duaneredford.com   "Fear No Water"

Hidy ho good flyfishers.

A River Runs Through  It was a great movie, no doubt.  It did wonderful marketing and spurred the fly fishing industry.  Fantastic acting, scenery, and of course the epic fly casting.  Ah, the fly casting.  Proved to be the strike point or brand of the film.  However, I think it has scared away many would be fly fishers.

I have folks come into the fly shop and tell me that they would love to learn to fly fish but aren’t capable of the rod handling that they saw in the movie.  Had a nice lady ask me last year if she should book back to back days on the water, because she figured we would work the entire first day on casting. My clients today said I better think about just tying on one fly (instead of three) because they aren’t capable of casting three fly rigs.  I told them that if you can say “three bug rig” you can certainly cast it.

I admire good casting skills as much as the next dude, but all an nymph angler needs is the ability to utilize a water loaded roll cast.    Stick your elbow in the slot, get your thumb as high as your hat, pick a spot, and put your thumb on it.  It really is that simple, and I find folks pick it up rapidly.  And yup, you guessed it, the minute you roll cast you are officially fly fishing.  I have a video or two on youtube dealing with casting.  They are easy to find, if you want a refresher.  Just type my name and youtube for a search.

The South Platte is fishing great.  Blue Wings are coming off any time of the day depending on conditions, and the fish are on them.  Trips have been very productive nymphing in the morning and looking for noses to cast dry flies and dry-drops to in the late morning, early afternoon.  Pheasant tails and baetis emergers are the ticket.

I am busy working on a new technique, nothing earth shattering, but it works.  I’m having clients utilize it in certain conditions, and it is proving to be effective and fun.  Think I’ll keep R&Ding it and maybe include it in my next book. Time will tell.

Probably going to post every other week, because I’m getting very busy.  If something happens that just needs to be shared, I’ll certainly post it.  Please feel free to contact me, and comment.   Until then, Fear No Water! Duane