Fly Night

Last night, we explored. We searched for the wind protected spots. Beneath bridges. In Marinas. At the yacht club. Looking for light lines where stripped bass would be waiting in the shadows. Waiting to ambush bait fish with poor attentions spans. The minute the bait fish lets itself get too close to the dark water... BAM! It exists no longer. It is now a part of the rock fish.

I had to retie some tippet before we left. As a refresher, I searched for some diagrams on the nail-less nail knot and perfection loop. I came across these helpful diagrams over at Jason Borger's place, Fish, Flies and Water. (He drew them himself).

Step 1. Make a loop in the leader material, then wind the short end of the leader around the fly line and through the loop. Wind the short end up the fly line. Drawing by Jason Borger

Steps 2 & 3. Simultaneously pull and twist ONLY the short end of the leader to spin the knot over. Don't over tighten. Slide the mono coils down toward the end of the line, push them together while gently drawing out the extra mono, then tighten firmly (really firmly) and clip off the ends. Drawing by Jason Borger

If you want to avoid having the butt end of you fly line catch on the guides, there is this option. I didn't do this, but it is a cool idea.

Step 1. Insert a needle into the end of the fly line about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch, and then out the side. Allow the needle to remain in place for a couple of minutes so the plastic of the line will stretch a bit. Drawing by Jason Borger

Step 2. Trim the end of the mono to a point, pull the needle out, and thread the mono in the end of the fly line and out the side. Now tie a Nailess Nail Knot. Notice that the leader now comes right out of the center of the fly line. This connection will flow through the guides very smoothly. Drawing by Jason Borger

Perfection Loop.

So after all that preparation, we struggled to find the fish. We had to stay away from the CBBT because of the wind. It turned out to be our last effort where we found the busting fish. Many were out of reach, but Kevin was able to hook up and solidify this as my new "go to" spot at night.

Blurry Kevin. Blurry Fish. Crystal Clear Memory.