There’s so much that can go wrong when trying to catch a fish on a fly rod. There’s at a minimum 4 knots that connect the fly to the reel. Hook sets are critical to fly fishing as well, and they can be very species specific. You certainly don’t set the hook the same way on trout […]
At times I can hardly distinguish what characteristics actually define the person or the place until I arrive at the singularity where George and Yahtam are really just one and the same. I’ve mentioned before that George and Bo Jackson were good friends. They bow hunted together, and apparently while Bo was at Auburn, […]
It’s difficult not to philosophize when discussing fly fishing. The mixture of science (objectivity) versus art (subjectivity) demands it at a certain point. In the beginning, it feels like a black art. The cast seems like something only a sorcerer could master. The mind hardly even knows where to begin at this point. The […]
“Y’all did alright today, but just wait until tomorrow. We’re going to hike up through there and hit the honey hole,” George told us as Dad was cleaning the day’s catch. The term “honey hole” is widely used in fishing lore. To keep it within the realm of fishing, it’s the proverbial end of the rainbow […]
George’s explanation as to what the name means was fairly simple, “Yahtam means ‘nothing’.” The name literally means East Nothing. I can only imagine part of the reason how he came up with the name being he didn’t want anyone knowing anything about where he was fishing. This isn’t particularly uncommon amongst anglers. If you […]
I’ve recently felt very nostalgic about my past trips to Alaska. I genuinely hope to go back and fish there again someday, but I understand better now than before that I won’t be able to do what we did 10 years ago ever again. George Mann was a friend of my father and an accomplished […]
The probability that a warm water fly fisherman reading the title to this post is going cross-eyed in bewilderment is very high. “You’re complaining about catching catfish on a fly rod?!” “You’ll catch overgrown goldfish all day, but turn your nose up at a catfish?” Well, yeah. Let’s talk for a moment.* Catfish are great. […]
Okay, the rod has really kinda been “done” for about two days now, but it technically takes a few days for the rod finish and wraps to cure before it’s fishable. As of about 6 hours ago, I can confirm that it is indeed ready to go. I can see now why these things cost […]
I’ve kept this a secret for a while now, with the exception of a few twitter comments. I didn’t really want to say much until I realized I was actually going to go through with it. Well, it has begun. I’m building a bamboo rod. I’ve been fortunate to mingle with a great community of […]
Late night fly tying is back. The only semblance of a recurring thread that this blog might ever know has returned, kinda. I haven’t stopped tying, or staying up all night. I just haven’t blogged about it recently. Don’t worry. You haven’t missed much. Fishing has been slow. I haven’t been out much, meaning I haven’t lost […]
Tales from East Yahtam 