I'm not the NRA

I warned you. There might be political posts. This blog is primarily about fly fishing, and I do a hunting story every once in a while. I am departing from that policy this time to comment on what I believe is either a case of mass insanity, or recognition that we live in a society filled with several million sociopaths who lack any empathy. I am talking about Newtown, CT, and the incident where a crazy asshole massacred 26 children and teachers with a .223 Bushmaster assault rifle and the pathetic debate about assault rifles.  I have been following the aftermath of this, and I have been carefully reading a lot of internet comments on the news stories as well as opinions in the hunting mags. Any asshole can post a comment on anything, and all of them did. Ninety percent of the comments seem to be coming from the 4 million NRA members who seem to have learned nothing from this.

But before we get into that, have been around firearms since age 6, hunt over 30 days a year, and my gun collection is bigger than yours. My first memory is holding a flintlock, one of my earliest is holding up a pheasant as my Grandfather dressed it. I have a gunsmith bench, and recently did some trigger jobs, scope mounting, and stock refinishing. There is a reloading press, two boresighters, a Tipton gun vise (deluxe model), and the shelves sag with the weight of ammo, scope rings, spare parts, magazines, choke tubes, tooling, tru-oil, lubricants, primers, solvents, components, scopes, slings and swivels, muzzleloading junk, bore snakes, cleaning rods and jags, and even a big box of kosher salt mixed with borax for drying hides of stuff I shoot. Most recent resident was a red squirrel who zigged when he should have zagged and is now the source of fur for nymphs and crayfish patterns. On the other end of the shop is a bookcase loaded with, you guessed it, books about guns, hunting, trapping, reloading, and all that stuff. I have a concealed weapons permit and I favor Smith and Wesson J frames (five for sure). I like shooting pistols and can handle the sting of a .357 magnum snub-nosed revolver. There are ballistics calculators on my computer. The next big project is to build a Pennsylvania long rifle (flintlock, of course) and not from those panty-waist kits they sell at "Track of the Wolf". So I would claim that by anyone's standards I know guns, and I am into guns more than most people I know.

I want all assault rifles banned. Not just a wimpy "let's not sell any more" but a real ban that gets all of them off the streets forever. This could take the form of "turn them in by April 15", a buyback program , or a tax or homeowners insurance rate that makes them a headache to own.

Why? Because they are designed the military for one purpose- to kill large numbers of people quickly and efficiently.  The assault rifle gave the infantry soldier more firepower, that was the point. The little .223 was designed to function smoothly in a semi-auto or automatic weapon, and the smaller cartridge size meant that soldiers could carry more rounds with a lighter rifle to boot.  And this is the problem.

Mass shooters simply do not pick up Browning BAR's (a semi-automatic hunting rifle with a small capacity magazine), Winchester model 94's ( a classic lever action that has killed more deer than any other rifle), Winchester pre-1964 model 70's (a bolt action, there is a consensus that those built prior to 1964 were the about the best hunting rifle ever), or even Smith and Wesson model 29's (Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry .44 magnum, a revolver). Those guns do not have enough firepower to give them the sense of empowerment they need to carry out the act. You have to reload too often, it takes time, and people can run away by the time you have refilled the magazine or cylinder. Or maybe even get to their gun and shoot back. Invariably, mass shooters choose assault rifles or semi-automatic handguns. Both these weapons have detachable magazines that can be replaced quickly, and some rifles have magazines that can hold 30 rounds (BTW the military M-16 originally had a 20 round capacity). In Aurora, CO the shooter had a an aftermarket drum magazine that held 100 rounds. At VA tech, the shooter used a glock pistol, but had multiple aftermarket magazines that increased the capacity from about 9 rounds to 17 per clip. This turned his pistol into a shorter version of an assault rifle, albeit with less measured firepower (most pistol cartridges have less velocity and energy than most rifle cartridges). Alas, it was still enough to set a record for most people killed. The firepower/empowerment issue is the reason why mass shooters can do what they do, and it needs to be fixed.

I am glaringly unpursuaded by any of the arguments I have seen repeated ad nauseum again during the past few weeks. To whit:

If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Maybe, but you can make them much harder to get so that these incidents will become less common. All laws are broken by some people, the idea is that law and consequences are a deterrent to crime. The implied idea is that because someone somewhere will go on a rampage with an illegal gun we can't try and reduce the odds by passing any laws because it would not be perfect. This is stupid. The argument could be applied to the existence of any law, but it is only applied to firearms. In the case of Newtown, Adam Lanza's mother was the law abiding citizen who was the actual gun owner. Being armed did not help her, and the outlaw shot the "armed good guy" in her sleep and headed off with more firepower than an entire company of civil war soldiers. And no one is really talking about a gun ban. The discussion is about assault rifles.

The constitution guarantees us the right to bear arms. Yes, it does. I won't argue that. But does it guarantee that you can own whatever arm you want whenever you want it? If this is the case, we would be allowed to have private ownership of B-52's, rocket propelled grenades, Ricin and botulism capsules, and dynamite ought to be available by the register at the hardware store. There is a ton of stuff that private citizens can not acquire because it is too dangerous to have around. We simply are adding assault rifles to the list. And we should. It is a simple public health and safety issue. Even Justice Scalia opined that the second amendment does not guarantee every type of weapon. And do note that the second amendment frames the right in the context of "well regulated militias". The NRA conveniently leaves this part out of their banners. If you are going to be champion of cause, why would you hide part of the language? I know, I know, the supreme court had a couple cases on this. But it makes me think that people are trying to pull a fast one.

This is just the first step on a slippery slope that will lead to confiscation of all our guns. This is largely due to a case of mass paranoia induced by the now-crazy NRA. The NRA actually supported certain gun restrictions in the past. After the mayhem of the 1920's machine guns were regulated highly, and after the Kennedy assassination you could no longer buy mail order rifles. The NRA supported both rules, especially the mail order ban.The present argument is a winner for them because it induces fear, because it is impossible to prove that you are not out to get them. I used to work with a miserable person who did not like to work, and who was compelled to punish our employer for some perceived wrongful act. Whenever he got an assignment (you will work with this group to do that task), he would state emphatically that "they are out to get me". He would then behave badly, act in disruptive ways, and not get any assignment done. When called out on it, his response was invariably, "see, they were out to get me". This is one of the most ingenious strategies ever because, although wrong, it completely reframes the argument away from what the NRA does not want to talk about.

The assault rifle is an essential part of hunting and shooting. Yeah, right. Only a small percentage of hunters hunt with these things, and you will never convince me that they are needed. Show me one type of hunting that requires a high capacity semi-automatic rifle because that many shots are required to harvest game or control nuisance animals. They are used for varmint hunting out west where people shoot lots of prairie dogs and ground squirrels in a single outing, but it isn't like the varmints are going to mass together and gnaw out your eyeballs like that pack of cute little dinos in the Jurassic Park sequel unless you can blast them en masse without reloading. Your .223 ammunition can be used in bolt action guns, I own one and it is more accurate than most semi-autos. There are also a couple of competitions that use them, alas, those guys will have to find a different competition to compete in. Blame it on me.

As an aside, there was this fantastic hunting show on the outdoor channel just last week about how important it was to have "modern semi-automatic rifles" (read assault rifles) for hunting exotic sheep in Texas. The argument seemed to be "this modern semi-auto rifle has been used for several years and why it looks like new" while "this classic bolt action sure shows some signs of wear and tear". And then they both mug the camera as if to show the Colt company that they did their part. There may be a logical fallacy here but the most valuable rifles I have ever seen at auction were the beat-to-shit field pieces carried by people like Teddy Roosevelt, Bell of Africa, and other notable folks. Wear and tear is normal unless you are the type of guy that keeps everything in the gun room and never ventures outside. They are not, and will never be essential for any of the shooting sports.

I need it for home defense. Dude, if you need that much firepower you need to rethink 1) your lifestyle, and 2) what really works. If you are stuck in a bad number 1 situation, go to the gun shop and buy a remington 870 12 gauge pump. You can buy 4 for the current price of an assault rifle. Fill it with turkey loads that have an ounce or more of number 6 shot. Then go to the local humane society and get a pit bull puppy. There are thousands languishing there. The dog provides an early warning system that is way better than any electronic stuff you can buy, and the sight of a pit bull looking out the window combined with the distinctive sound of a shell being racked into an 870 chamber will make even the most raving lunatic pee in their pants. This is sort of an absurd argument, but there are loads of alternatives to the assault rifle that do not provide the sense of empowerment to lunatics. And if you did need to fire, you can take down a barn with one of those things.

The assault rifle is the only thing that stands between the citizens and the tyranny of government. Bullshit. There are 10.3 million deer hunters in the U.S. There are 1.4 million people in the military. Do the math. In the event of a tyranny imposed by a dictator, about 1 in 7 deer hunters would have to fire once. And can just hear all the NRA members screaming "but some deer hunters are also in the military so you are wrong!". OK, but you get the picture and we can count upland hunters, waterfowlers, varmint hunters, elk hunters, bighorn sheep hunters, raccoon hunters, bear hunters, moose hunters, pick a species. Oh, target shooters too. I win. Assault rifles are not the last bastion protecting our democracy.

There are a zillion other arguments out there, but these were the most common. There were also some rather amusing exchanges that were too good not to report:

"They can't take away my guns because I bought them at gun shows and they can't be traced". This was posted on the internet  right next to his name and email address.

"I am worried about an assault weapons ban, but what pisses me off more is the NRA calling me 3 or 4 times a week and demanding money. All they do is try and scare the shit out of people". Overheard at a gun shop of all places.

"I could put a machine gun on this counter, and it could sit there for 20 years and as long as some lunatic didn't grab it it would be completely harmless and hurt no one". Overheard at gun shop. My point exactly.

"I can reload my lever action or pump gun faster than anyone can shoot with an assault rifle" (internet post implying that assault rifles are no different than other guns). If this were true, why is the U.S. military not equipping our armed forces with lever actions and classic double barrel shotguns? There are some pump guns used in warfare but nearly all soldiers are issued assault rifles and most training is devoted to those. Verfied this via a marine who just graduated from basic.


I have heard some good proposals and would like to share some analysis of them.

1. Gun buybacks.

These are useful, but not in the way you would expect. Most of the firearms turned in in these things are antique, obsolete, or junkers that are as likely to explode in your hand as they are to fire a round. This will not reduce mass shootings because people generally do not turn in large numbers of Glocks and Bushmasters. But they do remove weapons from the households of people who are completely unfamiliar with them. It does promote public safety, especially for children who might find them. Of course, I got an email praising a sidebar "we pay cash" buyback that was competing with the cops who were offering measly gift cards for guns. They were buying assault rifles for resale. The sender thought this was American Free enterprise at its finest.

2. Education

One friend suggested that everyone who wants to own guns should be required to take a class about safety, insurance, liability, etc. He claims that once people realized the depth of responsibility fewer would want to own guns. I like this and would add that you would have to pass a marksmanship test. Most people can't shoot worth shit, and that would reduce their presence as well.

3. Rebranding Assault rifles

One post urged everyone to start referring to their black rifles as "modern semi-automatic rifles". The claim was that, technically, an assault rifle had full-auto capability so the civilian semi-auto versions were not assault rifles, really. And rebranding would make the libtards less afraid of them. I agree, and  the new term for these things will be "tiny penis rifles". I can see the ad campaign now. BTW, any TV or Radio personality or comic may use this joke free of charge although it may go on facebook later tonight.

4. It is the magazine, and not the gun

This actually might work. If magazines were restricted to 5 rounds, it would reduce the empowerment somewhat and give at least a few people a fighting chance to get away. Of course this would only work if people got rid of all existing high capacity mags, but you could not really make a straight-faced claim that your right to bear arms is being buggered. Better yet, it might be possible to alter the receivers on assault rifles so the mag was no longer detachable and they could only be loaded from top. This would be an inconvenience but nothing more. And anyone who brings up the issue of "destroying the look of a fine AR-15 by altering the upper, shut the fuck up. They are hideous and even fans of them admit they are ugly as sin.

5. Armed security

I want teachers teaching, and not focused on where the gun is. Armed and trained cops in every school would work. Since the NRA is one of the primary reasons that weapons sales are going through the roof, they will pay for it. We can also dump an excise tax on all unmodified assault rifles to help make up any shortfalls. Someone estimated the cost of this as close to 1 billion dollars, so NRA members should expect 5 to 6 phone calls a week from Homeland Security asking for donations. Maybe every day.

6. Sell off your assault rifles

This is happening and it is weird. Assault rifle sales are to the point where many gun shops are sold out with none to be had. What isn't talked about is a massive increase in the number of these things being sold as within-state private sales (perfectly legal). You would think that everyone would be hanging on to these things for dear life and burying them in the backyard pursuant to President Obama's putative big gun grab, but there are a crapload of them for sale in Michigan as we speak. I guess that the sanctity of the second amendment isn't as high as we thought, as long as buyers pay double or triple. 

7. Better mental health care

This is what the libtards have been calling for for years, but the same legislators loved by the NRA are the same bunch that tends to vote against any tax dollars for anything other than military spending. Note that as part of the mental health upgrade we need a huge public awareness program about groups that induce paranoia and its societal effects. I think that Obamacare would cover this, but oh. We hate that too.

8. Reduce military spending

If guns were taken away, it would be done by the military. But the NRA supports (generally) republicans who vote for a strong military, who are the people that would  take away their guns. Still trying to figure that one out. Refer to idea 7.

9. Marksmanship classes in high school

This a truly good idea. I used to work at the rifle range at a boy scout camp, and the troops were pretty boisterous right up until the minute the senior instructor fired a wimpy .22 long rifle into a ripe tomato as a demonstration of what would happen to your head if you were shot. After that they got attentive and serious, and we never had a serious safety incident. It would be fun and might get them off the couch and away from mindless videos. I do not see the connection between violence and videos, but I do see a connection with lack of reading. It would teach a useful skill, safety, and would be a good dose of reality about guns. And I have to admit, I can't count the number of times that journalists with no knowledge of firearms make factual mistakes in their reporting about guns. Most are de minimus, but the gun rights crowd seizes on this as proof positive that the gun regulations crowd is just plain stupid. And some are.

10. Refuse to have sex with anyone who owns an assault rifle until they turn it in to the local police station.

Problem solved within the first week.

So far, the NRA has won this hands down. They know that they can keep most people too afraid to have the discussion, and that in a month or two everyone will focus on the next distraction and the problem will fade into memory except for coverage of the one year anniversary. This is the way it is. Four million people can make enough noise so that the other 306 million of us can live with fear and dread.


I used to dislike the NRA because I am a hunter. Their litmus test for political support was a public proclamation of gun rights, and it did not matter if the candidate was also selling off state game lands to loggers, trying to turn national forests in a playground for mining, attempting to gutting environmental regulations that made game and fish safe to eat, and favoring energy policies that destroy habitat. As long as they supported gun rights anything else was OK. They co-opted almost every outdoor sporting organization so those groups spend ten times as much time talking about gun rights as they do habitat. But this latest go-round has pissed me off royally. Somewhere, out there, I want someone to know that hunters and gun owners are not all alike, and some of us care about what happened. I own only one or two guns that might be subject to regulation (semi-auto .22's) but I would give them up in a heartbeat if I thought that it would reduce the chance of ever having to hear about Aurora, Newtown, or Virginia Tech again. We owe those people a voice. Theirs was taken from them by bad public policy dictated by the NRA. And anyone who believes that their their second amendment rights to own assault weapons is more important than the first amendment rights of defenseless first graders (the life part of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness) is a sociopath. OK, that last part was stolen from a facebook friend who is a far better writer than I will ever be.

The irony in all this is that had the NRA issued a press release offering sorrow and condolence, and said something to the effect of "we will have a discussion about gun issues, but not now out of repect for the lost children and their families" they might have had to endure background checks at gun shows, limits on magazine capacity,  and maybe a wimpy assault weapons ban. Probably a lot like the last ban that really did not do much and wasn't enforced much anyway. Instead, they came out with both guns blazing and missed with all 36 shots (Glocks, extended magazine plus one in the chamber). Now, there are millions of people who would support taking their guns simply because they now think that all NRA members are a bunch of assholes and deserve whatever happens. And the subsequent internet comments have been like adding gas to an open flame.

I have no illusions. Few people read this blog, and I expect maybe three or four comments, most of which will be of the "filthy liberal scum" variety. I am one, but with guns. So save your breath. I doubt this blog will have a profound influence on public policy. In the end, if there is a gun ban, the NRA will have probably done it to themselves.

The original and sadly forgotten sucker spawn fly pattern

The sucker spawn is a fly pattern well known to steelhead anglers. It's tied in a myriad of colors and materials, including one variation called "the crystal meth" that uses diamond braid. BTW, I am getting rather perturbed by the new trend in fly patterns that seems to require obscene or coarse names for otherwise beautiful flies. But enough of that.

The sucker spawn is well known to anyone who fishes steelhead, especially those who fish steelhead alley in Ohio. For those of you who do not know about this, ODNR manages many Lake Erie tributaries for steelhead. Smolts are stocked in the rivers, and they emigrate to Lake Erie's cold eastern basin for a year or two, then return to spawn. To my knowledge there is no natural spawning, but fish hang in the rivers much of the winter and they eat flies well, probably because there isn't that much natural insect life compared to their native habitats. The Erie tribs have a reputation for producing double digit numbers of smallish fish (2-5 lb) but every time I fish there I get my clock cleaned by a Chinook-sized steelhead at least once per day.

The sucker spawn is a consistent producer because, lo and behold, it looks like a skein of sucker eggs! But if you ask most people they view it as a modern steelhead pattern that originated in the midwest. Not true, it was a trout fly that came from Pennsylvania and was in use by the 1970's. I became acquainted with it in 1973 when a childhood friend took me fishing on the flies-only stretch of the Tulpehocken River in Berks County, PA. It was the trout opener. He gave me two flies, and we caught so many fish that several gentlemen demanded to see our terminal rigs to verify that we were not using bait. Now, these were stocked trout, but I have used the pattern off and on in other trout streams with great success over the years.

I had wondered about the origins of the pattern for years, but recently Lefty Kreh mentioned that he was shown the pattern in Pennsylvania about 40 years ago (an online article about six flies to carry at all times). And he mentioned the original color (cream) which is consistent with what I was given. So the pattern really started as a trout fly in eastern PA, and only later became a steelhead fly. Here is the recipe and tying instructions:

Materials: two pieces of cream colored wool yarn about 5 inches long. Tying thread. The original used white or cream. The example in the photo is yellow Danville flat waxed nylon. I have no idea what the wool was but it was pretty coarse. Makes for a rough looking fly, but who cares? The fish eat it. I like a big meaty size ten, Lefty Kreh mentions sizes 12-16 as his preferred hook sizes.

Instructions: Cover the hook shank with thread. If using a modern curved shank hook, bring the thread well back. Tie in two pieces of yarn. Form small loops with both, lash down with two wraps, then secure with two wraps right in front of the loops you just created. Keep marching up the hook shank with double loops until you reach the eye, then whip finish. The secret is to use two pieces of yarn which makes the tying go fast and easy. I don't think that the yarn material matters, but color does. I still prefer cream after all these years, although blaze orange (Bernat acrylic yarn color 00615) is a killer on steelhead. The acrylics do give you neater loops as well and you can also use teased out egg yarn. . Always have a couple of cream sucker spawns somewhere in the box. I like them best on misty days when the water has a slight stain.

The double strike indicator

A while back I wrote about the steelhead style indicator and it's superiority to all other strike indicators. This is still true, but there is another strategy that you can use. This one is a pain to prepare, but absolutely effective and amusing to boot. It is the double strike indicator, and uses two indicators placed strategically on the leader to detect the most subtle takes.

1.Get a package of those Rio Kahuna indicators. This is essentially a blaze orange section of fly line. Break off two pieces, each about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long. Snap them off with your fingers, and do not cut them to length because they have a mono core that must be pulled out to create a hollow tube so you can thread them on the leader.

2. Get a 9 foot tapered leader. For trout, I like Orvis super-strong leaders, for bass and salt I like the Scientific anglers bonefish ones. Although any tapered leader will work.

3. Thread both indicators on the leader. For trout tippets this will be easy, but for thicker tippets you may need to carefully thread them on to a needle. The hollow core is teeny ...After you get them on slide them up to the butt so they are out of the way.

4. Cut the leader about 4 or 5 feet down from the butt end, and tie it back together with a blood knot. Slide the first indicator down to the knot which will hold it in place.

5. Cut the leader again about 2 feet below the butt, knot it back together, and slide the second indicator down to the knot. You now have a ruined tapered leader with two indicators about 2 or 3 feet apart.

The fun comes in fishing this rig, and it is a hoot. What you are doing is watching not only the movement of the lower indicator, but the relative position between them. Any time the distance between them or their relative position changes, it is likely a fish. One of my favorites is when the lower one starts moving upstream while the upper continues down. There are all sorts of crazy ways to detect fish, and it is surprising how many takes you perceive that would be missed with a single indicator near the leader butt. So you have to buy indicators, and it sort of trashes a perfectly good knotless leader, but the education and fun are worth it. Try one sometime.

Tampa Bay redfish

The blog has been pretty quiet for some time because a) readers can only take so many smallmouth stories, and b) some people have to work for a living and  can't fly fish every day. Last week found me within spitting distance of Tampa Bay, and a block of time with no appointments, talks, workshops, meetings, socials, fundraisers, or other jiggery-pokery. Mostly because of a mis-communication with the ticket booking that got me there a day early, and on a Sunday. Nothing left to do but fish.

This was exciting because I had lived in Tampa a while back, and had taken up saltwater fly fishing during the last year I lived there. It was fun, but I sucked at it. Could not double haul, did not know the right flies or techniques, and never had much time anyway. So I had never caught a redfish. I did a google search and found my old friend Leigh, and he graciously set up a trip for us to wade some flats. After a breakfast of begnettes and other cajun stuff we headed out. I won't talk about the spot or the techniques we used (it was a popular place mentioned in guidebooks and we threw clousers). Although I learned a great deal, that was not what struck me.

First, Tampa Bay sits smack in the middle of one of the most urbanized areas of Florida, and what lies just inside most of the shoreline with high density development and lots of concrete. Back in the day I recall many areas with sparse seagrass and a lot of mud. That is no longer the case. We fished on seagrass flats that were lush and green over sandy bottom that did not pull off my "one size too large but that was all they had" flats boots. Mangroves grew in profusion along the shoreline, and there were thousands of birds ranging from a loggerhead shrike to roseate spoonbills. A manatee swam by. Minnows by the millions swarmed at low tide and predators crashed them right in front of us. Tampa is doing something right, and they should be commended for their efforts. Environmental regulations and environmental restoration work. A lot of it is due to the efforts of Tampa Baywatch. Send them money, or if you live there volunteer for some of their many hands-on projects. And also Florida anglers, who increasingly practice catch and release.

The other thing is that Tampa Bay has one of the coolest fisheries ever because you never really know what is going to eat your fly. My friend Leigh outfished me with reds, seatrout, hardhead catfish, ladyfish, and a snook. I was king of the flounder, but also ladyfish and my first redfish ever on a fly. It was probably best described as a little rat red, but I thought it was glorious and darn near the prettiest fish ever caught in the ocean. We also saw some bluefish crashing bait, and many other species are possible (although some are seasonal). And unlike the keys where flats fishing gets tough during the winter and you need a boat, Tampa Bay has year round wade fishing with many easy public access points. I even started thinking that the traffic wasn't so bad after all, and the real estate was rather attractively priced. If they had deer hunting close by I would retire there tomorrow. And may think about it anyway because I know of few other places where you can target that many species depending on your mood that day.

Tampa Bay is better than ever, and if you are ever within striking distance you would be a fool not to try it.

The Forgotten 7 weight

Of all the fly rods sold in the U.S., fewer 7 weights are purchased than any other. Think about this- fewer 7 weights sold than 11 or 12 weight tarpon rods? Ridiculous, but I have heard this three distinct times from people who are very knowledgable in the fly fishing business. This is a shame, because you are missing out on one of the perfect line sizes for freshwater fishing, and here is why.

The 7 weight is an oddball, but its oddity is that it sits right in the sweet spot that is the compromise between finesse weights and the big dogs. I want to explain why, but first you have to understand line weights.

Back in the day, manufacturers had no standards for fly lines, and each brand was a bit different. They also had labels that were weird letter designations. A was the heaviest, and G and H were fine. A double taper line might have a GCG designations, while a heavy weight forward might have GBH. No one could understand it, and it got to be a problem once glass fly rods became common and everyone could fly fish. The manufacturers standardized lines in the 1970's to the numerical system used today that includes line type (DT or WF), a line weight based on weight in grains of the first 30 feet, and an F or S designation for floating or sinking.  It is still in use.

The problem is that most anglers think that, because the line numbers are classed arithmetically, the line weights are as well. They are not. Look at the curve above, and you will see my point. From 3 to 6 weights, line weight does increase in a straight line with 20 grain increments. A 3 weight weighs 100 grains, a 4 weight 120, with a six weight topping out at 160. Jumping to 7 and 8 weights line weight increases by 25 grain increments, and each line weight after than has an even larger progression in terms of adding more weight.

The bottom line is that 7 weights sit right on the inflection point of the curve, and are the heaviest line weight you can get just before things really start to get heavy. To me, they are the heaviest line weight that one can cast all day, and they are the perfect size for casting large dries and big weighted streamers. An 8 weight will handle the big stuff even better, but there is no finesse and try casting one all day. They are a great western trout rod, especially when the wind comes up, and you can cast into the mangroves with streamers all day without your arm falling off. Eight weights and above are nearly always designed for fighting large fish, but that comes with extra weight that does not translate into lightness in the hand.

Another problem with 7 weights is that they really need to be designed like saltwater rods. I see quite a few with wee little cigar grips or the like, and you really need a full wells grip and two stripping guides for them to reach their full potential. That is a rod you can root around with in Tampa Bay, but it can fish large dries quite effectively. The same thing is true for steelheading where you can expect big fish, but only if you do a couple hundred perfect drifts for hours at a time. I use a 10 foot 7 weight, and wish I had one six inches longer. I think that enough poorly furnished rods are out there such that anglers got spooked years ago and no longer long for them.

I use 7 weights for a lot of fishing, and it is my freshwater go to line size just about any time I am not fishing dry flies for snooty trout and for those guys I am usually fishing much shorter cane rods. They are much more versatile than you think, and ideal for any freshwater situation that requires all day casting with medium or large flies. For smallmouth, they are perfect.

A cure for the summer doldrums

Sort of lapse for the past few weeks, for one simple reason: it has been hot as hell here in Michigan. We have shattered multiple daily highs (this has gotten monotonous) as well as several never been hotter at this place ever records. No rain for 6 weeks, and I have been watering yard trees to keep them alive.

This has had an insane effect on Michigan Rivers. Ultra low water, hardly any flows, and the quiet stretches have become so weed-filled that fishing is more like gardening. You hook a fish, it dives into the salad, and you wade over to clear the morass of junk on the leader and are rewarded by a green fish on the other end of the tippet. Surprisingly, water temps are warm but not like you would think because most of our rivers get some groundwater. Anyway, people do not like to read about skunk trips and a couple in a row were close. We were in the doldrums, and I was starting to dream of September and salmon.

But ...

Last weekend we found a river. A little one that was like fishing two rivers at once. The upstream portion was small and tight, and so shaded that it was cool and dark. But downstream, it made a sudden transition into a mile wide and an inch deep with all the salad fixings. The water was so low and clear that I decided to fish upstream. This turned out to be an eye opener. Mind you, smallmouth bass on the fly is not a finesse sport. Trout fishing is figure skating, smallmouth fishing is roller derby. You fling big flies, and it does not matter if you are six inches from the big rock or 6 feet because the next cast will be closer and the sloppy cast is likely to catch a fish anyway.  Down and across, move down, repeat until satiated or you have just enough energy to slog back up to the access. But in a tiny stream this was an anathema. The first few casts ended up in trees until I remembered how to actually cast. I then moved along quietly, and put a small white bluegill popper close to any cover I could find. A limb sticking out from the bank, a tiny knee deep cut in an ankle-deep run, a weird deep pool the size of a bathtub that was almost isolated from all flow by the low water. Most casts were less than 30 feet, and many placed the fly in the water on the opposite side of dry exposed ground.

I took a tip from my friend Ron. He likes to fish slowly to the point where he often lags behind us as we run and gun. My approach is that if they do not want it in two or three casts then the hell with them and I will go find someone who does. He moseys along, and just keeps putting in front of them until they all decide that this must be a bugger hatch and commence feeding. Earlier that day we watched him snake half a dozen fish out of a hole that everyone else considered fishless, so I decided that this was an interesting trick and tried to emulate his approach.

I floated the popper past each cover at least 20 times, and every damned time fish would start to whack it on the 10th or 15th float. But only if it was fished on a dragless float with teeny twitches that moved the rubber legs but made no real noise. I tried a couple of pops, and constant movement but never got a hit that way. It was dead drift with a twitch or two or nothing (there is an earlier post about this technique). This was a small stream, and I expected rock bass with the occasional 6 to 10 inch fish, but was surprised by both the number and size of the smallmouth lurking in the reach. And how they could still be invisible in a foot of water. A couple of 10-12 inches, then a couple that you had to grab by the lip to land. Go figure. It was an amazing day that was more like dry fly fishing for trout, and after a while I realized that the number of fish was up there to a point where there were some bragging rights to be claimed.

This is where it gets weird. I began to wonder what had happened to my friends who had disappeared downstream, and got to the point where I thought I had better find them. I expected them to be back at the car with heat stroke, but nothing doing. So I went downstream for a big garden fest. I expected nothing because the habitat was barren, it was now hitting 90 degrees, brilliant sunshine, and they had already fished through not an hour before. Came to a place that looked like it might be worth a cast. A trench had formed along the bank, and it was at least knee deep with the rest of the river channel being barely over your boot soles. Better yet, the afternoon sun was low enough to cast a shadow line that put it in the dark. Popper goes out, and what followed was strange to say the least. There was a hit on every cast for 30 minutes, I never moved, and every fish came from an area the size of a pool table. No master angler fish, but no dinks, and the largest fish was an honest 15 inches (measured). It was as if the entire bass population of the watershed decided to gather for mass suicide. The catch rate was governed entirely by how fast you could land them on a 3x tippet and get them unhooked and back in the water. At some point, you no longer wanted or needed to catch another fish, but you had to keep fishing just to see how long this could possibly go on. It finally slowed down, but moving downstream still produced fish until I met my partners on their way back up. I asked them if they had fished that run and they had, but it only produced a few dinks because at that point it was still in the sun. Even weirder, I was darned glad I was fishing a 7 weight. Fish were fighting hard, and there was more leaping that I had seen in quite some time.Actually, one hell of a lot of leaping. I have no idea of the final tally of fish released, but it was large enough that I actually considered staying home the following weekend to paint exterior door trims. At least for a couple of minutes.

A new river, a new technique, and it was glorious. One of the best things about fly fishing is that rare moment when you just can't explain anything and simply have to accept that something worked. And the doldrums were cured. Especially after the previous trip the night beforethat ended with no fish and being lost in a buckthorn thicket while wearing shorts.

More about 7 weights next time, and why you should fish them more often than you do.And I am working on a salmon primer for those who must.

Yet another one fly disaster

I have to stop entering these things. They end quickly, and they end badly. For readers not familiar with the concept, one-flies are tournaments run for charity, and each angler gets one fly, and on fly only. Not one pattern, but one fly. If it goes in a tree, falls apart, or has the hook break on a bad backcast that ticks a rock, you are done. The object is to get the most points before something bad happens, and you get points by catching fish, with bigger fish usually worth more.

This one was organized by Schultz outfitters in Ypsilanti, MI as a benefit for the Huron River watershed council (HWRC). This is one of the most progressive watershed councils in the Nation, and they do things that range from stonefly searches (stones are good environmental indicators) to helping the cities of the watershed adapt to climate change. They have real scientists and everything.

So we went to a fun party, and got up next morning to win, and win big. My fishing partner was my wife, and we had long discussions about strategy. We decided that since we were a team, I would go low and slow with an indestructible kevlar tied crayfish pattern, and she would go on top with a surface fly- a gartside gurgler. After mayhem, photographs, and getting acquainted with some new Huron River anglers, we set off bound for glory. I decided to fish in downtown Ypsilanti, where we used to joke that there was bass under every shopping cart. In part thanks to HRWC this is no longer the case, at least the shopping cart part.

Fishing sucked, at least where we were. First spot produced one rock bass and teeny tiny long release smallmouth. Departed for greener pastures at a honey hole that had given up, on average, a dozen prize winning bass each trip every time I had fished there. This was not to be the case that day, and after an hour and a half I was surprised by a single 9 inch bass that was a full inch above the minimum size for entry.. Feeling good about not finishing dead last, I worked down to the first deep run of the morning (the water was record low and pretty clear) and dead drifted Mr. indestructible crayfish down a slot. The line stopped, and I thought I was snagged up until the snag tried to jump and throw the fly. Not a 20 incher, but big enough so that when he jumped he could not get completely out of the water. Two runs, got him on the reel, and then of all things, the line goes slack. I reel in only to find a flyless leader with the telltale curlicue of a knot that has pulled free. I was done. I thought back to that knot, and had stopped mid-tie when someone asked me a question. The improved clinch knot turned out to be only a clinch, and a bad one at that.

I was disheartened and had to think hard about the real purpose of the day which was to benefit the river. HWRC is unusual in that they are an "environmental" group that interacts successfully with anglers. Very few environmental groups get along well with the "hook and bullet" crowd, but everyone I know loves them. That is saying something. Despondent, I reviewed the rules that allowed teams to share rods. I made my wife give me her rod and fly, and proceeded to be vindicated with a 12 incher, thereby securing me another step up from dead last. However, she figured out my strategy quickly and I was called out. We gave it our best shot, and after an hour in the 90 degree plus sunshine with only rare and desultory nosing of the topwater flies it boiled down to two choices: 1) drive 20 miles upriver to really good spot where they were sure to be biting and have a shot at placing, or 2) go to an air conditioned bar within sight of the fly shop HQ just down the street. Bar won, unanimous decision achieved in seconds.

Just wait until next year.