Posts Tagged Fly Casting

The Brown Belt

November 30, 2018 at 9:18 pm · Filed under Tenkara News, Tenkara Philosophy ·Tagged , , , , , ,

The Brown Belt

 

November: Stream Banks Bare But For Nuts

The brown belt of tenkara fly fishing seen in the riparian gone to seed, felt in the waders in the cold, in the damp, in the brief days of November. To earn it is to do it. The reward, layered as most good things are, is that the fish, though scattered, sporadic, remain strong, with a few willing to strike a kebari worked perhaps at a slower pace than in spring or summer.

 

November Fallfish

The sound of the moving water holds tight to a higher presence on a stream lined by trees bare but for nuts and a few aged leaves faded like worn pennants.

 

Swans, Lake
(NYC 11 2018)

The pond as well has weathered the autumnal transition, and with the leaf hatch over, the fallen herded into a few corner spots, open waters rippled by wind look dark chocolate. Tannin depth nurtured by the afternoon switch from light to night, brief, almost beyond belief.

 

Largemouth Bass
(NYC 11 2018)

The reward, to repeat, the reward is that the fish, though scattered, sporadic, remain strong, with a few willing to strike a kebari worked perhaps at a slower pace than in spring or summer.

— rPs 11 30 2018

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Summer’s End

September 30, 2018 at 7:45 pm · Filed under Tenkara News, Tenkara Trips ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Summer’s End . . .

 

The Beginning: Rain
(09 2018)

The autumnal equinox brings a change not so much of physical character, not at first, but in the immediate of light, light lost, as an evening falls so quickly, dramatic, perceptible, noticeable, between the beginning, the center, and the end of September.

 

The Beginning

FALLfish: (September Tarpon)
(09 2018)

 

The Center

September Sands (North Atlantic) (09 2018)

September Cocktail
(09 2018)

 

The End

September Bank Foliage
(09 2018)

Big Belly Bluegill
(09 2018)

— rPs 09 30 2018

 

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Cold Water, Wet Wind

March 31, 2017 at 5:27 pm · Filed under Tenkara Kebari, Tenkara Techniques, Tenkara Trips ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Cold Water, Wet Wind . . .

 

The Sticks Cast
(NYC 03 2017)

Days of rain had drawn a distinct mudline, a seam bordered by blued rippled crystal, rendered by cold water current and a consistent wet wind. Perfect, for a stretch, from which fish might pounce on prey and retreat, covered.

A largemouth of fifteen inches darted from this cover and raced over the sprouts of pond bottom plants and in full sun rolled over my Green Guarantee. Rusty ron P. raised Ebisu, plucked the fly from the fish’s mouth a nanosecond before jaws could clamp down on the inhaled line.

Between the lasting breezes, a cold even thermal wear could not weather long. Run, jog, run made mandatory to stay active, not frozen. Beyond the sticks of last year’s shoreline stalks, fishes, and by leaning, balanced, a toehold on dry rock, Ebisu held out to work kebari along the edges, fishes.

Fishes. Yes. No, not the black bass, nor the expected black crappie. The bluegill, male and female both, took to strike the feather and fur kebari worked on the steady swim just above bottom.

Cold water.

Wet wind.

Fist Fish, 2017.

First Fish, 2017.
(NYC 03 2017)

Second Fish, 2017.

Second Fish, 2017.
(NYC 03 2017)

Yes. Gone fishing. Catching and Releasing. Happy.

–  rPs 03 31 2017

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Book Review: Fly-Casting Finesse

March 22, 2017 at 4:55 pm · Filed under Tenkara Reading, Tenkara Techniques ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Book Review: Fly-Casting Finesse . . .

Fly-Casting Finesse
by John L. Field

When a new hardcover book dedicated to some aspect of fly fishing reaches print, there should be a pause, as the production time and cost for such a lasting document indicates the publisher’s belief in the value of the information on the printed pages between the covers.

Skyhorse Publishing, no stranger to readers of angling literature, has just released such a book.

Fly-Casting-Finesse

by John L. Field

160 pp., Skyhorse Publishing. Hardcover, $29.99.

ISBN: 9781632204882

First impression of the cover is reaffirmed by the fact the same glossy color is sleeved in a matching dust jacket. A quick flip through reveals excellent illustrations, diagrams, and chapters than contain numerous subsections with page breaks, a format that gives the busy reader plenty of places to pause and pick up again, almost the way one works a fly line on and off the water.

Who is the author? His name may be new to those used to hearing Kreh, Krieger, Rajeff, and Wulff, all giants associated with the cast. Field, who lives in Connecticut, is a former president of the New York City Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the American Casting Association. His casting reputation is solidified by his status as an IFFF Certified Master Casting Instructor. Credentials enough to author a book on the fundamental mechanics of fly fishing.

Field writes in a clear, unadorned style; he is very good in composing phrases that in their succinct accuracy allow a caster to internalize and turn them into mantras:

“Presentation Scenarios”

“Currents and Cover”

“Line Control”

“J” and “L”

“Timing and Tempo”

I invite readers to explore the book for themselves for an elaboration of such phrases. Set aside some time outdoors as well to put into practice what Field has written on the page.

Tenkara is not given any featured place in this book. What may to some appear to be a shortcoming, or weakness, actually on reflection refocuses the fact that, tackle choice aside, it is the angler and the positions, angles, and motions used in the fishing process that matter. A chapter on the double haul has no practical value in the world of fixed line fly fishing, but so much else – line mending, casts in close quarters, the roll, the bow and arrow, et al, can all add to the skill set of those who fish the rod, line, and fly.

Fly-Casting Finesse is available at Urban Angler, Ltd. in Manhattan and, of course, online.

Good Reading.

– rPs 03 22 2017

Postscript: Read more about Fly-Casting Finesse on the Skyhorse Publishing website:  http://skyhorsepublishing.com/titles/6317-9781632204882-fly-casting-finesse

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