Fishing In Connecticut

Had a very nice bit of fishing and conversation with Charlie Place. We met to fish and hang out on the Willimantic River. The place to fish is adjacent to the rest stop on Rt. 84 West between exits 69 and 70. We both got into some trout, enjoyed the warm weather and had the river all to ourselves. Now is the time to go as the water gets warmer and lower around mid-May.

Tying One On For Team Japan

The Fly Fishing World Championships are coming up in early June in Scotland. I have been enlisted to tye flies for the members of Team Japan to use at the Championships. Team Japan Captain, Misako Ishimura, a friend and colleague, has requested the flies. She has been familiar with my fly tying for several years and from when I was the Official Team Fly Tyer for Fly Fishing Team USA at the 2006 World Championships in Portugal. Alas, I will not actually be going to Scotland, but I will be there in spirit and, of course, in fly boxes. Sorry, I cannot reveal the exact nature of the flies I am tying. More on that after Worlds.

New Technique To Net Fish On The Fly

Charlie Place, who is a New England celebrity and writes a column for On The Water, sent me a picture depicting how to simultaneously corral and measure a fish while in a float tube. Nice work and excellent technique.

Mayfly And Co.

Spent a few hours tying at the open house for a local fly shop, Mayfly & Co. There was keen interest in learning fly tying skills by many of the attendees. Great to see a few kids show interest. Mayfly is located in Newton, MA and has some nice goods with an old-school fly shop feel.

Charles River

Went fishing today on the Charles River below the dam in South Natick. The fish are all safe and undisturbed. Nobody that I saw caught anything either.

New Nymph-Head Bead Colors

Nymph-Head tungsten beads and RealFly Color Beads are out in four new colors: Steelhead Blue, Shrimp Pink, Tangerine Orange and Bloodworm Red. I have a few samples, but have yet to put them on hooks. These new colors should add interesting dimensions to flies. I think trout really key in on flies that contain blue or red accents.

Float Tube Mary

Is that smiling Mary Edwards out on the Willimantic River too? I bet she is smiling because she is fishing the BTF.

(See 2/19/09 post for details on the BTF.)

Float Tube John

John Baracchi, president of the Connecticut Fly Fishermen's Association, was spotted in his float tube enjoying a cigar on the Willimantic River in Connecticut last weekend.

CFTG Rendezvous

The Catskill Fly Tyers Guild annual Rendezvous was this past weekend. A great time was had by all. This is a special event as it brings together tyers in a relaxed atmosphere in which there is time to learn new things and catch up with old friends. I fished for a short stretch, but came up empty-handed. The weather was warm and sunny and the word was out that the Hendricksons were coming off on the Delaware.

Spring Weekend

Off to the Catskills for the weekend for some fly tying, fishing and socializing.

Shout Out

Shouting out a big bon voyage to Quentin Hoffpauir at Angling Evolutions. Have a great trip to Belize!

Woven Flies

I have been working on my skills at making woven flies. Potts, shuttle, parallel, overhand...so many styles so little time. When my skills get better I will post some pictures. Until then, it is all practice.

A Streamer Project

Just thought that I needed another project to work on. I am in the process of tying each streamer pattern featured in Dave Klausmeyer's book, Tying Classic Freshwater Streamers: An Illustrated Step-By-Step Guide. It is quite a project. It all started when a customer commissioned me to tye all the streamers for him to frame. I will be tying two of each of the 100 plus patterns. With the first set going to my commissioning customer, there will be one complete set remaining and available for a special purchase. Any one who is interested in finding out about this collection should feel free to email me.

Project Healing Waters

I just recently became a volunteer with Project Healing Waters. PHW is a program through the Veterans Administration that helps injured or disabled service members and veterans with the opportunity to use fly tying and fly fishing as part of their rehabilitation. A volunteer group of us, at the West Roxbury, MA VA, have started offering inpatients the opportunity to tye flies or learn to tye flies as part of their rehab program. It is just getting off the ground, so I will keep you posted as things develop.

I'd also like to remind fly tyers and anglers to share the sport with others. Give to others that which has brought you so much joy.

Clean Your Equipment

Nothing wrecks a fine fishery quite like Aquatic Nuisance Species. Always clean your gear.

Rooster On A Spring Creek

This caught my eye last week. I am sure you can think of a lot of different captions for it.

Faceted Tungsten Beads

All bead head flies will also be available with faceted tungsten beads (from Hareline) as an option in addition to Nymph-Head Beads in both brass and tungsten. Faceted beads will be available on flies at the end of April. The Europeans love these beads, and for good reason, they help attract fish.

Hareline Dubbin, Inc.

I have just added Hareline's offerings to my arsenal of fly tying materials. I am very happy to be adding more exciting materials to my repertoire and continuing to offer my customers quality flies and innovative designs. And still made in America.

Shouting Out

Just wanted to shout out a "howdy" to Charles Barton of Mountain Home, Arkansas. Missed the Sowbug Roundup this year, so I did not see a number of tyers down south. Heard it was a great show.

The Catskill Fly Tyers Guild 11th Annual Fly Tyers Rendezvous is coming up. A sure sign of Spring. Come in and see 50 expert tyers at the Rockland House in Roscoe, NY on Saturday, April 18 10am-3pm. It is a day of fun, camaraderie and fly tying. There's always an interesting cast of characters.

Put Away Those Winter Clothes

OK, I may be rushing the season, but I put away all my winter clothes. My rods, reels and lines are all glistening clean and ready to go. I have been filling in the holes in my fly box. Have a few new patterns in the "testing phase," and am looking forward to experimenting. As I tinker with these patterns I'll fill you in more.

United Fly Tyers

I am excited to report that I have just been elected as the new president of United Fly Tyers.

Mantis, Part 2

This is the dance of the mantis. My aunt sent me an email of interesting pictures and this was one of them. I do not know who took this photograph.

Mantis, Part 1

Mantis fly by Cholo of Leon, Spain.