Mad River Outfitters

I haven't done much with the tab "Department of Commerce" over on the right hand side of the page.  I  had wanted to highlight some of my favorite fly shops here.

When I lived closer to Washington, it was pretty easy to hit up a local fly shop.  Now that I live out in pure suburbia, it's a little trickier.  I have some specific flies I want to tie and I need some key ingredients.  New hooks being foremost among them (more on that later).

I looked at several of my favorite fly shops online, but they seemed to have half of what I needed but were missing one or two things.

That's when I came across Mad River Outfitters.  I don't know a whole lot about them, but I got my order quickly and they had everything and then some in terms of key fly ingredients.

They also have free shipping on orders over 25 bucks and no sales tax unless you live in Ohio.

Be sure to check them out if you're looking to buy something on the Web.  I'll be back to their Web site.

First Flies

For my last post I put up some pictures of my new tying desk.  I spent a lot of time working on that thing and the kids  seemed to think I did a pretty good job, so of course they wanted, and continue to want, to tie some flies on it.
My daughter stepped up and tied her first fly, and the the first fly on my new bench.  Appropriately, she tied a pink clouser minnow which should catch a fish just about anywhere.

My little girl at the bench.

The boy decided he would tie a clouser, too, but decided for the more traditional chartreuse.  

New Tying Desk

It has been cold here and I'm really getting tired of it.  The upside is that there is time to catch up on tying some flies and getting ready for the new season.  My problem tying flies is that I never felt like I had a good spot to tie flies.  I needed something I can plop in front of the television and something that I could easily put away.

I looked around the net for some ideas for a portable tying desk and came across some really neat ideas.  The best were these custom tying desks on a Web site called Creek Nuts.  I really got to studying these benches and thought I could make something similar.

I set down and drew up some plans and really got into this.  I'm fairly handy with tools.  The problem is, I don't have everything I need in terms of tools (mostly in terms of a saw).  I found out that this can be overcome, but it does take a little longer.

I made a trip to Home Depot, bought some wood, screws, and stain, and here it is.  Complete with a little fish bling.

First draft.

Added some shelves.  The notebook and tape measure make it look like I know what I'm doing.

Shelves finished.

Now its a cherry tying desk.

Finished and added some fish for a little bling.

Finished

It didn't stay clean long.

I left the right back shelf side empty for now.  I'm still trying to figure out what I want to put up there.

Gripes

I'm not usually one to gripe about a whole lot. At least I don't think I am anyway. But get ready, because I'm getting ready to complain about something that is really bothering me. The weather. Tomorrow's high here in the nation's Capital is forecast for 23 degrees. That's nine degrees below freezing. That is honking cold. What's worse, the forecast doesn't call for a day in the 30's until Saturday. That's just plain wrong.

Some of my friends and readers in the north are probably reading this and saying quit yer bitchin'. But this is a blog about saltwater flats fishing. So guess what fellas to the north, too bad. I'm entitled to complain about cold weather.

Here's a picture from the summer in the keys. Much warmer there, I'll tell you.

And I bet there a few people in Florida reading this laughing at me too. And to you, my good friends, I say, it ain't funny. People weren't made to live in 20 degree weather. If we were, God would have given us fur.

Tomorrow's high in Key West? 73 degrees. It just isn't fair.

 

 

Creek Nuts Fly Tying Bench

I've been looking around at some different portable fly tying benches in hopes that I could find a design I liked, copy it, and make my own.  By no means am I good at wood working, but it's fun to tinker and I thought it would be a good, low cost way to make a new tying bench.

I'm looking for something small, light weight, and extremely portable so that I can tie in front of the television and then put my stuff away easily.  So far I just raised a block on a small piece of plywood so I can stick my vise on it.

And then, I noticed a new site on twitter called Creek Nuts and I saw this.

Stick a bonefish on anything and I'm a sucker.  Throw a tarpon and a permit on it and its nearly a must have.  Take a look at some of the other offerings on Creek Nuts.  Everything is handmade and fully customizable.  Some of the tables allow you to add your name and your favorite game fish.  

This is really cool stuff.  Be sure to check out the site.

2012: A Look Back

For the past few years, my New Year's Resolution has been to get out on the water more.  It's harder and harder to do with the daily grind weighing down, but this year I did manage to get out there and wet a fly.  I did a lot more fishing in my local suburban ponds which has been a good outlet to get outside.  I even managed to get the kids out a few times so I'll try to keep that up in 2013.

To kick 2012 off, I had a chance to fish the bonefish flats of Long Island, Bahamas with a really great group of guys.  We had weather that was tough as snot, but I managed to have a great time, eat like a king, and meet some new lifelong friends.  If you missed the report, check it out here.

Me and a Long Island Bonefish.  

In the spring, I finally timed the shad run and had great success in the mighty Potomac.  I fished out of the historic Fletcher's Boat House on a few different occasions and really had a great time.

Poor man's Tarpon.  

In July, my dad and I continued our great tradition of taking a yearly trip by heading to Key West to fish with Captain Drew for tarpon.  I still get goose bumps thinking about that first tarpon I saw swimming at me at 12 o'clock.  She looked like a sunken log except moving fast and steady.  What an amazing trip.  If you missed this trip report, check it out here.  

Splash from dad jumping a Tarpon.

And my friend John took me out to location X where I landed this pig-of-a-largemouth.  

So there you have it.  2012 was a great year.  Looking forward to 2013.  Hope you and yours have a happy and safe New Year.  

The Weekly Roundup

There seems to be lots going on in the saltwater fly fishing world so I thought I would compile it for your reading pleasure.

 

My dad scored what might be the last fish of the year at Thanksgiving. A little Maryland Rockfish.

AWESOME interview with THE Captain of Hells Bay, Chris Peterson, by non other than Marshall Cutchin himself over at Skiff Republic.

Speaking of Hells Bay, even if you're like me and don't have one (....yet), you can still pimp your ride with a new sticker from our friends in Titusville.

In more new product news, my friend Cam over at The Fiberglass Manifesto has some super sweet new shirts for sale

The Drake is having a 15 percent off sale. Merry Drakemas!

The fearless leader of The Drake was interviewed by Forbes Magazine, because Tom rolls like that!

Howler Brothers is having a big sale too.

Bonefish Bjorn interviews Jim Klug about the fishing trip of a lifetime.

The 411#3 is playing with Camels and eating goats.

And last but not least, my boy Brent from Uprising is catching way to many fish and enjoying life a little too much in Idaho (something about escaping the hustle and bustle of the big city sounds pretty good about now).

There you have it. All the fly fishing news you need to keep yourself in the know.