Progress...Pile of Persuaders Prior to and Post Pruning

We are making progress thanks to Melissa and her hard work.  Here are some photos of Persuaders prior to and post pruning. I think there is something like over 70 of them she had to tie and prune. Well done.

New Swag in the House!

Look what came in the mail today! So happy to finally have some stickers.  These guys are roughly 3 inches square and feature our Fire Tiger Popper being chased by a bluegill.  Admittedly we are a little (lot) late to the party reference the Year of the Bluegill but better late than never.  We will be selling these for $2.50 a piece including shipping.  Email us at jandmflies@gmail.com

New Banner for the Tying Room

Two years ago I bought my first glass rod, an Eagle Claw Featherlight, and haven't looked back.  If you are interested and missed it, you can read about it here.  I love glass.  I love the colors it comes in, the action it provides and feel of a fish on the end of the rod.  If you haven't tried some glass, I highly encourage you to do so.  Even if its a $30.00 rod, I know you will not be disappointed.  A while back I attended a fishing function in which I talked about glass rods.  It was funny how a couple (husband and wife) told me they knew all about glass because they bought a glass rod for their granddaughter to try out.  Their look of contempt and the disdain dripping from their words reminded me of some purists when I tell them I fly fish mostly for panfish and bass.  I understand that glass isn't for everyone.  I only ask that before you formulate an opinion about it, that you get out and try it.  There has been a lot of talk about glass recently and all the new rods arriving on the market.  Orvis has launched their glass line and I believe Echo has some coming out soon.  Last year Redington came out with the butter stick.   There are plenty of options to choose from and a price to fit in everyone's budget.  Slowly but surely, I am making the switch to all glass rods.  Therefore it was only fitting that I got a banner from Cameron over at TFM.  I finally got my banner up on the wall.  Time to represent.  Glass is not dead!

Big Announcement!

It seems like just yesterday that I started tying my own flies.  It is hard to believe that it has been twenty years since I opened up my first fly tying kit and dove in head first.  One of the first things I remember about that fly tying kit was the vise.  It was pure crap.  I knew that I needed to replace it as soon as I could.  Tying and fishing came and went, based upon my work and family obligations.

It wasn't until about ten or so years ago that I began to consistently tie my own flies.  It was then that I started my search for a high quality vise.  I knew that I was going to be doing a lot of tying, and that I needed to replace that crappy vise that came with my fly tying kit.  After doing my research and trying out every vice I could, I decided that I wanted a Regal.  I have to say that I could not have made a better decision. I love my Regal vise.  When one of my wonderful children knocked it off the tying table and broke it a couple of years ago, I didn't even consider replacing it with another brand.  I did, however, consider replacing the child.  With all that being said, I am pleased to say that I am now a proud member of the Regal Pro Staff as an endorsed tier.  If you haven't already done so, check them out.  Their vises are awesome!  You can see my photo and bio here if you are interested.  I have to say that I am very excited about this opportunity.

Log Books

Logbooks....how many of you use them?  I do but I am guessing not a lot of you out there do. Nowadays with the technology we have, I am sure there is an app to log your fishing adventures. For me personally though I still enjoy using a book and a pen to capture on to paper how my outing was.

I started fly fishing in 1993 but it wasn't until 1997 that I discovered logbooks.  For me, these books have been a wealth of information over the years.  I love going back and seeing what fish were caught (or not caught) and what flies worked during a particular period of the year.  Admittedly, some years contain more information than others.  Apparently, I totally forgot to log all of 2012 and the little fishing I did in 2013.  Good thing I have it all written down on a notepad and in my Notes app on my iPhone.

The particular logbook I use is called Fly-Fishing Logbook by F-stop Fitzgerald.  It has a copyright of 1995 and retailed for $14.95.  I bought my first two at Hudson Trail Outfitters.  They, however, have done away with their fly fishing selection.  A shame really.  Anyways, since then I have bought them on Amazon, Half.com and eBay.  I now own five of them.  Three of them are full.  I need to buy a few more of them to store.  They are getting harder to find.

The book has sections for Expeditions, Launch Sites, and Fly Fishing Partners.  In the Expeditions section there is room enough for 78 trips to be logged.  The Expeditions section contains the following fields which can be filled out: Location, conditions (date, time, weather, temp), water (temp, clarity, depth, tide), flies (presentation, color, size, pattern), fish (species, number caught, length/girth, weight), and tackle (rod, line, leader, weight).  Unfortunately, half of the Expeditions section is taken up with photos of various flies.  It makes the book look sexy but it does take up valuable space that could be used to log more trips.  In fact the amount of trips could be almost doubled if the book didn't have these photos.

A total of 18 Launch Sites can be recorded and things such as the location name, marina, distance, telephone etc. can be captured.  Regarding the Fly Fishing Partners section, 33 fly fishing friends can be added.  Maybe I am a loner or I don't have a lot of friends but that seems like a lot of people.  I only fish with maybe 7 or 8 different people.  However, for you more popular folks there is room enough for a lot of people to be included.

Pros:
78 trips recorded
easy to do
inexpensive (from .75 cents up)
launch sites documented
friends and their info can be added
allows you to go back and see what worked in years past

Cons
becoming hard to find
might be outdated (several apps on the market)
needs to be filled out after each trip (not years later)
bulky for storage (need a book shelf as opposed to the great storage area of the internet)
only half the section of expeditions can be used given photos on pages

Regardless of whether you capture your fishing data via iPhone, iPad, iPod or other similar device or within the pages of an actual book, I can't stress enough just how important this information can be for future fishing trips.  This isn't a book geared towards you bragging about what you caught, how big it was or how many of them there were.  Please don't get me wrong as there are places for that within the book and it is somewhat important.  The valuable information though is where the fish were, the time of day, temp, etc.  That's what allows us years later to look back and see what was hatching, when and where the fish were thus allowing us to continue catching them.  If you aren't already using one, I would highly encourage you to start.  As a side note, while writing this post, I bought two more of them to store.

Where to Purchase
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0821221639/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A21KTJ96PLML86

http://product.half.ebay.com/Fly-Fishing-Logbook-by-F-Stop-Fitzgerald-1995-Hardcover/1427231&tg=info

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year all!  It's hard to believe that 2014 is already here.  Another year gone but another year starting.  What possibilities does the year hold?  One can only imagine.  We, at J&M Flies, hope that everyone has a healthy and happy new year.  We wish you tight lines and tight wraps for the 2014 season.  During the second half of 2013, I feel as though my blogging slipped some.  A portion of this can be directly linked to my injury.  Some can be linked to my trying to also manage our Facebook and Instagram accounts.  Some....well some can be attributed to just pure laziness on my part.  In 2014, I plan to blog more and get back to my roots so to speak.  I started this blog way back in 2010 with the simple notion of documenting my experiences both at the bench and on the water.  I never wanted to just repost what other bloggers were saying or doing.  I just wanted to share my misadventures with the world.  So, in the coming year you will see more blogging from me.  We have some reviews to do, and new patterns we are waiting to unvail until the enormous backlog of orders has been dealt with.  We also have some big news to share in the coming year.  We have been thinking of a specific hashtag to use for us as well.  I hope you can continue to follow us through one of our many social media sites.  Many thanks to all of our family, friends, fans, followers and loyal customers who made 2013 an amazing year.  Happy New Year!!