Wild Trout Flyrodders Casting Rendezvous

Who:  IFFF Wild Trout Flyrodders
What:   A Great group of very fine IFFF casting instructors will be on hand to teach you about casting or help you tune up for the spring!
When:  May 2-4, 2014
Where:  Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, Livingston Manor, NY
Info:  http://wildtroutflyrodders.org/casting-rendezvous/

Umpqua Announces New Leader & Tippet!

NEW LEADER AND TIPPET 

(AND PACKAGING)!

Umpqua announced today that all of its leaders
and tippet materials shipping in the recently
redesigned packaging system are new and 
vastly improved products. Over the past year
and a half, Umpqua has been integrating the
new and improved product into the previous
generation of packaging. Umpqua’s leader and
tippet manufacturing partner has consistently
invested in the most modern, cutting-edge
equipment that allows for more accurate tolerances
during the extrusion process, providing even
greater consistency and reliability in the materials
and designs.

The announcement of the improved
leader and tippet product lines 
coincides with Umpqua’s launch 
of an entirely redesigned packaging 
system. The new leader packaging 
reinforces Umpqua’s 40 plus year 
approach to enhance the angler’s experience and 
performance. Containing the industry’s most reliable 
and consistent leaders, the packaging displays the 
distinguishing, product specific information (type of 
leader, length, strength, etc.) at the top of each 
package, allowing anglers to sort through multiple 
leaders and select the desired leader without having
to remove them from the vest/pack pocket.

Vince Wilcox Become Signature Designer For Umpqua

Umpqua Welcomes Vince Wilcox to 

Signature Designer Roster

We're pleased to welcome the very talented Vince Wilcox
to our elite Signature Fly Designer roster. With a father
as a guide and tyer, Vince started tying flies at age seven.
Now an established designer with several years’ experience,
he has over thirty fly patterns that are sold commercially,
including the JC Special, the Superman, the Little Green
Machine, and Glo-Ants.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join the Umpqua staff and 
looking forward to bringing new effective and innovative flies 
to the already great line up.” —Vince Wilcox

Vince's flies have been featured in books such as Dave
Klausmeyer’s 501 Favorite Fly Tying Tips and The Master’s 
Fly Box, Todd Hosman’s Colorado Trout Flies, Randall
Kauffman’s Fly Patterns and Ben Roman’s Montana’s 
Best Fly Fishing, as well as in several prominent angling
magazines. Vince is also a contributing writer for Fly Tyer
Magazine, and his first in a series of books from Lyons Press
“Vince Wilcox’s Naturally Artificial Signature Flies” was
released in April 2012.

Heralded as “the most creative and unorthodox tier of his
generation” by Ross Purnell of Fly Fisherman Magazine,
Vince now owns and runs Wiley’s Flies, located in the heart
of the Adirondacks in Ray Brook, NY in between Lake Placid
and Saranac Lake, and offers float and wade trips for trout,
landlock salmon, bass, northern pike and musky. As a
production fly tyer he has tied hundreds of thousands of flies
and when he’s not busy writing, running his on-line store
and tying flies, he is guiding in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming
and mostly on the northern Adirondack streams targeting a
variety of species.

Umpqua's Dennis Black Dies

Dennis Black Passes — A Sad Day for Umpqua Feather Merchants and the entire Fly Fishing World…

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that the founder of Umpqua Feather Merchants, Dennis Black, passed away this morning. An avid angler and gifted fly designer and tyer, Dennis had a profound impact on many of us here at Umpqua, as well as on the entire fly-fishing industry as a whole.

Back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Dennis realized a unique opportunity to alleviate the shortage of quality hand-tied flies created by an increased national interest in fly-fishing. He knew that the growing demand for high quality flies would soon outstrip the abilities of independent tyers to produce them.

A well-traveled and knowledgeable young man, Dennis knew the high quality and precise detail of the arts and crafts being produced in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. He came up with the idea to develop a fly tying factory in India that would use highly skilled and specially trained young Indian women to tie the designs of American designers. He entered into a partnership with A. Joga Rao of Madras, India, and personally trained him — and his tyers — in the art of fly-tying.

Fully aware of the negative stigma of non-domestic fly quality, Dennis persuaded expert tyers — like Dave Whitlock, Mike Lawson and Randall Kaufmann — to give him exclusive rights to tie their flies commercially and enlisted their skills to establish extremely high standards of excellence — standards on which he refused to compromise. Orders for flies quickly outgrew the production capability of the factory, so Dennis expanded production capabilities of the factory and created new, dedicated factories and the foundation of what Umpqua Feather Merchants is today.

But the most important development that Dennis can be credited for was the creation of a royalty payment system to reward the imagination and skill of professional tyers, and to encourage emerging new talents to foster their creativity in the realm of fly design. As a commercial tyer himself, Dennis considered this to be paramount to the success of Umpqua Feather Merchants. Dave Whitlock writes in the introduction of Randall Kaufmann’s “Fly Patterns of Umpqua Feather Merchants, “Without Umpqua Feather Merchants, many talented amateur and professional fly tyers would never have been encouraged, recognized, or paid for their contributions and creativity. Creativity that seldom would have progressed past the fly tying bench or local angling waters now flows into the international arena of fly fishing that Dennis helped create.”

Today, Umpqua has well over 150 royalty tyers who profit, both financially and creatively, from Dennis’ innovative ideas. Even those designers contracting with other fly companies owe Dennis their gratitude for his foresight.

We here at Umpqua, and those throughout the entire world of fly fishing, have lost a true visionary this day, and are deeply saddened by his passing. We wish his wife Maew and those surviving Dennis our heartfelt condolences, and express our eternal gratitude, respect and admiration to such an incredible, innovative and ingenious man. 

International Federation of Fly Fishers Fair 2013

Be there September 26-29, 2013 in West Yellowstone, Montana. Great fishing at that time too!

Catskill Fly Tyers Guild Annual Fly Tyers Rendezvous 2013

The CFTG Annual Fly Tyers Rendezvous will be this coming Saturday, April  20 from 10-2:30 at the Rockland House, Roscoe, NY. A good time will be had by all.

20 Inch Small Mouth

Here's Larry Gibbs with a near state record smallie on the Flathead River (MT). Nice fish!

Umpqua Fishing Packs Rock

Interesting New Book By Ed Engelman

A book detailing new, novel, and proven, methods of fly tying and fishing on an extremely low budget for these financially tough times.

Behind the Fly Five Homemade Fly Tying Vises You Can Build with Complete Plans, History, and More!, by author, environmental educator, fly tyer and fisherman, Ed Engelman

This book details an extremely low budget approach to building your own equipment to tie fishing flies and also how to tie low budget flies.  (Flies are fishing hooks with materials fastened with thread to them to entice a fish.  Since the flies are light, fly fishing developed techniques and equipment to enable an angler to place the fly in a place where fish will see and/or hear the fly and will ingest it.)  With just a little bit of imagination and work, fly tying materials can be obtained from old clothing, hardware, and packing materials.

Today more than ever young people spend less time outdoors and more time in sedentary electronic pastimes.  This leads to less contact with the natural environment.  Today many writers that discuss beginning a hobby of fly tying say that a reasonable cost is between $150 and $400.

This book shows a way that a person, young or old, can get started in fly tying and fishing with flies by building their own tools for less than the price of a ticket to the movies.  While fly tying is an indoor activity, it can be a motivator for getting outdoors.  The goal of fly tying is to create a fly that will stimulate a feeding response in fish.  Once brought to the angler’s hand the fish can be released back into the natural environment.

This book also explores the early history of fly tying and use of the fly tying vise to hold the hook securely while yarn, tinsel, foam, and feathers are added to a hook.  Fly tying is a craft, or art, that leads the tyer to observe natural insects, and other fish prey, and their behaviors 

Ed Engelman enjoys teaching others the joys of fishing as well as spending time with rod and reel himself.  For the last 15 years, he has been creating low budget fly tying vises and leading 4-H members, Boy Scouts, and high school students in building and using their own fly tying vises.  He also leads youth in stream monitoring and the study of aquatic macroinvertebrates in ponds and streams.  Currently he teaches science to high school students within a variety of career and technical education programs.  Ed formerly worked as a specialist for the Sportfishing and Aquatics Resource Education Program (SAREP), and Camp Ranger/Property Manager for a New York State Girl Scout council.

"Behind the Fly" a new book on building your own fly tying vise and extremely low budget fly tying and fishing by Ed Engelman
http://edengelman.com/BTF.html

Upcoming Casting Rendezvous, Catskills

The FFF/CFFCM Casting Rendezvous.  WTF will be holding a Casting Rendezvous at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM) on April 20 and 21, 2013.  The CFFCM is located in Livingston Manor on Old Route 17 approximately two miles northwest of town.  Go to: www.cffcm.net for more information on its location and amenities.  

On Saturday and Sunday FFF certified instructors will be available for casting Lessons (tune-ups). Lessons are for all skill levels of casters, adults and children. Gear will be provided but please feel free to bring your own. Throughout both days instructors will also be giving a wide variety of casting Demonstrations - one at a time, back to back, in a central area near the Pavillion. There will also be more formal Classes. These will start first thing in the morning(s) allowing for participants the chance to  get back to the grounds after, to enjoy the other offerings, watch the demos, hang out and take in a nice day with their pals. For a schedule of classes and more information go to: wildtroutflyrodders.org and click on Casting Rendezvous.

Grey Ghosts

Big shout out and thank you to the Grey Ghosts for having me up to Maine to do some fly tying. Great group.

W. Jude Fly Rods

Looking to order or find a perfect rod? Check out Bill Hickey, custom rod builder: wjudeflyrodcompany.com

Wild Trout Flyrodders

Check out Wild Trout Flyfishers, a FFF club in the Catskills. They rock!  wildtroutflyrodders.org

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.