patterns that incorporate the realism of my SwimflyTM series will be available. However, my goal with SwimfliesTM is to be able to offer to the average angler double and triple articulated 4-8” patterns which are tied to the same level of realism as that of an articulated-extended body drake or Galloup’s cripple. Yet, general enough to represent forage fishes in any part of the world.
I’m always excited to share new ideas and techniques with fellow anglers and thank you very much for expressing interest in SwimFliesTM.
If you contact me at smklein@frostburg.edu i will just send you one for free, and would be glad to offer any help regarding tying or fishing SwimfliesTM.
-Staton Klein
Was reading your article on cannibal trout.Could u explain that 4′ leader tapered down to 10 to 15lb. test.What exact test does the leader start at.For example does it start @ 40lb. to 30lb. to 15lb. test,and then you start the nonslip loop for the 1st fly with what size tippet?Also do you use blood knots for the 4′ leader as you change line weights?If you could drop me a line I’d appreciate.thank you very much for your time,also while I’m writing you do you sell these streamers? Good fishing,Brian
I didn’t write that article. You’re thinking of Fly Fisherman Magazine, not Fly Rod & Reel.