The Kitchen Sink

The Kitchen Sink

What to throw at the problem is the @#$%&$! problem. That fish are fussy, no frustrated angler will argue about and when it comes to fly fishing for Trout the debate quickly devolves into fly patterns? It is a question more worn than a green and gold jersey when the Boks are playing.
A process of elimination would seem a sensible strategy, but if you have a fly box of Liquorice Allsorts, then you’re likely to freeze your proverbial nuts off before you get lucky.
Winter at least narrows down your selection as the larger insects and terrestrials in particular are absent, but what you use also depends on your style of fishing. Most casual enthusiasts, due to limited time, favour a float tube and a sinking line of sorts, which means that your fly will, for the most part, be travelling more horizontally through the water column….Rip and Strip Streamer Fishing.
So we’re talking about attracting a fish as opposed to fooling it into thinking what you’re stripping is a real insect. Now whatever I suggest in size, shape, materials or colour will spawn a boring debate and every fly fisher has a valid opinion based on their personal experience. But, most would agree as the Trout start to fixate on each other, water temperature fuelling their urge to breed, of all the triggers, colour is the key.
Hence, in the height of Winter, you can use any colour as long as it’s Orange. Now I also like natural movement in my flies, so it’s open season on Turkey’s ( Marabou) and Bugs Bunny (Zonker strip). Add to this some weight, ala tungsten beads, to ensure my fly on the pause will also drop and can be stripped more vertically and I’m covering most basis. Some rubber legs have also been known to materialise after a few single malts. Now this might not resemble any earthly creature, but I choose function over form and you tend to stop asking why when your reel is singing.
If you think it might be too bright, then tone it down in which case you can never go wrong with an Olive contrast. It’s important that you have confidence in your fly, so you’re not changing too often and spend more time retrieving. Remember this is just one simple fly strategy applicable to Winter streamer fishing and by no means the only successful one.
The beauty of hunting still water Trout in Winter is that the water clarity affords you a visual. We tend to start casting or launch a tube before we think (which is just plain lazy) and the best advice any guide will give you is to find the fish before you start treating the water like a misbehaved puppy. All fish gravitate towards structure and in a dam Trout will move in a circuit or pattern, so take the time to observe surface movement or sight your target with any decent polarised glasses.
Naturally, you only need a floating line and generally due to water quality opt for a small fly. This is not a party you can crash, it requires a subtle invitation, so try not to spook them with your cast……a longer leader helps. And most importantly don’t cast at the fish, pick the direction and lead it by a couple of rod lengths. The trick is to either let it find your fly by forward-thinking / casting or get its attention with a tap on the door, loud knocking will get you nowhere.
Any nymph might do, but I’m a fan of Peacock’s and their hurl, so I don’t experiment much with anything else. My only variation would be a gaudy attractor above the little nymph, just in case a horny cock fish is spoiling for a fight.
I’m not a big believer in having to go down to ultra-light tippet when Trout are in spawning mode, just concentrate on minimal and gentle casts, no slapping the water!
Aside from these two Winter fishing options, I always carry a bastardised version of a Dragon, to work any weed beds as well as a white fly for the early evening.
So you don’t have to pack the kitchen sink and if I had to pack only five flies for a Winter fishing excursion, they would be -:
– The Alien Bugger
– Psychedelic Blob
– Peacock Nymph
– Red-eyed Roach
– White Death
And remember, sight casting is infinitely more satisfying than blindly chucking a line, hoping that something will swim by.
Troutdemic

Troutdemic

I thought it would never end!

 

O.k, so you can’t have a legal smoke of satisfaction after the act or toast in celebration with your fishing buddies, but at least you can get out of jail and back on the water.

That it is a pandemic there’s no debating, from where, we’ll probably never really know and it’s not going to help if we did, but quite frankly I’m sick and tired of it monopolizing the conversation. We need to look forward and focus on the important things in life from which we derive so much pleasure…your love life notwithstanding.

 

At the very least, you should by now, be planning your immediate fishing trip and have your Mrs. begging you to get out the house. The more experienced of us anglers in a committed relationship would have orchestrated that our better halves came up with a fishing trip suggestion in the first place. If you’re wondering how this miracle of ingenuity is achieved, you clearly need a lesson in how to win feuds and irritate the fairer sex.

Sourveldt Top

So on the fly fishing front, what to do? It’s Winter so the options are two….try target some Largies, which can be quite challenging at the best of times or find a deserted piece of Trout water and enjoy the solitude of the Rainbow season.

Get your fishing in where you can, but considering how precious your fishing-time is, make sure that it lives up to your expectations.

 

The WildFly waters of KZN are ones that are firing right now, with Trout over 50cm being recorded daily and many looking like Trophy specimens. Lack of any rod pressure coupled with the plummeting mercury is witnessing some prize fighting specimens chasing down even the ugly flies, as I can bear testament to.

 

 

Finding the fish is relatively easy, with gin clear waters making for some exceptional sight fishing. They are already acting like irresponsible adolescents, chasing each other around, as the cocksure males fight for their conjugal rights. This makes fly selection a no brainer! Targeting spawning fish is beneath some fly fishers, but if you want to catch feral dam Trout in these water temperatures, you’ll stumble across these antics by default and as they can’t breed in a still water, you’re having no impact on the fishery gene pool, so relax and enjoy.

 

 

The beauty about fishing in the brass balls of a Midlands Winter is that you can catch good Trout at any time of the day, hatches might be non existent but they will chase down your eighties disco imitation from a block away. What exact pattern they prefer will have fly tiers drive you to drink (I never believe an angler who ties more than he fishes anyway), but in my experience when they switch onto colour they are quite indiscriminate and my only rig variation is on line and nymph size if they are moving on the surface. Chances are the reason you catch more fish on a specific pattern is because you fish that fly more often, but that said, I always have a #14 white death at hand for that evening rush hour.

 

They will get fussier as the season progresses, so stop deliberating and get your pink ticket stamped. Take a look at the new website www.wildfly.co.za and get motivated by the Trout waters on offer. If there’s one good thing to come out of this Lockdown it’s going to be how much you appreciate being on the water again.

 

Here’s to seeing your next fishing results on Fishbook

 

"...and don't panic"

"...and don't panic"

‘…..and don’t panic!’ is a phrase that your fishing guide will advise when you hook into a Trophy fish just before the pandemonium erupts. The problem is that when someone tells you not to panic it usually means that there is  something to panic about.
The fact that we can’t fish in the foreseeable future is cause for some alarm and even after a solitary week in lockdown many are already bouncing off the walls, desperate to throw a line.
Fishing we might argue is an essential service or in my opinion a medical necessity, it’s a proven fact that time on the water reduces our stress levels and if not for your mental health, your wife or better half’s sanity could well be at stake. I would not make light of the necessary hygiene precautions, but hello, if allowed to fish, we’d actually be in the water, just add soap!
Social distancing is the only way to flatten the curve, on that I couldn’t agree more….so let me go fishing, there really isn’t a better way to isolate us anglers. Granted, we’d have to forego the celebratory beverage after each angling adventure, but I’m happy to raise a glass to a setting sun in the absence of good company and if forced to choose between the fish and my friends, there’s always WhatsApp.
Alright, so my case is not going to hold any water in a court of law or with any rational citizen, but as mentioned I’m going off my head not being able to fish. It’s my medication FFS, ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you that I suffer from a serious personality disorder that is directly linked to casting a fly and if I don’t get my weekly dose…….I am a grumpy miserable brat, if my Missus is to be believed.
‘So what to do?’ ‘Anything that can get you out of the list of household chores that has suddenly appeared!’
Hence here are a few suggestions on what we can do in preparation for the imminent prison break:
1. Sort out the tackle, it’s long overdue a good clean out and then make a list of what’s needed when your retail therapy time is allowed.
2. Polish up on your skills, so you can spend less time fiddling and more time fishing…
    a. knots and rigs, learn a new one!
    b. casting – set up a small accuracy range with some objects as targets.
    c. try to stay away from the swimming pool….your family won’t understand
    d. learn something new, no time like the present to start tying flies
3. Plan your next few fishing excursions, you don’t know when, but where and how logistically….the prices might even be cheaper when we venture out.
4. Sort out your old fishing photos….memories are as good inspiration as you’re ever going to find.
Then, when you can whip up a deadly rig, in under a minute, flick it with a beer in hand, hitting any moving target, relax and watch one of your favourite fishing programs.
If after all this you feel the urge to come out of your angling isolation and get on with the household chores, you really don’t have a fishing problem!
Look after your loved ones and keep everyone else in casting distance.
Time Stand Still

Time Stand Still

You blink and the year has gained a momentum that leaves you wondering if the holidays were just a figment of your imagination. For every family man or those unfortunate enough to be committed to a partner who just can’t comprehend your infatuation with fish, ‘the holidays’ can be a relative phrase. Obligation might seem like a heartless term, but be honest with yourself, how much time did you spend doing exactly what you wanted to do in December? Life is all about compromise, but if you weren’t allowed to throw a line over the festive season, then you need to get in touch with that pig-headed brute that climbed down from the trees and grow a set!

A fishing resolution is a simple one, spend more time doing it. Which, considering we’re already looking back at January and you still haven’t bent a rod, your year planner is in need of some resurrecting

We’re lucky that most fish have a season, so at least we can plan our campaign on what to target when. Understanding that your time is the most significant constraint, coupled with the post-festive season finances, you want to take a good look around at your local options to wet your appetite, hopefully not resorting to the Koi in your neighbor’s pond.

Being ‘invited’ to an event is always a guarantee for some quality fishing time, but don’t wait for that call, create it, get the lads together and make it happen. Should you be in that unenviable position of having to justify a boys weekend, you can always pitch it as having been selected, which brings me to the most important aspect. Join a club! You don’t have to attend all the meetings, or even read the newsletter ( although it will generally improve your fishing), but it gives any fishing trip some legitimacy on the face of it…..hell, start your own club, that way you get to control the whole process.

Then you have to plan at least one big excursion. Now, this isn’t always possible every year, so if not then get it in your and everyone else’s sights for 2021. The incredible benefit of fishing is the places it takes you to, so make sure you get out of your comfort zone and reach for a new destination and notch up some fresh species. If necessary and I say this with caution, plan your next family holiday around this. This can of course backfire should you not have ensured that the fishing far outweighs the tourist attractions. For, as enthralling as the environment and cultural history might be, should you be within casting length of tailing fish whilst listening to some tour guide drone on, it’s likely to end in a proverbial boxing match.

Consistency is the key, as it gets your friends, works colleagues and above all family to associate you with the sport…..and yes they need to be convinced that it is a sport!

Granted, it lacks the agility of football or the speed of a Hussain Bolt and the average angler is no Swartznegger to look at, but finesse and skill it certainly takes, as all of us know, having seen the seasoned Pro consistently teach the fish a lesson. And that’s the real point, all it takes is practice. As a good friend of mine once advised me, ‘There’s nothing wrong with your fishing that a decade or two on the water won’t fix!’

The benefits of the great outdoors are irrefutable, as more than ever in today’s manic society, the need for a digital detox is paramount and provided each time you go out fishing, you don’t have to Uber home and stumble incoherently into bed, your better half will realize that this is valuable time in which you get to destress and make sense of our existence.

So stop making excuses as it’s not about making every cast count, it’s making sure you don’t have to count your casts.

Reflecting on 2019

Reflecting on 2019

Reflecting on a fishing year can be quite frustrating when you consider the hours you have actually spent fishing versus the time you undertook to give yourself at the beginning of the season.
Excuses there are many, most validated by the need to bring home the bacon and not having the time to indulge yourself. It’s the realisation of another year passing you by that drives home the simple truth that time is one commodity you just can’t buy, so you better bloody spend it wisely.
I get to fish more than most folk, living in the heart of Trout country and also being fortunate enough that my passion for fly fishing is my means of making a living. But pictures and programmes rarely tell the timeline of any journey and 2019 has seen our intrepid bunch of anglers sweat bullets for any result.
An Angolan Tarpon adventure kicked off my year, but with rains not falling in the highland meant an absence of fish in the Kwanza estuary…6 days, no fish! This was immediately followed by a road trip across the boerewors curtain to Gkhui Gkhui and a chance to hone our dry fly skills. On the day of our arrival Van Der Kloof dam above, decided to release water, resulting in us not throwing a fly. Four days and not a rod even assembled.  En route back, an attempt to recover the tour at Sterkies saw an initial run on the sight fishing that this beautiful lake is renowned for, but a kidney stone had other ideas, giving me a few days in the hospital to sulk about the sad state of affairs.

Kwanza River

Fortunately, March kept me at home base and the onset of Autumn restored by spirits with some productive sessions on the Brown Trout rivers and trophy Rainbow lakes that WildFly has nurtured since the turn of the century.

Brown Trout at trophy Rainbow lakes nurtured by WildFly

With a new Four Seasons hotel opening, Desroches in Seychelles was next on the cards and I can honestly tell you that I didn’t sleep the week before, such was the overwhelming excitement…until we got there! The weather has put paid to many a fishing excursion, but to have nothing but rain for the next four days and a sea that no skipper would attempt to fish in, witnessed the dampened spirit go demented.

Bonefish at St. Josephs

Luckily a brief day’s break in the storm got us onto St Joseph’s and I revelled in the acceleration of the bonefish and wallowed in being able to land the holy grail of the IndoPacific Permit. My mojo was back and the wheel really turned in April with an invite to the legendary atolls of Farquhar and Alphonse, with Fly Castaway and the Alphonse Fishing Company respectively.

IndoPacific Permit

St. Josephs

Fishing is measured by many scales, but in the two decades that I have been filming with a fly, never have I experienced such an incredible saltwater fishery. There was scarcely a species that wasn’t ticked off the bucket list, and witnessing the GT’s around the feeding frenzy of birds off Goelette was as humbling as it gets.
It is worth noting that during the 18 days that these 3 unbelievable destinations were available to explore, only 8 were fishable due to the torrid climatic conditions.
A trip to Mozambique, hosting prize winners, was squeezed in May, forcing me to polish my guiding skills and getting a fresh appreciation for the marine life off the coast of Bazaruto island.
June/July was the TOPS Corporate Challenge, which in its 18th anniversary set a festivity benchmark that keeps Notties legendary. As host, I don’t fish, but reliving the fly fishing exploits with every entrant after each day is immensely satisfying, knowing that the Trout have thrived despite being in a drought cycle in South Africa.

TCC Leg 2

Tops Corporate Challenge

And it is always the weather gods who have the last say, the August and September winds and unsettling pressure systems destroyed a lot of chances to tour, but we forced a ‘Kalahari Outventure’ down the mighty Orange and words just cannot do it justice. Majestic scenery, translucent water teeming with large and smallmouth yellows is only surpassed by the lack of digital interference and camaraderie that a rafting adventure embodies.

Kalahari Outventures

The Mighty Orange

Early October got us back to my favourite wilderness area on the planet, the lower Zambezi at Bains River Camp…but the wind was relentless. It might have given us respite from the 40-degree heat, but it was enough to give you ingrown hairs.
A trip to IFTD in Colorado, a stone’s throw from the Rockies coupled with chalk stream territory in the UK followed, but the old foe of Father Time just wouldn’t accommodate any fly time.
By November, if you haven’t had your fly fix, the Koi in your pond starts to look inviting, but again thankfully I’m in the Trout belt and few know that this is the most underrated lake fishing month of the year. So with a bunch of reprobates, I enjoyed the finest weekend of Trout fishing that I can remember, ending my year on a complete high.
I can never say that I don’t get the opportunity to fish, but I can safely say that this year we literally bled for those that we landed. I’ve often wondered how many casts it takes to catch a fish, but compound fractions just aren’t my forte. Fortunately, on our fishing journeys, it’s the “Royal We” that captures the memories and I’m lucky enough to have Brad, Jeremy and Rhuan to enjoy some unforgettable expeditions with.
When it comes to your fishing year, remember it’s only with good mates that you’ll savour any experience and above all, time doesn’t stand still, so don’t let any opportunities go begging.
The Infallible Trout Fly

The Infallible Trout Fly

Floating around a lake, stuffed into a tube is to many a gentleman fly fisher like replacing a chess set with checkers pieces. It’s still a game but lacks the same finesse and skill or so many traditionalists would have you believe.

But is it legalized trawling?

Gently finning with your line in the water is how you get from bank to bank and anyone who claims they have not caught a Trout in this fashion would have me raising an eyebrow about any of their fishing tales.Yet, to aimlessly kick around a dam will generally frustrate you and your fellow anglers and yield not much more than severe hamstring cramps.

A V-Boat definitely makes the job a whole lot easier, not too mention more comfortable, but the fact that you can access so much of the dam means that it does require a definite strategy.

When to tube is the first decision you need to make and early morning and late evening is when you don’t need to launch, as the Trout are in the upper reaches of the water column anyway and very often patrolling the shoreline, low light making them less vulnerable to predators.

 

Once afloat, it’s Where to focus your effort.

Trout, like any other resident fish are structure orientated, so you want to be casting into this structure, not over it or sitting on it. Positioning yourself off solid weed beds and bank, working your fly around this shelter and food source will give you reward to match your casting enthusiasm.

But What fly? I have recently had an epiphany in this respect.

After countless hours of fumbling at the vise and enduring ridicule at my imitations from our social brethren, I finally tied the definitive pattern. It had the right weight, perfect color combination and it moved like a distressed damsel begging for it.

In a single day it accounted for more takes, charges and catches than I can recollect, forcing me to announce to my cabal of envious detractors that I had cracked the code. ‘Pack away your fly boxes with such pitiful imitations and pay attention!’, I preached.

 

It not only looked the part, but the proof was in my Trout pudding, behold……the pictures were circulated faster than the latest Zuma joke and elicited nearly as much interest as some of the more nubile photos that adorn our whatsapp group. I have never had such an undisturbed satisfying sleep.

After toying with the idea of applying for an honorary appointment to the international fly tiers guild, I was back on the water the following day dispensing advice to Jeremy with a wry air of indifference.

And I patiently waited until another half a dozen fish had been landed, before indulging in a big slice of humble pie.

‘What’s the fly ?‘ I begrudgingly asked.

 

The MGB will mean nothing to you, as most fly acronyms do, to those that did not give them a title, but over course of the morning Jeremy proceeded to teach me yet another lesson.

I managed a Trout or two on my new “infallible” pattern, but was properly whipped and suitably contrite.

 

After much conferring, what was of noteworthy interest was that regardless of pattern, the majority of Trout were charging at the fly on the hang or by inducing the take. Just lifting your rod, right at the end of your retrieve, bringing your fly up through the water column……..the trout were chasing and smashing it right on the surface.

This was especially apparent when fishing into a weed bed, that was inaccessible from the bank.

My preference is terra firma but to not have a float tube when exploring a dam is really handicapping yourself.

Oh, I’ve also come to the realization that you never really invent a fly pattern, you only build on another’s foundation, stealing good ideas and giving it your own personal twist………thankfully fly patterns can’t be patented!

Wild River Browns

Wild River Browns

At long last the river season is officially now open in the Natal Midlands, although we are still waiting and hoping for some early rains to flush the system and get those big Brown Trout moving.

The Snow melt would have certainly helped and with a little luck assisting in some respect to their successful breeding.
There are many rivers to choose from in Natal, with the wealth of our Drakensberg Catchment, but the Mooi still remains my firm favourite for good reason. Not only is the entire course of the Mooi from the Kamberg Nature reserve to the new Spring Grove dam largely protected from poaching by private landowners, but it also has very little intensive farming along it’s banks, conserving the water quality admirably.
I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy some incredible fishing over the last decade, from the headwaters at Riverside, compliments of the Mollers to the lower reaches of InverMooi that have been left as a wild fishery in which to stalk your prey.
               
At this time of year, the water is still quite thin, so one needs to tread stealthily if you expect to sight cast to your fish and more often than not you will find the more worthy specimens in the head or tail of the chain of pools that characterise the waters flowing through InverMooi.
River Browns are undoubtably the smartest of the Trout that we will find in South Africa, having the keenest eyesight accordingly to scientific journals. So here’s a few tips if you want to convert a few of your casts.
1. Pack away your big ugly patterns in Spring and have faith in that the wily brown will see your size 14 or smaller patterns.
2. A floating line is all you will need in this water level and current, as by simply lengthening your leader you can fish the entire water column, if you decide to nymph.
3. Make sure you don’t fish anything heavier than 4x tippet, preferably fluorocarbon and 12ft is a suitable leader length for your 3wt stick.
4. Less casting will equal more fish. If you believe the fish can see your small fly, then your fly line repeatedly hitting the water will definitely announce your presence.

5. Trout generally are easier to find in a river than a dam, as the obvious ‘lies’ will be were they have-:
a. Protection for predators – i.e. undercut banks or submerged structure
b. A break from the current – no fish likes to waste energy fighting fast flowing water
c. In well oxygenated waters – this is as important for the invertebrates on which they feed as it is for them.
All of the above, equals an opportunity to feed quickly and return to the safety of their lie.
6. Then it’s a matter of drifting the right fly over your designated spot naturally – water dragging on your fly line is what you want to prevent here. Only after you have presented and drifted your fly over the lie precisely a few times, should you think of changing fly or moving on.
7. Above all, don’t rush, it’s not about how much water you cover as you gradually move upstream, but more about covering the water properly.
Fishing for wild Brown Trout will teach you patience, but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing it all come together and earning your fish.
As I am fond of saying there is no substitute for time on the water and you can’y pay a good guide enough. Fortunately for fly fishers visiting the Midlands this season, InverMooi has just opened a range of luxury cottages, giving you access to a wonderful section of the Mooi, as well as some very productive still waters on this majestic farm…….Macnab and Malachite dam as they are known, actually caught the most fish in this years TOPS Corporate Challenge.
            

Get your booking in early, as this gem is without a doubt the finest new fly fishing venue around. Contact

we***@wi***********.com











 to reserve your space.

 

Midlands Trout Season

Midlands Trout Season

The first frosts of the season is something worth celebrating from a Winter fishing perspective. It is a time in which the Trout embrace the colder water temperatures and feed a little more aggressively before they switch into spawning mode.

We have started to record minus degree Celius mornings here in the Midlands, with the crisp air ushering in the welcome change. It’s time to check the waders for untimely leaks, dust off those sinking lines and ensure that you’re prepared for the still water season.
Early mornings continue to be more productive at the end of Autumn, with that magical hour of first light baring witness to the surface action that we all crave. Innovative Frog patterns and popping for Trophy Rainbow Trout have seen some great specimens come from waters whose clarity usually demands flies in the 14 to 18 size range. Inducing that fish to charge at something on the top is the epitome of fly fishing and changing the way which one targets fish on fly teaches us all that the next great pattern or technique lies in the dreams and schemes of the generation willing to adapt.
When the weather has allowed for it, the early evening rise is still evident, with those elusive Brown Trout ignoring any vulgar bugger thrown in their direction, opting to sip a size 16 Elk Hair or Tent Wing Caddis drifting by.
We have been more fortunate in terms of rainfall than the rest of our drought stricken country and consequently the majority of the Trout dams are still holding at about 80% of capacity. The weed beds of many dams are now well exposed, creating a little turbidity at the waters edge, but not enough to cut off visibility for the fish still hunting along the fringes for any aquatic invertebrates. At this time of year, one is torn between fishing a very imitative pattern slowly around said structure or resorting to the guerrilla tactics of bright disco flies retrieved at drag racing finesse and speed.
It’s important to be prepared for both options, as we are already seeing the cruising fish, patrolling the rocky outcrops and dam walls, gravitating towards anything resembling a spawning bed. Whilst the purists will opt to look for feeding or cruising fish from the edge of the bank, there is no denying that float tubing will see more Trout landed when fishing any dam. The ability to cover more water is the simple mathematical advantage and couple this with being able to present a fly into a weed bed as opposed to over it and from the comfort of your V-Boat you definitely have the upper hand. Intermediate lines are preferable to fast sinking when wanting to fish the water column effectively, as quite frankly your fly spend more time in the water and patience will allow you to fish the full depth of 5 to 10 meters being the extent of most Midlands Trout waters. There is no doubt that the right line will mean less casting and more fishing!
Patterns that are performing come in many shapes and sizes, but by and large, streamers are what are being more commonly fished, in a Zonker or Minky style. with Olive and Black being the basic go to colours in naturals and vivid orange or red variations giving a spawning trigger to the rip and strip brigade. The Bully Bugger continues to irritate the Trout into striking, regardless of water or rod pressure. As usual the WildFly lads have been designing and fishing a multitude of weird and sometimes wonderful flies, never worried about tradition or convention, with results being driving force behind their adaptations. With the precious little time that we all have to enjoy Winter Trout fishing on dams, knowing how to fish the right pattern is the difference between a long cold day on the water and memories shared time and again around the warm hearth of Notties pub.
Here’s to breaking the mould and sharing the wealth of knowledge amongst all catch and release fly fishers.