The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission recently published their adult trout stocking schedule for 2019. To me this means that spring is just around the corner & it won't be long until we can cast a line in the streams again!!!

​As they say on their website: "Pennsylvania is home to some of the best trout fishing in the world! Wild and stocked Brook (native, state fish), Brown and Rainbow (including steelhead and golden rainbow) Trout are found in PA waters......With nearly 16,000 miles (and counting) of wild trout streams, nearly 5,000 miles of stocked trout streams and over 125 stocked trout lakes, PA has something to offer every trout angler."

So, if you're an angler who plans on trout fishing this year in PA, then take note of these stocking schedules. You can search the list by county. Detailed maps & other information is available on the Commission's website as well. You can even buy your fishing license & appropriate stamps/permits there, too. 

You can search the trout stocking list HERE. 

It might be very cold, snowy, & icy outside here in PA right now, but soon the trout will be in the stream, waiting for your fly!! Good luck on the water this year, folks!!!!

Here's a short little nugget of knowledge for you in honor of Valentine's Day. The very first color film ever produced was a movie called "Cupid Angling" from 1918. That's right, it's considered the first film to use color images. 

It was a silent movie that was filmed around the San Francisco area. It used a color process developed by a fellow named Leon F Douglass, who also had a hand in the first Victor Talking Machines that played the old wax cylinders. 

I assume the film is about Cupid taking a fishing trip, or perhaps about a love affair during a fishing trip, but I couldn't say for sure. It's considered a 'lost film', meaning no copy of it is know to exist anywhere & it's a safe bet that nobody around now has ever seen it.

So there you go: that's another little bit of useless trivia to impress the folks at your next fly tying gathering or fishing club meeting with!! 

For you fly tiers who own or have used a Regal vise, you know that they are a fine piece of equipment. They're very well made & easy to use. As you can imagine, a lot of labor goes into making them at the Regal factory. In the short videos below, we see just how they're made & the work involved. It's a fascinating look into how these tools come to life.

Are you a collector of old fly boxes, particularly those made by the Richard Wheatley Company? These fine fly boxes have been in production for well over one hundred years. In that time, they've gone through a few minor changes which can help you to figure out just how old a Wheatley box might be.

In the video below, filmed at the Richard Wheatley Museum in England, we're taken through a very informative lecture showing how to date any Wheatley fly box. Most often you can tell the age of a box by the markings & stamping on it. This can be tricky, as these are subtle differences, but after watching this video you'll know if you have a rare vintage fly box & what to look for when collecting. 

For generations Wheatley boxes have been the best made, best designed fly boxes you can attain. They are a luxury for any fly angler to carry. They are a fun item for anglers to collect as well. Don't be fooled by cheaply made modern imitations - Wheatley boxes are the best you can get, in my opinion. Watch this video & you'll know the era in which any of their boxes were made.

Here's a bit of trivia for you, about flies with hackle running all the way up the length of the body, like woolly buggers & others, which we call under the general term of palmer flies:

The palmer fly derives its name from the caterpillar. The caterpillar, in turn, gets its name from the term that used to be used for a pilgrim who had traveled to the Holy Land (think Chaucer's Canterbury Tales). Those pilgrims would then walk about, spreading their message while carrying a palm leaf, to show that they had been to their Holy Land. So a "palmer" was sort of a roaming preacher carrying a palm leaf. The caterpillar got its name because of how it moves about & never stays in one place. The category of fly derives the name because hackle tied in that style resembles a caterpillar.

​Did you follow all that? Good. 

Incidentally, I stumbled onto this information while reading "The Complete Fly Tier" by Rube Cross, an absolutely excellent older book which I'll share with you in a future article.  

There you go. Now you can dazzle all your friends at your next fly tying gathering or whenever you bump into other fly anglers. Folks will be amazed at your vast knowledge & you're sure to be the life of the party!

In researching some older bamboo fly rods, I recently stumbled upon an article written by Michael Baughman which appeared in the May 5th, 1980 issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine. The article is titled "Old and Unimproved As They Might Be, Split-Cane Rods Can't Be Beat"

In the article the author proclaims that out of all the fishing & outdoor gear he owns, if he had to pick just one piece of equipment to keep, it would be his bamboo fly rod. He gives a brief history of the development of the bamboo fly rod & then goes on to extol the delights of fishing with bamboo compared to graphite & fiberglass rods. 

In his comparisons of bamboo rods vs modern rods made of synthetics, he hits upon a point that I believe is so very true about cane rods - a point that those new to bamboo realize & leads to them loving the feel of a bamboo fly rod:

I've seen this myself so many times: an angler, new to bamboo, begins to cast a bamboo rod. Then they lock into the rhythm of the rod & their eyes light up - it's like nothing they've ever felt before!

​The article, short in length, is a delight to read. You can read the entire piece on the SI archives website HERE. For those of you who already know & love bamboo fly rods, this article is just preaching to the choir, but for those of you who have yet to toss a line with a cane rod, it's yet another testimony to why you should give bamboo a try. 

There are tons of older, vintage fly reels on the market today. Some of these are very high-performing reels that can be had for much less money than the new modern reels being made now. In fact, the vintage market is a great place to find a fantastic reel while saving a few bucks. 

So you get that 'new' old reel home & take the spool off, only to find it loaded with dirt, old grease, & a bunch of gunk. It needs a good cleaning. There are several ways to do this, & the video below shows a very safe method of getting the old dirt off of a vintage reel. If you're not advanced in your skills of working with fly reels, than I'd suggest you follow all the procedure outlined in this video.

The second part of the video shows you how to lubricate the reel, once its cleaned & dry. Again, if you follow the examples in the video, you'll be fine. I, however, would make a few different maneuvers with my own reel. For example, in the video he only uses oil to lubricate everything. That's fine, but oil can (& will) eventually leak out into the other parts of the reel. I prefer to use grease on the main post, or spindle shaft, of the reel so that the spool is always spinning on grease. I also prefer to grease the teeth of the drag arbor gear at the bottom of the post. This is just a personal preference & you will find pros & cons about the use of oil vs grease for all applications (engineers have been debating this for a very long time).

One other tip from me: in addition to using cotton swabs to clean the reel, an old toothbrush is also a great thing to use for this kind of work. It can get into places a rag or swab can't, such as in between the teeth on gears, etc. 

So if you're trying to pass the cold winter evenings by cleaning up some old reels but aren't sure where to begin or if you're doing it well, check out this video below. It's a very good, safe, guide on how to maintain those old reels to keep them spinning for many seasons to come!

Why not start the New Year with a new case for your favorite fly reel or spare spool? Over on the Available Reels & Accessories page, I've just listed a whole bunch of reel cases in different colors & sizes at a steep 60% discount!! ​That's correct - they're only $10 each!

​Each one is lined with a soft brown lining & has a zippered closure. They will fit most standard sized reels in the diameter listed. There are limited quantities of each, so if you see some cases you want, please contact me. Once these are gone, their gone.

A few of the cases listed are unique & not typical of the standard soft-sided cases made in my shop, such as this black & tan two-toned case:

These available, overstock cases are in limited sizes & colors. These cases on sale are the results of different experiments we made using different colors, or just extra cases we made to have on hand. They're taking up valuable room in the shop & need to go!

If you're measuring your reel to see if there's a size available that it will fit in, be ​sure that your measurements include the reel feet as well, like in the photo below:

Should you have any questions about these discounted reel cases, please contact me & I'll be happy to help you.

If you need a custom case, please see the Accessories page. 

​This gorgeous glass rod along with the hand stitched leather rod tube was a joy to make:

​I also spent some time restoring a vintage South Bend fly rod:

​I also had one of my best fishing seasons ever. So often we get caught up in our work & the other things of life that keep us from doing what we love. It’s such a blessing when we can get out onto the stream & enjoy the beauty there.

I've just listed another very special item over on the Hand Stitched Leather Accessories page. This leather fly book is much bigger than my traditional leather fly wallets & made completely by hand. ​A truly deluxe way to carry all your wets, nymphs, & streamers this hand made leather fly book is large enough to hold them all.

The heavier brown leather this book is made from, sometimes called a Cumberland hide, has a distinct pebble grain. It's typically used for items that will see heavy use outdoors - & so is perfect for this leather fly book. ​

​This book also has a snap button closure. The sides of the book have been burnished, dyed, waxed, & buffed for a beautiful finish.

To read more about this fine leather fly book, & to see even more photos of it, please visit the Hand Stitched Leather Accessories page of this website. If you have any questions about it - or anything else you see there - please contact me & I'll be happy to help you. 

I'm very proud of this leather fly book & I'm sure you'll be proud to own & use it to house all your wets, streamers, & nymph flies, too!!