Who’s Laughing Now?

By: John O’Bryan

I used to laugh at the old guys standing in the river poking a 5x tippet over and over again at the eye of a size 14 hook as they tried to attach it to their fly line. I used to laugh, that is, until it was me standing up
to my waist in one of the most fishable rivers in the state, fruitlessly poking a thin line of monofilament at the miniscule eye. As I missed time and time again, I got more and more irritated. After a few frustrating minutes I finally got the line onto the hook, only to have it pull free as I finished my improved clinch, and I was back to playing pin the tail on the donkey for another five minutes. At that moment I realized that it was finally time to do something different.

Being unable to tie a fly to a line is a huge deal and it’s an even bigger deal when you realize that there are times where you must do this over and over as you change flies, change sizes, or snag a fly in the alder on your first three back casts – not that I’ve ever done this, but I’ve seen it happen to others. Struggling with this crucial task can add a lot of unproductive minutes to your fishing day and unproductive minutes translate directly into less fish caught.

My frustration changed to unbelievable happiness last week when I brought the Carson Optics Clip&Flip magnifiers with me to Kelly Creek. You won’t win any fashion awards wearing them clipped to the top of
your glasses, but when you flip them down and the fuzzy, indistinct fly comes into stark, clear focus and you watch that little sliver of line slip effortlessly into the eye of the hook on the first try, you may never
take them off…ever.

These magnifiers just work. They may not get you a date, unless she happens to be a far-sighted fly fisherwoman who admires older men who are adept at tying flies to thin Fluorocarbon, but you will
finally be able to see to tie that fly to the line the very first time, every time. They stay strongly attached to glasses and flipped up under the brim of a cap, they are hardly noticeable. Now that I’ve used them, I will never be without them on the river.

I am a husband, father, grandfather, photographer, fly tyer and fly fisherman… in that order. I grew up
in Ketchikan, Alaska and Fall River Mills, California which are arguably two of the fishiest places in the
world. I currently live in northern Idaho where I chase steelhead on the Clearwater and the Snake and
trout on the St. Joe and Kelly Creek. – John O’Bryan