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“Cheat Codes”

March 17, 2014 By Tom Sadler

When I started into Chris Hunt’s new book Fly Fishing Idaho’s Secret Waters, I didn’t think it would strike a philosophical cord. Then again I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when it did.

Kirk Deeter, in the foreword poses the question “…is spilling the beans really a good thing to do?”

His response; “get real.”

He goes on to explain that Idaho is the seventh-least populated state in the U.S. and that there is plenty of fishing to go around. He feels it is essential to inspire people to explore and see what the state has to offer.

Of course there are some that may disagree with Mr. Deeter and you need look no further than the comments that came as a result of my post on Five Great Virginia Stream for Tenkara to see that disagreement.

Of course I am strongly in Deeter’s camp. As is Hunt.

In Chapter 2, titled Secret Idaho, Hunt offers the reader the best reason for passing along the knowledge.

What’s more, our backcountry and backcountry trout deserve the appreciation of anglers who, without a bit of encouragement, might not venture very far from the blacktop to chase fish. The more anglers who experience the backcountry, the more allies our wild fish have when it comes time to beat back a bad idea or stand up to those who don’t share our conservation values.

I don’t know about you but my want for clean water, clean air and the opportunity to pass along the fishing and hunting heritage that comes with wild places far out weighs the cost of sharing a few secrets.

As Jim Range used to say:

The ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.

The Coin of the Realm is Action

February 16, 2014 By Tom Sadler

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke

Readers of the conservation topics in this blog know that I take the conservation of our public lands very seriously. At its core is the firmly held belief that access to healthy habitat creates recreational opportunity that leads to economic activity.

When those values are threatened by our elected officials or thinly veiled campaigns to discredit the good guys then we must do more than hope things will change.

To that end, below are some recent articles that shine a light on the importance of our public lands and the perils of doing nothing. Each is worth a read, but more importantly each must be seen as a call to action.

Todd Tanner’s post, Insidious: Let’s Stop Our Losing Streak from The Flyfish Journal and reprinted in Hatch Magazine is the strong medicine and dead on target.

When you think about it, none of this is complicated. If we want to save our tarpon, we need to get off our asses and fight. The same applies for our trout, and our salmon, and our bonefish, and our smallmouth bass. Nobody else gives a shit whether we’ll still have steelhead in 50 years. Nobody else cares if our snowpack melts away and our rivers run low and hot; nobody else gives a damn if ocean acidification renders our favorite saltwater fisheries bare of everything except an endless armada of jellyfish. It’s on us. Here’s a news flash: it’s always been on us…

Passion, though, has its price. We have to stand up for our fish, and for our waters. If we don’t, then we’re nothing more than parasites boring into nature’s soft underbelly, taking nourishment but giving nothing back; assholes of The Ancient Hybernian Order of Assholes. Is that a little harsh? No, it’s not. If we hope to wade into cold, clear rivers 20 years from now, and if we hope to stalk pristine saltwater flats, then we have to pay the piper. And like it or not, the coin of the realm is action.

As Tanner points out, we are our own worse enemy. We hope the same approaches that worked 20 years ago will somehow bear fruit these days. I think it is a fools errand. We need more voices raised in protest, more pitch forks and torches, more hard and pointed questions asked of our elected officials. The days when the political maxim “go along to get along” was king are dead. Long live the king.

The battlegrounds will continue to be our public lands. The attacks are nothing new and have a one-sided notion of what the public benefit is. Rarely is it of benefit to those of us who cherish the great outdoors.

In Government Property, Stalking the Seam’s Matt Copeland reminds us of the economics of lost adventure and the soul healing value of public land.

What kind of tracks does the X-Box leave, and what do they grow into? I have no intention of finding out. My son, like most kids in the rural west, is surrounded by “Government Property”, known locally as the BLM, the Forest Service and the State Sections. Management of these public lands is a perpetual controversy, the discussions of which often center on economic value. Aldous Huxley was right when he wrote of an economics driven dystopia in A Brave New World that, “A love of nature keeps no factories busy.” But it’s equally true that no factory ever built the foundation of a life. And given time to mature, the investment of a bike ride, a sunburn and few fresh scratches can yield one hell of a return.

Pity those who put such meager value of the places that Copeland writes of. Pity them and turn their asses out of elected office.

When it comes to public lands, access is the key. In We Need Our Public Lands Now More Than Ever, Hal Herring writes of the somewhat two-faced approach some in Congress take when it comes to providing access to our public lands.

While political leaders in Western states may address hunters and fishermen with loud brays of support for the Making Public Lands Public Act (who could hate such an aptly named bill?) the first real question burns: do they support the reauthorization and full funding of the LWCF? Some Congressmen these days seem to delight in declaring their wholesale, never, never, never, opposition to any new purchases of public land (they call it “adding to the federal estate”). Such an ideological stance would make a eunuch out of the Making Public Lands Public Act — there would be cases where we lose access to tens of thousands of great public hunting because some politician has an ideological disdain of using our own money to buy a few acres. In the real world of second jobs and paying for houses and kid’s boots and college bills, we don’t use one-size-fits-all ideology to make our decisions. We should not allow our elected leaders to do it, either, even way up there in the rarefied air of politics.

As a veteran lobbyist of 30 years I know better than most how the game is played. The chances of the sportsmen’s groups and the outdoor recreation community ponying up the kind of money needed to compete with industry and the large political agenda machines are slim to none and slim just boarded the train home.

There is one element of the game where we do have a chance, it is the court of public opinion. Sure it is hard work; it means writing letters to the editors, doing blog posts, commenting on BS stories and calling out elected officials when they vote against our best interest. We need to make our voices heard over and over again.

Here is an idea, how about a score card on Congress? Bob Marshall offers a very compelling case for it in his Field and Stream post Sportsmen’s Groups Should Publish a Congressional Report Card.

Yet once those disappointing votes are cast, the folks working on our behalf at sportsmen’s conservation groups have to swallow their pride and continue to treat the offending pols as if they’re sportsmen’s best friends. They turn the other cheek again and again because they know just how much more damage that pol can do if he or she gets really angry.

These votes against sportsmen’s interests have been more numerous and egregious in the last four to six years than ever before. Because they have brought funding for conservation almost to a standstill, the damage is piling up.

Veteran sportsmen’s lobbyists know irreparable harm is being done and are desperate to get sportsmen off their shell buckets and vocally into the fight.

Count me as one of those desperate veterans. The organized groups have been and continue to fight the good fight but they need more support from the rank and file outdoorsmen and women who care deeply about our great outdoors.

Marshall’s idea has merit if for no other reason than to stop fooling ourselves into thinking our elected officials give a damn about what we do. Marshall hits the nail squarely when he says “When the offending congressmen and women know they won’t be held accountable for their votes, where’s the deterrent?”

Tanner’s right too, it’s on us, it’s always been on us.

Have you had enough yet? Are you ready to start keeping score?

Speak your mind while you still have time.

Five Great Trout Streams for Tenkara (fini)

December 31, 2013 By Tom Sadler

This is the final installment and instead of pointing out just one more great trout stream, here is a way to see all of Virginia’s trout waters courtesy of the GIS folks at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

They have created Google Earth files for the Commonwealth’s trout waters and when you load the file on Google Earth you can explore to your heart’s content.

So grab a tenkara rod, now you have no excuse not to “ramble out yonder” and find some new water to try.

Enjoy!

A tip of the Kromer to Mike Kelsey of the Appalachian Tenkara Anglers Facebook group for the heads up on this cool tool from VDGIF!

source: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/gis/google-earth-files.asp

The Tie That Binds

December 28, 2013 By Tom Sadler

Guiding for Mossy Creek Fly Fishing is one of the more enjoyable and interesting parts of my crazy life. But what adds to the enjoyment is the community that is part of Mossy Creek Fly Fishing. The owners are guides themselves and they bring the positive guide attitude to the shop and those of us who work with them.

It is hard to explain to friends and clients how just much fun it is to work with the Trow Brothers but Two Fisted Heart Productions has done a great job in this trailer for Blood Knot, their entry in the 2014 Fly Fishing Film Tour.

Take a look.

The Tenkara USA Rhodo and Sato

December 26, 2013 By Tom Sadler

Two new tenkara rods

Tenkara USA recently brought out two new rods, the Sato and the Rhodo, earlier this month. I picked up one of each this week at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing and celebrated a 60+ degree winter solstice giving them a work out on one of our local spring creeks. You can get the Rhodo and Sato in the store or online from Mossy Creek Fly Fishing and they don’t charge for shipping!

While it was warm, it was also breezy, giving me a chance to see how these new rods handled in the wind, a common tenkara nemesis. I took along my two current favorite Tenkara USA rods, the Iwana and the Ito so I could compare the new against the tried and true. I am not a level line guy (Tenkara Talk has excellent level line review here). I like lines that let me feel the rod load and level lines don’t do that for me. I fish the tapered tenkara lines and some lightweight, narrow gauge, fly lines that we have been using at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing for a year or so. The lengths are noted in each rod review.

Rhodo

Fish long enough in the mountain streams and you find yourself in tight cover. If you are fishing an 11’ or 12’ rod it can be challenging. TUSA invokes the pretty but incessantly fly grabbing rhododendron bush when it named the shorter of the two new rods.

The Rhodo is a “triple zoom” rod letting you fish it a three different lengths, 8’10”, 9’9” or 10’6”. This is a great option for our mountain streams. Over the years I have taken as many as three rods on trips to my favorite streams; a 12’ Iwana, a 9’3” Iwana and the Ito, using each as conditions dictate. Many times however, I didn’t want to hassle with switching rods, lines and flies and instead “just make do.” The ability to change lengths at will is fantastic, giving you a variety of presentations at your fingertips. When I saw the rods I was amazed at the difference in profile. The Rhodo is much slimmer than the Iwana. I was surprised because I had expected the rod to be thicker not thinner given that it was a zoom rod.

I noticed this slim profile was an advantage in the wind. Switching between the Iwana and Rhodo there was a marked difference in the feel of wind resistance casting the Rhodo. This translated into better casting accuracy and increased confidence in choosing tenkara in windy conditions. The Rhodo feels lighter as well. It is listed at 2.1 ounces and the 12” Iwana is listed at 2.7 ounces. The difference is even more pronounced when you cast them. The Rhodo “feels” lighter.

There is a logical, scientific explanation for this I’m sure having to do with weight, balance point and centers of gravity, but I never paid much attention to that stuff in school so I’ll leave that to others (Teton Tenkara does a great job here). What I did notice was that it didn’t change appreciably at the different lengths. From the start, defining action with tenkara rods has been a challenge and there are a variety of measures used these days. So far nothing has emerged as the standard and TUSA has avoided labeling the actions of these rods.

ACTION: We’re phasing out the Tenkara rod index system. We have decided that we will make the best tenkara rods around and the flex of a tenkara rod is not a crucial aspect of selecting a tenkara rod. If you have been tenkara fishing for sometime and want a frame of reference, the Rhodo is a fast 6:4.

When compared to the Iwana, this description seems fair. At all three lengths the rod feels a little crisper and more precise regardless of which line I used. I tested the Rhodo with an 11’ TUSA tapered line and 12’ fly line. I used the fly line to cast the bigger flies we fish on our Valley spring creeks. In the mountains fishing for brookies I fish the tapered line almost exclusively. I fished a size 16 parachute BWO, then added a size 18 bead head hares ear, a very typical combo in our mountain streams when chasing brookies.

I cast into, across and down wind at all lengths. Both rods delivered the fly to target but as noted above, I noticed a big difference in the wind resistance of the Rhodo. The ability to change rod lengths on the fly as I worked across seams made me an instant fan. I made some casts to tricky lies, like under overhanging branches, and the Rhodo was as precise as I could have wanted. Changing lengths allowed me to sneak the fly into those lies without changing positions or try contorted casts.

The “fish the close water first” mantra is a basic fly fishing tenet. With a long tenkara rod we sometimes have to stand back or shorten our casting stroke to hit the close water. Not so with the Rhodo or Sato. You can start with a shorter length and cast close with the full advantage of the rod action. Bottom line, for the mountain streams I will be packing one rod and that is the Rhodo!

Sato

As a Mossy Creek Fly Fishing guide I spend a lot of time on the glorious spring creeks here in the Shenandoah Valley. Those spring creeks hold browns and rainbows from 16” to 24”. Big fish eat big bugs and I need a tenkara rod that can turn over big flies. My tenkara rod of choice for our spring creeks has been the Ito. That is until I fished the new Sato.

The Sato, like the Rhodo, is a “triple zoom” rod letting you fish it at three different lengths,10’ 8”, 11’ 10” and 12’ 9”. While not as long as the Ito, it has a much more agreeable casting feel. Like the Rhodo the Sato is light in the hand at all lengths, a noticeable difference from the Ito that feels softer and tip heavy when fully extended. I’m not dogging the Ito, the extra length can be important. The Sato’s more refined feel is much more to my liking.

The Sato’s profile is significantly smaller then the Ito and this was advantage in the wind. The Sato weighs in at 2.6oz compared to the Ito’s 4.1oz or the Amago’s 3.5oz. Sato/Ito pix In the summer, the beetles, crickets and hoppers make for some of the best dry fly fishing around. Big fish eating big flies. Unfortunately level and furled lines have trouble turning over big terrestrials.

To start I fished a little bit bigger fly than I did with the Rhodo, running a size 12 parachute Adams and then adding a size 14 bead head pheasant tail. The Sato fished this combo with ease. Like with the Rhodo, the ability increase and decrease rod length was a terrific advantage. In order to see how the Sato handled big flies I put on one of our 14’ flylines with a size 8 PMX. This would be a typical rig for summer. Fished at all three lengths the Sato turned it over easily and accurately. I added a size 10 CK nymph as a dropper and the Sato handled it just fine. Upping the ante with a 17’ line the Sato still put the fly on target and with a much crisper feel than the Ito.

The take away

These rods are impressive. They provide tenkara anglers with options that static length rods just don’t have. If you are new to tenkara I envy you. You get to start with these rods and save yourself the multi-rod hassle. Tenkara veterans are going to want to give serious thought to adding these to the quiver.

They will be what I reach for first in the coming year! Remember the Rhodo and Sato available in the store or online at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing and there is no charge for shipping!

Rhodo and Sato now have a place of honor.

Making Do

December 1, 2013 By Tom Sadler

Modeling my 15+ year old Patagonia Capilene longjohns. — Modeling my 15+ year old Patagonia Capilene long johns.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

If you spend anytime in our home you will see an abundance of gear and outdoor clothing. Truth is very little get tossed out. In fact, the last great purge was when we sent a bunch of clothing with friends who were headed to NOLA in the aftermath of Katrina.

Getting rid of clothes and gear is not something I like to do. And if I do, it goes to someone else who wants it or can use it. So when Patagonia started addressing the consumerism issue it piqued my interest. With Black Friday now imposing on Thanksgiving day and the ensuing mayhem, even more so.

Last year for Black Friday, Patagonia ran an ad in the New York Times “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” It was their way of encouraging their customers to “buy less and buy more thoughtfully.”

This year they went one step further and rolled out “Worn Wear.” The film and the Tumblr that goes with it use the tag line Stories We Wear and is “an invitation to celebrate the stuff you already own.”

Clothes and gear do tell a story. I know mine do and I like that.

Of course I still buy stuff I probably don’t really need. I have gear and clothes that are improvements on previous designs and I wanted to take advantage of that. And I still will.

But the Stories We Wear tagline stuck a chord and got me thinking about something I grew up with, “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” So the old stuff will get looked at again. And the patches and wear will be bookmarks of the journey.

Nicely done Patagonia!