Reel cases

A few months ago I saw a reel case for sale on an online board. I really liked the look but not the price tag. I still have all of my leather working tools from when I was in scouts (thanks Mom), so I went to the local Tandy Leader store and got some leather. I played around with it and made a pattern. That first reel case went to my brother for his birthday. It was not super fancy and the next one turned out a little nicer (sorry Daniel). This was for my brother in law, Nick, for Christmas. I was able to finally give it to him this past weekend.

Tying

I have been sitting at the vice almost every night for two weeks. It is not because I need more flies. I have realized that a lot of my evenings are spent in front of the TV. I enjoy certain TV shows and like to spend time with Kris watching them as well. After thinking about it for a while I have come to the idea that, in the end, I get no long term satisfaction out of the programs that I view. I have decided to limit the amount of TV (notice I did not say cut it out all together) and spend more time tying flies or working on a rod or two rather than sit in front of the TV 4 or 5 nights a week after the boys go to bed.

In my efforts I have amassed a rather large quantity of flies. I was curious how many flies and how much it would cost me to replace a lost fly box if I had to buy it all again from the store. Here is where it gets interesting.

I have decided to provide a little contest. Guess how many flies are in Ben's Dry/nymph fly box. Here are the rules:

1. Entrants must not be able to tie their own flies.
2. You may only enter one guess per person.
3. The winner must provide me a picture of them self with a fish caught on the prize.
4. All guesses must be received by Sunday March 25th at 8:00pm MDT
5. The winner will be the person who guesses closest to the exact number in the box. (Kris counted the other night so any flies lost this week will not go against the total number)

The prize: 1 dozen  flies of your choice. I will tie them up for you and the water in your area.

Information you may want in order to make a good guess.
-The box has a capacity of 902
-it is not full
-I have been tying more nymphs than dries lately
-you cannot call Kris and ask her to tell you!
-You can comment on this post to enter or email me if you do not want others to know your answer.

Good luck!

Reel Seats

When I started to build bamboo rods I was interested in building rods and making/using tools that would speed up the process. I have built many tools but I only use a few that are under power. that is the case with reel seats. I really like the look of a good reel seat wood spacer. So I built a little router table that would allow me to cut the mortise and it turned out pretty nice. During my latest build I have been trying new things. I have made a Trihex shaped rod and used bamboo for the ferrule. I wanted to make a reel seat and cut the mortise by hand. I have lots of wood that I could have used but I saw in one of my boxes a rough cut piece of Mahogany that I had turned at Pa's house last summer. I put it in the vice and got out the file and started to file away. About 30 minutes later I had a pile of sawdust and one of the nicest reel seats I have a made. I don't know if I will make a reel seat spacer again that is not morticed by hand.

Rainbows and Midges

The midges that I tied up the other night proved to be effective on Saturday afternoon. Despite the snow and cold I took a trek out to my favorite small stream to test out the new hip pack (thanks Sharon) and to give the midges a go. Both worked to perfection. If the cold has cooped you up too long and you have a case of the Shack Nasties (borrowed from Gierach), go out and fish a little, it will rejuvenate you!

Tying Midges

Last night I just started tying and I couldn't stop! Midges for fishing later this afternoon. This should be plenty for a while. 50 of assorted colors and sizes.

High Uintas

A couple of years ago Nick Stoddard and I went on a 3 day Backpacking trip. It was wet, rainy and cold most of the time but that is what you get for going into the High Uintas in September. We hiked a lot and fished a ton. The fishing wasn't great by any means but we sure saw a lot of pretty back country. This picture was taken by Nick. It is an unnamed lake that we really enjoyed. If the wind had died down we would have gotten out the rods but it never happened. Thanks for going with me Nick. We need to get back there earlier in the year for some dry fly action on that meandering stream through the meadow, you know the one I am talking about.

After reading my post and ripping off my picture, Kris did a little edit job. Here are the results. I say mighty fine!

Blog Surfing

I love to surf blogs about fishing. It could be right here in the west or across the ocean in Europe. It doesnt matter what kind of fishing it is, I really enjoy reading about it. I also love art. When fishing and art come together it can be very inspirational. I have several paintings from my grandmother in my office and they offer a little peace and tranquility on hectic days.

The other day I was cruising through a blog and found this blogger. He is an amazing watercolorist and depicts trout in a very real way to me. Here is one of his latest post about his prints and some of the finest water colors of trout I have seen.

Order Your Rare Trout Prints Today!

As a gift to my loyal followers and the many other that stop by on occasion I have decided to offer a special Christmas-Holiday Special.  Okay, you got me, - I also need to raise a little money to support my two hobbies of fly fishing and painting, both of which require frequent purchases.

I have decided to offer these four trout prints, not as individual prints, but as a complete set for the ultra low cost of $65 Total!!!  That's right, That price includes shipping and handling.  If you were to order each print separately then the total cost would be over $100 including shipping. 

   Each 8x10 print comes in it own 11x14 mat and backing board.  All you have to do is take them out of the protective plastic envelope used for shipping and place them in a frame.  Each print will also be individually signed by yours truly.  They make perfect wall hangers for your man-woman cave, vacation cottage (if you are luck enough to have one), or fly tying station.  They will also make great gifts for the anglers in your life.

I have decide to keep these four prints together because as a group these four fish are threatened by stream degradation, introduction of alien species, and other man made problems.  Hopefully by my little effort to paint these beautiful fish, more people might be enlightened into the threats facing many of our favorite fish.  I think every angler should do their part to protect and educate in oder that future generations might be able to fish for the same species we so enjoy going after.

So How Do You Take Advantage Of This Deal Before The Holidays?  First you need to take a look at the top buttons of this page.  Up there you will see the Christmas Deal button.  Click that and you will be redirected to the Deal page.  Simply follow the instructions and make your order.  This deal is only available through December 31, after that the page will be taken down and the price for each print returns to the standard price.

If you like his work support a great artist and drop by his site to leave a comment or purchase a print or two!