Fly Lines for Trout

There are two basic choices for dry line fishing--weight forward
and double taper.
I'm a big fan of the double taper for several reasons. Most fish are hooked pretty darn close to the angler so long casts are not necessary and usually counterproductive. Long casts take more time so the fly is in the air and never in my 50 years of fly fishing have I ever caught a fish in the air. Long casts are tough to control once the line is on the water. Long casts may scare all the nearby fish. The list goes on.
Perhaps the coolest thing about double taper lines is, when one end gets trashed from use, you simply strip the line off the reel and reverse it. Viola--a new line without spending more money.

Yakima River Trout

Had a couple of meetings in Ellensburg a few days apart so it made sense to hit the river afterwards. Ran from Ringer to MP 20 late Saturday afternoon as my fishing partner wanted to break in her newly-acquired boat (one of roughly 20 in her personal stock). Fortunately we were behind most of the innertube hatch so we had the river to ourselves except for one guide from Red's. Took most fish on a #14 McKenzie Special (a caddis imitation).

The next drift was from Umptaneum to Mahre's. Fished with JR Rodriguez of Evening Hatch as part of a Washington Water Trust event. Great guy--knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Fish took a variety of flies so no real insight for what to use during the bright sunny conditions we experienced.

65 Miles

Heard a great story on NPR this morning about an English Channel swimmer. Now that's perserverance, determination and a whole lot more.