| One on One with Larry Dahlberg By Rocky Ferraro Many of you have seen the TV show “The Hunt for Big Fish” with Larry Dahlberg. A couple of Saturdays ago I got to meet Larry at the California Fly Shop in San Carlos and listen to him talk. My first impression of Larry is what a nice person. He is really a down to earth kind of guy. He loves his job and is the type of person that is always looking to see what is around the next corner. He has a hunger for adventure and always brings a fishing pole with him on his travels. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to Larry before his presentation. Rocky: Larry I saw your show on Muskie fishing and you were doing a figure eight by the boat with your lure. What gives? Larry: Well Muskie love to follow things and sometimes if you can see you have their interest but they’re not ready to take the lure this will give them an extra chance to strike it. When you take the lure back around sometimes they think it’s trying to get away and the Muskie will strike it. Rocky: I’ve wanted to catch Muskie using a fly rod. How, when and where is the best time to do this? Larry: Well, we have a season in Minnesota on Muskie so you can’t fish for them all year long but there are certain times of the year that using a fly rod is best. In the spring when the water temperature gets up to around 60 in the shallows and they come in the shallows to spawn they get spooky but with a fly rod that is the best time. You still need to be stealthy and the longer the cast the better, ~100ft +. It really depends on when the water temperature warms up enough. Larry: Have you ever caught a King Salmon! Rocky: Yes but not on a fly rod. Larry: I mean on a river with a fly rod. You know the best way is too get a whole package of flashabou and tie a fly with all the flashabou hanging out. Then you get so that you cast upstream and when your line swings back it is very close to where that King is guarding a red. Once that fly crosses the King’s plane of vision and is close enough to that red he will protect that red by coming out and attacking that fly. The reason being is that they are real protective of their reds and that they think this fly is a juvenile salmon trying to invade his red. This is what happens in nature and the chase is on! I had my picture taken with Larry and then he was mobbed. Larry Dahlberg Presentation By Rocky Ferraro Larry Dahlberg of TV show “The Hunt for Big Fish” Gave a presentation at the California Fly Shop a couple of Saturdays ago. I was fortunate enough to attend and I was glad I did. This is the gist of what Larry had to say. Keep an open mind about fishing. The most important key to success is finding where they are at not what you use to catch them. If fly fishing equipment does not work try anything including bait to find them then refine your technique to use fly equipment later. In Larry’s own words “Don’t be a weenie” Larry talked about how he started guiding at 11 years old. Yes that’s right he was a pro guide at 11!! The previous guide died and they needed someone to take Mr. Pillsbury out fishing so he was hired. He showed Mr. Pillsbury all the good spots and Mr. Pillsbury impressed with all the fish he caught spread the word; Larry got lots of work. Most of the guides at the time were fishing while they were guiding because it was usually their only chance to fish but Larry just guided them and did not fish while he was guiding his clients. He grew up on the river fishing but it took a lot for his dad to take him out. He had to earn it and then once he got out on the river he paid his dues by rowing. His grandfather would take him out more often for catfish and sturgeon because he was a bait only fisherman and with Larry around he could catch twice the fish to feed his 12 kids. Some tips: How do you know how heavy a fly your fly rod is designed to cast? See what your rod was designed to cast as far as line weight. Put that same weight in the fly and throw it. That will give you an idea of what kind of fly size will work with which rod. It should match close to the weight in grains that your fly line is rated. Lube and clean your line. Larry likes Armor All but any silica base lube will do. Stretch your line to get the kinks out. Your line can stretch as much as 20%. This will get your line back in the shape it was designed to work best. It will get rid of all the bumps in your line and it will help it cast farther as well as faster. Leaders: Leaders do not turn over a fly. The forces acting upon the fly do that. If you use too much of a difference in tippet diameter per section the leader will hinge. When you cast your fly rod do not look back at the loop. You are breaking the plane that the rod should be on if you do that. Try and cast in a straight plane. When I go to new areas I do a lot of research with maps. Try and find the structure in different bodies of water. Try and find if there are any other rivers draining into a major body of water. Depth finder: He uses a depth finder to get an idea of the best places to fish first and then narrows it down to the two or three best places. Have your depth finder working right and working at the top speed you are traveling. Don’t just turn it on when you get to place you are thinking about fishing. Have it on all the time. A lot of Larry’s success is not being afraid to try new things and going to places where people have never fished before. One such place was for bonefish off the coast of South Africa. His latest is Wolf Fish in some of the rivers that drain into the Amazon River system in South America and are not necessarily in Brazil. He loves to fish for Trevalle around the Christmas Island area. |
| One on One With Larry Dahlberg Complete |
| Foster City Rod & Gun Club |
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