I am honoured to represent to you Steve Clark
When did you start to fly fish and how?
I have been a fisherman since I was about 3 years old, back then though I used a spinning rod like most other kids. It wasn’t till I was about 17/18 years old that I picked up my first fly rod. It was after my grandfather passed away that my father and I were in his house cleaning when I came across his old 1950’s fiberglass heddon fly rod. That summer I started learning how to fly cast and fly fish and I never looked back, I’ve never looked at fishing the same way since that summer and fly fishing has been a huge part of my life for the past 15 years.
What are the conditions of flyfishing in your place, where you live?
I am extremely lucky to live where I do. I live in Michigan in the United States, Michigan is surrounded by water on 3 sides known as The Great Lakes. These bodies of water are home to a huge number of fish as well as variety of species of fish. Many of these fish such as the Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Lake run brown trout and Steelhead run up the rivers that flow into the Great Lakes to spawn in the spring and fall. So that gives me a chance to catch 25-30pound salmon in small 30ft wide streams on a fly rod.
We also have some of the best trout fishing to be found in the USA. Rivers such as the Au Sable, Manistee, and Pere Marquette are beautiful streams that are full of browns&rainbow trout with some that reach up to 30 inches. Plus we have a thriving population of warm water fish as well.
Which fish species do you flyfish?
fly fish mainly for brown&rainbow trout, Steelhead and Chinook Salmon, but this year I am also planning on doing a lot of Smallmouth bass and Pike fishing as well. I have a trip planned in July where I will hopefull land my first fly rod Northern Pike
What is the equipment you use for flyfishing – for the rod, reel and line?
I have a number of rods, reels and lines. Most of them are a variety of brands such as Winston and Sage for my rods, and Harris, Ross and Reddington for my reels. I have begun to build my own fly rods just within the last year and I currently have 2 more rods in the works that I’m working on right now. I feel that the quality of blanks that are available to a rod builder today enable me to build the same action and quality rod as some of the top brands, only at ¼ the cost.
Far as reels, I am not particularly set on one brand of reel when it comes to a trout reel. But when It comes to my large game (salmon) reel I stick with a brand called Harris. They make a rock solid reel with a very impressive disc drag system that slows these large 30 pound salmon without much trouble.
Where do you prefer go flyfishing, to rivers or to lakes, ponds?
I am strictly a river fisherman. There are a number of lakes&pond around me, actually the state I live in (Michigan) there is not a single place in the state that is more than 7 miles from a lake or pond. So you would think I fish Stillwater also, but to me there is just something about rivers that I love. The moving water, the ever changing flow of water and current, the sights and the sounds of the river, I guess you could say they just touch my heart like still water cant do.
Which types of flies/dries, nymphs…/ do you use when fishing?
We have a great deal of insect life and hatches here on our rivers so I use a very wide variety of flies.
I usually start out the day using streamers when there is no hatch in progress during the morning hours. Then I will switch to a nymph about late afternoon when the insects are starting to let go of the rocks to emerge to the surface to hatch.
Then in the evening the hatches will be underway and I will use an appropriate dry fly to imitate the naturals that are hatching.
We have a huge number of hatches here but some of the better ones that seem to bring the bigger fish to he surface are….
Hendricksons
Brown Drakes
Grey Drakes
Hex
White fly (ephoron leukeon)
You make very interesting flies. How and when did you begin tying flies, and which are your the most favorite?
Actually started tying flies about 12 years ago but didn’t get into tying really seriously till just about 3 years ago.
I would tie a little every once in awhile back then, mainly just to replenish my fly boxes or for an upcoming trip but never as something that I really did regularly. Then about 3 years ago I really started to get interested in fly tying and I saw a huge improvement in my tying.
So now I have converted an area of my house to a tying area, and I tie probably about 3-4 nights a week for about 1-3 hours per session. Mostly working on filling my fly boxes and then I will experiment on new patterns once my boxes are full.
What do you think about the realistic flies, can you compare them with the other flies in their efficiency?
I have a great deal of respect for people that can tie a realistic fly. One of the best realistic fly tier’s I know is Graham Owen. Graham can tie certain patterns that look so realistic that you would not be able to tell the difference between one of his flies and the real creature unless the real one moved. I believe Graham puts as much as six hours or more into some of his realistic patterns just to tie one, that’s something I just don’t think I could do though.
I believe the realistics would be great fishing flies, but the fact that they take such a great deal of time to tie just doesn’t make them something that would be a wise choice for “fishing” flies. They are a true art form in my eyes though.
What do you know about the flyfishing in Bulgaria?
I wish I could say I know a good deal about fishing in other parts of the world besides where I live, but the fishing in my area keeps me busy. Most of the information I get on fishing in other parts of the world I get from being a part of fly fishing websites.
The internet has made gaining knowledge so much easier for this generation, I just wish I was able to access this much information when I was growing up. So far all the information I have learned about fishing in Bulgaria and other parts of the world has been from reading fishing reports from people such as Rado that I have become friends with through internet fishing sites.
Which are your favorite flyfishing/tying/ sites in the Internet?
I am very much an active part of the fly fishing internet community. I help run a trio of fishing websites as well as another website that caters to fisherman world wide.
The trio of websites that I help run are called flytyingforum.com, talkflyfishing.com, and rodbuildingforum.com.
Those three sites cover the three main aspects of fly fishing. Which are fly tying, fly fishing and rod building.
The other website that I help run is a bit different than the three I just mentioned. That website is called Globalfisher.com.
Globalfisher.com is unique in the fact that is not just a site dedicated to one style of fishing or one area of the world, but rather it embraces all style/methods of fishing no matter if it’s fly fishing, spin fishing, bait casting or trolling. Plus every species on Globalfiser.com gets the same recognition no matter if it’s a trout or a carp. The other nice thing about that site is the fact that it’s a site for people from all over the world, hence the name “Global” fisher. It’s a great community for learning about fishing in other parts of the world.
All of the sites mentioned are wonderful sites and I can find about any piece of fishing related information I could want between the four of them.
Do you share the idea for catch and release?
I would say yes. I have nothing against keeping a few fish for the table (I love the taste) but in the area I live releasing a fish to fight another day helps to keep the population of fish strong since many rivers are wild fish.
What is for you the flyfishing and what make it different from the other types of fishing?
I enjoy all type of fishing and I still do a decent amount of spin fishing, but fly fishing is something that I do the majority of the time. To me fly fishing is just a style of fishing that is filled with history. It comes from a time when it was a very respected method of taking a trout and I believe that it still is a style of fishing that takes a great deal of patience and skill.
I find a peace with myself and with my soul when I’m fly fishing that I don’t get from a spinning rod. It’s hard to explain, but fly fishing on a river is the one thing in my life that I can do alone, without feeling lonely.
What would you like to say to those who are just about to begin flyfishing?
Take your time, have patience, and try to meet someone that already knows how to fly fish and make friends with them.
Learning to cast, learning about hatches&insects, learning to mend your line, pick the proper fly, proper leader, knowing how to read the water to find the fish.…those are all things that you “can” learn from books, video tapes, or TV fishing shows, but there is still no substitute for “hands on” training.
I had no one to teach me how to fly fish when I first started, so I believe that it took me much longer to get to where I am today than it should have.
I have been fly fishing for 15 years now so I am happy with my accomplishments, but I believe I could have got to the point I’m at now a lot faster if I had someone to help me in the beginning. So find someone that has some experience in fly fishing and be a good student by listening to what they have to share with you.
Tight Lines!
Special thanks to Steve Clark for the interview he gave me and best regards!
Radoslav Kiskinov - The Shark