Cliff's Excellent P.N.W. Adventure

The other day while talking on the phone with Matt Cassel (found out that friends call him Cliff - go figure) I noticed that he was even more excited than usual. He had just returned from a few cold wet days in the P.N.W. and had touched a few fresh fish.


Great to see that the front man for Cliff Outdoors still finds time to steal away for a few days on the water. His email and photos tell the story...

"Gavin Bush (a friend and steelhead junkie) picked me up at SeaTac. We drove over to Forks, WA and met up with Rooster Leavens. Rooster owns the Stonefly Inn in Twin Bridges, MT and since the early 90's has been fishing and guiding out of Forks for six weeks every spring. He mainly fishes the Hoh, the Bogachiel, the Sol Duc, and Calawah rivers.

On Friday the rivers were all blown out and Saturday they were not a whole lot better. Our best bet was the Sol Duc and we fished hard and got skunked. We swung where we could and nymphed from the boat between swinging holes. Sunday things were better. I got one on the Sol Duc and Gavin got two. Beautiful bright fish. On Monday we did the Bogachiel and we each landed two (and farmed more that we like to admit)."


"Winter fish are not easy, but if you want the best possible chance get in touch with Rooster (www.thestoneflyinn.com). He works closely with Jeff Brazda and Jimmy Kerr (good guys) while he is out there."

Thanks "Cliff" for the report and photos. I'm ready for a P.N.W. fix now myself. Let's grab the fly gear and go!

Striper Schematics

For the past couple months the Saluda River and the striped bass that will be running it soon have been on my mind. The Saluda River is a large tailrace in the Columbia, South Carolina area with fish that range from a couple of pounds to the occasional leviathan upwards of fifty pounds.


(Saluda River Striper from the 1970's that pushed 50 pounds)

This scheming has included adding a few pieces of new gear including a two-hander eight weight rod, a big old school reel, new flies, and a few other items as well.

I can't wait to be swinging big fish flies for these river brutes.

T.F.M. Spotting - "Fun Hogs" Weekend

A few weeks ago Joel Thompson sent an email with photos of his weekend at their Montana cabin. As winter is saying it's last goodbye and spring is waking up, I thought it would be fitting that this should post over the weekend.

"Every winter we get together sometime in February and do a long weekend up at the cabin. We call ourselves the "Fun Hogs" because we hog all the fun from the rest of the world during that weekend."


"There are four of us that are regulars to the trip...my twin brother John, his buddy from Oregon Bryan Scholz, my college roommate Pat Roosa, and of course myself. We often have others join us but the four of us are ALWAYS there. We snowmobile in on Friday afternoon and spend the rest of the day unpacking food and gear and getting the cabin warmed up. A couple of years ago it was five below zero when we got up there and it took a long time to get the cabin warm! Once the fire is going strong and all our stuff is put away, we will jump on the snowmobiles and head out on the ice to find the spot we want to fish. We will drill a couple of holes and maybe wet a line depending on the time of day. If it is late we usually just play around on the sleds a little bit and then head back to the cabin for some adult beverages and a good cabin cooked meal."


"Saturday night we have a big bonfire from the debris that we clean up around the cabin each year. We sit around the fire drinking good booze ("Fun Hog" Rule - NO BAD BOOZE ALLOWED!) and reflect on the day and tell lies. There are always a lot of laughs around the fire and it can be quite comical seeing our footprints back up to the cabin. Not a lot of straight lines if you know what I mean!"


"Sunday is almost always a low key day spent ice fishing. It is not uncommon to catch a hundred whitefish and twenty or more trout through the ice. It is the one time each year that we catch and keep a few brook trout and enjoy them for dinner. That evening we will play a little liars dice and then have another big fire outside. In years past this could be a big night, but as we get older I am finding it ends by eleven o'clock. It takes a little longer for us to bounce back these days."


"Monday is a day of cleaning and packing up all the gear. We try to do that right after breakfast so we can enjoy the rest of the day. This day is kind of random as well. If the snow is good we will go for a nice snowmobile ride. If it is bad than we may fish. One thing for sure about Monday is that EVERYONE stinks for lack of showers and but no one really wants to leave."

Thanks Joel for the post and I can't imagine a better way to spend a weekend with the fellows.

The Hobbyist - Vladan Milenkovic

Angler, musician, writer, fly tier, photographer, and rod builder are just a few terms that describe Vladan Milenkovic (musicar) and he brings a unique and innovative approach to each.

Vlad's fiberglass fly rod builds always leave me in awe and his fly reel collection isn't to shabby either.








Vlad is starting to thaw out in St. Paul after another long winter so bookmark his blog, Fly Fisherman's Cafe, to follow him from the tying vise to the spring creeks, rivers, and lakes that surround him there.

CUTTIE-THON FLASHBACK!

The spring gear catalogs are starting to show up in shops and mailboxes so imagine my surprise when I was tipped off that a photograph from the 2008 Cuttie-Thon made it into the latest Osprey Packs catalog and website!


Neat to see how a photo, gear, and layout work together to make a catalog page and I am honored to have one of my photographs used.

Check out the latest Osprey Packs gear on their website at www.ospreypacks.com.

Honoring Grandpa

A few months ago an email showed up in my inbox from a long time friend, Paul Silva, who had found something interesting at his grandmother's in Pennsylvania.


His email read, "I found a fly rod at my grandma's house. It's a J.C. Higgins. From what I read it's from the 50's or 60's. My grandpa passed away two years before I was born. Catching a fish on it would be great and to tell my grandma I caught one on grandpa's rod would be priceless."

Paul was then able to pair the J.C. Higgins fly rod with a minty J.C. Higgins fly reel to complete the outfit. Now it was ready for steelhead!


It wasn't long before I received a string of text messages on my cellphone with exclamations of fighting and losing several fish before a final text message of "I caught one!" The proof is in the photos.


The fly looks like cotton candy on a hook.


Paul, without a doubt, Grandpa would have been proud. I am sure when Grandma saw the photos and heard your stories of fishing that fly rod that it caused her to smile and remember. Good on you for making new memories out of old ones.

Eviction Notice

The first time it happened was four and a half years ago. The wife found out that she was pregnant and the "Eviction Notice" went up on my "Gear Room" door promptly. I was happily pushed out to create a bedroom for our little girl.


As the birth of our daughter approached, what was once a room of fly rods, waders, and backpacks, was repainted a girl friendly green and transformed into a living page from the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.

Everything that once lived in the spacious "Gear Room" was divided up and tightly stored in the guest bedroom closet and in the unfinished (EEEKKK!) room over the garage to brave the elements.

Six months ago the process happened again. Even before the home pregnancy test popped the pink plus sign for sure, the wife cut me a look that it was time to move out...again.


Now we are building a room for our son, and besides painting walls and putting furniture together, I am finding new and imaginative places to stash gear.

"Eviction Notices" or not...it's great building a family of little anglers!

T.F.M. Spotting - Escape From L.A.

After a long week of the office, traffic, and travel, David Lofthouse, has been getting away from the chaos of Los Angeles to find trout water on the weekends. What he found on this trip was a few willing trout...and the need to escape even farther from the city's reach.


In his words..."Well, the first trip to the mountains was yesterday. Our goal was to get to the falls since the only access is a very narrow outflow slot and the pool is huge."


"Right off I started to hook fish. I fought a few and lost them before landing. Just as we were making progress a hiking club showed up. One of them walked up within four feet of me and jumped into the water. I reeled in and prepared to leave. My friend was quite insistent that we could still catch fish. I patiently waited while time proved him wrong. We decided to double back and fish a few smaller pools and enjoy our lunch before heading back home."

From talking to David this week it sounds like on these "Escapes from L.A." that they will need to get up earlier and push farther out to leave the hiking clubs and dog walkers behind. I wonder where they are off to this weekend?

THIS IS FLY - Call For Photos!

Tim Miller, of This Is Fly magazine, sent me an email yesterday detailing a book that they are putting together which will benefit Trout Unlimited, the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and The Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species.

The premise of the book will be to celebrate the fly fishing experience and lifestyle through photos of memorable "Hero Shots", friends, and the journey we take to the places we fish.


So here's the thing...you and both know that the pages of this book with be a yearbook of the latest fast action sticks and super drag wheels...so lets see if we can't sneak a few old school clickers and glass rods photos in on them too.

I'm sending in a few photos today!

Download the Submission Form and be a part of this worthy project.

Offer of the Month - DF Furled Leaders

A little over a year ago, Dane Fuller (beauglass) sent me a couple of his mono furled leaders to try out on the pond and for the general warmwater fishing that I do down here in South Carolina. I started using one of his furled leaders on a Heddon Pal #8383 and it changed the casting character of this rod quite noticeably. As a self described casting hack I was suddenly seeing tight loops which left me both surprised and impressed. I spent the rest of the summer using Dane's leaders on several of my warmwater fly outfits and liked how these leaders performed.


Recently Dane Fuller built a website for DF Furled Leaders which provides in depth information on the construction, characteristics, and advantages of fishing furled leaders. There is also a shopping cart so that leaders can be purchased through the website as well.


For the month of March, T.F.M. is pleased to announce that Dane Fuller is offering "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" on all furled leader orders completed through the DF Furled Leader website!