Fishing – Page 4 – Sporting Road

Light Weight Fly Fishing Rods

Please sign up here for notices about the new site I am launching on Rim Chung’s One Fly methods. I have been asked “What rod is Mr. Chung’s current favorite?,” on this blog. This will be the subject of a soon-to-be released article and a chapter in the book that I am in the works of publishing about his fishing methods. The short answers are that a Sage TZX 0710- #0 Line and the Sage LL 2-weight in 7’9”, are Rim Chung’s current all-time favorites. He also fancies several of his Winston rods and depending on when you ask him he often responds that the Winston Boron IIX 8'6", 3 weight is his all time favorite rod. My all time favorite is a Winston WT 8', 3-piece, 3-weight rod, and I exclusively fish Rim Chung's methods of nymph fishing. Another student of his prefers the Winston Boron III LS ; 3 WT 8’6", so it may be whatever you get used to becomes your favorite. Asking Rim which is his favorite rod used to be an easy question for him to answer, but now the usual response is something along the lines of "Well, that is a lot like asking a man about his favorite woman when he has the pleasure of so many to choose from in his lifetime. It becomes hard to compare one to the other. One might be in love with each one for what it represents and offers, without comparison to the others." I’ll attempt to let you in on an advance glimpse behind the invisible veil to catching more fish with his ultra-light weight fly fishing methods here. Mr. Chung has been fly fishing since the glass and bamboo rod era, when they were the only choices as anglers. Many times

By Sporting Road|November 24th, 2011|Categories: Fishing, Rim Chung, RS2|Comments Off

Trout Country: Reflections on Rivers, Fly Fishing & Related Addictions (Book Review 4/5 ****)

Bob Saile, Trout Country: Reflections on Rivers, Fly Fishing & Related Addictions. Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder, Colorado 1999. My favorite quotes or summaries are as follows: Aside from the Brassie, the most important contribution to the fly boxes of American anglers to come from South Platte lore is the RS-2 —an all-purpose nymph pattern that, depending on size, can resemble the aquatic stages of a midge, a mayfly, or even a caddis. RS-2 stands for “Rim’s Semblance, Style 2.” It was born in the tying vice of Rim Chung of Denver, a self-taught fly fisherman who began as a frustrated spin-fisherman. When Chung came to Colorado from Seoul, South Korea, in 1968, he had a strong desire to catch Colorado trout but only the weakest clues on how to go about it. He began to fish with spinning tackle but rarely caught anything when he encountered the selective trout of the Platte and other waters. Two years later, he was ready to give up. Then a friend suggested he take up fly-fishing. “What the hell is fly-fishing?” Chung asked his friend. Chung then began to fish with dry flies, but it was still frustratingly unproductive or, at best, inconsistent. Finally he met someone who offered to take him nymph fishing. “What the hell is nymph fishing?” Chung asked. His progression to becoming a successful trout fisherman was fairly swift after that. Chung developed his nymphing skills and learned to tie flies. He decided to try to develop a nymph pattern that was a general suggestion—a semblance—of almost any hatching aquatic insect, depending on size. What emerged was a pattern that is constructed with a Tiemco 101 hook that has a straight eye, in sizes as big as 14

By Sporting Road|October 12th, 2011|Categories: Fishing, Fly Tying, Rim Chung, RS2|Comments Off

Standing in a River Waving a Stick (Book Review **** 4/5)

Standing in a River Waving a Stick, New York: Simon & Schuster (1999) by John Gierach My favorite quotes or summaries from this book are: This business of changing fly patterns, looking for the right one, is central to the sport. All of us, secretly or otherwise, believe it’s the fly that makes the difference, although we’ll admit that even the right fly has to be cast accurately and drifted properly to work. Still, when someone is catching more fish than we are --- and when we’re not too embarrassed to ask--we say, “What fly are you using?” as if that one bit of information was all we needed. Okay, but if you ask three different fishermen you’ll probably get three different answers, so you have to suspect that although the knowledge passed on by other fly fishers is a great gift, the true solution is somehow yours and yours alone. Everyone I know who has fly fished for long has theories about fly patterns, all of which sound reasonable enough on a long drive or around a campfire.... The choice of a fly pattern for nymphing can seem too huge to comprehend, and I’ve seen nymph fishers standing like zombies on riverbanks, gazing into open fly boxes, literally frozen by indecision. (I recognize that when I see it because I’ve done it myself.) The thing is, aquatic insects spend most of their lives on the stream bottom, where they are regularly eaten by trout. Mayflies and stone flies have a nymphal stage. These are six-legged, armored bugs that fly fishers think are handsome but I heard one non-anglers describe as looking like wet cockroaches. Caddis flies and midges have bottom-dwelling larval stages that run into pupae

By Sporting Road|October 9th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Fishing, Fly Tying|Comments Off

Hunt, Gather, Cook (Book Review **** 5/5)

Hank Shaw is an award-winning journalist and makes his debut from his blogger's guide to a book on foraging, fishing, hunting, simply entitled Hunt, Gather Cook--and makes the most of the fruits of a day spent gathering food in the field. His blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, has developed an avid following among outdoor people and foodies alike. Hank Shaw's blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and which is more impressive than the book, can be found at: http://honest-food.net/ His poacher's blog, which is also worthy of mention, despite his bad-form tactics, can be found at: http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/

By Sporting Road|October 8th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Cuisine, Fishing, Recipes, Wingshooting|Comments Off

Smoked Salmon Bagel Sandwiches
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Smoked Salmon Bagel Sandwiches

Lox is a cured salmon fillet, usually sliced thin. Typically it is served on a bagel, often with cream cheese, onion, tomato, cucumber and capers. Lox can be crumbled into small pieces and added into scrambled eggs, sometimes with chopped onion. I have to confess, I never much cared for lox. At least, not when compared to freshly caught and smoked salmon, as lox is far too often too dry or too salty. Freshly smoked salmon is better, especially if you caught it yourself, fly fishing. While the Kokanee salmon run is on here in Colorado, we like to keep a few for smoking, as they die in their breeding rituals within the month of their run up the river anyway, so it seems a waste not to take advantage of their great flavor. And, the Togiak River is quite possibly the best King and Silver Salmon river in Alaska, from which our friend, Rim Chung, had just returned with some its delicacies. Numerous anglers who have fished all over the world describe the Togiak as incomparable for its salmon runs, as well as for its nearby trout and grayling fishing. All of the Alaskan and Northwest wild salmonoids are worth smoking, whether it is the Copper River salmon from your market, or something farther down the Sporting Road. We like our smoke salmon flaked on a hot, buttered bagel, topped with cream cheese and sprouts. It doesn't get simpler than this, nor better. Voila!

By Sporting Road|October 3rd, 2011|Categories: Cuisine, Fishing, Recipes|Comments Off

Fly Fishing La Loue in the Jura

The French Jura region bordering Switzerland are beautiful and amazing, even for those of us living in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. The streams in the Jura deserve their reputation as the best in France. Excepting the fame created by Charles Ritz's writings of the chalk streams of Normandy, the Jura is one of the rare regions in France with an international fly fishing reputation. There are many places that I fell in love with in France, but the Jura has something special and unique--the landscapes, the rivers, trout and grayling, the fly fishers and even the flies. Add the hospitable nature of the people, warm welcome at the hotels, and the rich and original gastronomy, lexapro. It is one of the few regions which produces both good cheese and good wine, which is rare to have both in France due to the differing climates required for dairy cattle versus grape production. The scenery is spectacular, from the river valley to the high plateaus. Sightseeing the source of the Loue is worth the short drive and hike. Also, the trips to the neighboring towns along the valley, prove to have enough to interest everyone from shopping, sightseeing, gourmet shops for the famed Comte cheese, local wine suppliers offering great wines at very inexpensive prices, and quaint outdoor cafes for a anise-flavored pastis to cool ourselves and warm our hearts. Parts of the valley reminded me of Venice where the river meets the houses built on stilts. Enough of the setting, let’s get down to fishing. The only downside to fishing the Jura is that the local fishing rules are impossible to understand, even for the locals (even Nick de Toldi, who guides there regularly, promised they would be

By Sporting Road|October 2nd, 2011|Categories: Fishing, France, Travel|Comments Off

The International Fario Club
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The International Fario Club

Charles Ritz, of the Ritz hotel fortune, spent considerable time studying the art of fly fishing in the American West, England, and France. His book, A Flyfisher's Life, is one of the few books in the English language discussing fly fishing in France. In the 1930's he became an authority on fly fishing in France and invented the parabolic fly rod, which is still used, and which was commercially produced by ABU Garcia. Mr. Ritz was an advocate of the high speed - high line style of fly casting. He founded the "Fario Club", which was the most select fishing club in the world during the later part of the twentieth century and remains so today. We enjoy regular gatherings in Paris and around the world, to enjoy the camaraderie of others similarly suited. The Club's website is presently being revamped, but it can be found at www.farioclub.org. The "Pays d'Auge" region is made up of the port towns two hours north of Paris, including Honfleur, Deauville and Trouville. It takes like two small hours to drive from Paris. After driving through the lush fields where dairy cows are milked for production of Camembert, Pont-Lévèque & Livarot, and passing apple tree after apple tree, so it is no surprise that Calvados is offered at every turn in the countryside, we followed in Charles Ritz's footsteps staying the same place he did at the mill of Aclou on the river Risle. The "Aclou Reach" is often mentioned as his favorite fishing spot, home to the brown trout. Pezon Et Michel Ritz Super Parabolic PPP Fario Club bamboo fly rod. This rod is 8’ 6” long and it is rated for 5-6wt fly lines.

By Sporting Road|October 2nd, 2011|Categories: Fishing, France, Travel|Comments Off

New Posts

Please check out all my new posts...which are hidden under separate pages and therefore don't show up here. Kohlrabi Mardi Gras La Buche de Noel Noel House Wine Hungarian Partridge with Gin & Juniper Berries Pheasant Confit Four-legged Friends Gary Ruppel Rim Chung Friends from the Sporting Road Jim Fergus

By Sporting Road|September 22nd, 2011|Categories: Cuisine, Dog Training, Fishing, Fly Tying, Recipes, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Colorado Trout Flies (Book Review ***** 5/5)

2008, Streamside Press, Lyons, Colorado. These are the stories of 34 fly tyers in over 300 pages, perhaps the greatest in the world, including legendary anglers, professional tyers, fly-fishing guides, and writers. The book focuses on the featured tyers, but it also details, with recipes and color photos, 68 of their favorite fly patterns. Colorado Trout Flies presents a unique and invaluable reference from veteran fly-fishing guide, Todd Hosman who lives near Longmont, Colorado. He is also the author of Fly Fishing Rocky Mountain National Park and Fly Fishing Colorado's Front Range. A.K. Best comments on the Colorado Trout Flies by saying, "Todd Hosman has written a fly tying book like no other. I know some of you may find that hard to believe, but it's true. Colorado Trout Flies reads like a who's who of noted Colorado fly tyers and some of the patterns they are known for. But more important, the book contains a short biographical sketch of each tyer that gives the reader some insight on what drove them to create flies that have become local and national standards. Colorado Trout Flies is destined to become a classic not only because of the reasons mentioned above, but also because the fly patterns will fool trout anyplace.” John Gierach says, “One of my favorite things about this book is that I'm in it, even though I don't tie professionally and never invented a fly pattern. All I've ever done is tinker with flies as I tied them for my own use, now and then coming up with minor changes that either made an existing pattern slightly better or at least didn't do any real harm. At least at the amateur level, fly tying is like folk music: The songs may be the

By Sporting Road|September 21st, 2011|Categories: Colorado, Fishing, Fly Tying|Comments Off

The Ultimate Field Picnic

I was sent a copy of this article on the ultimate picnic party wagon, which is a proper English wooden trailer converted for tailgating for polo matches. Polo Magazine- Party Wagon Article. I then discovered Christy's auction of Patricia Kluge's estate in Virginia, and found that after the Kluge divorce, John Kluge remarried and built another house nearby. This incredible picnic hamper is the piece de resistance of the auction. click article from the New York Times which appeared in December 2005. Apparently in the 1980's by the Kluges commissioned the London firm of Asprey, jewellers and silversmith to the British Royal Family, to fashion this picnic hamper containing a full service for sixteen. The wicker trailer holds some 15 wicker cases, each fitted with brass handles and leather straps, with battery-powered hot and cold boxes and a water pump, cases for Bernardaud Limoges china, Baccarat crystal, Asprey silver cutlery, a staghorn bar service, two folding mahogany tables and 16 chairs, complete with the "K" monogram. The set was estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 and sold for some $144,000. Although wicker carryalls have been used since the 1700s, the picnic basket was born in 1901, when British luxury-goods retailers like Asprey started stocking hampers filled with tableware for motorists to enjoy on country drives. See more at http://driven.urbandaddy.com/2011/08/17/meals-on-wheels/ and http://www.finesse-fine-art.com/Picnic/PicnicArticle.htm.

By Sporting Road|September 13th, 2011|Categories: Cuisine, Fishing, Foxhunting, Picnic, polo, Uncategorized, Wingshooting|Comments Off