Category Archives: fly fishing

What distance should I be looking to achieve?

Long distance hook up. River Pliva

That above is a common question in fly fishing forums. So common that, in fact, it is the title of a thread I read recently. And the most usual reply to that question goes along these lines: “Most fish are taken within 35 feet.”

But, what happens when the fish are active 20+ meters away? Do you pack all gear and get back home?

In the occasion shown by the following video there were some nice brown trout rising in the middle of the river. By the way, if you share the popular view that you can’t hook fish on a dry fly at such a distance… well, just think twice. I caught quite a few browns that were rising just upstream of that bridge; the best one weighed 1 kg (McLean dixit), and a similar one came off the hook while I tried to prevent it to go downstream of the bridge, rubbing the line against one of the pillars.

It is always a pleasure to see my mate Prpa in action:

Exploración

Plop. De inmediato la gran trucha vuelve la cabeza y comienza a moverse —sin prisa pero con evidente determinación— hacia mi ninfa. Un destello blanquecino de la boca marca la parada del pez en el punto donde —intuyo— se encuentra mi imitación. Templar la línea activa un mecanismo que instantáneamente pone a la trucha a hacer acrobacias a un par de metros sobre el agua. Tras el salpicón compruebo enseguida que ya no hay nada tirando al otro lado de la línea. Sonrío. Las dudas sobre nuestra elección de este diminuto spring creek —justo una corta línea en el mapa— empiezan a disiparse.

Boring? Are you kidding?

It happened again yesterday. While having a wine with some friends it was mentioned that I like fishing, and even travel far away to practice it.

—Fishing? —said somebody—. It is so boring!

When people hear the word “fishing” what invariably comes to their mind is some guy sitting at the sea shore, listening to some football match in the radio while waiting for hours for any sign of life in the rod planted in front of him.

Trying to explain that the fly fishing approach is exactly the opposite is normally a waste of time. However, I remembered a couple of clips I shot in New Zealand recently and decided to edit them and keep the video in my phone. Will it succeed in showing all those laypersons that in fly fishing there is no time to get bored? Great job by outstanding fisher Álvaro G. Santillán.

A Relaxing Activity?

The hard fighter that ran upstream

It was a week ago that we got back home from our fishing trip to New Zealand. Time to browse through thousands of pictures, delete a lot of them and keep the good ones, while savouring the memories that each photo brings back. Also time to reply some emails, messages and phone calls. A question is prevalent: how is the fishing over there?

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New Zealand on my Mind

Visiting New Zealand is in the dreams of every fly fisher. Traveling there for the first time doesn’t relieve the itch. In fact, you can’t wait to get back!

Not an easy feat, to be honest, as money and spare time are hurdles difficult to overcome.

But, when more than a year ago I received an invitation from Chris Dore for some fishing in the South Island, I decided that it was time to jump those hurdles. So almost two years after my first trip to the sight-fishing paradise, I was there again.


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