photos by Matthew Brown
After a few facebook texts on whether Matt’s flies were in the zone or not, Matt got the green light and went down to the water the past few days with confidence landing two nice fair-caught corbina on his custom-tied surfin merkins! He even dropped a couple of fish, but that is always part of this game! Looks like some picture perfect sight-fishing water behind you! Way to go Matt!
top left: geofish boys, top right: no explanation needed, bottom left: the waterfall of tinsel with john frazier in bg, next: tuffleye squid foil fly tied by the Qman, bottm right: lefty, ned lunt, president of tuffleyand al q
Well I arrived back from Las Vegas on friday night, my Southwest flight got bumped a few hours but that’s par these days. Icast was a blast, it was really cool that the entire industry was represented under one roof. In the past, the International Fly Fishing show has been in Denver and recently in New Orleans as a solo event. My only concern was they had the fly guys on one side of the Convention center. I feel that the fishing industry should be represented as one industry, especially since this was a great opportunity for it all to be under one roof. I felt the fly guys were a little too isolated and sort of thrown to one side. I hope they can intergrate everyone at the next one in Orlando 2014. I feel it will help us to cross over a little more and build more enthusiasm in our fly fishing industry. That said, it was overall a fantastic show showcasing all the new products for next year. It is also a great conference to meet up with many old east coast faces that I do not get to see very often, sort of like a high school reunion. I was invited to tie some flies for Ned Lunt and Ashley Armbruster of Wet a Hook technologies and Tuffleye acrylic fly tying products. We tried to feature the new Bob Popovic’s fleye foils such as the candy and squid series. Really easy and durable flies to tie and cure that represent simple baits and squids. I want to make a couple of notes about Tuffleye that I really need some of our young California fly tiers need to hear! Please take this to heart…
Tuffleye DOES NOT USE UV!!!!! It is a MEDICAL grade, FDA approved safe acrylic that has been around for over forty five years in the dental and medical industries. It what dentists use in your mouth. It uses VISIBLE BLUE LIGHT that will not harm your eyes as long as you never look into the light directly. Visible blue light is like the blue you see in the rainbow! UV is invisible, your eyes can not react to it like visible light. UV is dangerous! THIS IS REALLY AN IMPORTANT ISSUE! UV has been known to cause skin cancer and cataracts, that is why I choose not to fool with it. UV can cause accumulative damage, like smoking. One or two cigarettes won’t harm you but smoking packs of cigarettes over many years will catch up to you. Since I began using Tuffleye, thanks to Bob Popovics (who has more experience with epoxy than anyone I know tying fies) I can not live without it and it has changed the way I think and tie flies. Tuffleye is a great product! Please visit the Tuffleye Website for more info!
Ned Lunt is a dentist an chemist, has made sure that his product was a very safe choice for fly tiers to use to replace epoxy without UV! I use it with a clear conscience on all my flies for durability in saltwater.
big corbina sliding. photo by Al Q
Zino making the cast. photo by Al Q
Zino sealing the deal…photos by Al Q
My buddy, Zino Nakasuji had been texting his reports to me the past few days and was getting a little frustrated, he was seeing fish and getting grabs but the fish were all unbuttoning. I can relate, believe me! Anyhow, I told him the meet me at one of my favorite spots this morning. I had spotted some fish there on Monday and I knew the tide would be perfect for seeing fish. I didn’t say catching because these fish can drive ya nuts! LOL We changed the fly to a little larger profile, still a size 6 but a wider, pink model. From the time we got to the spot, the fish were all over the place moving up and down. I was seeing fish all the way down the beach. We began working, casting, walking and stalking, trying to line up shots to multiple fish. I saw Zino get a couple of bumps, then bingo, he was on! His reel screaming and a big wake flying across the flat. After a few nice runs and a tug of war, Zino slid the fat fish onto the wet sand. He ended up going one for two this morning, landing a second fat fish that was fouled. Lots of shots, a few laughs and a little slight sprinkle of rain later, I waved goodbye to Zino as I had to get off to work. Great morning, mission accomplished and one stoked angler! Zino sealed the deal! Tonight I am off to Icast for a few days. I will be tying for Tuffleye, if any of you are around please come by and say Hi! Also this coming Saturday I am giving a corbina presentation to the Sierra Fly Fishers at the Long Beach Casting Club at 7pm, all are welcome!
photo courtesy of sealander.
How about a teardrop trailer that turns into a boat for those kick back back bays or lakes? Crack a cold one and enjoy the scenery. Check out Sealander!
top left: John Whitaker, bottom left: John Bryan, right: John Dietch
photo courtesy of Bob Berry Fish Carvings
Last Monday I had the pleasure of doing a fly fishing lecture at the San Diego Fly Fishers. I briefly met a man named Bob Berry who was sitting next to this exquisite fish carving. Turns out Bob is a member of the club and was showing off his latest sabre squirrelfish that just happened to win best In world miniature 2013. Pretty impressive I would say. I asked him for his business card and checked out his website when I got home. I was blown away by the detailed workmanship of all his fish sculptures. Please check out Bob’s Website, www.bobberryfishcarvings.com, and maybe give him a shout out if you are looking for that special piece of art for your fly tying or living room. Nice work Bob!
photo courtesy of fast coexist.com
I remember the first time I witnessed a large ocean creature, beached high and dry rotting and rolling in the surf line. It was a large leatherback turtle, over five hundred pounds, she had expired either from old age or illness. that was in the late seventies and it was in the Atlantic on Breezy Point, New York, right in front of our small beach cottage. I had to be in my early teens and it seemed surreal seeing this large deceased reptile right where I swam everyday. I remember the scientists and biologists all came to the scene to determine cause of death and get tissue samples. The Belgian Art Collective, Captain Boomer is displaying a plexiglass leviathan along with fake scientists at London’s International Festival of the Arts for all people to witness this often sad event of beached sea creatures for those never having the first hand experience. Click her for article!
courtesy of Flymen Fishing Company
More toys to play with from Flymen Flyfishing Co.
photos by John Dietch
Here’s a few that were landed this morning by friend, John Dietch in the Southland. Looks like John’s fish ate a grey merkin. John had been having a tough time the past few outings but closed the deal this morning with a nice fish that was fair caught on the fly. His buddy from back east, I hear has been putting a hurt on the fish the past few days like there’s nothing to it…
image courtesy of the bbd news.
This goes out to all fly fishers, men and women, keep a youthful spirit.
flies, sand & surf 