Fishy Kid's Website Launched!

This past winter Kevin Powell and I started talking back and forth through email about creating something special for the younger generation...our children. As fathers of we're both working hard to impart our interest and knowledge of fly fishing and the outdoors to our own but wanted to do more. Those thoughts and ideas have been put together into a website called Fishy Kid and we're really excited to see where it goes from here.

Fishy Kid will be a blend of contests, news, conservation, photo galleries, education, and hopefully a few new ideas.

The first project for Fishy Kid is a children's coloring book and contest with over 30 pages from premier angling artists such as Derek DeYoung, Jeff Kennedy, A.D. Maddox, Kevin Powell, Paul Puckett, Kirk Werner, Bob White, and Mark Yuhina. This coloring book is quite impressive and so good that when we're done with the children's coloring contest we're going to run an adult contest too. Sharpen up those crayon and colored pencils since I've already got a couple of cool prizes lined up.

We will be running the coloring contest from August 1st through November 30th. The first week of December we'll be conducting a series of drawings for prizes that have been donated by a host of gear sponsors.

Check out the Fishy Kid site, register, and let's get our children involved!

FISH SCHTICK PODCAST!

Over the past couple of weeks I've been listening to a new podcast called the Fish Schtick which can be downloaded directly from iTunes. This podcast is hosted by Brian Bennett of Patagonia and Teeg Stouffer of Recycled Fish. Each week they go over the latest in fly fishing news and interview a guest within the industry as well. These podcasts are about an hour in length and approach the idea of conservation from some new and thought provoking angles.

You can imagine my surprise this morning when four minutes into Episode 10, co-host Brian Bennett mentioned T.F.M. and the interview with Eric Rathbun of Reel Pure from earlier in the month. Certainly nice to get mentioned. Thanks Fish Schtick!

Check out the Fish Schtick podcast. An interesting mix of guests and news which is certainly worth a listen.

Last Chance - Reel Pure Offer

Where did July go? It's about over but wanted to give everyone a heads up one last time about the Reel Pure Offer of the Month.

(Reel Pure Trucker on a stack of old clickers that still catch fish.)

Get a hat, shirt, or decal. This is a great company to support.

Cliff's Trout Pup

A few weeks ago Matt Cassel, a.k.a. "Cliff", of Cliff Outdoors sent me a photo of the family's new trout pup "Jett" on her first fly fishing outing.


Chewing on fly line, locked interest to the trout in hand, happy to be near water, and all puppy.

Cliff, great looking pup. Can't wait to see this one as she grows up.

T.F.M. T-SHIRT ORDER!

Well, T.F.M. is just about a year old now and over the past twelve months I've sent over hundred T.F.M. shirts all over the globe.

It has been really exciting for me to see T.F.M. go worldwide and gain in readership month by month! Thank you all for reading, commenting, and spreading the word.

Orders will be taken from now until August 23rd, 2009. I leave for a trip in late August and would like to have this order finalized and sent to Rick Marcum at xdzines for printing while I am gone.

Shirts will be available in short sleeve in either black or dark red.

Examples of the shirts offered.





The price for a t-shirt will be $20 which includes shipping to the lower 48 states. I'll ship elsewhere but will have to check on shipping costs to your location. PayPal, check, or money order accepted. I can also offer a discount if someone would like more than one t-shirt. Of course, each t-shirt ordered will come with a couple T.F.M. decals as well. Please email me for more details.

I expect these t-shirts to be sent the first part of September if all goes as planned.

This will be the final run of this shirt design as I'll be releasing a new T.F.M. shirt early in 2010. I am going to drop a new T.F.M. shirt each year since everyone needs a cool new shirt, right?

To place an order please email me at heddonpal@fiberglassflyrodders.org. Please let me know what shirt color, size, and the method of payment you'll be using.

I can't wait to send out another big shipment of T.F.M. shirts all over the world!

T.F.M. Spotting - Flies and Fins in R.I.

Jeremy Cameron of Flies and Fins sent along this photograph of an evening off the Rhode Island coast swinging flatwing style squid flies for stripers from a couple of weeks ago.


Beautiful fish and stellar to see T.F.M. repped out on the big water!

Olive the Little Woolly Bugger Books

A week or so after Finn was born, Hadley and I walked out to the mailbox to find a white bubble envelope sent from Kirk Werner which contained all three of his Olive the Little Woolly Bugger books. Kirk Werner is both the writer and illustrator of these books and they were a wonderful gift for our children.

(Hadley eagerly waiting to bust into the package)

I have been quite impressed with the quality of these reads all around and surprised that each book is over forty pages in length with in depth narratives that make the stories interesting from start to finish. Each page is brightly illustrated and carry the story along every bit as much as the writing.


Kirk Werner has developed quite the character with little Olive and in doing so is passing along life lessons along with hints of fly fishing knowledge to children in a delightful manner that no doubt will plants seeds for later.

The three titles of the series so far are...

Olive The Little Woolly Bugger

Olive And The Big Stream

Olive Goes For A Wild Ride.

The publisher of these books, Big Earth Publishing, is offering 25% Off all Fly Fishing titles for the month of July. Order your Olive the Little Woolly Bugger set before August 1st for a bit of savings!

Finally, spend a little time on Olive the Little Woolly Bugger's site to find more information about Kirk Werner, the Olive podcast, reviews, and even PDF coloring and activity pages to do at home.

Sunday Cinema - "Stealth Mode Sail"

Kasey Scott is one of the artists that The Fiberglass Manifesto is tracking and when he posted this time lapse video on his facebook site this week I knew it needed to be shared here as well.


Check out his website, KScottUnderwater.com, for more examples of his work, photos, videos, and merchandise.

T.F.M. Interviews Reel Pure

In T.F.M.'s continuing process to find the story behind how certain fly gear brands came to be, I sent an email to Eric Rathbun of Reel Pure, with a few questions that he graciously took the time to answer.


Thinking back a few years to when I first saw the Reel Pure website I remember being impressed that a couple of guys could start a company and sell gear that they had designed. Where did the idea come from to develop Reel Pure and how long has it been around?

I’d spent years as a software marketing guy and came to a point where it made sense to marry it to my passion – fly fishing. Reel Pure was never about gear really – it was about a state of mind. With so many overly technical product brands, and overly serious attitudes in the industry, I was focused on launching a lifestyle brand with a message. So, we rolled out an affordably priced lifestyle product line in 2003. We’ve gone in a few different product and non-product directions since, but we’ve always stayed true to our message.

Reel Pure will continue to take a multi-dimensional approach to business – while we continue to develop products, media, and services.


(Photograph courtesy of Aaron Otto/Sleeping in the Dirt)

How have you seen the small company scene change in the past five years in regards to those that make fly fishing related gear? It seems like there are a lot of small companies out there with inspired designs and products. How is this changing what anglers are buying?

“Small company” in this industry is, in my opinion, a relative term. Even the highest revenue generating brands are fairly small potatoes in the grand scheme. I do, however, notice quite a few more ma and pa brands out there lately. As a result, we’re probably seeing fewer buying decisions based solely on technical performance criteria and more based on brands and messaging that we identify with.



What spawned the idea for Moldy Chum and as a daily reader of the blog I am often left wondering who comes up with all the content for the blog? Seems like a full time job dropping posts at the pace that you fellows do.

Moldy Chum’s floundering father (Brian Bennett) and I met a few years ago at a local watering hole. We soon found out that we had a shared goal – to deliver serious stuff with a not so serious attitude. It wasn’t a year later that we decided to join forces and partner on Moldy Chum – which then became the Voice of Reel Pure.


We take a thunder and lightning approach - Brian is a long time industry guy and has his finger on the pulse of just about everything. He is a content mining guru. I tend to focus a bit more on strategy stuff (SEO, viral campaigns, travel, ads, etc.) . Together I think we’re a pretty good balance and compliment the hell out of each other.

Posting at the rate we do can be pretty time consuming. We are currently considering a model that allows more user generated content that would in-turn lighten out load a bit.

I see that the second Moldy Chum "Field Trip" is coming up and going to Alaska. Is Moldy Chum moving into the travel business as well?

Moldy Chum decided to add services into its mix and started promoting “Field Trips” six months ago. We will likely host one special trip a quarter. With a readership base that continues to grow, we sat down and decided to provide additional value to the Chum Nation. We believe that when our readers spend hard earned coin on a special trip, they should not only get world-class fishing – they should get to do it in a tweedbag free environment.


Finally, do you ever pick up glass rods and take them with you on the water? If so...what's your favorite fiberglass sticks?

I used to throw my dad’s old Fenwick when I was a kid (8 or so years old). Haven’t had a chance to pick one up since, but do think it’s about time to cast one again.

Eric, thanks for the interview and folks, don't forget to check out Reel Pure's Offer of the Month.

T.F.M. Spotting - Moen in Montana

Todd Moen of Catch Magazine, sent along this photograph that Brian O'Keefe took of him while working together on location somewhere in Montana. Todd was behind the video camera when they noticed a group of mountain goats that were high up above the water and decided to burn it into film.


The latest issue of Catch Magazine was released this week and is certainly worth a look.

Over the past six issues it has been very cool to see so many of T.F.M.'s photog friends make the pages of this excellent online publication. Several have made the latest issue. Great work fellows!

Offer of the Month - Reel Pure Gear

For the month of July I am excited to announce that the boys at Reel Pure are offering FREE SHIPPING and FREE REEL PURE/MOLDY CHUM DECALS with all orders being shipped within the United States using the promotional code "TFMOFFER" on the online order form.

Free international shipping with orders exceeding $150.


I've long been a fan of the ideals and gear that Reel Pure has produced. It is cool to see the blog element, Moldy Chum, grow out of their effort as well.

Look for an interview later this month with Eric Rathbun of Reel Pure. He breaks down how it all started, what they're thinking, and where Reel Pure/Moldy Chum is headed in the future.

In the meantime check out the Reel Pure website and order yourself up a new cap or jacket to get dirty on your next trip out on the water.