Monday, January 31, 2011

Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum


Livingston Manor, New York                   Phone: 845-439-4810                Email: flyfish@catskill.net
On Saturday, February 12 from 10 AM – 4 PM The Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum (CFFCM), in cooperation with sponsors Catskill Flies and ClassicTrout.com will host the Fourth annual Fly Fest.
Fly Fest is a gathering of 50+ fly tyers who get together every year in the CFFCM to tie flies and
minimize cabin fever and mid winter blues. Both professional and amateur tyers from all over the Northeast come to share their latest patterns, swap stories and tie flies for the upcoming season. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the warmth of the day inside and pick up some pointers from the group. On this day, Fly Tyers are sure to see their shadow and return to their basements for another 6 weeks of fly tying, just in time to return for the 2011 Trout Season Opener at Junction Pool in Roscoe, NY. Volunteer Coordinators for this event are JB Martin, Jack Ganz, and ‘Catskill John’ Bonasera.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Friday Bacon!

It was appropriately pointed out to me today that I had been in serious deficit as to the posting of Friday Bacon.
I thank our Southern Minion Associate for calling out this egregious shortcoming.
In an effort to abate this serious bacon paucity I bring you, bacon infinity!
And in the spirit of the upcoming annual football orgasm, may your eyes feast on the magnificent Bacon Lombardi Trophy.
Happy Friday!

New Minion Fashions Available Soon

Now taking advance orders for short sleeve Columbia "Bonehead" Shirts in Windsor blue.
 Shirts will have the standard Minion Flyfishing logo embroidered on the upper chest.
Suggestions have been made to include a strip of bacon graphic on the upper back?
Regular sizes are now $29.95 plus embroidery & shipping.
I plan to place the order by February 12th.
To order I'll need Name, Quantity and Size.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Fishbeer posts an awesome new video, "Winter"

In this amazingly insightful video Matt Dunn, blogger extraordinaire at Fishbeer, successfully captures the various and assorted phases of the SHACK NASTIES.  As this interminably long long winter season moves ever slow slowly forward, we all come too understand just exactly where Mr. Dunn is coming from.  Bravo sir, bravo...

Winter from fishbeer on Vimeo.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Introducing




Here we have Curly Sporting the latest in the "I like Bacon/Fat Chicks" fashion line.


The Fly Fishing Show, Somerset, NJ Edition

Bear and I made the pilgrimage this year to take part in the various and assorted festivities found at The Fly Fishing Show.
To our great dismay the VIP parking area was full and despite much flashing of our Minion Flyfishing credentials we were forced to park with the unwashed masses in the "additional parking" area. Additional parking is code for about three quarters of a mile away from the exhibit center entrance. The walk was nice, but the 2 degree actual temp. + the arctic windchill made for an unfortunate choice; carry a heavy parka all day or freeze during transit to the entrance. Bear chose the latter and I the former. I don't believe either of us were particularly pleased with our decisions.
The show seemed to have more club/fundraising booths in the entrance area than I recall from past attendance. We ran this gauntlet without suffering from undue wallet shrinkage and made our way through the admissions process and thence into the exhibit hall.
There were ~6 aisles of fly fishing related booths including; featured tyers, lodges, travel companies, chamber of commerce type organizations, manufacturer displays and retail vendors. As in the past amenities included the flycasting pond, decidedly ho-hum food service area and beer/wine service.
Enjoy some photos of the more interesting items we discovered:

Simms has released the very special camouflage edition of its products.  Bear and I determined that this new product line must be targeting the very fashion conscious Berwick, Pennsylvania angler.  We all know how they love their camo.

The waders,
 the lumbar pack,
 and the very stealthy softshell jacket.
 We chatted briefly with this fine gentleman representing Fish Pimp.  In addition to their line up of tongue in cheek clothing and accessories we discovered a previously unknown attribute of the dimpled Fish Pimp indicators.  There is a small hole through the side of the indicator opposite the slot that allows semipermanent rigging with a perfect 90 degree drift setup for all day nymphing.  We thought this would be very nice for some of our friends who are prone to indicator loss.



 Our hero Bear attempts to chat with his hero Cathy Beck.
 It was a long and trying day but on your behalf, we persevered.  Following the return home the flask has been refilled and the schwag stashed.  Here's a video review from PAFLYFISHING.COM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGbFHH9I1ug

Monday, January 17, 2011

Sunday, January 16, 2011

A fine idea for the Newbie Minion Fly Tiers...

A very manly wardrobe accoutrement...

The Fly Fishing Show

The Fly Fishing Show
in lovely Somerset, NJ's

Garden State Convention Center
January 21, 22, 23 2011

Show Hours: Fri 10 - 6; Sat 8:30 - 6:00; Sun 9 - 4:30

Admission: Adult: $15 admission
                  Children under 5 FREE, Under 12: $2
                  Scouts under 16 in uniform: FREE
                  Active Military: $10


Show M.C., as always is the indomitable Chuck Furimsky.


The show will also be attended by the usual "fly fishing celebrity" suspects:

Barry & Cathy Beck
A.K. Best
Gary Borger
Bob Clouser
Jeff Currier
Ed Engle
Lefty Kreh
Dave Whitlock
Mike, "there is no room here because I'm guiding," Heck

All the traditional fun combined with the bargain hunting of a down economy.

Who's in?

The Hunt!!!



Our companions, Holly and Juno, and the fruits of their labor. These winged terrors were no match for the Minions marksmanship.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Classic


Because I was bored and had not posted anything in a while, here is a classic picture of what a whole day of steelhead fishing, dealing with brothers and dead batteries, and drinking whiskey can lead to.

What is Tenkara fishing and Why is it so Hot?

Here's the inside skinny on Tenkara fishing:
http://allenflyfishing.myshopify.com/blogs/news
Remember to practice catch and release!