Some Small Flies, And Some Fishing With A Friend

So far this spring, I have managed to keep myself rather busy with orders, catching up with the kids and doing some fishing so to speak.  I have taken a bit of a vacation from the trout streams, in fact, I think the last time I fished my local waters was somewhere around the third week of April.  I guess you could say a slew of things have contributed to that problem so to speak, but most of it all boils down to personal decision.  

Tungsten Trico's

The one thing that has been going rather well surprisingly, has been the little fly "promos" that I offer from time to time.  They are a double edged sword mind you, but one that has really been the backbone of my fly business.  My thoughts are to unveil another next week, probably near the end of the week to be exact. So that being said, stay tuned for another rather timely fly selection for you hatch matchers.  A few of my repeat customers have really caught on, and have gotten into the habit of ordering flies well in advance of the naturals presence on the river, case in point the little weighted Trico's you see above.  We still have quite a few weeks before we see these guys on my local waters, but it is never too early to start thinking about what is coming down the pike. 

Size 24 Tungsten Beaded RS-2's

As you can see, some of the flies I have been tying lately are on the smaller side, which goes hand in hand with many of the hatches on our beloved Farmington River.  On average, most of our major hatches typically run a size or two smaller than the bugs you might encounter on other rivers.  Sometimes it makes the world of difference in your catch rates, other days it doesn't, but one thing I do know is it never hurts to have a few little guys on hand when you fish there.  

About Time To Chase Some More Of These Guys Again

In a few hours I will be picking up a good friend and fellow tyer from the airport and making a caffeine induced pilgrimage of sorts to the Cape.  Mike Schmidt, aka, the streamer nut, big fish chaser, meat thrower, whatever else you could come up with, the owner of Anglers Choice Flies, will be joining me.  Our hopes are to do battle with some Striped Bass as Mike has never had the opportunity to chase these fine fish.   Mike was so kind enough to extend the invitation last year to chase spring steelhead on some of his local haunts, so it was only fitting to have him come on out my way for something a bit different.

Evening Fishing Is In Full Gear Now

We are gonna give it our best and have fun doing it, that's the plan at least, despite an ever changing weather forecast.  It's times like these that really make me realize just how lucky us folks in New England are.  In all actuality we have an array of options for fishing if you sit back and think about it.  If you were to draw a circle with an epicenter of Hartford that extends out in a 5 hour drive in any direction, the diversity of fisheries is pretty amazing.  Lake Ontario migratory fish, to Striped Bass, Tuna and False Albacore to name a few off the coast, to hundreds of top shelf trout fisheries, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.  When the dust settles, and you sit back and look at the big picture, we New Englanders have it pretty damn good.  I never forget just how lucky I am to live practically on a top shelf tail water trout fishery.   Wish us luck and see you sometime next week.

The Yak Rigged Up For Battle

Memorial Day Weekend Keeping It Real

This weekend thus far has been a rather interesting one. The pollen count on the Cape has been off the charts, seas of green pollen filled the air, while clogging up our sinus cavities. Thankfully, the weather has been a little bit more enjoyable than hot humid conditions back home. 60-70 degree days with variable winds.

Nora with the goods

Sounds like picture perfect conditions to chase striped bass right? Well, if you are the casual saltwater fisherman like myself, sometimes hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to decision making. Having limited time to fish and always wanting to explore new areas of the Cape as there is a plethora of places to fish, sometimes this isn't the best choice when you know of other areas that are consistently producing fish. In a nutshell, new areas explored turned up blanks, and the places I was chomping at the bit to fish were forecasted to have thunderstorms. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the storms never came and I sat there wishing I had ventured out. The only saving grace is I have four days of nothing but fishing with a good friend in the next week so its all good.

Swimming At White Pond

What transpired was some great time spent with the kids, birthday celebrations and some fantastic family feasts. There was some really cool fishing stories with kids though, better than any day I have ever had on the water myself.

The Yaks In Pleasant Bay

My oldest had a blast at the pond catching perch, even catching a whopper largemouth that ended up snapping the line.

Perch Time!

Tessa Bent Rod And All

My niece Ashlynn had the catch of the weekend with this monster bucket mouth.

Ashlyn With Her Monster

The ear to ear smiles that these fish brought everyone are priceless, and there's nothing better than getting the kids interested in the outdoors.

In between my daughters naps I managed to spend some vise time trying to catch up on some orders. I should be caught up this coming week and just in time to finish off my saltwater boxes.

Have A Great Memorial Day Weekend

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend.  I will be out of town again for the second weekend in a row, slipping away to a rather scenic shoreline are of New England once again.  I will have my vise in tow with me this weekend for all of you who placed orders this week, just not sure how much time I will be able to devote to fly orders.  On a side note, I managed to squeeze in a quick saltwater tie for all of you in the last day.

Click The Picture To Watch The Video

This is a pretty simple pattern that has worked pretty darn good for me for flats fishing for stripers.  With the introduction of light curing adhesives like Clear Cure Goo, I have been able to omit the use of dreaded epoxy, and as you can see is much more enjoyable to work with as you will not have to speedily work through any sort of set up times.  Enjoy the video, tie some up and catch some fish.

Couple of New Patterns Added To The Fly Store

So, with things being a little hectic, I haven't had the opportunity to keep things flowing with the store.  I had promised to add a couple of heavier anchor patterns to the storefront after several customers were inquiring about heavier and larger weighted nymphs.  Well I am finally coming through with my promise so to speak.  To go hand in hand with one of the recent videos, I added the Prince Style Jig, as well as the version of the western favorite, the Rubber Leg Stone.  You can see them in the store here:  http://goodsie.com/store/catching-shadows/euro-nymphs.

Rubber Leg Stone

As you can tell from the photo, I prefer to use a dubbing blend in the versions of both patterns when I tie them.  I think the taper achieved by doing so makes for a more natural profile in my opinion, but that is just my personal preference.  It seems to work so why not, right?  As you can see from the picture of the stone, it is a much buggier pattern than the standard chenille bodied version.  This particular fly has taken hundreds of fish for me over the years, and next to my Rock Candy Larva is probabaly my second favorite large anchor fly.  Brown is typically my first choice but all three other colors (golden, black, rusty) have their moments as well.

Prince Nymph Jig

To kick things off with a bang, I figured I would introduce both patterns in a fly selection with a discounted price tag with special shipping as usual.  So with that being said, here is the deal.  1 selection will include 6 of each pattern; that's 6 weighted prince jigs, 6 rubber leg stones in a mixed array of sizes.  $20 out the door for out of state residents, $21.27 for in state residents.   For orders of 2 or more selections, shipping is free, otherwise standard shipping rates will apply.  As usual, just send me an email titled Weighted Nymph Special and we can take it from there.  As always, paypal, google checkout or check are accepted, just please let me know how you would like to settle up, and also provide a valid and current mailing address.

On another note, I plan on adding a full compliment of saltwater options to the fly store in the months to come to fill the void.  I have a pile of patterns that I have a lot of faith in, some old, some new and some with some Strolis flare.  Don't be surprised to see some saltwater tying videos as well.   I will keep you all posted on the progress on that front periodically.  Once again, happy fishing and thanks again everyone.