The serious business of salmon fishing

fishin'

Here is one more story from this year’s salmon season.

My fishing partner had just hooked and lost a big, big salmon. Out of courtesy, I had reeled in my line and cleared the water to give him room to play the fish before his line had gone slack.

Standing on the shore, I was well positioned to offer an observation on his technique, the size of the fish and more, even a bit of sympathy. He just shrugged, stepped back into the pool and after checking his fly and leader proceeded to hook another fish.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. He didn’t do much more than grunt to let me know he was hooked up again. With a very deliberate motion he made sure of the hook set. The first run was blistering. The salmon had him into his backing within seconds. Not too many seconds after that Brad was running down the shore trying to recover some line.

After four great jumps and as many runs the salmon was nearly into the next pool down stream, still putting up a good struggle. Brad was making his stand on the last gravel bar before deep water. I was a couple of hundred yards away and ambling in a slow walk towards him.

My pace was timed to put me there when he was ready to land the fish. A salmon has to be on my own line to make me run nowadays.

I was pretty close when the fish made a run directly towards Brad from about fifty feet out in the pool. He raised his rod smartly to pick up the slack and started reeling as fast as he could. I guess he somehow hit the spool release because the next thing I saw was his reel exploding. It just flew apart!

exploding reel

 His rod arm extended out far to left. His right hand flashed and grabbed the spool in mid-air. When I think of it now it was like watching a big league shortstop picking off a line drive. He somehow slammed it all back in place only to realize he had jammed the line between the spool and the frame when the fish, which had turned by this time, started to arc his rod again.

By now this was getting pretty exciting and I expressed my support and concern by laughing until the tears came.


As the fish tightened his tackle to the breaking point Brad grabbed the jammed line and by brute force alone managed to free it. The reel screamed as it released the tension. The salmon took off on another impressive run. But one more jump and some sulking were all that remained of the brawl.

Late Fall Nova Scotian Salmon

 I managed to tail the fish without too much trouble even though I was weak with laughter.

You know, my impression of Atlantic Salmon fishing when I was young was that it is a serious thing, one of the mysteries of grown men, practiced only by elite specialists who solemnly played out their dramas in the hallowed, pristine wilderness.

There may be places where this is true. This place on this day was certainly not one of them.

Free stuff, new fly fishing accessories and left-handed thinking.

 The reason I enjoy fishing in general and fly-fishing particularly is that one can never learn everything. There, is always more to read, invent or absorb. Experience is a great teacher and with thought, lessons learned in any given situation are applicable to completely different ones.

 My friends call that “left-handed thinking”. I think it comes from having to mentally mirror image almost every aspect of daily life in order to adapt a left-handed user to right-handed designs.

That tiny discipline, a moment’s consideration before taking action, pervades almost every aspect of my life.

A left-handed person becomes a pretty good consequential thinker based upon the experience of constantly having to adapt to a backwards world.

 As a problem solver and troubleshooter I’d be biased towards a left-handed person every time. Myself, I enjoy the challenge of a really good problem.

I guess that’s why I design and build a lot of little gizmos to make my life and recreation easier or more enjoyable.

If you go to the Dobson Clip site you’ll see the story of the clip and what inspired it. It was as much an intellectual puzzle as anything else.

 We’ve all had times, waist deep in rushing water or ankle deep in mud when we didn’t want to set our rods down leaving us to awkwardly fumble with our tackle, the rod tucked under our arm; or posing for the hero shot picture with a great fish but less than satisfying results.

 That’s the kind of experience that lurks in the back of my mind as a puzzle to be solved, until I’ll see something disparate, with no obvious connection to the situation at all, but sometimes a light goes on and in a great example of left-handed thinking an often deceptively simple solution presents itself.

 I keep the clip on my vest and might not use it for days at a time but when I need it, it does exactly what it was meant to do.

Not all the unusual accessories I use are things I’ve made. Often I’ll see something designed for one use and repurpose it to an unexpected end.

An example is the light I carry in my vest. A while ago I was trying for some late season trout. It was fun and challenging but the flies I was using were tiny 12’s and 14’s and as dusk came on it got to the point where I still had almost an hour to fish but it was too dim to change flies easily.

 I ended up fishing with what I happened to have on. I didn’t dare clip the fly off for a change because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to tie on another.

 A few days later I saw one of those flashing LED buttons people wear at holidays. I was struck by two things first, how small it was and second, how bright. It got me to thinking.

Why can’t you have an LED light just slightly bigger than a calculator battery? I started searching for the suppliers of the parts to the people who make those flashing novelties and found the neatest thing. It’s a little non-flashing, diode light about the size of a pencil eraser.

It is magnetic with a disc on one end and a bright, glowing light on the other. I ordered a handful and they came in individual, sealed plastic pouches. Now I have a couple stashed in my vest and car.

I am not sure how long they last. The manufacturer says 20 or so hours. What I do know is that they are so tiny that you don’t notice them until you need one.

 In fishing, you take the magnetic disc off the end and put it on top of a vest pocket flap. The light goes on the underside of the pocket flap. The magnet holds it in place. It gives a nice glowing light that will let you tie on even a number 14 fly but won’t destroy your night vision.

They are tiny, effective and cheap enough to be disposable. I’m thinking of adding them to the Dobson Clip site as a convenience to other fishermen.

Here is another thing I’ve been using. I call it the Spring Thing. I use a nail knot to attach my leader to my fly-line. The only problem is when you are out in the back woods; a nail or needle can be hard to come by.

 I used to stick a big needle in one of my vest pockets but that can be a pain. I made this thing from many of the same components I use in the clip to safely hold a couple of needles. I then secure it on the inside of my vest, out of the way and forgotten until I need to attach a new leader in the field.

It came to the rescue on my last salmon fishing trip to Newfoundland and I’ll never be without it. I am thinking of adding it to the Dobson Clip site as well.

There are a couple of other things I’m using and working on. One of them is a quick release gadget for C&R fishing that I really like but can’t seem to get anyone else to try.

That’s a problem when you make things. Your understanding of the device makes it seem like a great and useful idea but often other people just don’t get it or feel the payback is not worth the learning curve. Which brings me to:

Free Stuff!

If you would like to be a field tester for Dobsonclip.com fly-fishing accessories send me an email using the submit photo link at the dobsonclip.com site or leave a comment on this blog with your contact info.

I’m looking for ten people who fish different geographic areas for different species. I’ll send you samples and proto-types from time to time. Try them out and send me your thoughts, experiences and suggestions. Photos would be good too.

New waders: refer to the quote from Koos Brandt

Garia Bay River -Steve and Gerald

I was recently fishing in Newfoundland on an amazing river that runs through beautiful but difficult terrain. The shore of the river is rocky. When I say rocky I mean a carpet of stones from golf ball sized to watermelon sized stretching for miles.

 There were few big enough to sit on comfortably to rest your feet from the pounding they took walking or standing on this uneven surface all day and comfort became a big factor to being able to fish effectively.

 I mentioned in a previous post that being comfortable is to my mind one of the biggest factors in not just fishing well but to enjoying your day a field. Fly fishing takes concentration and you can’t concentrate if you are distracted by discomfort. It doesn’t take much to turn a trip from a great outing into an endurance contest.

 Knowing from previous experience what this place was like and the challenge of walking and fishing for hours on the stony ground I starting thinking seriously about how to best deal with the challenge presented.

My last trip there I’d worn boot foot waders and boot foot hip boots. By the second day the soles of my feet were so tender that I had to be careful how I placed my feet; by the end of a week – ouch!

The fishing was fantastic and worth every moment but if I could think of a solution to the difficulty it would sure be worth it.

I started looking into stocking foot waders. The logic being that if I was just going to go hiking on that sort of terrain I’d wear the stoutest hiking boots I could find, not a pair of slip on rubber boots.

 That is one of the big advantages to stocking foot waders. The boots are separate. You can find a pair that fits perfectly and are rugged enough for the terrain you’ll be fishing. You also have the option of getting a second pair of wading shoes that are lighter or rubber soled instead of felt soled, for the different locations you’ll be fishing.

In a nutshell you are not confined to a single pair of waders that are designed to be pretty good in most situations. You can instead customize your waders to be perfect for specific locations.

 I remember a guide I met at Grandy’s River who used Wal-Mart sneakers as his wading shoes over a good pair of breathable waders. Grandy’s has beautiful, sandy shores and bottom. Sneakers are the perfect footwear for that location. Instead of spending the money on wading boots, he could buy inexpensive sneakers and get the performance he required for that location. The perfect solution to equipment challenges isn’t always the most expensive.

What I ended up getting was a pair of Cabela’s breathable waders and their branded wading boots with felt soles. The breathable waders were a bit expensive for my budget but after using them on this trip I think it was money well spent. They are so comfortable; it is more like wearing a pair of pants than waders. An added bonus is they are light and roll up into a very small bundle for packing.




The boots are like a good pair of hikers and just as comfortable. They were the right solution for this trip. It was a pleasure from start to finish.
The fishing was great too.

A random thought:
We are always trying to improve our skills when it comes to fishing, especially fly fishing. Luck is certainly a factor in success but what is the old saying, “The harder I work the luckier I get”?



Well that seems to especially apply to fishing. It could be as simple a thing as being willing to walk a mile further than the other fellow to get to places with less angling pressure or as complex as studying the minutia of the insect behaviors in your stretch of the stream.

In fishing, knowledge and effort are both rewarded.