DAY 1 - Christmas Stockings

I don't know about you but growing up, and what has become tradition with our children now, is that the first thing touched on Christmas morning is the stocking and inside was filled with all sorts of fun with toys, candy, and books to keep us busy for a bit while we waited (however impatiently) to unwrap the presents stuffed under and around the tree.  Oh to be a kid again.

This year with the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways, I thought it would be fun to start the event off with a Christmas stocking of sorts with a warm pair of wading socks from Simms playing the stocking and then the package being filled with some of my favoritest things. 

THE GIVEAWAY:
Up for grabs today are six "Christmas Stocking" packages which will all include one each of the following items...

BOZEMAN REEL LEATHER COVERED JOURNAL
GOAT HEAD SOLE SPIKE COMBO PACK
MARSH WEAR REDFISH D-RING BELT
NATURE BOY DESIGNS HATCH PATCH
REP YOUR WATER SUN SHIELD GAITER
SIMMS WADING SOCK
STORMY KROMER CAP GIFT CERTIFICATE
THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF FLY FISHING
TIPPETAC

There will be a total of SIX WINNERS for today's giveaway.

THE RULES:
-  Please send an email to tfmcontests@gmail.com saying you want in on today's giveaway.

-  You will need to send an email daily to be included in the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways.

-  You will receive an auto response email back to confirm your entry was received each day.

-  Please send only one email per email account.  Duplicate emails will be erased.

-  All emails must be received by 5 a.m. tomorrow morning to qualify for this gear giveaway.

-  Winners will be chosen by random number generator and will be announced tomorrow morning at the end of this post.

-  Please note that if you win one of the days of the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways then you are not eligible to win any other day.  Please give someone else a chance.

Good luck.  Cheers...

Tightloop Fly Rods - Wraps & Finish

I am always amazed at how differently a fly rod build can look from when the time the silk wraps are complete to when the varnish or epoxy is applied and is dry.  It certainly has a way of immediately changing how a fly rod will look and the best fly rod builders that I know have a way of picking the right wrap colors to contrast or match the blank that they are working on for a striking effect.

George Minculete of Tightloop Fly Rods has continued to work on the Swift Fly Fishing Epic 480 that he is building for me and sent along a few photographs of the silk wraps when they were complete and a second set of photos after they were finished.  Such beautiful work and that olive green Epic blank is just so beautiful.   Nice choice of agate as well.

 

More on this T.F.M. build soon but in the meantime, check out the Tightloop Fly Rods website and Facebook page to see the other projects that George has been working on.

Blue Halo - Christmas Sale

The fellows at Blue Halo have decided to run a sale through the end of the year with everything on their website significantly discounted from fiberglass fly rod blanks to fly reels to fly lines.    

If you have been considering working on a build or two this winter, then picking up one or two of the 2nd Generation blanks may be something that you want to do before this sale runs out at the end of the month.

Check out the Blue Halo Store for details on what is on sale or to place an order.

Follow Blue Halo, and the journey this still quite new business takes, on Facebook and Instagram.

Revive Fly Fishing - Winter 2013

Revive Fly Fishing have released their Winter 2013 issue and it may be their best yet.  This issue takes readers on fly fishing adventures all over the world and features the work of several good friends of mine as well.

It is really cool to see a couple guys with an idea, that started all this with a fledgling website, turn it all into a very sharp online publication in the course of a couple years.  Impressive.

CHECK IT.

Soft Hackles - Tight Lines

I really dig blogs and websites that concentrate on a niche within fly fishing and lately I've spent quite a bit of time on Neil Norman's Soft Hackles, Tight Lines.  Neil is creating an online resource on soft hackle flies that is concise, highlights the history of these ever useful flies, and the macro photographs of the patterns are great as well.

Check out Neil's latest soft hackle recipe for Syl's Nymph and scroll back to see the dozens of other patterns which are chronicled as well on his website.

For those on Instagram, follow 5xtippet. 

VOTE NOVEMBER'S FINALIST

The T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest submissions have kind of slowed down around here with only one submission for October and then two for November. 

Congrats to Alec Stansell for taking the finalist spot for October.  Time to place your vote to help determine November's finalist. 

Click on each highlighted name to visit their T.F.M. Spotting post and place your vote by sending one email to tfmcontests@gmail.com.  Thanks.

CHRIS BARCLAY

JOHN PUTTEMAN

Thank you for taking a moment and emailing your vote in.

The 12 Days of Christmas Starts Soon

This post is just a heads up that the yearly craziness of gift giving called the 12 Days of Christmas starts on the morning of Monday, December 9th and will run through Friday, December 20th.

As in years past, I've set this up as a series of daily giveaways where all you have to do is send in an email each day to participate and the random number generator picks a winner or winners early the next morning before I start off another giveaway for that day.

This is the third year of the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways and each time around it's grown a little bigger than the last.  This year's sponsors could not have been more supportive with over three dozen gifts to be given away over the course of the event.

The 12 Days of Christmas is sponsored this year by the generosity of the following gear companies...

BOZEMAN REEL
COSTA
ECHO
FINN UTILITY
GHILLIE KETTLE
GOAT HEAD SOLE SPIKES
HOWLER BROTHERS
MARSH WEAR
NATURE BOY DESIGNS
ORVIS
PATAGONIA
REDINGTON
REP YOUR WATER
RIO PRODUCTS
SIMMS
SMITHFLY
STORMY KROMER
SWIFT FLY FISHING
THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF FLY FISHING
TIPPETAC
TOPO DESIGNS
VERMONT FLY GUYS

The 12 Days of Christmas giveaways are a lot of fun, allow me to highlight gear and companies that I really dig, and of course offers everyone a chance to win some phenomenal prizes.

This is also a very fitting way, within this season of giving, for me to say thank you to the readership that makes writing this website each morning before work (or late at night before bed) more than worthwhile and a lot of damn fun.  Thank you. 

See you bright and early on Monday morning.  Please don't start sending emails before then.

Holiday Cheers...