Recent years my son has been coming steelhead fishing and we've had some great times together on the river. Last November he'd fished for two days without landing a fish, but was dutiful (and skillful) in netting fish for our party of four rods without grumble. The memories are burnt in but it's even better when friends capture some of the finer moments when everything clicks. The short film below shows the team effort involved - yours truly with the fun part of playing the fish, my pal Todd with the excellent camera work, and my lad making good with the net (he got so far under this one that ..read more

Joke, courtesy of my 7 and 4 year olds:   - Daughter: “Daddy I don’t like the holes in the Swiss cheese!” - Son: “Well just eat around them.”   Topic: Moving over to saltwater fly fishing along the northern NJ coast and bays. Haven’t really found a good source for obtaining flies and don’t have the space to tie my own. Any recommendations for where to find flies well suited for these waters?   Other than the typical streams — also interested in patterns that could mimick green crabs or sand fleas with a big egg sack. Closet I have found of any quality for the latter is the tying ..read more

I built both of these rods late in the fall/early winter and I only threw them briefly at that time. I’m getting ready for my tarpon trip and I’m pairing up rod & lines and practicing. I’ve played with both now to have enough to report. For reminders, both are one piece rods, 8’10” in length.   10wt: This rod is very nice. It will likely be the 1A rod for the trip. I beats out both of my Burk 10s (not by much) and it leaves the Sage Salt R8 10 in the dust (in typical Sage fashion that rod is more like a 10 1/2 or 11wt rod, it fails as a 10). I’ve thrown both a SA Grand Slam and a SA I ..read more

With temperatures in the 70F range last Saturday was an excellent day to be out and about again. I tried an inner village stretch of the stream I fish hoping to run into some schools of fish. The waterlevels had dropped to near normal but clarity was pretty low. It looked all in all pretty good but I did not get any takes whatever I tried. Dredging the bottom with a squirmy only brought one gudgeon to the light, at least that showed I was fishing deep enough. The mill pool again totally dead, even dragged a streamer through the murky water hoping  for a perch or trout but no show again ..read more

Just returned from my everglades city trip. Very cool and unusual place. It was so different from my normal keys trip. Had a charter for 3 days but the wind was brutal.  Last day it blew 30. Nice thing about 10k islands is you can usually get in the Lee somewhere.  Had many shots a 100 lb plus fish. Managed to only jump a few with nothing in hand. Many follows and refusals. Casting at laid up 100 pounders in 3 feet of water is nerve wracking.  Everything need to be perfect. The cast the swing the drift, it's wild and exciting stuff. My guide was awesome and he drove around those ..read more

I’d like to shout out this community and every who has responded to my posts recently. I caught my first ever trout/fish on a fly rod and I see why you all enjoy it. It is AMAAAAZING! My god. Everything feels giant ..read more

My better half and I spent a few days on Grand Cayman last week, and while it was a not a "fishing first" trip, I did get out a few early mornings while my wife sipped coffee and read books like a civilized person. There seem to be tarpon everywhere, particularly around docks, and behind water front restaurants with lights.  Unfortunately a lot of places are closed to fishing.  Anyone who goes there needs to check out the rules: https://doe.ky/marine/marine-parks/marine-parks-boundary-maps/    Barker's National Park is where I spent my 2 mornings fishing.  Gorgeo ..read more

Just read the email, coming soon. Atlas carbon fiber guides with zirconium ring. The claim is just as strong but 10% lighter than comparable REC sizes. So who's going to try them...not me I'm done building fly rods.   ..read more

If this is a stupid question, please say so, but the fly shack advertises premium fly line overruns, at more than reasonable prices. Does anyone know what these lines typically are? Would love a non max catch option for cheap lines when needed ..read more

any knowledgeable orvis reel fans out there?  any thoughts on the two reels?  i would be using these strictly freshwater primarily for smallmouth, so drag performance doesn't seem to matter ..read more