Brookie On the Map

There are a handful of young artists within fly fishing that are continually doing unique work and this brook trout on a map original from Zane Porter is just so stellar in every way. 

Zane is low drag with no website right now but follow along on Instagram or contact him through email if you are interested in his artwork.

Fly Fish Food - On Selling Flies

I follow a lot of fly tiers through their websites and social media and admittedly I end up buying a lot of flies from many of them as well.  I have a thing for picking up flies for upcoming trips and it's pretty neat to open my fly boxes and know exactly who tied which flies.  It brings a level of confidence to the flies that I use. 

Yesterday Cheech from Fly Fish Food put up a very well done post on the idea of making money from fly tying and it hits the mark on so many levels that I wanted to share it here so it would get a few more looks hopefully. 

The other way to look at this article is that you can take out the words "flies" and "fly tier" and replace with "fly rod" and "custom fly rod builder" all the same points can be made for the small shop rod builders that are typically highlighted on this website.

Here's my take on all of this...  If you want quality, and something different that may be more effective, then please prepare to pay for it.  The artisans that are doing something special should be paid for the work that they do.  This is a labor of love for many of them but they shouldn't go broke doing it.  

Read the Fly Fish Food article HERE.

VEDAVOO X LARKO = KID FUN

Okay, this is going to be a lot of fun as Vedavoo has paired up with Andrea Larko in putting a coloring contest for the kids with nine digital art coloring pages to be crayoned up for a chance to win some great Kids Gear.

From now till the end of March Vedavoo will be taking entries through email or social media and at the end of March winners will be chosen.  Contest details on each coloring page.

Are these pages fun or what?

Download the coloring pages HERE and get your little angler on it.

Good luck and get coloring.

Asheville Down The Hatch Film Festival

Mark your calendars because Orvis is throwing a big party next month with the Down The Hatch Fishing Festival going down in Asheville on Wednesday, February 18th at the Highland Brewing Company.

The festivities start at 3 p.m. with games, food, drinks, and gear.  The film festival will start at 6 p.m. and there will be a lot of swag up for grabs with the proceeds from the event benefiting a South Holston River clean up.

Each $10 ticket includes two beers for those over 21 years of age.  That's a deal I can get my mind around.

Purchase your ticket online or in person at Hunter Banks or Orvis Asheville.

See you there.

6 Cool Things To Read

Here's a sixer from around the fly fishing internet of articles and blog posts which caught my eye this week.  Take a few minutes to check them all out.

FISHINGPOET.COM MAKES WORDS
There's a reason why Matt Smythe's blog is called fishingpoet.com.  Enjoy.

MIDCURRENT ON LAST YEAR'S GEAR
Mr. Morselli breaks down the highlights from last year's gear offerings and I concur on most of them.

ORVIS TROUT BUM INTERVIEWS - BRYAN GREGSON
There might be a lot of anglers that consider themselves a "Trout Bum" but they are a far cry from photographer Bryan Gregson, who for years couch surfed and lived out of plastic bins and gear bags kept in storage.  He's the real deal and he's got the photos to prove it.

POSTFLY - 8 BLOGS YOU SHOULD BE READING
The peeps at Postfly break down the blogs that you should be reading and since you are reading this you only have seven more to check out.

SPORTING CLASSICS - JIM HARRISON INTERVIEWS
We all need more Jim Harrison in our lives and this collection of interviews on the Sporting Classic Daily website is a good start.

STALKING THE SEAM ON HIRING A GUIDE
I know it's hard to come off the hip with a couple hundred dollars for a day on the water with a guide but it's well worth it.  Stalking The Seam tells you why.

Enjoy.

Fine Tackle - CTS Fishing Quartz Build

Christian Hörgren of Fine Tackle makes a very excellent point along with this CTS Fishing Quartz six weight build that he recently finished on where would we be without CTS? 

There are a lot of small shop builders and others who would be left scratching their heads looking for another company to roll their blanks and they likely wouldn't come close to what they are getting now as far as quality or options.  

Christian wrote...  "Where would we be without CTS on New Zealand? They are one of the most important manufacturers of contemporary fiberglass blanks. They supply high end custom tapers to builders all over the world. They also have their own line of fiberglass rods, the Quartz series. This is an 8', 6wt Quartz rod that has been given +25% stiffness. It's a special edition made for the Swedish tackle shop Flyfishing Masters. This custom Quartz blank is available in other weights as well, and I can highly recommend it. This build was appointed in saltwater style, and will be the perfect companion for sea run brownies, bass or arctic pike."

Visit the Fine Tackle website for more information and images of this build and others.  This build will be available through Alternative Tackle.

EPIC = Quality Over Quantity

Though they have only been around for a couple years now, Swift Fly Fishing continues to impress with the creation of new Epic fiberglass blanks, collaborations with top level fly rod builders instead of shipping off the work to China, and sticking to the Swift Manifesto at all costs.

Swift Fly Fishing has some surprises up their sleeve for 2015.  Make sure you're following along.

Check out Facebook and Instagram to stay in the know.

FIRST LIGHT

This video is really good and if you aren't following along with what Dave Hartman of Strip'n Flywear is up to then you damn well need be.



More Creekside Media goodness on the website and Vimeo page.

Limited Edition Of #1

I really don't know if some people end up with more talents then others or, much more likely, some people just explore and take advantage of every ounce of inspiration that they have which in the end gives them experiences that few others will have.

Someone that seems to have his hands in ten things at once is Lee Slikkers.  Lee and I connected through Facebook and his experiences range from rod building to falconry to leatherwork to various tinkering of all sorts.  He surprised me the other day with a leather made can koozie that is beyond cool.

Lee is working on another project for T.F.M. that we'll share in a series of posts in the coming week or too.  In the meantime I can't wait to crack a can top in this one of a kind leather koozie when it arrives.

This Week In #glassisnotdead

Another week and another baker's dozen images hashtagged with #glassisnotdead on Instagram.

This set is interesting since it tips you off to a few new things that are in the works.  

@cbarclayrodco

@dan_severson

@down_home_flyfishing

@flyswinger80

@freestoneriverphotography

@magogsmelt

@mtnbrookrods

@richgonehiking

@smallflyfunk

@snowman_custom_rod_works

@swiftflyfishing

@thefiberglassmanifesto

@theflyus

Be sure to hashtag your photos with #glassisnotdead and a favorite photo may turn up in a future T.F.M. post.

Gear Review - Umpqua Tailgater

One of the hot products coming out of IFTD last summer was the recently released Umpqua Tailgater gear organizer.  One arrived on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago and I have to say this is a genius piece of kit for keeping your go to gear all in one spot with room to spare for waders, boots, large fly boxes, and anything else  you might want to carry along with you.  

The Tailgater will fit around most plastic totes and I opted to use mine with a Rubbermaid Roughneck 18 gallon storage box.  This all installs in a matter of minutes and mine is already filled with fly boxes and other gear for spring time warmwater kayak trips to the pond.

Features of the Tailgater include...

• Two large bellowed fly-box pockets
•  Four stretch-mesh pockets
• Four all-purpose mesh pockets 
• Coated web and daisy chain attachment
• Tool sheath for hemostats
• Velcro fly patch
• Velcro and SR clip one-size-fits-all adjustability
• Two large web grab handles
• Made of 400D Poly Fabric
• Featuring YKK Zippers
• Foam fly patch

All this and the top of the Roughneck storage tote still fits securely.

The Tailgater is priced at $79.99 and available at your nearest Umpqua dealer.

Check out the Umpqua website for more information on the Tailgater and an impressive list of other gear bags.

If you're placing an online order click through to Trouts Fly Fishing as they have the Tailgater in stock and help support this website by keeping the lights on.

Q&A - The Future Of Glass

A couple years ago I did a Q&A interview on fiberglass fly rods for the American Angler magazine with editor Phil Monahan.  Some time has passed and Phil put this interview up on the Orvis Fly Fishing Blog this morning.  It's worth a couple minutes of your time if you haven't read it already.

Burn off a little more of your Friday at work and check out the Friday Fly-Fishing Film Festival for a mash up of this week's film shorts.

Graywolf Rods - Limited Edition "The Natural" Series Builds

Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods recently took four of his The Natural series blanks and dyed them a rich brown color to create a limited edition series of these fly rods in three and four weight for his clients.

After much discussion regarding these blanks over the last year or so with Shane, and my obvious "need" for a longer three weight, I've put my name on one of the 8'3" three weight blanks from this series.   I am looking forward to having another Grayolf Rods build in my collection and the tapers of The Natural blanks are supposed to be just wonderful.  Of all the blank series that Shane has designed and had built for his rod company, I don't think he's been prouder of his work than with this series of blanks.

Shane wrote...  "The tapers are not new but I decided to do a limited run of The Natural blanks and dye them brown for the folks that prefer brown rods over the straw color I typically use.  I have only dyed four of the blanks in brown with two each of the 8'3" three weight and 8'4" four weight.  

Both of the three weights have been called four but the two four weights are still available."

If you are interested in one of the remaining limited edition The Natural four weight builds please message or call Shane through the Graywolf Rods Contact page.

Follow along the latest shop news and projects on the Graywolf Rods website, Blog, and Facebook pages.