Battle of the Bug Tyers

Introducing, The Battle of the Bug Tiers - Morlock (Rainy's Flies) vs. Lipton (Idylwilde Flies).

Come join Trout’s Fly Fishing and two world class signature fly tiers on Friday, August 24 (2:00-5:00pm) at the shop for a FREE tying demonstration. Kevin Morlock of Indigo Guide Service will be tying up his deadly effective Rock Hopper. I'll be featuring the venerable Carp Crack, as featured in the Fall 2012 Issue of the Drake Magazine. Who will emerge from the ring victorious?


Make the jump for patterns specifications and details of the event: Trout's Fly Fishing Battle of the Bug Tiers


When you stop by the shop on Friday, don’t forget to take advantage of Trout's happy hour specials. Hope to see you there!

Targhee Fest & Fly Fishing Vacation Sweepstakes

MOUNTAIN KHAKIS® Grand Targhee Resort Present the “Targhee Fest & Fly Fishing Vacation” Sweepstakes

Winner: (1) Grand Prize Winner plus (1) Guest
Promotion Period: April 3 – April 24, 2012! * Winner will be announced April 25, 2012
Prize Package Date: July 12-16, 2012
Prize Package Value: est $4658
Prize Package Details:

• Grand Targhee Resort: (1) room for (4) nights based on double occupancy, July 12-16, 2012; (2) 3-Day “Targhee Fest” Festival
passes; (2) 5-Day Lift Passes; (2) 1-Day Mountain Bike Rentals
• Mountain Khakis®: (4) MK Pants or Shorts of Choice, (2) MK!Shirts of Choice, (2) MK Belts of Choice, (2) MK Hat or Visor of Choice & (2) MK T-Shirts of Choice
• WorldCast Anglers: (2) Private 2-Hour Casting Lessons, (2) Private Full-Day Guided Float Trip & Fly Fishing, (2) Orvis® Equipment Rentals, (2) Shore-Side Lunch
• KEEN® Footwear: (2) Pairs “Targhee II” Shoes of Choice
• Slumberjack®: (2) “Lone Pine” Sleeping Bags, (2) “Trail Tent 2”
• Osprey® Packs: (1) “Stratos 24” Pack, (1) “Sirrus 24” Pack
• Smartwool®: (2) “Head-to-Toe” Outfits
• YETI® Coolers: (1) “Tundra 45” Cooler
• Klean Kanteen®: (1) 27 oz "Reflect" Kanteen, (1) 20 oz "Insulated Kanteen" (1) 4-pack "Steel Pints"

*Winner & Guest responsible for all travel-related expenses and make their own arrangements

Full Rules and Regulations.

Sweepstakes ends at 11:59PM EST on April 24, 2012. Enter now!

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

I love it when goodies arrive in the mail. Check out the new tee from Musky Hustler, courtesy of Geoff Samples. Like it on Facebook!


It's even better when Geoff tosses in a few "extras"!


Hell yeah! I'm sexy and I know it! Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle yeah!

2012 F3T -- Minneapolis

Once again, Minneapolis is a stop on the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour. Swing by the Parkway Theater on Friday, March 9, 2012 to catch the latest and hottest films hitting the fly fishing scene. Plenty of free stuff to be handed out by the show sponsors! Doors open at 6:30PM, show starts at 7:00PM.

The Parkway Theater is located at 4814 Chicago Avenue South, in Minneapolis, MN. Tickets are $15 at the door, but I'd strongly recommend pre-ordering them, as the tour usually draws a full crowd, selling out in over 75% of the venues. Discount tickets can be purchased at the Fly Angler in Fridley for $12.

I'll be representing tour sponsor Scientific Anglers again this year, so be sure to show up early for some free SA swag! The show is only a month away! Don't be left out in the cold, buy your ticket today!

Stuff We All Get

Everybody loves SWAG, Stuff We All Get, and fly fisherman are no exception. Go to any consumer or trade show and folks stuff as much as possible into their pockets with the free promo goods from the manufacturers. Hell, I've even seen a few folks sporting packs at shows just to load up on all the booty they can get their grubby little mitts on. I love swag as much as the next guy, but I typically only collect a few things and only from the manufacturers I dig or represent. The hoarders, on the other hand, just take whatever's free.


A box showed up on my doorstep last week, I had a heads up it was coming, but I had no idea what the entire contents were. I knew there were gonna be a few hats and stickers, but I didn't expect the quantity. Or the quality. Survey a bunch of random people at a fly show and you'll find that there is a split consensus as to who calls all this free stuff swag or schwag. I guess both terms are mutually accepted in social circles, but I still think of schwag as an imposter term. Anyone in the know, knows what schwag really means, low-grade marijuana. How the two terms got intertwined I have no idea but I do know that schwag, to put it lightly, is not good. Perhaps that is why schwag got lumped in with swag, because I've seen some of the low grade shit manufacturers (in general, not necessarily in the fly industry) pass off as freebies. Frankly, I'd rather they just skimp out and pass on the free stuff instead of doling out third-rate soft goods that would make me blush in embarrassment if they were mine. So I guess I can see why some folks at these fly shows might opt for the term schwag instead of swag.


My goodie box from Scientific Anglers and Ross Reels is definitely in the swag category. I'll be proud to pop any of those lids on my melon, or stickers on my rig to represent the SA/Ross Nation. Of course, my package was privy to a few exclusive extras only issued to Pro Staffers, and they are sick! Oh, and Jefe? I chuckled at your note... Maybe next go round you'll order up some coolies big enough to cover up a few 40 ouncers for us fly gangstas. But just so you know, those coolies cover up the bottom of my Hurricane High Gravities just fine! And that's how I roll.

friends in low places

Much can be said about your coworkers. Everyone has a few horror stories to share, and there always seems to be a Milton Waddams, Tom Smykowski, or Bill Lumbergh in the crowd. Love 'em or leave 'em, every once in a while one of them will come through and hook you up.




The beauty of working in a co-located office are the perks with working alongside other sections and divisions. One of my wildlife cohorts surprised me the other day by bringing two boxes of feathers into my office. When I opened them up, I discovered a bounty of pheasant, grouse, turkey, and mallard feathers. Now this was the mother lode. Now I've got more hackle than I could ever use in 20 years. Once I sorted, treated, and packed all of the feathers, I managed to fill up an entire grocery bag, to the top. That's over 7 gallons of feathers.



Speaking of sweet ass hackle, I couldn't pass up a chance at picking up a starling skin when I was over at the Fly Angler last week. Thanks to Justin over at WFF for piquing my interest earlier this winter. One major bonus at the shop: they had pheasant rump in golden yellow! Hot damn! Been looking for this stuff for a couple years now, and this is the first shop I've come across that actually had some in stock. I was just about ready to mail order some from a company in the PNW, but luckily I was able to procure some "locally". That is if you consider a 200 mile distance local. Unfortunately for me, that's the closest fly shop around. Now I can finally get started tying up a patch of carp carrots, but that's for another story.

Has anyone seen my red Swingline stapler?

Glittallica

Anytime I get a shipment from Singlebarbed, I never know what I'm gonna find in the bottom of the box. Keith's always good for throwing in a few extra goodies and you don't know whether or not he's letting you in on the next best thing, or he's just pawning off some crap from one of his many failed experiments. Or maybe it's a super secret front for spreading some new super disease akin to H1N1 amongst brownliners, in hopes that we'll become "immunized" when the apocalypse comes and rids the earth of blueliners, gear tossers, and faggot bowfisherman. Either way, I've got a pile of yarn that I need to find a use for.

Patons Glittallic. True to Barton's romantic style, this yarn has been discontinued by the manufacturer and my sense is that the hording has begun. Glittallic is a bulky weight eyelash and ribbon yarn, made of 95% polyester and 5% lurex (metallic). It is suitable for palmering directly on the hook for larger nymph patterns, or its ultimate destiny with the grinder for that bug crazed dub look. Mighty fine to me.

People may call Singlebarbed many things, but they'll never call him stingy. Looks like I've plenty of work to keep me busy for a while.

flyfishergirl contest: win a Redington Rise reel

Sister Hannah over at flyfishergirl.com is having a catch and release contest to promote the proper care and handling of fish, with an emphasis on releasing the trophy ones UNSCATHED. Winner gets their choice of a Redington Rise reel.


You've seen those disgusting fish raping photos plastered across the internet this spring, surf over to the flyfishergirl forums for the full contest rules and share your C&R stewardship ethics now.