Expand Your Horizons

Anyone that has been following us for a period of time knows I love dry fly fishing. I love everything about it, especially seeing the take. The thing is, trout feed 90% of the time subsurface. Up until four or five years ago, you coulda fooled me. I hardly ever caught fish nymph fishing.

Really there were two primary reasons. Firstly, I wasn’t very good at it and knew little about it. Secondly, I wasn’t patient with it. If I didn’t catch fish right away, I’d switch back to dries. The combination of the two certainly isn’t going to produce much in the way of results, obviously.

Five years ago, I committed myself to become a more complete fly fisherman. A core RiverBum philosophy is to maximize your enjoyment on the water. To provide great quality and value for all types of fly fishing, for all skill levels, from all walks of life. It seemed counter to that mission to me to only fish a certain way predominantly and in certain conditions.

Trust me when I tell you, when you are in the industry and own a business, you don’t get the time on the water that one might think. I probably fish less now that what I used. So, when I’m on the water, I want to insure I’m going to catch fish regardless of conditions, time of year, available hatches etc.

If you only fish one to two methods, I would highly encourage you to branch out. I went fishing with RiverBum Ambassador and fishing buddyJeff Gensheimer a couple of weeks ago. He absolutely nailed fish tight-lining. I did OK, but nothing like Jeff did.

So, I did what any responsible fly fisher should do……bought another fly rod. As of this writing, I have a nice 11’3wt. on its way and ready to start a new fishing technique. I think this is one of the best aspects about this sport we all love. There are so many different methods, species, and place to fly fish. It can be very cerebral, it can be very casual.

I think the biggest hurdle folks face is simply asking for some help. I’ve found 99% of the folks I’ve run into over the years exceptionally helpful and giving. That’s it my fishy friends. Please remember, this is the only planet we have.

Pack it in, Pack it out.

Tight Lines and Screaming Drags