For the first time since Covid, I ventured over the border and landed myself on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and the Margaree River.  I booked two weeks from June 23 to July 7 opening a large enough window for a few better possible days.

I have been loving this valley ever since my first visit in 1974 with the only difference in timing.  I made many trips in October but only a few for the summer run.  The summer run will now get my entire focus.

With all salmon angling, there are no guarantees to have the conditions be good or the timing be correct.  The fish run the river when the timing is right for them and no date can be so exact that the connection will be made.  But, this time I could not have been more perfect.

I booked these two weeks over eight months ago.  Previous trips have proved that the first week of July has fish moving well so long as the river condition has water.  During the entire two weeks there was only one substantial rain event.  The water just kept going down every day with heat making for some uncomfortable days.   Good timing with a large enough window is the most important factor to planning any salmon trip on any river.  

So, there is the set up.  Here is the conclusion.  How your fly swims is the key.

With wet fly I made it a mission to cast on the 45 and never mend.  Force the fly to move at a slightly faster pace than the flow.  With the dry fly the dead drift working each pool as a checker board with three to six foot drifts was my goal.   No false casting, no splashing around, no long casts, no heavy lines, no short leaders, no standing on top of the fish, no huge flies, no wasting time between casts.  

"The Perfect Cast Is The Cast That Gets My Fly From The Time It Stops Fishing To Fishing Again In The Least Amount Of Time".  Al Buhr

I fish by this wisdom as deliberately as possible every second it is my turn through the rotation.  If the Atlantic Salmon is the fish of a thousand casts then I want my one thousand casts to be achieved in the least amount of time during my angling day.

Purposeful casts that are correct to trigger a take and as many of them in a day as possible is the object of the game.  If we are capable to perfect casting and presentation to the highest level then so long as the river is kind and the fish are there our competence will offer rewards.

                                                               TheFlySpokeShop.com

The FlySpoke Custom Shop

I started  building rods because, twenty years ago, what I wanted was not made by any commercial manufacturer.   I wanted a rod that was strong enough for casting buggers and streamers, and at the same time, soft and light  enough to use very light tippet in nymphing and dry fly.  The target was trout and landlocked salmon in the North East USA.

The concept is that I can take a 10'0" single hand rated blank, add a 4" extension to the bottom and create a rod that would change between nymphing, dry fly and swinging by changing only the tippet.

I called it a Swi-Mph.

Now I had a fishing tool that could be a day on the river and ready for most any situation.  Back then the lines needed to be created.  Cutting and splicing heads to running lines and experimenting with trimming Spey lines has me now using the items that companies like RIO, OPST and others are manufacturing as standard lines.

Now, had I called this rod a Trout Spey or an American Nymphing Rod I might have made the lexicon of today's angling focus.

Just a few years back I started to build and sell my rods.   I have learned that the diversity in style of angling is so substantial.  And I am very grateful to be building so many of them.

  Here are a few recent builds.  Please visit TheFlySpokeShop.com  

Glass In Single & Two Hand Style

Casting Surf & Inshore

Spey-Trout Spey-Switch

Float - Micro Float

EURO

Fly Rods

 

Angling Choice

 I realize that this could be stepping on a land mine.  None the less what I think is very true.  

Today we have evolved our fly fishing game to the point of why do we use fly style rods and reels for what is obviously not fly fishing in the origins sense of weightless presentation?   

Ask anyone over the age of fifty about "Chuck And Duck.  Go ahead.  You will be told it is the art of using a weight connected to leader to bounce the bottom so that a lessor weight fly can lead the way to the fishes mouth.  It was called "Chuck And Duck" because the weights being thrown became so heavy over time that bouncing it on the bottom meant lifting out of every rock hold.  It was deadly and especially the favorite way to fish on Great Lakes steelhead tributaries.  

For a time, it was even legal in the fly only sections.  Today, the slinkies made from nylon para cord and filled with weights have given way to a weighted fly.   

If you think I am sounding negative about Euro style angling I am sorry for the misconception.  I know how effective the style can be and if used in legal ways is no different than any other legal method to catch fish.  

Let's go back to my original thought.  Why are we using a fly rod and fly reel to do this form of angling?  I understand that in competition it is a requirement for certain equipment but not on your local stream.  If using the most effective way is the goal then why?   To fish legally in fly only water we must use fly gear and fly line without regulation on leader length.   You might understand how those cutting back the fly line and having a 30 foot leader might seem a bit dubious.  

But if you really want the most effective form of bouncing flies in a perfect drift with river flow then the Micro Trout Float or Spin set up will be your choice in all but those fly fishing only waters.  Micro float is much more effective in getting into locations and not be walking through sensitive eco systems.  I have watched anglers walk through spawning beds to get over to the next spawning bed.

How about we take one style of rod.  An eleven foot carbon three weight with a specially designed two weight tip for sensitivity.  Perfect Euro, Perfect Float, Perfect Spin.  Now depending upon the style and location of the reel seat will really be the only factor in rod design.  

Casting - There is no doubt that from a casting standpoint the spinning reel is going to offer the easiest cast from short to distance.  No overhead style is needed.  Just a pendulum underhand flip.  Then the use of an indicator and belly weighted fly line.  Then using a spinning reel with float.  Then a centrepin and finally a fly reel with mono rig. 

Presentation - Fish want our flies moving exactly as an object would move if no line were attached with no added weight.  I think that being able to control speed and direction is of greatest importance and here is where the Euro method shines.  Limited drag on line and placement directly where the fish will be is key.  We are far more connected to having the leader and flies moving exactly how the fish wants.  At the same time using the float with pin or spin offers the ability to set a perfect depth and have exacting laminar drift exactly with the current.  Float weights and weight set up does this perfectly.  The long drift means more fishing time and less casting time.  Using the indicator method does a bit of both but no where near as effective as the float or pin.  

Ecology - We all can agree that any form of angling has ecological consequences.  Line, weights and hooks are all lost by us all.  The only factor that bothers me about working with such short connection is walking through streams to access as many possible locations as possible.  I also know that we as anglers understand this and all try to stay off the redds, move as few rocks as possible and climb in and out with the least effect on bank erosion.  

Fish Hooking - The great advantage to Euro Nymphing is the direct contact to the take.  I have done experiments watching landlocked salmon take a fly in their mouths and instantly spit it out.  I never felt a thing.  With Euro you are in direct contact with that feel and the best chance of knowing to set a hook.  All other forms of float and indicator rely on sight and that is never immediate.  

Condition - To me, the conditions make for obvious choices.  Target fish, deep water, big rivers, high and fast, low and slow flows and hot or cold temperatures all make our style choices.  

In conclusion, I am of the firm belief that we all choose the style of angle we like and that your personal preference is the right choice.  If mine is the swing and and yours the dry fly who am I to change your mind. 

William