Fishing Tandem Flies
Review
by Joe Cornwall
Click Above For The Fly Fish Ohio
Rating System
Charles Meck
is a quiet and confident gentleman with a firm handshake
and a warm smile. He’s also known as one of the all-time great trout gurus.
He's got a decided penchant for petite flows, clear water and technical
fishing. Meck is the author of more than a dozen books and DVD
productions and he seems to be happiest
when he’s been given the chance to share his hard-won knowledge. When a
fellow like Charlie Meck talks fishing, the smartest thing an aspiring
angler can do is listen. And when he releases a new book, the only proper
thing to do is put it on the top of your “most wanted” list. That’s right
where Meck’s slim new volume Fishing Tandem Flies should be – that
is if you want to catch more trout!
Fishing
Tandem Flies
spans a scant but chock-a-bloc full 122 pages and is firmly focused on a
very technical how-to topic. In the world of fly fishing for trout it has
become very popular to fish two flies. From the ubiquitous
“hopper-dropper” to dual nymph rigs, the multiple fly “cast” has made a
come-back. Many of us believe it never really went away; fishing two or
more wet flies is a technique as old as the sport itself. But when
something gets old enough it can become new again. The danger is in
forgetting all that has been learned, and that’s where Fishing Tandem
Flies fits in. Meck has defined and clarified this effective
technique, providing a guide for proper rigging and fishing tactics that
will coach the neophyte and enlighten the veteran.
“After two
decades of fishing almost exclusively with two or more flies, I have
refined the system to make it even easier,”
says Meck in the first chapter. “In this book, I hope to help you
become more prepared to meet some of the onstream challenges that we all
love about fly fishing. In chapters 2 through 7, I’ll share some tactics
and techniques I’ve learned and developed over the years for fishing
tandem rigs, including tactics for matching the hatch and how to rig the
different connections, and in chapters 8 and 9, I’ll share some effective
flies I’ve discovered over the years. These methods might change the way
you fish.”
The
material Meck presents will most definitely change the way I fish. His
observations and instruction are applicable to so much more than the trout
stream. Like
Jack Ellis, I believe bluegills are the most trout-like of all
warmwater fishes. Everything in Fishing Tandem Flies is equally
applicable to those persnickety panfish. And smallmouth bass too, can be
voraciously insectivorous. Wherever you fish, still water or moving,
you’ll find the ideas and techniques presented in Fishing Tandem Flies
to be apposite.
I am
particularly inspired by Meck’s looped-leader dry fly, the Patriot. Like
Meck, I have found blue to be a particularly effective color for trout and
other species. I carry several sizes of blue hare’s ear nymphs and they
seldom fail me. But blue hasn’t found its way into my dry fly selection –
yet. Now I know it will and I’ll most certainly be using the Patriot on
trout streams and smallmouth creeks, bluegill ponds and bass lakes.
Modifying a dry fly so it can be employed as a strike indicator with all
the ease of rigging that one gets from the “traditional” poly yarn
indicator is simply ingenious!
Fishing
Tandem Flies
is a book from which nearly any angler can benefit. Highly recommended!
Fishing Tandem Flies (ISBN 978-0-9793460-0-2) is available from
Headwater Books for $16.95.
