Get 30 people together, united only by a common love for fly fishing and the waters of South Uist- an island off the northwest coast of Scotland- have them share their favorite experiences while there, and you get Tales from The Angler’s Retreat from Muddler Books.

As you’d expect when you put this many fishermen together who aren’t writers; you get a few whose story is a little hard to get through.  However, there are others who tell their tale so well that you’re right there in the boat with them.

One of my favorite parts of the book was a short story written by angler Pete Mathews titled, “The Gap in the Causeway on Castle Loch.”  Three guys and a dog are motoring up on a causeway, with two of them having a friendly disagreement on whether the boat can make it over the causeway just below the surface with low water conditions.  The man on the motor thinks they can make it, and before you know it, the other two are bracing for their lives momentarily before everyone in the boat is catapulted into the air, including the poor dog in the front of the boat.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was that at times, it felt a bit like an advertisement for The Angler’s Retreat, instead of a collection of people’s experiences while staying at the Angler’s Retreat.  What I really liked, in fact loved, was the book’s concept.

Also included in the book are recommended flies for South Uist.  Some patterns are semi-framiliar, such as the Red Tailed Muddler.  Others are foreign, such as the Green Peter.  There are also maps of the island and it’s lochs.

Tales from The Angler’s Retreat is 159 pages long, and sells new for $12.95(US) at the publisher’s website(Click Here).

Or, you can win a free copy by sharing one of your own fishing stories in the comments below!  One commenter will be randomly picked to receive my review copy.  (I’ll contact you via the email address you provide)

I think my passion for throwing streamers can be linked back to my days of fishing with spinning gear.  Ya see, one of the toughest things to master in fly fishing is that whole dry fly delicacy thing.  Anyone can get a streamer tight against the bank and strip it in like a mad man; but it takes practice to defy the dynamics of fluid flow.  I sort of stumbled upon this epiphany the morning I clipped off a Light Cahill in favor of a yellow Zoo Cougar a few miles downstream of the Mio  on the Au Sable River.

Hours earlier, I caught my first trout on a fly during the early stages of a Sulpher hatch.  To this day, it’s still probably one of the most epic Sulpher hatches I’ve ever experienced.  The bugs just wouldn’t stop popping.  I waded into a side channel on the back side of a small island and for reasons I didn’t understand at the time, there were no bugs.  On a whim, I tied the Zoo Cougar on and found out the hard way that my casting skills weren’t what they needed to be to cast it.  So to compensate for my shortcomings, I stood at the top of the channel and stripped every inch of my fly line out.  Once the current pulled the entire length of line and the fly tight, I started stripping line back in.  On the first pass up the channel, I saw three fish charge the fly before backing out at the last second.  Again, I let the full length of fly line straighten out from the top of the channel, then after stripping in about 40′ of line, everything tightened up and I had adrenaline shooting out my ears.

I can still picture my left hand struggling to cradle the fish while my right held my fly rod up to it to guesstimate how big it was. My dry fly fishing days were over only hours after they began. Don’t get me wrong, I still fish dry flies.  I’d even go so far as to say I have fun matching hatches.  But for me, catching trout through finesse pales in comparison to pissing them off.

This mindset applies to all of the other fish I pursue- except steelhead.  For some reason I still prefer to catch them under a bobber than on the swing.  I often laugh about this with Shaq over at The Anglers Net.  He’s just the opposite.  For him, when it comes to chasing migratory fish, the tug is the drug.  Yet for the most part when trout fishing, he’ll only toss a streamer when there are no bugs coming off.

So since the streamer bite is on fire right now on rivers all across the country, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites.

The Zoo Cougar

Hook: 4XL or 3XL Streamer Hook
Tail: Marabou
Body: Sparkle Braid
Underwing: Calf Tail
Wing: Mallard Flank
Collar/Head: Deer Body Hair

EP Fiber Baitfish

Hook: Streamer Hook
Body: EP Fibers
Colors: Grab some markers and go!
Eyes: Doll Eyes

Butt Monkey

Tail: Marabou
Body: Sparkle Braid
Rib: Medium Wire
Wing: Rabbit Strip
Collar: Duck Flank
Head: Wool or Glo Bug Yarn clipped to shaped

Muddler Minnow

Hook: 3XL Streamer Hook
Tail: Turkey
Body: Tinsel
Wing: Turkey
Collar/Head: Deer Body Hair

Conrad’s Sculpin

Hooks: 2 Streamer hooks
Body: Palmered Marabou
Joint: Mono- use a few beads to help prevent fouling and also give the fly some sound
Head: Deer Body Hair
Eyes: Dumbell Eyes

Looks like the Winston Rod Co. is laying off workers due to these stellar economic conditions we’re currently experiencing.

I can’t say I’m surprised that a company who sells a fly rod made of paper-backed silica or carbon scrim, containing 12 rings of Portuguese cork, 8 stainless or chromed guides, a lathe-turned aluminum reel seat, and 50 yards of nylon thread, for close to $1000 is suffering. Especially when a guy can get a rod that performs just as well, is light weight, and looks like a hell of a lot better, for a quarter of that price- and that’s on the high end.

Let me point you to a beautiful example.

Steve at Midwest Custom Fly Rods currently has a rod for sale for the bank-busting price of $125 if you buy it before 5pm EST today.

Its built on a high modulus (44 Million) blank, 9′ 7wt 2pc. It’s matt black, Super light and has a very crisp action. The grip & butt are all custom turned exotic cork (Copano/Rubberized/brown burl/black trim foam). The reel seat is custom turned spalted maple, and the hardware is nickle silver, light weight SF guides, inserted stripper, Garnet (no CP) wraps, metallic silver trim.

Steve will guarantee that you will not find a nicer looking & feeling rod than this one, for this price.

I can’t think of a better rod to handle throwing streamers to big trout, bass, or for fighting Carp, Steelhead, etc.

For only $125, good luck, Mr. Winston…