Make plans to attend next year's Maryland Fly Fishing Show. It promises to be a really great event loaded with a lot of vendors from every aspect of fly fishing, rod makers, collectibles dealers, fly shops, & more. Guest speakers at the show will include nationally recognized fly fishing writers speaking on a variety of fly fishing & fly tying topics, & even fellow rod maker Per Brandin. It will no doubt be a very fun & educational time!

Be sure to save these dates & get ready to have a blast at the show!!

Originally published in 1955, "How to Fish from Top to Bottom" by Sid Gordon is an older book that is filled with good information that is still very useful for any angler today. The title, however, might be slightly misleading, as it's more than just a 'how-to-fish' type of book. No, it has much more important info for the angler....... 

Sid Gordon was a fishing writer & a skilled angler. In addition to that, he was employed throughout his career as a fish technician for the states of Wisconsin & Michigan at different times. This job also called on him to research fishing environments in other locations as well. As a result he examined the fishing waters of many places across the United States & Canada, learning how the fish live in different types of water along the way & seeing the best methods of preserving rivers, streams, & lakes. 

For those of you who are wondering more about the world of fresh water fishes & how to catch them, this is a must-read book. In it you will learn easy steps on how to judge water quality simply by knowing what to look for when you gaze at a stream or lake. You will learn how to read the water. Gordon will show you how to make stream & lake improvements - great info for any club or organization looking to make better fishing conditions. You will also learn how to take accurate water samples & how to test them to know exactly what is going on in your favorite fishing spot. 

In addition to all these lessons, Gordon also gets into detail about specific types of game fish & what conditions the need for survival. Bass, pike, muskie, trout, etc are all covered in this book & you can learn what to look for when pursuing any of these species of fish.

Of course a book with a title such as this one would not be complete without some actual fishing techniques. Gordon also gives you detailed & time tested methods for catching all of the different popular game fish, covering fly fishing, spin, & bait casting as well. 

The fist chapter of this book is titled "Water Can Be Read Like a Book" - & that sums up the general theme of the entire work. Fishing from a boat, on shore, wading in a stream, & for all types of fish it's all covered here in an easy to understand book. To me the really valuable information here is the water quality explanations. After reading this, I recalled different places I had fished before & some things clicked in my mind. It all made more sense to me about the conditions at certain fishing spots.

In my opinion, this is a book every angler should read, no matter where you fish, how you fish, or what you fish for. It is one of the most overlooked "important" books on fishing written in the 20th century. I believe this book is currently out of print, but good used copies can be found & purchased for very little cost, so pick up a copy for yourself. You will learn something very useful before you put the book down.  

Yesterday a good friend showed me this very informative & entertaining video that discusses different types of leaders & their uses for trout fishing (thanks, Terryll). 

One thing that I admit I should do in my fishing is to pay more attention to my leaders than I do. About the only time I ever really do what I should with my leader is when I'm fishing very low & very clear water where I know I could easily scare the trout. Otherwise, I'm that clod you see using a knotless tapered leader that has gotten way too short & is half straight tippet because I'm too busy fishing - or too lazy - to change to a new leader. I admit it. I'm not proud. 

So I've always been interested in nicer, furled leaders. I've heard good & bad things about them from folks (mostly good things) & it's something that I really should give a try. Also, I'm curious about tippet rings. I've never tried them, but I like the concept. You see, I'm pretty old-school when it comes to all this stuff. Again, I admit it. Again, I'm not proud. 

If you have any strong opinions about leaders & tippet rings, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think & help me to decide to either get out of the 1960's or to stay there. If you're like me & really are not 'leader aware', then the video below will help to shed some light on the subject while watching a skilled angler catch some beautiful trout.