The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

Fly Fishing

Catch and release, catch and eat or quit fishing?

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There is a very provocative and thoughtful discussion on fishing ethics, Catching, but Not Releasing in the New York Times’ Room for Debate. It well worth the read.

Here are the topics and authors.

Purity and Predation by James Babb, Gray’s Sporting Journal

Drive a Prius, Eat a Fish by Chris Hunt, Trout Unlimited

An Invasive Species or a Steelhead Run? by Cathy Beck, fishing guide, Frontiers International

The Shifting Moral High Ground by Dylan Tomine, fisherman and writer

Causing Pain for Our Pleasure by Lynne Sneddon, fish biologist, University of Liverpool, and

Feeling Little Pain by James Rose, zoologist, University of Wyoming

The comments are lengthy on these posts but if the topic intrigues you then the comments offer more grist for that particular mill.
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AFFTA Board election draws a crowd

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This is really impressive. Twenty-eight people have thrown their fishing hats into the proverbial ring for the nine seats available on the American Fly Fishing Trade Associations board.

As a board member this is a really exciting time. After some of the kicking around that AFFTA has gotten, deserved or not, the fact that so many people wanted to be part of the solution is wonderful. With so many folks stepping up to not just be a member but be a part of the leadership of AFFTA shows that folks care about having a strong trade association.

If you are not a member of AFFTA you can’t vote so now might be a good time to join. AFFTA is changing and you should be a part of it.

You can find Membership benefits info here.

Join today!

The candidates are listed below with links to the information they sent in to AFFTA.

Eric Anderson, Owner – Bighorn River Fly Fisher

Larry Barrett, Director Operations and Technology – Farbank

Crispin Battles, Editor/Art Director – Fly Fish America

Andrew Bennett, President – Deneki Outdoors

John Bleh, Owner – Strategic Outdoor Marketing

Dustin Carlson, Owner – Fishwest

Bruce Chard, Owner & CEO – Captain Bruce Chard Fishing Charters

Riley Cotter, International Sales Manager – Umpqua Feather Merchants

Jerry Darkes, Owner – Angling Consulting Services, Inc

Charles Dohs, President & Co-Founder – Fishhound.com

Jon Fisher, Managing Member – Urban Angler

Katheryn Fox, National Program Director – Casting for Recovery

Mike Gawtry, Product Line Manager Fishing/Hunting – LL Bean

Ali Gentry, Owner & CEO – El Pescador Lodge

Scott Harkins, Owner – San Miguel Mnt. & River Products

Chris Hart, Owner – Sundown River Products, Inc.

David S. Heller, President & Co-Owner – Ross Reels USA/Ross Worldwide Outdoors

Jim Murphy, President – Hardy North America

Al Noraker, Designer, Senior Merchandise Manager – Wright McGill

David Olson, Managing Partner – The Fly Shop of Miami

Clint Packo, Owner – Freestone Aquatics

Pat Pendergast, Director of International Travel – The Fly Shop Inc.

John Pinto, Owner – B&C  Manufacturing & Import

Curt Schlesinger, President – Trout & Grouse

Kevin Sousa, CEO – March Brown Limited

Guy Tillotson, Owner – Grand Slam Group

Jeff Wieringa, Business Development Manager – Scientific Anglers

Dusty Wissmath, Director – Dusty Wissmath’s Fly Fish School/Guide Service

Rick Bach, Tenkara and the EBTJV

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When I got a note from Rick Bach asking about trout fishing in Maryland I wrote back saying I was not much on Maryland but would be happy to take him to the mountains in Virginia to fish for brook trout with a tenkara rod. Rick being an adventurous young man, after all he is fishing his way across the country and blogging about it for OutdoorLife.com this summer, took me up on it. We had a ball, Rick picked up tenkara style fishing right away. He moved through the casting and fishing options with ease going to a two fly rig and sling shot cast and landing a nice fat brookie in a tricky spot at the end of the day.

You can see his gallery and commentary from his adventures in DC, the Chesapeake Bay and the Rapidan. I really appreciate Rick giving a shout out to the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture!

Photos from our trip on the Rapidan start at number 15

Tenkara 411

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Because I get questions about fishing tenkara style, I pulled together some information. I also posted it on the Gone Fishing page so it is easy find to refer to.

For those unfamiliar with tenkara, it is a traditional Japanese method of fly-fishing. It reduces fly-fishing to three basic elements, a rod, a line and a fly. It has been used for centuries in Japan’s high mountain streams. Tenkara is all about simplicity. You focus on the fishing rather than the gear.

For brook trout fishing in the mountains I use the Tenkara USA Iwana in the 11′ length and 6:4 action. I use a 10′ 6″ traditional tenkara line attached to the tip  of the rod with a simple girth hitch. I tie about 9″ of 4x tippet to the end of the line, then about 12-18″ of 5x or 6x tippet to that depending on the conditions.

Because it flexes so much in the upper section especially at the tip, it readily protect a light tippet. While the rod appears delicate, it has held up exceptionally well under the rigors of fishing, traveling, bush whacking and teaching.

As you will quickly discover, tenkara style fishing gives you incredible drag free drifts. Often three and four times as long as you might get with a conventional outfit. And those drag-free drifts are one of the most important elements for fishing success.

It is a great teaching tool. It makes teaching the basics very easy, getting the student on the water and fishing sooner. It allows the teacher and student to focus more on fishing technique and not have to work so much on line management and casting skills.

Tenkara doesn’t replace conventional fly fishing, however. There are fishing situations where long casts and heavier lines are required.

Here are some links with more information about tenkara.

Tenkara USA’s website, has a wealth of information. There you can find information on the origins and history of tenkara, video’s and diagrams of casting techniques.

In the spirit of full disclosure because I am a professional guide and instructor I get a professional discount from Tenkara USA. They did not compensate me for writing or posting this.

The Big Fish interview

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One of the more entertaining parts of my trip to Australia was being interviewed by Scott Levi, host of The BigFish program on ABC (Australia) at the Fishers for Fish Habitat Forum. Scott MC’d the panel discussion I participated in. Scott is a really enjoyable guy and we had a few laughs during the panel discussion and the interview. We chatted about fishing, fish habitat and tenkara style fly-fishing after the panel discussion that evening.
You can give a listen to the interview here if you are interested. My conversation with Scott starts about 3 1/2 minutes into the program.