Holding a Fish Correctly

Yes, it's been almost 2 months when I posted last. I've had very little adventures in the past few months but with spring around the corner, I did do some kayaking and fishing! Now that I'm back in blogging mode, I decided to start out with a post on how to hold fish! This is overlooked. A lot. It's really sad, actually. So, let's look at how to hold a fish the wrong way.

 The picture on the left shows the fish being held improperly because there is no support on the front or back part of spine. The fish is also being squeezed. Not good! Don't be stupid and squeeze a fish no matter how small. That small fish will grow up!






The picture below shows yet another improper way of holding a fish! Ugh....By the gills! Imagine you were being held by your neck. That's it. All your body weight was being held by your neck vertebrae. OUCH! Yes, that's how the fish feels. Uncool! It also hurts the fish's gills themselves which is what they use to breathe. Duh. : )

 

 Another common misconception is that a fish, more specifically, a bass, can be held by it's lower jaw. Yes, it can be done but it could potentially break the fish's jaw. Not fun!

Here we see a man holding the smallmouth by its lower jaw. Don't do this please. That bass may have been fine but it may have bruised the fish and could potentially have problems with its jaw for the rest of its life. The far right picture is of crappie. The picture displayed on the far right shows a professional fisherman holding up
some nice crappie. Now, I found this picture on a professional website that is known for it's great fishing articles, tournament info, and fishing tips and tricks and yet this guy didn't get the memo to NOT follow those tips. Hmm...

We've viewed several examples of bad fish handling. Let's look at some good ones! Below is an excellent shot of a gorgeous brookie. And, yes, he's holding it correctly as he let it sit in the net first, then briefly took it out of the net for a shot, and I imagine, let it go with no harm done. Look at the net closely and you can see it is a rubber net. That's what you want to use all the time. The nylon nets are VERY hard on the fish. Throw that kind of net away. They keep the slime of the fish on the netting and that slime keeps the fish alive! It's a protective barrier for the fish just like our skin!

 Here's a great picture of how to hold a toothy fish. This picture was entitled how to hold a muskie correctly. I think it speaks for itself.

There you have it folks! I hope you've learned a lot from this post. It's good to get a refresher course on the subject from time to time. Check out these wonderful articles on the same subject! Like really....you should.

How to Break a Fish's Jaw Quickly

Please Hold Fish Properly!

TIGHT LINES EVERYONE!

Fighting Even the Small Fries With Ease!

One of my biggest pet peeves when fly fishing is holding the rod correctly when fighting a fish. ANY fish! Some may argue "Oh it doesn't matter if it is a smaller fish, you can still hold the rod this way or that." I say, "NO! You cannot!" Here's why: the handle of the rod was designed to take the brunt of the force when fighting a fish. I have seen guys fighting fish, large fish like salmon and steelhead and holding the handle and the blank, which is a no no especially when fighting a larger fish. It's okay for extra support but some guys were depending on holding the blank above the rod handle.

Edit: PLEASE, if you don't read ANYTHING ELSE read this: <link>  This link is from the official Sage site about rods breaking and why they do! Very informative!

On a heavier rod, as most if not all of you know, there's a thing we all love and it's called the fighting butt. It's called that for a REASON! You put it on your hip and acts as leverage when fighting a fish. However, as I mentioned, most people want to hold the blank as well as the handle of the rod itself. It feels more comfortable to them but it's a no no. Have I stressed that enough? : ) 

Here is a post about why leverage is so important in fly fishing much less fishing period! It goes in depth but it really is excellent when you read the entire thing. Seriously, I learned from it even though I do fight with the rod from side to side and not straight up in the air.

Above is a video on a guy fighting in saltwater conditions. At 0:40 you see him doing the naughty: holding the rod not for support but for leverage. Granted, it appears that the ferrule popped out but nevertheless, my pet peeve!

There was another GREAT video of a guy fighting a giant salmon on a fly rod and was holding it by the blank. Literally broke in half. Then again, he was fighting it with the tip and not the butt section.

Above is yet another classic example of someone fighting the fish with the blank. Although, I do applaud him because he IS fighting a larger fish and he was holding the rod to the side while fighting. Again it is not so much as it broke as it came apart perhaps.

Bottom line: don't be stupid. Play the fish out. Mind your P's and Q's because the fish is FIGHTING FOR ITS LIFE! Use the butt section of the rod for leverage instead of the tip. Comment if you wish on how you play a fish out whether big or small! 

Apply That Dubbing....Correctly!

For those who tie with dubbing frequently (ME!), you already know these tricks. For those who are new at applying dubbing or you just need a refresher course, then this article is for you.

Short and sweet. Literally. The process is simple and yet effective. I like that kind of learning! Find it here!

Selecting the Perfect Hackle

Ah, yes. Hackle is classic material for a variety of wet and dry flies alike. I find myself being VERY frustrated when I tie a #6 4XL wooly bugger and the hackle is TOO SHORT or the hackle is not very good quality.

This article jumps in expecting you know things about tying flies so if you are a beginner, you may find yourself looking up things but that's how you learn so there should be no shame! It is a bit of a hard read, for me at least, because it seems a bit cluttered but nevertheless, it really has great info and tips. Maybe I'm just biased because I'm posting a lot of this stuff several days in a row. Oh well. I found it useful and I hope you guys do too!

Baby Bugger!

I love to tie small wooly buggers. Why? They're fun to tie, cute (hey, I'm secure enough in my manhood to say things are cute), and work pretty darn well in any freshwater conditions not to mention you can tie them in a variety of colors in a variety of sizes and mix and match colors to provide a variety of effects and patterns. Good stuff! Honestly, they are my go to fly. On the smaller flies, I tend to tie them with a bit shorter tail to make them appear as if they are wooly worms but they are not.

This article, found here, talks about different materials to make the perfect baby bugger. I am super excited to try these out! It gives me an excuse to buy more material and to experiment! Enjoy and get experimental! Who knows? Your next fish may be the catch of your life!

Tight lines!

All About Thread Control!

WOW! This is an excellent read! I really don't do well on this subject. At all. I kinda just tie and go with it. This is really a great article explaining why thread gets tangled, how you can prevent it, and the pros and cons of brands of threads! Very insightful for a beginner, intermediate, and especially advanced or commercial tiers!

Click here to view because you will learn something even if you just read a bit! Enjoy!

Hackle and Wet Flies Explained

Wow! Another extremely invaluable article on when and what part of the hackle to use! This was brand new to me and really made me think before I tie!

Check it out here! Great stuff!

I hope you guys are enjoying these posts. They're short and sweet but seriously invaluable!

The Infamous Whip Finishing Tool

It took me a long time to use this tool....correctly. I thought I was doing it right and my flies turned out rather junky when I first used this tool so I quit using it. Then, I decided to give it another go. Boy, am I glad I did!

The whip finishing tool is one of the best tools to use. Granted, you can do the same thing without the tool but nevertheless, it's fantastic!

Above is how you whip finish with the tool itself. Great video!

Watch the video above to view how to use whip finish properly without the tool. Seriously invaluable technique which, personally, I think, is underrated.

DIY Hackle/Dubbing Combs

Ah, yes. Hackle...It gets annoying when you want it to go one way and it won't! So, you buy an expensive tool for one job, eh? Well, this DIY project can really save you a buck or more!

I personally have made the velcro brush and am working on making the toothbrush and comb tool.

Find the article here.

Fly Tying Tips and Tricks at the Bench

Yet another great article about how you can save time when tying flies. I have used some of these tricks and am bound to use more as my fly tying skills increase.

Be sure to check it out here whether or not you are an avid tier! Seriously cheap yet effective and invaluable tips for any tier!

Steaming Flies Back to Life!

This article follows up with the last article on washing fly tying material before use. This shows how to breathe new life into well worked flies!

Check it out here. This really has given me great tips and tricks on what to do with my flies that I use quite often. I'm so glad I found this!

Treating Your Fly Tying Material with Care!

Here's a magnificent article on how to treat your fly tying material such as feathers and buck tail. I know it's short and sweet but the facts and tips you'll learn are invaluable!

Go here to see the advantage of washing your material before tying your flies.

I'll be putting more of this info up every couple of days. I hope auto-posting will behave this time.

Fly Tying Business!

So, I have started a small hobby/business on Facebook called Stone's Flies. It's really taken off with the amount of people who like my page as well as people interested in my flies. My plan is to find a site that can host my flies as well as a shopping cart. I am very excited! It's keeping me busy but it's fun! I started to have giveaways at how many likes I have so it's great to bring in more people. My page launched on January 9 of this year so we'll see how well it takes off. Who knows? I may be the newest fly tyer in town! It has definitely made me learn more about tying as well as tips and tricks and more importantly, made me get better at my craft.

My parents and fiancée are very proud that I am taking steps to utilize not only my major but also my hobby into a business. I will keep you all posted on the happenings of my online business. Here's hoping someone buys my flies soon! : )

Here's the link to the page on Facebook. If you are interested in buying flies, I guess e-mail me @ serioussam1215@gmail.com with "Fly Order" in the subject line. I'll update this post in due time when I get a site up and running....That way it will make things a whole lot easier to order!

Tight lines!

Hunting for Steelies on the Ottawa

So, there was an article in our local paper (found here for those who are interested. Great article!) regarding steelhead being in a local river, the Ottawa. This, mind you, is totally unheard of. Why? Because the Ottawa is nasty, cloudy, and full of trash. So, what did I do? I went to find out if there were any way I could catch something!

I packed all my gear and left my house around 10 AM on the 10th, which was a lot later than I wanted to. The guy who caught the steelhead in the article was on the University of Toledo's campus when he caught it. The Ottawa river runs through UT which provides, apparently, excellent fishing for bass and pike even. I drove everywhere. It was crazy. I found some area that was close to UT and parked on the side of the road out in the open, got my gear packed up, put my waders on, and started to hike to the river. It took me 5 minutes to get to the river itself but to my dismay, it was super shallow. Of course. I then thought that I could hike all the way to UT but after attempting to walk through the woods in my gear, I decided against it.

I found yet another park that was a lot closer to UT, about 1/4 of a mile yet it was quite a ways off. This particular section of the river was on a public golf course. Giant parking lot with no one save a man sitting smoking in his car, I quickly got my gear on and started to walk towards the river. I saw an even worse site: the river was so stagnant the water was frozen. I found an open spot under the bridge and started towards it. I saw a raccoon along my travels. Cute little thing. Maybe getting a drink, I don't know.

Racoon!

What most of the river looked like.

Small patch of water through the ice.

So, I finally got under the bridge where I wanted to be. I felt that this was a good time for me to test my new waders out! I took my backpack off and got into the water. To my surprise, it got very deep very fast! I was almost up to my waste in a matter of 4 steps! I was moving around testing them for a few minutes but that was the probably the extent of my excitement for the trip....so far. I got my stuff and got back to my car. As I was about to leave, a lady stopped with her husband and was asking if I caught any steelhead. I told her no and we chatted for a bit. I showed her some places where she could do a bit of spincast fishing for bass possibly.

I found out as I was talking to her and her husband that her husband fly fishes or ties flies or something. We started to chat about that and I gave them some of my egg-sucking leeches along with some egg patterns telling them to fish it with some lighter line. They were very grateful for that. We exchanged numbers and then parted ways.

Yes, it was a bad day for fishing especially since I couldn't get into UT but I got to test out my waders and I got to network with a local fisherman on top of doing a kind deed. Made me feel good. I guess that was better than nothing, right? As the summer draws near, so does my graduation and wedding. I guess I have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. HURRY UP SUMMER!