Being that this was the 15th year, I wanted to make this trip a bit special for those going along and as a thank you to everything that Kevin and Steve have done over the years. Three good friends were going along with Alex Landeen, Mike Sepelak, and Rich Hohne. All three are Beaver Island "veterans" who dig the island and know what to expect with what to be ready for. In the case of this trip, weathering a week with a spring that was unbelievably slow to arrive.
I started to think that it would be fun to put together a few trip gifts for everyone and turned my focus to a few favorite things that I carry along that I figured that everyone else would dig, too. The gift totes were a huge hit and appreciate the many industry friends and companies who made these possible.
Here's a breakdown of what was in everyone's gift totes in alphabetical order...
In our house, we're huge fans of the various sauces from Bear & Burton and when they released 5 ounce bottles of their Breakfast Sauce and the new Everyday Hot Sauce, these were perfect to carry along to breakfast and in the boat to kick up lunch. As much as I like the two Breakfast Sauce varieties, don't sleep on the Everyday Hot Sauce. It's so good.
FISHPOND FLY PUCK
They hold a ton of flies, they're durable, they stack on themselves, and available in multiple colors with or without magnetic floors. The Fly Puck is perfect for trips since you can stash a few flies and then toss in your pocket, gear bag, or in a larger fly box to keep these flies separate from other flies. They are also handy to have for grabbing flies from the fly shop instead of using their likely single use plastic containers.
Along with the nippers, Apex Hook Hone XL made it into everyone's gift bag which are great for sharpening large flies with two different grits, a comfortable gripped handle, and the hook hone to beat all others. I tossed mine on the lanyard with the nippers to have both ready at all times.
LOON OUTDOORS APEX HD PLIERS
You'll read about the custom leather sheath below and I was able to include the Apex HD Plier in the gifts for the guides. I don't think there are a more robust fly fishing pliers for $100 than these. I'm not a huge fan of the included plastic sheath but that's just another reason to have a craftsman make you one for these worthy pliers.
ORVIS ADVENTURE TOTE
I needed something to house everything in the anglers and guides gifts and the Adventure Tote was a great choice. These are durable with PVC backing which makes them weather resistant and easy to keep clean. These are also available in multiple colorways
RUTHLESS HANDMADE CUSTOM PLIER SHEALTHS
While I couldn't afford to have Corey Routh of Ruthless Handmade create custom leather plier sheaths for everyone on the trip, I did ask him to make redfish sheaths for the guides. Since Kevin and Steve split their year between several areas in Michigan and then fall and winters in Louisiana, they wanted the same redfish leather sheath that I have and you can see the step-by-step of Corey's build in this T.F.M. post.
Instead of stocking these in the T.F.M. Store, Vedavoo has created a landing page so that if you're interested in one (and you're going to want more), you can choose from five sizes in diameters from 3 to 5 inches, four colors of mesh (I'm partial to the multi-colored Serape), and with either the Comrade or Retro Fly patch sewn into the flap. Once an order is placed, Scott will get busy in the shop to create your handmade No-Kink Reel Cover.
Gift bags like this aren't a norm for the hosted trips that I put together but it sure was a lot of fun putting a loaded tote bag in everyone's hands to begin our celebration week on Beaver Island together.
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