There’s still time to sign up for the class in Marlborough and Edison.
Here are all things wet fly that I’m doing at both shows: Marlborough Saturday, January 21: Classes With The Experts, 8:30am-11:00am, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies. You must pre-register for this class. 2:00pm, Destination Theater Room A, Modern Wet Fly Strategies.
Edison, Saturday, January 28, 9:45am, Seminar, Strike Room,Modern Wet Fly Strategies. 12:30pm, Main Show Floor, Featured Fly Tier,Spiders, Winged, and Wingless Wets. 2:00pm-4:30pm, Classes With The Experts, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies. You must pre-register for this class.
Just a short promo for the upcoming Fly Fishing Shows in Marlborough and Edison. You can attend my seminar, watch a tying demo, or take a class with me. Here’s the schedule.
Marlborough Friday, Jan 20:1:00pm, main show floor, Featured Fly Tier,Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. 4:30pm, Seminar, Release Room, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass.
Marlborough Sunday, January 22: Classes With The Experts, 8:30am-11:00am, Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. You must pre-register for this class.
Edison Friday, Jan 27: 2:00pm-4:30pm, Classes With The Experts, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. You must pre-register for this class.
A shout out to these two local groups for feeding me and hosting me this week. It doesn’t matter if it’s pizza and beer or a sit down dinner, your hospitality is very much appreciated. I’m already looking forward to next time.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled breakfast…
And yes, I’m all fired up and rarin’ to go! I’m hoping you’ve blocked out some time to attend the weekend of January 27-28-29 — and of course, that you’re planning on seeing me speak — or better still, taking one of my classes. As always, talks and demos and seminars are included in the price of your admission ticket. You have to pre-register for classes, and you can do that here. If you’re from parts north, the Marlborough, MA show is now just a week away. Please come say hello.
I have two speaking engagements this week with local TU Chapters and you are cordially invited to attend (Thanks, groups!) The first is Wednesday, January 11 at 7pm at the Candlewood Valley Chapter of TU. I’ll be presenting The Eastern Brook Trout — Connecticut’s Wild Native. The talk covers the species from habits to habitat, and of course we’ll discuss tactics and strategies for fly fishing for these precious jewels. The meeting is at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown, CT. You can get more details here.
We could all use a little bit of some wild brook brook trout. What a stunner, this one!
On Thursday, January 12, 7pm, I’m at the Hammonasset Chapter of TU. The talk is Wet Flies 2.0, and it takes a deeper dive into this ancient and traditional subsurface art. Matching hatches, using wet flies as searching patterns, tackle, presentations…we’ll talk about stuff like this and much more.The meeting takes place at the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association building in Meriden, CT. You can get more details here. If you’re not a member of the group, I think they want you to get a free ticket online, which you can do here.
Come see “Wet Flies 2.0” and you’ll be one of the few anglers in the U.S. who knows the secret of Smut No. 1….
And I’m getting all fired up! It’s a busy show schedule for me this year, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here are some details on what I’m doing. Finding Small Stream Nirvana is a new presentation; I’ve only done it once, at Edison last year during a blizzard to a small, dedicated audience. It covers the basics of small stream fishing, and goes into gear, tactics, and even how to find your own little slice of thin blue line heaven. My Featured Fly Tyer appearance, Presentation Flies For Striped Bass, will cover some basic patterns I use that create the illusion of life even when at rest. Sparse, impressionistic, and proven, every one of them. I’ll go into that topic in far great depth, including tactics and gear, at my seminar, Beyond Cast and Strip. I debuted that one last November at the International Fly Tying Symposium, and if you want to start catching more (and bigger) striped bass, this one is not to be missed. All of these are included with your show admission.
In Saturday’s class, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies, we’ll tie three basic patterns and talk about presentation and tactics. You must pre-register for this class, and you can do that HERE. If you want to become a dangerous wet fly machine, this is a great way to start. As is my 2pm talk, Modern Wet Fly Strategies, a deeper dive into the ancient and traditional art of catching dozens of fish.
Sunday’s 8:30am class, Presentation Flies for Striped Bass, also requires pre-registration, and you can do that HERE. We’re going to tie and talk and get you on the path to catching the stripers that everyone else can’t. We’ll wrap things up with Hot Bronze: Wade Fishing for Smallmouth. Pound-for-pound, smallmouth are among the most belligerent, obstreperous things that swim, and I’m beyond addicted to catching them.
When I’m not teaching (or sitting in on other’s talks) I’ll be walking the show floor. Please come say hello!
It’s no secret that the Edison Fly Fishing Show is the biggest, bestest fly fishing show going! I’m pleased to announce that I will be appearing once again as a presenter, instructor, and fly tier. The Edison Show runs three days, January 27, 28, and 29; I’ll be there on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th. Here’s my schedule:
Friday, January 27: 10:15am, Seminar, Catch Room,Finding Small Stream Nirvana. Noon, Destination Theater Room B, Wet Flies 101. 2:00pm-4:30pm, Classes With The Experts, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. You must pre-register for this class. Admission to the show is included in the cost of any class registration for that day.
Presentation flies work even when at rest. I caught my largest bass of 2022 on this presentation fly, the R.L.S. Sure Thing.
Saturday, January 28: 9:45am, Seminar, Strike Room,Modern Wet Fly Strategies. 11:00am, Destination Theater Room D, Lost Secrets of Legendary Anglers12:30pm, main show floor, Featured Fly Tier,Spiders, Winged, and Wingless Wets.2:00pm-4:30pm, Classes With The Experts, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies. You must pre-register for this class. Admission to the show is included in the cost of any class registration for that day.
Overlooked and under-utilized, wet flies are a must-have in your fly box if you want to catch more fish. Learn how to tie and fish these lethal patterns in my class, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies.
As always, I’m hoping for a big turnout from my readers and followers. When I’m not doing a class or demo or speaking, you can find me walking the show floor. Please come say hello! I love putting names to faces.
I just received my schedule for the Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough, MA, and it looks like I’m going to be busy! Seminars, presentations, tying demo, tying classes — covering both fresh and saltwater. The show is Friday, January 20, Saturday, January 21, and Sunday, January 22. I’ll be appearing all three days. As always, I’m counting on a good currentseams turnout! All seminars and Destination Theater talks are included in your admission price; the classes require pre-registration and an additional fee. Here’s my schedule:
Friday, January 20: 11am, Destination Theater Room A, Finding Small Stream Nirvana. 1pm, main show floor, Featured Fly Tier,Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. 4:30pm, Seminar, Release Room, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass.
Saturday, January 21: Classes With The Experts, 8:30am-11am, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies. You must pre-register for this class. 2pm, Destination Theater Room A, Modern Wet Fly Strategies.
Sunday, January 22: Classes With The Experts, 8:30am-11am, Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. You must pre-register for this class. 1pm, Destination Theater Room A, Hot Bronze: Wade Fishing for Summer Smallmouth.
Mark your calendars! I’ll be telling you more about my programs in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending my first International Fly Tying Symposium. I’d always wanted to go, but my annual steelheading trip with Cam got in the way — until this year, when they moved the Symposium to a different weekend. So off to Somerset I went, vise and scissors and other implements of destruction in tow.
Getting there wasn’t without its challenges. That Friday night, we had a major rainstorm in the tri-state area. At one point my nav app said a four hour drive. Not fancying the idea of slogging through Manhattan at rush hour, I delayed. I didn’t get to my hotel room until shortly before midnight.
I’d been invited as a celebrity tier and presenter, so no pressure…no, really, it was all good, and it was wonderful to be wanted. I found my tying space first thing Saturday morning, sharing the table with Chester Rosocha. I’d never met Chester before, but I won the table-mate lottery as he was as nice and matey and friendly a soul as you could hope for. Tim Flagler and and Tim Cammisa were the next table down, but you can’t win them all…of course I’m joking. Tim and Tim are both swell guys, not to mention exceptional tiers, and we shared plenty of laughs over the course of two days.
Every show, I tell myself, “This time I’m going to take more photos and some videos of me and others in action to share on my website.” Then stuff gets in the way. And it doesn’t get done. But here are a few shots from the weekend.
So much to do and see, so little time! And this is just Saturday. Plus classes, plus the show floor (tiers and marketplace) — it all makes for a busy weekend. This was a new wet fly presentation, which drew an excellent crowd for its debut. In the afternoon, I conducted a wet fly tying class which also went very well. Six very enthusiastic students who made their instructor’s job easy. We covered the basics of soft hackles, wingless, and winged wets. One of the best parts about big shows like this is the possibility that you’ll run across some new materials you didn’t know you needed. I saw these at Tim Flagler’s table and had to have some.Look closely at the packaging and you can see that someone has a potty mind (albeit in good fun). The USP of Tye Sticks is that they have a monofilament core that extends past the material butt end, making them a breeze to attach to a hook. You can find these online using the company name. (I have no affiliation with the brand.) I also scored some nice bucktails from Brad Buzzi, and some 30-yard spools of Bill’s Bodi Braid. I’ve had enough of buying those cards with a measly 3 or 4 yards of material, so I stocked up on these three staple colors and left happy.My Sunday seminar, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass, starting to fill up. This was another great group, and we stayed out past curfew for a long and engaging Q&A session. Another debut presentation. I want to thank everyone who took the time to come hear me speak, attended my class, or just say hello. You made my first IFTS highly enjoyable!My crowning achievement of the weekend took place Saturday night at the banquet. (Did I mention that if you attended the banquet, you received a gift bag loaded with fly tying materials, tools, hooks, beads…all good quality, highly useful stuff. I’ll try to remember to take a photo of the bounty for a future post.) I sat at the table with the Italian contingent– this was, after all, the International Fly Tying Symposium — who spoke varying degrees of English ranging from a little to virtually none. They had brought along a couple bottles from the old country, and were eager to share. My kind of crowd! Then, a gentleman from the hotel materialized and tried to explain that we could not bring our own booze and open it in the dining room. Seizing the opportunity, I explained the situation, focusing mostly on the fact that this wine came special all the way from Italy, and our colleagues were most eager to share in the spirit of international goodwill, and that if you, Mr. Hotel Man, can figure out how to tell them in Italian — OK, so maybe I exaggerated a wee bit on their total lack of command of the English language — that they can’t have their wine, please do so. Next thing I know, he’s saying never mind, and he’ll be right back with some wine glasses for the table. Salute!
Last night I did my second international Zoom presentation with the Ottawa Fly Fishers. They are a small but very enthusiastic group, and it’s been a pleasure getting to know them. The subject was “Wet Flies 101.” I don’t need to tell you about my passion for tying and fishing wet flies, so spreading the word is kind of like getting extra frosting with your cake. Thank you again, Ottawa Fly Fishers, for being such swell hosts!
One afternoon, many years ago, this fly saved my bacon. I was guiding Matt, and it had been a slow, disappointing day. All of sudden, for no apparent reason, trout started eating the middle dropper, a size 16 Starling and Herl. Whatever was hatching unseen underwater, it was small and dark and the fish wanted it. Remember Ken’s sage advice: droppers are the fastest way to find out what the fish want.
currentseams.com 