It is easy to spot a rookie, and sometimes the saying, “If you want to be – ACT as if…” can speak volumes.  Fly fishing Author, George Douglas, announced the release of his new fly fishing book, Fish Like a Guide.

According to Douglas this book is,

“The first of a series that teaches anglers how to think, plan and adjust at the level of a professional fishing guide. The introduction of the book states that you can spot a professional fisherman a mile away. You can tell by the way they move, the decisions they make, their preparation and strategy–and it is all geared for one thing, catching fish consistently… if you do things in a certain way on and off the river, you will become a better angler.”

In addition to the book launching, Kype magazine (Douglas is a publisher) has announced a drawing scheduled to take place on September 1, 2010 for members of the social community at www.SteelheadSalmonTroutFishing.com. Membership is free for anyone to join. The Grand Prize is a guided trip with George Douglas in Steelhead Alley, Ohio, including two complimentary nights at The Lodge at Geneva on the Lake.

For more information on pre-orders of his new book, the drawing, guide service, and to join the Kype Nation Social Community, visit www.SteelheadSalmonTroutFishing.com

Douglas’ Blog: http://steelheadsalmontroutfishing.blogspot.com/

1. Why has fly fishing become an important part of your life?

FlyFishing has been so important to me for many reasons. The main reason for starting this wonderful sport was because of my Father. My Father was an avid FlyFisher and we as a family spent many days and weekends on the water. While there, I noticed something different in him. He was a typical German born in the 40’s, tough and strict. While on the water though, he was a wonderful, calm, fun man. This I admired, and this is the main reason for my love of the sport, as it does the same thing for me.

2. If you were invited to the United Nations to make a special presentation about “How fly fishing could change the world”, what are some of the things you have learned from fly fishing that you could tell them?

If I were invited to the UN to talk about how flyfishing could “Change the world” I would talk about the above answer. This sport takes you away from the daily grind and teaches you the love and respect of the outdoors. Because of its graceful, artistic nature, it calms the mind, and the soul. This is a lesson that many people around the world need to learn and FlyFishing would help.

3. Why did you write your flyfishing book entitled, The Freshman Flyfisher? What is your favorite chapter? If you could summarize the book in a few sentences, what is the message you would like to get out to the ‘New Generation’?

Why did I write the Freshman Flyfisher book series? Well that is a simple answer for me. I have always loved this sport, and have always loved to share my knowledge with others, what better way than to write a book? If I were to describe my books, I would have to say that they are “Made Simple”. By this I mean that I have taken some VERY difficult and confusing subjects, and simplified them so that everyone can learn this sport with ease. So many books on the market tell you about flyfishing, But none are really simple, These are. In the first book, I simplified the sport of Flyfishing by breaking it down to the simplest form and explaining it in everyday language. The second book, (Due out next week, March 6th/09) is a simplified book on the insects that all flyfishers need to know. I have once again taken the insects, and explained their lives in a easy to read and understand manner. The message I would like to get out to “The Next Generation” would be this, Conserve you catch, enjoy the sport, and pass on your knowledge to the next generation. If they do this, this wonderful sport will be around as long as the human race will.

4. If you were on an unfamiliar trout stream and you could only take 2 flies. What would they be? Why?

If I were going to a stream that I had no information about, and were allowed only two flies what would they be? This can be a tough question for me because I would research the stream before I went, But let us say I didn’t. I would take a Hares ear Nymph (picture right) and a Tom Thumb, why you ask, simple. The hairs ear and the Tom Thumb are an searching patterns. They don’t represent any one insect perfectly, but represent many insects well. These two flies will be taking by trout as Caddis Flies, May Flies, Mosquitoes, Midges, along with many others.

5. What equipment goes with you into a trout stream today?

What Equipment do I bring? Well, this can again Vary from stream to stream, In a small creek I would make sure to have a 00-2 wt rod loaded with a floating line and have a sink tip as well.  In a larger Stream, a 3-5 wt setup is what I would be taking, again loaded with a floating line and having a sink tip with. I would bring a vest or backpack that will be able to hold an assortment of flies along with tippet, weight, clippers, strike indicators, hemostats, throat pump, water and food (Enough for a few days in case you get hurt or lost). I would also be wearing a pair of good breathable waders and a good pair of felt bottomed wading boots.  I also make sure to have a rain jacket in my pack in case of rain.

7. If you could name a fly (perhaps you already have) what would it be called?

As of now, I have designed many patterns of my own, but have yet to officially name any. If I were to name it, I guess that would depend on what species it was for, colors, etc… I have one that I designed a few years back that I call “The Killer Caddis”, but there are a few flies called that out there. I am known as “The FlyFish Fanatic” so maybe something along the lines of “The Fanatic Frenzy” or something may be appropriate.

6. What was your favorite flyfishing moment and why?

My Favorite FlyFishing moment would have to be 4 years back. I went to Engelfeild Bay Lodge in the Queen Charlottes’ with a buddy and My Father (Just before he passed away) We were there for a 5 day trip, and on the last evening, my Father and I decided to troll for Coho Salmon in a small bay opening close to the lodge. While we were doing this, I noticed that there was a HUGE bait ball moving around in a very unusual way, so I decided to get the flyrod ready and have a few casts at this bait ball to see if there were any Coho harassing this bait. On went the Type 8 sinking line on my 8wt rod and I cast just to the edge of this Ball. After a few casts, I had nothing so I changed from a Clouser minnow pattern to a Lefty’s Deceiver Pattern that I tied Just for this trip. I took a cast directly into this bait ball, lefty the fly sink for 30-40 seconds and did a VERY fast irregular strip. Well, 10 seconds after starting my retrieve, FISH ON!!!!!! This was one hell of a fish, I said to my Father, He agreed as the fish took me deep into my backing. I said to him after a few minutes, “This is no Coho Dad” as I could see the wide dark back of the Spring (King) Salmon as it came close to the boat. 25 minutes later the fish came in after several attempts to net it, she was ours. I had NEVER had the pleasure of catching a Tyee, well now I did, and on a flyrod to boot. This was the last Fishing trip my Father and I had together (And he knew it would be) and seeing the smile on his face and how proud he was of me, made this the BEST trip I have ever had.

Thanks for your time and inspiration Rick! I will be checking out your book.

*Hares Ear Photo from maineflyfish.com

I would like to say THANKS!

Be sure to check out their site and see what the fuss is all about.

If you would like to blog with North America’s most incredible Blogging Network check out Skinny Moose Media.

I am late, but I did pick  4 winners.

After the imaginary drum role in your head, the winners are Jeff, Kristine, Michelle, and Shupac. I will be contacting via email for mailing instructions.

Congratulations!

Be sure to read their stories HERE! 

It becomes obvious within the first 2 chapters that, Patrick F. McManus, (the author of Kerplunk!) has captured (in writing) the essence of what makes the outdoors SO special. This book is a non-linear collection of stories about fishing, hunting, and the great outdoors.

I was constantly laughing to myself, as I could relate to almost every experience the author writes about. You will find many instances where your will say to yourself, “I know exactly what he (the author) is trying to say!”

For example, there is a story entitled, “Silent But Deadly”. It discusses the ‘delicate’ topic of dog flatulence. Anybody, who has ever had a dog in their fishing or hunting camp, will immediately identify with this hilarious chapter.

Another favorite chapter was one called,” Uh-Oh”. It is a story about things that guides should not say and it appears to be inspired by real events.

If this book were a blog – it would be awesome! The stories are just the right length to keep you interested and the content will cause you to reflect and appreciate your own outdoor experiences.

It’s a book hunters and anglers of all ages will enjoy.

NOTE: I do not make money from the anyone clicking through the book link. Do not let that stop you from checking out the details of the book. Nor, was I paid for this review. The author and/or publisher has sent me an evaluation copy of the book and I have agreed to write about it on my blog. I appreciate the time the author took to do this.

If you have a fishing or hunting product that you would like me to discuss on my blog, please contact me via the link on the top of my blog.

The questions were:

1. How and why did you get into fly fishing?

2. If you could only use one fly on an unfamiliar trout river – which fly would you use and why?

3. Do you think there may be aspects of fly fishing that our World Leaders could learn about that would help them ‘change’ the world for the better?

His responses:

1. I used to surf fish a little on Long Island. Then for many, many years I didn’t fish and never thought I would again – until my mother passed away from cancer.

Needless to say I was full of grief and, yes guilt. My mother was someone I had made peace with yet.

One day I took my one fishing rod and went down to the Hudson River. Immediately I saw the beauty of the river, the outdoors. Soon I found that fishing helped relieve my grief. I haven’t stopped fishing since.

2. Initially I would have two choices: An Adams, which takes fish on any river, or a Woolly Bugger. Because I don’t know the stream, and because most takes are subsurface, I’d choose a Woolly Bugger and cover as much water as possible.

3. I will get back to you on this one…

1. It may have been mentioned in your book, but how and why did you get into fly fishing?

I sucked at flyfishing when I was a kid. No one taught me how; they just bought me a flyrod at K-Mart and sent me on my merry way to the river. I spent most of my time dealing with wind knots, popping off flies and employing a Red River rig.

It wasn’t until twenty years ago when I met my wife Amy that I got serious about flyfishing (although I had continued being very serious about fishing in general up to that point.) Her family and mine had legacies from the 1940s of vacationing in Lake City Colorado (Little Texas, some call it). We went on our first vacation together to this little Alps-like nook in the San Juan Mountains and I figured out how to cast well enough and then I was hooked.

I am not a flyfishing snob. I tend to fly fish over other techniques because I am more proficient with a longrod; because I like the control over casting and mending; because I favor trout fishing on streams and that’s simply more conducive to fishing with flies; and because, well, fishing with a good flyrod, one that feels right in your hand, one that is consistent and responds well and is an extension of your body, it’s akin to Harry Potter’s wand.

2. If you could only use one fly on an unfamiliar trout river – which fly would you use and why?

After two and a half decades of traveling, there are still so many rivers and fisheries I don’t know but the numbers are dwindling. In many ways, each trout stream is similar to other trout streams. They’re cold, the trout find the easiest habitat to lair, and so on. But as any angler knows, the same stream differs from day to day, hour to hour and becomes different from itself. People sometimes ask me how can flyfishers keep going back to the same stream over and over — doesn’t it get boring? They don’t get it, do they? Golfers know this daily evolution of a course — same with a fishery. So to answer your question — all trout rivers are both familiar and unfamiliar. My two common fishing buddies, my two brothers-in-law, Kenny and David, call Henson Creek a Yellow Humpy water. And it is. But in the early 90s, Kenny called it a Goddard Caddis water. And it was. More recently, it’s been both a yellow Stimulator water and a red Copper John water. A lot of patterns work on a lot of waters but even on the same stream, one pattern works sometimes, not others; and many patterns work as well as the one you are using. I know that I can catch more trout under water than above and a beadhead Hare’s Ear is as good as any nymph gets. But I choose to fish this unfamiliar water with a dry. I could claim, with positive research and anecdotal proof, that an Adams is as deadly on a Montana stream as it is on a Michigan river or a New York creek. I could offer that I like an Adams Wulff or Parachute better than the standard pattern and no one would quibble. The brown trout in Europe eat up the Adams and its minimalist design. By the same token, I’ve caught trout on these same rivers, consistently, with a Stimulator, with a Renegade (Lord, how we used to fish with a Renegade, an Asher, a Bloody Butcher), Elk Hair Caddis, Royal Wulff, Patriot, even a House and Lot. I hate to be cornered into fishing a river with just one fly. It’s hardly fair to take away from me the boxes and boxes of flies I’ve tied and collected over the years. Rivers change hour to hour and you’re going to stick me with just one fly?

Fine. I’ll take a size 12 Ausable Wulff and I’ll catch plenty of trout. But I’m stashing a Rio Grande Trude in one pocket and a beat-up Goddard Caddis in another.

3. Do you think there may be aspects of fly fishing that our World Leaders could learn about that would help them ‘change’ the world for the better?

Well, of course, any person who fly fishes is spiritually more sound, better balanced and generally happier so that’s got to be good, right? Look, Herbert Hoover was a passionate angler, a died-in-the-wool flyfisher and it didn’t help him so I guess that while flyfishing may be good for the soul, it doesn’t help much with politicking.

4. What is the one thing about your book, So Many Fish So Little Time, that particularly stands out as something your were excited to write about?

The research was ongoing, the factual stuff mundane, but I loved relaying the stories that came about from my fishing trips over the years. I fish for many reasons and the top reason is for the stories,the fellowship borne from those shared adventures.I enjoyed writing about my father. We had a rocky relationship up until his last two years and through the writing, I healed.

5. Are there plans for another book? If so, what can you tell us about it?

I’m already working on two other fishing books, one of which is a collection of thematically-connected essays (stories).

-End of Interview-

Thanks Mark and Jon for making this happen. I appreciate the extra time you took to prepare these answers.

For more information about the book and how to order it click here.