NCYWG

Tips, tricks & other useful information

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Fly Tying & Tools

"The normal evolution a fly fisher usually includes fly tying sometime along the line. Some take up fly tying to cut the costs of all the flies they seem to leave in bushes and trees everywhere they go. Others want to try it to increase their involvement in the finer details of the sport. No matter what your reasons are, tying flies seems to be an integral part of the whole fly fishing picture."

Al Campbell

 

The following links provide a host of information on fly tying techniques, basic through intermediate and advanced methods, tying tools and their proper use and can be used as an excellent online reference guide to all.

• Basic tying kit
• Beginning tying
• Intermediate tying
• Advanced fly tying

This series is also available for download in PDF format, courtesy of Fly Anglers Online.

 Tying Materials | Yellowfish Flies | Other Flies | Monthly Tying Meetings

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Knots

An excellent source for knots - Animated step-by-step instructions!
Thanx for the link Etienne...
ANIMATED KNOTS BY GROG

Basic Advice on Tying Knots

It is important not only to select the right knot for a particular job but to tie it properly. Poorly Tied knots will mean lost fish and aggravation. Here are a few basic steps to follow when tying all knots for fly fishing.

Lubricate knots: Before you tighten a knot, lubricate it with saliva or by dipping it in the water. This will help the knot slide and seat properly. Lubrication also decreases excessive heat which dramatically weakens monofilament. Heat is generated by the friction created when knots are drawn up tight.

Seat the knot: Tighten knots with a steady, continuous pull. Make sure the knot is tight and secure. After it is tied, pull on the line and leader to make sure it holds. It is better to test it now than when a fish is on.

Trim neatly: Use nippers to trim the material as close as possible without nicking or damaging the knot.

	Backing to Reel Backing to Fly Reel Knot
	Backing to Fly Line Albright Knot Nail Knot
	Fly Line to Braided Leader Loop-to-Loop Connection
	Fly Line to Nylon Leader Nail Knot
	Fly Line to Mono Loop Nail Knot 6" to 8" monofilament butt section then Loop-to-Loop Connection using Perfection Loop or Surgeon's Loop
	Braided Leader to Tippet Loop-to-Loop Connection using Perfection Loop on tippet or Surgeon's Loop on tippet
	Hand-Tied Leader Barrel Knot or Surgeon's Knot
	Leader to Tippet Surgeon's Knot or Barrel Knot
	Tippet to Fly (a) Clinch Knot (b) Duncan Loop

Images & text advice courtesy of Orvis Company, Inc.
© Orvis Company, Inc. from Orvis Waterproof Vest Pocket Knot Booklet

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Hints & Tips

Thoughts on Nymphing

Do you know the difference between a good nymph fisherman and a great nymph fisherman?" an angler once asked.  "One split shot!" he said, answering his own question.

It was a good answer.  When fishing in rivers, most nymphs need to be presented no more than 25cm from the bottom.  When nymphing, just a few extra centimetres in depth can make the difference between casting practice and a day you'll remember the rest of your life.  Unfortunately, those extra cm's can be hard to achieve.  Here are a few tips to help you get your fly down where it belongs.

Weight on the leader.  This can be a split shot, a "Twist On," or mouldable weight.  Add the weight 30-45 centimetres from the fly.  Unfortunately, weight on the leader will make your rig difficult to cast.  It's very easy to get the leader hopelessly tangled around the weight.
Also, accuracy and distance are sacrificed.  For easier casting, open up your casting loop when tossing a weighted rig.  The longer and thinner your weight, the easier it is to cast.  That's why many fly fishermen use the mouldable stuff - tungsten paste;  squeeze it around the leader in a ball, then roll it out so it's thin (the same way you made "snakes" with play dough when you were a kid).

Many fly shops sell handy dispensers with several sizes of shot.  For all products, there are good alternatives to using lead;  while not as dense, they are more environmentally friendly.

Use a weighted fly.  Buy or tie flies with weight under the dubbing, or with a bead head.  (Basically, a bead head is a split shot on the fly instead of on the leader).  A bead head makes it easier for a small fly to not get "fat" and out of proportion due to weight under the dubbing.

Use a two fly rig.  With very small nymphs, such as the size 18 or 20 nymphs that imitate blue-winged olives, you can't put enough weight on the fly to make it sink quickly in moderate to fast current.  A solution is to use a very heavy fly, such as a heavily weighted stonefly nymph, in combination with the small fly.  Two good ways to tie up a two-fly rig are:

•  Tie a blood knot in the tippet, but leave one of the tag ends extra long.  Tie the small nymph to this tag end and the heavy fly to the tippet end.  The tag end should be 5-8cm long after the small fly is tied on.
  Another variation of this rig is to replace the blood knot with a dropper loop and use a loop-to-loop connection for the small dropper fly.  This makes the fly stand out perpendicular to the main line and thus minimises the tangles when casting.
•  Tie the heavy fly to the end of the tippet.  Then clinch knot a 30-45cm length of tippet material to the bend of the hook.  Tie the small fly to the other end - "New Zealand" rig.
  Some "purists" will object to this method, arguing that you get a lot of foul hooks on the second hook when you miss the strike...

An advantage of a two-fly rig is that you present two different patterns to the fish.  A disadvantage is that when the rig is irretrievably hung up on a submerged rock, you will lose twice as many flies.

Use thinner leader.  Drag is proportionate to the thickness of the leader.  So using thinner leader creates less drag, which lets the fly sink faster.

Pile line.  After your fly hits the water, throw in a quick mini-cast or two so slack line piles on top of the water at the point where the fly went in.  This reduces drag and lets the fly sink faster.

Follow the links below on some very useful presentation tips in different situations:

• Wet Fly
• Dry Fly
• Stillwater

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Catch & Release

Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing intended as a technique of conservation.
After capture, the fish are unhooked and returned to the water before experiencing serious exhaustion or injury. Using barbless hooks, it is often possible to release the fish without removing it from the water.
A slack line is frequently sufficient.

History of practice

In the United Kingdom, catch and release has been performed for more than a century by coarse fishermen in order to prevent target species from disappearing in heavily fished waters.  Since the latter part of the 20th century, many salmon and sea trout rivers have been converted to complete or partial catch and release.

In the United States, catch and release was first introduced as a management tool in the state of Michigan in 1952 as an effort to reduce the cost of stocking hatchery-raised trout.  Anglers fishing for fun rather than for food accepted the idea of releasing the fish while fishing in so-called "no-kill" zones.  Conservationists have advocated catch and release as a way to ensure sustainability and to avoid overfishing of fish stocks.  Lee Wulfe also promoted catch and release as he observed the Atlantic Salmon population dwindle.

In Australia, catch and release caught on slowly, with some pioneers practicing it the 1960s, and the practice slowly becoming more widespread in the 1970s and 1980s.  Catch and release is now widely used to conserve — and indeed is critical in conserving — vulnerable fish species like the large, long lived native freshwater Murray Cod and the prized, slowly growing, heavily fished Australian bass, heavily fished coastal species like Dusky Flathead and prized gamefish like striped marlin.

In the Republic of Ireland, catch and release has been used as a conservation tool for atlantic salmon and sea trout fisheries since 2003.  A number of fisheries now have mandatory catch and release regulations.  Catch and release for coarse fish has been used by sport anglers for as long as these species have been fished for on this island.  However catch and release for Atlantic salmon has required a huge turn about in how many anglers viewed the salmon angling resource.  To encourage anglers to practice catch and release in all fisheries a number of Governement led incentives have been implemented.

Catch and release is mandatory for some species in Canada, which also requires, in some cases, the use of barbless hooks to facilitate release and minimize injury.

Effective catch and release fishing techniques avoid excessive fish fighting and handling times, avoid damage to fish skin, scale and slime layers (that leave fish vulnerable to fungal skin infections) by nets, dry hands and dry surfaces, and avoid damage to throat ligaments and gills by poor handling techniques.

The use of barbless hooks is an important aspect of catch and release.  Barbless hooks reduce injury and handling time, increasing survival.  Frequently, fish caught on barbless hooks can be released without being removed from the water, and the hooks effortlessly slipped out with a single flick of the pliers or leader.  Barbless hooks can be purchased from several major manufacturers or can be created from a standard hook by crushing the barbs flat with needle-nosed pliers.  Some anglers avoid barbless hooks because of the erroneous belief that too many fish will escape.  Concentrating on keeping the line tight at all times while fighting fish, equipping lures that do not have them with split rings, and using recurved point or "Triple Grip" style hooks on lures, will keep catch rates with barbless hooks as high as those achieved with barbed hooks.  Triple Grip treble hooks work particularly well with the barbs crushed.

Key aspects of catch and release include:

• Using strong tackle, to minimise fighting times
• Using needle-nosed pliers to aid unhooking
• Using barbless hooks, for quick, easy hook removal and reduced handling times
• Leaving fish in the water during the unhooking and release process, to avoid any handling

If fish are removed from the water for unhooking and/or a photo, key aspects of handling include:

• Avoiding the use of landing nets; if landing nets must be used, specially designed catch-and-release landing nets (e.g. Environets) are used
• Avoiding touching the fish with dry hands or dry surfaces (e.g. shirt fronts) or putting them down on dry surfaces (e.g. rocks, boat gunwhales, boat bottoms)
• Only touching the fish with wet hands and wet surfaces (e.g. wet towel)
• Avoiding hanging fish from their jaw/mouth/gills
• Holding fish horizontally, and supporting large fish with a second hand under the belly
• Minimising time out of the water (e.g. 20–30 seconds)

The effects of catch and release vary from species to species.  A number of scientific studies have shown extremely high survival rates (97%+) for released fish if handled correctly and particularly if caught on artificial baits such as lures or flies.  Fish caught on lures are usually hooked cleanly in the mouth, minimising injury and aiding release.  Other studies have shown somewhat lower but encouragingly high survival rates for fish gut-hooked on bait if the line is cut and the fish is released without trying to remove the hook.  This procedure should be followed for any gut-hooked fish intended or required to be released.

Why Release Fish

• Fish are a valuable resource and should be caught more than once.
• Personal efforts to enhance conservation make fishing more fun.
• Sometimes, releasing fish is mandatory because they are undersized or you already have caught your limit.
• Releasing fish helps with population recovery for heavily fished or endangered species.
• This is your opportunity to pass opportunities to fish along to the next generation.

How to Begin

• Decide to release the fish as soon as you hook it.
• Generally, land the fish quickly and don't play it to exhaustion.
• Set the hook quickly to reduce the likelihood the fish will swallow the bait.
• Bring a fish in slowly from deep water to help it adjust to changing pressure.
• Don't use barbed or rusty hooks.
• Keep your release tools close by.

Handling Your Catch

• Leave the fish in the water if you can and use a tool to remove the hook.
• Keep the fish from thrashing without using a net if there is anyway you can.
• If you must handle a fish:
  • Use a wet rag or glove.
  • Turn it on its back and cover its eyes to calm it.
  • Don't put your fingers in the eyes or gills of the fish.
  • Avoid removing mucous or scales.
  • Get the fish back in the water as quickly as possible.
• Handle each fish carefully to avoid person injury.

Removing the Hook

• If the hook is very deep within the fish or it can't be removed quickly, cut the leader close to the fish's mouth
• Back the hook out the opposite way it went in.
• Use needle-nose pliers, hemostats, or a hookout to remove the hook and protect your hands.
• For a larger fish in the water, slip a gaff around the leader and slide it to the hook.  Lift the gaff upward while pulling downward on the leader
• Do not jerk or pop a leader to break it -- it injures vital organs in the fish.

The Final Moments

• Place the fish in the water gently supporting the mid-section and tail until it swims away.
• Resuscitate an exhausted fish by moving it back and forth to force water through its gills.
• FOR SALTWATER OR DEEP WATER FISH ONLY: When releasing fish that cannot right itself or is showing a distended air bladder the bladder should be gently punctured:
  • Gently insert a thin oint (knife blade, wire or ice pick) through the side of the fish immediately behind the upper part of the pectoral finbase.  This is usually directly below the fourth or fifth spine.
  • Let the air escape without pressing on the fish and put it in the water to let it swim away
• Watch the fish when released.  If it doesn't swim away, recover it and try again.

Remember, a released fish has an excellent chance of survival
when handled correctly

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