If there was a common focus among the manufacturers’ exhibits at the 2013 edition of ICAST — the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades — it was the umbrella rig, or products like it. From the Booyah Bait Co. to the rod builders at G. Loomis, nearly all the major players and many small companies introduced some product designed either to mimic the umbrella rig design or facilitate its use.
For many years, an angler could walk into any major outdoor retailer or discount mart with $29.95 in his pocket and walk out with one of the most widely recognized and durable fishing rods on the market. Now a pending price increase is going to push that price up to $39.95, but I think fans of Shakespeare’s Ugly Stik are going to like what they get for that extra 10-spot.
When it comes to selecting the right fly pattern to use, fly-fishermen generally follow the guideline to “match the hatch.” Simply, this means to present the fish you are after with a bait choice that resembles, as closely as possible, whatever they already are eating.
If you were one of the unsuccessful applicants in Nevada’s big game tag draw you may not have to sit this season out after all. Utah still has more than 3,300 buck mule deer permits available and they go on sale at 7 a.m. PDT Thursday, July 11 . (That’s 8 a.m. in Utah, which is in the Mountain time zone and observes daylight saving time.)
It’s Independence Day, so let me begin by expressing gratitude to our Founding Fathers for their sacrifice and willingness to risk, and in some cases lose, all they had to create a country where personal freedom is paramount and where we each have the opportunity to make something of ourselves. Let me also thank those who have risked and, in many cases, lost their lives to maintain those freedoms for the rest of us.
