THIS IS FLY - Issue 64

As usual, there is ten kinds of radness in the latest issue of This Is Fly.  Take a few minutes and enjoy this over your lazy weekend.

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HOW TO TIE: Double Barrel Panfish Spider

Let's file this under "Endless Summer Essentials" and tie yourself up a few dozen Double Barrel Panfish Spiders for your warmwater fly box. 



Visit the Flymen Fishing Company website for the recipe and be sure to pick up the materials you'll need for this tasty bluegill meal.  Start with the Surface Seducer Double Barrel Popper Body and don't forget the Zuddy's Leg Puller

Graywolf Rods on Steffen Brothers Fly Rods

When I first was introduced to "contemporary" fiberglass fly rods, which is going on twelve years ago, Mark Steffen of Steffen Brothers Fly Rods was one of just a couple small shop builders who was also rolling his own blanks.  Mark's solid reputation as a fly rod designer is only matched by his determination for quality in every blank that builds on or sells to other small shop builders or hobbyists.  If you don't own one (or several) Steffen Brothers Fly Rod blank builds, you should.

Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods asked if he could share a few thoughts on Mark Steffen along with a few recent builds on Steffen Brothers fly rod blanks.  I think that opinions like this from other rod builders are important and further confirm what many of us already know, Mark Steffen is a taper master.     

In Shane's words...  "Steffen Brothers fiberglass...  To me the blanks are the top of the line when looking for an outstanding fiberglass fly rod.  One sentence I hear or read quite often from my customers is "You take a hum drum blank and make it beautiful” or something along those lines.  For me the color of the blank is perfect.  The un-sanded finish is just right and the action along with the lightness of these rods are hard to compete with.

For all the years I have been building fiberglass rods, often other rods are compared to a "Steffen Fly Rod" or a "Steffen Action".  Why? I feel it’s because they are “IT” in many cases.  You just can’t go wrong picking a Steffen rod or a rod built on a Steffen blank.

Mark has been making these rods since the 1990’s and still to this day they are the go to for most that either fish fiberglass or customers looking for their first fiberglass fly rod.

Always "American Made", no hype, no fancy colors, no special name for the version of fiberglass Mark has always used.  Just DAMN great fly rods.

I have built on Steffen rod blanks from the time I started building rods.  Mark makes a wonderful, high end quality fiberglass blank at a value price that is almost unseen in the rod building industry.  I have in the past few years, ordered un-ferruled blanks from Mark for no other reasons than to receive the blanks faster and to add a bit of a custom touch."

Visit the Steffen Brothers Fly Rods website for more information.  Interested in a custom build on a Steffen Brothers glass blank?  Be sure to consider Graywolf Rods.

FLY SLAPS - Your Source For Fly Fishing Stickers

Did you along with your mom or dad ever have a business together?  Hadley and I had a semi-successful chicken egg business for a few years until a fox took off with our last group of hens.  Now we're rethinking out business plan for when we get chicks again with a little more security worked into the idea of our chickens being "free range".

Photographer and website guru Corey Kruitbosch and his son, Jack, launched Fly Slaps this week and it's destined to be your one stop shop for all things fly fishing stickers.  The decal offerings are narrowed to three areas with Artist, Industry, and Sticker Packs which is full of some very cool collections.

I've got a real soft spot for stickers of all kinds with the back windows of our aging Honda Element (278,000 miles and going strong) covered in fly fishing decals.  Add to that tons of fly boxes, drink bottles, buckets, coolers, and anywhere else that a decal can fit, gets a few stickers too.

Take some time and kick the tires on the new Fly Slaps website.  Place an order knowing that you're helping teach a child (with his father) the importance of the many aspects of owning a business.   

Be sure to follow along on the Fly Slaps Facebook and Instagram pages for the latest shop news and offerings.

REVIVE - The Farwell Issue

An email arrived in the inbox the other day with a heads up that the latest issue of Revive was ready for a read.  It was a kick to the gut to find out that this would be the last issue.  I've enjoyed watching Revive take shape, been fortunate to contribute to several issues with articles over the years, and good to see that the boys are going out on top with a final issue choke-full of goodness with mix of words, photography, art, and film.

Revive, thanks for the opportunity to share the series of "Prime Glass" articles over the course of 2015 and 2016.  I need to go back and look at those again and you should too.

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FISHEWEAR - Fall Coloring Contest

Even though there are only a few days left to get in the FisheWear Fall Coloring Contest, the four gift card prizes to the FisheWear Shop should be enough motivation to get your submission in while there is still time.   

Download the coloring and submission page on the Fishe Wear website.  Color and make sure your submission has been received, by mail or email, by Friday, September 29, 2017.

All submissions will be placed in an album on the FisheWear Facebook page on Monday, October 2, 2017 and winners will be determined by most "LIKES" on received through Friday, October 6, 2017.

Visit the FisheWear website for more information. 

KICKSTARTER - The First Mate Fly Patch

There has been a wave of new fly storage options lately and Pirate Fly Fishing recently launched their 30 day Kickstarter campaign in hopes to crowd fund their latest gear idea in The First Mate Fly Patch.

I've been rocking the Pirate's Fly Patch for a few months now and have been very impressed with the design and durability of their visor fly patch.  The First Mate Fly Patch looks to be a solid follow up product and needs your support to bring it to life.

Visit the Pirate Fly Fishing website and the Kickstarter page for more information.

IJUIN-ROD - Yomogi Castings

Some of the very best fly rod designers are also some of the very best casters that you'll see.  I always get a kick out of watching Kazutomo Ijuin of Ijuin-Rod expertly handle his Yomogi fly rod in his fly casting videos.



The Ijuin-Rod Yomogi 7' three weight that Kazutomo Ijuin built for me several years still ranks high up on the list of my very favorite custom builds.

Visit the Ijuin-Rod website for more information and subscribe to his YouTube channel as well.

406 FLY LINES - National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Donations

The fly fishing industry continues to step up in big ways for those affected by the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida and now through the end of September 406 Fly Lines is donating $10.00 to every fly line purchased to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. 

Trained K-9 search teams have been deployed to areas affected by both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma and they have been working with first responders to assist in search operations.

I am a big fan of 406 Fly Lines in both weight forward and double taper and if you're in need of a new fly line, this is a great excuse to pull the trigger.

Please visit the 406 Fly Lines website for more information.

THE MISSION - Issue 5

The latest issue of The Mission is jammed packed full of of angling goodness to enjoy at your leisure.

Oh yeah and don't miss the latest The Mission X Swift Fly Fishing one of a kind rasta themed Epic 480 build that is up for grabs for the magazine's readers.

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FIND YOUR WATER: 24 Hours in L.A.

Redington took a few months hiatus with their ongoing Find Your Water film series but it's back with a mako, carp, and calico mixer set in the waterways in and around the City of Angels.



Visit the Redington website for gear and the Vimeo page for more video goodness.

SCALE Magazine - Issue 26

If you are in need of a reprieve from your Monday, the latest issue of SCALE Magazine is it with over 250 pages of fly/spin (and a whole bunch more) goodness.

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ORVIS: Toe to Toe

Hats off to Orvis for telling this story.  Marty is a tough lady and there are lessons for all of us in this four and a half minute film.



Check out The Tug, a website where the internet nerds at Orvis carefully cultivate and collect many of the best online fly fishing flicks.  Enjoy.

KICKSTARTER - ripplebox

There are just a few days to go for the Kickstarter push for ripplebox, an innovative fly box idea which uses a silicone insert where the tension between the folds will hold your flies in twelve channels.  The silicone is grippy and yet should live longer than most other fly box inserts since the hook is held in place in the fold and not by hook point.

Though I haven't put hands on a fly box, the team at ripplebox sent a small fly patch clip that they created on a 3-D printer which utilizes the same silicone insert and the idea is genius.  Flies are held quite securely but can be easily pulled from the channel when chosen.  

Click through to the ripplebox Kickstarter page for more information, the video, and jump in to support this project while there is still time.

NIGHT MOVES - Bridge Light Tarpon

A couple of weeks ago I was down in Clearwater, Florida for a work conference and shot a text message to Captain Greg Peterson of Headshot Charters on my last class day to see how it was looking to get on the water the next morning to look around for tarpon.  He asked what I thought about an early start?  Next message was a pin location on a map with the note of be there at 3:00 a.m.  No problem.   

I was up at 2:00 a.m., checked out of the hotel, and set the map to the pin.  I pulled into the meet location and Greg already had the boat in the water ready to go.  Getting out of the car I realized how still it was.  No wind.  The water was flat.  This could be really good.

Greg and I shook hands, I tossed my gear in his skiff and we motored to the first spot.  The game was bridge light tarpon and it's more or less cage match angling.  Tarpon in the forty to over hundred pound weight class cruise the in and out of the bridge shadow line from the street lights above.  Greg would  hold the skiff in place under the bridge while keeping a sharp eye for the dark shape of a cruising tarpon.  The trick in all of this is to cast the fly a couple feet into the lit water and retrieve the fly so that it would past the nose of tarpon on cruise control for the eat. 

It didn't take too long and I had a great first eat from a tarpon moving right to left.  Fly landed where it should.  The small white baitfish fly moved twice and the tarpon broke from his line to intercept.  SUCK.  Followed by a world class trout set.  Nada.  Gone.  Tough lesson learned.

We regrouped and moved a few lights down to try it all again and it didn't take too long before a tarpon moving left to right came around the bridge piling and immediately began following the fly.  He took and I gave a strip strike followed by a second.  Mayhem and fly line clearing happened all at once and the tarpon left the water a hundred feet in front of us in open water.  That's what we wanted. Keep him away from the bridge and the risk of the fly or fly line getting sliced. 

The next few minutes was a give and take of line, the Bandit stayed doubled over and stressed.  A few more tail walks and finally Greg was able to reach out and take hold of the jaw of this tarpon.  I snapped a few shots on the camera and then just looked into that glowing eye.  My first tarpon and it was everything (and more) than I expected it to be.    

We hang around the bridge until first light and had a few more eats.  Greg jumped up front and had a very large tarpon eat near the boat and swim directly between the bridge pilings, jump a couple of times, and the light went limp.  Gone.  There are few ways more fun than to lose a fish that way.

As the sun was coming up we buzzed around to a handful of other spots in hopes of finding some rolling juvenile tarpon and found a few way back in the mangroves.  Early morning was turning into morning and the tarpon weren't hungry anymore.  We slow motored back to to the ramp, trailered the skiff, sorted gear, shook hands again and I hit the road to home with a smile on my face.  What a night.

Have Tampa area plans?  Book some bow time with Captain Greg Peterson of Headshot Charters.  You won't regret it.

FLOOD TIDE CO. - Tailer's Ball & Online Silent Auction

The Flood Tide Co. crew is cleaning up after Hurricane Irma came to town along with getting ready for the third annual Tailer's Ball which will be held this Friday, September 15th at the Cooper River Brewing Co. in Charleston.  Proceeds from the night will go to those affected by Hurricane Harvey on the Texas coast.

Can't come?  You can still take a look around at some of the Tailer's Ball Silent Auction items.

I'll be making a run down Friday afternoon for the event and looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Check out the Tailer's Ball Facebook page for more information.

FLY PUNK - Issue 5

The latest issue of Fly Punk is live and ready for your Sunday morning flip through.  Enjoy.

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PEAK SEASON | ELEVATED

The Bloodknots shortie PEAK SEASON film series continues with Elevated.  A hike, a campsite, and highcountry trout make this a shortie film win.



Check out the Bloodknots website and follow along on Vimeo for more film radness.