What’s in Your Kit?
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
2d ago
by Scott Sadil For a fellow who often claims the fly doesn’t matter, it may seem strange that I would readily advocate, in the next breath, tying flies in camp or on the road.  But throughout my career I’ve been a big fan of tying away from home, in part because I like nothing more than landing a good fish during, say, an evening session and then reporting to anyone who asks that I fooled the fish with “the last fly I tied” that same afternoon.  There’s more to it, of course.  The probability that you might actually see something new, or have a fresh idea, even at this late date ..read more
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Once More, With Feeling
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
6d ago
by Scott Sadil As is often the case these days, I had a number of good reasons not to go fishing.  I was just back from a long trip, elbows deep in the middle of assorted boat jobs.  The promise of spring was beginning to stir the garden.  Deadlines were looming.  The carpet needed cleaning.  I still hadn’t replaced the wax ring on the bedroom toilet.  Not one of these reasons, however, proved good enough. When you live in a state where you can fish year round, where feeding trout, even, can be found each and every month, it’s easy to grow complacent, even a wee b ..read more
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California Dreamin’
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
6d ago
by Scott Sadil I’ve parked my truck and trailered Tamalita in sunlight flooding the street in front of the Great Pacific Iron Works, retail anchor of the seemingly ever-expanding Patagonia headquarters, waiting to meet with my old pal Gary Bulla, down from foothills above Ventura this morning to see about some sciatica pain that he’s fairly certain has to do with too many panga rides chasing roosters and dorado, and whatever else a fly can fool, in his reach of the Sea of Cortez. Taking note of the particular statement made in the style of clothing worn by employees passing through the headqua ..read more
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Blue Bastards
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
2w ago
Plunge into the fray by Scott Sadil To be clear, lest I be charged, once again, with vulgarity, insensitivity or, God forbid, political incorrectness, the name is official, as stated in the scientific literature, not some sort of fabulist allusion borne of poetic license, nor yet another instance of Aussie slang and its penchant for the diminutive. Blue Bastard: Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus, a unique species, endemic to northern Australia, recent addition to the tropical sweetlips genus. Long known locally as a challenging game fish, the species escaped official recognition until 2015, when J ..read more
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Flies in the Classroom
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
3w ago
On learning outdoor pursuits from the great indoors by Teresa Mull It’s a Thursday morning on the first day of February, and Penn State’s University Park Campus is abuzz with bundled-up students bustling between classes. George Daniel meets me outside Recreation Hall—a prominent brick building that’s been a hub of Nittany Lion athletics since 1929. I walk quickly to keep up with my guide, a tall, lithe man who appears to do everything efficiently.  As we sweep through the ground floor of Rec Hall, I manage a glance at the expansive gym floor, set up this time of year for volleyball, gleam ..read more
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Reading the Water
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
1M ago
by Scott Sadil I missed the mouth of the estero, one of my favorites, as I headed north of the ocean boca at Santo Domingo, in the upper reaches of Magdalena Bay.  Must have been the morning fog, flattening the profile of the endless hedge of mangrove running along the eastern shore—plus, perhaps, my newfound racy clip, a steady two or three knots per hour, thanks to Tamalita’s sporty 5 HP propane motor, a remarkable leap into the modern age after years in the bay spent tootling about under the timeless power of wind and a pair of oars. Seemed as if I passed the mouth in the blink of an e ..read more
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Angling vs Fishing
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
1M ago
by Scott Sadil In a small pueblo such as Puerto Adolfo López Mateos, nestled in the mangrove-lined esteros in the northern reaches of Baja California’s Magdalena Bay, it’s impossible not to notice the profound, essential difference between angling and fishing. Nitpickers and master etymologists may choose to quibble with definitions, but the way I see it, angling is what sporting folk do with rod and reels, Tenkara enthusiasts notwithstanding, while fishing entails that timeless profession, perhaps the world’s second oldest, of wresting a livelihood by all manner of schemes and subterfuge from ..read more
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Thar She Blows!
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
1M ago
by Scott Sadil It doesn’t take a lot in the way of imagination to understand why many anglers are fascinated by stories about whaling.  All of us learned at a young age the difference between fish and mammals, that cetaceans, although creatures of the sea, share with us the familiar attributes of our land-based kin, be they dogs, horses, or our well-documented cousins, the apes and chimpanzees. Insights into our warm-blooded lineage did little to stop anyone from engaging in fantasies about what it might be like to attempt to hunt, hook, and restrain a whale, bringing it to boat and hand ..read more
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My First Fly-tying Class
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
2M ago
In which I learn just how patient fly fishermen really are by Teresa Mull Early morning (8:00 a.m.) Mass is always the fast one. There’s no choir. Father Matthias sings in 1.5x speed—a habit spilling over from weekday 8 o’clock services, when folks need to get in and out and off to work, perhaps, or a reward for the intrepid up-and-at-’em types shunning sloth? A mix of both, I’d imagine.  Last week, the 37-minute liturgy was going to be my speedy ticket to sanctity and enlightenment as I fulfilled my Sunday obligation before zipping off with plenty of time to spare to the “Intro to Fly Ty ..read more
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Does Color Matter?
Gray's Sporting Journal » Fly Fishing
by Sonny Williams
2M ago
by Scott Sadil Tying flies for an upcoming trip to Baja where, this time of year, I’ll make more casts in and around the mangrove-lined esteros than along the wild island beaches I favor in fall, I’m experimenting with a new element, a “structure guard,” that I’ve never employed in the past. Of course, I’ve already seen weed or structure guards on plenty of other flies.  But, as is so often the case, my first response on inspecting this or that so-called innovation has always been You don’t really need that.  Then, in Queensland, while we were fishing for barramundi, a guide showed m ..read more
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