Q & A Version 1

The Q & A we posted last week was ultra well received and we had a ton of great questions come through. The funny thing about fishing is no one wants to admit they do not know everything in an open platform. So most of our questions for Q & A Vol. 2 came through private messages on Facebook, and/or Email. We had quite the variety and I am excited to say that this will keep going for a while!

Q & A Vol. 2

We didn’t get to all of them, but here are a few from this week! So without further ado, Q & A Vol. 2!

Q. What is your favorite line from the beach?

My first answer would be a Rio Outbound short floater. However, that line is pretty limiting to how I fish. If conditions are perfect and fish are moving on the surface, I would be stoked to be fishing the floater. If every day of the year fell in the 3rd week of february through the 3rd week of April, I would fish nothing but the Rio Outbound Floater.

Unfortunately not every day calls for surface fishing, SO if I was going to own one line for beach fishing it would be the Rio Outbound Intermediate. FROM THE BEACH I think this line is the best year round line on the market. I don’t even own one right now because I simply don’t fish the beach very often. However, If I were to go back to beach fishing again, it would be spooled on my reel. My second go to would be the Coastal Quickshooter, simply because it is a super fun line to cast.

Q. Who cast better, you or Brita?

Well, home-wrecker, I am simply not falling into your trap. I will tell you Brita looks a hell of a lot better doing it than I do…

Q. Best sunglasses for fishing in Washington State?

Here is the best gem anyone has ever sent me. Costa Del Mar 580G Sunrise Silver Mirror. Florida to Washington, these are the best lens I have ever had the pleasure of fishing with. Thanks to Florida Outdoor Experience for enlightening me to this amazing and unlikely pieces of fishing gold… Or silver.

The yellow lens gives me nightmares of headaches and sore eyes after trying them years ago for steelhead fishing. They are okay on days when there is absolutely no sunlight. However, pain city as soon as there is even the slightest hint of a glare.

Gray from (FOE) mentioned it and I stopped him dead in his tracks “Mirrored yellow?!! That sounds either genius, or like a nightmare.” He said “I am telling you, they are perfect.” A few days later I checked the mail and there were two Costa 580’s with Sunrise Silver Mirror. I get accused of lying about seeing fish with these things until I let clients try them. It’s the single best thing for finding fish since the invention of the Yamaha Outboard.

Q. Is That Hook To Big?

I shy away from putting this on the internet. However, I am going to dive shallow here, and write a whole blog post just on this subject. No. Think about it? If the fish is EATING (by definition swallowing another fish) your fly with large amounts of aggression. You want something sizable and sharp enough to stab into flesh before it gets to the back of the throat. Have you seen my Chumbodies Baby from Solitude, or any small baitfish that I tie. The hook gap is as large as I can get while allowing the fly to move in the water. We never go past a size 4 hook for anything for fear of the diameter of the wire the hook is built of, however beyond that, I say “bigger is good, bigger and shaper is better.

From a conservation standpoint I think we want to keep the hooks from the back of the throat, and gills. If you are pulling the fly away from the fish, the fly should never get a chance to go deep enough in their mouth to hook to cause the kind of damage often thought about with larger size hooks.

Stay tuned for a blog all about this subject.

Q. How do you drink cold brew coffee in the winter on the boat?

Well, this is a simple answer. It’s better for me. I drink a lot of coffee, roughly 60oz a day. I can not drink hot coffee fast enough, and cold brew taste better cold than traditional drip coffee does when it gets cold. If it is super cold I will drink a small warm coffee first thing in the morning to get the chill off, then switch over to my 32oz Yeti cup of cold brew… I’ve got this stuff down to a science.

Q. Does Lemmy come on all of your fishing trips?

He comes on most. If it’s going to be cold and wet out he goes to Sage Fly Rods for the day. If it’s anything resembling a nice day out, he is on the boat. Lemmy is by far the best behaved boat dog I have ever seen or heard of. From what I hear he makes a pretty good office dog up at Sage as well. I know when summer comes the folks up at Sage are going to be pretty disappointed they won’t see as much of him.

Closing thoughts on this Q&A

That’s it for the Q & A Vol. 2. Let us know of any questions you might have for next weeks Q&A, these are pretty fun. I still have another dozen or so for the next couple of weeks, but I would love to kick some of the silly ones out for more serious questions (I like silly too). Again comment on our facebook, message me, text me, and/or email me any of your questions. If you have questions for Mike or Brita specify and I will have them answer too!

Thanks so much guys! It’s been a blast the last few years and I would love to hear any ideas of how we can make the blog or more importantly our trips more fun for any of you! Thanks again!