Well hello, Happy belated New Year. I sincerely hope you all got to spend some time with your families over the holidays and are either filling your fly boxes for the 2021 season or are already out there fishing; or quite likely are doing both. Option three is more along the lines of where I am at as the weather has been relatively mild and we've had some water which is always good in my book.
I won't bore you with some outlandish tale and brag about some absurd and highly inflated number of days I spent on the water last year, although I've seen some rather laughable claims by some people both near and far. I will say that if you find yourself in that category of fisherperson who feels the undying need to justify your superior stature by inflating the number of days you allegedly spent on the water thinking that this will show everyone just how much better you are than the rest; I've got one simple answer to that folks, you clearly are making up for the lack of something and probably need to get your head checked. Most of us don't really care quite frankly how many days on the water resume is, even though it may have seemed important at one time in our lives, many recognize that as awesome as that sounds; being on the water all the time, there is this thing called life and responsibilities that are front and center. Although they often seem to get in the way of our fishing plans, when we tend to them regularly and keep a balance in those important things, the things we yield of utmost importance to our well being (fishing) get to happen a little more often.
Days spent on the water or at the vise equate to experience, but by no means is that a guarantee of one's ability, and heck who cares go do your thing. Ok enough of the rant, glad I managed to get that off my chest, butI digress. I write this post today to share yet another tying video and one that I think will resonate with a group of anglers out there. I enjoy fishing with a two handed rod from time to time and have found myself when not floating a stretch of water to resort to this style of fishing as it gives me the feeling that I am alone. Alone in the sense that pretty much everyone it seems these days on any given stretch of my home waters is fishing entirely nothing but a high stick through a very short expanse of water on a tight line with a pair of weighted nymphs. Fun for sure, productive absolutely, but often once you show some level of proficiency in this tactic, well quite frankly the challenge just simply seems to fade.
Whoah, wait a second, I think I just heard sirens go off and an explosion, I better run for the bunker as I know the hate police are coming to turn me in. Now I'm hating on "euro-nymphing" once again, quick call the mob and label me everything under the sun, I clearly must not fish this way so I am insecure about it. Dead wrong, don't be ridiculous. What I am trying to convey here is, if you're one of those people who have built a rather good skill set in that method and wish to challenge yourself a bit and do something that will feel a little more mellow and relaxing, might I suggest swinging streamers? Although one of the more enjoyable aspects of this style is learning to fish with a two handed rod, it really isn't a necessity although it will give your gear junkies an excuse to purchase another rig to add to your ever growing arsenal of rods. And to go hand in hand, it will force you to slow down and pick apart the water column differently as swinging a fly through mixed currents will create a plethora of other challenges you need to overcome.
The Mop Swinger will fit that style of fishing nicely. If you peruse back over a decade ago I did a tying video of a great simple rabbit strip streamer I called the mophead. The mophead although tied on a traditional style streamer hook is not only a great suggestive movement rich representation that works well on the retrieve, but many found it was a very successful fly on the swing as well. In todays video I will demonstrate a variation tied on a shank with a trailer hook, utilizing an updated material list based around the idea of shedding water more readily. So sit back, grab a beverage and enjoy the video. I will however admit, the first ten or so minutes are rant heavy, and oh yeah I do give my 2020 tying tallies in there, but only because I had a few inquiries in the last week. Have a great day and see you on the water