This is a fun one to watch. Always interesting watching his casting and movements.
5 Likes
Yes very interesting both in how violent his cast is and how short his drift is. He also spend little time in a pool.
In general I am slower and tend to sample more of the column with longer drifts.
I dont doubt his method, it is more I would like to understand if this is just his style or if it is something related to the fish he is hunting and how they are feeding.
In those high sun open conditions, i would target deeper sections of the runs or water that has cover like rock overhangs/caves. With drifts so short the his fly probably is within an inch of the surface.
It would be awesome to fish with him a week to understand the context of his actions.
4 Likes
Gressak,
I fish similar to your style. I wonder if starting fly fishing first caused us to explore the water in a slower and more meticulous manner than tenkara fishing. I once saw a fisherman fish very similar to Oni with a fly rod and didn’t understand why he rushed through the fishing spots. (That was back in 1980 or 1981) After reading and viewing tenkara masters fish. I now wonder if this is a better technique than the one I presently use. Very interesting technique and philosophy on fishing for trout.
2 Likes
For me a lot of it depends on where I am fishing and how well I know the water. I have some creeks that I can fish in a pretty quick style, making one or two casts to likely looking spots and moving on. These creeks are typically small and full of eager little trout. Some of the bigger water I fish I will take more time in each run. A lot of that is due to the difficulty of wading in these rivers. Some require a fair amount of work to get to specific spots and I feel like once there I need to get my “moneys worth.” If I know a certain run has fish throughout I will typically make one thorough pass through with unweighted flies then based off that may pass through once more with a nymph.
One thing I enjoy about watching Oni fish is all the arial mending he does. I notice it a lot more now after watching Rob Worthings recent youtube video on arial mends. He is basically using the technique on every cast it seems.
As far as Mikes comment on whether or not its a better technique? Maybe not better, just different. I have just recently started playing with the arial mend stuff for no other reason than its interesting and just another tool in the tool box. I feel like my ability to catch fish on any given day is good enough to keep a smile on my face and all the other tinkering I do is just out of curiosity and keeping things fresh.
2 Likes
I know there is some merit to speed fishing. Target all the prime water and try to find the cooperative/easy fish.
That said you may only find the fish receptive of that approach. Perhaps it is a competition angler technique and statistically valid. There have been so many times I have found fish in unusual holds. Or it takes several presentations to dial in what they want, and what they want may differ from pool to pool.
His second fish it seems he catches by accident. He was fishing the pool and pulsing the fly around 8:30. The fish he caught, he casted then decided to move forward. I suspect that his moment where the presentation changed may have triggered the strike.
That certainly is some beautiful water and it is so cool to watch a master move through it. It has me reflecting on my sloppy casting and how refining it may improve my efficiency. It would be interesting to know the length of the rod and line and to see where his fly was landing. I should probably take a peek at this video on the big screen.
4 Likes
More impressed with his wading skills, I’d have fallen in a dozen times without a staff. He’s pretty spritely for an older fellow.
4 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.