FlyTalk

Mid summer and your fishing gear is askew. There's tippet in every pocket, rods are stuck from the front seat through the back two for months, and flies are stuck everywhere.

It seems like this time of year I find flies on the floor, stuck in the couch, on the cat, and randomly coming out with the clean laundry (the girlfriend loves that one). I found this one sweeping up the garage the other day.

Where's the strangest place you've found a fly?

TR

13 mile hike this past sunday in Rocky Mountain National Park. Angler: Nick Sommer. One cast. One Fish.

I don't know about you folks, but when I was young I didn't get into burning insects with a magnifying glass or dousing them in gasoline. Nope, I was far more sadistic. I'd find bugs and feed them to panfish, trout, or the most creepy of all - spiders. Talk about a slow painful death...

I spent the last week helping my good friends at Horny Toad clothing company on a photo shoot in Baja. The surf camp we were shooting had spiders hanging from almost every cactus in sight. Along with the spiders were tons of beetles minding their own business in the dirt. The last day I was there the lightbulb finally went on... For the remaining couple of hours we were in camp I was the nut job hooping and hollering around camp throwing beetles to their deaths and filming it with my little point and shoot.

I figured since most fisherman are entomologists on some level you'd get a kick out of this. It took the spider all of two minutes to completely wrap this guy up.

Happy friday and have a great weekend.

TR

I apologize for the lack of a post yesterday and I'm sure Deeter is cursing me up and down right now having to do "work" in the Bahamas, but if you'll take a look at the photo below I think you might be able to guess where I was from about 6:00am to 6:00pm yesterday. If you have no idea what this creature is, click here (watch The Hatch) and prepare to set aside a week of must do fishing at some point in your life.

TR

This is what happens when your fishing partner drinks way over his allotment of caffeinated beverages in the car with a vice that's within arms reach and a limited supply of tying materials. It should be stated that he does not in fact have an infatuation with worms, but that the river we we're traveling to was colored chocolate from the start of run-off.

TR

Our photographer friend and contributor to Field and Stream magazine Tosh Brown sent us this video collage the other day. Apparently his mind was wandering during an Easter sermon last month. He immediately came home an pounded out this homage. He's hoping he doesn't get labeled blasphemer. Come on Tosh... we know a religious experience when we see it.

Crank up the volume and let Beethoven and Handel send you off to a fish-filled weekend.

TR

It's the splash. That noise you hear behind you, up stream, or on the other side of the boat. You know, when it's just getting dark.

Possibly catching a glimpse of the water splashing down, or a tail slipping back into the water. Just when you'd given up hope that there were even fish to be had where you decided to wet a line. That stupid little sound that makes you stay an extra hour.

This particular splash was a bit bigger than normal. What do you think made it?

tim

Well folks, I'm lazy and can barely put together a coherent sentence on a regular basis so I give you yet another simple photograph. It's what I do best. We'll leave that fancy writing stuff up to Kirk.

This photo just ran as a full page in The Drake magazine. It was included in a photo essay on water dogs. Nice piece if I do say so myself. I highly recommend picking the latest issue up at your local fly shop. It's their tenth anniversary issue.

This is our good friend Jack West of Alabama and his dog Mama. She pretty much demands front seat.

tim

Todays post is simple and as carp are still fresh on the brain I thought I'd give you what I consider a stunning photo of a carp from our friend Joey. Not sure how he made such a beautiful picture with such an ugly fish...

Enjoy,

Tim