by Kirk Deeter

Take a close look at this photo Tim Romano took of Oliver White battling a small tarpon. You'll notice something is missing... the reel. That's because there isn't one.

We just came back from a gonzo jungle expedition (in a place I'll tell you about later) where we literally caught hundreds of trout- to salmon-sized tarpon every day. So to make things even more interesting, we decided to catch some on a Tenkara rod (Yamame). We landed over 50 tarpon on Tenkara, the largest weighed about eight pounds.

by Tim Romano

Despite what it says on its Flyrecipes.com page, I'm pretty sure that this week's Tie Talk bug, The Dirty Rat, is not by Jackie Treehorn. Don't get me wrong, I love the character reference to one of my favorite movies of all time, as well the pattern itself. It IS damn dirty…

by Kirk Deeter

Here's one from the "Don't Try This at Home" file: If you make a fly rod carrier for your SUV and then decorate the tip sections of the long tubes to look like rockets, it might not be the best idea to park your vehicle near an airport. Especially near Washington, D.C. Unless you want the Secret Service to question your wife and dismantle your project.

by Kirk Deeter

The key to landing fish quickly is knowing how to get their heads above the water's surface. Fish have all the leverage when they're fighting nose-down. You have all the leverage when their noses point up, and you can usually skate a fish right into the net, or land it by hand. The key to making this all happen quickly, which is of mutual benefit for the fish and the angler, is knowing how to "lift" fish.

It's often tricky, especially with large fish. Go ahead and try to pick a 10-pound dumbbell off the floor with a fly rod, fly line and 12-pound test leader. It's almost impossible if you hold the grip normally, gently lift the rod, and expect the flexed graphite tip of the rod to make it happen. When lifting heavy fish, you want to focus the stress into the line itself (trust me, 12-pound Maxima is harder to break than you think) and the butt section of the fly rod. To get that done, you want to grip slightly higher on the cork, bring the reel seat flush against your forearm, and then lift with your arm and shoulder, not just your wrist. This dramatically reinforces the leverage you have on the fish.