I tie flies slowly. It takes me twice as long to tie up a basic fly as most other fly tiers. I'm not sure why I tie so slow, probably because I'm just good enough to get by. So I'm always looking for effective short cuts I can use. The quick tie in shown in the video below is such a short cut.

It may not seem like much, but taking time to cut off the tag end of the thread is not an efficient use of your time & labor. It's what the efficiency experts call "economy of motion". All the little things add up, so if you're a professional tier, or want to speed things up in your fly tying, then check out the video below for a simple, but neat, trick.

I want to wish everyone a safe, happy, & healthy Easter Holiday.

Johnny Diekman was a world champion fly caster who, sadly, died way too young. He once cast a fly line 193 feet at a casting competition in Detroit in 1959!!! In addition to that, he held many different world records at the time in the 1950's & early 60's. 

His is a story about a man who quit a secure job to pursue his love affair with fishing. He was born & raised in the Catskills region of New York, learning to fly fish for trout from an early age. In adult life, he would end up splitting his time between California & New York, but he also fished in 48 states, Canada, South America, & Europe. He was able to fund his fishing career by doing demonstrations for, & representing, the Garcia company.

This video below is an example of his work with Garcia. Note how smoothly he casts a line & how much he gets the rod to bend without a lot of work. Indeed, as this video shows, he was a very skilled angler.

Johnny Diekman died in a plane crash in New York back in 1962, at the age of 35. Who knows how much more he would have accomplished, or how he would have influenced the sport of fly fishing & the development of fly tackle, had he lived? It was a tragic loss, but what he left us in videos like this one above are well worth studying.

The other day a friend pointed this video out to me. In it, fly fishing guide Hank Patterson explains to a couple of fishing clients what exactly Trout Unlimited is, what it does, & why it exists. It's an emotional, powerful, & crazy explanation of TU.

Now, most of us who have been fly fishing for even a little bit of time know about Trout Unlimited, but if you ever need to explain it to new anglers, or non-anglers, try to tell it like Hank!!!

I thought I'd take a moment to discuss, on this St. Patty's Day, the fly called the green weenie. It is a simple pattern that has magical powers to catch fish. Yup, that's right, it's a magical fly. Why? Because it seems to catch fish on days when nothing else will. It works in all seasons, too.

Seriously though, the green weenie is a fly that seems to attract trout both because of it's shape & color - bright chartreuse green. It can imitate some green caddis flies & also green inch worms, too. It's effective as both a wet / nymph fly & also great when fished as a streamer. ​

The United States Military Academy at West Point was established on this day back in 1802. It has a long & history of producing the best & brightest leaders of our military & nation. But did you know that there is a fly fishing club on campus for cadets to participate in?

More & more these days I've noticed that folks who are in a very structured environment, like the military, police, fire fighters, etc are taking up the sport of fly fishing. I think that's fantastic, as the calm & pleasant hours spent along the stream with a fly rod in your hand can act as a counter-balance for these folks who have stressful - often dangerous - jobs. I'm sure there's some technical psychology to all of that, but I'm not the guy to tell you about that. No, I just know that fly fishing can be good for the soul & will often enough give you the peace of mind to face the challenges we all face in life.

From the West Point website:
"Few sports enjoy such a rich history of tradition as does fly fishing. This thread of tradition and history make this club’s connection to the values and goal of the United States Military Academy natural. Although the club is relatively new to the Military Academy, such graduates that could be considered honorary members would include the likes of President Eisenhower and General Schwarzkopf. Activities range from improving fly fishing skills from novice to expert levels, to fly tying instruction, to understanding and improving the environment and our natural resources. The club had several trip sections and initiated a stream improvement project to enhance the local fisheries on the reservation."

So happy 214th birthday to West Point. I hope that the fly fishing club there grows by leaps & bounds. After all, wouldn't it be great if all our future military, political, & community leaders were fly anglers?

For those who are familiar with bamboo fly rods, we sometimes take little details for granted that are a curiosity to those new to bamboo rods.  For example, the thread wraps at the tip top of the rod are a small nuance that most of us don't think about often, but can be obvious to someone who's learning about bamboo rods.

Now, I honestly believe that there are no stupid questions. If you don't know something, by all means ask. There's no shame in not knowing - but there is in not learning. That's why I've never batted an eye to answer on the few occasions I've been asked about the tip top wraps.

The question is, why are the tip top wraps different on the two tip sections of a bamboo fly rod? The answer is, of course, so we can see at a glance which tip section is which. You'll know which tip you're going to get when you pull it out of the rod bag.

It's traditional that bamboo rods come with two tips. This hearkens back to the days when anglers would have a few spare tip sections, like in the days of wood rods. If a tip section broke, the rod could still be used. So when you have a rod with two identical tip sections, having the tip wraps different is a convenient way to tell which section is which. Also, I'm a firm believer in alternating the use of your tip sections each time you go fishing. This allows the rod to wear evenly with age. These different tip wraps help you keep track of which section you used last.

Different rod makers have different tip wraps to accomplish this. I have always done two things in my tip wraps: one, I make one wrap shorter than the wrap on the other tip section; & two, I give the shorter tip wrap some black tipping (no wonder English is a hard language to learn). It's just easier if I show you, so take a look at this photo below:

Okay, fine but the devil's in the details....what if the wraps throughout the rod don't have black tipping? In that case, I simply make one tip wrap shorter than the other. It looks like this:

So there you have it. There's nothing complicated about it & I hope that answers the question for any one new to bamboo fly rods that was wondering. My point here is that you should always feel comfortable asking questions, even if they seem to silly to ask because you never know what all you'll learn from the answer. Of course, you should always feel free to ask me if you have any questions, simple or not. I won't think less of you for asking & I'll try my best to answer. As they used to say, 'the only dumb question is the one you don't ask'.

There is a new film in the works, all about Joe Humphreys the angler, the teacher, & the man. It promises to be a beautiful & entertaining movie.

Most of us who fly fish are familiar with Joe. He's possibly taught more people to fly fish than anyone else in history through his many books, videos, lectures, classes, & -most importantly - as the fly fishing instructor at Penn State for decades. It's not just that Joe has been at it for many years (70 to count), but it's that he's one of the best that ever tossed a fly line or taught people how to fly fish. He is quite literally a living legend. What's even more amazing is that Joe, at 86 years young (as he puts it) hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.

This movie, called "Live The Stream", attempts to tell Joe's story: the story of him as an angler, a teacher, & as a man. It's still in production &, as an independently made film, needs donations to be finished. The crew making the film seems to be very skilled & professional, but they could use a little help to get this promising movie onto the screen for us to see. If you can help them out, please do so (they offer some really cool stuff for those who donate).

You can read more about the film, including how to help get this movie completed,  HERE.

If you've never read one of Joe's books or watched a video of his, do so as soon as you can. It will most certainly make you a better angler in some way. That sounds like pie-in-the-sky, doesn't it? I can assure you that it's not. Joe's books & videos are, hands down, the best in the "how-to" genre I've ever read.

Please take a moment to watch the trailer for this movie. You'll be glad you did.

It might be cold & snowing outside the rod shop today, but it won't last & you can feel that fishing season is getting closer every day!! To get ready for the new season the shop has been a very busy place - making rods, wallets, fishing bags, etc.

Why not start the new season fresh with a new fly rod?? Take a look over on the Available Rods page to see some really nice fly rods that have just been reduced in price.

​This one is a gorgeous, mortised fly rod:

Perhaps you'd rather be interested in this rare, Prudential Series mortised rod. This rod is mortised with strips of flamed bamboo, that is darker than the cane used in the rest of the rod. This makes for a beautiful contrast between the two. The grip area of the rod has been covered with wraps of soft black leather lacing, making for a sturdy yet soft & comfortable grip. In the times of mortised rods (late 1800's) this was a common grip for many tools. This leather lacing is a respectful nod to that era. The reel seat hardware is down-locking cap & ring style - simple & elegant.

The moderate / fast action of this rod is delightful. The tip section recovers very quickly, i.e. - there are no extra vibrations in the tip after you stop moving the rod. It will cast a line very gracefully with either a 4 or a 5 weight line. It would do well for most trout fishing conditions & toss dry, wet, nymph, & medium streamer flies equally well. This is, in my opinion, a very smooth casting rod & it's a joy to use. ​

Please visit the Available Rods page for more info & photos of these gorgeous fly rods & feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.

In order to get everyone supplied for the upcoming fishing season, the shop has been a busy place. In addition to all the leather fly & leader wallets that have been made, the popular Mini fly wallets that I make have also been on my work bench lately. 

These handy-dandy little wallets are a great way to store your most used flies. They're also very popular among those that like to go lightly along the stream - tankara & ultra-light fly anglers. Designed to either fit in a shirt pocket, or to be hung from a lanyard or a fishing bag or vest, these little wallets also make a great drying patch as well. 

Made in leather or strong canvas, these neat little wallets measure approximately 3 1/4" x 3" when closed & are about 8" long when open. They make great gifts too. The leather costs only $15 & the canvas just $11. Why not get a few to put in the Easter baskets of your favorite anglers??

To read more about these mini wallets & to see more photos, please visit the Accessories page. If you have any questions about what you see there, please contact me & I'll be more than happy to help you.

​I think we're all starting to get excited about the new fishing season. It won't be long, folks until we're really fishing to rising trout again!!! I can't wait.