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Thursday, March 21, 2013
Got Some More Swag from TFM
Recently Cameron was having a sale over at TFM on apparel. Who doesn't need more TFM shirts?? Probably this guy but I was able to convince Melissa to spend a little more money and order two shirts. I got another bluegill shirt, shocker, in burnt orange and the comrade shirt in red. I can't wait to start reppin' some TFM while swinging some glass.
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Now on Instagram
Want to see more pictures of our flies... and our dogs... and my raging addiction to tying suppies?? We're now on Instagram! Follow us at jandmflies.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Volunteers Needed
Hi all, I've been super busy lately (orders!! orders!! orders!!) but wanted to take a minute to share the info below. Please consider volunteering for one or both days if you live in the area. It's a great event!
I have two blog posts in the works, one about a Beaver Creek outing (fishing success!!) and one about the Fly Fishing Film Tour the wife and I attended.
More importantly, however:
City Catch is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2013. As always, we need volunteers to make this annual event a success.
MD TU will need volunteers on two days. On Friday, April 12th, we will stock 800 Rainbows in Dead Run, a pretty stream in Leakin Park. Stocking, which is always fun and interesting, will take place in the morning at a time to be announced.
City Catch itself will take place on Saturday, April 13th. We need anglers (no experience necessary) to serve as guides to teach the kids the fun of fishing and the value of conservation.
On the 13th, we ask volunteers to arrive by 8:00 a.m. for a brief orientation. At 9:00 a.m., 90 kids will arrive for a half day of fishing followed by a hotdog lunch at noon. MDTU will provide each child with a spinning rod and tackle that they can take home. Our aim is to have one guide for every two kids.
I have two blog posts in the works, one about a Beaver Creek outing (fishing success!!) and one about the Fly Fishing Film Tour the wife and I attended.
More importantly, however:
City Catch is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2013. As always, we need volunteers to make this annual event a success.
MD TU will need volunteers on two days. On Friday, April 12th, we will stock 800 Rainbows in Dead Run, a pretty stream in Leakin Park. Stocking, which is always fun and interesting, will take place in the morning at a time to be announced.
City Catch itself will take place on Saturday, April 13th. We need anglers (no experience necessary) to serve as guides to teach the kids the fun of fishing and the value of conservation.
On the 13th, we ask volunteers to arrive by 8:00 a.m. for a brief orientation. At 9:00 a.m., 90 kids will arrive for a half day of fishing followed by a hotdog lunch at noon. MDTU will provide each child with a spinning rod and tackle that they can take home. Our aim is to have one guide for every two kids.
City Catch is fun and rewarding. The volunteers enjoy themselves as much as the kids. City Catch is, however, volunteer intensive, and we need your help. You can volunteer for the 12th, the 13th, or both. Our greatest need is on the 13th when the kids arrive.
If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Ben Legg -
Registration Link: https://events.r20.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Patuxent River Fishing Report
Got out Thursday 02/28/2013 and fished with Jon again for a little bit. I was pressed for time given the current amount of fly orders so I decided we could chase some trout at the Patuxent River. The area we were going to fish was only about 20 minutes from my house so it would be perfect.
When I left the house, the temp was around 45 degree. By the time I met Jon in the parking lot, the temp had fallen and so had some snow. My hands were already freezing. Determined, we headed out down stream. This "river" is really a stream. The stream had been stocked with about 1000 rainbows the week before. It has a terrible aquatic inset life it seems and a ton of silt. That coupled with the warm, low water in the summer, it usually has very few hold over fish. A shame really.
I decided to stick with the Eagle Claw 6'6 Featherlight with 5wt line. I also decided to throw the Fish Skull pattern again. The first run we stopped in, I pulled off some line and started stripping the fly. Almost immediately, I got follows. Within a few casts, I had a hook up and just as quick lost the fish. Damn. Rainbows 1 J&M Flies 0. Over the next two hours, I managed to move a few fish with the chartreuse Road Kill. I lost another small Fish Skull in white to a fish. The 'bows really seemed to love it. They would chase it almost to shore. It was a shame to lose both of them to fish. They loved them so much they decided to keep them as lip rings. Bastards!
Overall, it was a cold day with some follows. I managed to land 1 'bow and two creek chubs. In the end, I lost 7 rainbows. Not my finest outing by a long shot. Jon hooked up a number of times but could not bring anything to hand. I am really diggin the Fish Skulls and can't wait to try them for smallies and panfish in the summer.
When I left the house, the temp was around 45 degree. By the time I met Jon in the parking lot, the temp had fallen and so had some snow. My hands were already freezing. Determined, we headed out down stream. This "river" is really a stream. The stream had been stocked with about 1000 rainbows the week before. It has a terrible aquatic inset life it seems and a ton of silt. That coupled with the warm, low water in the summer, it usually has very few hold over fish. A shame really.
I decided to stick with the Eagle Claw 6'6 Featherlight with 5wt line. I also decided to throw the Fish Skull pattern again. The first run we stopped in, I pulled off some line and started stripping the fly. Almost immediately, I got follows. Within a few casts, I had a hook up and just as quick lost the fish. Damn. Rainbows 1 J&M Flies 0. Over the next two hours, I managed to move a few fish with the chartreuse Road Kill. I lost another small Fish Skull in white to a fish. The 'bows really seemed to love it. They would chase it almost to shore. It was a shame to lose both of them to fish. They loved them so much they decided to keep them as lip rings. Bastards!
Overall, it was a cold day with some follows. I managed to land 1 'bow and two creek chubs. In the end, I lost 7 rainbows. Not my finest outing by a long shot. Jon hooked up a number of times but could not bring anything to hand. I am really diggin the Fish Skulls and can't wait to try them for smallies and panfish in the summer.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Size 4 Pencil Popper Paint Job
Recently, we did a custom paint job for someone. They wanted us to reproduce the Heddon Torpedo paint scheme on a pencil popper. We, of course, jumped at the chance to do this. What a great idea and a neat challenge. For those of us that fished with conventional tackle before making our way to fly fishing, I am sure we all used or at least know of the Heddon Torpedo. I had a few myself in various sizes. Anyways, our customer wanted us to paint the pencil popper just like the Heddon Torpedo. While we could not reproduce all the spots since there wasn't enough room on the body given the size, I think we did a pretty good job. I like this fly a lot. I can't wait to see what he catches with it.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Beaver Creek Fishing Report
Since I can't do any warm water fishing right now thanks to the weather, I decided to turn my attention to trout. I would really like to up my trout game. I used to chase them all the time but in the past several years I only go out for them maybe a handful of times. It isn't a case of not wanting to chase them, I just tend to be busy tying during trout season. I will add though that I would rather chase smallies and panfish on the fly but given the time of year, beggars can't be choosers. Seems when trout season rolls in here in Maryland, most people are stocking up on flies in anticipation for Spring. As such, we tend to be very busy during this time frame.
I did manage to slip out on Sunday 02/24/2013 for a little fishing up at Beaver Creek. For those that don't know, Beaver Creek is Maryland's only true limestone spring stream and has wild browns in it. There are some rainbows here and there as well. This was only my second time going to this stream. I like it and I would like to fish it more. Boy though can it be tough. Don't expect to go there and have 20 fish days. These fish are well educated and need to be stalked at times. With the brush, trees, and undergrowth casting can be a challenge as well. The stream is healthy though and has a ton of aquatic insect life as you will see from the photos below. To read about my earlier report on Beaver Creek from last year check it out here.
I had Jon and Debbie meet me at my house Sunday morning. We have been friends for a while now but only managed to fish one other time together. My full time job tends to get in the way of fishing sometimes. Craziness! It was good to see them and good to be out fishing with them again. The temp was 37 degrees but with the wind chill it was 27. Tough fishing conditions. I, however, was going crazy sitting in the house and had to fish soon so I was going regardless. I was having a bad case of cabin fever. Jon and Debbie finally arrived and off we went. Upon arrival, we hit up the Beaver Creek Fly Shop for some goodies. I spoke with the owner James about the stream and what was working. If you are in the area or want to fish the stream, check out the Beaver Creek Fly Shop. They have a great selection of stuff and James in well versed on the stream. They can be found here.
We finally hit the water and started fishing. I decided to rock some fiberglass again and was using my Eagle Claw Featherlight 6'6 rod. In an effort to do some R&D, I decided to throw the small size 10 white Fish Skull bait fish pattern I have been working on. I wanted to check it and make sure it swam right but I also thought I could move some big browns with it. I have heard stories and seen a few photos about the big browns that cruise this stream. Some go as high as 27 inches. Monsters indeed! I was hoping to latch on to one of these brutes by swinging the white bait fish pattern. Sadly, it was not to be. We managed to work our way down stream and find a decent hole that had rising fish in it. I switched to a size 18 black trico with white poly wings. On my second drift, I stuck a brown about 15 or so inches but lost him. A few drifts later, I managed to land this brownie
I did manage to slip out on Sunday 02/24/2013 for a little fishing up at Beaver Creek. For those that don't know, Beaver Creek is Maryland's only true limestone spring stream and has wild browns in it. There are some rainbows here and there as well. This was only my second time going to this stream. I like it and I would like to fish it more. Boy though can it be tough. Don't expect to go there and have 20 fish days. These fish are well educated and need to be stalked at times. With the brush, trees, and undergrowth casting can be a challenge as well. The stream is healthy though and has a ton of aquatic insect life as you will see from the photos below. To read about my earlier report on Beaver Creek from last year check it out here.
I had Jon and Debbie meet me at my house Sunday morning. We have been friends for a while now but only managed to fish one other time together. My full time job tends to get in the way of fishing sometimes. Craziness! It was good to see them and good to be out fishing with them again. The temp was 37 degrees but with the wind chill it was 27. Tough fishing conditions. I, however, was going crazy sitting in the house and had to fish soon so I was going regardless. I was having a bad case of cabin fever. Jon and Debbie finally arrived and off we went. Upon arrival, we hit up the Beaver Creek Fly Shop for some goodies. I spoke with the owner James about the stream and what was working. If you are in the area or want to fish the stream, check out the Beaver Creek Fly Shop. They have a great selection of stuff and James in well versed on the stream. They can be found here.
We finally hit the water and started fishing. I decided to rock some fiberglass again and was using my Eagle Claw Featherlight 6'6 rod. In an effort to do some R&D, I decided to throw the small size 10 white Fish Skull bait fish pattern I have been working on. I wanted to check it and make sure it swam right but I also thought I could move some big browns with it. I have heard stories and seen a few photos about the big browns that cruise this stream. Some go as high as 27 inches. Monsters indeed! I was hoping to latch on to one of these brutes by swinging the white bait fish pattern. Sadly, it was not to be. We managed to work our way down stream and find a decent hole that had rising fish in it. I switched to a size 18 black trico with white poly wings. On my second drift, I stuck a brown about 15 or so inches but lost him. A few drifts later, I managed to land this brownie
No monster for sure but hey it was a wild brown and I was on the board for 2013. Debbie had a few strikes but lost them. Jon was a decent fellow and played camera man rather than fish. We leapfrogged down stream swinging flies for browns. After a while, James came by headed to a hole further down stream. He was going to throw articulated streamers for those big browns. I followed him down and watched him fish for a while. He manged to move a few browns and even hooked one but it got off. I managed to move a few other fish and even landed a small creek chub but no other trout came to hand that day. After a few hours, we decided to call it quits. Everyone was freezing and our hands hurt really bad. Overall it was a great time spent with great friends. I enjoyed myself and I am happy to be on the board for 2013 with at least one brown and one cheek chub. Hopefully there will be more.
Debbie trying the pool where they were rising
Me with a hook up
Jon tying stuff on
Debbie working a pool
What to pick, what to pick?
Where? Right there! They are right there!
James, owner of Beaver Creek Fly Shop, stripping for browns
