An Outing With the Chesapeake Women Anglers

This past Saturday, Melissa and I were invited to attend a picnic/fishing outing hosted by the Chesapeake Women Anglers group.  They were having their get together at Pine Cliff Park along the banks of the Monocacy River.  For me, this would be my home water and the location I fish the most.  So naturally I could not resist.  Besides, its always great to get out and meet other like minded anglers.

So Melissa and I geared up for Saturday's outing.  I decided to take my family of Lamson Konics and some select fiberglass rods for anglers to try.  I was hoping to get some more people converted to glass.  Melissa and I also put together a nice display of our flies.

Not really knowing what to expect we showed up on Saturday with some apprehension.  That, however, was all in our heads.  We were welcomed by one and all.  We had a great time talking flies and fly fishing with the members who were there.  We got a very warm welcome from Maria who has been following us on Facebook.  Maria took some time to speak with us but the highlight of the evening was the time she took to work with our son on casting a fly rod.  Nathaniel has been making his own poppers as of late and has been bugging me to take him fishing.  Maria gave him a rod and showed him how to cast.  She was even kind enough to take him in the water with her.  Nathaniel was using one of his poppers in hopes of landing the big one but he managed to create such a mess of the reel that he had to stop fishing.  Not surprised.

Overall we had a terrific time with the group.  For our female angler friends, fans, and followers you can find them on Facebook at Chesapeake Women Anglers.  A very special thank you to Maria for the invite, the warm welcome and especially her patience with Nathaniel.  He now loves fly fishing and wants to practice casting all the time.  Of course the problem is he is driving me nuts!

Redoing My Display Case

I have done a few posts in the past regarding my display case.  A few years back I got a small display case from Ikea.  My goal was to fill it with small flies, boxes, reels, and other fly fishing related things that either caught my eye or meant something to me.  I picked up some drift wood while I was out and about on the water at some point.  Using that drift wood, I broke it into thirds and drilled some small holes into it.  These holes allowed me to place the flies neatly in them without damaging the hook point.  All my flies on the drift wood mean something to me.  Some are tied by famous people in the industry, some by me, some by friends, a few have landed big fish, a few are older poppers and still a few were tied by Melissa.  I have a soft spot for poppers.  It is what we specialize in and therefore I like to collect them.  I managed to pick up most of the older style poppers from eBay.  I would like to get more but it could be a slippery slope.  Besides as you can see I might be out of room.  I placed some reels on the bottom shelf.  These are reels I have used since I started fly fishing.  Most of them are Cortland with a few Cabelas mixed in.  I know they aren't what some might call "good" or even "great" reels but they are mine.  I have often wondered just how many fish I have caught on some of them.  I also have a bobbin from the early 1940's and a few extra spools for thread.  Nothing extraordinary but certainly a conversation piece.  Interesting to see the difference between the then and now bobbins.  So who else has a display case?  If you don't have one, what do you do with your keepsakes?  How do you display them?

300th Post

Well folks this is my 300th post.  Hard to believe.  I started this blog as a way to document my misadventures in fly fishing and tying as they were.  I have had a great time doing it.  In the past few years J&M Flies has grown more than we could have ever imagined.  We have branched out to Facebook and Instagram.  We have been busy nonstop since January with orders.  It is pure craziness.  I am finding it hard to squeeze fishing in now.  As such, I also find it hard to keep up with this blog.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining nor is this a bad thing.  We are truly humbled and blown away by the response our flies have gotten.  I feel honored that so many people would like to have some of them.  We have shipped flies to Japan, South Africa, Canada and all over the United States.  Melissa and I both enjoy seeing what people catch with them.  For us, these flies are a labor of love.  We take a long time making them.  We put a lot of care and effort into each popper we make.  I will not sell anything I would not use myself.  My standards are very high.  Each popper is painted by hand using small brushes, brass rods and sewing needles.  Yes you have to wait a while for your order but we think it is worth it.  These flies are hand made in the United States and are designed to last.

We felt that as our 300th post it would be a great time to share some more photos of our customers having success with our flies.  So here are some photos of our flies in action:

Andrew E. with his first fish on the fly.  Landed the bass using a Road Kill

Christopher K. spent a day with a Road Kill

Marty K. swinging the Road Kill and loving it! 

Zach R. with an awesome smallie that could not resist a Sunrise Slammer 

Mike D. celebrated Year of the Bluegill like this

Ken F. killed 'em with the Roadkill

Have You Caught The Bluegill??

I got this sticker last week from my friend Hiro in Japan.  It features our Popper Smurf.  Have you caught the bluegill?  I know I have.

New Flies, New Sizes and Old Colors

Prior to Beaver Island, I was cranking out orders and working on my fly boxes for the trip.  I made some pencil poppers in size 4, some size 4 TCS poppers, Clousers in a number of sizes as well as a number of sculpins in various colors and sizes.  Most of these items will be available in the coming months for sale.  We just want to iron out the bugs so to speak.  I refuse to sell anything I haven't already tested and would not keep in my own fly box.

Retro Lime-A size 4

Fish Foolin' Frog size 4 pencil 

Retro Lime-A size 4 pencil 

Fish Foolin' Frog size 4 

Fire Tiger size 4 pencil 

Luscious Lemon size 4 pencil 

Purple Night Stalker size 4 

Luscious Lemon size 4 

Purple Night Stalker size 4 pencil 

Back at the Vise

Its been a while since my last blog post.  I have a lot to write about.  For now it will have to wait.  I am trying to play catch up with orders since I got back from Beaver Island.  Here is my to do list for today.  Just a small sampling.  We have some new stuff and sizes in the works.  I am going to review Beaver Island as well soon so stay tuned.  Thanks for following along still.

Some Popper Action in Japan

Recently, I have been corresponding with a fly fisherman from Japan.  His name is Hiroyuki.  I found Hiro on Instagram.  Hiro, like me, loves to chase the bass and panfish on the fly.  Not only does he like to chase them on the fly, but he likes to do with glass.  Love it!  Honestly, I am not sure why it surprised me but I learned from him and a few others I follow who reside in Japan that they have both large and smallmouth bass as well as bluegill.  How cool is that?  Scrolling through Hiro's photos, I saw that he had an amazing sticker with his username of Bassbum on it.  I struck up a conversation with him and he was gracious enough to agree to send me one.  I wanted to thank him for doing this so Melissa and I agreed to send him some flies.  I mean how neat would it be to see our poppers in action in Japan?  Pretty sweet in our book!  So we got together a small care package of poppers in both sizes, Persuaders and Road Kills and sent them over. I was happy to hear that the flies arrived safe and sound in Japan a few days ago.  Hiro was happy and headed out to chase some bass with them.  He was kind enough to send me some photos of what he caught already using them.  I am glad he did.  What a thrill to see flies you have tied in action and catching fish in a completely different part of the world.  I am looking forward to seeing what else he catches with them.  For those that might be interested, you can follow him on Instagram @bassbum.