Archives

How Fly Fishing turned Josh Diller’s Life Around

Permalink

Josh Diller is a Colorado-based fisherman who is living the ultimate fly-fisher’s life. However, Diller is not your average angler; he struggled with drug problems before he eventually found his true calling in the waters. This is an inspirational young man who used the transformative power of fly fishing to change his life for the better.

Josh was engrossed in the club lifestyle in his early adulthood

Diller was brought up on a farm in the rolling hills of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. As a kid, he spent his time roaming the fields, fishing and hunting. Later, this all changed when he started living “life in the fast lane” —he was drinking a lot, going out in the city and selling drugs.

Josh fell in love with fishing on opening day 2013

In the spring of 2013 — during a short period away from the party and drugs lifestyle, he picked up a fishing rod and went out to the waters on “Opening Day” of trout season in Pennsylvania — his intention being to catch a couple of fish. Within a short time, Diller started to reignite his love for the outdoors, slaying the fish day in and day out on a spinning rod. Since he is always up for a challenge, he decided try out fishing with a fly rod.

Diller holding a largemouth

Diller holding a largemouth

People in Lancaster used spin-casters to dunk bait and hence Diller was never exposed to fly fishing (it wasn’t really much of a thing.) On June 21, 2013, he met Derek Eberly (a seasoned fly fisher,) who sold him a leader, tippet, and a few bass flies before teaching him some casting tricks. He bought these fly fishing gear to go with a pool-stick of a rod that he had found in his basement.

Before long he was fishing for trout and smallmouths

Diller met Derek inside an Orvis outlet store in a corner that was dedicated to fly fishing. This meeting made Diller’s day and helped fuel his dream of mastering the fly fishing thing.

After purchasing the fishing gear, he tried catching a largemouth bass while still working on his casting in a local golf-course pond. He grasped the casting motion and in a few days he started fishing for smallmouths in local rivers.

Diller decided to move to Colorado after enjoying several months of fly fishing in his hometown. This move was influenced by a need to experience a new challenge — he wanted to move to a place where he could really learn how to fish for big, wild trout.

Josh was frustrated during his first season in Colorado

Josh was frustrated during his first season in Colorado

Diller’s journey led him to a heaven for fly fishing — Summit County. This place had plenty of fly shops and information was easy to access, it also had the nicest people ever and enough water to fish within a short drive. However, all these goodies meant little because he could barely catch a trout during his first few weeks in Colorado. Diller was frustrated and he found himself snowboarding and riding his bike that winter, having given up on fly fishing. He was back on a familiar path — living the Colorado lifestyle.

Diller holding a smallmouth and with better fishing gear

During the following summer, Diller met this guy called Keegan Axtel, who had flies stuck in his hat and they immediately started talking about fishing. He explained his frustrations about fly fishing to Axtel and he offered to help. A few days later, Diller joined Axtel and his friends on a float to catch some trout down the Colorado River. That day, they floated Pumphouse to Rancho (10 miles) twice! It was the beginning of great things.

Josh was soon catching more fish than he could imagine

Before meeting Keegan, he had never thrown a nymph rig or more than one fly. It was Keegan who showed him the keys to streamer fishing as well as the basics of a hopper-dropper set up. Diller was having a blast; they had caught so many fish that it was mind blowing. It was on that day that he was truly “hooked” to fly fishing.

That fall, Diller got employed as a hunting guide in Livingston, Montana. He spent his time learning new things about fish every time he got an opportunity, exploring the nearby rivers and the foothills of the Crazy Mountains. He did this for the next three months.

On his return to Colorado, Diller befriended Nick McDonald; a fly-fishing guide who worked at the Colorado Angler in Silverthorne. They spent the winter fishing all over Colorado and he learnt a lot of things like the right flies to use, the best fishing spots and what the fish were going to eat that day.

Josh holding a cutthroat in Montana

The Pennsylvania native was finally in a happy place in his life; fishing was helping him meet new people, explore gold metal rivers, see breathtaking sceneries and experience wildlife. It was during this time that he decided to start Daily Rise Productions (a website that uses videos to teach fly fishing) — he uses this platform to share his wonderful experiences with others. Today, he seeks to encourage other people to walk out of their doorsteps so that they can enjoy the good things that the natural environment has to offer.

Diller now lives in Summit County together with two other trout bums; taking on each adventure that comes their way. They spend majority of their evenings at the vise, tying flies for the next day; they can fish in numerous rivers throughout the year.

Fly fishing along with the people that Diller met along the way helped him shift his life from a self-destructive path so that he could consistently work on improving himself. He is the first to admit that he is in a good place thanks to fly fishing. His story can serve as an inspiration for other youths struggling to give up drugs; they can consider taking up fly fishing or any other hobby to change their lives for the better.

Fishing tackle room

Permalink

A fishing tackle room is a shed or room where a fisherman safely stores his fishing gear and accessories.

Whether you are a seasoned professional or an amateur angler, your collection of fishing poles, bait boxes, waterproofs, seat boxes, landing nets and holdall bags should be stored in this secure room for fishing gear.

The gear is normally mounted or hanged on the wall while other equipment can be placed in/or on shelves.

How big should it be?

The fishing tackle storage room should be long and wide enough for tall fishing poles; at the very least it should be over 6ft tall and around 4ft wide. It should also be spacious enough to store your fishing tackle boxes.

Personality

You can customize your room for fishing gear to reflect your personality by injecting some style and decorations on the wall. Some seasoned fishermen even use the fishing tackle storage room for artistic purposes, collecting and displaying only the best and most cherished fishing gear in the market.

For easier organization, keep everything separate by making one huge wall for your hardbaits/plastics/hooks/jigs. This will help you know exactly what you have as well as what you use or don’t use.

It is important to do this straight away to save a lot of labor because you will probably end up doing this down the road anyway.

The fishing storage items range from fishing rod storage, tackle boxes, bags wallets and bait buckets lids.

Rod rack (fishing pole rack)

fishing pole rack

The fishing rod rack is designed to occupy minimum space on the floor and it is quite easy to assemble; you will not need any tools. It is normally made of strong quality light-weight aluminum and it can carry a rod collection of up to 24 fishing rods.

It can be used to organize and protect any type of fishing rod. The fishing poles are normally mounted on the wall.

This fishing rod storage equipment also comes with sufficient spacing so that the poles don’t lie on top of each other while you are storing them in the same area.

The 12 rod rack is ideal for smaller diameter poles like freshwater bass rods.

The rod rack can be used on boats, shed, garage or even bedroom to keep your fishing rod collection safe and well organized.

Apart from fishing rod racks, you can also use fishing rod tubes and cases, fishing rod holders and fishing reel cases.

The Tackle Bag

The Tackle Bag

This is a special bag used to carry fishing equipment. After fishing, you should hang it on the wall of the tackle room for safe keeping.

A high-quality tackle bag should come with plenty of pockets on the outside in order to store leaders and lines as well as four tackle trays on the inside.

Some tackle bags also feature a removable padded shoulder strap to make the job of carrying it easier. Other bags even come with a section for carrying your lunch; it is normally on the top of the bag.

Conclusion

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced fisherman, it is important for any angler to have a tackle room to protect the gear from damage or also for safekeeping during the off-season. The room for fishing gear will help you keep the smell of fish away from your living room. Not only is the tackle room professional but it can also be artistic for the true lovers of fishing.

Fly Fishing for Trout

Permalink

Catching trout is quite popular for many anglers since they are very common in water bodies and they also respond well to different fly patterns. As a result, they are fairly easy to catch.

Interestingly, some people love trout because they can even keep them as pets.

When fly fishing for trout, a fisherman needs to present the fly in a natural manner and in a place where trout will reach it and eat it.Read article

Fly fishing basics

Permalink

Fly fishing is a modern-day fishing technique that involves catching fish using an artificial “fly”. The extremely light fly is cast into the water using a fly rod, specialized weighted line and reel.

Casting the fly normally requires a throwing skill that stands out from other styles of casting. As a beginner, fly fishing can seem to be quite overwhelming because of the different things you have to learn. However, there is no need to panic because all these factors can be managed with a little practice every now and then.Read article