Flicking feathers

Another old one from www.sexyloops.com   I lost an enormous carp last week. Enormous. It would easily have been my PB had I landed it, but I didn't. It's hard not to feel bad when things like that happen, but the questions that come of it can be useful or the answers can be at least. I had been a pretty slow day, I started fishing some bouldery pockets below a dam looking for bass but only picked up one little guy and saw nothing else but carp for hours. Eventually I decided to switch over and start targeting the carp. I should have done it earlier than I did, but sometimes I can be too stubborn for my own good. Anyway it didn't take too long to get an eat which even though the fish wasn't very big, was a bit of a day saver. Then I came round a bend where the riffle between the pools dumps into a deep pocket with a concrete diversion and tetrapods turning the river and creating a big slack backwater behind the eddy. There were about 12 fish, all big, and the biggest, we

 Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com Last week I wrote about wets for the mayfly. Their appearance is imminent and may even be starting in some places, so I thought I'd suggest a few dry patterns to compliment them this week. Now, if you already have favourite dry mayfly patterns for the rivers they'll most likely do fine for lochs and lakes.  The Wulffs are a great example of a style that crosses over well, yellow olive and grey being my favourites.  There are of course some that I don't think transition as well; Ollie Edwards'  Mohican mayfly makes an excellent, high floating pattern that works great on rivers and it will catch fish on stillwaters. Unfortunately, I've found it to be a less effective hooker on the lochs- I suspect the fly being essentially static or gently driftng with the breeze rather than drifting quickly past the fish on a river eliciting a different eat that is the reason. Similarly there are some patterns that are probably better su

 An old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com I'm terrible at naming flies. Or at least, terrible at it most of the time, when I actually come up with a fly that's reasonably original I can come up with something. It's probably because, I don't really think most patterns warrant a new name. We're probably stuck with the old style naming where there essentially only a few different flies, but loads of names for what are essentially just colour different colour combinations. I mean, look at the Kate Mclaren for example, is it really anything other than a black & brown bumble? No it isn't. And that's by no means unusual. Almost everyone calls hedgehogs sedgehogs now,  because Stan Headley renamed it after putting a hackle on it.  I think the hackled version didn't need a new name, even if sedgehog is probably better branding.  The thing about names though, they have some kind of power. I've noticed this several times recently. Folk raving about the blac

 Another old one from www.sexyloops.com It's turning into another strange spring. I was looking forward to the end of the smallmouth spawn over the next week or so, I've some new streamers to test on the hungry post spawn fish. But that might not work out as planned after all. After lifting the lockdowns and letting us all out in time for people to have their cherry blossom parties (POD is from 2012, I stayed home this year) and drive case numbers up, it looked like the government here was going to announce another state of emergency.  But....the Olympics or something. What has actually happened is that they have announced a very unclear partial state of emergency, which no one seems to understand. Luckily fishing is still allowed during an SOE here, but the new partial measures might cause some difficulty. There's potentially something about not crossing prefectural lines, which will mean that living in corner between 3  I could be a bit stuck-or maybe have greater flexibi

 Another old one from www.sexyloops.com   The spring fishing has been good to me so far this year, unseasonably warm days from January onward meant some nice carp were caught, along with some big prespawn smallmouth before the maruta arrived which meant good fishing for them as well as the carp and barbel that were following them in the hope of getting some eggs to feed on. Now though, I'm coming to a bit of a quiet spell in my fishing. Spawning almost complete, the maruta are trickling out of the rivers round here. The carp and barbel are starting their spawning, or getting ready to, and the smallmouth won't be far behind. An unexpected cold front at the start of the week means I might manage one more smallie trip this week before they start getting busy. I don't mind it so much, it gives a bit of time for reflection, cleaning gear, swapping lines, tying flies and all the other little things that need looking at. It's actually been pretty interesting for me to look bac

 Another old one I did for www.sexyloops.com I have a Japanese friend who's always trying to get me to go fishing with him on mountain lakes and streams for tiny yamame trout and iwana char. I can't really motivate myself to do it when there are other species that are so much more interesting to me here in Japan. Growing up in the Scottish countryside I think I was quite spoiled with some of the fishing that was available to me; 20lb plus pike were not that unusual, perch over 2lb fairly common, not to mention the excellent lochstyle fishing available on the likes of Leven, Carron valley and the island lochs, then there's the lowland rivers.  I find it hard to enjoy fishing for trout here, especially when I've tried to replicate lochstyle in the lightweight boats that skate along like an empty crisp bag when you try to set a drift.  Maybe it's my general mindset, but I just get frustrated. That said, there are many and varied opportunities here that don't exist

 Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com  Although smallmouth bass are generally thought of as a warm water species, February and March offer some of the best fishing here and it's certainly not warm. I usually switch between big streamers of 12-15cm and small crayfish depending on the water I'm fishing-a few of the rivers are just big long riffles that flow too quickly for presenting a crayfish imitation slowly on the bottom. Received wisdom is that the bass key on crayfish and don't chase bait till the water warms up a bit, but actually this is very river dependent in my experience and some of my biggest smallmouth have come on big baitfish patterns in the early part of February. It pays not to be too fixed on what's "right" sometimes! That said, on the rivers here that have more sedate flows I will always have crayfish flies ready, especially early in the year. Bass like them, and numbers of fish always seem higher. There is something of a numbers vs

Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com   The cherry blossoms are coming into bloom and spring is definitely on the way here, which means that the maruta are arriving in the rivers here in Japan. I imagine that if you've heard of the maruta at all, it's been in an FP I've written and mentioned them in passing. The maruta is an anadromous member of the dace family, native to mainland Japan. They look cool with lateral stripes of black, orange and white.  Unlike European dace, they get fairly big averaging probably 60cm fork length when they return to spawn. The best rivers for them are the main arteries running into Tokyo bay, and the weekends will see some very busy riverbanks as the locals, and visiting anglers from around the country rush to take advantage. When I first started fishing for them it was often a bit of a struggle, most people were swinging small streamers. It did work, but didn't really feel like the catch rate was in keeping with the numbers of fi

 Another old article I wrote for www.sexyloops.com Last week I cancelled my fishing because of a horrendous storm which was disappointing. But at least I managed to make good inroads to a dry fly box I'm working on. It did mean that I spent the whole week looking forward to making my first smallmouth foray of the year, especially as we've had almost a week of 20degree weather. I was super keen. Leaders tied, bag packed well before the usual night before scramble. Unfortunately, I ended up spending most of Monday morning on the fraud line with my bank as my card had been cloned. Another Monday's fishing knocked on the head. After moping around for a bit,  I mustered enough motivation to take the rod for a walk down my local river. With the unseasonably warm weather the fish were feeding, but were still a bit less active than I expected. That said looking down from a bridge I could still see several fish with their tails up.  Encouraging.  I spent the next couple of hours str

Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com Quite appropriate as I'm getting ready for this Autumn's 1st seabass trip in Tokyo bay on Monday.   As Bernd deal's with a freeze, we're starting to warm up here. It's still down at or around freezing at night, but with daytime temperatures getting up to double figures and the days slowly stretching out, I can't help but feel some sense of optimism about the coming season.  The seabass are well and truly back from the spawn and they're in good condition too. I was out the other night and although it was freezing with sleet and rain we managed a few fish.  The timing of that and the warming weather is probably playing a big part in my anticipation-even wearing good waterproof gear a cold soaking definitely puts you in the mood for summer.   I'll probably have time to do another few trips before I leave them alone and focus completely on enjoying the day time fishing through spring and summer.  The warmer days

Another old one from www.sexyloops.com  pertinent as it's really getting to big fly time on Tokyo Bay Over the last few years, the seabass fishery in Tokyo bay seems to be changing a bit , partly driven by the conventional guys throwing large swimbaits and by a few people determinedly using Popovic's BEASTs and the like to target the bigger suzuki size specimens. Big flies are becoming much more accepted as viable fish catching tools for much of the year .And I like it! The problem is balancing the tackle for 20cm+ flies with Japanese seabass as they're certainly not 10wt fish.  They're a lot of fun on a 6, with an 8 being plenty of rod for even the biggest suzuki. For the longest time when tying large flies, I'd been focused on making them light. Relying on a large enough hook to keel the fly and, using water shedding materials and tying them in in such a way as to create profile or silhouette without real bulk. It works well enough that 30cm pike flies can be cast

Another old one from www.sexyloops.com   We're getting a real winter here in Tokyo, it seems like the first one in ages. Here that means dry air, sun and high pressure with fairly consistent sub zero temperatures overnight and low single figures during the day.  It's not entirely bad- the clear skies and sun make for reasonably reliable sight fishing weather if you can put up with the cold.  Unfortunately, most of the species around here are what would probably be called warm water species; largemouth & smallmouth bass, sunfish, snakehead and catfish . So while the seabass are off spawning, things can seem a bit slow. Luckily there are carp everywhere and although they're not as active as in the warmer months, they're certainly still feeding and very catchable.   I often talk to people who fly fish for carp but stop when it gets "too cold" for them.  I think unless the water is frozen over then it's warm enough to catch carp on the fly. Admittedly this

 Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com As I've had to self isolate the last 2 weeks, I've not been fishing. Luckily that ends tomorrow so I'll be able to get 2 more days on the river to see out the year.   Aside from being bored to tears and spending a couple of days working my way through a trifle I made for a Christmas party of 10 people that obviously had to be cancelled, I've been watching just about every fly fishing and fly tying video I can find on YouTube. Especially if it's about places I've never been, or types of fly I've never seen.  Iceland seems to come up quite often. And while I'm not sure if I will ever go, there seems to be a very interesting culture around fishing there, it's obviously shaped by the fish and the island itself and has led to different adaptations of certain techniques and flies. I'm always interested in the differences and similarities that crop up among anglers in different regions and countries. Flies

Another from Sexy Loops When I was a wee guy, the Crystal Maze with Richard O'Brian was one of my favourite TV shows. I particularly enjoyed the Aztec and Medieval zones, my least favourite was the Industrial zone, but I still liked it.  Which is kind of how I feel about the near shore fishing in Tokyo Bay, it's not the kind of environment that I'm really excited about fishing in but it's also cool in its own way, especially at night. Japanese seabass are a very popular target species around Tokyo.(probably 2nd only to black bass) The massive construction  and storm defences around Tokyo, Yokohama and Chiba has created a fantastic environment for seabass and the species they prey on. Since Super typhoon Hagibis hit and the following typhoon passed by, my plans of stretching out the smallie fishing seem shot as temperatures have dropped and the rivers have been mostly in flood. Which combined with reports of the bay fishing great meant a couple of early season seabass tr

 Another Sexy Loops article. Recently I've been tying a small box of North Country and Clyde style wets for myself. So I have been re-reading Edmonds and  Lee's Brook and River Trouting which I've been enjoying thoroughly.  The book is thankfully now easily available thanks to a few companies doing reprints. I love spiders, both tying and fishing them. There's something incredibly elegant about these simple slender flies, and it doesn't hurt that they're deadly when fished properly. The upstream method  with only a rod length or 2 of line outside the rod is my favourite although I rarely see others fishing that way, perhaps because it's more effort than the usual down and across swing that seems to have become popular.  It's a shame that many people associate the down and across method with these flies now, because it's frankly inferior to both the upstream and across and down methods which allow the flies to drift naturally with the current, rather

Another oldie from Sexy Loops   (10th Aug 2019) In my last FP (the Okinawa trip report)  I only mentioned two of the three anglers. This was because the third rod made me think a lot about what people expect and the impact it can have on a trip. He spent a lot of the time complaining about how the island wasn't very fishy or how the flat was empty, which was in complete opposition to my experience of the fishing.  I found it a bit perplexing and a little annoying.  As the week went on I was running it over in my mind, but it wasn't until a conversation later in the week that everything really clicked. The guy regularly fishes a sandbar on a closed resort island in the Maldives that might see 10 rods a year and another Okinawan island for sea bream, catching numerous fish each day- some of them almost 12 inches long! With a guide. As soon as I we spoke about that,  a lot of his comments and the way he was fishing made much more sense to me.  He'd become so accustomed to havi

 Another old one from Sexy Loops .  This one was written on 3rd of August 2019 Last week in Okinawa was a much needed break from the hectic life of Tokyo. I left on the 6 am flight on Monday, got a ferry to the island I like, had checked in to the guesthouse and made the 30 meter  walk to the flats by noon.  Wonderful stuff.  It was my fifth trip to this island and as it's all DIY fishing I've been slowly building up a picture of where fishes best when.  Pretty handy for my fishing mates as they didn't have to prospect so much. For me this island is primarily about the triggerfish, they are prolific with multiple shots available every day.  There are loads of picassos if that's your thing but there are unbelievable numbers of titan triggers and the odd pinktail. Of course trevally are always fun to catch and there are plenty of yellowspot, bluefin and brassies to cast to along with plenty of snapper, emperor and the odd tuskfish. GTs do show up from time to time (usuall

Another old one from Sexy loops For various reasons not been fishing for almost a month.  I've made it out for some lawn casting, but as this year's rainy season has already dragged on weeks longer than is normal and the rivers are blown, I'm developing acute cabin fever, and am much less keen on the season than I used to be.  Luckily its already sunny in Okinawa and I'm heading down there on Sunday for some DIY flats fishing. I've been to the island I'm visiting 3 times so far but this is my first mid summer trip.  There are no guides but as this island is more remote than most, the inshore fishery is not as depleted as that in much of the rest of Japan. I'm going with high hopes, I've always seen a lot of triggerfish there, although the reef structure makes converting hooked fish to landed fish somewhat tricky to say the least. We've also started to work out where the GTs are so there's a decent chance of one of them along with the bluefins, ye

  To support the channel and get access to the online tying sessions, as well as being entered into the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and sign up On my second trip to Royal Belum to fish and get drunk with Paul, we spotted another elephant.  An adult this time rather than the noisy adolescent we saw the previous year.  It really is a marvelous place and I can't recommend a trip there highly enough, you really should look into it after things get back to normal. The fishing is very challenging but Paul is on hand to help, you'll leave a better angler and caster than when you arrived. Sexyloops

Another old one from Sexy Loops When I first came to Japan, I thought I'd really get into bass fishing the lakes nearby but it just never happened.  I tried, I really did, and despite catching a few largemouth I just couldn't really get into it. and I spent several years fishing almost exclusively for carp.  I do fish for largies now and then from my float tube but they don't do it for me the way their little cousins do. Now, I love fishing for smallmouth bass, especially in the clear rivers around Tokyo.   there's something about the way they inspect a hopper before sucking it under or smash a streamer on  the pause that's just amazing. They're a perfect fly rod fish.   Unfortunately, they're an invasive species here and we're supposed to kill them. I don't.  Pretty much everyone here releases fish, and the only killing is through the bad handling that is sadly all too frequent here.  The thing I have difficulty with is the evidence of my own observ