Hatches Magazine

Hatches Magazine totally sucks. I ordered the magazine and paid for it with a credit card. Card went through a year ago. They have not sent me the stupid mag. No response to emails.

Foot Of The Hare

A special electronic gift from a secret admirer.

Vermont Bans Hydrofracking!

Hot news item! VERMONT HAS BANNED HYDROFRACKING BECAUSE IT POLLUTES! Sweet! Let's get more states to follow this path. Clean water, fish and all animals (us) need it to live.

Stripers Are In Rhode Island

Did a little striper fishing with my friend Kechia. We went out with Capt. Ray Stachelek in Narragansett Bay. Capt. Ray can be reached at www.castaflycharters.com. Why do I only fish the salt once in a while? Must be because I am dumb and don't want to catch big pigs...look what I am missing.

Vince Wilcox New Book

Very cool book with super flies!

Regal Vises: Simply The Best

Dynamic Nymphing

Another great book hits the market. Having been on Fly Fishing Team USA with George, I know him to be one of the best anglers I have ever seen on the river. This book is chocked full of great information. George is a great guy too.

Trout About On The Deerfield

Got into a lot of fish with guide Eric Gass on the Deerfield.

Charlie Place

Cabela's and Federation of Fly Fishers Team Up

Cabela's® Prepares to Cast New Fly Fishing Initiative

Cabela's Incorporated, along with the Federation of Fly Fishers, announces plans to offer industry-leading instruction for beginning fly anglers at 13 Cabela's retail locations - and online - starting in May. The new Cabela's Fly Fishing University will include in-store classes hosted by experienced Cabela's Outfitters, who will be trained by FFF instructors, as well as a series of online modules ranging in topics and depth.

Fishing With Charlie Place

Snapped this photo of Charlie a few years ago. We were fishing on the Willamantic River. I remember Charlie really encouraging me to keep on a feisty rainbow. The result was kissing a fish. That was a fun day.

Charlie Place Passes Away

In today's Hartford Courant:

Charles S. Place of Windsor Locks, formerly of East Hartford, died peacefully Sunday (April 1, 2012) at St. Francis Hospital with his loving wife by his side. He was born February 18, 1947, in Colchester, Vermont, the son of Helen (Towle) Place and the late Stanley Place. He graduated from East Hartford High School and served his country in the U. S. Air Force. After 38 years, he retired from Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in 2008. An avid fly fisherman, he loved to spend his time in the rivers and streams of North America, as well as the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans. He was president of the Connecticut Fly Fishermen's Association from 1995-2000. A published outdoor writer, he spent countless hours writing and reliving his adventures with his many fishing buddies. The New England Outdoor Writers Association awarded him 1st place in Best Magazine Column in 2004. He wrote a monthly column for "On the Water" magazine for many years entitled "On the Fly." He leaves his devoted wife of 42 years, Kathleen (Norton) Place and two loving daughters, Jennifer Place Hogan of Windsor Locks and Kathryn Place of Suffield; four loving grandchildren, Nicholas, Cormac, Maeve and Nuala Hogan. He leaves his mother Helen (Towle) Place of Windsor Locks; his sister Sharon (Place) Marziale, her husband Lawrence of Windsor, and their children, Michael Marziale of Sarasota, FL and Christina Marziale of Greenbelt, MD; stepmother Lynda Place of Putney, VT; stepsister Lynda Sillner of Keene, NH and stepbrother Eric Hinkle of Putney,VT. Charles is also survived by his uncle Bruce Towle and wife Karen of Hinsdale, NH; sisters-in-law Madlyn (Norton) Brink of San Antonio, and her fiancé Donald Gray; Martha (Norton) O'Connor of Windsor Locks; many nieces, nephews, cousins, great nieces, and a grand niece. He was predeceased by his nephew Peter Stath. 

Calling hours will be Friday, April 6th at the Carmon Poquonock Funeral Home, 1816 Poquonock Ave., Poquonock section of Windsor from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made and sent to Windsor Locks High School (W.L.H.S.) Charles Place Outdoorsman Award, 58 South Elm Street, Windsor Locks, CT 06096. For online condolences, please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com.

Trout Chow Fly

A great fly to use for catching stockies.

Gardner L. Grant Dies

Gardner L. Grant of Purchase, NY and Jupiter, FL, a past president of the Federation of Fly Fishers, passed away on March 28, 2012, after a long battle with cancer.  He was 85 years old.  Born in Boston, MA, Gardner spent his early years in Providence RI.  He was a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Business School, and led a family-owned company in the invention and development of equipment for the automatic collection of tolls on tunnels, bridges and turnpikes.  Following the sale of the company to a publicly held corporation, he moved his family to Scarsdale, NY and continued to serve as president for over a decade.  Later, Gardner became active in real estate development and management.  A life-long, passionate fly fisherman, Gardner was active in numerous environmental and angling related organizations.  He served as president of New York’s Theodore Gordon Fly Fishers, the Federation of Fly Fishers and the American Museum of Fly Fishing; and a board member of Trout Unlimited, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Hudson River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research and Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Gardner is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Ellen, his daughter Laurie Zimmerman, son Gardner L. Grant, Jr, son-in-law Dr. Franklin Zimmerman, daughter-in-law Sulu Hegde Grant, and grandchildren Stacey, Ricky, Sean and Shakira.

The family requests that any donations in Gardner’s memory be made to the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, VT.

Squimp...A Good Early Season Fly

Yes, I know that the Squimp is a bonefish fly, but early prospecting for trout with the Squimp will yield a fish in your net. Great in olive too.

FFFNEC & Bears Den Team For Gathering

FFF/NEC - BEARS DEN SPRING FLY FISHING EVENT Free casting instruction and more.......     Hosted by the       BEAR'S DEN  & FFF North Eastern Council   SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012    1:00 - 5:00 PM The Bears Den 34 Robert W Boyden Rd. Taunton, MA 02780 THE FEDERATION OF FLY FISHERS Has Been Invited to Provide FREE Fly Fishing Instructions  FREE:  Fly Casting Lessons with FFF Certified Casting Instructors Fly Tying with well known Local Fly Tyers Knot Tying Lessons Equipment Care Instructions & Tips THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR BEGINNERS AND ADVANCED ANGLERS  TO JUMP START THE 2012 SEASON    Directions to the Bears Den        Try 988 Crane Ave South if your GPS doesn't take our address. This will put you at the building directly in front of us!        Directions from I 495 - North or South  Take the Bay Street exit, EXIT 9, toward Industrial PK. Rd. / Taunton. Turn onto Bay St. toward the Holiday Inn, BJ's, Tractor Supply Company, Ruby Tuesday's etc (It's Left if you're off 495N, or Right if you're off 495S) Turn right onto Industrial Park Rd. (At the lights); Industrial Park Rd. becomes Myles Standish Blvd Follow Industrial Park Rd./Myles Standish Blvd for 1.6 miles. Look for "Road Narrows" sign on your right, IMMEDIATELY followed by the RED sign for "Robert W Boyden Rd." Turn Right onto Robert W Boyden Rd. Turn into parking lot between the signs for Myles Standish Condominiums and Bear's Den. Hope to see you there !!!

Sowbug 2012

Psyched to be heading to Arkansas for the 15th Annual Sowbug Roundup. Planning on doing a lot of fishing while visiting the south. 

Stripers Forever

Stripers Forever Announces Feb 28th Hearings on Three Bills in MA Legislature.

Stripers Forever, a conservation organization advocating coast-wide game fish designation for wild striped bass, advises that three key bills sponsored by legislators will be heard by the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture on Feb. 28th at 11:00 A.M. in Room B-1 at the Statehouse Building on Beacon Hill in Boston.

One bill will make the striped bass a game fish and end the commercial fishery for the species in the Commonwealth. A second bill would require the testing of wild striped bass for potentially harmful contaminants and the issuing of warnings if appropriate. The third bill would direct the Commonwealth to manage the wild striped bass for its greatest economic value. “The recreational striped bass catch in Massachusetts waters has dropped by nearly 80% since 2006 and the guiding, tackle shop, and tourist fishing industries are all in a serious decline,” says Brad Burns, President of Stripers Forever. “Massachusetts is an especially important state because the commercial fishery there targets only large, breeding-age, female bass - fish that are vital to the future of the population. We’re killing the best of the best. Conserving these important breeders can turn the population around. But if these big fish continue to be killed off, the quality of the fishery will degrade even further until there will be no worthwhile striper fishing left for anyone.”

Stripers Forever urges everyone concerned with the future of wild striped bass to take advantage of the organization’s free membership by signing up at www.stripersforever.org.  All Stripers Forever members will receive updates on the progress of the bills and will have an opportunity to help ensure their passage.

For more information, contact Brad Burns by e-mailing stripers@whatif.net.

Atlantic Sturgeon

The Atlantic Sturgeon has been added to the list of endangered species. Info is at: www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/hotnews/atlsturgeondps/

Big Fly Box

That is one giant fly box.

BTF Rears Its Ugly Head

This one's for you Mary!

Wasps

These are the avispa terrera by Cholo. Check out his work at www.moscasorbigo.com.

From The Photo Archives

Fun little fly that I made several years ago.

Soft Hackle Fly

Been hearing a lot of soft hackle fly talk lately. Why? Because they work.

Taranarsus Terror.

Fish Art

Help Support Children's Fly Camp...They Need Flies!

The fly fishing tradition runs deep here in New England but surveys reveal that all too few of our youth are participating regularly in outdoor activities. I have long wanted to combat that trend, having been associated for many years with the Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock, founded by Joe Brooks. Many fly fishing luminaries have participated in that program that exits just to introduce young people to fishing and to lead them to the joys of fishing the fly- Lefty, Poul, Ed Koch and Leon Chandler to name but a few. But duplicating an annual event for 500 kids and adults is a daunting task so I started small using the TU Fly Camp model. Twenty states have fly fishing camps now and 2012 will be the second year for the Vermont Fly Fishing Camp for Teens. Vermont’s oldest fishing lodge, Quimby’s is the host and with the help of many volunteers, four of us have been able to develop and maintain this vital program.  This year I am asking all of you who tie to consider contributing flies for the campers to use. Quimby’s sits on the shore of Forest lake, near the Canadian border and it hosts an amazing Hex hatch during the week we are there. We fish everything from small mountain brooks to the UC (Upper Connecticut), so caddis, Sulphur, and little yellow and green stoneflies dries and wets, are needed and it never hurts to have some wooly buggers. Any of the flies you would tie for yourself for late spring would be greatly appreciated, and put to good use. Soft hackles work particularly well on the UC, as do sulphur emergers. Contributions can be sent to Fly Camp for Teens, c/o Broadside, 500 Minister Brook Road, Worcester, VT 05682.

Gammarus In Production

Get 'em while they're hot. This fly gets down deep with a tungsten back and is like fish crack.

Baby Flounder

A very popular pattern for fishing the brine and I hear it works on bonefish too.

Road-Side Attractions

Spider

A friend made this using carved cork for the body and brush fibers for the legs. Hi Rich.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Making up a crowd of these for landlocked salmon in Maine this spring.

Tye More Flies

My annual New Year's resolution: Tye more flies. Happy New Year to all.