A Father's Gift To His Son

Phil Smith of Vandalia Rodworks had emailed a few months ago saying that he was interested in building a fiberglass fly rod for his son's upcoming birthday.  It was neat to get this follow up email from Phil with a report of his son's first brook trout trip with his new fly rod.

Phil wrote...  "I made this glass rod for my son's seventh birthday.  It is a 6'9" four weight made from a one piece blank.  Soon after he got it we took it out to the local lake and he hammered the four inch bluegills, but he was dying to break it in on some "gentlemen's fish" a.k.a. native brook trout.  So I finally found time to take him out for some natives at what he likes to call our "Secret Spot"."

I can't think of a finer gift to give a son than his own fly rod and then also taking the time to get out on the water together.

T.F.M. Spotting - Dane In Star Valley

A few weeks ago a small group of anglers met for the Fiberglass Flyrodders Star Valley Clave which was based out of Pioneer Anglers Fly Shop in Afton, Wyoming. 

Dane Fuller was caught in this photo wearing his T.F.M. t-shirt while changing flies streamside.

Over the week everyone caught their Wyoming Cutt-Slam which consisted of a Booneville Cutthroat, Snake River Cutthroat, Yellowstone River Cutthroat, and Colorado River Cutthroat.  What a way to highlight a trip.    

More Orvis Glass And A Convert Too

I'm not sure Orvis realized when they hired Shawn Combs that he'd be rummaging through the back rooms at the office like a pack rat finding old fiberglass Golden Eagle blanks to build up and that he also has a "sinister" plan to convert his fellow employees one by one into certified glass geeks. 

Shawn sent this dispatch over the weekend...   

"I decided to convert a buddy of mine, Tyler Atkins (Orvis Rod & Tackle Control Buyer) to fiberglass.  What better way than putting the bend on a seven foot three weight on a big fish.  During the first deep pull he looked over at me and said "When can I get one?"  Mission accomplished."

Shawn...fine work.  Who's next on the list?

F3T Short With John Gierach

I like John Gierach's work quite a bit and it's neat see Jay Johnson of the Graphite Samurai get into John's head a bit about what it's like to be a fly fishing writer as a career.



This film short is also a good reminder that I need to crack open my copy of his latest book and get it read.

2011 IFTD - The Wrap Up

I know it's taken me a few days to get this post done but instead of breaking the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) show down day by day I felt that a complete wrap up with a slide show might be a better way of compiling my thoughts and photographs to cover what I thought were the highlights from this year's show.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

THE VENUE
New Orleans played host to this year's IFTD show which set up on an expansive space at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for three days.  The downtown location made the French Quarter just a short walk and there were many (some might say way to many) options for evening entertainment and ways to get into trouble.

The show itself was twice the floor size with attendance down, by  AFFTA's account, by 15% from last year.  Many of the companies that I  spoke with were disappointed with the attendance of fly shop retailers and the lack of orders being placed during the show.  AFFTA still has got it's work cut out for itself in generating significant interest in participation in the IFTD show and showing their ultimate worth to the fly gear industry as a whole as well.  It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years.

One industry insider that I spoke with raised a very good question of why  IFTD doesn't occur every couple years instead of every year.  Without a yearly industry tackle show would companies still feel the need to drop new products on customers every twelve  months?  Wouldn't there be more incentives for fly shops to move through their  inventory with larger profit margins if they didn't have to slash prices  on gear that they were just able to get into their shop a few months to now make way for the  coming year's latest redesign?  Certainly gear companies would have more time for design and testing before their products are released.  This is something for the industry as a whole to consider and evaluate from all angles.  Does IFTD need to be yearly?

Having never been to New Orleans before I can say it was an experience.  Bourbon Street is everything that people say it is even on a week night when no festival or special event is going on.  A couple thousand fly anglers descending onto New Orleans made for an interesting time indeed.

FIBERGLASS FLY RODS
As far as fiberglass there were just three companies with glass on display with Cortland Diamondback Glass, the Scott Fly Rod Company F2 Series, and Thomas & Thomas Heirloom Series represented at each companies booth. 

I spoke with Nate Dablock of Cortland who said that there were some supply issues with the Diamondback Glass series which had been remedied and that these fly rods should now be readily available for purchase and in fly shops in the coming months.

The Scott Fly Rod Company F2 Series is unchanged for next year and after seeing the new graphite M Series (think high end custom hardware builds) I was  left wishing that they had offered a F2 choice in that series as well.  I'm sure many of the same options, for about the same money, could be done through the Scott Custom Shop if a customer wished for a fully customized F2 build.

I had a long talk with new company owner Mark Richens and Trevor Bross of Thomas & Thomas and I am really excited about the direction they are moving.  Mark Richens was genuine and candid about what they plan on doing to make this fly rod company successful.  The Heirloom Series will go unchanged for next year but Thomas & Thomas will be delivering fly rods to dealers and lining up new fly shops to carry their rod series giving potential customers a chance to consider their fly rods by test casting them instead of wondering. 

FLY REELS
In short there were a ton of new fly reels at IFTD ranging from established companies to new small shop upstarts covering all the price points.

On the old school end of things I really liked the fly reels offered by Willow Classic Reels.  These heirloom quality fly reels range in price from $500 to $700 and each fly reel is hand made in a small craftsman's shop in Korea by maker Hak Joon Lee.  These fly reels certainly dispel the myth that everything coming from overseas is mass produced and lacks quality. 

The new school fly reel options are mind spinning and really as an angler you have to decide your budget, what you need the reel for, and which companies you connect with best since there really isn't a bad fly reel out there now.

Abel Fly Reels is offering a couple new fly reels for 2012 including the Abel Spey Reel and Abel Switch Reel which are available with ported and non ported spools.  For an extra $200 you can add a fish graphic finish to your Abel fly reel with Chrome Steelhead, Wild Trout, Atlantic Salmon, and the new DeYoung Series Brown Trout Flank as the 2012 choices.

From my perspective Cheeky Fly Fishing is legit and it was great to meet the fellows behind this new reel company.  They had both the Ambush 375 and Mojo 425 on display and broken down to see the innards.  Their fly reels are solid and though the reel colors are a bit gaudy coupled with a top tier price there is certainly a market for these fly reels with anglers that want something very different with function to rely on.

While Hardy really didn't have anything new in their classic line up, they did introduce both the Ultralite DD (disc drag) and Ultralite CC (clicker version) along with their new salt worthy Fortuna X fly reels.  The Ultralite DD won "Best Freshwater Fly Reels" from Angling Trade though I'd be just as happy with the click and pawl version.  A sharp fly reel at a good price point. 

Hatch Outdoors has redesigned their offerings for 2012 with the Monsoon Series now being called the Finatic Series with a few attractive design tweaks.  There is just something about the blacked out Hatch Outdoors reels that I really like and the function is flawless as well.  A trout sized Finatic might just have to be in my future. 

Nautilus won Angling Trade's "Best Saltwater Fly Reel" with their new NV Series Monster which is a big bad wheel with a five inch diameter and picks up nearly a foot and a half of line on each rotation to handle all your saltwater and big water adventures.  The NV Series Monster is priced at $860.     

Waterworks Lamson hadn't really been on my radar until this past year or so but I kept hearing over and over what a great value with function their Konic fly reels are.  After spending a lot of time on their website and then handing their entire line up at IFTD I am impressed.  This a very neat fly reel company with offerings across the entire price spectrum.  They get it that not every angler has a stack of bills to spend on a fly reel or extra spools and offer several budget priced fly reels as well as a few high end models as well.

FLY LINES
I've long been a fan of Airflo fly lines and most interested in the light line Ridge Clear Lines which look to have a lot of application on pressured trout waters.  I was able to carry home one of the Sniper Line Intermediate fly lines in nine weight which might be the perfect match for my eight foot Steffen 8/9 big fish stick for stripers in the river.

Cortland has a few new fly line series for 2012 with the Trout Boss which is their new premier trout fly line, Liquid Crystal which is a clear fly line for tropical salt application, and Competition Nymph which has been specially designed for European nymphing techniques.

RIO Products concentrated most of their efforts for 2012 on their two hander lines with new Unispey, Skagit Versitip, and Scandi Versitip lines and also a new Tarpon Short and Tropical Outbound Short with thirty foot heads and a ten foot clear intermediate tip.

Scientific Anglers expanded their Mastery Textured fly line offerings which include, among others, a new dry fly line called the Trout Stalker and a big fly bomber line called the Titan Taper.  I was able to sneak out of the S.A. booth with a 4WF Trout Stalker and a 8WF Titan Taper.  I'll report in the coming months with my notes on these fly lines.

GEAR AND APPAREL
As I mentioned last week Buff won Angling Trade's "Best General Apparel" with their new Bug Slinger UV Collection.  There are ten Bug Slinger designed Buffs in all and should be a great product for Buff this next year.  Buff also has a new Sport Series Water Glove that looks to be excellent as well.

As usual Cliff Outdoors brought several new products to the show with a very sharp wooden suitcase style tarpon box, a new fly box called "The Deuce" with a block of removable foam with allows anglers to pre-tie tandem rigs up and wrap around the foam.  Lastly, which should be a very popular gift item, Cliff Outdoors has put together a set of cards, dice, and a two piece cribbage board that all fits inside of a fly box for storage.

Besides having the coolest looking booth at IFTD with their decked out Airstream (which I slapped a couple T.F.M. decals on) Costa also brought a few new styles with the Tag series for men and four new women styles called the Hammock, Little Harbor, Tippet, and Islamorada.  I've been wearing several different pairs of Costa glasses over the past year or so with both 580 (glass) and 580P (polycarbonate) lenses and have been nothing but impressed.

Diablo Paddlesports didn't bring any new kayaks (though a couple are in the works) but even more importantly were showing off the new skeg system for their SUP-Yaks which going to be a huge help with tracking on the Chupacabra.  The new fly deck cover will also assist keeping the front of the kayak decks clean so that fly line doesn't grab straps and foot rests.

Along with all of Fish Pimp's accessories line up, they also brought along a new tippet dispenser that is really neat since it holds four small spools of tippet and is complete with line straightener and line snip on the backside.  I want one as soon as they secure a company or two to supply the specialty sized tippet spools needed to complete this product for launch.

Fishpond is using a new lightweight recycled fabric called CYCLEPOND which they have incorporated into several new packs for 2012.  I am most interested in the Nimbus Guide Pack which is large enough to hold fly gear, two large water bottles, and even room left for a DSLR camera and maybe a second lens too.  This large hip pack can be slung with a comfortable shoulder strap and the hip straps are ventilated as well.  This pack is priced right at $109 as well.

The Korkers line up stays largely the same for 2012 with fabric as well as a leather a choice for the Fisherman's Moc and a new Svelte sole option on their wading boots which won Angling Trade's "Best Eco-Friendly" award.  The advantage of this sole is that it is great for rock hopping, drains effectively, and is less adapt to hold invasive species.

L.L. Bean turns 150 years old next year and with it they've put together a few limited edition heritage pieces as well as a new sharply designed BOA River Thread Wading Boot and the Pocket Water fly rods and fly reels.  I heard from more than one person that the Pocket Water fly rods were some of the nicest fly rods they cast at IFTD.

Besides a growing list of choices from Loon Outdoors with floatants, UV items, line dressings, tools, cleaners, and fly tying items, the ingenius Nip N' Sip caught my eye which is one part nipper and one part bottle opener.  The Nip N' Sip is full of function and priced right at $13.  The Nip N' Sip also won Angling Trade's "Best Accessory" award which was well deserved.

Simply put Montana Fly Company brought it to IFTD and not surprisingly ended up winning Angling Trade's "Best Fly Box" award for their very well thought out and priced right Boat Box.  This fly box is waterproof with pre-slotted foam panels and the ability to add a hinged leaf with two more sides of foam panels.  You can literally stuff up to 4,000 flies into the Boat Box if you wanted to.  I am also looking forward to their offerings in their new "Artist Series" with fly reels, fly boxes, iPhone covers, and other items using the artwork of Bern Sundell, A.D. Maddox, Travis Sylvester and Josh Udesen.

The big news out of Patagonia is their new Rock Grip Aluminum Bar Boot and River Crampon wading system.  Honestly I walked into the Patagonia booth a bit skeptical though several people that I spoke to have waded with the new system and said there is nothing like it .  I'm hoping to demo the River Crampon's in the coming months and see how these work myself.  Look forward in 2012 to more gear and wading bags along with a new fly fishing backpack as well.

From waders, to jackets, to clothing, to layering garments Redington had a lot to look at.  Oh yeah...and new fly rods and fly reels as well.  I was impressed with Redington's new look last year but for 2012 they stepped their game up and have a lot for customers to consider at very reasonable price points as well.

For having a corner of the Umpqua Feather Merchants booth, Dylan Rothwell of Rising had on display an impressive line up of products to check out which included the Lippa4Life tool, a very cool barbecue all in one tool, and the Flask Pack which won Angling Trade's "Best Chest Pack/Vest" award.  More information on Rising in future T.F.M. posts.  

Simms has a long list of new products coming out for 2012 but I was most taken with the Catch & Release system which they are using in a couple of their packs which uses a magnet closure to hold the pack and chest pack together and is easily removable as well.  Simms won Angling Trade's "Best of Show" with their ProDry Gore-Tex Jacket, Bib, and Pants which still leaves me scratching my head a bit since this product was specifically designed for conventional tournament anglers but will see some use for from open water fly anglers as well.

There isn't a lot new for William Joseph in 2012 but they did tweak a few pieces from the Old School line and they did have a new, still in prototype stage, MAG Series "space pack" which is very design forward with no zips.  It will be interesting to see what the final product will look like.

NEW GEAR COMPANIES
There were a handful of new companies that I came across at IFTD with new ideas and products that made sense.  It's always neat to see a new comer in the fly fishing industry with gear that fills a niche that no one else has touched yet.

It was really good to meet the crew from Howler Brothers at IFTD and I was impressed to see the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 line up as well.  The brain trust at Howler Brothers are bringing new style to the fly fishing industry and even pushing the envelope a little bit as well.  Cowboy style shirts with shrimp embroidered on the shoulders?  I like.

Kast Gear dropped on the scene in the last few weeks and it was neat to get walked through their introductory line up of jackets, waterproof gloves, shirts, and pants.  I really liked the quality and feel of the fabrics Kast Gear is using in their clothing and their price points are in line for what they are offering as well.

I got tipped off about SmithFly in the days leading up to IFTD but had no idea what I was going to find since Ethan Smith was pretty tight lipped about his new company.  Using heavy duty fabrics and stateside sewers the SmithFly modular gear system takes a large gear bag, belt, or vest and gives anglers the ability to add different sized gear pouches which are secured by snaps on the webbing of the base piece.  The system has a tactical look and feel to it and the pieces look like they should never wear out.  Ethan sent me home with an El Poquito which fits in your pocket or belt and held in place with magnets to hold your hemos or pliers and nippers on a mechanical retractor or curly cord.  The El Poquito is priced at $30 and available for purchase on the SmithFly website.

The caps from Twintail Clothing have been a long time coming but it was neat to see Matt Jones creations at his booth.  Look for these smartly designed caps to start showing up in fly shops in the coming year.

Scott Hunter of Vedavoo made the last second decision to attend IFTD and ended up having a great show.  His gear system is well put together with the Chest Pack being able to move from the Tightlines Shoulder Pack or Spinner Daypack or worn alone.

CONCLUSION
IFTD was a really good event for T.F.M. and I had a great time.  I went with a few specific objectives and was able to work on all of them.  We'll see how things work out in the coming months but I am very hopeful on a few ideas discussed since they could be real positives for T.F.M. in more ways than one.

New Magazines In The Mail

The latest issues of both The Drake and The Flyfish Journal are arriving in mail boxes the world over and it's nice to have a couple new magazines to leaf through and read before bed.

Highlights from this issue of The Drake include Will Rice's take on Beaver Island carp, Abe Streep and Ryan Heffernan's piece on Rock Creek, Part III of The Twelve Apostles, a short piece by Thomas McGuane, and then a mix of other excellent short stories and essays as well.

I really can't get enough of the double page full size photos in The Flyfish Journal.  It's really neat to see artistic fly fishing images of that size in a magazine.  This issue also includes a feature by Miles Nolte on his Texas redfish experience and an excellent gallery piece on photographer R. Valentine Atkinson with a stack of his iconic fly fishing images in black and white.

If you don't subscribe then certainly consider it as these are both magazines with stellar writing and photography that deserve your support.  

T.F.M. Spotting - Sea Trout Hunting

Christian Hörgren recently spent a couple days looking for sea trout with a friend off the Sweden coast and sent along this T.F.M. Spotting contest photo after a day of lots of casting with no fish caught.

Look for several upcoming dispatches from Christian with a photo essay of fly fishing trip for trout and grayling and also a vintage fly reel series review as well. 

Graywolf Rods Morgan Build Completed

Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods recently completed the first Tom Morgan Fiberglass Series blank that arrived at his shop and the results are fitting of such a long awaited blank.

This 8'6" two piece seven weight is called "The Unity With The Universe Rod" which may sound like a lot of hyperbole but this taper has a long and storied history that it's already lived up to when Tom Morgan designed a very similar fiberglass blank while with the R.L. Winston Rod Company.

Graywolf Rods is one of the few custom fly rod builders who has designed a build scheme and hardware specific to these Tom Morgan Fiberglass Series blanks to create a very special fly rod for his customers.

For more information and photographs of this build please check the Graywolf Rods Blog and Facebook page. 

Buff Bug Slinger Collection

It is of little surprise that the Buff Bug Slinger UV Collection won the "Best General Apparel" award at IFTD last week in New Orleans. 

Buff is a solid product and the thought forward artwork of Rob McAbee of Bug Slinger has given this series a very striking look.  I look forward to all ten designs to be released in the coming months.  

Buff / Bugslinger 2012 Video from Fly Max Films on Vimeo.

This video from Faceless Fly Fishing Media popped up on Facebook a couple weeks ago and gives a good look at the upcoming offerings from Buff.

NOLA Through The iPhone Lens

Yesterday I was scrolling through my iPhone and came across a dozen or so images that I had taken while in New Orleans for IFTD that give a bit of a glimpse of the places visited, the food ate, and the drinks drank. Good times.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

All photos tweaked in Instagram.

Follow T.F.M. on Instagram under the screen name "thefiberglassmanifesto".

T.F.M. Spotting - In Her Father's Arms

Angler, photog, fly tier, and father Lucas Carroll holds his two month old daughter Eleanor in his arms while wearing his T.F.M. t-shirt for the photo contest.

Lucas says she already loves watching him tie flies.

Follow Lucas on his photography website, Flickr, and his Proven Patterns blog.

The Leiderman Rods Build Completed

The Leiderman Rods white blank Kabuto Rods 7643 white fiberglass blank build is complete and in the mail as I write this.  Hopefully it will be ready for pick up later today at the post office.

I have long wanted to have one of Matt Leiderman's builds in my personal collection and I couldn't be happier with how this build came out. 

Please check out these T.F.M. posts to see how this build came together from start to finish and an inside look into the Leiderman Rods work shop as well.

The Leiderman Rods Build Begins
The Leiderman Rods Build Continues
Leiderman Rods Build Wrapped And Signed
Inside Leiderman Rods

Check out the Leiderman Rods website for more information.

Tenkara Vs. Large Brown Trout

Tenkara, much like fiberglass fly rods, is surrounded with the myth that the method is best only on small waters and tiny fish.  I would certainly say that is not so since after fishing tenkara off and on over the past several years I'd rather use it on open rivers out west and stick to my seven foot and under glass rods for rivers covered with canopy from above.


Big Fish Tenkara: Daniel Galhardo vs. Large Brown Trout from Ashley Valentine on Vimeo.

Danial Galhardo of Tenkara USA recently tangled with a twenty inch brown trout from the Madison River in Montana and this video should help dispel the bad rap that tenkara is just for tiny fish.

Tenkara can catch large fish...but you just have to be stealth about it.

Back From New Orleans

Yesterday was spent skipping from airport to airport and I am now back from a long weekend spent in New Orleans for the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) show.    

(CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER)

I had a great time at IFTD and put hands on a lot of well thought out gear for 2012, met up with friends new and old, and did a bit of exploring in a city that I had never visited before.

Give me a day or two to organize my thoughts and photographs from the weekend and I'll be putting an IFTD show post up soon. 

Fly Fish SC's Fiberglass Build

Mark Allen of Fly Fish SC recently finished his first fiberglass fly rod build using a South Fork Rod Company seven foot 2/3 weight Fiberglass Series blank.

Not only was this Mark's first fiberglass build but also his first experience with fiberglass as well.

This build might be just perfect for the small pocket water streams that Mark typically spends his time on in the southeast.

Here is a breakdown of Mark's build start to finish.  

Blank - S.F.R.C. Fiberglass Series 7' 2/3 Weight

Grip – Cork reversed half wells AAAA grade

Reel Seat – Struble D-2 Polished Aluminum/Myrtle Wood

Winding Check – Struble Nickle Silver

Guides – PacBay TiChrome

Tip – TiChrome

Thread – ProWrap Smoke Screen

RodSkinz – Brown Trout Fade To Black 

Mark...nice work and I look forward to hearing about your first trip with the new stick.

Versa Board + Conduit = Awesome

When Mrs. Manifesto got her LiquidLogic Versa Board last summer I quickly realized that this was going to be more play boat than fly fishing kayak and the idea of drilling holes to add accessories was strictly out of the question.

I have been scheming a way to secure my William Joseph MAG Series Conduit Gear Bag to the back of the Versa Board to keep it in place in case I were to take a dip while paddling.

The solution came from a quick stop at The Backpacker for several double ended carbiners a long strand of bungee cord.

The sections of bungee cord looped and knotted in one end slid easily through the four anchor points, attached the carbiner, and then stretched just enough to clip the other end of the carbiner to corners of the Conduit Gear Bag.

The system is secure and best of all can be taken on and off in matter of seconds. 

The Conduit Gear Bag is really an excellent on the water bag for boat, drifter, canoe, and kayak.  There is one zipper on this entire bag and the rest of the closures are all magnetic which makes getting items out or putting items back in the bag complete ease.

The Conduit Gear Bag holds more than enough gear for a day on the water and with a rubberized bottom section it will keep your items dry even in a couple inches of water.

Project done and since putting this together I've found that the William Joseph Tsunami waterproof gear bag also works on the back of the Versa Board strapped down to the deck as well.

T.F.M. Spotting - Leland On Floatants

Ben Paull from Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters took a few minutes to discuss the different floatants from Loon Outdoors and RIO Products while repping his T.F.M. t-shirt for the camera.



Nice work. Got to keep those flies dry.

Remember that when you click through the Leland badge on the right side of the page that T.F.M. makes a small percentage on each purchase.

Ben...thanks for representing.

MOTIV GEOFISH MEXICO

The fellows at MOTIV FISHING are getting ready for a fall release of the first leg of their GEOFISH journey through Mexico and should be continuing on to other points in South America later this year.

GEOFISH TRAILER 3min from MOTIV FISHING on Vimeo.

Follow the MOTIV FISHING website, Journal, and Facebook page as well for updates and trip dispatches.

Sage Launches New Website

Though (sadly) Sage no longer has a fiberglass fly rod series in their line up, they have a long list of offerings which include fly reels, luggage, clothing, and accessories.  They also offer some very impressive graphite fly rods including the much touted the ONE fly rod series...if you're into that sort of thing.

Sage launched a new interactive website last week with in depth looks at products, videos, and did a great job of telling their brand's story.

I'll be putting hands on all the new Sage gear at IFTD this week and will report favorites soon.  Just from looking around the website the Click Series fly reels look especially interesting to me. 

T.F.M. In New Orleans

After half of a day of travel I'm in New Orleans for the rest of the week to attend the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) show.

Though I may not be able to blog about IFTD while here please follow along on the T.F.M. Facebook and Twitter pages for photos and updates.

Fly Rod & Reel and Midcurrent will be live blogging at IFTD and if you're interested in the new gear for 2012 and other happenings within the fly fishing industry then follow those websites.

I'll post a full IFTD report when I return home this weekend and have some time to decompress and go through notes and photographs from the show.

For now I am going to enjoy as much of New Orleans as possible over the next few days. 

Graywolf Rods T.F.M. T-Shirt Coupon

Custom fly rod builders are always scheming.  It may be a new tapers, new hardware, new threads, but always a new something.  It does not stop.  Needless to say this often leads to late nights but usually some quite excellent ideas develop.

A couple weeks ago Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods called and asked if he could order a stack of T.F.M. t-shirts to give out to his customers when they order a fly rod?  I countered and suggested that he send a free T.F.M. t-shirt coupon with each fiberglass fly rod sent and let his customers pick the size of the T.F.M. Retro Fly t-shirt that they would want.  Done deal. 

The coupons have already gone out to several recent Graywolf Rods fiberglass fly rod purchasers and I appreciate the collaboration between fly rod builder and blog.

Consider this just another incentive (along with a sincere thank you from Shane) to give Graywolf Rods a look next time you're thinking about a sweet new fiberglass fly rod.

Umpqua UPG Fly Boxes In Stock

After some hiccups in supply Blue River Fly Company now has all of the Umpqua UPG fly boxes in stock and ready to ship. 

I've been using three of the four (haven't blocked off a couple nights yet to fill up the Midge) UPG fly boxes in the photo above this summer for trout, bass, and carp flies and like them quite a bit.  Well designed, lots of useable space, and the construction inside and out of these fly boxes feels quality as well.

Use the discount code "TFM" to receive 20% OFF your online order on the Blue River Fly Company website.

T.F.M. Spotting - 30 Minute Fix

Recently Mike Boward spent the day up in Estes Park with the family eating ice cream and strolling around downtown with the throngs of tourists.

Mike could only take so much of downtown and snuck away for a quick fix on the Big Thompson in R.M.N.P. while repping his T.F.M. t-shirt for the T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest.

Over the course of thirty minutes Mike had ten eager trout smash his parachute Adams before his time was up.

Sometimes a quick fix is better than no fix at all.

Steelhead Weekend At Leland Ranch

Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters will play host to a Steelhead Weekend at the Leland Fly Fishing Ranch along with guide and two hander king Scott Howell.

Space for the event is extremely limited.

Contact the Leland Fly Fishing Ranch with questions or to reserve your spot.

Night Out With NoMotorGuide Service

After two family trips to Disney World this year (with absolutely no fly fishing involved) when the boss tapped me on the shoulder to attend a conference in Orlando I knew I had to try to get on the water this time around.

After a quick post on the T.F.M. Facebook page of my travel plans, Captain Craig Crumbliss from NoMotorGuide Service reached out that he could likely meet up.  Craig and I traded emails leading up to the trip and as soon as I arrived at the hotel and checked in, he pulled up in his SUV with driftboat trailered ready to go.  Craig may have one of just a couple driftboats in the entire state of Florida.  

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Craig and I drove a few minutes away to a small urban lake and dropped the drifter in.  It had been raining quite hard that afternoon but fortunately as we got into the boat it began to ease to a sprinkle and then quit altogether.  The lake was lined with lily pads the size of manhole covers and underneath dense greenery covered the lake's floor.  In short...a bass haven.

Over the next few hours Craig worked the sticks and I did my best not to lay down an errant cast and put a fly in the back of his head.  The driftboat really is quite a perfect vessel for these inland lakes since Craig can move quietly spot to spot and change the position of the boat with a single oar movement for best casting angles.  I caught a few bass on both topwater flies and streamers with the largest fish of the night rising to a frog popper well after dark.  We never found the big fish that live in this lake but still it was good to touch a few fish.  

We spent a lot of time talking about the area fisheries which are more or less underground since most that live and visit Florida are thinking saltwater.  Within an hour of Orlando is a long list of lakes, ponds, and a couple rivers to float.  Typical species caught are bass and bluegill but at least one location also gives up a few snook as well.

Besides operating NoMotorGuide Service, Craig is also involved with the Andy Thornal Company in Winter Haven working in their fly shop. 

Craig can be contacted by email or at (863) 232-9719 to discuss a trip if your travel plans involve some time off while in the Orlando area.  

LO FI FLY - DOUBLE DOWN

I've been watching LO FI FLY's latest video drop over and over all weekend and think it's quite stellar.


DOUBLE DOWN from LO FI FLY on Vimeo.

Is it just me or do those underwater doubles look like some sort of two headed river monster? It might be the music.

Bookmark LO FI FLY.  Follow on Facebook and Twitter too.

Tom Pipic's Lemon Drop Build

You may remember Tom Pipic's Kabuto Rods build which was highlighted on T.F.M. earlier this year.  Tom has followed that build with this 7'9" three piece four weight F.H. Paddock Lemon Drop blank that came out stunningly.

Tom wrote...  "I would describe the action as "powerful medium fast" and fully progressive with much power on tap in the butt section.  The rod loads well at short distances with a WF5 fly line but really shines at medium and long distance."

When sunlight passes through these blanks it just lights them up.

Fine choice of a stripped down Hardy Uniqua fly reel to use on this build.

To see more information regarding this build please visit the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum.

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

Big Man. Big Beard. Big Brown.

Matt Dunn, a.k.a. Mr. Fishbeer.com, gets it done at night on the Pere Marquette with a mouse fly.

I'm sure a big beer (or two) figured into the night as well.

Inside Abel Reels

This short film shows the inner workings at Abel Reels and even though it's been linked on a few other blogs and websites I figured I'd share it here as well.



I found it most interesting to see how fish print and special order finishes are done with a set of artists doing each piece by brush stroke by brush stroke before final anodizing.

I'm looking forward to seeing what's new at Abel Reels for 2012 at I.F.T.D. next week. 

Kayaking The Au Sable River

While on our trip to Michigan last month Mrs. Manifesto, the children, and I took a couple days to venture north to visit a few of our favorite haunts in Traverse City, Petoskey, and Grayling.

Since we had brought both our Diablo Paddlesports Chupacabra and LiquidLogic Versa Board along for the trip we decided to spend our last day up north on the water floating the Au Sable River.


Once in Grayling we stopped in at Borcher's Canoe Livery to drop our kayaks in the river and arrange for the Element to be waiting for us when we reached Stephan Bridge.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day and both the Chupacabra and Versa Board proved to be very capable river boats.  Melissa even exclaimed that she fell in love with her Versa Board all over again on the trip.  I was really pleasantly surprised how well the Chupacabra handled on moving water since all other experiences so far have been on stillwater.

Throughout the day the children had a great time moving back and forth between the kayaks and we took our time stopping to let them play in the shallow sections of the river while enjoying a picnic lunch.

From the town of Grayling to Stephen Bridge is a thirteen mile float and in hindsight may have been an hour or so longer than what I should have planned for us.  The children were done (read tired and cranky) by the time we reached Burtons Landing but the Element was parked at Stephen Bridge which meant that we had to paddle on.  Oh well...lesson learned for our next planned trip.

Even though this trip may have lasted longer than it should have, I am convinced that there are few family activities that are as enjoyable and relaxing as paddling in our kayaks together.  Like fly fishing, it gives us a specific reason to be outside together and it's neat to see how engaged the children are with it as well.

Angling Trade - The 2011 Show Issue

With the International Fly Tackle Dealer show just days away Angling Trade's 2011 Show Issue went live online and should also start showing up in mailboxes for those that subscribe as well.

I've said it before but the staff at Angling Trade put a lot of work into each issue and give those inside and outside of the fly fishing industry thought provoking content to think about, digest, and to act upon as well. 

Subscribe for free or read online. 

The Waters Of Greenstone

The Waters Of Greenstone is the freshman effort from Taylor Kirkpatrick and Hardwick Caldwell of Gambit Stone and chronicles their journey into the New Zealand backcountry to find trout and snowy peaks.

Taylor and Hardwick made their dream of fly fishing and hiking in New Zealand a reality after graduating from college and gathering up enough money from various jobs to fund their trip of a lifetime with camera in tow.  



This film is broken into distinctive chapters which gives viewers an insight into the planning and execution of the different elements of their trip.

Where a lot of destination films fail to show the hard work of getting there, the boys of Gambit Stone do a through job of letting viewers inside the process and the large trout that they caught were certainly earned after miles with heavy packs on their backs.

There are a few frat boy hijinks in the mix but they are largely forgotten since overall this documentary style fly fishing film is excellent and has a soundtrack that is both unique and fitting as well.

The Waters of Greenstone was on the Fly Fishing Film Tour line up this year and a good insight into what the full length film is about.  If you liked the F3T cut then you'll very much like the DVD.     

To purchase your own copy of The Waters Of Greenstone please visit the Gambit Stone Online Store.

T.F.M. Spotting - A Day At Parvin Lake

David Lofthouse recently broke up a work trip in Denver with a couple days of fly fishing in the Cache La Poudre Canyon area of Colorado with mutual friend Mike Boward as his guide.

The Poudre River was still running high and the two found success casting dry flies at Parvin Lake to rising fish.  Not a bad way to kill a day while on a business trip.

David represented in his T.F.M. t-shirt and Mike sent these images along for the T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest.

Fellows...it looked like a great time.  Wish I had been able to make it out to meet up.

Michigan Mousing

The fellows of Third Coast Fly have been on the water nearly every night trying to get another P.M. beast to eat a mouse.



Perhaps no other two and a half minutes captures mousing as cleaver as this short does.

Matt Dunn...nice work.

Recent Graywolf Rods Builds

Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods has to be one of the hardest working rod builders in the business and this stack of photos are just a few of the fiberglass builds that he's completed the past couple weeks.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Fine work and neat to see Shane creating unique fiberglass builds on various blanks for his customers.

Follow the Graywolf Rods Blog and Facebook page for the most up to date offerings and news.  

LiquidLogic/Native O.R. Booth

The Outdoor Retailer show was this past week in Salt Lake City and LiquidLogic Kayaks and Native Watercraft linked up with artist Sam Ogden to drop some paint on their booth area. 

Shane Benedict of LiquidLogic Kayaks filmed a time lapse video that compresses forty hours of work into three fast paced minutes.

For more information check out Shane's Logic Kayak Blog and Sam Ogden's website.

Flymage - August 2011

The latest issue of Flymage is live and the "1 Year Of Images" piece is especially worth a look.

You weren't ready to start work on a Monday morning anyway.

Lucas's Scott F2 And Tricos

Husband, father, photographer, and fish bum Lucas Carroll recently entered into the "dark side" of fiberglass with a purchase of a Scott Fly Rod Company F2 three weight and he has been chasing hatches on his local western New York waters with it since.

Lucas wrote... "I recently entered the world of fiberglass (T.F.M. being my main motivation), and picked up a Scott F2 703/3.  I got this rod for dry fly fishing on my smaller sized trout streams.  I paired it up with an old Martin 60 and XPS three weight line which seem like a nice fit.  Since getting the rod our trico season began and I have fished it several mornings and landed many trout.  It's crazy light in hand, casts delicately, and it has the ability to launch when you need it too.  It has quickly become my go to trout rod!" 

Striking images that I'm sure we haven't seen the last of.

Follow stellar Lucas's work on his photography website, his Proven Patterns blog, and on his Flickr site as well.

Project Permit Expands To Mexico

The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, along with support from Costa Sunglasses, have extended their Project Permit from Florida and the Caribbean to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. 

From the Project Permit press release...  

"Permit are often referred to as one of the most elusive game fish of the salt water flats, inspiring anglers worldwide in a quest to catch them.  And yet, little is known about the mysterious species.  Scientists and regulators are interested to learn the permit spawning and migration patterns as well as the overall health of the fish population.  The collected data will help inform permit regulations and policies, to ensure adequate stock for future sport fishing generations to enjoy."

“Far too often we wait until a fishery is in trouble before we collect the information necessary to responsibly manage a fishery,” said Dr. Aaron Adams, director of operations for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.  “By expanding Project Permit into Mexico, we’ll gain valuable insight to the permit there – and that data will ultimately benefit the anglers who travel to the Yucatan Peninsula to fish, the guides who work there, their families and the communities that depend on the fishery.”

Please check out the Project Permit website for more information about this program.

T.F.M. Spotting - N.Z. Fishing News

You might remember Tim Angeli's salt adventure from last year but one of the photos from the trip is back for a second T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest entry since it made the latest issue of New Zealand Fishing News magazine.

Tim wrote...  "Attached is a photo of the August issue of New Zealand Fishing News.  I thought you might get a kick out of that.  It was right next to the issues of Playboy on the magazine rack of the gas station down the road from my house.  Only in New Zealand can you walk into the local gas station in the largest city in the country and find a fishing magazine right next to Playboy."

To my knowledge this is the first time T.F.M. has made it's way onto a magazine cover.  I like.