May 14, 2013

Tying Tuesday – A Hot Mossy Mess

I’m not mad at the weather. I’m more mystified than anything. Just when the fishing picks back up, a cold front will come through and knock me back to the vise. Of course, it’s not that I have an abundance of fishing time right now anyway. We are getting super close to the move, I have to defend my dissertation proposal before I leave, and I have to prep to teach summer school. Not to sound all “woah is me” about it all. I love my life and I’m super excited about being back in Texas.

In the same theme as last week, I just can’t shake the vision of casting to Redfish down on the coast. If you haven’t been following Hardcore Fly Tying then you have been missing out. Aside from being one of the main guys behind Skinny Water Culture, he has also been tying a different pattern every day all year long. After 30 Days of Tying, I can sympathize with how much work he is putting in right now. It’s super impressive! The Mossy Mess is a sweet little fly that, while not complicated, is a cool mix of a few different flies. Now…back to that whole dissertation thing…

http://vimeo.com/63537206

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , ,

May 7, 2013

Tying Tuesday – Put On Your Armor

“Redfish are in your future.” That is what everyone tells me when they hear that I am moving back to Texas. I usually politely chuckle and then the conversation moves on. It’s true, I probably will go down to the coast and try to chase some Red’s with Austin. But, that won’t be just a quick little trip. The coast is about 550 miles from Lubbock. For those of you who are counting, that’s 50 miles farther than Lubbock to the San Juan. It’s 100 miles more than Bloomington to the Pere Marquette (a drive that I have made so many times that I might be able to do it blindfolded).

texasinflated1

I think people think of Redfish when they think of Texas. Which is fine (actually, I think that is great! The fishery is healthy and growing and people NEED to know about it). But, Texas is huge. Like, really huge. Almost too huge to really be able to put into words. So, yea, Redfish are probably in my future. But so are brown trout, large mouth bass and carp. I suppose the best part of living in the middle of nowhere is that you are centrally located between A LOT of cool water. I’ll take that as a bonus!

Tying Tuesday this week is the Armored Bait Fly by Joe Benton. Sure, it might be a while before I get to throw it to a tailing Redfish, but what is the point of having empty boxes? Might as well fill them with the hope of a future trip, rather than frantically trying to finish them off the night before I leave. Summer is here. Time to go fish!

1 Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 30, 2013

Tying Tuesday – Legs Legs Legs Legs Legs

I am still alive! I swear! I had to take a little break from the blog and from tying to get the semester finished up. On the plus side, I graduate this Friday. On the down side, my dissertation still isn’t finished, so it is a ceremony without much meaning to me. Sure, it is the finishing of 10 years of school. Sure, it will be awesome to see my parents and in-laws. But, it is more of a signal of all that I still have left to finish!

I think the time away from the blog was good for me though. I needed to collect my thoughts and get motivated to sit at the vise again for a reason other than an order through Tall Pines Flies. Now I’m motivated! Plus, the weather has finally changed and the fishing around Bloomington is starting to really pick up. The carp are spawning, the Wipers are running, and the Smallmouth seem to be eating everything in sight.

This week’s Tying Tuesday is the Legs For Days by Thomas Harvey as tied by Brian Wise. Thomas has some really awesome patterns. I think I would describe his patterns as “guide patterns.” They are quick and easy and effective. Perfect for guides. Also, I think I might have to use some of those weighted barbells to offer a weighted version of Blinky the Streamer…maybe…

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , , , , , ,

April 18, 2013

Introducing Tall Pines Flies

One of the unintended side-effects of 30 Days of Tying was that several people started asking me if I would sell them flies. I was flattered, but I would politely decline and send them off to buy flies from Mike Schmidt or Richard Strolis. But then I started developing and fishing my own patterns. The requests kept coming in, so I have finally caved in.

Today marks the official launch of something that I have been working on since early March. I am calling it Tall Pines Flies since the place where I have fished since I was kid is Tall Pine Resort in Red River, New Mexico (a way to pay homage, without pissing anyone off with name infringement!).

TallPinesNF

I am starting off slow. I don’t sell other people’s patterns. I don’t sell stuff that you could easily buy at your local shop. I sell custom patterns, most of which are big streamers. If you have something specific that you want, just let me know and we can work out something. I am excited about this, and if you are interested, please check out:

http://tallpinesflies.com

2 Comments

Filed under Fly Tying

Tagged as

April 17, 2013

Photographing What We Could Lose At Pebble

If you are even marginally involved in the fly fishing world, then you have probably heard the uproar about the proposed Pebble Mine. It’s well warranted, the mine would destroy a vast amount of the ecosystem. If you aren’t up to date with the goings-on with Pebble, check out Save Bristol Bay. This is important. This is something that we can effect for good so that our kids and their kids can enjoy the wonders of the wild.

TroutUnderwater

As a way of bringing to light all that we stand to lose, one photographer is trying to raise support so that he can go up to Bristol Bay and photograph the amazing wildlife that is in danger. If you want to donate, you can hit up his Kickstarter.

Everything is bigger in Alaska, and the threat of the Pebble Mine is bigger than you and I can even imagine.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Fishing

Tagged as ,

April 9, 2013

Tying Tuesday – Bling Bling Bling CHOMP

I’m getting reports of people catching fish. I suppose it’s about freaking time that people start get some fish! I’ve been in Vegas for a couple of days for combo conference/birthday trip. It’s not really my kind of place. My wife and I both commented that we would have rather parachuted down to Telluride as we flew right over it on the way in. We long for waters, mountains, quiet and nature. All things that don’t occur naturally in this region of the country. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get a chance to go out and chase some Wipers on the lake! In the meantime, I should probably start tying up some top-water goodness for this spring. I’ve had my head so buried in the streamer tying business that I realized yesterday that I literally have two gurglers and three poppers in my warmwater box. Whoops. We will chock that up to a slight obsession!

This week’s Tying Tuesday is the Blingnobyl Ant from the guys over at Fly Fish Food. These dudes have some serious range in their tying prowess. I’m consistently impressed with their work (and their eye for good photography and videography). Might have to add a row of these to the box soon.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , ,

April 2, 2013

Tying Tuesday – The Grundle That Stole The Rainbow

I have been toying with a new baby rainbow pattern for at least two months. Every time I think that I have it dialed, I will think of a way to progress the pattern a little more. It’s almost annoying, and almost kind of awesome. I really enjoy the process of building a pattern. How do I want it to swim? What kind of profile do I want? Is it a general imitation pattern, or is it supposed to represent a very specific prey? Weighted? Unweighted? Jig hook? The options are literally endless. I think that’s what makes tying streamers so much fun for me. Infinite possibilities!

This week’s Tying Tuesday is The Grundle from the guys over at Wild Angling. I really respect these dudes. They get after it at the vise and on the water. The Grundle is a sweet little rainbow pattern that once again has me questioning my own work. I guess that’s the fun of it!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Fly Tying, Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , ,

March 26, 2013

Tying Tuesday – Don’t Call That Minnow Fat

This is the last time that I trust the forecast of a rodent. It would seem that winter still has a firm grasp on southern Indiana with more snow and sleet falling over the last 48 hours. It hardly feels like the end of March outside. Honestly, I keep thinking that it is January or February, but then I remember that I move in two months, and that I have to defend my dissertation proposal in the next month, and that the Little 500 is in three weeks. If you have HDNet then you’ll be able to watch me scream my head off at my riders this year!

This week’s Tying Tuesday is Cheech’s Low Fat Minnow. The guys over at Fly Fish Food are really incredible tiers. Their patterns are versatile and cover a TON of different species. It’s really impressive to a guy that mostly ties 6-8″ articulated meat for Brown Trout…

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , , ,

March 19, 2013

Tying Tuesday – Crowning A New Prince

Winter has a death grip on the Midwest still. The water in the lake is about 8 degrees too cold still, the rivers are all blown out, and the smallmouth are still stuck up in the wood so deep you would have to use dynamite to even find them. Of course, there are still steelhead moving around up north, but I won’t have a free weekend between now and the Little 500 in April, so that is off the list for now.

This week’s Tying Tuesday is the Mylar Prince Nymph from Fly Fish Food. These guys have been spitting out some REALLY great patterns lately. You should definitely check them out! It’s not really a secret that I tend to only tie big articulated meat for pissed off apex predators. But let’s be real…sometimes you have to tie on something small and get over it! I really get tired of tying the normal patterns, so this little twist on a Prince Nymph is a welcome addition to my box!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , ,

March 12, 2013

Tying Tuesday – Get Out Of My Cellar

This week may be called “Spring Break,” but there is nothing Spring-like about it in southern Indiana. We’ve had a couple of warm-ish days, but those would appear to be the anomalies, not the new normal. I’ve had a crazy last two weeks. I’m still writing about my suicide trip to the Pere Marquette with my friend Josh. I’ll post it when I feel like it accurately portrays how ridiculous that trip was (by the numbers it was 14 hours of driving, 8 hours of fishing, 4 hours of sleeps, and, most importantly, ZERO fish).

This last weekend I got to to the F3T with Dave from PileCast. We met up in Indy and made our way to Columbus. I would try to recap the weekend, but honestly, Dave already did a better job, with better pictures! Let’s face it…he’s just better at this whole gig! Go check out his write up if you want to see who all was there. The crowd was amazing, and it as a blast getting to hang out with some new and old friends in the industry!

I’ve been spending a lot of time at the vise lately. I have a couple large orders of Blinky to get out the door soon. However, that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about new patterns. I REALLY want to develop my own rainbow trout pattern. I’ve been searching and looking at every pattern I can find. Luckily, none of them quite look like the fly I have tied in my head, but it still remains to be seen if I can actually make that fly a reality…maybe next week I’ll have time to sit and hash it out. This week’s Tying Tuesday is a great example of a rainbow streamer, The Cellar Dweller by Richard Strolis is a really innovative streamer that is tied on a jig hook. Brilliant! Aside from being an incredibly helpful and all-around nice guy, Richard is an insanely talented, innovative tier that just keeps producing great patterns. Go give him your business!

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tying Tuesday

Tagged as , , ,