Tomorrow, Friday, January 24 is my only day at the Edison Fly Fishing Show. Here’s my plan:
Arrive noonish or a little before. Walk the floor, make the rounds, say hello. You can always text me if you’re looking for me — you can find my number here. I’m going to try to catch parts of a few presentations before my Seminar, which is 4:30pm in the Catch Room, Wet Flies 101. Of course, I’ll see you there. Right?
Thank you to everyone for your continued support.
Three busy days at Marlborough and I’m a tired but very happy angler. I think I had more fun at this show than any other. Five gigs, lots of hobnobbing, and a little buying. Here’s what went down.
I try to go to as many presentations as possible, and unfortunately I didn’t get to half of the ones I planned on. Here’s George Daniel doing his Streamers 2.0 presentation. If you’ve never seen him speak, you’re in for a treat.
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Fly Tyer’s Row is a always a wise use of time. Not only do I get to catch up with old friends (and make new ones) I also find inspiration and ideas. Top to bottom: salmon fly tier extraordinaire Lisa Weiner (thanks for the casting help!); saltwater whiz Captain Ray Stachelek of Cast A Fly Charters; maker of wonderful fly tying videos Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions.
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Between socializing and gigs, I managed a little shopping time. The Keough booth had their usual massive selection of potential flatwing saddles (plan on spending the better part of an hour scouring the bins). If you’re a wet fly and soft hackle freak like me, the Badger Creek booth is a must. Saturday’s score included a full jackdaw skin, some woodcock wings, and that prized winging material, lemon wood duck. Owner/operator Mike Hogue told me that another company bought the rights to Pearsalls and their dying process, and is now offering tying silks. As you can see, we’re all a little excited about it.
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You are now at maximum expert casting density. Bill and Sheila Hassan are both gifted casters and really nice people. Always a pleasure paying them a visit. I didn’t get a chance to take photos at the Bear’s Den or Saltwater Edge booths, but likewise on the visit energy.
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Hanging with the boys at the author’s booth. From left: Ed Engle, your humble scribe, George Daniel, and Jason Randall. Check out my Instagram feed (stevecultonflyfishing) for a silly outtake!
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Hey, I know that guy. Last but not least: thank you to everyone who took the time to see me speak, took my class, stopped to say hello, or just wanted to chat about fly fishing. I couldn’t do any of this without you. Thanks also to Chuck, Janet and Ben Furimsky for letting me be a part of their show. See you in Edison, NJ Friday, January 24, 4:30pm in the Catch Room for my Wet Flies 101 seminar.
I’ll be giving you the story on the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show soon, but right now let’s talk about Landon Mayer, author of The Hunt for Giant Trout (book review here.)
From the UpCountry website: “Landon Mayer, maybe the top sight fishing trophy trout guide in the country, is doing a FREE presentation on catching trophy trout. It’s open to the public and will take place at the upcoming FRAA 7pm meeting this month on Wednesday, Jan 22nd at the Farmington Senior Center in Unionville (321 New Britain Ave, Unionville, CT 06085). His latest/4th book is “The Hunt for Giant Trout”, and there will be copies of it for sale at the meeting and you can get them autographed. All are welcome to attend, and what you will learn is 100% relevant to the Farmington River as Landon spends most of his time fishing pressured tailwater fisheries in Colorado targetting above average trout. He has also ventured out East to fish Great Lakes tributaries for giant fall Lake Run Browns & Steelhead, and he has fished central PA for trout too. There will be plenty of opportunity for Q&A with Landon at this event.”
It was my bad, folks, as the original date conflicted with the state hockey tournament. New dates for the Wet Flies and Soft Hackles weekend at Legends BNB on the Farmington are March 13-15. I’ll be there on Saturday March 14 to lead a day-long tying class and wet fly seminar. You get to stay at an amazing lodge on the banks of the Farmington and, weather permitting, get out and do a little fishing. Please note, you cannot book through me — you need to contact Legends directly. Last year’s event was a blast — hope to see you there!
There’s still space available in my class at the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies, Saturday January 18, 2pm-4:30pm. This is a great opportunity learn how to tie different wet fly styles, plus learn how to fish them. You too can become a one-angler trout wrecking crew! To sign up, click here.
To the rest of the Fly Fishing Show Marlborough Jan 17-18-19. Three Destination Theater presentations and one Seminar: Friday, January 17: Tactical Advantage: Angler vs. Trout, 12pm. Destination Theater, Room A
Friday, January 17, Seminar: Wet Flies 101, 3pm, Release Room
Saturday, January 18: Lost Secrets of Legendary Anglers, 10am. Destination Theater, Room C
Sunday, January 19: Tactical Advantage: Angler vs. Trout, 10am. Destination Theater, Room B. You can read more about those talks here.
I’m hoping for a strong turnout from currentseams followers, and as always, please come say hello!
A 20-something inch Housy brown that was seduced by the charms of a simple soft-hackle.
I guided Rich yesterday from 10am-2pm. We fished three marks within the permanent TMA, with one of them producing four trout. As so often happens with winter fishing, find one trout and you’ll find another. Many thanks to Jerry for so graciously sharing the water! Since Rich is new to the river, we also spent some recon time at several other pools. The method was indicator nymphing with a drop-shot nymph rig. I didn’t get a water temp, but it was cold — I’ll guesstimate 36 degrees, 420cfs, and the air temp never got into the upper 40s as advertised. Four trout on a January outing is darn good, so well done, Rich!
Rich’s first ever Farmington brown, a lovely Survivor Strain (note clipped adipose). I wasn’t happy with Rich’s hook set motion, so after he struck I asked for his rod to re-demonstrate, not knowing that he had indeed hooked up. Too funny, my bad, good on you, Rich! We spent the rest of the day laughing about that one.
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Rich was on fire after the first trout. I had intended to bring the black latex gloves, but forgot. Folks, this water is unpleasantly cold. We caught fish on the soft-hackled pheasant tail (sz 18) dropper and Frenchy variant (size 14) point fly.
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The mystery Salmo. I had thought due to coloration, spotting, and tail fork that this was a beast of a juvenile salar, but the maxillary extends well past the eye, so that would point to trutta. A fisheries biologist once told me that there may be some cross-pollinating between browns and precocious young Atlantics — could this be the result of such a union? Either way, a lovely fish.
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Posterior of the mystery Salmo.
THE FEB 21-23 DATES ARE CANCELLED. NEW DATE, PROBABLY MARCH, COMING SOON! Wet Flies and Soft Hackles weekend at Legends BNB on the Farmington. I’ll be there on a Saturday (TBD) to lead a day-long tying class and wet fly seminar. You get to stay at an amazing lodge on the banks of the Farmington and, weather permitting, get out and do a little fishing. Please note, you cannot book through me — you need to contact Legends directly. My apologies for the date change.
