Helping Disabled Veterans Heal – Fly Fishing as Therapy

Project Healing Waters has been recognized again for our continuous contributions to the veterans at the Bedford MA VA hospital. In total we have run over 50 events since 2009.

I agreed to start the Project Healing Waters fly fishing program at the Bedford Massachusetts VA hospital and serve as the team leader four years ago. I’d already been volunteering at the hospital and when this opportunity came along I jumped on it as it provided me the opportunity to “give back” while doing something I love.

My father in law was a highly decorated veteran (two Purple Hearts, Silver and Bronze Stars) for his service in World War II. He relied on the VA for much of his medical care and always spoke highly of the treatment he received.  I started volunteering at the VA in 2008 in memory of him.

Fly fishing is recognized as a very effective form of rehabilitation therapy as it combines structured physical activity, camaraderie and a healing peaceful environment. Here is a quote from a  typical story  “It’s incredible what we are able to do when we introduce people to fly fishing,” said John Bass. “These young men come to us beat up physically and mentally. Not all will stay with fly fishing but while they are with us it helps them.” Bass is himself a quadriplegic after breaking his neck in a pool diving accident.

I’d like to thank all of the other volunteer fly fisherman who help make this happen and Recreational Therapist Leah Sullivan from the Bedford VA for their continuous support and encouragement. This is a team effort and there is no way we could have pulled off all of the programs without everyone pulling together.

 

 

 

Mine's Longer Than Yours......My Cast That Is!

In preparation for my upcoming tarpon fly fishing trip to the Florida Keys with my sons John and Bill I took a long distance fly-casting class yesterday with Sheila and Bill Hassan www.cast90.com . Bill and Sheila are both FFF Master Certified Casting Instructors and offer a number of fly casting classes geared to all levels of expertise.

It’s All About Physics

Making long distance casts is not about how strong or tall you are, it’s about using the properly matched fly rod and line, understanding how they're meant to operate, and mastering your technique for maximum efficiency and distance. I used my Orvis Helios 10 weight rod with a forward weighted floating line. With respect to understanding how the rod and line are meant to operate keep in mind that only the first 40 feet of the line is weighted, so once you get out 40 ft. of line, all you are doing is flogging yourself and expending unnecessary energy by false casting to get out more line. You should “shoot” the rest of the line by properly “loading” the rod with your cast and then using the weight of the first 40 feet of the line and a nice tight loop to pull out the rest of the line. The Hassan’s recommend marking your fly lines at 40 and 60 feet. If you are a reasonable caster you should be able to comfortably cast 60 feet by false casting the first 40 feet of line and shooting the next twenty. Most of the time I’m fly fishing 60 feet is plenty. Getting further than 60 feet is all about technique.

To be honest about it, understanding and mastering great technique is pretty complicated, at least for me. I found myself having to unlearn a lot of stuff. I’ve fly fished since I was 10 years old but never had a formal lesson until yesterday. Even though I’m self-taught I’ve always been able to cast better than most of my friends so I’ve never paid too much attention to how they cast. That said I learned a lot from Sheila and Bill in the course of four hours that will make me much better and less tired after a long day of continuous casting. Speaking of which, pick up an Orvis Helios fly rod and you’ll see why they are popular. They are light as a feather and definitely easy on the arms on a long day of fly fishing.

Technique Makes All The Difference

Take it from me. If you want to learn how to cast properly, and learn fast, take a class or two with a certified instructor. My wife Sue previously took a class with Sheila and was damn good right from the get go. Much better than most beginners I’ve seen. That’s one of the reason I took the long distance class. I figure they had some secret sauce, which they do. I can’t write well enough and am not an instructor so I won’t even attempt to go into great detail about technique and how to maximize the distance of your cast, but here are a few easy to remember things I learned yesterday that will improve my casting.

·         Mark your line at 40 and 60 feet with a permanent magic marker

·         Make sure your rod tip is pointed at, and close to, the water and the line is straight in front of you when beginning your back cast. The surface tension of the water will cause your rod to flex as you lift the line on the back cast and further “load the rod” to increase the velocity of the line on the back cast.

·         Place your thumb parallel to the rod handle and forward right up to where the cork angle bends upward.

·         The rod butt angle should be 45 degrees on the back cast and zero degrees on the forward cast.

·         Accelerate the upward motion of your arm on the lift (back cast) and gain maximum speed towards the end.

·         Squeeze your rod handle and stop the backward motion of your arm when your hand is approximately parallel to your ear. This provides maximum load and velocity and helps maintain a high back cast with a nice tight loop. Tight loops retain more energy so the line goes further.

·         Use a single or double haul to further load the rod to increase distance.

·         Use a foot apart stance and slight side arm angle when saltwater casting for more power and stroke length.

·         To maximize the length of the “stroke” use “drift” on the forward and backward cast (extend your arm further a split second after you’ve stopped the travel of your arm in either direction). Longer stroke = more power.

·         Pinching the line on the last false back cast for a split second at the “proper moment” will further bend (and load) the rod tip increasing the distance when you “shoot” the line on the forward cast.

You can learn plenty by reading a book or watching videos but I highly recommending taking a class if you want to be a better fly caster. It’s inexpensive and a fast way to learn and you won’t develop bad habits that you will have to unlearn later. The class was only $75 for a half day of concentrated training and there were two instructors and only eight students which was a good ratio for individual attention. By the way, Sheila wrote a book about all of this which has great photos and detailed explanations on what I’ve covered here and much, much more.  Having a reference guide like hers makes it easy to remember each step and I intend to use it as a guide when I practice what I learned yesterday on the water. I bet the tarpon are getting nervous already! See www.cast90.com  for more information.

Tight lines.

3 Marine Science Facts & Tips To Catch More Fish!

Dr. Dave Ross of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Talk Last Week  

 "How a Little Science Can Help You to Find and Catch More Fish"

A few things I learned at Dr. Ross's talk on April 10th at the Woods Hole Library.

Captain Kirk's Universe

Captain James T. Kirk‘s mission was to seek out and explore new universes. He actually did not need The Enterprise to do that or to go very far. A row boat would have been sufficient and warp drive certainly isn’t necessary. 

Seventy one percent of our planet is covered by water and the ocean makes up 97% of that, most of which has never been explored. The ocean provides a unique universe right here on earth.  The sea is very different from the terrestrial world we are used to and has creatures stranger looking than Klingons.  Seawater is much denser than air and its molecular configuration gives it specific properties that fisherman can use to their advantage. Welcome to the universe of the fish. 

Sound, Odor, and Light Transmission in Water

Sound travels 5 times faster in water (4,800 ft/sec) than in air because water is denser than air.  Many fish can hear sound up to a mile or more away and use sound to locate their prey. They generally can only see about 60 ft. 

Tip one. Use lures that makes noise.

Odors/scent moves with and in the direction of the current. Some fish have a sense of smell 1000 times better than a dog, which is 1000 times better than ours and fish generally face forward in the direction of the current.  However, odors dissipate slower in water than in air and typically fish can only detect scent up to some number of hundreds of yards away. 

Tip two. Use scent and current to your advantage.

Avoid getting chemicals like suntan lotion or gasoline on your hands that can wind up on your lures and experiment applying “scent” to lures and fishing up current from where you think the fish are holding.

Light penetration of water is dependent on wavelength, water depth, and ambient light. Light effectively changes colors as you go deeper in the water column eventually making everything black.  Understanding what colors a fish can recognize depending on its location in the water column can make you a better fisherman.

Tip three. Use colors the fish will see easily depending on water depth and light conditions.

Red and orange disappear first, yellow and green are right in the middle and blue and violet travel the furthest. The reason Lefty Kreh says "If it ain't chartreuse it ain't no use," is because yellow/green is right in the middle of the spectrum and will show up under most daylight conditions.  Black and purple work best at night because dark lures provide contrast to the ambient light on the surface.

Remember sound trumps smell, eyesight, and color when it comes to locating prey from a distance. I’ll go into that in more detail in my next posting along with specific recommendations on lure colors, scents, and lures that make noise to attract fish.

Concord Rod & Gun Club Fishing Seminar Presentations - Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir and Fishing in Concord and Carlisle

Here are the slides from Jack Huntress’ talk at the Concord Rod and Gun Club about Largemouth Bass Fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir:

Quabbin bass from sckirk2

These are slides of Capt. Kirk's talk on fishing in the Concord and Carlisle area (starting on slide #12).  Lots of good information for both new and seasoned anglers including a list of the ponds and rivers. 

April 2013 Fishing in Concord and Carlisle from sckirk2

50 Fish Day Not Uncommon On the Quabbin in the Spring!

 

Jack Huntress gave a great talk last night at the Concord Rod and Gun Club on fishing the Quabbin Reservoir. It included tips on where and how to catch Smallmouth Bass and Lake Trout using trolling, live bait, and artificials. Jack said on warm spring days in the shallows it’s not uncommon to have a “lights out” 50+ fish days. I’ll be posting a PDF shortly of his presentation which will include information on access points for the lake, boat rentals, regulations, and where to catch what. 

 

I also talks about fishing in Concord and Carlisle and what you can catch (and where). As evidence of the “untapped resources” we have in the local ponds above is a photo if a 4lb+ Largemouth Bass my son Bill caught on Sunday in Concord on his way home from work. I’ll be posting that presentation as well which includes a listing of the ponds and rivers so sign up to receive my blog postings by going to the upper left hand corner of this page and entering your email address if you want to stay in touch.

Fishing Seminar- Tuesday, April 9 - Quabbin Reservoir & Local Fishing Spots

Bass Fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir

and

Where to Fish in Concord & Carlisle -- What You Can Catch

 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Concord Rod and Gun Club, 74 Strawberry Hill Rd., Concord, MA 01742

Jack Huntress of Carlisle will discuss the great bass fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir, one of the largest man-made public water supplies in the United States. Fed by the three branches of the Swift River and less than a two hour drive from Boston, Quabbin's water covers 39 square miles and has 181 miles of shoreline and is fishable from shore and boat alike.

Henry David Thoreau fished close to home. So can you. Captain Steve Kirk will discuss local ponds and rivers, access areas, recommended tackle and what you can catch in Concord and Carlisle. Locations include the Concord, Sudbury and Assabet Rivers, Warner’s, Walden, Buttrick's, Bates, Bateman, White’s, Great Brook ponds and the Carlisle cranberry bog.

Seminars are open to the public. A $5 donation is requested

Register at www.captainkirkenterprises.com

Program organized by Captain Steve Kirk, Pond Chairman CR&G Club

6 Reasons Wire Line Jigging Catches Big Striped Bass

Hairball Jigs With Fluorocarbon Leaders & 50Lb Wire Line

Made by Captain Eric Staplefeld of Falmouth MA

1: Wire Line

Wire is strong and cuts through the water with less resistance. This combined with the added weight of the line and the weight of the jig takes it deeper in the water column where the big girls hang out.

2: Weight

Traditional jigs are made of lead and sink fast and they tend to stay down even when “jigged” aggressively and their size can be matched to the predominant prey/bait and the water depth where the bigger fish are located.

3: Shape

They are available in many shapes meant to resemble everything from squid to crabs. Matching the shape of the lead head and the skirt to your fishing technique, water conditions, and what the bass are feeding on is important. When squid are around in the spring I use 3-4 oz. Hairball Jigs with rubber skirts to imitate a swimming squid. Later in the season on the sandy shoals off of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket I “bounce” bucktail, or jigs with equivalent skirt material, like the H-Bomb Tackle series pictured below, to resemble escaping crabs.

4: Color

Make sure it “matches the hatch”.  Also, certain wavelengths of light travel further than in water and contrast is very important as well. On bright sunny days use brighter colors. When in doubt try white and red, or yellow and white. In deep water, on cloudy days, or at night use dark -  try red, black, or purple. Experiment.  Sometimes fish key in on certain colors. No one knows why. Always bring an assortment of colors.

5: Scent

Add pork rind and/or a commercial scent product. I use both. Scents now come is all sorts of “fragrances” like squid, menhaden, sand eel, etc.

6: Sound and Vibration

I you read my other blog posts you know Stripers have a keen sense of hearing and “feel” both sound and vibration.  A jig snapped though the water correctly sets of a shock wave that the striper can “feel” with their lateral lines and hear with their ears. Sound is 5x louder underwater and travels further than in air. Use it to call in the bass!

Common Mistakes:

1: Jigging To Fast

Most striped bass hit on the back stroke. Let the jig drift back with a slow even motion of the rod and don’t be too quick to jig it forward again. Jigging is a bit of an art. Practice; you’ll figure it out.

2) Using a Long Monofilament Leader

Here’s the “Cliff Notes” explanation. Use a short 60-80 fluorocarbon leader no longer than 2X the length of the rod. It does not stretch like mono and puts more snap in the jig setting a more intense shock wave and louder noise. This provides an added advantage fishing in deep water where the big fish are, especially on cloudy days, in turbid water, or at night. Trust me. It works.  I learned it from Captain Eric Stapelfled of Hairball Charters. Without a doubt he’s the best wire line fisherman I ever met.

H-Bomb Tackle Jigs

 Made in Orleans by Family Business Owners Heather and Jay  Cestaro

Was this article helpful for you? If so join our email list. I’ll be posting information like this all season.