Diario de Pesca – Lago Verde

LAGO VERDE WILDERNESS RESORT  by el aura

  By   Alfredo Zubiri  – Fotos Verónica Zubiri, Coco Negrete

                      Mel en Lago Verde – 2005                 Foto Nicolás Bovio

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out until sundown; for going out, I found, was really going in” John Muir (from Mel Krieger´s 40 Years Fly Fishing Argentina)

Entre el 3 y el 9 de Diciembre de este año, nos juntamos en Lago Verde Raúl (San Martín), Andrés (Muller), Rolo (Pradere), Lu (Warner) y yo. Para pescar, para conocernos mejor, para hablar de negocios. Los dos últimos días estuvo Vechu, mi hermana dedicada al cine  y Coco, su marido fotógrafo.

 Una de las ideas, de los desafíos de la reunión, era filmar y fotografiar un ámbito de pesca, de los tantos que hay cerca del Lodge. Decidimos dedicarnos al lago, al agua quieta. Fue una hermosa experiencia. Cada uno de nosotros la pescó a su manera y todos aprendimos. Sacamos hermosas truchas, algunas memorables.

Les cuento.

 Parte 1: Desembocadura del Rivadavia – El Arroyo

 El primer día pescamos con Rolo y Lu el Arroyo, como llamamos a un brazo del Rivadavia, recostado sobre la pared occidental. Rolo estaba inspirado, pescó todo lo que quiso. “Today is your fucking day!” Le dije cuando sacó la quinta o la sexta, una arco iris de casi 2 kilos. Y Rolo me contestó: “Every day is my fucking day!” Ja!

Lago Verde es un lago pequeño de aproximadamente 800 metros de largo por 500 de ancho. En su extremo norte desemboca el río Rivadavia mientras que en el sur nace el Arrayanes, es como un gigantesco pool de un río mayor. La margen occidental es alta y cae a pique sobre el espejo del lago, mientras que la oriental es más suave, llena de pequeñas bahías y juncales. Ámbitos muy diversos de pesca.

El agua quieta de un lago, de un spring creek, de un bolsón detrás de una gran piedra, o en la margen de un río, representan grandes desafíos para el pescador. Todo se vuelve más lento y si queremos pescar, nosotros mismos tenemos que adaptarnos. Cada lugar nos da algo y si somos capaces de recibir eso, si nos hacemos parte del lugar, todo cambia.

Al Arroyo no es un lugar fácil. Fíjense en la foto, al llegar al lago el canal de este pequeño brazo del río corre inmediatamente delante de Lu, mientras que el pool quieto donde están las truchas está del otro lado, pegado a la costa, a 20 / 25 metros del pescador. Un lance largo, el agua transparente y quieta, la corriente del canal entre pescador y presa, todos pequeños desafíos que hacían la cosa más difícil.

Hay muchas condiciones de pesca, cada una distinta de la otra. Yo las disfruto casi todas, pero prefiero pescar un pez que veo, es otro desafío y otro premio.

 El Dalai aconseja vivir la vida de modo tal que al recordarla, sientas placer por segunda vez.

 Hay muchas truchas que no recordamos, que se ocultan en su número, pero hay otras que si recordamos, que sin llamarlas vuelven a nuestra conciencia, y nos hacen sonreír. Cómo aquel gol que metí una noche calurosa de verano, jugando con mi hijo Martín, pelota prepeada en el medio y robada, pase a Martín, desborde y pase al viejo, para meterla dentro. O aquel que le entregue a Alejo en un partido contra el CASI, de visitantes, que el Tano y yo siempre recordamos.

 Recuerdo una trucha en la boca del Arrayanes que pesqué sin verla, pero sabiendo que ahí estaba, y cuando cayó la mosca junto a los juncos, supe que estaba subiendo a tomarla. O esa steelhead que pescó Diego en el Trinity y que yo le anticipé; Ahí viene!

O esa en Lago Argentino, cuando tenía 10 años. El viejo y la vieja caminando por la playa, y yo lanzando mi cucharita, medio asustado de quedarme solo. Cuando picó me olvidé del reel y la saqué corriendo para atrás!

 Estas cosas ocurren en Lago Verde, en muchos de sus diversos ámbitos, y en particular en el Arroyo.

                                                                            Arco Iris

Esa vez, las truchas sorbían pequeños insectos, midges, pequeñas caddis, alguna hexagenia, número 18/20. Usamos varias moscas y la Adams se llevó los laureles. Yo tenía mi Adams atada a un leader largo. Tenía en la caña (mi Winston de bambú #6) un 3X de 2,80 metros al que agregue 50/60 centímetros de 4x, terminando en un tippet 5X de 80/100 centímetros.

Nos apasionó tanto a los tres que aquellos que no estábamos en ese momento pescando el remanso, estábamos más atentos a lo que allí ocurría que a nuestras propias moscas. La idea era esperar a ver una trucha comiendo y entonces lanzarle solo a esa. No solo hacíamos la pesca más atractiva sino que además dejábamos descansar el pool, no lanzando innecesariamente, y cada tanto nos íbamos todos por 15/20 minutos a esperar que la actividad se restableciera.

En esos momentos, con la mosca en la mano, distraíamos nuestra atención hacia lo que nos rodeaba. Dos parejas de kaikenes anidaban en la pastura anegada detrás nuestro. En un momento uno de ellos invadió territorio del otro, tal vez incluso tuviera intenciones sexuales hacia la hembra del otro, y en cuanto el macho la vio acudió corriendo a defender los suyo, territorio y hembra! Fíjense sino como lo echa al jovenzuelo!

El lugar, el bosque, el sol. El ritmo lento de las cosas se nos metió adentro.

Entonces pescamos. Digo Lu y yo, porque Rolo estaba inspirado y no paró hasta que nos fuimos!

A mi me costó la primera trucha. Al principio no las veía, subían esporádicamente mostrando solo la nariz, mientras sorbían insectos de la superficie, y al no verlas mis lances era inútiles. El ritmo más lento de la pesca exige paradójicamente una mayor atención, no podés estar papando moscas, como le dijo Raúl a Lu cuando perdió la marrón de la piedra en la boca, un par de días después, hay que clavar la trucha durante un período muy breve, después ya ha escupido la mosca.

Cuando empecé a verlas y a lograr que tomaran la mosca también empecé a perderlas sin darme cuanta porqué. Perdí tres antes de caer en la cuenta que al anzuelo había perdido la púa. El brazo del anzuelo estaba intacto y la mosca también, y de ese modo mis inspecciones insuficientes de la mosca me engañaron. Hasta que me di cuenta y cambié por una mosca nueva.

Finalmente tuve las mías.

Pero para ello tuve que aprender una larga serie de pequeños detalles. Esperar y ver las truchas, no lanzar inútilmente alertando los peces … hasta pescar con anzuelo y no solo con plumas! En definitiva entrar en el ritmo de las cosas, del lugar, de las truchas.

Fueron dos fantásticos días de pesca, inolvidables.

Y nos reímos! Y cómo! Lu y Rolo no paran, se realimentan el uno al otro.

Un día en el que no nos reímos es un día al que algo le falta.

Pocos días después Lu me escribió desde Valle Bonito, Chile, donde tiene su Lodge:

 “El Aura – Lago Verde Wilderness Resort – is an amazing place and I look forward to returning. Thank you for your hospitality and all of the fun that we shared. Laughter is an important part of life and I laughed alot”.

Nos juntamos a cenar cerca de as 9, a la luz plata del atardecer, y charlábamos hasta las 11,30 o las 12. Después yo me iba a caminar, la luna estaba casi llena así que se veían las sombras dormidas de los árboles y la superficie planchada del lago.

                                                                                                        Vechu

Para mayor información contactate con:

alfredo@el-aura.net

Alfredo Zubiri es argentino y pesca con mosca desde hace 34 años. Es además el concesionario de Lago Verde Wilderness Resort en el Parque Nacional Los Alerces.

 www.el-aura.net

Lessons Learned -   by Harry Briscoe

The strike startled me.  It was a sharp and brief tug and it was gone as quickly as it came.  I looked up to see a swirl, a splash and I felt another firm hit.  I reacted.  Feeling a good fish, I turned to the bank to exit the waist-deep water.  And just as quickly, the fish was gone. I uttered something like “Shucks”!.  We were fishing the Rio Gallegos in Southern Argentina for sea-run brown trout.  Strikes don’t come real often here, and missing one might mean the difference in the entire day.          

          Nick Hart, my guide, was watching from the bank and had seen the entire event.  I climbed out of the pool and sat with him for few minutes to reflect upon what had just happened. We concluded that despite my 35 years of fly-fishing experience, I had managed to make at least 6 “Rookie” mistakes in dealing with that situation.  Those mistakes cost me a shot at landing a really nice fish.  I smiled to myself in false comfort as I recounted the little maxims that I had ignored.  Perhaps a review of them might help you avoid my fate.

          Rule 1 – Pay attention!  The straight line down-and-across swing that we use so often for Salmon, Steelhead, Sea Trout, or even when fishing streamers for smaller fish is effective, but it requires attention.  Our day had been slow to that point and, in retrospect, I recalled that my focus had been wandering – perhaps to thoughts of another gourmet dinner at the Bella Vista Lodge that evening, or to the watching of the Rheas or Magellan Geese, or even the grazing sheep and wonderful clouds.  Nothing wrong with any of those mental pursuits mind you, but lack of attention to the business at hand caused me to be startled, rather than ready, when the strike came.

         Rule 2 – Take it seriously!  In most streams the population of fish includes a variety of players.  The Rio Gallegos is full of smaller “resident” trout in addition to the transient sea-runs that were our quarry.  The initial strike that brought my attention back to the stream was quick and brief.  On reflection, I recalled specifically that my first thoughts identified the hit as a small “second-class” prize, and with that erroneous conclusion my reflex attention fell back from “startled” to “no big deal”.

         Rule 3 – Set the hook!  Given the mental state that created my violation of Rule 2, I reacted with less than full enthusiasm in setting the hook.  The splash, swirl, and quick roll of a heavy fish that followed surprised me, to say the least, but I was already past the point of reacting strongly.

         Rule 4 – Get things under control!  Despite the less-than-adequate hook-set, the big fish was on and began an initial “thrashing”.  In the excitement that had jumped into an otherwise slow day, I was so surprised at that reality that I turned to head to shallower water to get myself into a better fighting position. I should have stayed put until it was clear that the fish was well-hooked and that I had some idea of what he was going to do.

         Rule 5 – Face the fish!   By turning away I lost contact and had no way of knowing if the fish was going to come at me, run away or take to the air.  I was not in control and it cost me.  Once in control I should have begun a slow, backward shuffle to shallower water, maintaining vigilance of the fish’s intent. In turning, I also violated Rule 6.

         Rule 6 – Keep the rod tip high until you know that Rule 4 (control) is in effect.  In turning away from the fish, I stumbled just a bit and inadvertently allowed the rod tip to dip.  Since the hook was not particularly well set (violation of Rule 3), the fish was able to take advantage of the ever-so-slight slack I gave him by dipping the rod tip.  And with that he was gone.

          I felt foolish, for sure, but as Nick and I reviewed the details of what had happened, I was amazed to discover just how much can occur in a very short amount of time.  The entire episode with that fish took less than 10 seconds. I was making mistakes faster than I could think.   The truth is, that Rule 1 – Pay Attention! – is the key to them all.

                 So, the next time you get a strike – don’t think about it – you won’t have time.  Make sure you’ve thought about it before it happens and that your “second nature” takes over.  And the next time you lose a fish, take a minute to analyze why.  There are probably a couple more “Rules” I haven’t thought of yet.  And then, while you’ve got all of that on your mind, don’t forget to look at the Rheas, the geese and the clouds – catching a big fish isn’t everything!.

 Harry Briscoe is geologist who works in the energy industry.  He is also the President and principal owner of Hexagraph Fly Rod Co.  He has been a fly fisher since his childhood and is trying his hardest to fish in neat places around the country and the world.

April 12, 2001

 Harry J. Briscoe

Hexagraph Fly Rod Co.

2703 Rocky Woods

Kingwood, Texas 77339

Email:  hexagraph@hexagraph.com, ph: 713-464-0505, fax: 713-464-5290

 

 

The Fly Fishing Primer

A Classic Approach To The Gentle Art Of Angling By Fly

 

 

                             by

                       jim Repine

 

 

RODS 

The first and most obvious difference between fly fishing and other forms of the sport is the casting, launching the bait, lure or fly from the tip of the rod to the water. In bait casting, level wind fishing or spinning, the rod is moved up and backward in such a way as to form a drawn (or bent) bow, then forward and suddenly stopped so the bow’s forward release propels the weight of the bait or lure out over the water. The line is pulled off the reel by the weight of the bait or lure. It’s an effective way of reaching fish with your offering, yet has the limitation of not being able to cast smaller, nearly weightless insect imitations, as so much of fly fishing is concerned with.

Though forming the bow in your back cast and stopping the forward movement of the rod during the forward cast to cause the bow to release (fire) is much the same, fly rods are generally longer and are designed to cast the weight of the line rather than the weight of bait or lure. Thus is accomplished the transport of near weightless flies over the water to the fish. I’ve been asked if the idea is to cause an artificial fly with a hook inside it to hover (fly) just over the water’s surface and entice fish to leap up and grab them. Since fly casting sometimes involves several ‘false’ casts back and forth until the angler is satisfied the fly will land just where it should, to an untutored observer the question might seem logical. However the more skill one acquires with practice the less back casting is required.

Angling with flies as we know it today has been traditionally based on the pursuit of trout and salmon though, especially in the last half century, it has spread throughout the fishing world until at present it would be hard to find a specie of fish which hasn’t been taken or isn’t regularly sought after by fly anglers. This has caused fly rod design and manufacture to expand almost beyond belief. Not too long ago the average fly rodder owned a trout rod – one trout rod – and if he or she had the inclination, time, and wherewithal, there might be a second, longer and heavier, salmon rod.

Today it’s not unusual to talk with anglers who have a couple or more trout rods, perhaps a light 4 weight for smaller streams and fish and a 6/7/8 weight for larger fish on larger water. The same fisher could have a specially fabricated 8/9 weight for bone fishing saltwater flats and a 10 to 12 weight for high jumping 100 pound tarpon. And if the angler is old enough to have gone through the various rod material transitions, pre WW2 bamboo, post WW2 fiber glass, followed by carbon fiber, and presently a growing resurgence back to bamboo, they might easily have twenty or more fly rods stuffed in a closet somewhere at home. So what’s for you?

 It depends on the angler. Mel Krieger, internationally known fly casting instructor, maintains fly fishers come in two general classifications, poets and engineers. The poet is the one whose greater satisfaction derives from melodies sung by flowing streams fused with lilting bird songs and insect buzzing. A high snow-capped mountain, back dropping already lovely scenery is more cause for elation to this angler than the cutting edge mechanics of a $400 reel. And the exotically intricate markings of a spawning male brook trout excite deeper inner stirrings for the poet than things like leader diameters, or whatever high modulus, XXX PLC, marketing-hype describes the newest graphite rod’s plastic compound. So for the poet it’s probably wise to go with bamboo from the beginning. Why?

 Like a fine violin or deftly carved wooden duck decoy there is no way you can mass produce their artistic equals from plastic. The imitations, no matter how close they come in appearance, feel and even performance will still be – different.  They will always be less beautiful to see, less soft and delicate to hold, and less a joy to cast. Remember however these are qualities for poets to savor while engineers look for other things.

The engineer wants technical logic, durability, and cost efficiency. He wants convincing charts and graphs demonstrating the precise required physical effort needed to cast a specific weight and length of fly line a given distance. He’s fascinated by weaving and plastic coating processes in line fabrication. Natural materials in rods or flies don’t matter if synthetics can do the job, and leader diameters and the like are important issues.

 Which one are you? Like the vast majority of us, I would bet you’re some mix of both. Graphite rods for example have become finely perfected casting instruments incorporating an amazing balance between light weight and high flexibility, and are almost impervious to sun exposure, moisture, and temperature extremes. They cost a little less than bamboo, though the price gap is closing, and aren’t as beautiful (to me), but a well made Graphite rod can be lovely to look at, a thing of pride to own, and can genuinely enhance your angling pleasure. I don’t want to go back to horsehair, gut leaders or even silk lines, nor do I want to travel the ever expanding fishing world by extended ocean voyages. With my favorite fly pattern being my own ‘jim’s Green,’ a fall caddis variation using Poly Yarn (a waterproof synthetic) for its body and olive green elk hair (ever see an olive green elk?) for the wing, I can hardly be called a purist.

So why are the vast majority of rods available today made of graphite? First because it’s an excellent, practical, long lasting material lending itself well to mass production. Second it came on the scene after WWll during a time when fly fishing was growing and the only bamboo then thought suitable for rod building came from a single province in China, at the time cut off from trade with the US. Now, with trade again flourishing between the two countries and the growing awareness of other strains of bamboo from Japan, Argentina, and elsewhere, equally suitable for rod making, fine cane (bamboo) rods are again becoming more available.

 And there’s also a newer innovation in rod making, offering a combination of both cane and graphite attributes. It’s called Hexagraph and is made from high grade graphite yet isn’t a hollow tube. Instead strips of graphite, like strips of bamboo, are formed into hexagonal rods combining the very pleasing casting qualities of cane with the carefree durability of carbon graphite. These rod’s exteriors are finished in a very realistic bamboo color and are beautiful. I have used several and found them all they claim to be.

How To Select Your First Fly Rod

A good first step in finding a rod which will best serve you on the water, give you a feeling of pride of ownership, and perform well enough for your casting skill to reach its highest possible level, is a trip to your nearest fly shop. However don’t go there to buy anything more than an instruction book, DVD, or Video cassette. Make friends with someone working there who you’re convinced is a knowledgeable, practicing fly fisher. Go to the rod rack, pick up everything on display, look at each one closely, feel how they come alive in your hands, and ask questions – lots of them. Remember, in a good fly shop there are no foolish questions. One important thing to ask about is the closest local fly fishing club.

 For your second step attend a fly fishing club meeting and make it known you’re new to the sport, interested in learning as much as possible, and looking for your first rod. Then be prepared for a blizzard of tips, suggestions, opinions and harangues. You’ll pick up a lot of information and doubtless make a buddy or two who will take you under their wings. An important thing you’ll want to find out, either at the club or the fly shop, is what fly casting classes are being offered, when and where.

Fly casting instruction classes used to be few and, literally, far between. I can recall not too long ago when the only ones I would have suggested were Mel Krieger’s schools in and around San Francisco, Joan and Lee Wulff’s school in upper state New York, the Orvis school in Manchester Vermont, and wherever you could attend a class/seminar with Lefty Kreh or Cortland Line Company’s Leon Chandler. Today good casting instruction, in classes and private, are almost everywhere. I urge you to attend one. BUT not after you’ve bought your rod. The school will furnish a rod and give you your first taste and feel of actual casting. However you’re getting close. Once the school is completed, go home and bring up the internet and punch up ‘fly rods.’ You’ll need some hours for this part of the project, but you’ll be ready then to go back to the fly shop and ask to cast any and all of the offerings you find attractive.

 By now you will already know rods come in different weights and lengths, the reason being to accommodate varied angling situations. You will probably know as well what type of fishing you’ll begin with. Though fly fishing and trout are the most traditional combination, depending on where you live, from ocean to mountains to plains, there are great species of fish being taken on fly rods not too far away. It’s almost without limit; salmon, trout, char, pike, bass, perch, crappie, steelhead, musky, carp, catfish, bream, gar, and walleye, to name a few freshwater favorites. Bluefish, tuna, striped bass, bonefish, tarpon, shark, snook, redfish, sailfish, billfish, roosterfish, and marlin are just some saltwater examples which quickly come to mind. The fish above range from a quarter of a pound to over a ton and there are fly rods just right for each of them.

 For small streams, rivers and lakes with smaller fish, lighter and sometimes shorter rods are better.  3 or 4 weight (the weight of the line the rod is designed to cast) in a 7 foot length could be just the ticket. Often smaller streams put you closer to surrounding bushes and trees where there isn’t much room for your backcast, plus there usually isn’t as much need on smaller water for long casts. Shorter, lighter rods can be an advantage in tight situations with high banks close behind you, or anywhere else with obstructed backcast challenges. But be aware there are better casters who prefer shorter rods in various weights and find no problem in casting them for distance. I have an 8 foot for an 8 weight line and love it though most 8 weights come in 9 foot lengths. Why?

In order to transfer maximum energy from your arm to your rod flex deals with a lot more than rod length. Smooth movement, and timing are especially important and contrary to some opinions, fast (stiffer) rods don’t necessarily create more powerful forward casts than slower (softer) rods. And as individual and unique as fingerprints, each person’s physical structure is different, most with wide parameters of adjustability. Practice enough and sooner or later you will be able to cast an acceptably long looping line from the end of a broomstick.  There are trick casters who can cast entire lines (90 feet) with no rod, only their bare hands.

 A good all around rod for most trout fishing might be a 5 or 6 weight, 9 foot model, not too overpowering for 12 to 14 inch fish yet strong enough to handle the 20 inch monster when it shows up. Salmon, steelhead, and sea-run brown trout fishers with a realistic shot at 20 plus pounders are mostly into 8 and 9 weight, 9 footers which is also about right for redfish, snook, and bonefish in saltwater.

 A wide variety of rods will, with use and your physical adaptability, turn out to be pleasant and effective on the water.  However there are ‘best’ rods for you. Now go back to the fly shop. Look at many and try them out again. The nicest part of this initial process might be that fly rods are like trout, you find them in very pleasant places. What about price?

 No amount of money will guarantee the rod you feel attracted to is or isn’t better than any other. What you have been doing to this point is like an extended wine tasting, you have tried a wide variety of vintages and now it’s time to fill your cellar. What do you buy? The one with the best taste. At the art gallery select the art you like and want to live with. Though reputable shops don’t knowingly carry rods below minimal quality standards, price should never be your deciding factor.  With reasonable luck and care, you’ll probably give it to your grand kids and like bargain musical instruments, if they’re too low in quality, they’re a hindrance to learning rather than a help. So at the fly shop choose the rod with the most seductive smile, in other words the one that really turns you on.

REELS

Whether the wheel was discovered or invented and how long ago is an interesting thing to ponder yet sometime during the 1600’s one of its hundreds of variations, the ‘winch,’ started to be attached to rods. It was primarily a handy device for storing additional line though it wouldn’t have been long before fishers began learning to employ it for fighting larger fish as well.

 “How can you catch large fish on such light tackle?” It’s another common question when non anglers examine fly fishing equipment.

 With a line attached to a rod’s tip, the bend in the rod provides a flexible cushion to the pressure of a fish’s pull enabling an angler to wear down his prize without stressing the equipment to the breaking point, but there are obvious limitations. By adding additional line on a reel you can pass out more line when needed and further relieve and control the pressure on the rod bend and the line. In fact the more sophisticated the reel the more you can add the pull (drag) of the reel to the resistance of line and rod bend and gain an even more tiring effect on the fish. Giant fish are often landed on amazingly light gear by this ‘three pressures’ combination.

 The same ‘search and learn’ process you went through in selecting your rod can work for reels. Some anglers maintain reels, especially those used for smaller fish, serve no purpose other than line storage.  It’s one way to see things yet if it’s completely valid, since they all tell time no wrist watch should sell for more than $50 bucks. The prime differences in reels (or watches) are in material, design, and craftsmanship. Stainless steel is stronger, lasts longer and is less subject to corrosion than most other materials. Various aluminum alloys can sometimes work well. Some reel parts function fairly well in plastic, others don’t. Overall reel weight is vital in complimenting rod action in combination with line weight. Also, in addition to fish fighting, balancing these three elements will go a long way toward making casting the pleasing and satisfying exercise it should be.

 Design, mechanical and esthetic, effects things like smooth, durable, fiction free, functioning; simple, easily serviced construction, and effective, long lasting drag systems. Plus, for most of us, attractive reel design is as value enhancing as any other eye appealing adornment. I have a deep fascination with fly fishing history and my favorite reels all seem to reflect it in their 18/19th century look.  There are equally high quality models available that look like tomorrow’s space ships. There’s something for every taste.

 My two all time favorites are a pair of Adam’s original designed sweethearts Bill Adams put together by hand. They represent the culmination of his lifetime passion for the poetic side of fishing wedded with long decades as a gifted designer machinist. I’ve never felt a smoother operating piece of machinery. It’s like the finest Swiss watch movement, yet in appearance could pass for something out of the late eighteen hundreds, not to mention they have both been put to grueling tests on several occasions on much larger fish than one would imagine and have performed every time with faultless precision.

 You might think about those rare and thrilling occasions when the ‘big guy’ finally shows up, your cast was good, you selected the correct fly, and set the hook well; you did it all just right. Now the mega fish jumps, your heart’s in your mouth, but you’re cool, you give line by lowering your rod tip. When the fish reenters the water you gently raise your rod and reconnect.  ‘Great!’ You’re thinking. Then your trophy of trophies takes off in a reel roasting run; your reel roasts, seizes up, snapping the leader, and you’re left with one more of the countless versions of, “The Big One That Got Away.” If you’re going to have a quality rod, put a quality reel on it.

LINES

I’ve come to a time when I almost never fish anything other than floating lines. They come in two basic styles, Weight Forward and Double Tapered. Remember in fly casting it’s the weight of the line you’re propelling out over the water. While the weight forward line is tapered from its tip back for several feet, its heaviest portion is in the next few feet, with the longest portion remaining rather thin for easy movement through the rod guides. It’s designed for maximum distance casting. The idea is to get the weightiest part in the air, moving back and forward with your forward and back casts so when you release (launch, fire, propel) the cast, the momentum of the weight will carry the line following it farther.  It’s effective and can be helpful in windy conditions, or when distance is more important than pinpoint accuracy or delicate presentation. Large rivers, ocean flats, and some still water situations are especially suited to these types of lines.

 Double tapered lines generally have longer, more gradual tapers and are easier to make dead-on accurate and more delicate presentations. Finer balance makes them the most pleasant lines of all to cast with another advantage being by having identical tapers at each end of the line, when one end begins showing too much wear you simply reverse the line on your reel and start again with the unused portion. It can double the life of your line. And frankly, with enough practice and skill, you will come closer and closer to the same distances as the weight forward. If you start out with only one line, a double tapered, floating line is probably the best choice.

 Present day fly casting lines come in a wide variety of colors from low-visibility dull shades of green, off-white, and grey to hi-visibility bright orange, red, yellow, etc. There are two ideas. One is low-visibility has less chance of alarming fish. It could be, though being able to easily see the line in the air and on the water is a real help in casting accurately. The bright color advocates contend fish are color blind and unaffected by hi-visibility colors. All I’ve read over the years indicates fish being color blind is true. However light does reflect differently from color to color which seems likely to have an effect so I still prefer the softer tones.

 Your second line might be a Sink Tip. In this configuration the first several feet (usually 10 or 20) of line is weighted and sinks thus taking your fly down to the fish. These lines come in fast, medium and slow sinking weights. If you will be fishing larger rivers with faster current, the fast sinker will be your best choice. In deep lakes where you want to go down quickly fast sinking will also do better but many situations call for sinking less deeply which is the reason for the other two weights. One thing to know is the lighter the weight of the sinking portion the easier it will be to lift out of the water for your back cast, and the more pleasant the casting will be. Again your fly shop pro should be able to council you once he or she knows where most of your fishing is likely to be.

 Beyond this are dozens of technically more sophisticated ‘specialty’ line configurations; ‘shooting heads,’ similar to sink tips but each length and weight more specifically designed for a particular situation, ‘wet belly,’ with the sinking portion much higher up the line causing the line to sink but with several feet at the front being normal weight, ‘shooting floating heads,’ and on and on. Then there are different weights in many sinking flies, but we’ll get into them later.

LEADERS

A ‘leader’ is an additional length of line (usually nylon) with its butt attached to the end of the fly casting line. Being much thinner than fly casting line and, to some degree, transparent it serves to eliminate the visual connection between the casting line and the fly, as well as helping the fly land more naturally and softly on the water. In fly fishing, deception is the name of the game. The less apparent association a fly has with hard to disguise fly casting line, and the more naturally it lands on the water, the more likely a fish will take it.

 I like 10 foot, knotless leaders. Except in extremely clear water with very finicky fish 10 feet of separation between the casting line and the fly is enough. Some anglers prefer tying their own leaders usually in three, more or less, equal sections much like the horsehair line style. The butt end (which ties to the casting line) is heavy weight, the middle section is lighter, and the tippet section is lighter still. The leader is connected by knots which if properly tied are strong enough yet can also be inclined to gather loose grass, other aquatic plants, small bits of debris, etc. Prepackaged knotless leaders are tapered and don’t snag trash but are more expensive. The knotless aspect is worth the price difference to me.

 For most trout and general fishing, 4 pound test tippets are about right. For salmon, steelhead, sea-run trout and fish that may exceed 20 pounds an 8 or 10 pound test tippet makes sense. Again it’s a balancing act between low-visibility and breaking strength at the tippet. The unattainable ideal would be never breaking, totally invisible leaders. While that’s not possible, with enough skill used by an angler in the application of reel drag, and rod elasticity, you can come pretty darn close.

VESTS

One of Lee Wulff’s many equipment creations, it’s hard now to imagine a fly fisher without a vest. In fact the concept of a multiple pocketed, short, sleeveless, jacket to carry tools and gadgets in the least bothersome way yet handy to reach has turned out so helpful, now you can find adaptations for photographers, bird watchers, carpenters, travelers, and many others. There is one negative factor however you should be aware of.

 No other sport seems to offer as many non essential but addictively attractive gadgets and extra paraphernalia as fly fishing. The list, from thermometers, tweezers, compasses and flash lights to leader micrometers, line clippers, raincoats, landing nets, and folding wading sticks, is endless. It’s like a small backpack, minus the tent and sleeping bag, but can easily get so heavy you don’t want to lug it around all day. Now and then it will pay to review its contents and eliminate the items which haven’t proved necessary or especially useful.  Beware of vests designated as ‘guides models.’ They’re usually maximum capacity, made of heavier material and capable of carrying vast collections of gear. While there are situations where guides feel it essential to have lots of extra items and quantity, it’s not often a wise choice for the rest of us.

 In the case of those who fish several different species regularly, each requiring some specialized gear, it’s a good idea to keep two or three separate vests. Outfit each one for the particular species rather than having a large capacity back breaker for all. Durable but light, quick drying material is always best along with an ample back pouch for a high quality rain jacket. Try on several and see how they feel across your shoulders. If they’re OK there and don’t restrict your arm movements they should be good.

 RAINCOATS

Nothing can make a fishing trip more miserable than wind, rain and poor raingear. Breathable fabrics like Gore Tex and others have greatly improved all weather-clothing to an extent that it’s no longer necessary to suffer from rain, wind or both. While there are various other materials used in rain garments the problem has always been that 100% waterproof clothes caused so much perspiration you would still get wet, yet if it ventilated enough to prevent sweating it didn’t keep out rain or wind. Don’t skimp or look for bargains here.

 A first quality, jacket-length rain coat designed to fit over your sweater, waders and vest, fitting snugly at the waist and the cuffs, is just the ticket. It should fold compactly enough to fit in the pouch on the back of your vest and should be light enough to be unnoticed when not needed. It’s also surprising how much warmth your jacket will add to your sweater when used only as a wind-breaker.

BOOTS

As in all outdoor activities nothing is more key to your comfort and safety than your footgear.  This is something where bargains are rarely a good deal. Most of the high reputation wader companies carry a varied line of quality wading boots. I’ve had good luck over the years sticking with boots and wader combinations of the same brand, though that’s not to say there aren’t some excellent offerings elsewhere. I have fishing friends who use and seem pleased with synthetic materials but leather is still my first choice. Felt soles are best for general wading on typical slippery surfaces while extremely challenging stream bottoms may require the addition of metal spikes. Spikes however can be damaging to boat decks so if sometimes you will be using rafts, drift boats, canoes, and the like you should have a pair of both kinds.

 For the normal angler who fishes five or six times a year, good leather boots should last eight or nine years while the cheaper versions can wear out in a season or two. Besides added comfort and better support the economics are obvious.  With leather an application of preservative now and then will keep them supple and easy to put on and take off. I buy mine a full size larger than my shoe size and always wear thick wool socks inside them. My feet remain cushioned and cozy.

WADERS

Although wading in shorts and wading sandals on hot summer days can be very pleasant indeed, most of the time quality waders will make things easier and more comfortable when you want or need to get into the water.  Hip, waist, and chest high are the length options while the most common variations are, boot foot (the boots are an integral part of the waders), or stocking foot (the boots are separate).  The obvious differences are in weight; the less material you wear around all day the less fatiguing, and in height; the higher they extend the deeper you can wade. Consider also that the more the waders cover, the more protection they offer from rain, wind and cold, but then they trap more heat on hot days.

 For me the best solution turns out to be a chest high that can fold down to waist height when I prefer. I find the most comfortable all around are those fabricated of ‘breathable’ material and I control how warm I remain by the clothes I wear under them on a given day.

 So now you have a rod, reel, line, leader, vest, wading gear, and rain jacket.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Coming Next Week: Chapter Three

   

    Second Part

LOST BEAUTY.. AND EXODUS OF SALMONS

 

 

 

Here there was paradise!.. Until men arrived. After passing through a fatal mountain path , through the marvelous rapids of Rio Grande, you arrived to Lake Situation. Absolute beauty and abundance of  fishing trophies went by while you made your way through the lakes Uno(one), Dos(two)  and Tres(three) joined by beautiful salmon          populated rivers. Those four lakes united by their rivers and enchained through a long and deep valley covered with incredible varied vegetation, made that a magical place. I remember the green meadows and maitenes upholstering the fertile valley where the “Situation sectional” of the Los Alerces National Park was. There lived the park guardian Jones in a typical house of varnished logs, with a stone base, black roof and windows with white shutters, there he enjoyed part of his life with his wife and five kids. Jones was a tough person but with rather gentle aspect, his blue clear eyes, had such a calm look that helped you guess the peace in which he lived in, a phishing lover he learned the fine art of fly phishing by the hand of his friend Gornik. That was a place where any nature lover would have desired to live in. But one day, the selfishness of man was stronger, and his blindness to not see the promising touristic future of such natural richness led him to trace a dike from cost to cost in the estuary of the Futaleufú River over the Situation Lake flooding all the valley without thinking in the fauna nor flora that succumbed in that huge flooding.

The Salmons

 The Rivers One, Two, Frey and Situation, were the habitats of the majority of salmons before they were locked up by the dam. When the wall of the dam of one hundred meters tall prevented the exit of the water and filled the valley uniting lakes and rivers, putting in the valley a huge volume of water leaving the habitat that mother nature had built through millions of years at eighty meters of depth, then the salmons searched for an exit and found it through the Frey river, and they settled down in this river and in the strait that links the Kruger with the Futalaufquen but in little time they continued their migration up river leaving in this place the memory of their big figures, were they lived only a few years. Since then the Strait is known by the suggestive name of The Strait of the Monsters.

One could see them while they continue their exodus in the Arrayanes River, the Rivadavia River, and finally in the Carrileufú River as if they were searching for their settling the highest waters of the basin. There were specimens of 30 and even 40 inches, they were the monsters of the Strait that had arrived to the Carrileufú.

 

THE STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE THE RESOURCE – BENEFITS OF CATCH AND RELEASE

I was guiding a foreign couple in the river Futaleufú on a peaceful morning, we were fishing with dry flies in one of the many channels of the river with rocky bottom, vegetation and soft current; all of a sudden a trout bit the fly in a spectacular jump, followed by a long run, another jump and a huge resistance from the distance, it seemed one of those that had been earlier tricked with the artificial one. Once in the shore we could appreciate it was a beautiful rainbow male with prominent and harmonic jaw and the red lateral stripe very intense, it measured 22 inches long. After taking away the little Royal Wulff we released it and it went swimming gently down the current. The rest of the day was successful and we fished a good amount of trouts. After three days we went back to the same river and begun in that channel of soft current, I was focused watching the perfect floating of my customer’s fly when I saw it disappear, there was a soft movement in the water when the trout took the fly with such delicacy that it hardly showed it’s snout, and then it came a violent struggle typical of the rainbow, when the fisherman brought the fish to the shore huge was our surprise when we discover a beautiful male with prominent jaw, beautiful colors specially in his lateral stripe, and when measuring it we found out it was 22 inches!! The beautiful trout was released for another fisherman to catch. Two weeks later I was with another group in the same river but more than a kilometer upwards from that “spot”, and one of them nailed in his little fly a rainbow that battled furiously, when he brought it to the shore and I helped him

to take the fly out of the mouth I thought about the importance of catch and release because it was that same trout that I had fished twice two weeks ago. The system is useful for trouts to keep on living, growing ad keep on reproducing themselves. It’s also useful to preserve the resource so that the touristic industry doesn’t wear out.

 

All of those who directly or indirectly benefit economically from the fishing tourism have understood the necessity of taking care of our patagonic trouts as one of the main resources to attract  resources to the region and for years the have been giving a slow but reluctant fight in favor of this fragile resource

Is the struggle of men against men and they were always more those who didn’t understand it or didn’t care and damage the nature a great deal. We hope that through education to minors conservationists will be gained for the cause year after year. It is a slow job that will maybe blossom in many years while the fight continues.

he brought it to the shore and I helped him to take the fly out of the mouth I thought about the importance of catch and release because it was that same trout that I had fished twice two weeks ago. The system is useful for trouts to keep on living, growing ad keep on reproducing themselves. It’s also useful to preserve the resource so that the touristic industry doesn’t wear out.

All of those who directly or indirectly benefit economically from the fishing tourism have understood the necessity of taking care of our patagonic trouts as one of the main resources to attract  resources to the region and for years the have been giving a slow but reluctant fight in favor of this fragile resource.

 

 

 Segunda Parte

 

BELLEZA  PERDIDA… y ÉXODO DE SALMONES

 

 

Aquí estuvo el paraíso !….. hasta que llegó el hombre.

Después de pasar por un tortuoso camino de montaña,  por los maravillosos Rápidos del Río Grande se llegaba al Lago Situación.  Absoluta belleza y abundancia de trofeos en pesca de salmónidos se sucedía a medida que uno avanzaba a través de sus lagos Uno, Dos, y Tres unidos por sendos y maravillosos ríos poblados de salmones atlánticos encerrados.  Aquellos cuatro lagos unidos por sus ríos se encadenaban a través de un largo y profundo valle de montaña tapizado con una vegetación increíblemente variada,  hacían de aquello un lugar paradisíaco. Recuerdo las verdes praderas y maitenales tapizando el valle fértil donde estaba la “Seccional Situación” que el Parque Nacional Los Alerces tenia allí, donde vivía el guardaparques Jones en una típica casa de troncos barnizados, con base de piedra, de techo negro y ventanas con postigos blancos, allí disfrutó parte de su vida en aquel lugar con su mujer y sus cinco hijos.  Jones era una ruda persona pero de aspecto delicado,  sus ojos celestes de mirada clara y tranquila hacia suponer la paz que vivía en aquel paraíso, amante de la pesca fue un fino pescador de mosca que aprendió la técnica de la mano de su amigo Gornik.  Aquel era un lugar donde cualquier amante de la naturaleza hubiera querido vivir.   Pero un día, pudo mas el egoísmo del hombre avaro y su ceguera para no ver un futuro turístico promisorio en semejante riqueza natural,  trazando un dique de costa a costa en la boca del Río Futaleufú sobre el lago Situación  inundando todo el valle sin pensar en la fauna y la flora que sucumbía con tremenda inundación.

Los Salmones

En los ríos Uno, Dos, Frey y Situación, estaban asentados la gran mayoría de los salmones encerrados antes de la represa.  Cuando la pared del dique de cien metros de altura frenó la salida del agua y llenó el valle uniendo lagos y ríos, metiendo sobre él un volumen de agua fenomenal dejando a ochenta metros de profundidad allá abajo todo aquel habitat que la madre Naturaleza construyó a través de miles de años,   entonces los salmones buscaron una salida y la encontraron por el río Frey,  y se asentaron en éste río y en el estrecho que une el Lago Kruger con el Futalaufquen  pero en poco tiempo continuaron su migración aguas arriba dejando en este lugar el recuerdo de sus grandes figuras, donde residieron escasos años, desde entonces se lo conoce al estrecho con el sugestivo nombre de Estrecho de los Monstruos. 

Al continuar su éxodo se los podía ver en el Río Arrayanes,  Río Rivadavia, y finalmente en el Río Carrileufú como buscando para su asentamiento las aguas mas altas de la cuenca.  Allí habían ejemplares a la vista de 30 y hasta 40 pulgadas,  eran los monstruos del Estrecho que habían llegado al Carrileufú .

 

LA LUCHA POR PRESERVAR EL RECURSO – BENEFICIOS DEL CATCH AND RELEASE

Me encontraba yo guiando a una pareja de extranjeros en el río Futaleufú en una mañana apacible, pescábamos con mosca seca en uno de los muchos canales del río con fondo de rocas, vegetación y suave corriente,  de pronto una trucha tomó la mosca en un salto espectacular, seguido de una larga corrida y otro salto y gran resistencia a distancia,  parecía una de esas que ya había sido engañada antes con el artificial,  una vez en la orilla pudimos apreciar que era un hermoso macho de arco iris con el maxilar prominente y armónico y la franja roja lateral muy subida de tono y medía 22 pulgadas de largo.  Luego de quitarle la pequeña Royal Wulff, la soltamos y se fue nadando suavemente corriente abajo.  El resto del día fue exitoso y pescamos buena cantidad de truchas.  Tres días mas tarde, volvimos al mismo río y comenzamos en aquel canal de suave corriente,  estaba yo concentrado mirando la perfecta deriva de la mosca de mi cliente cuando la ví desaparecer,  hubo un suave movimiento en el agua cuando una trucha tomó la mosca con tanta delicadeza que apenas asomó el hocico, y luego vino una violenta pelea típica de las arco iris,  cuando el pescador la arrimó a la orilla,  grande fue nuestra sorpresa al comprobar que era un hermoso macho con pronunciado maxilar, hermosos colores realzándose en su franja lateral, y al medirlo tenia 22 pulgadas!!.  La hermosa trucha fue devuelta para que la

pesque otro pescador. Dos semanas màs tarde estaba yo con otro grupo en el mismo río pero mas de un kilómetro aguas arriba de “aquel” lugar,  y uno de ellos clavó en su pequeña ninfa una arco iris que se defendió furiosa,  cuando la arrimó y le ayudé a quitarle la mosca de la boca, pensé en lo mucho que servía el catch and release , pues era aquella misma trucha que había pescado por dos veces dos semanas atrás.  El sistema sirve para que las truchas sigan viviendo, sigan creciendo, sigan reproduciéndose. Sirve para preservar el recurso para que no se agote la industria del turismo pescador.

Todos aquellos que directa o indirectamente se benefician económicamente con el turismo pescador han comprendido la necesidad de cuidar nuestras truchas patagónicas, como uno de los principales recursos para atraer recursos a la región y desde años vienen librando una lenta pero inexorable batalla en pro de este tan frágil recurso. Es la lucha del hombre contra el hombre y siempre fueron mayoría los que no la entendieron o los que no les importa y ejercen una enorme agresividad hacia la Naturaleza, esperamos que a través de la educación a los menores se van ganando conservacionistas año tras año.  Es un trabajo lento que quizás se vean resultados claros en muchos años mas mientras la lucha continúa .

 

 

The Fly Fishing Primer

A Classic Approach To The Gentle Art Of Angling By Fly

     

                              by

                      jim Repine

 

 

 

First a brief look at the origins of fly fishing; at the little we know, other things we speculate over and the peculiar mix of both which time and retelling have a way of melding. You may be surprised at just how far back it goes.

 

In the high mountain cultures of Japan for example fishing with long rods, tapered horse hair lines, and floating (dry) flies fashioned on metal hooks was going on more than five hundred years ago. Was it a sport? Were they having fun? No to the first question, it was another way of harvesting food. To the second question though; of course it was fun. Just like now it took place in lovely surroundings, beat the heck out of hanging around the village, or collecting straw with the women, and obviously it scratched the predator itch. The predator what?

 

It’s an integral part of the survival instinct, that most basic of them all. To one degree or another we all have it. If we don’t predate we don’t eat and thus can’t survive. This is why the urge to kill or capture edible creatures is so strong in those of us with heavier instinctual doses.  A lot of people want to attach moral issues to various forms of food gathering. They want hunting and fishing to be considered inhumane while raising animals to slaughter for meat somehow is humane. Yet if sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, and fish ever get the vote there will be new thinking required. Then the great trend in fly fishing over the past few decades has been an ever-growing disposition to release fish alive and unharmed once captured. The idea being to satisfy an inner urge short of killing your quarry. Where widely practiced it brings about a dramatic lessening of fish population dissipation as angler numbers worldwide explode.

 

Centuries older evidence in Macedonian cliff drawings depict the use of long rods and feathered hooks by people dressed in upper class garb indicating a recreational pastime rather than food gathering. In 1496, only four years after 1492 when Columbus, on his way to Calcutta by chance bumped into America, the first known ‘treatise’ on the subject was published in England.  Dame Juliana Berners, it’s generally conceded, a noble English sportswoman and nun wrote it.

 

Like most successful fishing journalism the “Treatise Of Fishing With An Angle,” is a practical, how-to presentation though it opens with a strong argument for fishing being a higher form of  outdoor sport than the other three favorites of the time, hunting, hawking, and fowling. The hunter, poor fellow, has to run, work hard, sweat and blow his horn “till his lippies blister.” The falconer must shout and whistle all day long, while fowling is most effective during really cold weather, brrr!

 

The angler though is never uncomfortable unless he brings it on himself, he doesn’t have much to lose, a hook and some line at times. If a fish gets away or he doesn’t catch anything there’s always tomorrow. At the least the fisher has a pleasant walk getting to and from the stream, breathes fresh air, sees and hears singing birds, and smells the sweet scent of wild flowers. And when he does catch a fish, as Berners puts it:

 

“Surely then there is no man merrier then he is in his spyryte.”

 

Thus from the very start of angling literature, higher ideas, a philosophy if you will, is the underlying fundamental separating and lifting recreational sport-angling above other forms of fishing. The Dame maintains ‘angling’ is somehow a higher activity than just a brutish meat gathering endeavor. The rest of “The Treatise” is taken up with detailed instruction on equipment, how, when and where to fish, fly patterns and ‘bait’ (purism would come later).

 

The rod described was long and came in three sections. The bottom section was a fathom and a half, as thick as a man’s arm and made from willow, aspen, or hazel. The other two sections were each half as long as the butt section. The second section was of hazel, while the top section was a shoot of blackthorn, medlar, or juniper. And the Dame, a lady of less liberal times, points out the high desirability of hollowing the butt section to house the other two, disguising the entire rig to resemble a walking stick.

 

Lines as in Japan were horsehair. Strands from Dobbin’s tail were braided, and tapered in the process by varying the number of hairs in each section. White and round hair was thought best though later it could be dyed to match the water. It might be a single hair for minnows, 12 strands for larger trout, or 15 for salmon. You could learn how to make hooks from needles (my Mom taught me with straight pins), how to use artificial flies, and to not cast a shadow over the water or point your rod at a fighting fish.

 

Where best to fish? Deep places, under hollow banks and roots, anywhere streams run close to the bank, and where you see fish rising. Dark days are best and the best season is from April to September from 4 to 8 in the morning and again from 4 to 8 in the afternoon and evening. There are even 12 reasons listed for not catching fish:

1        Poor tackle

2        Wrong lure

3        Wrong time

4        Frightened fish

5        Discolored water

6        Water too cold

7        Water too hot

8        Rain

9        Snow

10  Hailstorm

11  Heavy wind

12  East wind

 

So nothing too much has changed since those days though it’s tantalizing to ponder over such similar tackle and methods employed in England and the Japanese highlands at the same time so long ago. Most historians agree Marco Polo never visited Japan yet he did write about the mystic isles and it should be noted he was only one of many world traveling traders of his period. From where and how did who learn from whom? 

 

A few works of lesser acclaim followed “The Treatise” until in 1653 Izaak Walton published the first edition of “The Compleat Angler.” It begins with a chance meeting of three good-hearted men about six miles from London near the River Lea. It was early morning, May, the air chilled though warming.

 

“Whew! I finally caught up with you chaps.” The man had hurried up Tottenham Hill to overtake the other two walkers. Breathing quickly he continued with a grin: “I had to really stretch to do it. Anyway, good morning. Would you be going toward Ware? What a glorious sun-up! And how about this air!”

 

“I’m going that way,” answered the one. “In fact I’m going to take my morning draught in Hoddesden at the Thatched House. I’m meeting some mates, so I probably won’t stop before then. But I don’t know how far this fellow is going. We just met and I haven’t asked.”

 

The third man smiled also and said: “I’ll keep you company as far as Theobald’s, but when I get there I’m going to a friend’s house. He’s keeping a hawk for me and I really want to see it.”

 

The first man added: “With a brilliant morning like this, we’re already happy, yet we’ll be even happier for the mutual company and, just to make sure, I’ll match my pace to yours, faster or slower, so we can enjoy it. The Italians say: ‘Good company makes a journey shorter’”

 

Though fictional, these gentlemen began a discourse on the comparative merits of various outdoor sports eventually growing to book length. It was published and is as timely today, in its deeper aspects, as then; some things perhaps even more pertinent now, given the increasing numbers of anglers wishing to use ever diminishing fisheries.

 

One proof of its timeless validity is this fishing book is one of the most reprinted works in British literary history, bested only by “The Bible” and “The Works Of William Shakespeare.” A fishing book? Why?

 

In the present era, as mentioned, fly fishing shop bookshelves groan with the ever-increasing weight of more and more “how to” books. What is “The Compleat Angler’s” unique magic? From rosary beads to holy mantras, variant forms of meditation and trance-inducing rhythms, every generation rediscovers some healing quality in introspection, directed or not. Remember window-gazing during algebra class? How else would you have survived such a brain-numbing ordeal? Fishing as a meditative discipline is exactly what Izaak Walton’s sub-title to his book, “The Contemplative Man’s Recreation”, is about.  For those with the sensitivity to seek it, he also would have us believe there is more to angling than just dragging hapless fish out of the water.

 

Walton’s writing concurs with and elaborates on Berner’s contention of quiet hours beside peaceful streams indeed having the power to lift a basic primal activity to a higher level, a step up from a simple predator fisherman to a more “complete” angler. The whole experience, he promises, can and should be a healing pastiche of poetry, music, fine ales, pretty milkmaids, growing closeness with Divinity and, after the evening fish fry, passing the night in some cozy inn twixt scented sheets. Who said it has to be all bug bites and hangovers. 

 

The early morning threesome were an angler, a hound hunter and a falconer. Most of what follows is an amiable debate on the comparative qualities of these sports. Our writer being of the first persuasion; guess who wins? But even so Walton gives a rounded, book length fishing education filled with how-to tips and details, which, in philosophy at least, is as eye-opening now as ever. An angler, not a biologist, he does include some things which seem almost childish, yet such was the state of scientific knowledge in the mid-1600s. His pike are born from pickerel weeds, as is a carp pond nearly emptied of the species by frogs attaching to their heads. There is fascination with what fishermen believed in those days which doubtless was no less off the mark than present “knowledge” will be in 300 years to come. Yet I can say in my own six decades of angling, inside me, spiritual or whatever, Izaak’s book contains certain enduring truths dealing with allure, magic if you will, transforming an already much loved activity into more than you might imagine. This poem, from Chapter One, demonstrates:

 

“Let me live harmlessly; and near the brink

Of Trent or Avon have a dwelling place

Where I may see my quill or cork down sink

With eager bite of perch, or bleak, or dace;

And on the world and my Creator think:

Whilst some men strive ill-gotten goods t’embrace,

And others spend their time in base excess

Of wine, or worse, in war or wantoness.”

 

On my last trip to England I tried to find this Izaak Walton fellow. I wanted to see where he lived, where he fished, what made him love a sport enough to teach it as near religion, and to try somehow to meet him. This was a man who, in his eighties, rode a horse more than 100 miles from London to Dovedale to fish with a friend, and in a period when 50 years was a long lifetime, lived to be 90.

 

Miles Thompson then with the Roxton Bailey and Robinson booking agency helped Sonia my wife and I with everything from travel schedules to introductions, most notably to Tony Bridgett, headmaster of the Derbyshire School of Fly Fishing. An avid angler (he began at 8), Tony has been at it for more than half a century. He guides for the superb Izaak Walton Hotel where he was a wonderful help to us. And though we never met Izaak himself, being with Tony was like spending a couple of days with one of the old fisherman’s best friends.

 

Also old pal Major Vince Gwilym of Fold Farm in Derbyshire, arranged a day with Richard Ward, my other Waltonian schoolmaster. It was Richard who guided us to ‘The Temple,’ Charles Cotton’s fishing house beside the River Dove, built for himself and his best fishing buddy, Izaak Walton. Richard also set the stage for Vince to catch a lovely wild brown trout from the Dove on an identical ‘Black Fly’ detailed in Cotton’s portion of the book. It would take an entire chapter to describe this fine gentleman angler and his kindnesses to us.

 

Only the last 12 chapters of “The Compleat Angler” deal specifically with fly fishing and were written by Cotton. They didn’t appear until the fifth edition and offer an interesting look at fly fishing then. But for me it’s Walton’s own original 21 chapters which cast the deeper spell. Richard Ward said:

 

“People don’t always understand where he was coming from and he did make mistakes. Yet it’s a lesson to everyone who really wants to get the best from their fishing to try and cultivate his mind-set”

 

As Tony Bridgett put it:

 

“A lot of what Walton says is relevant today because it’s about the philosophy of fishing, about being in the countryside and being at one with nature. He fished for a lot of the same reasons we fish today. To recharge our batteries; to get away from the monotony and drudgery of the commercial world. It’s as true today as in the 17^th century.”

 

The language style of “The Compleat Angler” is a bit like the King James Bible, but don’t back off. The high interest angling content quickly overcomes that and you will find it the same marvelous fishing adventure so many others have discovered over the centuries. I sure did.

 

Perhaps those increasingly long times I now find myself sitting stream-side, still gazing as I did in my algebra class, are simply that 75 year old legs aren’t as spry as they once were. And maybe my increased introspection is nothing more than trying to keep aging memories from fading anymore than they already have. I can only say, by moving a little slower, and taking more time to look around, fly fishing keeps on getting better and better.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Coming Next Week: Chapter Two

 

 

Presentation

Jim is my friend, although he passed away few months ago he is still talking to me from his books. On 2008 Jim sent me the Fly Fishing Primer and now we have decided, with the authorization of Sonia Repine, to share it with you. 

Jim was a Master of the Art of Fly Fishing and everything he did was somehow related to fly fishing, his passion. And that does not mean that he had a narrow mind or purpose, just the opposite. Jim had the capacity to tie fly fishing to every aspect of nature and soul and so his fishing books are more than technical books. Jim was a poet, a musician, a photographer a devote husband and father, a lover of nature, a child. Some years ago I told him he was a child and he answered “I spent more than 70 years trying to keep that kid alive”. 

The book you are about to read will be published weekly in five chapters in our blog http://www.hosteriaselaura.com/blog/  

Hope you enjoy it Alfredo Zubiri

*********************************************************************************************

The Fly Fishing Primer

A Classic Approach To The Gentle Art Of Angling By Fly

by

jim Repine

 

There are hundreds of how-to books on fly shop shelves, in book stores, and on the Internet describing every minute aspect of fly fishing. How-to articles upon article appear in every issue of most angling magazines. They range from useful, logical, and simple to highly technical, complex, and detailed beyond belief. It doesn’t mean so much that a vast collection of fiction and fact is required to enjoy the sport. It demonstrates and verifies instead the infinite variety of approach and opinion of those who write about it. So why would I write another one? 

 

This is really a beginner’s book, sort of a “Dick and Jane” treatment of a subject which in time can become as complex as you wish it to be. In fact one of fly fishing’s greatest offers is said to be that it can’t all be learned in a single lifetime. So in the following pages I haven’t tried to go much beyond enough technical basics for you to go to the water and catch a fish and maybe to start you into another aspect of angling that will greatly deepen and enlarge your love and appreciation for our beloved pastime. The quest for the answer to why such a simple pursuit can offer so much satisfaction. Afterwards you will have the rest of your life to explore and grow. It could be I’m writing yet one more book for no better reason than, as fishermen go, the long rods and feathers crowd reads more, a lot more, and thinks more (or just forgets more?) than other anglers, and writing is what I do.

 

Or maybe, because doing little else for six decades; fly fishing, writing about it, and photographing it, I’m egocentric enough to imagine I might have something to share that a rare reader would find new and useful. And then there’s the odd chance I could really get lucky and convince a handful of you, as important as skillful application of basic angling techniques are to catching fish, there can, is, and should be a lot more to it, philosophically, spiritually and health-wise – a lot more!

 

If you, dear reader, turn out to be one of the transcendental handful please write to me. If you don’t get that part however, read the book carefully, practice whatever appears intriguing, and enjoy catching more fish for having done so. For those who have trouble nodding off during the technical stuff, don’t fret, it’s just as tedious to write. And I confess to all, my own search, especially over the past thirty years, has not been aimed so much at finding easier or more effective ways to outwit fish, creatures with brains the size of English peas, as it has centered on what I could do, or not do, to elevate and enhance my overall pleasure and satisfaction from our remarkable pastime.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Coming next week: Chapter One

 

 

Fotos Verónica Zubiri y Coco Negrete

El Río Paraná, agua que va al mar, agua grande, brava, hermosa.

El Paraná es un Gran Río, es una de las grandes arterias de la Tierra. Su enorme cuenca cubre una gran parte de América del Sur, abarcando el Sur de Brasil, el Paraguay, el Sur de Bolivia, el Noreste Argentino.

Aguas recolectadas en las alturas de los Andes o en los bañados del Pantanal, aguas de tierra adentro.

 

 

Este gigantesco río ha modelado el paisaje y tallado al hombre que lo habita a lo largo de sus costas.

 A la altura de la ciudad de Corrientes el Paraná tuerce decididamente hacia el Sur, a esa altura tiene un caudal de 15.000 m3 por segundo. La margen izquierda, la correntina está más definida por una barranca baja, mientras que la santafecina está abierta a una extensa red de bañados, lagunas, islas bajas y anegadizas. El Río manda. La vegetación de las islas son pastos altos y arbustos ralos, precarios. No hay tiempo para un árbol, las crecidas periódicas se llevan todo, hasta los ranchos de los habitantes ribereños.

 Bramando se viene el agua
del Paraná
creciendo noche y día
sin parar
El agua vino bramando
pobre quedé
ni rancho ni cobija
he de tener

Ranchada, barranca, tronco
se llevará
con viento y aguacero
el Paraná
………….

No me han de sacar del pago
donde nací
peleando a la corriente
he de vivir

El cielo ya está limpiando
vuela el chajá
calandrias y crestudos
cantan ya

Así ha de llegar día
en que volveré
a levantar mi rancho
en Santa Fe

 Canta el isleño santafecino con palabras de Isaac Aizemberg

 Y en los bordes más altos habrá un sauce o un  timbó, tan obcecados, tenaces y enamorados del Gran Río como el hombre que vuelve después de la crecida al pago de donde el río lo ha echado, a hacer de nuevo el rancho, porque si, porque es lugar de hombres.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yo nací en su cuenca y ahí aprendí a pescar. Mis viejos tenían con los tíos un campo en Salto, Provincia de Buenos Aires y ahí íbamos todos lo veranos, cuando yo era pibe. Y en Salto hay un río, un curso lento y perezoso de aguas tibias y amarronadas. Ahí yo pesque, no sé a los 10 o 12 años mi primer dorado. Ay!

Iba al pueblo a verlo a Gabella, que tenía un bolichito con anzuelos y boyas, para que me llevara a pescar, adonde él sabía. Y él me llevaba, un hombre 30 años más grande que yo, buen pescador.

En esa época usábamos una caña tacuara, de 3 a 3,5 metros de largo y una tanza del 0,50 del mismo largo. Vadeábamos el río en vaqueros y alpargatas y con esa caña cubríamos toda el agua, mientras caminábamos río abajo. Pescábamos con carnada e intentábamos arrastrarla sobre el fondo. Para eso usábamos una boya grande que se bancara la carnada y un plomo liviano. Cada tanto subíamos o bajábamos la boya según fuera la profundidad del río.

Colgando del cinturón llevábamos una bolsa de arpillera a donde guardábamos los dorados para que se mantuvieran vivos y frescos durante el calor del día. Así hacía Hemingway, me enteré más tarde leyendo Two Heartred Rivers. Y como él cuenta con sus grasshopers nosotros hacíamos con los amarillitos o ranas que usábamos de carnada. Llegábamos al amanecer y dedicábamos esa primera hora fría de la mañana a cazar ranas y pescar un par de bagres amarillos antes de que el calor los empujara a sus agujeros en el barro.

 Los pescadores nos parecemos, no importa donde hayamos nacido o la lengua que hablemos. Hemingway arrastraba también una bolsa con truchas en el agua y hace siglos un japonés pescaba igual pero con una caña de bamboo, que después, de a poco como casi todo lo que ocurre en la vida, se hizo Tenkara.

 Pero mi primer encuentro con el Río Grande fue en 1976. Yo estaba recién recibido de ingeniero y trabajaba en Yaciretá, una gigantesca represa. Me mandaron a relevar la superficie del río durante una crecida y ahí fui y me pasé una semana sobre un bote de madera recorriéndolo.

 El Paraná.

 Poco al norte de Santa Fe hay un pueblo, San Javier y unos pocos kilómetros al norte está Cuatro Soles Lodge, sobre el río San Javier, el brazo más occidental de los tantos que a esa altura tiene el Paraná, y que conecta el Lodge con ese enjambre de islas bajas, bañados y lagunas del que antes hablara.

 Timbó, laurel, curupí,

lindos ceibales en flor,

pago de indio mocobí;

San Javier donde nací;

no hay otra tierra mejor.

Canta Julio Migno, el poeta del pueblo.

El Lodge está siendo construido sobre el viejo casco de la estancia Irupé, y es el lugar ideal para alojarse e iniciar desde allí el día de pesca. El pez? Dorado, el Tigre del Río.

Allá fuimos con Raúl (San Martín), mi hermanita Vechu y Coco a pescar y filmar. Raúl es amigo de hace ya muchos años y el decano de los guías argentinos, él no quiere que se sepa mucho pero ya van para 50 años que guía! Vechu es directora de cine y amante de la naturaleza así que mientras nosotros pescábamos ella y Coco filmaban y fotografiaban peces y aves.

 Los bañados están literalmente vivos, miles de aves y pájaros habitan estas tierras bajas y anegadizas. Flamencos, chajás, garzas, patos, teros … crean un fondo rítmico, sobre el que trazan sus melodías calandrias, cardenales, choros, horneros … En este lugar la cámara de fotos es el compañero ideal del viaje de pesca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

El Dorado es un pez fuerte, acrobático, luchador, hermoso. Sabes que lo tienes desde el momento mismo del pique … tuc!! … un mordisco brutal y decidido. Sus fuertes mandíbulas con dientes pequeños y afilados hacen necesaria la utilización de un corto tippet de acero, al extremo de un leader de un metro y medio del 0,40.

 

Es posible usar diámetros inferiores pero el dorado es un pez fuerte y a menudo clavas uno grande. Hay una tendencia en muchos pescadores a usar tippets delgados de baja resistencia, interpretando así que la pesca se vuelva más deportiva. No discuto si esto es así o no. Solo aporto otra mirada. Yo creo que un buen pescador no puede perder un pez ni tampoco matarlo. Y esto ocurre a menudo cuando el tippet es delgado. O bien el pez se va con la mosca en su boca, lo que no es bueno, o conseguimos sacarlo del río exhausto y ya con pocas capacidades de sobrevivir. Hay que sacar el pez del agua y hacerlo tan rápido como se pueda para devolverlo con su vitalidad alta al río.

Por otra parte el leader tiene la importante función de dar vuelta la mosca, que en este caso es grande y con tippet pesado y duro de acero. Un leader adecuado te ayuda en el casting, es decir en la pesca.

 La mosca es parte de este balance. A medida que la mosca es más chica el casting se hace más y más simple, y al final del día esto se siente. Yo percibo esto incluso en la caña, a mi me gustan las cañas de acción lenta en dónde el casting es también más lento. El casting te lleva a un ritmo y a mi me gusta ese ritmo un poco más lento. Me gusta poder olvidarme de que pesco, dejar de pensar de a ratos, sentirme parte del ambiente.

 Durante los meses más fríos de final del invierno y primavera temprana se utilizan líneas hundidas, pero a medida que la temperatura del agua aumenta el dorado se vuelve más activo y es común verlo cazando en superficie, entonces lo mejor es cambiar a una línea de flote. La caña debe ser una 6, 7 u 8 dependiendo sobre todo de la capacidad del lanzador para manejar las grandes moscas.

 Ver los dorados cazando es algo sorprendente. El agua se pone nerviosa y las mojarras, las morenas o las bogas huyen despavoridas. En esos momentos se puede probar con una mosca grande seca, un ratón o una rana. Yo todavía no he tenido éxito pero los he visto tomar un ratón de un amigo. Splash!

La primera pregunta que uno se hace cuando se enfrenta por primera vez a los esteros y lagunas de la zona es donde pescar esa enorme cantidad de agua. Y rápidamente uno descubre las diferencias y los ámbitos. Canales de corriente rápida serpenteando entre las lagunas, arroyos definidos por el camalotal, como el Laurel o el Tejas, que a su vez desembocan en lagunas amplias y quietas, desagües de agua negra, como se llama localmente al agua más limpia que lentamente desagota las lagunas. En fin un amplio espacio de aguas diferentes para satisfacer las más variadas expectativas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al releer lo escrito tengo la impresión de no haber podido transmitir la experiencia adecuadamente. Es una experiencia que va mucho más allá de la pesca. Pescar en este inmenso ambiente dominado por el Gran Río, lleno de vida, de sol, de pájaros,  es un viaje a algo nuevo, distinto. Y cuando te cruzás con los hombres del Río o con los gauchos que cuidan las vacas no te sorprende encontrar en ellos su marca, su fortaleza.

 

Yo, al volver de allí, también me siento más rico, más fuerte y mejor pescador, ja! Pesqué unos cuantos Tigres!

 

peleando a la corriente
he de vivir

 

Canta el hombre del Paraná, y yo me pregunto si es que acaso hay otra forma de vivir?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Para mayor información contactate con:

 Claudio Oliveira

claudio@tenriverstenlakes.com

 O conmigo

alfredo@el-aura.net

 Alfredo Zubiri es argentino y pesca con mosca desde hace 34 años. Es además el concesionario de Lago Verde Wilderness Resort en el Parque Nacional Los Alerces.

 www.el-aura.net