For those of you who are fairly new to fly fishing, or if you've never really given much thought to your leader, there are situations for a leader of a certain length. These days, unless you tie up your won leaders, we mostly use prefabricated leaders - usually the 'knotless tapered' types you see in stores & catalogs everywhere. These leaders come in various lengths & there's a reason for that. After you consider it, it really is common sense. 

Here is a video that does a pretty good job of explaining why certain prefabricated leaders are available in different lengths & why you might choose one length over another for various fishing situations.

I've received another shipment of raw bamboo into the rod shop, so I'm all stocked up to make your next custom bamboo fly rod! I spent a hot & humid afternoon sorting it all & bundling it together into groups for different types of rods: heavier cane for larger rods, lighter bamboo for smaller ones, etc. I'm already figuring out a few really special rods to make!!

It has been a busy summer here with rod orders continuing to come in & completed rods going out the door. I've been here all summer long, working away making some very cool fly rods folks have requested. Planning bamboo, gluing up rod blanks, making reel seats - it has indeed been a busy summer!

So as the summer wanes & we slip back into cooler temperatures with autumn fly fishing, know that I'll be here to serve you. Feel free to contact me with your ideas about that special fly rod you've always wanted made up just for you. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer!

Shown below is the best video I've ever seen for learning how trout & a trout stream works. An hour long, it's been broken up into four 15 minute sections. This is definitely worth your time if you fish for trout.

The presenter in the video is aquatic biologist & fly fishing author Rick Hafele, who gives one of the clearest & most useful explanations on reading water I've seen. With on the stream demonstrations & descriptions of what's actually going on below the surface, this is one of the most useful videos for any fly angler. I really can't recommend it enough. 

Although it's from 1984, the information here is not dated in any way, as trout streams still work the same way - indeed the way they did 100 years ago. Do yourself a favor: help your fishing abilities & catch more trout by watching these videos. What can take an angler a lifetime to learn on the stream is presented here in an hour.

I saw this on TV the other night & it cracked me up. Have yourself a good laugh......

As promised in the previous post, here we'll discuss the different knots that are best for attaching your backing, fly line, & leader all together in this really good video I found.

A couple of points to consider: I always load my reel up backwards at first, by putting the fly line on first. In this way I'll know exactly how much backing will fill the reel. Then I remove it all from the spool, turn it around & load the reel up with the backing first, so it's all going in the right direction. 

Also, I don't like to use the loop connections when attaching my leader to my fly line. I know it's silly, but I prefer the added security of a nail knot there. Plus, a nail knot is much thinner than the loops & will slip through the small tip top on a fly rod easier. I don't want my line & leader connection getting stuck in the tip top!!

One last point on the nail knot: the trick to tie this knot shown in the video is fantastic - using a straight piece of metal, etc & a loop. However, they are not absolutely essential to tie this knot. Back in the day (if I may use that phrase) we never used any tools to tie the nail knot. Yes, this trick makes it a million times easier, but before I knew about it I just tied the nail knot without any loops or other tools & you can too if you need to do this along the stream. Practice makes perfect, so don't fear the nail knot!

Backing to reel; fly line to backing; leader to fly line - here are the knots you'll need to get your fly reel all rigged up!