I am getting ready to fish, and with much-needed rain coming, I know many rivers will be pretty swollen. For example, here is a recent chart showing flows of the Westfield River below Knightville Dam: One strategy is to wait for the flows to subside. Unfortunately, I usually don’t have much schedule flexibility: I have
Category: Techniques
Are Your Tippets Snapping?
I was fishing a local river, above a friendly angler. We were swapping tips and helping out each other. He was swinging wet flies. Hooked three. All three broke off as he set the hook. The tippet snapped. Now, I’m not an expert, but I’ve been thinking about his situation. He was using a pretty
Tippet Rings Rock
I last year started using tippet rings (Amazon.com link here). When a leader gets shorter and shorter throughout the day, you’re supposed to add tippet to it via blood knot. But, I’m not great at blood knots, and I’m particularly bad at them when I’m in a river. I’m too impatient. I instead use a
The Double Davy
I’ve tried a lot of knots. Over time, I’ve found the Double Davy to be the strongest, easiest to tie, and the one that minimizes tippet waste. I first heard about the knot from a magazine interview with Kelly Galloup of the Slide Inn, which is adjacent to the famed Upper Madison River. My favorite