Minneapolis Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo

Had a fantastic time at the show this weekend. Met a bunch of cool people and shared some good stories, a few were even true. Was very happy at the interest in my big pike flies. Sold 30 flies during the weekend and brought home a few orders. Even had some interest from a couple of fly shops that want to talk about selling them in their stores. Another great experience.

Jim was my neighbor for the weekend. Jim tied classic trout flies, as well as some crab and saltwater stuff.

PJ sat behind me and tied alot of wool-head sculpin flies.

Both were great guys and added to the fine dining.

Buck Transport

I picked up one of these the other day in green. It is about 1.5 inches long and fits in the pouch nicely. The little blade is more than enough for cutting leader material. The bottle cap remover works great for tightening knots to you hooks. I create a knot, then hook the fly over the back of the knife and then yank to tighten the leader. I used to hold on to the fly, but have sunk a couple into my finger.

Night out

Temps are in the low 60"s and wind was nothing. Except for no fish, a good night on the water.
Doing my best Ken Capsey!

Water is very high right now. This is the normal walking path.

The water is around 5 feet high.

As a point of reference, this is the same tree as above under normal water levels.

Fly photos

Been working on a new way to photograph my flies. These are laying on the glass top of a shadow box, with different colored paper inserts inside it.

Saltwater flies

Going to be at the Expo tying big flies next weekend so I thought I would tie a few for my trip to Florida in May. I will be staying in a condo on the beach for a week. Plan on targeting snook, cuda and lady fish.

These little guys are about 5 inches long.

New site template

Working on getting a new template to make the site look nicer. Will probably be changing for a few days.

First Pike Outing

Tonight was the first night out for the year and my buddy Dave and I braved the chill. Water is still in the thirties and cold to wade. Good conversation, but no takers.