Mary Ann and I are getting ready to head to Livingston, Montana for a week to attend the upcoming International Federation of Fly Fishers Fair. It should be a great time. I’ll have a booth with my bamboo fly rods at the fair, and Mary Ann will be presenting several classes. And…if everything works out, we’ll also get a little fishing time on the local springs creeks also. Hope to see you at the fair.
2016 International Federation of Fly Fishers Fair
After attending the 2016 Washington Fly Fishing Fair in Ellensburg, Washington this past Friday and Saturday, I had Sunday off to play around on the water. I hit the Troutwater Fly Shop in Cle Elum to get info about access and water conditions on the Yakima River. Kudos to the shop staff…they were very friendly and knowledgeable, and were extremely helpful in pointing me towards access points on the river. After that, it was all up to my skills and abilities to find cooperative fish. The water is still running high and a little ‘coldish’ but the color was good. Since I knew I would be throwing some large stonefly nymphs, I chose my 8′ 3″ 5 wt Signature Series bamboo fly rod for my day. I managed to tempt several smaller smolts to the net, who were happy to take a #8 black girdle bug, and while I didn’t get anything larger, a day on the water is always a great time. Here are a couple of photos of my day.
The Yakima River near Cle Elum.
A pretty Yakima River fish.
Mary Ann and I will be heading down to Northern California for The Fly Fishing Show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds next weekend. I’ll have a booth at the show and Mary Ann will be teaching a couple of classes. This is a great show with a lot to see. If you’re in the bay area, I encourage you to check out the show…and stop by my booth and wiggle a few of my bamboo rods.
The Fly Fishing Show
I got out with Mary Ann last week on my birthday for a little trout fishing here in Central Oregon. We hit the Crooked River about an hour from our house. It was a chilly 18 degrees when we left the house but by the time we got to the river it had warmed up to the mid 40’s. The whitefish were spawning in the river so a lot of fish were pretty active. We both picked up about 20 fish on small egg patterns using euronymphing techniques. We didn’t get anything large, but it was still pretty fun hitting the water with bamboo. Here are a couple of photos of our day.
The Crooked River in November.
A feisty rainbow that took a #16 orange egg pattern.
I attended the 2015 IFFF Fair in Bend, Oregon last week, and I wanted to highlight 3 great guys in the fly fishing industry who were also there. Mike Morin owns Cutthroat Leaders. Mike makes and sells furled leaders that are a tremendous match for bamboo fly rods, and I use his leaders as often as I can. Mike Avery is Snake River Net Company. He is a great craftsman and makes and sells custom nets and fly boxes. John Noble is Scaly Designs. John is a skilled artist and crafts wonderful and unique rod tubes and fly fishing art. I recommend them highly. Here are a few photos from their booths at the show this past week.
Cutthroat Leaders – Great furled leaders for fly fishing.
Snake River Net Co. – Custom nets and fly boxes.
Scaly Designs – Beautiful and unique fly rod tubes and fly fishing art.