Articles

OmniSpool Offers Easy, Streamlined Fly Line Maintenance and Storage

by Ben Kryzinski - Monday, Jun 3rd, 2013

Omnicare Switchbox spools.

There is a wide range of opinions on how to care for your fly lines. Most line manufacturers however, recommend a mixture of soap and water cleansing, abrasive cloth treatment and the use of fly line dressings. How often you should be caring for your fly lines also depends on who you consult. Some folks will recommend a daily cleaning (prior to or after fishing your fly line), while others recommend every 3-5 uses or more. Whatever the case, if you're like many anglers, you're not caring for your fly line often enough.

If you're like me, it's not that you don't care about your fly line, it's just that you don't feel like dealing with the hassle: rigging up a setup to allow you to spool line off your reel without turning it into a rat's nest, finding a way to clean and dress all the fly line without it taking forever and making a big mess, and so on. If that sounds like you, a relatively new product dubbed the Omnicare Switchbox is looking to change your mind about fly line maintenance.

Cicada Sightings Increasing Across Eastern US

by Ben Kryzinski - Sunday, Jun 2nd, 2013

Magicicadas seen in various life stages.

Just about to emerge from this season's first heat wave, much of the Eastern United States saw soaring air temperatures this week, which in turn led to significant increases in soil temperatures. As a result, emergences of the periodical cicada (or magicada) which emerges when soil temperatures stabilize at 64 degrees, are being more commonly seen across much of the east coast.

The web site magicicada.org allows individuals to report sightings of these long-awaited bugs and plots the 500 most recent of these sightings on a map. In constrast to previous weeks, virtually all of the currently plotted sightings are from user reports over the last few days. Sightings are numerous throughout northern and central Virginia, central Pennsylvania and southern Connecticut, with particularly high numbers of sightings around Washington D.C., northern New Jersey and New York City.

EPA Extends Pebble Mine Comment Period

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, May 31st, 2013

Submit your comment to the EPA for a chance to win a trip to do this.

The EPA has extended the public comment period regarding whether large-scale open-pit mining should take place in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The EPA had been scheduled to close today the currently open comment period that began shortly after the release of its updated risk assessment regarding mining in the Bristol Bay region, but has now extended that comment period an additional month, through June 30th, 2013. The updated EPA risk assessment, released late last month, paints a grim picture for the wild salmon of Bristol Bay should an accident -- common in mining operations -- occur during mining activity. Even without a mining accident, the assessment indicates that construction of a mine at the site of the Pebble deposit would destroy almost 30 miles of salmon streams and rivers as well as almost 5,000 acres of wetland habitat.

The foreign corporate entity that is currently exploring mining the Pebble deposit, the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), recently released a statement providing information on the number of jobs that would be created if a mine were to go forward. The statement was sharply criticized by organizations such as Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited Alaska Director Tim Bristol noted, "Pebble consistently claims they don’t have a mine plan so it’s hard to comment on a study that makes up job creation numbers based on a phantom mine. If Pebble wants to engage in this debate, they need to admit they have a plan and share it with the public.”

10 Important Lessons Learned About Fisheries Management

by Colin K. Breck - Thursday, May 30th, 2013

Earlier this month, over 600 people that know a bit about the world of fishing and fisheries management gathered in Washington, DC at the Managing Our Nation's Fisheries conference to address the current state and future of the United State's domestic fisheries.

The third installment of the Managing Our Nation's Fisheries conference stated a goal of "focus[ing] on how concepts, policies, and practice of fishery sustainability can be advanced to a higher level." According to organizers, the conference planned to address topics of interest to "members of the public, fishery participants, environmental advocates, fishery scientists and managers, policymakers, legislators, and journalists."

Nymphing: Get More Hookups

by Chad Shmukler - Wednesday, May 29th, 2013

Any time that little orange ball (or whatever you're using) moves, set the hook (photo: Chad Shmukler).

It is commonly said that every twentieth rock in a given stream has an adipose fin. The point here is, of course, that every twentieth time you think you've snagged or hit a rock -- you've actually encountered a fish. While it's doubtful there's anything but anecdotal evidence backing the statistical content of this saying, the point it attempts to make remains solid: if you think you're not getting enough hookups when nymphing, one of the most likely reasons is that you're not setting the hook often enough.

Most fisherman that are highly successful at nymphing share a common behavior: they're setting the hook constantly. And this is what you're supposed to be doing, isn't it? Most of us are taught, or teach, indicator nymphing the same way: watch the indicator drift, if it does anything other than float along the surface minding its own business, set the hook.