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. 

The "tuck" cast is a very cool specialty cast that is designed to get your fly down deeper in the water much faster than a normal cast can do. Obviously, based on that description, its a cast that's used for fishing near the bottom of the stream with nymphs, streamers, or wet flies. It is particularly useful when you're fishing submerged flies upstream. 

It's not very hard to do - but it can take a while to get the hang of it. The trick is to overpower your forward cast. Really jam that line forward hard & then stop the cast very quickly, all of a sudden. This causes the leader to tuck under the line. Your fly then comes crashing straight down to the water, as if it has fallen from the sky. This allows your fly to sink down deeper a lot faster. Its a cast to use in situations where the sooner you get the fly to the bottom, the better. 

The first time I performed the tuck cast it was by accident. I was casting into a fairly stiff breeze that day, foolishly. On one cast the wind let up just as I was trying to punch my forward cast through. I realized this & stopped the cast very quickly. The result was a beautiful tuck cast - even though that wasn't what I was trying to do!! After realizing what had happened I tried to recreate this cast. It took me a while, because at first it feels wrong (at least to me it did). Casting, so I thought, was always supposed to be smooth & graceful. Indeed, the tuck cast is, but it took me a while before I got the feel of the abrupt stop to the cast. 

The best way to explain the tuck cast is to show it. The short video below is an excellent demonstration & explanation of the tuck cast. If you fish below the surface, this is a great cast to have under your belt. It will help you pick up more fish when you need to use it. The best part is that it's an easy cast to learn.     

I saw this very short video & wanted to share it with you. It from the folks at National Geographic. In the video they show a generalized description of the lifespan of a mayfly. The footage is gorgeous & offers us anglers some new views of what goes on with these flies, in general. It's a gorgeous, short video that proves once again that those beautiful mayflies truly are the bottom of the food chain. 

I've said it many times & I'll say it again: if you've never gone fly fishing for bass, you just don't know what you're missing. Catching bass on a fly rod is some of the most fun you can have on the water. They fight like monsters! While they're an easily accessible fish, they can sometimes be very difficult to fool. You must approach them with the same caution & carefulness that you sneak up to trout with. In fact, in the heat of summer you'll often find that bass have moved up into many of the places where the trout were earlier in the year.

During those hot, sticky evenings of summer, catching bass on a fly rod is a blast. You don't have to slow down in your fishing just because the trout have slowed down their feeding - if that's the case where you are. No, a summer spent fly fishing for bass is fantastic! 

Below is a longer video from the Orvis company. It's their primer on fly fishing for bass hosted by Tom Rosenbauer. It gives very sound advice & is aimed at the fly fisher who's never tried for bass before. Check it out & give those bass a try - you'll be glad you did!! 

I love to see photos of rivers, streams, fish, & folks out fly fishing. I also enjoy a good fish story, too. That's why it always makes me happy when folks share their fishing adventures with me. In a way it allows me to see places through you folks I might never get to fish myself. I learn a lot from you all, too. Plus, it makes me happy to know you're all out there catching fish & enjoying yourselves in beautiful places. 

If you have any fishing stories to tell & feel like sharing them with me, I'd love to read them. In fact, you can see some of the adventure a few rod clients & friends have had all over the world on the 'Beyond The Rod Shop' page. 

As this fishing season progresses, & if you feel like sharing any stories & photos of your fly fishing journeys with me, just know that I welcome them. I'd love to hear from you & see all the beautiful places you folks wet your lines. I hope you're all having a great fishing season out there!!

I hope you're all having a fantastic trout season so far & that you've been able to get out & enjoy the streams. In my area we've had it pretty good overall, but this year seams to be one of those seasons where you need to be ready to fish when conditions are good. It looks like we're in a weather pattern where it rains, the streams become too high & muddy, then a few days of acceptable conditions - then the cycle repeats itself with more rain. 

So what's a fly angler to do when stream conditions are in transition & the water is a bit high & with color? One solution to find trout in these situations is go where they're almost certain to be no matter. Two types of stream locations come to mind: bridges & seams. Both bridges & seams are good any time of the season, but they are especially good to try if the water is high, fast, & off-color.  

Trout love to hang out around bridges for several reasons, not the least of which is that they provide cover & protection from predatory birds & other threats. The water around & beneath a bridge makes a great home for trout. You'll find trout both just upstream, in front of a bridge & just below it, too. I think they get a sense of security knowing that they can always duck for cover back under the bridge. 

Bridges also can give you a sense of what bugs will be on the water. Often the mayflies will collect on the supports of a bridge to molt. Study those bugs, as they'll soon be falling spent onto the water after they've mated & laid their eggs. You can also see the bug activity pick up at a bridge, as both the bugs & the birds that eat them become more active under & around the bridge & its supports. 

Another reason why trout like bridges is because the water 'piles up' above them. Often the water gets channeled down at a bridge into a more narrow flow which creates deeper spots & changes in the water flow. Here slower water meets faster water (which is also why they're good spots to fish when the stream is high). These spots where faster flows butt up against slower water creates what we call a "seam"...........

Seams in the stream flow are the golden spot for trout anglers. Trout love them because it makes their life much easier. You see, trout like to hang out in the slower flow, which requires less effort on their part, & let the faster water bring them food. All types of aquatic insects get caught up, pulled into the flow & get channeled into the seam. The trout, watching & waiting in the edge of the slower water, can see every piece of food that the seam has collected. 

When you fish a seam, you typically want your fly to travel the water just on the edge of the slower flow. It's much easier to managed your line here & besides, it's where the trout are. You should look for seams every time you go fishing, but especially in marginal conditions when the stream is high. You'll know that the trout would rather hang out in the slower water rather than work their tails off in the faster flows. 

Arthur Ransome, in his old book "Rod & Line" has a chapter on dealing with adverse fishing conditions. His approach to poor weather & conditions is to not look at the obstacles, but rather to look for the elements of the stream conditions that are good - the elements you can work with. You still might not catch a trout, but you've done your best to put as many odds as you can in your favor. At least by looking at it from that perspective, you stand a chance of catching a fish no matter what shape the stream is in that day.......

......And if conditions are so bad that fishing is all but impossible, at least you can explore & enjoy the wildlife, plants, & beauty that surround the stream!  

The double surgeon's knot is a great way to attach your tippet to your leader. For those of you new to fly fishing, or those who have been maybe using a different knot for your leader-to-tippet connection, give this double surgeon's a try. Once you get onto it, you'll find you can tie it up very quickly along the stream. Below is a short video that makes it very easy to see how this knot is tied. 

​Rarely do I like to get sentimental about things, but if you'll bear with me, I'd like to a little bit here. I always feel a little emotional at the beginning of another trout season & this year is no different. I think most of us get this way at one time or another. So, if you'll indulge me, here are a few reflections on my love of trout streams. 

​I'll admit it: trout streams draw me to them. They always have, ever since I can remember. I think it's a combination of the mysteries they hold about what's going on underneath the water's surface & just the shear beauty of them. I have fished many streams in many places & have yet to find any single trout stream that did not reflect a sense of dignity. 

I love a trout stream because you never step into the same stream twice. It is always changing. As in life, sometimes that change is gradual, other times sudden. It can be a benefit to you, or it can ruin one of your favorite spots to wet a line. But the change is there, always & you never know what you will experience each time you go there. You must always be willing to adjust to it's changes. 

I love a trout stream because there's something compelling about moving water. It's always going somewhere. If it's an unfamiliar stream I'm always torn between moving along the banks to see what's up ahead or staying where I am to enjoy the great new pool I've found. I want to get the most out of it each time & learn as much as I can about it. It's a new place, with new experiences & lessons to be learned. 

I love trout streams because time stands still when I fish them. I'm not my age - or any age. It could be any year in time. The bird songs are the same for me as they were for my great Grandpa. Just one good looking rock, one decent windfall that looks as though it would be home to a trout can easily take an hour or more of my time, & to me it feels like only a few minutes have passed. No matter how hard I'm concentrating on the flow of water, or my line, or the fish, my mind never fatigues along a stream. It's only along a stream that this happens. Nowhere else in life will I willingly stand in the cold, heat, or rain for hours on end without moving.

I love a trout stream because of its natural beauty. I have never seen an ugly one - even one that flowed next to a parking lot was gorgeous in it's own way. Each stream has so much more to offer than just the fish. The plants, birds, trees, & overall surroundings are something to be observed & can provide you with a full day of entertainment. A stream is always a busy place, if you look around. And this is just the parts of it we can see! Below the water's surface there's a whole other world with all it's drama playing out. And if I'm lucky enough I might hold in my hand one of the most majestic, gorgeously decorated creatures the Creator of the universe saw fit to put on this planet. To release a trout you've caught back to the water, watching it disappear into the flow, is both a very rewarding & peaceful feeling. 

I love a tout stream because no matter what is going on in my world, I feel at home along the stream. I go there to celebrate life's good events; to heal wounds; to contemplate any problems or obstacles. Mostly though, I go there to fish, to learn what it has to teach me that day, & to make lasting memories. I can honestly say that some of my most cherished memories have been made along a trout stream. 

And those are some of the reasons why I love a trout stream. Thank you for indulging me. Why do you love a trout stream? 

Work continues in the making of a film about the famous angler & writer Joe Brooks. In the video below we see the impact he had on fly fishing in Argentina & Patagonia. These locations are now destinations for fly anglers, but 60 + years ago when Joe first went there, they were unknown to all but the locals. Joe fished there, wrote about it, & as a result helped to create a whole new haven for anglers & economy for the locals. 

If you're unfamiliar with who Joe Brooks was you need to do yourself a favor & pick up any of the books he wrote. In the last half of the twentieth century Joe was a legend among fly anglers. He changed the way many folks fish. The techniques that many of us use today were his. If you've not read any of his works, you seriously owe it to yourself to check out his writings. I promise you it will make you a better fly angler. 

Enjoy this short film about how Joe Brooks put fly fishing in Patagonia on the map & learn a little about what an incredible angler he was.