fly tying and crusty old buzzards

The past few months ,I have been going to fly tying shows. It has been interesting to say the least. There are a number of things that go on at fly shows. Tiers sit back and sling their wears. You see and meet all types at these shows.It brings out the cabin fever weary angler. They are kind of like ground hogs on ground hogs day.They come out into the light of day but really would rather not be there. Nervous little creatures they are. They want to see new materials and different flies. Some people have been sipping spirits which livens up the party.( Some even touch your girlfriends ass with a death wish! )  Now the tiers on the floor range in every type of human known to man. You have to be a bit of a strange bird to tie flies. I should know I do it. Some guys are famous and others want to be famous. Others are just tiers that are amazing. It is those tiers that I most gravitate to. I have a very discerning eye when it comes to flies. I know good flies when I see them ,I also know hack flies when I see them . Dont be surprised if some of the people on that mighty floor have no idea what they are doing or maybe teaching you something wrong. Flies have a creative side to them where you can get away with certain things. True masters of the fly however follow a strict code when it comes to making great flies. This doesnt happen over night mind you. Master fly tiers are perfectionist and have an eye for detail like no other. Weather this comes with great practice or just as a skill ,these great fly tiers are few and far between. Last year we lost one of the Greats in my opinion his name was Dick Talluer. In one manner he was my mentor as a fly tier and teacher his books have taken me very far as a tier.
Since I returned to the mighty NJ as luck would have it I have been introduced to a few  tiers here that are just incredible! I will be talking a bit about a few  of them in my blog this year. New Jersey is an odd hub for fly tiers ,we seem to produce them like  jersey city rats !We are an odd lot we jersey folk ! I mean we are like the jersey shore crew but tie flies. Well not really, North Jersey fly fishermen and tiers are more like dirty scoundrels from a rough landscape of concrete and woods. This area has tons of history in fly fishing and tying.

One of these scoundrels I know well his name is John Kavanaugh I happened upon this fellow when he invited me to come fishing on the upper Delaware. John has been fishing there since his teens. I was very fortunate to run into this scallywag of a fly tier. He knows these waters well and he knows the bug life on this river system as only a few do ! John is a very modest man as he doesn't sit there and talk out loud about his flies or how great they are. He would rather talk out loud with the guys having a round of drinks then boast about his flies. I have to say his flies are amazing and very well thought out.I have sat with John at a few of these shows and picked his brain about the flies he ties. His flies are time tested and have little tricks to them you would never be able to see with out asking him about his flies. John isn't seeking fame or fortune tying flies he does it because he likes to catch trout !

I got the pleasure of fishing with him last year at the infamous bug week and had a blast! He is one joke after the next and they seem to roll off his tongue like the devil telling lies ! His flies catch fish and I thought it was high time some of you got a chance to see a few.Im not showing all of his flies as some are somewhat secret but here are some of his wears . If you get lucky you might find John teaching classes as that is what he would love to be doing to help others learn .

As of this moment Im still working on a blog fighting communism in the fly fishing industry and my country ,be on the look out for that up coming post as the buzzard picks the eyes out of the country and the fly fishing world

New year and a greasy slick

Ok so 2011 is out of here and I have to say last year was interesting and alot happened. I moved back to Jersey and met up with a bunch of pretty cool fly fishing people. I came back to open arms and have been accepted by a large crowd. It is nice to meet so many interesting people.
Fishing has been a bit tough due to a year of rain and floods and high water. I did manage some trips though. I caught a few fish and I think that is all you can ask for as a fisherman. I say this because I've seen so many things on the river this year.
It seems as of late at least to me people have lost the idea of what fishing is about. Fishing is supposed to be fun plain and simple. Sure there is a lot involved with it. We all seem to get caught up in what the other guy is doing and why they are doing it. Sure when something illegal is going on it is good to be concerned. What I'm referring to is the lack of trying to enjoy the outdoors. People seem to get hooked on hooking fish. For me if I hook a fish it is a bonus. I fish in one of the hardest ways possible and I catch less fish then other people because I do. I fish this way because I enjoy being out there casting and swinging a fly and hoping a steelhead hits my fly. I try to be polite to others as that is how I would like to be treated. The problem is no matter where you go you are going to run into pains in the ass. I have been sworn at before for standing in a run, cut off and low holed. I have now come to expect it that at some point while fishing I will have some odd thing happen in the day. Well this year I will be turning over a new leaf and trying to brush it off. Why you ask? Because I want to enjoy being outside and going fishing and stop worrying about why the other guy needs to be first or the better guy. I just want to fish and enjoy myself. I just returned from a trip.
I met a few real nice people on the river. This was a welcome change because the last few trips I'd run into some really rude people.
 Vern of http://www.facebook.com/pages/Custom-Flies-By-VERN-O/78806691921 Vern-O custom flies was fishing a run and messing with a  new skagit head and I asked if he would mind if I fished behind him and he said go right ahead and let me fish through. That is the kind of people I like to meet on the river. People willing to share and be polite. It makes being out there so much more of a pleasure when you run into someone nice. The next day two guys came up and even asked me if they could cross the river below me. I thought they were coming to ask if they could fish the run with me. I would have gladly let them in. Instead they asked if they could cross below me and I was fine with it because where they wanted to cross was fine. It was so nice to meet some polite people on the river. I later found out they were from out of state. Wondering if maybe some of the guides on the Salmon river could take a lesson from the out of state people being polite!

 As I enter the morning air its crisp bite hits my lungs. The chill wakens my senses, the smell of pine trees brings hints of memories from days on the river past. It is winter and the grey of the woods blend into the background of the sky. The river comes into view, the water looks as dark as a grease slick. It churns and bubbles soothing my soul. In its depths live a silver ghost, secret in nature, and hunting to live. I hunt the silver ghost not knowing if he is present or not. I enter the slick of darkness and it grabs my legs and eases me into the run. As my boots grip the stones and boulders I move through the water casting into the slick which grabs my line and swings my fly into the depths of its own wilderness. I can only imagine what is happening at the end of my line, moving my rod as I try to control the drift of the fly. Cast after cast waiting for the tug or the grab of the silver ghost.
So head for the river with open eyes and an open heart. Fish will come and go as the days come and go but Nature captures your heart and soul. The river is a wayward Drift peace in 2012. Let your reels scream !

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The connection of fly fishing and bow hunting

So I haven't posted in some time. Summer was busy with landscape construction. I haven't gotten out that much. I have however made a few trips here and there. I have been working on a yard in order to be able to bow hunt. This has been a bit over bearing seeing as this house has gotten away from the land owner so there was a lot to do there. The real fun part of this is I can't shoot does there and I can't shoot the mid size 8 point because we are hoping he makes it to next year. There is a lot of work  to help the deer out as well. So now the game is sit and wait and hope a big boy decides to come in and take over the area. Here in NJ you get a buck stub and you really want to use it on a nice buck but it's really hard to have a decent buck come in and not shoot it. This makes you appreciate the deer for what they are. Hunting isn't always about killing, sometimes it is about just being out there watching wildlife go by and not being detected .
This gets to my point in a connection between two sports. Fly fishing with a two handed rod really is my passion, swinging a fly through the water is my favorite thing to do. Here in the east it isn't the easiest thing to do due to the size of the rivers in most places here.
Bow hunting and fly fishing have always been a way for me to get away from work and dealing with people. I recently went away on a trip to the salmon river in upstate NY.
I got involved in what I will call combat fishing. This has to be the biggest joke I have ever witnessed and I honestly don't think I want to do it again. They have what you call "fly zones" on this river.  They are less then a mile long and hard areas to walk in let alone fish. Everyone and their brothers show up here and do some unethical fishing practices. Now you  can swing here and fish in an ethical way but on all sides of you are guys fishing with egg flys with lead sinkers on. They look for Salmon on redds or in groups and send the sinker in and snag a fish. I watched a "man" across from me snag about thirty to forty fish in a few hours. This is not fly fishing it is a snag fest against helpless fish. I understand the want to catch a fish. I like to catch fish. The fact that sinkers are not made illegal in these fly zones is beyond me. Fly fishing with a sinking line is fly fishing so long as it isn't too long or a poly leader. For that matter a indicator with a weighted fly can be fly fishing. I mean if you want to fish with split shot and lead why not just use a spinning rod or gear rod. It really is something to catch a fish on a fly. It is a challenge. If you are a cowboy super hero redneck fisherman who is into snagging then why don't you go to a snag hole somewhere. You're not a fisherman you are a scumbag plain and simple! To accept the challenge of fly fishing is to learn to open your mind and to think. It takes skill to figure it out. I will fish again but I seriously will be walking or floating to get away from the scumbag fisherman here on the east coast. I have seen this out west as well and I really have to check myself as to why I even would let myself stand among such " fisherman."
I guess maybe it is just the drifter in me that doesn't fit in with these type of people. A few of my fellow fisherman might take offense to what I've said and I have a few good friends who don't mind fishing in the combat zone and you guys know who you are. But please understand I fish to get away from the bullshit not get into the heart of it.
I have had some time to sit in a tree stand and think about why I do this outdoor thing. .It isn't to be a super hero or better then the next guy. I do it to find some peace and quiet. I have been accused of trying to show off when I posted a pic or two of myself with a fish. I post this blog to let people see and know there is another world out there under the trees.
I'm not alive to be a super hero or a show off. I fish and hunt because I Am. I think most people have forgotten what getting outdoors means. We have T.V. shows that glorify hunters and fisherman to sell products. We have to wade through tons of garbage to find products that work and pay tons of money to get out there. For the life of me I don't understand why you would pay your hard earned money to be a scumbag and cheat to get a fish or a deer. There is nothing better then to actually achieve a goal even if it takes time. It took me three years to finally hook a steelhead on a fly on the swing. I hiked many a mile to find that fish. I put many a sleepless morning in. I learned to cast with a two hand rod. On my own mind you! All to catch that fish. When it finally happened on that cold morning next to the river I was by myself and the fish slammed my fly and went down river doing flips out of the river. There was nothing like it and it felt like I finally won something so special. You just don't get that feeling of gratification snagging fish or cheating to get a deer. If you cheated deep down you know you are just that a cheater. Accept the challenge and fish and hunt like a real man or woman do it to live and not cheat!
Fly fishing and bow hunting are a challenge to do in many forms. Some long bow hunt, some single or two hand fish, some use compounds bows. This can be rewarding to the hunter or fisherman who really gets into it. You can really get into it learning to tie your own flies and learn more about what is happening in the underwater world of the river or try to silent hunt and sneak up on a deer or draw one into your tree stand. Like anything it takes time and work and if it really comes that easy you are probably cheating!