By Kirk Deeter

Spanish nymphing blends characteristics of both the Czech and French styles. Like Czech nymphing, you’re using a heavy weighted fly on the point and leading the flies through a run with the rod tip pointed at the water. Like French nymphing, the leader in this technique is very long—15 feet or longer—and rather than feel, you are relying on a sighter that is relatively far from the end of the fly line to tell you when to set the hook.

Spanish flyfishermen created this nymphing technique to help them catch the notoriously elusive fario (brown trout) in Pyrenees mountain streams. They found that the extra-long leader is the key to avoid spooking the fish.

The Rig: The ideal rod for Spanish nymphing is a 10- to 12-foot 3-, 4-, or 5-weight. Use a weight-forward floating line and a 3X to 5X 9-foot tapered leader. Spanish anglers tie a two-tone sighter to the end of the leader. Make the sighter by splicing two 12-inch sections of Sunline Sig­lon F mono (fishusa.com) together with Uni knots or a Blood knot. Below the sighter, attach 4 feet of 5X tippet and leave... [ Read Full Post ]

By Bob Stearns

The fit between the ball hitch and the trailer coupler should be tight enough to prevent a disastrous decoupling while on the road, but not so snug that the trailer will have trouble making turns. Here’s how to achieve the perfect fit in just a few minutes.

Step 1
Uncouple the trailer and insert a spare ball into the coupler (a). Close the coupler latch lever. If the fit is too loose, remove the ball, and tighten the spring-loaded nut (b) on the underside of the coupler.

Step 2
Reinsert the ball and check the fit. Repeat the latter part of Step 1 until you get a fit that is snug but not so tight that you cannot move the ball by hand with reasonable effort. Rehitch the trailer.

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

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By David E. Petzal

Pro Tool, which makes the Woodman’s Pal combination tool, and master outdoorsman and writer J. Wayne Fears have designed three new knives that bear his name (top to bottom): the Ultimate Survival Knife, the Ultimate Outdoor Cook Knife, and the Ultimate Deer Hunter’s Knife. J. Wayne knows about everything there is to know about hunting and staying alive in the wilderness, and the knives show the input of someone who knows what the hell he is doing.

All three are made of 1095 cutlery steel, tempered to Rc 54-56. This steel makes a blade that sharpens easily and takes an edge like a razor, but usually requires a fair amount of resharpening. However, these hold their edges like Grim Death itself. Out of curiosity, I cut the top out of a steel acetone can with the Survival Knife. Its edge needed a little retouching, but otherwise it didn’t seem to mind.

Because tool steel rusts, the Deer Hunter’s Knife and the Survival Knife have their blades and tangs epoxy-powder coated. The Cook Knife does not, and if you leave it in your kitchen knife drawer you must stress to all who may use it that if they put it in the washing machine, they will be stabbed with it. Repeatedly.

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By John Merwin

Let’s talk about China, Inc.. If you’ve bought much low- to medium-priced fishing tackle lately, chances are it was made in China. That country’s manufacturing capacity and sophistication have grown enormously in recent years, which combined with relatively cheap, skilled labor made it a logical source for many global tackle brands. But now that appears to be changing.

Not that Chinese-made tackle is about to disappear. It’s a very big industry there, and the Chinese fishing-trade expo--called “China Fish”--is a huge international deal.

But consider this current headline from the European fishing-trade journal Angling International: “Giants Accelerate Move out of China.” Rapala, for example, is moving some lure manufacturing along with some VMC hook operations from China to Batam, Indonesia.
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By John Merwin

Flashlights. Everybody needs at least one and--most often--more than one, each light suited to a particular task. In my case, that includes tying on a fly or lure after dark, finding my way through the alder tangles back to my truck, and illuminating the area around a camp stove so I can have dinner.

I recently had the chance to test five new-for-2012 flashlights, a couple of which are truly outstanding. Fortunately, my neighbors didn’t call the cops despite seeing all the odd-looking activity in my yard after dark. I am thus still free to report the following.

1. The PolyTac 90 LED is a small (4.1 ounces, 5.22 inches high) right-angled light that puts out a whopping 170 lumens at its highest setting with 3 hours and 45 minutes run time. On the lowest-output setting, the two 3-volt lithium batteries are said to last for 30 hours. An attached belt clip plus a hanging carabiner give various attachment options. At $85, it’s nice, but pricey. From streamlight.com.
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By Slaton L. White

How do you redesign an icon?

Carefully. Very carefully.

Just ask the guy responsible for the Wrangler YJ, which replaced the beloved (but slow-selling) CJ in the late 1980s. All in all, not a bad vehicle, but it was vilified for having square, instead of round, headlights.

Small beer? Not to the hard-core Jeep fan. Jeep engineers learned the lesson, and though the current model desperately needed an upgrade--especially a more powerful but fuel-efficient engine--designers knew they couldn’t change the shape or alter its iconic look in any substantial way. In other words, it had to have round headlamps, as well as the seven-slot grille, to carry on the hallowed Willys tradition.
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