Salmon River 1 - Schmidt 0

I went in to this last weekend excited.  Excited because I was going to see friends I have not seen in months.  Excited because it was my last fly show until the fall.  Excited because THE University of Dayton Flyers won their first round tournament matchup against Ohio State, thereby winning the right to play Syracuse (the city where I was headed…likely making me one of few people to watch both of those games deep in ‘enemy’ territory).  Excited because I was going to get a chance to fish the Salmon River again and finally hit the water with good friends Allen Landheer and John Collins.

 

I took off from work a bit after lunch time on Friday and headed up the highway.  My route would take me northeast until I hit Lake Erie where I would follow the southern edge of the lake around to Buffalo, and then across towards Syracuse.  It was a three cigar drive on a sunny afternoon and there was plenty of basketball to listen to along the way.  I rolled in to the cabins that we were staying at along the Salmon River a bit after dark.  Allen Landheer and Rich Strolis were already there so I quickly unpacked a few things to keep them from freezing and settled in with a beverage in hand to watch some basketball.  A short while later Kevin Compton rolled in and joined the fun.  Great stories and a little fly tying took up the next few hours, making them feel like minutes.  By morning I hurt from laughing too hard…and maybe a little from that ‘one last cocktail’…

We woke up to the smell of bacon thanks to Allen thinking ahead and being an early riser.  We all seemed to come to at about the same time and put a hurting on that pile of bacon and some eggs before getting our gear back together and heading down the road to the show.  The show in this case was the Tie One On event put on by the Iroquois TU chapter and Sparse Grey Matter.  This was the third year for this growing event, and this year they brought in Kelly Galloup as the headliner.  There was a steady flow of people in front of us throughout the day so it seemed to fly by as I tied and talked streamers.  They had Rich Strolis, Pat Cohen and I all sitting in a row so there was again a lot of laughter and ideas being tossed about.  Around lunch I took the opportunity to head over and talk with Kelly a bit which is always a pleasure…that guy will sure get you thinking about streamers and streamer design.  I had purchased a ticket for the dinner banquet but as the day progressed there was sun coming through the window and the wind was laying down.  Eventually I was worn down by a handful of guys that were heading to the river after the show and decided that my dinner purchase was to be more of a donation…I was going fishing!

The show wound down and I stepped out with Allen to head back to the cabin for the gear.  In my head I was fighting insecurity and worry that my casting would have suffered from a three month layoff.  As we arrived at the river I had a huge smile on my face even though the river had been dropped overnight from somewhere around 750cfs down to 350cfs and the temps were dropping, so the fishing was expected to be tough.  Al has been fishing the river for decades so as we cruised along I got the dime tour of the holes and runs along with some bits history that will never make it in to any book.  We hit the lot and got geared up then headed down to the water and got in to a nice open run.  The casting was like riding a bike…a little rusty after the long layoff but it quickly came back, and oh man did it feel good. I had a couple blown anchors but for the most part was getting the fly out there as if I never stopped.  We had about two hours of stepping down through a run during which I had one tug and saw a few thick fish fin through some shallows.  No fish to hand but it was great to finally be back out.

At dark we got off the water and hurried back to the cabin, both to get some food ordered up and to catch the Dayton v Syracuse game.  Kevin headed out after the show but we picked up another group of friends for the night.  Jess, Richie, Collins, Kavanaugh, Joe and his dad all started off laughing at me living and dying with every play of the game.  Eventually though they were all caught up in it cheering right along with me.  The second half was far better than the first and when the clock hit zero with Dayton up I went b-a-n-a-n-a-s…so awesome!  The rest of the night was a blur of more basketball, beverages and stories.  Not a bad way to spend an evening.

As we woke on Sunday we were pleasantly surprised that the forecast had been off by over ten degrees, so rather than a bone chilling 8 and windy it was merely 20ish with a light breezy.  We quickly got breakfast knocked out and then cleaned up the cabin before heading over to the river to see  about some fish.  Al, John and I found a promising run that was available and jumped in to a rotation.  About an hour in I had a fish that I totally farmed and blew what ended up being my one real shot of the morning.  It was disappointing not to get one to hand but I did not feel as bad since we only saw a couple fish coming out…the water drop and temp still had them down.  It would only have taken the temperature rising a degree or two to turn them on, but that was not to be. 

About noon we called it and walked over to Melinda’s Fly Shop.  I have heard stories of the place but seeing it in person just blew me away.  Every conceivable material, for both modern and old school patterns to be used on the Salmon River, lined the walls from floor to ceiling.   The place is a mecca.  After talking with Melinda for a bit she pulled out some private stock of classic feathers for Al and I to take a look at, and I left with some serious goodies.  Eventually I had to stop looking or I would keep adding to the bag, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat myself down in a chair to just soak it all in for a bit before I had to hit the road.

Al took me back to the cabin to get my car and we BS’d a bit before I got rolling.  I expected some weather but there were long stretches of highway that I never really saw thanks to lake effect rolling through the region.  White-knucking at 20mph makes for a long drive, but I eventually turned south at Cleveland and got out of it.  Needless to say I crashed hard last night…and dreamed of heading back!

Below are a couple shots from the river.  Allen Landheer wanted to give me first crack at any fish so as I jumped in he grabbed the camera to take some pictures.  It was pretty cool to see what he was able to frame up and to get some new shots of me on the water since when I am out most shots are taken by me and not of me!

 

Can't wait until next time on the water!

 

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Midwest Fly Fishing Expo 2014

 

I just got back from the Midwest Fly Fishing Show, and what a show it was!  The show is always extremely well run and a ton of fun.  This year was no exception to that rule as many very talented folks from around the industry came in to town and shared their passion with the many people that came through the door.  I am beat so there will be no lengthy recap just yet but I did take out my camera and got a few shots, so here they are.

 

 

Fly tyer extraordinarre Eli Berant brought along a massive pile of big flies.



 

My booth was right next to Michigan boat builder and guide Phil Croff.  He had one of his amazing wood drift boats there so the view was pretty distracting.

 

  

 

After some rest I will give a more detailed report with only one show to go before the show season comes to an end for me.  For now though...time to sleep.

 

-mike Schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Ink'd

 

As I was growing up most fads, like earrings for dudes and Zubaz pants, came and went without me paying them much attention.  I somehow navigated those early years without suffering much damage to my image...of which at the time I admittedly did not have much of anyway.  Growing up in suburban Detroit, with a family that until a few months ago sported a total of zero tattoos, I was not exactly in the epicenter of the tattoo world.  That said, there were a few people I knew that were getting them and I did have interest but did not pull the trigger.  Finally getting one myself was a decision that has been years in the making and one that is now in the rearview as I have joined the ranks of the ink'd.

 

My first direct contact with tattoos came when a good friend Dennis, who was living at our house at the time, decided on his 18th birthday that it was time to go under the needle.  A couple of us ditched school for the afternoon and headed down to a seedy little parlor on Gratiot.  Hours later he emerged from the chair with Taz tearing in to his flesh and peeling back the skin as he slid down the back of his left shoulder.  We stopped off at the liquor store and paid Clyde his usual backroom upcharge for a bottle then headed out to a local spot.  Sitting against a small stand of trees overlooking Lake St Clair Dennis gave us he rundown on how it went as we passed around a community bottle of MD20/20...grape, cause we were bad asses.  Between grapish flavored sips of gas sliding down my throat I remember thinking that I wanted to get one too.  I also remember knowing that whatever I got had to mean something to me too risk the cost and the very real possibility that my Dad would try to belt-sand it off of me...

 

Fast forward a bit and fishing has now been an all consuming part of who I am for well over half of my life.  The want for a tattoo never went away but I was never really in a hurry to get one either. I used the built in excuses of wrong time, wrong artist, cost, and mostly a deep hatred of needles to justify not sealing the deal.  I knew that I wanted something fish related and that I needed the tattooist to be both a phenomenal artist as well as someone who fishes.  Then as luck would have it I ended up at a table right next to Dave Hoslerat the film festival in Columbus.  I had been in contact with Dave through social media for some time but that was the first time we had met in person.  For those who don't know Dave he is a hell of a good dude, a Subaru aficianado, the author behind the Pile Cast Blog and loyal subject to Derp the cat and Fritz the wonder dog.  Oh...and he has a lot of SICK tattoos.  My wife Liz had come out for the movie night and once she spotted his tattoos she struck up a conversation about them.  In short order we found out that 'his guy' had moved and was now here in Columbus.  How convenient.

 

Turns out that 'his guy' is Mike Prickett who now works out of his studio at Evolved just off campus on High Street in Columbus OH.  Mike is one hell of an artist who does also enjoy fishing, and was now practically right in my backyard.  He is fast, does vivid color and combines a few different styles in to one that is all his own.  In short it seemed that it was all coming together.

 

About a month ago I shot Mike a message that I would like him to come up with something for me.  I basically said that I Wanted a brown trout, water, and a streamer involved.  My only other direction was to send him a couple pictures of browns with the spot density and coloring that I really liked for reference.  He asked about the size and I said "go big or go home, right?".   In all honesty I was really just looking to see what he would come up with but the excitement that he had for the project was contagious and a week and a half later I went in for the line work.  After some heal time I went back in yesterday for the coloring and now have a brown trout staring back at me when I look in the mirror.  One more trip back in a month or so to punch it up with some more golds and white, then it's done.  So stoked with how it turned out!

 

Here are a few shots from the process:

Now, what's next...

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Dirty Fonzy

 

Front Hook:  Gama SP11-3L3H size 1

Back Hook:  Gama B10S size 2

Connection:  Beadalon, 19 strand .018”

Beads:  Pro Eye 3D

Flash:  Mirage Flasahbou

Body1:  Craft Fur (marker striped)

Body2:  Polar Chenille

Body3:  Crazy Legs

Body4:  Mallard Flank

Head:  Senyo Laser Dub

Eyes:  medium Lead Dumbell 

About 18 months ago I ran in to a crisis…the schlappen supply was drying up due, in part, to a conflict between the bird farmers and wholesalers.  The issue has since been resolved but that period of months was a headache and made me re-evaluate some material options.   While it had certainly not directly been a life-threatening issue, as a commercial tier who incorporated schlappen in to just about every streamer pattern in my lineup it caused me some sleepless nights.  At that time I decided that I needed to add some streamers that made use of the abundance of synthetic materials on the market.   The initial version of the fly  was pretty close to the swimming action in the water that I wanted and then after a few tweaks it was dialed in.  The result is a fly that, outside of a flank feather, is  composed entirely of synthetic materials.  The design of the fly is based on old intruder winged patterns so, while I generally fish it utilizing various stripping retrieves, it can be swung as well and maintain its effectiveness. 

A full step by step is in the works as is getting it added to the website.  I had meant to take care of it already but evidently there are a lot of people gearing up for all out streamer war on fish, so I have been spending every waking moment at the vise!

 

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Great start to 2014

 

It's been a great start to 2014, albeit a relatively fishless one thanks to the deep freeze that we have been mired in here in the midwest.  After having my family Christmas late up in Traverse City I settled in  to the desk and have been cranking heavy ever since.  The last two weekends were spent away from the house to do the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset NJ and then the Greater Cincinnati Fly Fishing Expo...outside Cincinnati.

 

The Somerset show was a whirlwind as it always is.  It was great to catch up with many friends, some of which I will not see again until the Symposium there in November.  The general consensus there this year was that Friday was amazing, infact the busiest Friday that I have experienced at that show, and then the rest of the weekend went to script with Sunday being slowest.  If you are ever coming out to that show Sunday is a great day for the consumer as the crowds are less so you can get more facetime with pretty much anyone that you want to talk to.  After having a great couple days seeing some new products that are soon to come out my weekend came to a very uncomfortable end...food poisoning.  I can say with absolute certainty that getting food poisoning leading up to a 9 hour drive is not something that I would wish on anyone.  I was lucky that it seemed to pass in a few hours and I made it home just being tired.

 

 

This weekend was the Greater Cincinnati Fly Fishing Expo put on by the Buckeye United Fly Fishers.  Fourteen years ago this was the first show that asked me to come out to tie at my own table, so I make it a point to get back for this show every year.  This was the second year at the new venue and it did not disappoint.  I had been scheduled to do a streamer presentation for this show but then was also asked to do a wet fly presentation at the last minute, so it was a jam packed day.  Both presentations had pretty solid attendance, especially since I was up against AK Best during the same presentation slots!   Speaking of AK Best, getting to hang out and BS with him again for a bit on Friday night was the highlight of the weekend for me as he is one of my fly tying idols.  What guys like Clouser and Galloup were to my streamer tying preference AK is to my office set up and production mindset.  Many of the techniques that I use for my production work and the set up of my workshop are based on his books 'Production Fly Tying: A Colllection of Ideas, Notions, Hints, & Variations on the Techniques of Fly Tying ' and 'Fly Tying with A. K.: Patterns & Problem Solving with New Materials & Techniques'.  There were a few unrepeatable stories told that had me laughing until I hurt. What a night!

 

Fly porn shot from the weekend...well, really Thursday night, Saturday night and Sunday.  Needless to say I spent a fair amount of time knocking these out and looks like I will be on this pace for atleast a few more weeks.  There is a combination of the White, northern Michigan, and general shack nasties that seems to bring the streamer guys out of the woodworks at this time of year.  Can't say I am not constantly thinking about getting out myself...

 

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Busy, and snowy, weekend

I do not care what the calendar says…winter is here in central Ohio.  After another couple blasts of snow last week, and the temperatures rarely even approaching the freezing mark, we are at record levels of snow and cold temps for this point in the year.  Maybe global warming is evaporating more water in to the atmosphere resulting in more snow…

A couple months ago I had made plans to head over to the Cattaraugus to swing flies for steelhead for a few days over this weekend so I had been watching the weather like a hawk.  If there was a weather report I was on it and I was tracking fronts like it was my job.  That ‘advanced scouting’ clued me in a couple weeks ago that it would likely not happen as there was an arctic front coming down hard on the region the week leading up to heading over.  I kept my fingers crossed that it would somehow dissipate but knew that was not likely as I have better odds gambling horses than I do getting good weather for trips.  Sure enough the front came through as expected and put everything in a deep freeze…porque no es buena for chasing chrome.  By Monday we already had all the information that we needed to make the crappy call and cancel the trip.

This left me with a  rare open weekend on the calendar; what to do…what to do…?

First things first, there were flies to tie so I got a bunch of prep work knocked out a couple orders and then started tying tails.  Feathers and fur where flying through the week quickly filling the garbage can each night.  The whole time at the vise though I had an eye on the local weather to see if there would be an opportunity to get out.  Thursday rolled around and the opportunity presented itself for Saturday.  I shot my buddy Scott a text message to see if he was around, and if so was he game to deal with inches of snow and/or rain with temps ranging 26-34 to go and take advantage of marginal at best flow levels to chase some fish.  The answer was a foregone conclusion of course.

Saturday morning came early but I was up and ready to hit the road.  After filling a couple thermos with coffee I was off in the snowstorm and headed towards the river.  I arrived with about 4” of fresh snow on the ground and the forecast was for precipitation of some sort without end until long after we would be off the river.  Shortly after I arrived Scott rolled in with a smile on his face and, after a quick car spot, we dropped in and I took first turn on the sticks.  I always keep an eye on local flows so I was not surprised at the low clear water that we had…but when you get the opportunity to get out you make the best of it.  As I carefully navigated our way downstream Scott was dialed in and hitting every likely spot…along with all the unlikely spots that big fish like to inhabit. 

We swapped off on the oars every so often and the man in the front made cast after cast.  We rolled through numerous fly patterns, different retrieves, and every conceivable type of water as we made our way downstream but were not rewarded with much action other than a few half hearted follows in the low and cold water.  Heavy snow turned to light snow, turned to freezing rain, turned to driving rain, turned to drizzle and still we kept the faith knowing each cast could be the one.

 

Pushing six hours in was the best action of the day.  We had made it through a long stretch of shallow and featureless water, and the first cover I saws was an overhanging tree just past a large undercut root ball.   The resulting current had dug out a pretty significant trough.  As we were still 20 yards upstream  I made a few casts to dial in  the distance then, as we got in to range, I dropped a perfect cast right in the bread bucket and made a quick upstream mend to let the fly get down.  I barely had time to get the first twitch and strip completed before the bottom seemed to erupt in buttery fury.  The beast had been perfectly camouflaged until it chose to attack and destroy the streamer.  As it hit and rolled I strip set hard and felt the weight then, after it rolled and headshook, I hit it again to try and drive the hook further home.   The second set pulled the fish a foot towards me so I thought I had a solid set.  As I fought the fish I heard the anchor go down an Scott was reaching back for the net…tense times.  The fish was right a the side of the boat as the net was brought to bear, then just as it was at the ready the fly simply came loose and the line went slack as the fish faded back in to the bottom.  “FUCK!!” was the first thing that came to mind…and voice…loudly. 

Starring sullenly down at the boat I had that crappy feeling inside that only comes from losing a fish like that.  After a minute I looked back at Scott and he had that look of disbelief too…we thought we had that one sewed up.  “Sorry bud.  Nothing I can say to make that better” were the words that came out of his mouth…and he was right.  That had been likely well over the 20” mark, was the thickest fish I have seen in a long time, and was so brightly yellow that it nearly seemed fluorescent.

We finished out the stretch with renewed attention but I couldn’t fully shake that pit in my stomach knowing that we had missed a buttery golden opportunity.   I have replayed that fight time over and over in my head and don’t think there is anything I would have done differently.  Sometimes the dice just don’t roll your way.  Still sucks when it happens.   In the end though I realize that it is unbelievably cool to see a fish like that, and I have him marked for round two sometime in the near future.

Sunday was mostly spent at the desk building stock throughout the day, under the watchful eye of my assistant, until it was time to hit a company Christmas party later in the day.  At the party many pleasantries were exchanged and I was asked how things had been going,  I did say I’d been out all Saturday in the snow, but left out ‘the fish’…still too soon.

Next time it ends differently…I hope…

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Out from under a rock

Well, this has been the longest that I have gone without posting here since I started it up.  Not so coincidentally that matches up to what has been an extremely busy time at the desk, and something had to give!   Since the camping trip back in October I have made it out on quick exploratory trips locally to keep tabs on the conditions and tweak patterns, but never really had a chance to get out and fish hard for an extended period.  I was busy enough with flies and life in general that this was the first fall since I moved to Ohio (fifteen years ago) that I literally did not head up to Erie a single time for the fall steelhead run!  The whole time I consoled myself that it was OK as I was going to head to the Catt to swing flies with some good friends and that would make up for it…but that trip was scheduled to start tomorrow and the this current arctic blast we are enduring has it locked up.  Guess I’ll tie some more!

Don’t get me wrong, being extremely busy is certainly a ‘first-world problem’ and I am very thankful for all of the business.  It seems that more and more people are sourcing at least a part of their fly arsenal from local US tiers, and that is very exciting for me.  This was once again the best year for Anglers Choice Flies in terms of volume, sales, and exposure.  This sort of year does not happen without the support of the tying and fishing community so I thank you all.

In the coming months I will be on the show circuit, though not as heavily as the last few years.  I will try to get some shots up as they come and go, and I do also plan to get back to hitting the water more often as we get in to the spring.  There are a handful of patterns that I have been working on since last year that have been kept close to the vest, but after tweaking in the fall are about ready for some action.  I plan to release some of those over the winter as well as some more step by steps for both patterns and techniques.  I do have plans for some video projects in the works now as well since I have both the software and hardware to make it happen, so watch for short videos to start dropping sometime later this winter once I have a better handle on the editing.

It’s early yet, technically not even winter, but the early cold and snow out west already makes for a promising spring and summer.  It is something that I keep a close eye on as I will again be headed out to Wyoming in July to chase fish around with hoppers.  The last two years that trip has been the highlight of each years fishing as the scenery and company is only surpassed by the amazing fishing itself.  If you missed the posts about it check them out from the last two Julys.  I am super excited to have the trip back on the calendar and do have just two spots remaining available, so if you are interested in tagging along drop me an email for the details.

I want to thank you for all the support that has allowed me to grow Anglers Choice Flies year after year.  The ever increasing interest in tying, new flies, new materials and techniques has been fantastic to see and is indicative of a group of people dedicated in their pursuit of what they love.  I greatly enjoy both watching and contributing in any small way to that growth and catching up with friends, new and old, along the way. 

In case I do not get back on here before then or catch you on the water…have a Merry Christmas and fish on in to the new year!

Jan 15 and 22   Streamer Class at Mad River Outfitters, Columbus OH

Jan 24-26  The Fly Fishing Show, Somerset NJ

Feb 1  Greater Cinci Fly Fishing Expo, Cincinnati OH  (Streamer tying workshop)

Feb 3, 10, 17, 24  Advanced Tying Class at Mad River Outfitters, Columbus OH

March 8-9  Midwest Fly Fishing Expo, Warren MI

March 12  Bar Flies with Schultz Outfitters, Ypsilanti MI

March 22  Tie One On, Syracuse NY

July  11-15  Hopper Extravaganza, Wyoming



-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com