WALTER

It's a fish that goes by many names. Gator, Piggy, Walter, River Unicorn, Hog Johnson.... Regardless of your chosen name it is the fish of a lifetime, and Kelly Neuman of Streamside Custom Rod and Guide Service brought one to hand today. Fishing his stomping grounds on Michigan's beautiful Au Sable river he convinced this 30.5" resident brown that that ACF Firetiger Double Deceiver he was chucking was indeed a meal worth moving for. Needless to say that is one hell of a fish. Congratulations Kelly!!

I got the text from Kelly this morning about this fish and had a smile going all day thinking about it, and picturing it in my head. It is pretty much the epitome of vicarious fishing.

This batch of flies just happened to hit the mail headed north to Kelly this morning just before I got the text. Conrad Sculpins, Double Deceivers, Fin Clips and Red Rockets all ready to chase the next fish of a lifetime! This was the last order I am filling before hitting the road after work to drive south. Looking forward to spending a week relaxing on the beach before the craziness of show season kicks in. Hopefully I will come back with a few more fish pictures from the salt...

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Went to see a man about a fish...

Oh what a day! I got a call a few days ago that Greg Senyo and a number of his crew were going to be hanging out at Conneaut Creek Club on Friday night and was invited to make my way up. I had just received my new 7WT switch rod in the mail so I of course said "Absolutely!". After a night of cocktails, stories, and tying we hit the sack and woke up to a crisp morning and headed out. With all the water lately there was not a whole lot of rivers fishable so we headed over to the Elk and were pleasantly surprised to see there was 18-20" of vis and good solid flow...perfect swinging water.


It took all of about six casts for Greg to get us on the board with a fish the nearly ripped the rod out of his hands. It was really cool to see a guy that has caught as many fish as he has still get super jacked about a good chrome tug.


Of course I made sure that I got in on the action as well. After a pair of fish that received a long distance release, including a real toad that popped 12lb flouro, I buttoned up this nice buck. A couple hard runs and jumps later I wrangled him in to the waiting net and simply smiled.


Here is another female that I brought to hand. I was surprised when I saw her size as I expected a behemouth based on how hard she crushed the fly. All told on the day Greg and I hooked up to 8 fish, all on the swing, and brought four of them in. Really a great day on the water!


Here is a shot of one of the fish with the new switch rod from Mystic Outdoors. It is a 11'3" 7WT that cast beautifully when matched up with a 400gr SA Skagit Extreme Short head to Dragon Tail shooting line.

Can't wait for the next time I get up there in a few weeks!

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Regal Engineering Pro-Staff

This just in....Mike Schmidt is the newest member of the Regal Engineering Pro-Staff!


For the better part of the last decade I have been tying on the same vise for both personal and commercial tying. While it has been a real workhorse for me I wanted to be sure that I was working with the best tools for me, so about a year ago I decided to keep an open mind about what my next vise would be when the time came. There are a lot of quality vises on the market today and I needed something that would be low maintenance and reliable, true rotary, as well as comfortably fit my hands. I know many people that tie on and talked highly of their Regal vises, but it was Greg Senyo that really convinced me that they are a phenomenal option since he and I tie a similar volume and style.

Earlier this year I decided that I needed something more portable for taking on road trips, so I picked up the Regal Travel vise and was very impressed with how well it performed. In August Greg introduced me to Don Barnes, of Regal, as we were packing to leave the Naknek River Camp in Alaska and Don was on his way in for the week. After talking about the fishing we had experienced over the previous week the discussion turned to gear. I told Don then that I was glad to have the opportunity to tell him in person that I was very impressed with the Travel Vise. After then being contacted by Mike McAuliffe to gauge my interest, I made the decision to join the Regal Pro-Staff and have been tying on the Regal Revolution...which is AWESOME!

I am looking forward to a great working relationship with Regal and their staff.

-mike schmidt
http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/

Salmonfest 2011 video!

While we were up on the PM chasing kings around we had a few HD video cameras along for the ride. Brian Jester, of Balatro Photography, was along for the fishing and took all the raw footage home to see what he could put together. He touched base today to let me know that we have seven minutes of fish porn ready for HD viewing complete with a Michael Bay style intro. It is a big file, so if it gets choppy then pause to let it buffer for smooth play.

Check it out!



-mike schmidt
http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/

Crappy Detroit sports weekend

Sorry for the short post, but I spent the weekend tying while getting kicked in my Detroit sports nuts...frankly it sucked. Got a good number of flies knocked out and ready to hit the mail in the morning.

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Streamer Presentation at MVFF

Had a great time last night giving my newly updated streamer presentation to the Miami Valley Fly Fishers in Dayton Ohio. It was a good size group that was a real pleasure to be infront of as they payed close attentionand had great questions throughout.

Here are a few pictures from the evening as well as the video of the Pitzen Knot as promised! The Pitzen is the knot that I use for all my leader to fly connections. It is a easy knot to tie with the highest break strength of any knot, and it literally clicks in to place when tied correctly








-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Salmonfest 2011...what a few days

Headed up to Baldwin Michigan for the yearly salmontrip with buddies to the Pere Marquette. The rumor has had it that this was the largest run, both for size and numbers, in a few decades...and I was amazed to see that the rumors were right on. This is a picture heavy post with a few comments along the way.

Early morning Mike was getting the rig set up and ready to go by the light of his headlamp.

At the same time Brian was getting his camera tuned in.

It did not take long for the first player to come to hand. There were a TON of fish around with plenty of them being fish that had plenty left in the tank to put serious bend in the rod.



Every back eddy was absolutely full of eggs swirling around.

Mike hooked up on a solid fish that needed netted.

I think the grin says it all! After this fight the fish was a bit tough to get lifted for a shot.

But not too tough.



The colors on this trip were in full swing. It was gorgeous in every direction.





This was one of two fish Mike landed that Boga'd over 22 pounds. This fish put on one sick show.





Brian with his first of the year, an acrobatic buck that was hanging off the back of a deep bed munching eggs.



Sometimes you need a helping hand to keep the stick at the ready while rigging.



Brian with his biggest fish of any kind to date. He did everything right while fighting this fish and is looking forward to besting it once his arm recovers.



Struggling to lift! This was another one over 22lb.



Needless to say this trip was an absolute blast. Good friends, good fishing, great location, anf great cocktails! Plans for next year were being formed before we even left.



The obligatory final fish porn shot.

-mike schmidt
http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/

Last few days before I get my gear together for the annual trip with some buddies up to the Pere Marquette to chase around some salmon and enjoy a few cocktails. Knocked out some Senyo Egg Raiders and Wiggle Stones for a steelhead crazed friend.

Also knocked out a few more orders for Red Rockets, Voodoo Squatch, Meal Tickets, Double Deceivers, and Robinson Munchable Minnows. Looking forward to seeing pictures of these with some fish soon.

Time for me to stock back up on my salmon stones, caddis, eggs, and egg sucking leeches. Hope to have some good pictures and video to post when I get back!

-mike schmidt
http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/