T.F.M. Spotting - Mr. FishingPorn.com

Scott Eckland and I recently traded t-shirts and he's been posting up so many photos on the FishingPorn.com Facebook Fan Page that I'm starting to wonder if he's even had a chance to wash the shirt even once.  HA... 

Scott...thanks for representing and promoting T.F.M. and also for sending along the submissions for the T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest too.

Vlad's Steffen Brothers Build Cork Work

Vlad Milenkovic of Fly Fisherman's Cafe sent an update and a few photographs this weekend of the Steffen Brothers eight foot three piece 8/9 weight build that he is completing for me.

Vlad knows how to build big weight fly rods and his cork work is certainly evidence of that.

2010 T.F.M. SPOTTING WINNERS

During the past two weeks the 2010 T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest Finalists have used every method of social media, email campaigns, forum posts, and maybe even a phone call home to mom to drum up over 1,200 votes.

The voters have spoken and the first, second, and third place winners of the 2010 T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest are Alan Tomich, Matt Smythe, and Aileen Nishimura. They will each receive gear prizes from Hardy and Greys.

Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone for submitting their photos for last year's contest.  

Special thanks again to Hardy and Greys for providing the prizes for this year long contest.

Two Hour Fix

Yesterday morning I was able to get a quick trout fix with a stop at the Davidson River for a couple hours on my way to Asheville.

The water was a bit low and ultra clear but I was still able to trick a few average sized rainbow trout on tiny RS-2's and WD-40's.

Hard to beat a couple hours on a North Carolina trout stream on a warm February morning. 

Kiichiro's Custom Finish Kabuto Build

Japanese fly rod builder, Yasuyuki Kabuto, was urged by Kiichiro Emoto to develop a darker transparent blank color for a build that Yasuyuki was completing for him. The results of his work and Kiichiro's photography are similarly stunning.

Please visit Kabuto Rods to see more of his rod work and also Kiichiro Emoto's blog to see more of his photography.

T.F.M. Gets Goo'ed

While at the Fly Fishing Show in Raleigh, North Carolina a few weekends ago, I had a chance to meet Brian Carson, Mr. Clear Cure Goo himself, and see this innovative and multi-purpose fly tying material in person.

Brian is just the kind of person that I like to support on T.F.M. since he's more or less running his Clear Cure Goo "empire" out of the basement of his house.  It doesn't get much more cottage industry than that.

By the time I had made it by the Clear Cure Goo booth, Brian had sold all the product kits that he had brought with him but it was still neat to see a few of the flies that he had tied and get some ideas to try later.

This week a small box arrived from Clear Cure Goo and now I'll get a chance to play with this at the vise.  I've got ideas for several different warmwater flies that I can't wait to try.

T.F.M. Spotting - Greg At The Pub

There might not be to many things better than a night out at the pub tying flies with friends.

It certainly looks like Greg Feder is having a fine time at the Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders "Beer Tie" at a pub in Arlington, Virginia.

Great T.F.M. Spotting contest photo and making me think I need to break out the vise, pour something cold in my mug, and fill up several of my nearly empty fly boxes.

Back To Tenkara

For long time readers of T.F.M. you might remember my genuine interest in tenkara with a bevy of posts in the summer of 2009 including an interview with Daniel Galhardo of TenkaraUSA. 

Over that winter I let a friend borrow my Ayu rod and haven't seen it since.  I am assuming he's working on a "long term" review.  HA...

This week a box arrived from TenkaraUSA which included the 11' Iwana, a Level Line, and a Tenkara Net.  This is quite an outfit and certainly has rekindled my interest in fishing the tenkara method. 

Look for a review of the Iwana in the coming months.  In the meantime check out the TenkaraUSA website which is filled with gear options, videos, forum, and other information.

Old Yankee Rod Smiths H.F.F.A. Build

Andy Manchester of Old Yankee Rod Smiths recently posted on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum photos and information about a 3/4 weight glass rod build that he had built to be donated for a raffle drawing at the upcoming Housatonic Fly Fisherman's Association 50th Anniversary Banquet which will be held on March 19, 2011.

Andy said this about the elements of the build...
"The rod was built on a F.H. Paddock fiberglass blank and features Lemke reel seat hardware.  The cork is from the remains of old stock that I received upon the passing of my good friend and rod maker Walt McVety.  What the cork may lack in quality is more than made up for with good karma.  I also used size 00 nylon amber thread, carbide stripping guides, and light wire single foot guides.  The thread finish is Dale Clemens Crystal Coat with Crystal Flow and the final blank finish is hand rubbed Danish Oil."

Besides the sharp looking fly rod, Andy also built the presentation rod tube by hand out of white cedar and hemlock which was finished with Danish Oil.

Fine work for a wonderful cause.

For more information about the 50th Anniversary Banquet please visit the H.F.F.A. website.  

T.F.M. Spotting - Tim's Ghost Reflection

The submissions for the T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest were slow to start the month but are showing up in my email inbox regularly this week to post up over the next couple of days.

Tim Sullivan sent along what he called his "T.F.M. reverse ghost reflection" that he captured on film while checking out the brook trout tank at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, New York.

Nice work Tim.  It certainly does have a wonderfully eerie quality to it. 

Remember, if you have a T.F.M. Spotting photo that you'd like to submit for the Photo Contest please email them with a few lines of copy for the T.F.M. post.

Sagamore Creek Rod Crafters Build

Steve Dyczkiewycz of Sagamore Creek Rod Crafters recently sent along a few photographs of an 8'3" five weight McFarland Rod Company blank build that he had completed for Mark Luedke.

Steve wrote about the build...
"We decided to marry the best of yesterday with the best of today while keeping this beauty period correct and authentic. We opted for Struble nickel silver reel seat hardware, a birds eye maple insert, a Struble light amber nickel silver agate stripper guide, and REC Recoil RSF single foot running guides.  A Fuji folding hook keeper and a Struble winding check provided the finishing touches.  Our thoughts were to build this to let the unencumbered beauty and smoothness of fiberglass shine through so it was wrapped with invisiwraps with a single accent band.  I believe we succeeded in capturing Marks fly fishing heritage on this one."

Fine build work and I'm sure that this fiberglass fly rod will not be the last in Steve's shop.

To see more of Steve's work check out the Sagamore Creek Rod Crafters website and blog.

S.C.O.F. Tie-One-On-Athon

Southern Culture On The Fly may still be putting the pieces to their new online magazine venture together but they've found the time and energy to organize the Tie-One-On-Athon event in Asheville this coming Sunday, February 27th and it looks like a neat way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The Tie-One-On-Athon was created to support the Western North Carolina Chapter of Project Healing Waters and will feature a growing list of fly tiers, barbecue, local micro brewery beer, and a long list of door prizes that can be won for those that attend.  The price of a ticket is $10 and they can be purchased at any of the Curtis Wright Outfitters locations.

It's looking likely that I'll sneak out of the house early on Sunday morning and race up to North Carolina for a couple hours of stream time before attending the Tie-One-On-Athon event myself.  See you there.

Blue Ribbon Nets Arrive

Hopefully you've noticed the Blue Ribbon Nets ad that is running on the T.F.M. page and have checked out their website to see what they offer. 

Mike Westfall of Blue Ribbon Nets recently sent a package containing a few nets for me to use and to give away for an upcoming T.F.M. contest.  I've never been a landing net geek until now and I am thoroughly impressed.   

I have been fishing with the large Catch & Release Net since last fall and really like it a lot.  I'm looking forward to using the Canoe Net this summer in the kayak on a list of trips I'm working out on local ponds and rivers and plan to use this net while wade fishing with friends as well.

The highlight for Blue Ribbon Nets this year is the new AquaFade Ultra Light netting.  This new clear net material is stronger, a fraction of the weight of typical rubber netting, and is also made from a more environmentally safe material that is PVC free.

I have both a medium AquaFade Ultra Light Catch & Release Net and Oval Net and they are unbelievably lighter than the other nets that I own. 

You don't realize how much weight the netting adds to the overall weight of a net until you feel the difference between the AquaFade Ultra Light Nets and the rest.

Blue Ribbon Nets have a long list of models to chose from, in all sizes, and with several different wood types and netting choices so that you can find the perfect net for the type of fishing that you do.

Lastly, Blue Ribbon Nets are quality made in Montana from start to finish which certainly says something great about the company as well.

Wyoming Film Contest - Cuttie-Thon

Three years ago this August, Mike Carlson of Pioneer Anglers and I participated in the Cuttie-Thon on the Greys River in Wyoming. The intention was to finish the entire event which would have had us hiking upstream for over twenty-six miles but by mile thirteen our knees and feet were shot and we tossed in the towel.  

Zac Sexton has been organizing the Cuttie-Thon for a number of years now and it really will test you to your core.  Zac is a Type I diabetic and the Cuttie-Thon is his yearly personal journey and a great way to raise money for a number of excellent causes.



Filmmaker Justin Stroup followed Zac on last year's Cuttie-Thon event to capture the process on film and this documentary has been entered into the Wyoming Short Film Contest.

Check out the film and place your vote for the Cuttie-Thon film.

Flymen Fly Company

A few weeks ago while at the Fly Fishing Show in Raleigh I caught up with Mark Bawden of Flymen Fly Company.  It's certainly neat to see a small independent company within the fly fishing industry have an idea for a product like Nymph-Head and then follow that up with another cool product like Fish-Skull. 

While checking out the Flymen Fly Company booth Martin kept busy at the vise and showed off a few patterns he was working on with the Fish-Skull heads.

The Frantic Tails look to be an interesting product to use both with the Fish-Skulls or to create flies like this spun deer hair popper.

Flymen Fly Company has a lot of suggestions and ideas for uses for their products with pages of instruction and a blog showing off innovative patterns of other tiers.

This pattern looked like a cinch to tie and might be really excellent multi-species fly.  I'll be tying some soon for sure.

Mark promised a new products for 2011 so you might want to keep an eye on the Flymen Fly Company website, Facebook, and Twitter for updates.