Trout's Eye View(tm) Fly Tying Mirror

I saw it first at Moldy Chum (so go check them out). But check out www.troutseyeview.com for the real deal!

A little mirror setup to let you see how your fly looks upside down and wet. I think this is pretty cool!

The Story of Uncle Bob's Cabin

Brett Colvin and Jay Morrisson ditched their families and went fishing, and while none of us got an invite from across the country, they were kind enough to take pictures that will make us all jealous! These guys are seriously some of the best fly fishing photographers out there.

Here's the story of Uncle Bob's Cabin as told by Brett Colvin on his Fly To Water blog: LINK

Photo: Brett Colvin

Here's the story of the Gold At The End Of The Rainbow on Jay's blog: LINK

Photo: Jason Morrisson

If I ever get back out to Utah, I'm taking Jay up on the offer to go fishing! Sure, he might forget about the very general invite, and think I wouldn't rememeber....but someday when I get rich from tying flies I'll finally make it back out to that gorgeous country and fish with these guys!

DJ Roughfisher Mixes the Dub

USCarpPro has an article by Roughfisher that talks about making your own dubbing. Anyone who loves paying too much for dubbing should visit oprah.com instead. All others who don't mind mixing their own blends should start at page 88.


LINK

Graffiti, Flies & Pies #2

 

My daughter really loves GFP....which is evident by the fact that while at Wal-Mart she found wooden letters and spelled it out...then dove on the floor for the photo.  Wait...she's also a fan of getting her picture taken...but we'll stick with the fact she likes Guys, Flies & Pies more than that. 

Tubes for Bass

Eumer Pro Fishing Accessories shows a great way to mix and match poppers with tails. I've wanted to try this for a while, but haven't done it yet. I've often wondered if there was a good way to rig them so if you got snagged you could break off the hook and not lose the popper head. This would allow for less crying like a girl when a nice popper head was lost to a tree.

LINK to Eumer

The GFP Bobbin Hook Video

If you haven't seen how I made the GFP Bobbin Hook, take a look at this link.

Here's a short video of it in action. Nothing fancy, but hopefully shows how having a dubbing loop hook on the bobbin can make it easier to twirl than having 2 tools in the way.

Crease Fly Took A Swim

I had a few minutes today so I took one of my crease flies for a swim. Went to one of my favorite local ponds that is only about .25 acres or less, and often gets weeded over in mid summer. With todays wind and cooler temps it wasn't weedy on top at all.

I rigged up my line with about 5 feet of sink tip and put the crease fly on. This worked well since the line would sink, then when I stripped in the fly it would dive down, but still float up to the surface if given enough time. I could see how this fly and this line setup could be very effective during the summer. I've always thought that fish are more willing to bite if they don't have to come up to the surface. I do however love fishing the surface, so I do that plenty, but this setup gives me an option to go under and still have a chance to not hook into anything since the fly is trying to float.

In the end I didn't catch anything, but had a few hits out of the spot above. Still good to toss a fly even if only for a short time.

Before this stop, I took my daughter to a tiny local trib to look for salmon and fat browns. There aren't any in there yet, but in the next few weeks that will likely change!

Graffiti, Flies & Pies

This is type of graffiti you find when you raise your kids on Guys, Flies & Pies! (I cant wait till my kids discover spray paint and the undersides of bridges!)

Ha!  Just noticed the whole thing says "Love GFP" if you look close enough!  Wonder what they would have put on the shopping list to the left had they been given enough time!

FTF Shirt Order

Fly Tying Forum is doing a shirt order right now. Will has designed a new back and it's pretty slick!

You also get to pick from a bunch of colors:

Here is the price breakdown
1 Shirt: $17.00 each
2 Shirts: $16.00 each
3 or more: $15.00 each

Shipping
U.S. $3.00
Canada $5.00
All other international $10.00

The shirts are made from 100% preshrunk heavyweight cotton.

So, if you prefer to fish in shirts and ties head over to The Mens Wearhouse otherwise check out the Fly Tying Forum and order up a dozen or two!

LINK

MidCurrent's 2011 Fly Fishing Gear Guide

MidCurrent just posted their 2011 Fly Fishing Gear Guide and it's got some great stuff in it!

The fly tying section has some cool stuff worth checking out.

(I have found the pages load slowly, but worth the wait.)

LINK

The XWWD fly

 

This guy decides there's plenty of uses for his ex wife's wedding dress.  Idea #54 shows how he tied a fly with it and caught some fish!  

Guys, Flies & Pies does not suggest making your current wife an ex just to obtain materials.

LINK

An Egg or an Omelette?

Deneki Outdoors post Get It Down! got me thinking....should we offer fish an egg or an omelette?

I've tied plenty of single egg flies, and some cluster eggs, but after seeing the picture they shared I've been trying to think how I could tie up a carton of eggs fly.

Either way, I'm thinking I should tie some eggs up tonight!

"Salmon are in my basement"

All the rain last week brought the Salmon river up above the banks. For what would have normally been a huge fishing weekend, businesses in the area found themselves flooded.

Click to watch video

Anyone who's been to Spey Nation may not recognize the parking lot:

The Salmon Crazy website has many more pictures of the floods
LINK1
LINK2

Tear Down The Wall

Follow this link to watch a great video about a guy who go to great lengths to restore the passageways for fish.

http://www.patagonia.com/us/fb/index.jsp?id=3&src=vty_eca004#/11">




While he was diving in the river, it reminded me of a great friend Dale who passed away not long ago. He use to dive in the Salmon river to watch bugs hatch.

I've always been fascinated by migrating fish and as a kid dreamed of the salmon I was told ran underground in my own backyard.....but I never got the funding or OK from dad to tear up the backyard. I can only imagine how excited he was to watch the dam blow to pieces because of his efforts!

The Great Pumpkin

I'm amazed at the work this guy does. He goes by Stippled Popper online.

Here's "The Great Pumpkin" and some of his friends!

...just another reminder that I have to buy more popper heads!

Gotta Get Back Here

Soon, this spot will be full of fish and fishermen.  I hope to make it out soon and relive the fun times I had here years ago.

Ross Aquired by 3M

I got the following announcement in my email today:

The Ross family is pleased to announce that Ross Reels USA / Ross Worldwide Outdoors has been acquired by 3M. We are excited to be joining an organization that embodies the same spirit of innovation that has driven product development since our start in 1973. Please know that 3M acquired us for who and what we are. There are no plans or intentions to change us other than to bringing in 3M technology and innovation to enhance our products as we move forward. We are excited about the future and we look forward to sharing a number of new product announcements with you in the coming months!

Sure, we've all seen the name 3M all our lives, and know they are big, but when push came to shove, I couldn't think of an actual product they make. So, I went to the junk drawer in the house and looked at some glue (nope, that's Elmers), couldn't find any tape, and the pencils are all cheapos with no name. So off to Google I went to do a search. What I found amazed me....as I thought how it could help out in the end.

Sure, it starts with 3M aquiring a reel company, but think of what this really means.

You could have a reel that has pop up post it notes. These would be right on hand should the wife call and tell you to pick up diapers and donuts on the way home....or for writing down important things like "buy more larva lace and hackle!"

 

Better yet, what about a reel that dispenses Steri-Strips for when your fishing buddy decides lodging his size 2 hook into your face is better than lodging it in a tree.

Don't do an image search for these...trust me.

I think with 3M's wide variety of products there is a huge potential for new products being brought to fishing!

Rising Water

Anyone interested in going to the Salmon River might want to take note of the conditions first.

Geoff from Spey Nation posted how the conditions are the worst he's seen in 15 years of fishing there.  Read what he said on his blog. LINK

Even though we didn't see a ton of rain on this side of the state, the east side got plenty!