Orvis Cinci and some flies

I got back from Salmonfest last week with my body wanting desperately to rest and recover, but there was no way the schedule would allow for that!  I had orders piling up from being out, a Central Ohio Fly Fishers meeting to attend, and packing to head down to Cincinnati for the Grand Opening Saturday of the newest Orvis store.

One of the orders was for a mess of Tommy Lynch Drunk and Disorderlies.  This is a fairly complex tie so I have to make sure I am on my game to not forget anything.  As with many production runs I break this one down in to three steps, and got a shot of each to post here.

First off is to tie the tail sections for the flies.

Next up is to attach them to the front hook, using .024” 19 strand Beadalon and some beads, then attach and epoxy in place a large rattle.

Finally you complete the front of the fly, trim to a wedge, and glue on the eyes.

Yeah…I tied up some Wooly Buggers too…

When I got the call about heading to Cincinnati to tie at the Grand Opening of the Orvis store  I agreed to head down there, but was unsure of what to expect.  Having been to other Orvis corporate stores I knew that it was likely to have a very small fishing section so how would that translate to people interested in what I had to offer?  I figured that I would take down a few things for my table to catch people’s eyes, like carousels of flash and large bundles of colorful Amhearst tails.  Friday night rolled around I got all my gear together, then Saturday morning picked up my buddy Nate and hit the road headed south.  After approximately one fine cigar, in my case an Illusione HL1, we had made our destination. 

The store was easy to find and in a prime spot…right across from a large and swanky mall in Kentwood.  The store manager, Mike, came out and greeted us in the parking lot and we proceeded to get our gear unpacked.  Walking in to the store felt like stepping in to the Orvis magazine.  There was an abundance of earthy toned clothes, rich woods (mahogany perhaps), and I am sure there was a collection of many leather-bound books laid somewhere about the store.  All kidding aside it was an immaculately laid out space with an impressive amount of Orvis gear ranging from clothing and travel gear to dog training equipment.

Tucked back in a section of the store I found the mini mecca of Orvis fly fishing goods where I was to tie for the next five hours or so.  In the shadow of the line of Orvis waders, and flanked by a wall of rods and shiny reels, I got everything set up and was stretching a bit when our table neighbor for  the morning showed up; Alex Quick, fly fishing manager from Blackberry Farms.  If you are not familiar with Blackberry farms check them out on their site sometime…pretty impressive operation.  At the end of the day Alex hooked us up with some of the granola that he had on the table, and it may be the best I have ever had!

We settled in for the morning pretty fast as there was a steady stream of people coming through the door.  I was surprised by the number of people and glad to take the opportunity to talk to quite a few people that did not fish but were interested in what we were doing.  Perhaps they are candidates for the eight Orvis Fly Fishing schools that will be run through Mad River Outfitters this summer... (yeah, shameless plug).  Mixed in with the non-fisher folk were plenty of diehards from Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers and Buckeye United Fly Fishers that were happy to have another shop in the area to support, which may have been code for ‘place to go to get away from chores’.   We talked about tying, fishing, local conditions, steelhead coming in to the systems on Erie and getting out with Steelhead Alley Outfitters.  With all the people coming through our time at the table was over before we knew it.  Three o’clock hit and we jumped back in the car for another fine cigar and the Michigan game on XM for the ride home…not too shabby of a day.

I was happy to get a fish shot from customer and friend Brian Jester.  Brian was out seeing about some largemouth when this feisty drum made a meal of an ACF fly he was using.  Great fish Brian!

Finally, I have to make mention that this was one of the best sports weekends for me in a long time.  Michigan with the convincing shutout win, two Tigers wins in the ALCS, and the Lions pull off the improbable comeback from down 10 with five minutes to the overtime victory.  Hope my boys did not use up all their juju in one week…want to see more of that!

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

1000 Miles Campaign

This will be a little bit off the standard format for the ACF Feed…more conservation based than pure nature and fly porn.

 

To get the whole story requires that we start back at the IFTD show in Reno.  I was not able to attend this year but there were a fair number of non-traditional media present…aka bloggers.  While out at IFTD, and hopefully with some delicious Fat Tire  in hand, there was some discussion around how to have easier interaction with each other as a group.  This interaction would include everything from writing tips and IT fixes to conservation items and other social issues.  Essentially…how can we help each other with the day to day stuff and, more importantly, how can we leverage our audiences in a more efficient manner when a worthy item needs to get out there. 

To that end Andrew Bennett, from Deneki Outdoors, took the first step when he returned by creating a closed group on Facebook as a sort of gathering place for these discussions to take place.  There have been quite a few discussions, some more spirited than others, but the most recent idea that came out was very interesting to me.  Chris Hunt, TU National Communications Director, asked about interest in doing some virtual ‘brown bag’ style conference calls.  The idea being that on these calls we have people pertinent to an issue call in and give us their perspective then allow us to ask some questions. 

The response was very positive to that idea so today I participated in the first of what I hope is many such calls.  Chris was able to set up today’s call around the ‘1000 Miles Campaign’, which is a joint project of Orvis and TU.  To discuss the campaign we featured ‘guest speakers’ Dave Perkins, Vice Chairman at Orvis, and TU VP for Eastern Conservation Elizabeth Maclin.  In addition to our speakers there were a dozen or so other blogger present.  I was unable to keep up with all the names, but included were Jason from Fontinalis Rising, Koz from True North Trout, Matt from Fishing Poet, Christine from Fly Fish Chick...a pretty diverse group for sure.

The basic goal of the 1000 Miles Campaign is over the next decade to open up 1000 miles of new coldwater habitat to trout and salmon across the country that is currently threatened by faulty culverts and other man-made barriers.  The campaign’s goals include not only increasing overall trout habitat from coast to coast, but improving fishing opportunity resulting from stream improvements. 

“Culverts are significant impediments to fish passage and survival – just as significant as a major dam – but the solution is dramatically simpler, costs less, and the overall benefits to many watersheds is profound,” said Dave Perkins, Vice Chairman of Orvis. “By removing these impediments, we not only add vital habitat for fish, but we also open many miles of fishable waters for anglers.  We’re proud to partner with TU in this effort to engage the fly-fishing community in support of this often overlooked opportunity to dramatically improve fish habitat across the country.”

Here are the sites currently selected for work:

·         Murphy Brook, a tributary to the Connecticut River in New Hampshire

·         Tabor  Brook, a tributary to the Connecticut River in New Hampshire

·         Kinne Brook, a tributary to the Westfield River in Massachusetts

·         Coyner Springs, a tributary to the South River near Waynesboro, Va.

·         Crazy Creek, a tributary to the Crooked River in the Upper Deschutes River drainage in Oregon

·         Aldrich Brook, a tributary to Azizschos Lake and the Magalloway River in Maine

·         Yellow Creek, a tributary to the Bear River in southwest Wyoming

·         Big Slough Creek, a Driftless Areas stream in Jackson County, Wisconsin

·         Mabel Creek, a coastal cutthroat trout stream in Oregon.

“Opening up 1,000 miles of new habitat for trout and salmon over the next 10 years is an ambitious goal, but we think we can do it,” said Elizabeth Maclin, TU’s vice president for eastern conservation. “We’re lucky to have dedicated partners like the people at Orvis—they’ve always been very supportive of the work we do, and their commitment to this project means the world to us.”

If you would like to learn more head over to the ‘1000 Miles Campaign’ site. 

I think that this is a great project, but as with all projects it takes money to pull it off.  It is easy to make a donation and Orvis has pledged matching funds!  Hopefully some of you will join me in giving a donation for this project.  If you would like to support the ‘1000 Miles Campaign’ then simply head over to the Orvis-TU fund page and they make the rest easy for you.

Thanks for listening to the soapbox.  Next post is back to the usual….flies, flies, and more flies!

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Catching up...Idaho, flies, and on the water with my Helios2 and RedSpotFly

So I was sitting there yesterday with my buddy Nate watching football while enjoying a good cigar and a dram of Powers whisky when he said “Hey, what’s going on with the blog.  Nothing new lately…”.  I had a response formed in my head but then realized he was absolutely correct…it had been well over a week. Hard to believe how fast things seem to go when you are busy.  Here is a bit of what has been going on lately.

A week ago Thursday I labored through a morning at work then picked up the wife and  headed to the airport.  The destination was far northern Idaho for the wedding of one of my best friends to his amazing lady, Kibbee and Freya.  We were way out there.  If you read the story about the finger taken out of the big trout…that was at Priest Lake Idaho and we were only a few miles away at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch.  To the shock of everyone I talked to I did not take along a single piece of fly tackle as my time was already spoken for, and of course I later read about some amazing fishing that was taking place all around where we were…

I did get away on Friday morning for a short run on the ranch property.  It was great to get away on the trails for a little bit and take in some of the scenery.  I told the ranch that if I was not back in two hours that they should send searchers out of horseback for me, but I made it back in an hour as the hills were a bit more than I bargained for!

The evenings were spectacular.  The jet black wilderness and bright stars along with a small bonfire and the lodge brightly lit against the night.  It was a trip that was too short, but had a great time despite no fishing in the mix.  There are definitely plans in the works for a return trip to chase some fish around.

When I got back it was time to knock out some flies.  I spent a good portion of the week at the vise and here are a few of the orders that made it out the door.  Above is a few of Tommy Lynch's DDs.

This order is the initial order being sent up to ACFs newest distributor, Boyne Outfitters up in Boyne City MI

Saturday morning I got up early and headed out to the river to meet up with Michael Decoteau of RedSpotFly.  I have had a few stitches lately so, on doctors orders to promote healing, I have been away from water for six weeks…it drove me nuts!  Hardly able to sleep I was up early and on the road.  I had my new SmithFly boat bag to bring along all the gear I needed and was giving my Orvis Helios 2 rod it’s last test to pass…and pass it did. 

My overall assessment of the rod is that it is a rocket and able to stand up to some serious torture.  Before my hiatus from the water it stood up well to floating line presentations for carp and smallmouth, but today was the real test in my eyes….full sinking line and big flies for browns.  The rod is a fast action tip flex with power right through the cork handle.  I was casting a 250gr Streamer Express with 5-6” flies and the 6WT Helios2  handled them without issue.  For casting under 30’ this rod would get it done, but it really excels when you give it some line.  With 30’ of line out this rod was able to pick up the line and the fly then shoot to 70+’ off of a single false cast with pinpoint accuracy.  The rod  did very well with low roll casting up under cover and the stiffness allows for some serious action imparted to the fly through a rod retrieve.  This rod performed phenomenally for the streamer application and is now going to be my go to stick for chasing browns with meat.

I had a great time hanging out with Michael for the morning and catching up with him.  The man is an artist so it is no surprise that he is talented behind a lens, even with me as the subject.  Here are a few shots that he snapped of me during our time on the river.  He does not yet have a dedicated site set for RedSpot, but if you have not already been there you should check out the RedSpotFly Facebook page to see what he has been up to and ‘Like’ to follow!

I also managed to get in on the photo game and snuck in a shot as he was working a deep slot.  There is a lack of fish shots as we did not do so well in the catching game on that day but it was nice just to be out and on the water.  I expect that the recent cold nights may have moved some fish around in to their fall lies, so the streamer game should be heating up in the next few weeks!

I did take along the most recent variation on a pattern I have been playing with.  The fly performs really well in the water; it is not exactly a swim fly as it has Predator eyes for some weight but not so much weight that it is a vertical retrieve.  This fly really glides through the water and has a great erratic motion with an abrupt jerk retrieve.  Any suggestions for a name?  There could be a few flies in it if the name is used…

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

MRO's Intermediate/Advanced Winter Class week three

Had a great time with the guys in the class again last night. So far the class has been pretty streamer heavy, something with which I am totally cool. For a change of pace last night we changed it up and added a few mayflies to the repetoire. With Hendricksons only a few weeks away I decided that would be our target so we busted out the 70 denier and went to town.


Hook: Tiemco 100, size 14
Shuck: ZLon, Mayfly Brown
Body: Stripped quills, ginger and mahogany
Thorax: Superfine Dubbing, mahogany and burnt sulphur yellow
Wing: Dark Dun Snowshoe

First up was an emerger pattern. This will border on sacreligious, but I personally have never been a fan of the way stripped quill dry flies fish (maybe I can get Allen Landheer, John Bonasera, A.K., Dave Brandt and the rest of the Catskills boys to send me some and try to change my mind...). That said, for emergers the quill bodies are the cat's ass! This is a snowshoe hare emerger that I have done very well with through a number of different hatches simply by changing the size and material color.

Hook: Orvis Big Eye straight, size 16

Tail: Deer Body Hair, natural/light dun

Body: Deer Body Hair, mahogany

Thorax: Superfine Dubbing, mahogany

Post: Rainy's Parachute post, 1/16" white

Hackle: Grizzly

The second fly was an extended body parachute. This style fishes like a tank and floats forever...perfect for my tastes. To accomodate the extended body you undersize the hook one size so then the hackle is actually two sizes larger than the hook, but in doing so it is proportional to the size of the full fly. Outside of BWO emergers I have likely caught more trout on this fly than every other mayfly I fish.

Next week we are looking at a few saltwater backcountry flies and probably one more articulated streamer for good measure...maybe one with the Fly Lipps I have on the way!

-mike schmidt

http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/

A couple more flies to Orvis for 2012!

Well, I got more good news a few days ago about some flies I have been kicking around local watersheds. Back on February 3rd I posted the Fuzzy Nibblet and Gorgon Craw here, and now have that official word that Orvis is picking them both up for their 2012 lineup!

These two flies have been successful in warmwater applications this past season, and now, after a clients recent trip, I have been told that the variations that tied on stainless hooks were well received on the Bahamian flats as well.

The 2012 Orvis lineup will be available December 2011, but in the meantime I know a place you can get them to fish this coming season...

-mike schmidt

http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/