Tag Archives: fly fishing

Currentseams Best Of 2025 #10-#6

I normally do my yearly “Best Of” wrap-up in four segments of 3-3-3-1, but since we’re running out of days, we’ll do it in three. And away we go!

#10: Fly Fishing Shows and IFTS. I remember going to the Fly Shing Show in Marlborough many, many years ago, and thinking, “the next time I come to this show, I’m going to be a presenter.” It took a few years for me to get there, but since then I’ve never looked back. Presenting to an audience and teaching fly fishing still gives me a jolt of energy and pure enjoyment. Whether you’re a speaker or listening in, there’s no better place to ask questions and learn. November’s IFTS unofficially kicked off the 2026 show season, which is nearly upon us. I’ll be doing three days in Marlborough, three days in Edison, and, for the first time, the Lancaster PA show in March.

Thank you, everyone, who came to see me speak, watch me tie, or take a class. See you next month!

#9: Farmington River Book Research and Photos. As you can imagine, writing a guide book is a lot of work. And since I do nothing that I’m passionate about halfway, this was a lot a lot of work. But, it was a labor of love. And I learned so much about the river! In fact, I was surprised to discover how much I didn’t know. I got to interview dozens of fascinating, knowledgable people, hang out with them and watch them fish, take photos, and soak it all in. I can now say that I have walked, waded, and/or fished the entire 22 miles of river from the base of Hogback Dam to the steel bridge in Unionville — and then miles more below. I don’t know many people who can make that claim.

Matthew Vinick took all the drone pictures in the book. There’s some really good stuff!

#8: Another Year Being Featured in On The Water‘s Guide Flies. I’m not sure how long I’ve been doing this, but every year I play, and every year, it’s still a gas to see my name in print next to a fly I tied.

My advice for when you fish the 2025 pattern, the Iso Soft Hackle, is: hold on to your rod.

#7: Being Named Again to the Feedspot Top 40 Fly Tying Blogs. My ranking of #17 isn’t really what this is all about; rather, it’s the company Currentseams keeps. AvidMax. Fly Tyer. MidCurrent. Gink and Gasoline. Orvis. Just to name a few. These are all quality sites, worthy of your attention, and I’m honored to be included along with them. Here’s fun project for you to tie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZFZQTmJmEs

#6: Alan and Steve’s Excellent Albie Adventure. We’ve been planning to do this for years, but finally saltwater angler extraordinaire Alan Caolo and I were able to spend a morning in Rhode Island chasing funny fish. Or, rather, waiting for them to come to us. Pickings were slim, but a splendid time was had by all, and Alan is an excellent teacher and an all-around swell guy. You can read all about it here.

A Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to you and yours

It’s hard for me to grasp the concept that 2025 is almost over. Hopefully, you had an excellent year and caught plenty of fish, particularly that lunker, or that one that wouldn’t eat, but finally did. Your readership and interest in currentseams — and especially the book — is a truly wonderful gift. So: thank you! I’m hoping to put together my traditional best of the year review, starting later this week. Show season is coming fast, so stay tuned for a list of my appearances. In the meantime, festive family fun, food, and wine is calling. Joy to the world!

I haven’t, but in my mind, I could be.

Erie Tribs Steelhead Mini Report 12/18/25: Gordo’s first on the fly, and here comes da flood!

It’s been unusually cold this December in western PA. So much so that many of the steelhead tribs have been locked with ice. But mid-last week, there was a warming trend that offered both remedy and disaster. We (Number 3 Son Gordo) were scheduled to fish both Thursday and Friday. When we arrived on Elk Creek Thursday morning, conditions were as good as they’d been in a while: some ice, some color in the water, but very fishable lanes. As the temperature soared into the 50s, conditions deteriorated rapidly. First came the ice chunks — hundreds of them, in a seemingly endless string — floating down the cafeteria line, destroying any chance to make a drift. Next was the color: a light stain that morphed into a heavier stain, and finally an opaque mess the color of tea and milk. And of course, all this runoff was cold, making the water temp a feeding-unfriendly 32.5 degrees. Oh. I forgot the wind. 10-20mph, with 30+mph gusts. Sound like fun? This was about as challenging as winter steelheading gets.

Gordo’s first steelhead on the fly! Gordo’s been steelheading for ten years, but it’s all been float fishing with a spinning rod on Ontario tribs. The wind made casting a challenge — even I struggled mightily at times — but Gordo was able to get his fly where the fish were feeding. This buck came in some faster water at the head of a dump-in. As the water colored up, the fish began to move into softer water farther down in the pool.
While I was amusing myself with a pod of fish downstream, Gordo was getting the hang of fly fishing Erie tribs in sub-optimal conditions. He ended up with five on the day, which is excellent given the wind and water, and a pretty good day, period. You can see the infernal ice chunks we were dealing with. They would suddenly materialize, and you had to wait for them to pass before you could resume fishing.
Can’t let Gordo have all the fun, can we? By noon, conditions were bad enough to make the bite non-existent. So we made the command decision to head way upstream in search of cleaner water. We found it, but it only lasted an hour. Before it turned, I managed a spirited buck in a swift, undulating slot hard against a shale wall. I dropped one more, then fouled one, which I don’t count as a landed fish. If you’re keeping score at home, six in the hoop brings my grand total to 288 steelhead landed. So close! Continued warming and heavy overnight rains turned the creeks into raging torrents of chocolate milk, so we had to cancel Friday. It was frustrating to miss a day’s fishing, but I’m grateful that we got a day in.

Partial Edison, NJ Fly Fishing Show Schedule Jan 23-24-25, 2026

Tuesday greetings from the Currentseams world headquarters. The show season is upon us, and I have a partial schedule for the Edison, NJ Fly Fishing Show, which happens January 23-25. If you’ve never been, this is the biggest fly fishing show in the world: vendors, tiers, outfitters, guides, world class fly fishers, and instruction. Not to be missed!

Friday, January 23: Seminar, Catch Room, 10:15am: Beyond Cast and Strip — Presentation Flies for Striped Bass

Saturday, January 24: Seminar, Strike Room, 9:45am : Modern Wet Fly Strategies; and Class, 2pm-4:30pm: Beyond Cast and Strip — Presentation Flies for Striped Bass

Sunday, January 25: Class, 8:30am-11am: Tying and Fishing Wet Flies

Classes are a terrific way to get more personalized instruction without the cost of a guide trip. It’s the next best thing to being on the water!

I don’t have my Destination Theater schedule yet, but when it comes in, I’ll certainly share it here. All seminars and Destination Theater talks are included in your admission ticket. You must pre-register for classes, and you can do that here.

Book Review: “A Flyfisher’s Revelations” by Ed Van Put

Part memoir, part how-to, Ed Van Put’s A Flyfisher’s Revelations: Practical Tips, Strategies, and Wisdom From 50 Years Experience from Skyhorse Publishing. print ISBN: 978-1-5107-8333-1, is absolutely essential reading for any serious trout angler. I loved this book. I’d only heard about Ed after he passed away a year ago, so the name carried no particular weight. That’s a pity, because this is a man I would have like to have sat down with for a chat or an interview — or even better, spent some time together on a river.

If you want to be one of the 10% of the anglers who catch 90% of the fish, Ed’s book is an excellent place to start.

Your permission to believe me comes in the form of a back-cover blurb, where Lee Wulff calls Ed, “one of the best trout fisherman I know.” Once you dive in, you quickly glean that Lee is spot-on. While one of Ed’s claims-to-fame is that he valued presentation over fly selection (he’s known for using very few different patterns on the river, and clams that 70% of his dry fly hookups came from on an Adams), there are plenty of fly patterns pictured, and recipes, in the book. That’s of particular interest to a fly tying nerd like me.

This book works for both beginning and advanced anglers alike. I’m always thrilled when someone who I perceive to be a better angler than me talk about concepts and tactics that I myself teach. Rookie anglers will be able to grasp the over-arching principles without getting bogged down in minutia. I also liked that he starts every chapter with a meaningful quote from another angler. My copy is filled with highlighted sections for future reference.

Now, I’ve gotta go through it all again. There’s more fish to be caught!

Partial Marlborough Fly Fishing Show Schedule, January 16-17-18, 2026

Yup, it’s that time of year. Mark your calendars! New England’s edition of the Fly Fishing Show takes place Friday, January 16 through Sunday, January 18 at the Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center in Marlborough, MA. I’ll be there along with some of the biggest names in fly fishing today: Tim Flagler, Mac Brown, Jeff Currier, Phil Rowley, Alan Caolo, Landon Mayer, Joe Cordeiro — just to name a few. I’m still waiting on my Destination Theater schedule — there will be a Farmington River book talk for sure — but here’s what I know so far:

Friday, January 16, 2:30pm: Featured Tier, “Subsurface Caddis Lifestages” and 4:30pm Seminar, “Wet Flies 101.”

Saturday, January 17, 10:00am: Featured Tier, “North Country Spiders” and 11:30am Seminar “Finding Small Stream Nirvana” and 2pm Class, “Beyond Cast and Strip.”

Sunday, January 18, 8:30am-11am Class, “Tying and Fishing Wet Flies”

I’m not sure what I’m saying, but clearly there was an important point to be made. Currentseamsers usually make a strong showing, and I’m expecting no less for this show.

Destination Theater, Featured Tier, and Seminars are all included with your admission. There’s a fee for classes, and you must pre-register. (Hint: Classes are a tremendous opportunity to learn, ask questions, and dramatically improve your game.)

I’ll be talking more about the Marlborough Show in upcoming posts, and providing more details on each of my events. Save the dates, plan on coming, and of course please say hello. See you there!

Salmon River Steelhead Report, 11/24-25: Working on that conversion rate

I’ve gotten to the point in my steelheading journey where I’m confident that if I get a good hookset, I have a better than 50-50 chance of landing the fish. Of course, steelhead behavior and flows being dynamic X-factors, it doesn’t alway work out that way. But you do your best and take what the river gives you.

In recent years, I’ve felt a sense of something between dread and lingering malaise with my trips up to Pulaski. Maybe it’s because the river isn’t particularly beautiful. (Wait until you’ve seen what they’ve done to the river from Altmar to Pineville. I can’t say that it’s an improvement.) Maybe it’s because the town itself can be a wee bit depressing. Maybe it’s the constant crowds and the resulting pressure. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but whatever. This year felt different. I was very much looking forward to fishing with old guide friend Row Jimmy and tussling with some Lake Ontario brawlers. Let’s do it!

Conditions were just about perfect: dam release of 750cfs, 39 degree water, air temps above freezing with no precipitation. We fished the upper river on the first day, not far from the Altmar launch. There were steelhead in the immediate vicinity, but most of them were in front of other boats. We pecked away with egg patterns, but I dropped the first four I hooked. That had me flummoxed and moderately concerned.

Ta-dah! Fifth time was the charm. I’m continuously mystified by fish that get off vs. fish that get into the hoop, as I’m doing nothing differently between the two. Stick that fish, let them run when they want, keep the rod cork pointed upstream, don’t let ’em breathe…why do some fish become unbuttoned and others not? Mysteries to contemplate over a cigar and single malt.

We finally got to slug it out with a pile of fish after a couple boats left. By this time, I was throwing the old favorite 60-Second Redhead, and the hits just kept on coming. However, the conversion ratio still stunk. I ended up going 2-for-11 on the day with one foul (I don’t count fouled fish as landed). Most of the fish came off well into the fight, and I suspect it was a combination of pressure from me and current…and maybe hook size? To be discussed further at another time…after I get over my terrible .181 batting average.

One that didn’t get away.

Day two was a bit of a curveball. Jim had to cancel due to an appointment that couldn’t be missed, so I did something I’ve never done before: floated the river with a different guide. Jason Julien proved to be most excellent. We returned to the scene of yesterday’s bonanza, but the action across the length of the pool was a shade of what it was a day before. The good news was that I stuck and landed the first two fish I touched. We hooked one more and lost it right as it was about to be netted, so It was hard to get upset about that. (If you’ve never fished from a drift boat, steelhead are far more difficult to land because you can’t get them out of the current and into softer water.) And 2/3 reads a lot better in a box score.

I’ll take two of those. After a couple hours of not-a-touch, I informed Jay that sometimes the key to hooking up is a cigar. Out Lady of Blessed Gispert Churchill came through. For those of you keeping score at home, we’re now at 282 steelhead landed.

Many thanks to all of you

I’m a lucky guy to have so many people who look forward to reading what I have to say. You’ve been so patient with me as I’ve navigated the twists and turns of my first book project, and for that I am truly grateful. So many of you have come to see me tie, teach, and talk at shows or club meetings — so I’m sending more gratitude your way. And it’s a thrill to be spotted out on the river when I’m fishing (as happened this week in Pulaski multiple times — yes, the book is coming!) by people who follow currentseams. Always, always, please come say hello.

Wishing you a happy, healthy Thanksgiving. Dig in and enjoy the food. Savor your beverage of choice. Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em. And I’ll see you next week with my Pulaski steelhead report.

I’m thankful for every steelhead I release. May we meet again!

IFTS 2025 redux, Regal Pro Staff, page proofs for the book are in!

Much to talk about today. I’m currently recovering from last weekend’s International Fly Tying Symposium. That is, I’ve unpacked everything, gotten back to my regular sleep and eating (and coffee!) schedule, and here I am, clacking away at my keyboard on currentseams.com.

While this is the largest fly tying show in the world, there’s a sense of intimacy about IFTS that resonates with me. (If Goldilocks tied flies, she’d be all over this show.) I behaved myself wallet-wise, coming away only with a pack of size 14 Ahrex North Country Spider hooks (LE810). My Saturday seminar on Tying and Fishing Wet Flies was very well-attended, and I want to thank everyone for showing up and for asking so many thoughtful questions. I couldn’t have asked for a better tying bench mate than Peter Simonson, who specializes in classic Carrie Stevens-style streamers. I spent the rest of the day tying wet flies and soft hackles and socializing and answering questions about the Farmington River book.

The view from my bench Saturday morning. What a treat to reconnect with so many old and newer friends, and to put faces to names of currentseams subscribers.

After a delicious banquet Saturday evening — complete with a wonderful fly tying swag bag from show sponsor J.Stockard — I was featured fly tier Sunday morning. The subject was Farmington River Favorites, and we managed to get through each of the four food groups (nymph, wet, dry, streamer). Again, many thanks to everyone who attended. I truly appreciate your support.

But the highlight of the show for me was formally becoming a member of the Regal Pro Staff. I’ve been tying on a custom Regal Revolution for years, so this was particularly gratifying. Those of you who know me know that I don’t endorse anything on these pages that I don’t use and love, and I’ll be talking more about my Regal vise in future posts.

And now, me too! There are so many incredibly talented tiers in this group, and I’m honored to be a part of the team.

Finally, I’m back on the book for a bit: page proofs are in! These are basically an e-version of the layout of the book, complete with photos and other visual reference. I go through it, make minor corrections as needed, send it back to the publisher, and the whole shebang goes to press early next year. Exciting times! People stopping by the table showed a lot of interest in the book, and even if you don’t fish the Farmington a lot, I’m comfortable telling you that much of it — fly patterns, how to, hatches — is applicable to southern New England trout streams.

And now, I’m off to read.

Erie Tribs Steelhead Report, Nov. 6: 2 States, 3 Marks, 8 fish

We had a quarter inch of rain overnight, so we decided to roll the dice on some fresh fish entering the system. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to trigger a migration in steelhead alley. So we headed to a spot in PA about a mile away from the lake. We had to move well upstream to distance ourselves from the crowds, but we were in position at 6:45am, normally a little late but just right for today. We strategically carpet bombed a deeper hole, but that turned up blank. (We saw only one other fish landed the entire time we fished this general section, and it came from this hole.) Undaunted, we moved downstream to a swift run, more of a slot, that bordered a bleached tree trunk which created an enticing current break.

I had just made the comment that, with the climbing sun in my face, it was a wee bit difficult to see the indicator — but not to worry, because with the current moving so fast, the fish would set themselves. On cue, indicator down and fish on! I lost this steelhead to a snapped tippet, another when it ran between a pinch point of two submerged boulders, and two more to the whims of the steelhead gods. But I brought three to net, and, bad luck aside, considered myself ahead in the bargain.

Silver in the gold of the morning light. Clearly, this first pod of fish came in from the lake overnight — newly-minted coin bright, aggressive takes, and spirited runs. Their freshness, the speed of the water, and the rocky bottom made for some challenging landing conditions. They weren’t bashful about leaping out of the water, or peeling off line in a hurry. Each one brought to net was a hard fought victory; each release a moment to savor, coupled with the thought that we might cross paths again this winter.

As the action tapered off, we declared victory, and headed to Ohio. The rains had missed there, and the water was low but fishable. Unfortunately, the low flows meant far fewer fish in the system; Holes, pools, slots, and runs that normally would have at least a few occupants were barren.

This steelhead was part of a pod of a half dozen fish that we rousted from beneath a ledge. We let them resettle, and came back a hour later to fish for them. She was the only one we could get to eat. The Ohio fish were far more dour than the morning group in PA; I had as many fouls as fair eats. We managed four properly hooked fish, and three cigars. That’s a win.

My intention was to get up early and fish a few hours before driving back to Connecticut. But I was dragging. What’s more, I was dreading having to battle crowds and jockey for position. So I made the command decision to head back to PA and fish until dark. At first, it seemed like I’d sent myself on a futile excursion. I couldn’t find fish in any of the usual places. The water is a highly popular mark, but I only encountered three anglers over a 750 yard stretch; as it grew darker, I had the whole place to myself. Being the stubborn sort, I went back a favorite slot hard against a submerged ledge beneath a fly-eating tree. Second cast, the indicator disappeared, and I buried the hook in the steelhead’s jaw. A fine, fresh camera-shy hen who bolted the moment I removed the hook.

I’m not sure what I liked more: catching that fish, or sleeping in the next morning.