Flyfishmagazine

Pirates of the Flats

2009-07-19T19:58:00.008-05:00

Tom Brokaw, Michael Keaton, Thomas McGuane, Yvon Chouinard, Lefty Kreh and Val Atkin star in the long awaited Pirates of the Flats on ESPN2.

Fishing flies NSFW?

2009-07-17T07:29:00.005-05:00

Recently we noticed Carp Zen Master Jean-Paul Lipton of Roughfisher.com's online store, where anglers can purchase some of his excellent and innovative fishing flies. We were perplexed and concerned when we noted that the provocative name of the assortment pictured above, "The Pleasure Pack" had probably caused our IT department to put us on a special list. It's not hard to picture the looks we now got from them after they reviewed their spy logs and found we had been surfing the net for such items. It doesn't help matters any that one of the flies in the assortment is the "Darth Clam."

Take a Dad Fishing Day

2009-07-15T08:12:00.003-05:00

FlyfishMagazine.com's Colorado correspondent, Ali Hassan recently spent some time roaming around the Southern part of his home state with the family and sent back some photos with which to taunt all of us still trapped at our desks. It appears from the photographic record that the younger Hassan is turning into quite the fisherman.

Orvis' Fly Fishing Reports and Conditions Website

2009-07-13T22:01:00.016-05:00

As a fly fisher, blogger, and person who uses the intertubes for most of my news and information, I have always thought that it would be great to offer fishing reports via the web. To that end, I even set up a section of FlyfishMagazine.com for said reports. I thought for certain that shops and guides would love a chance to post their reports and even sweetened the pot by giving them full blown ad space in exchange for their efforts. However, try as I might it never really took off.

It always went the same way. I'd meet someone in "the biz" give them a card and let them know that they could post reports on my site complete with their contact info and even a sales pitch if they so desired. Most thought it was great (save one shop owner who looked at me as If I were crazy and then told me he was out of strike indicators), posted one or two reports, then were never heard from again. I am sure they just forgot it, got fired from the shop they worked at (this actually happened), or just had more pressing matters at hand than recording their day on paper for me. Nobody wants to read last week's fishing report so things never really took off. I often considered that, to make such a site work, it would have to be handled by a major industry player with a ready made relationship to hundreds of fly shops across the country.

Enter Orvis into the mix with a full featured report section for their website. Their current click able map shows reports available from more than 30 states nationwide with many of the states having reports from several rivers within their boarders.

A quick click on The Old North State reveals reports for three of our favored rivers. From there click on the Davidson River and you get a report from David Hise of Caster's Fly Shop, dated 7-06-2009 that tells us not only how good the fishing is, but also water conditions, weather forecast, hatches, must have flies (click to buy), and even the recommended tippet size to use. A click on our all too soon to be stomping grounds of New Jersey and Pennsylvania reveals plenty of information that gives the traveling fly fisher a head start when visiting an area (or in my case relocating).

One thing that I found to be of interest was that aside from the URL for the site, there is very little that brands it as an Orivs offering. While you can find the Orvis name, if you look closely, and you can navigate to the page from the Orvis website, it is not at all evident unless you click a link or read some fine print.

Overall the Orvis fly fishing reports and conditions site does a great job of providing reasonably up to date content about many fisheries across the country. Be sure to check it out for yourself.

Fly Fishing Reports & Conditions for United States, Canada and Mexico

A light in the tunnel of gill nets in NC

2009-07-13T05:00:00.001-05:00

Apparently an observer from the National Marine Fisheries Service did a ride along on a gill net boat in Core Sound for two weeks at the end of June. In that time they found the evidence of gill net/turtle "interaction" (read: dead turtles) that people here have been screaming about for years. Due to that, the Director of Marine Fisheries in NC has issued a proclamation to restrict gill net usage until the end of August as least, and possibly longer, from Core Sound south. It cuts down the length of nets they can use and also makes each individual net smaller. This will go a long way to protect turtles and also do a lot to help our inshore fish species rebound from the constant pressure the netters have been putting on them. It will only take a week or two for some of the hardest hit places to start seeing fish numbers rebound. Really amazing actually.

Click here for the full text of the proclamation.

Keeping up with the Trophy Wife

2009-07-12T23:15:00.002-05:00

While I pack up in Charlotte, the Editorial Trophy Wife is off on her way to Alaska via steamship. By now she is no doubt ensconced in her cabin while her cadre of loyal Sherpas unpack her steamer trunks for the duration of the cruise. Thanks to the wonders of technology we, like any good trophy wife's husband, can track her movements via the internet. Meanwhile, I will be working long hours and living he batchelor life, all the while wondering how anyone can go to Alaska and not plan a fishing trip...

"Hey Papa, What's for Dinner?"

2009-07-08T22:43:00.002-05:00

Papa's Key West Office Space - Photo FlyfishMagazine.com

A $12,500 cashiers check payable to Kenneth W. Rendell Inc. gets you four manuscripts relating to Ernest Hemingway, one of which gives us insight into the diet of the famous author:

"In case you hear they want an intimate what eats, pleasures, dis-likes angle this may save time. Technical crap of the non-intellectual type that people ask: What does he eat: When driving cross-country breakfasting in a lunch counter: A ham and egg sandwich with a slice of raw onion and a cup of coffee with milk. At home: bacon and one egg with tea and fruit juice. Or kippers tea and fruit juice or when he thinks he can afford it maqueau vin blanc tea and fruit juice. Can eat the same breakfast for a week or ten days then likes to switch. Loves good food but would rather eat a single sandwich anytime than a mediocre meal. Stern disciplinarian on the amount he eats when he believes he is not getting sufficient excercise. Usually eats one full meal a day. Loves all good cooking especially French and some parts of Italy but thinks the chinese cooking is best of all. Loves to eat game and fish and can live on them alone for months at a time. (Recall the cabin) Loves American cooking but needs lots of exercise to be able to eat it. Dislikes: Parsnips, oat-meal, polenta. Loves: pie, ham and eggs, roast turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, rare steaks and all meats. Also young green onions, radishes, raw turnips. Favourite vegetable artichoke. Cooks trout very well (I hope) Loves (for loves can use likes) chili-con carne, all Mexican dishes. When by himself will eat a bowl of chili, drink a bottle of red-wine and read with the meal. Put in Blacky.

Let us know if you buy them, we would enjoy a look.

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

2009-07-08T22:08:00.006-05:00

FlyfishMagazine.com Volunteer State Editor - Jay Moore pictured knee deep in what I like to call therapy.

This week's fishy quotage comes from Andrew Roth in an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Pop the Top."

"There are few thing that I enjoy more when it comes to fly fishing than the ability to hunt and stalk from my hind legs. Wade fishing is total immersion and focus becomes hypersensitive."

Mr. Roth, Sir we understand you completely!

Does being homeless make me a trout bum?

2009-07-06T20:20:00.010-05:00

Skytop Lodge in the Poconos - one of many places we cannot afford to buy in the Northeast

Many of you may already know that the FlyfishMagazine.com world HQ is in the process of moving from North Carolina to the frozen Northlands of Pennsylvania or perhaps New Jersey. Lately in addition to 10 hour days at the office we have been dealing with selling a house in order to become homeless, trying to find a house to buy so as not to be homeless for too long, and all the while finding out from persons in the home inspection field that every little thing that might have been wrong with our house probably is (meaning we may have already been homeless and just didn't realize it) and must be fixed before we can vacate.

Meanwhile our brains remained addled from seeing what had to be no less than 100 homes inside of what amounted to three days of a holiday weekend, all the while coming to a realization that I really don't like spending large sums of money on things other than fishing gear. The exchange rate North of the Mason Dixon line isn't exactly favorable to our confederate money. We did find a cool house with river frontage but I can't help but think that it's on stilts for a reason. The owner's response that you could simply pressure wash the garage out after a flood gave me just almost as much comfort as the fact that he had lived in a FEMA trailer for two years before rebuilding. The I-95 bridge next door was a bonus.

The upside of all this is that our new homeland comes with ready made fishing buddies who are intent on showing a North Carolina boy a few choice spots for getting into some fish in both salt and fresh water (Thanks Jason, Pete, and Steve). It almost makes the thought of leaving sweet tea behind palatable. Southern anglers should not fear as our pals Capt. Gordon Churchill, Jay Moore, and Captain Paul Rose have consented to continue keeping you informed on the status of fly fishing the Carolina's and beyond. In the interim, somebody send me some fish pictures or something....

Here are a couple of fishing headlines from the our new corner of the world:

Thanks to a document from 1686 NY Saltwater anglers don't need a license just yet...
Art Weiler builds bamboo fly rods is a guy we need to get to know in the Poconos
Ice Fishing events that the Trophy Wife won't be letting us attend.

Nat Geo: Tonight on Hooked

2009-07-05T21:54:00.004-05:00

Tonight at 10pm on "Hooked", National Geographic Explorer Zeb Hogan catches a fresh water stingray of giant purportions.

The giant freshwater stingray is a megapredator, a true-life Loch Ness monster that can kill with a swipe of its tail! Amazingly, the elusive leviathan was discovered only 20 years ago and already it’s on the vulnerable list. Fish biologist, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Zeb Hogan is on a mission to find these remarkable creatures as part of the Megafishes Project, a five-year study supported by the National Geographic Society. He’ll head to Thailand, one of the last places on Earth where the freshwater stingray thrives, to see some with his own eyes, and reel them in for a closer look.

Hogan will dive into the murky water to learn more about their mysterious behavior—where they roam, how many there are and which areas need protection.
Be there for the milestone moment when Hogan hooks the biggest stingray he’s ever seen. Measuring more than 11 feet long, it takes 12 men to lift the monster ashore. Based on the dimensions, Hogan believes it could possibly be a world record–breaking fish.

Gently

2009-06-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

and we mean that as an adjective...

Media: Is it just me...

2009-06-29T06:12:00.001-05:00

Photo: Cody Simms Photo Stream via Flickr
...or is something being missed here?

An excerpt from the most recent Copy of Angling Trade Magazine reporting survey results that should be of interest to fly shop owners.

FACT #4:Fly shops and word of mouth
are the most popular methods consumers hear of new products
How Do Consumers Hear About FlyFishing Products?
1.Fly Shops
2.Word of mouth
3.Magazines (reviews,article mentions)
4.Catalogs
5.(tie)Fly/Outdoor Shows, magazine ads
6.Internet chat rooms
7.Company websites
8.Press releases

Another excerpt from the same publication

Consumer flyfishing media has done a lot to bring new
anglers to the dance and keep them there. Now,the
knee-jerk reaction for many companies is to cut costs by
cutting ads. No ads, no pages in magazines. No web-sites
either,other than amateur ones.No pro media,no
pro information.No pro information,no anglers.It ’s a
lose-lose cycle.

We love traditional media. Many of our friends and fishing buddies work in it. We subscribe to fly fishing magazines. We know that they add value to the industry. We agree that the fly shop is and should always be the cornerstone of the industry when it comes to new product and fly fishing education. We also believe that to ignore websites such as Midcurrent, Trout Underground, and Moldy Chum, as valid sources of information for gear and fly fishing education who also add value, might be ever so slightly naive.

Access Fight On the SOHO

2009-06-25T20:16:00.008-05:00

Just in case you thought access rights issues weren't a problem in the rivers created and regulated by your tax dollars, we thought we would point out this group of postings on the Southeast Fly Fishing Forum. It seems a "group" of folks who own property on Tennessee's famous South Holston River are telling wading anglers to get off their land. This can't be good.

Several landowners on the SOHO have begun a campaign to deny people's right to fish on their part of the river bottom.Your moderators have been discussing it for several days in an attempt to separate fact from fiction. There are lawyers looking into this which were asked to do so by TU.

In short, some landowners would like to privatize the river which would mean that we the public could only fish on water owned by TVA or the state.... Yesterday, our fellow forum member BillRes was confronted by a landowner and the local law enforcement. This situation was defused by a River's Way member.

It's complicated, to say the least...

The landowners in question are claiming their rights because reportedly their deeds give them ownership to all land up to the middle of the river not the high water line. This is being interpreted as meaning that folks can't wade on their private property which in this case is the river bottom.

In one post on another website the fisherman was told by the landowner that he had to wade on the other side of the river. No one seems to have tested whether this means you can't float through or anchor there, or even fish as long as you don't get out of a boat. If this is the case then navigability is not an issue nor is fishing, only wading on private property.

Like I said, it's complicated....

I understand this to say that even though his deed may say that he owns to the middle of the river the land at the bottom of the river never belonged to whoever he bought the land from in the first place so therefore it is not his land past the high water mark.

I worked for a surveyor for a while and have seen deeds that say a landowner owns to the center line of a state maintained road, and we all know that even though his deed says that he owns half the road it still doesn't mean that he can prevent you from driving on it since it is truly owned and maintained by the state. Many times deeds were written to say that a landowner owns to the center of a road or river because it is a fairly stationary and permanent landmark that helps distinguish the property line.

Anybody seen Donnie Beaver lurking around these parts? Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?

These posts are excerpted from various members of the SEFF and can be read in their entirety here: http://www.southeastflyfishingforum.com/forum/soho-under-seige-t31457p2.html

****UPDATE***As with all things there are two sides to every story:

http://www.southeastflyfishingforum.com/forum/south-holston-landowners-t31478.html?p=281887#post281887

Be sure to read both. Could a few bad apples be spoiling the barrel for all of us?

http://www.southeastflyfishingforum.com/forum/south-holston-landowners-t31478.html?p=281887#post281887

Don Barone: The Bass Mobile

2009-06-25T19:34:00.009-05:00

Our Itinerant Freelance Journalist friend, Don Barone, is not about to let the biggest economic downturn of the century come between him and his ability to lead Bigfoot hunting parties or cover bass fishing tournaments. Check out his stories at http://www.donbaroneoutdoors.com/

(Editor's Note: The presence of a life preserver in the Bass Mobile does not mean that it is amphibious.)

Yelton Places 2nd in Bass Bug Classic

2009-06-24T20:41:00.008-05:00

Yelton poses with a largemouth bass caught on Lake Lure. Photo by Brandon Potts

A couple of guys we know from North Carolina went all warm water on us and ended up bringing home a prize.

Congratulations to Michael Yelton (of the NC Fly Fishing Team) and Paul Thompson (that guy who has won like all the Total Outdoorsman events ever held). Two quality fellows!

CHATTANOOGA, T.N. (JUNE 24, 2009): Michael Yelton of The Granddaddy Fly-Fishing Experience in Lake Lure, N.C. finished second alongside teammate Paul Thompson of Marion, N.C. in the first annual Chattanooga Bass Bug Classic, a two-day tournament fly-fishing for bass on the Nick-a-Jack section of the Tennessee River. Held on June 18th and 19th, anglers were scored on the total weight of bass caught over the two-day period, and any fish in possession had to be more than 15 inches long to comply with Tennessee state laws.

Yelton and Thompson brought in a total of seven bass for a live weigh-in totaling 13.8 pounds. The winning team, led by tournament founder and director Mac McGaee along with teammate Frank Duff, scored a total weight of 23.3 pounds.

Yelton, who is also a member of the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team, enjoyed fishing for bass as opposed to trout, which is more common in fly-fishing tournaments.

"This was a great change of pace, I think most anglers don't believe that you can fly-fish for bass and have much success,"said Yelton. "This tournament proves otherwise. I look forward to seeing bass fly-fishing tournaments grow."

The second place team received a prize package of $350, a fly rod and reel, fly line, and an original hand-painted fly-fishing portrait by Paul Puckett, who donated three paintings to the cause. Proceeds from the invitational tournament were donated to the Chambliss Children's Home & Shelter to exclusively fund the organization's fishing program for children.

Yelton's next stop on the fly-fishing tournament trail will be at The America Cup International Fly Fishing Tournament to be held August 22-28, 2009 in Summit County, C.O. Six anglers from the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team will be represented at the invitation-only tournament. The winning team will receive a cash purse of $2,000. To learn more about Michael Yelton and The Granddaddy Fly-Fishing Experience, please visit www.granddaddyflyfishing.com.

Nat Geo: Hooked

2009-06-23T20:31:00.008-05:00

We at FlyfishMagazine.com have been fond of National Geographic Magazine ever since we went through puberty studying its pages while visiting our Grandparent's house during Summer vacation. (little did we know that later in life, we would be photographed fly fishing by them for a story on the New River. Sadly our good looks ended up on the cutting room floor) That and the fact that it referred to fishing were reasons that we paid close attention to the press release they recently sent us about one of our favorite shows on their TV channel.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL REELS IN THE SUMMER
WITH A NEW SEASON OF HOOKED

Ravenous Flesh-Eating Carnivores, Fish with Human-Like Teeth,
Stingrays the Size of Buffalo and a Conservationist on a Mission to Protect Them —
See the Amazing Encounters of Man and Megafish

"The biggest fish we’ve seen! A real-life Loch Ness monster." — Zeb Hogan, fish biologist, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer

Popular Hooked Series Moves to Regular Night and Time with Summer Premieres —
Beginning Monday, June 29, at 10 p.m. ET/PT

Whether for science or sport, encountering the sheer power and size of the world’s biggest fish is nothing short of awe-inspiring. This summer, on Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT, beginning June 29, the National Geographic Channel (NGC) brings the excitement of monster fishing home with a new season of Hooked. We’ll journey across the globe to see the most extreme encounters in megafishing and the groundbreaking research being done to protect these fish. In each episode, we’ll be there as avid anglers and scientists track, bait, catch and release fish of extraordinary proportions. Then, in two episodes we join fish biologist, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Zeb Hogan on a five-year mission to help preserve the world’s biggest freshwater fish.

From a colossal squid weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds to a stingray almost 12 feet long, each adrenaline-filled episode examines the environmental challenges these megafish face — from climate change to pollution to overfishing. Some of these Goliath fish have been around since the dinosaurs, and now, like their predecessors, they face extinction. With each capture, conservationists and biologists can study these amazing creatures and begin the dialogue needed to analyze their sometimes dire situation and debate possible solutions. As producer/filmmaker Dean Johnson says, "Most of the species I film won’t be on this planet in the next 50 years, and each time I look through the viewfinder I realize the images we are capturing will be telling a story that others may never have the opportunity to see."

Ever wonder?

2009-06-23T20:17:00.004-05:00

What you have to do to become a member of Fly Fishing Team USA and represent our fair land at the 2010 world championships in Poland? Here is an excerpt from an email that explains it step by step:

Team selection for the Poland championships will be as follows: Two individuals from this year's World Championships qualified by their individual finish in Scotland. Those two are Pete Erickson and Mike Sexton. The top 3 Point System individuals since the last National Championship will be going to Poland. Finally, the 2009 individual National Champion will have a spot on this team. Once we have those spots filled, we will determine the starting lineup and the alternate. The 3 point system qualifiers will be determined from the accumulated points achieved since the 2007 National Fly Fishing Championships through the qualifiers at the end of July. We are doing this to be able to send this team to Poland 1 year prior to the championships to get prepared for the 2010 World event. So the only individual we will not know will be the 2010 National Champion which will be crowned in Oct.

The events that qualify for the point system to determine the Poland Team are as follows:

2007 National Championships - Boulder, CO
2008 World Fly Fishing Championships - New Zealand
2008 Pagosa Springs, CO
2008 Salt Lake City, UT
2008 America Cup - Frisco, CO
2008 Canadian National Championship - Mont Tremblant, CA
2009 Santa Fe, NM
2009 Michigan
2009 Bend, OR
2009 World Fly Fishing Championships - Scotland

The following events will also be included for the point total to make the roster for Team USA. Team USA will be selected at this year's National Championships by the Top 15 accumulated points from the 2007 National Championships to the 2009 National Championships.

*2009 SE qualifier
*2009 Bozeman, MT
*2009 America Cup
*2009 Canadian National Championship - BC
*2009 Boise, ID
*2009 US National Championship

Points are achieved through any of these events by finishing in the top 30% of the total competitors at any of these events. For example, at any regional qualifier, there has typically been 24 competitors. In order to get into the points one must finish in the the top 8 out of the 24 competitors. Obviously, the higher the finish the more points accumulated. In this example:

1st place = 2400 points
2nd place = 1200 points
3rd place = 800 points
4th place = 600 points
5th place = 480 points
6th place = 400 points
7th place = 343 points
8th place = 300 points

Competitions that are considered International (excluding the World Championships) have a mulitiplier of 3. World Championships have a multiplier of 5. Thus the harder the competition the more points it is worth to finish in the top 30%. Also the more the competitor numbers the more points available.These selection criteria as well as the Point system will be posted on the Team USA website. Updates to the website will be occurring on a consistent basis.

Just remember to sign your scorecards before you get back to the clubhouse.

B-Roll Days

2009-06-21T22:13:00.010-05:00

"Some days you only get to shoot the cut scenes" - anonymous

It was a pretty cool surprise when FlyfishMagazine.com's Editor of Rough Fish Captain Paul Rose called us and asked if the Editorial Offspring and myself wanted to come shoot some video and do a bit of flats fishing for Carp this weekend. We met up with him and his Hell's Bay Skiff early Sunday morning and headed out to one of his favorite secret fishing spots. We won't say where it is exactly, but let's just say one reason it is so special is that on a perfect weekend day we only shared the water with 10 or so other boats. Most were swimmers with the occasional trash (bass) fisher in the mix.

The Editorial Offspring (Jake) manned the bow for most of the day with Captain Rose and myself working in the occasional cast so as "to show him how it was done." Jake has fished with his Dad enough times to know that this is par for the course and he, like the dude, abides his old man a cast or two. Most of the time I manned the video camera filming and waiting for the elusive hook up.

Capt. Rose put us on the fish but they seemed to want nothing to do with us by the time the kinks were worked out of our trout fishermen's casting arms. Paul was kind and blamed the wind, the weather and everything but our semi adequate casting skills. He did a lot of pointing and gesturing and then even tried his own hand on the lockjawed fish. I continued filming.

The Captain had the same luck as Jake and I. He assured us that we were putting our flies in the zone (occasionally) but still the rubber lipped fish would have no part of our offerings. The person who said that carp on the fly were challenging gets absolutely no argument from me. I changed tapes and continued to film.

Most folks don't know that Captain Paul was a test pilot for NASA and after a horrific accident had to have his right eye replaced by a helmet camera. We got lots of "point of view" video of Paul helping us with our casting and spotting fish for us. In this photo we are talking about how great it would be to see some "point of view" video of me catching a big carp. At this point I wasn't filming so much and began wondering how a DVD would look with loud music, lots of casting, and no fish. It could be a whole new genre.

After a period of quiet desperation, I snuck into the Captain's fly box and snapped pictures for future reference. Still no hero shots or fish (larger than a bluegill) on video. I decided that filming was pretty much a bust and resorted to espionage.

Captain Paul decided to reward me for my efforts to snarf the contents of his fly box with a class in skiff poling. He said that I was a quick learner as I had mastered going in circles faster than any of his other pupils. He also applauded my excellent ability to get the boat right up into the trees and bushes lining the lake. He said it was normal to almost knock the angler off the bow and that on hot days like today he found the lake water to be quite refreshing.

After poling the boat around for a while in the 90 degree heat with near 100% humidity, I decided the best way to show my new found appreciation for fishing guides everywhere was to lie on the deck of the skiff while pouring cold water over my head and trying not to pass out. Just before my demise, Jake snapped what may be one of the coolest photos of me ever to inhabit my hard drive.

(Editor's note - Captain Paul Rose is FlyfishMagazine.com's Editor of Rough Fish. He has written many articles and teaches seminars on catching carp on the fly. Check out his site at http://www.carolinabonefishing.com/. When the cameras are off, we know first hand that he does a great job of teaching anglers how to catch elusive carp on the fly. (photos by Jake Murdock)

Hassan's 18 lb Wiper

2009-06-17T07:23:00.003-05:00

Ali Hassan of the Denver, Colorado Hassans, taunts us with yet another picture of a massive white bass / striped bass hybrid (Wiper). This one was caught on a road trip to Nebraska during a time when he probably should have working and not fishing. Ali tells us that he had no luck until he took extreme measures to match the hatch by catching some of the local baitfish in his landing net.

On another note Ali is now FlyfishMagazine.com's official Survival Editor. He will soon be providing us with an article on lessons learned in the wild during his recent trip. Lesson one will be no matter how thirsty you might be, don't ever drink lake water even if Bear Grylls says its OK to do so if you squeeze it through your shirt first.

Bonus points for the offspring shooting the Victory sign. Based on the cuteness of the kids we can only say that Ali must have a very lovely wife.

Illinois Brownliner Sighting

2009-06-16T23:14:00.003-05:00

This week finds me about an hour from the windy city, near Yorkville, Illinois working the finance gig. So as I am leaving our offices here I look to my right and spy an angler wearing a fishing vest fishing the retention pond. I didn't get to stop but I couldn't help but wonder who this angler might be. If you were fishing on Wheaton Ave Tuesday night give us a shout and tell us what they are biting.

Gear: Spot Satellite Messenger Rebate Deal

2009-06-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

If you are one of those folks who regularly ventures outside of the realm of cell phone coverage and are in need of a functional way to either summon help or let the wife know that you are OK then you might want to consider a Spot Satellite Messenger. Spot uses GPS to dermine your location and communications satellite system to transmit that information to your loved ones or in the event of emergency to dispatch help via a GEOS International 9-1-1 response center.

The Spot Messenger is not a full blown emergency beacon, but rather fills a niche for outdoorsmen and women who may venture into the wild alone or with a buddy and who have wondered what might happen should they become incapacitated etc. A unique function is that the device allows you to either alert family and friends (via email and text message) to your plight or alert the authorities via the 9-1-1 key and summon professional help. The difference being that you have the option of alerting the wife to summon your fishing buddies come find your lost hindquarters down in the gorge or, in real life or death situations, calling on professional rescuers (and additional $8 per year provides 100k of coverage for rescue costs so bring on the helicopters). Another nice and somewhat less ominous feature is that the device can be used as a tracker that reports your location to a sharable webpage every ten minutes thus documenting your fishing trip and proving to the wife that you were actually fishing. (Don't worry. The device has to have a clear view of the sky to function so it can't work hidden in your trunk or anything like that.)

My initial back yard testing of the device delivered an "I'm OK" message to the wife within about four minutes of my pressing the button. It sent my Father a "Send Help ASAP" message (pre-arranged so as not to test his cardiac function) in a comparable amount of time. Text messages to cell phones included Longitude and Latitude information for my location and the email messages contained a link to a google map showing my back yard. I considered the test a success.

Currently Spot is offering a rebate of up to $150 dollars, which essentially gets you the unit for free, when you purchase two years of check in and help service ($99 per year) along two years of tracking ($49 per year). There are lesser rebates for those who only purchase the help service. Since the only way to use the unit for more than an orange doorstop is to purchase the service, this makes for a pretty good deal overall. As with all rebates, breakage means profits, so read the directions carefully and be sure to follow them to the letter or you will end up with less of a deal than you thought you were getting. The Spot Satellite Messenger retails for around $149 and is available are many outdoor retailers. Check out http://www.findmespot.com/ for more information.

**as with all of our opinions, be sure to do research on your own before trusting your life to something you read here or anywhere. We don't want you blaming us if you go and get yourself busted up or worse.

Orvis to Open South Charlotte Location

2009-06-15T21:07:00.007-05:00

The Charlotte Business Journal is reporting on plans to open a 7500 square foot Orvis retail store at Phillips Place located in Charlotte North Carolina's exclusive South Park area. According to the article, the fly fishing / furniture / clothing and gift store is slated to be open by Christmas. For more information contact The Orvis Company.

Gear: It's bacon and gum in one

2009-06-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the folks at ThinkGeek.com, now you can enjoy the delicious taste of bacon without having to dirty up the frying pan.

"Each tin of Bacon Gumballs is loaded with bacon-y goodness, and after you've eaten all the gum, you can reuse the tin. And the tin will retain the scent of bacon for some time, blessing all you put in it with that wondrous and holy of smells. Bacon Gumballs - the gift that keeps on giving."

No word on if it would be considered poor form to re purpose this bacony smelling tin as a fly box, giving your blue winged olives an irresistible scent. Just remember it is considered poor form to blow bacon bubbles at the table.

Maybe we should be fishing more streamers...

2009-06-14T20:35:00.002-05:00

Our friends Josh and Kevin from the Hatch Hunters Guide Service recently posted a video that might make you want to toss a big streamer the next time you fish Tennessee tailwaters. In the video a massive rainbow trout carries its dinner around with it. Dinner is a 12 inch rainbow trout. The guys behind the Hatch Hunters Fly Fishing Guide Service are members of the NC Fly Fishing Team and are fully endorsed by FlyfishMagazine.com.

A trip to the land of my birth

2009-06-11T18:42:00.005-05:00

Ventured to the Great North to "visit family and possibly do some fishing". Visited family for three days out of six and fished every day. Here is a pic of the nicest trout I caught on the West Branch of the Delaware:

I must say that the biggest adjustment I had to make in going back to this fishing after so many years was setting the hook. I broke off a high number of very large trout. 7x just doesn't hold up like 12 lb. I had no trouble with the casting and/or seeing the rises however and was able to put my fly where it needed to be. Presentation is still the number one skill that needs to be perfected in order to get strikes from tricky fish. Setting the hook without breaking the line is the number one skill to get them in for the hero shot...

Capt. Gordon