Transcript: On the Salt with GotOne
S5, Ep 152: On the Salt with GotOne
2023, Marvin S. Cash
The Articulate Fly
http://www.thearticulatefly.com
Transcript
Marvin:
[0:04] Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of The Articulate Fly, and we're back with another On the Salt with Got One with Captain David Blinken. David, how you doing?
David:
[0:12] I'm doing great, Marvin. How are you?
Marvin:
[0:14] I'm just trying to stay out of trouble. Hopefully you're not getting washed away up there in New Jersey.
David:
[0:20] Oh my god, we only got five inches of rain in about six hours today.
Marvin:
[0:25] Well, at least we don't need to talk about fishing, but we did think it would be a good idea since we're kind of moving into the holiday season and moving into the winter and so many folks will go travel to the tropics to stay warm and catch some saltwater species and you host trips like that.
I thought it would be helpful for you to maybe share some tips to help everyone be a little bit more successful if they're heading to the Bahamas or somewhere else warm during the winter months.
David:
[0:49] Yeah, I mean, a few things pop into my head. Probably first and foremost, well, Well, not first, but very important on the list is if you haven't picked up a fly rod in months, I'd say get in the backyard, go down the block, whatever it is, and limber up and practice a little.
Because the last thing you want is to get out on a boat or wading a flat and see a fish and not be able to get that cast out there.
I mean, I know casting is a lot of muscle memory, but timing always gets a little rusty.
So I would say get out there, do a little practice casting show, so that at least when the buck beaver hits, you can perform.
[1:35] Other things that come to mind, which I think are really important, is you never know if a destination is going to have a fly shop or not.
So I would definitely pack a spare fly line, have a backup reel, bring a pile of flies with you.
And and and if you have a particular rod that you're bringing bring two of them um because rods always seem to break in ceiling fans doorways uh assembling them pulling them out of a rod rack in a boat you just you never know i mean go your whole life and not break a rod you could be on that one great trip and well there goes the tip so uh and we've all we've all been through that So I would say that that's the next group of things you want to think about.
And, you know, back a pair of polarized sunglasses couldn't hurt.
Marvin:
[2:25] Yeah. And I guess, too, for newbies, it's, you know, maybe important to remember to hose off your equipment at the end of each day so that it lives a little bit longer, too, right? Yeah.
David:
[2:36] Yeah, I think that's a good idea. A little freshwater rinse couldn't hurt.
Unless, of course, it's a freshwater trip. Then, you know, you've got nothing to worry about.
But, yeah, I think a little drizzle of water. Just gently spray it off.
Or if you want to really be kind of neurotic about it, strip that line off the reel and dry it off with a cherry cloth towel and give it a little line dressing before you put it to bed with a knife.
Marvin:
[3:03] Yeah, and I'll tell you, not on a saltwater trip, but fishing at high altitude in Colorado, I have a newfound respect for Sims hoodies.
David:
[3:14] I mean, even when I travel to the tropics, I'm bringing an extra rain jacket with the hoodie.
And if I'm going to even high altitude places, I definitely like a lightweight hoodie.
Hoodie uh it's always on but uh in lieu of a hoodie um you know you can wear a collared shirt with uh with a buff you know whether it's you know it's sort of buff is a brand name you know a sun sun mask of some sort um you know patagonia makes it sims makes it of course the buff company makes it 12 weight makes it so many companies make them uh you know ll bean uh that's your that's probably one of your most important pieces of equipment especially if you don't like putting putting sunblock on your face for whatever reason, you definitely want to have that with you.
And it helps keep your hat on your head too.
Marvin:
[4:05] Yeah. I also learned the trick that I like wearing those long sleeve sun shirts that if you put the buff on first and then you put the shirt on, you won't have a big red ring around your neck at the end of the day.
David:
[4:15] That's right.
Marvin:
[4:18] So we have a question from counterculturefly on Instagram.
And this is kind of an interesting one because I know you're predominantly a saltwater guy, but he wanted to get your thoughts on how you change your approach, you know, if you're targeting saltwater striper versus landlocked ones.
David:
[4:36] I mean, I really don't fish landlocked, but the little bit I know about landlocked stripers, and they tend to be, well, let me back up.
When I'm fishing the ocean for stripers, you know, we can be fishing sinking lines, big flies, we're imitating things.
But very often I go into creeks and estuaries, which would sort of be my semi-landlocked area. area.
And I tend to go for smaller flies and lighter presentations.
And the estuaries and creeks that I fish tend to be shallower.
So I don't have to use very heavy lines to get down deep.
[5:17] And so I change my approach from bigger flies to smaller flies when I go into those areas.
Is um and uh and i'll very often go to much longer leaders sometimes those areas have you know crystal clear water and you just don't want to give the fish a chance to to see your your fly line or feel it when it hits the water but if i were to switch gears and think about how people in the in the south and um and and you know in the midwest are fishing a landlocked stripers If I think about water temperature, I'm thinking that I want to fish those impoundments when the water temps are in the 60s. That's probably ideal.
And that means it's probably fall or spring or wintertime, like the lakes in Texas, the lakes in, I guess, around Tennessee or Kentucky.
Tucky those those lakes tend to be really warm in the summer months but cool off nicely in the fall in winter months and um strikers very often are sunrise and sunset feeders uh unless you're fishing them in the salt where where they'll feed all the time if the presentation's right but i think of the lakes which tend to be deeper if you want to be fishing those is fish more around the edges or fishing them on top.
[6:43] I'm thinking water temperature is going to really be important.
And then the fly certainly needs to imitate the forage that's in that particular body of water.
Marvin:
[6:54] Got it. And you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly, and you can email them to me. You can DM me.
Please don't email or DM David. We're trying to make things easy for him.
And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag.
And then we've got two great drawings related to the questions.
Remember, everyone that sends in a question, whether we use it on one of the episodes or not, will be entered into a drawing for a hearty reel and a wolf line of your choice.
And then the grand prize, if we use your question, we will draw for a Norvice vice system, which is really awesome.
And, you know, we also give a shout out to our friends at Norvice.
They've generously sponsored the series.
And I know Tim has, within the last week or so, dropped their 2024 show schedule.
Schedule so you should head over to nor-vice.com and take a look and see if they're going to come to a show near you and also um you know we're recording this i don't know it's maybe a week or so before christmas um if you're panicking because you can't get something shipped for your favorite uh fly fisherman fly tire uh tim is running a great special if you buy a 250 or more or a gift card on the website, you get a coupon code for 25% off your next purchase.
So you should certainly head over to the site and check that out too.
And David, I know you've been working really, really hard with Liu Yan on the Masters of the Fly schedule. What's going on there?
David:
[8:16] Well, you know, our first episode, which is the 7th of January, we're gonna have the Saltwater Guides Association.
They'll be our first guest. Then we're going to be doing another show where we're going to be hopefully recording live on tape some stuff at a show up in Massachusetts.
And we'll have a great time for that. I think we're going to have Tim on a show and some other folks coming up.
And we'll post the entire schedule that'll hopefully be up in the next couple of weeks.
Actually, not next couple of weeks. We're going to have that up in the next week, week and a half. And we're really excited.
And I just also want to remind everybody, you know, if you haven't made your comment yet to the ASMFC about Strike Pass Preservation, you only have a couple more days to do it.
And then, just kind of a little exciting thing, talking about Norvice, Lou Yen and I, when we might be tying some flies together on a couple of the episodes, you might see Lou Yen and I using Norvices on Masters of the Fly, so that'll be kind of neat.
Marvin:
[9:28] Yeah, that's super cool, and I know you are recovering from several back-to-back days on the mountain, but I would imagine this storm coming through is probably generating a fair amount of snow for you, right?
David:
[9:39] Oh, no, we took a big hit. We shut down the hill today.
Hopefully they can fire up the snow guns tomorrow. I mean, this storm went from New England all the way to northern Quebec, and it was all rain, unfortunately.
You know, that's a thing that happens on these big El Nino years.
Occasionally you get one of these big, wet storms that come up out of the Gulf.
Well, I know it was a lot of snow in the Rockies, but to us, it was pretty much a Northeastern disaster for the ski industry, unfortunately.
Marvin:
[10:14] Well, I'm sorry to hear that. And, you know, it's kind of amazing.
I can't believe we're already at the end of 2023.
And I just want to wish everybody happy holidays and a happy new year.
Happy holidays and a happy new year, David.
David:
[10:26] Happy holidays and happy new year to you too, Marvin, and to everybody out there. there.
Can't wait to get back on and talk with you in the new year, 2024.
Marvin:
[10:38] Tight lines, everybody.