Double Haul Flyfishing

http://www.flyfishingfrenzy.com/2011/12/19/frenzy-holiday-give-away-2/

2011-12-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

"A river without friends is doomed to oblivion."

2011-06-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

Lee Wulff was quoted as saying that........

I understand that anywhere you go or anything you do, especially on the intertubes, you may find some detractors and those who may dislike your methods, etc., etc., etc. The “spot burn” issue has taken root in many of the various fishing forums most everyplace you turn, but it seems more intense when you get to more populous areas like New Jersey, New York, & Pennsylvania. There may be those who find my wee posts on the Loyalsock Creek (and certain tribs) fine and there may those who get bent that I even dare mentioned the stream at all.

You can't please everyone, but someone suggested that I have been "spot burning" the Loyalsock Creek in my posts on it. If you think talking about a section of river from Lycoming County to well above World’s End State Park, which covers a 30+ mile swath, is a spot "burn", then I will always guilty of it. There is a line between sharing some very general information of a notably stocked stream and spoon feeding spots via GPS coordinates or on a Google Maps site and broadcasting it out there to everyone. Plus, I’m sure there are quite a few websites out there that will take you directly to the honey hole of those beloved wild trout streams right down to the very boulder you should hide behind to make your presentation.

I think a lot of people get a little bit too caught up in the Gierach Zen in this neck of the woods (East Coast)………“The idea is to fish obscure headwater creeks in hopes of eventually sniffing out an underappreciated little trout creek down an un-marked dirt road. Why is another question? I suppose it’s partly for the fishing itself and partly to satisfy your curiosity, but mostly to sustain the belief that such things are still out there to find for those willing to look.” All very true and well put, but the reality of the matter here is that Gierach is talking about backpacking the wild cutthroat streams in the isolation of the CO wilderness while we’re pulling off the highway or county road to fish widely known NJ/PA streams. Others yet, do venture further into the woods to fish for those very pretty native brookies.

Photo courtesy of JTD.

The prevailing fear is that my postings and praisings of the Loyalsock Creek will turn it into a destination. “I have no problem with you guys loving the place - just don't turn it into Penn's or the Salmon River, please”. If the Sock becomes the Salmon River (Pulaski, NY – I gather) then I want my cut of the $$$$ for promotion. If it were the case towns like Hillsgrove would be doing a lot better than they are, the Hillsgrove Country Store would be able to advertise in the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide, again, and their fly bins would be hard to keep full because every Orvis & Simms Cowboy from a 200 mile radius would be flocking to it to get the latest localized patterns.

Photo credit: Tim Geist

Instead, the bins are skinny because no one is stopping by to buy flies. In fact, it's quite hard to keep the place open. It is a true piece of Americana that has been lost elsewhere. It truly is THE GENERAL STORE that we've all read about and not the Sandwich & Coffee spots that reside underneath "General Store" signs nowadays. Bacon (fresh off the hog), Butter, Eggs, Milk, Candy, Shotguns, Knives, Crossbows, Bait, Fishing Gear, Gas, & the Post Office are contained within.

Photo credit: Tim Geist

If the Sock were a Penns/Salmon River, then the Hillsgrove Hotel may very well just have to dust off those pillows and actually function as a “Hotel” rather than just a local watering hole that sells $1.25 mugs of Lager and the Yuengling banner that hangs out front, that says “Welcome Fishermen” can stay out for a few weeks longer rather than right around opening day only to be replaced by "Welcome Hunters" for the rest of the year. The talk around the bar may get back to the hatches and the day’s catches rather than a town being split into two camps of pro-gas and non-fracking. Maybe the bar pies can come back. I may be able to re-up on my tshirt collection. After eight years, the Hillsgrove Hotel shirt is getting a little tired. Maybe the hotel will have finally changed owners after being on the market for 3-4 years, handicap access could be put in, the outside gets a proper facelift, and brand new sign put out front.

Photo credit: Tim Geist

At any rate, my question here is where is the fine line between the "spot burn" and highlighting the real threat to the whole region??? What's worse??

A few extra likeminded fishermen on the stream??

Or……..

The recently approved draw of 750,000 gallons per day from the Loyalsock for hydrofracking purposes??

One may say, “I don't quite get how two wrongs make a right here (fracking and spot burning)”. Yes, my dinky little blog here will not stem the tide of the fracking hordes descending upon the area like ravenous locusts, and it has been said that, “I don't see the reason to single out one river in the region as an example, no matter how enthusiastic you are about the place - all the anglers you can find will not have more input than the local residents and landowners and the drilling companies have that scene well sorted long ago”. Why mention it?? Anyone reading this in PA (Hey New Yorkers!! You're in the crosshairs bigtime.) can insert their own favorite “River X” here and a similar threat applies. Penns, Little Fishing Creek, Little J, Yellow Breeches, the Wanna, the Waxen, the Tulp, and every mile of the 10,000 or so of trout waters in PA (5,000 miles of which are trout production waters) is facing Death in a chess match like Max Van Sydow in the Ingmar Bergman classic, The Seventh Seal , trying to buy time, which is fading into memory.

Conversely, isn’t it just as wrong to say……well, in the future don’t even mention the stream anywhere. What’s out there already is out there and let it settle to the bottom like silt, because it “protects the resource”. Leave it be so I can fish it in peace until it can’t be fished anymore because the drilling companies have had the fate of the region “well sorted long ago”??

This can go back and forth for days, I gather, but at the end of the day, I’m passionate about the Sock as anyone else that has taken a bit of the Sock home in their boots. I’ve never described how great or not the fishing may be. I never suggest flies or even fishing methods, for that matter. The vids, pics, and blogging are just documentation on how much a 30+ mile stretch of river has an impact on me. Everyone else, I would think, has their own special stretch of river that is similar. You may say tomato and I tomato. I can show everyone a mere snippet of a 30 mile stretch in vid, pic, and/or text form.

The rest is up to you.

This is how I roll.

If there are folks who don’t like it, and think I have Gilmore/Landis/Meck-ed the Sock, well I will just have to respectfully disagree and leave it at that.

Photo credit: Tim Geist

Cheers & tight lines.

The 2011 Bug Week Video from Rise Form Studios.

2011-06-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

No dilly-dallying from Rise Form Studios here, cats & kittens. It's only been a few weeks and the BUG WEEK video is already up on the RFS site. In true Michael McAwful fashion he side kicks us Bruce Lee style right in the grill piece with some great footage of a great week at Camp Kavanaugh. The browns seemed to want nothing to do with the Green Drakes. So in response to all the gals getting their hair weaved with hackle, "World Class Dude" John Kavanaugh takes it one step further.

It's great to see my friends all get in to some fish. Even legendary Catskills Tyer, Dave Brandt gets in on the act. I will have to make it next year and join in the shennanigans.

Enough banter here.......

Click here for the video.

Cheers.

June lull.

2011-06-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Things have been a wee bit quiet on the Double Haul front, as of late. Sure, there's been fishing, but a lack of filming has taken hold. I really think the blown out Loyalsock had a lot to do with it. Pennsylvania, this year, has been a rough one for me. Between the freeze, the rains, and then the heat, it has been a really slow start. This year seems to be a New Jersey year for me, when in the past, it wasn't so. Maybe I am getting better with my New Jersey game after all. In the past few years, I've had some really good teachers, so maybe it's working for me.

Behind the works there are some cool little developments going on, that Double Haul will be a part of, indirectly. There's a quite a bit of swag out there and it's being repped pretty well by you out there and I thank you for it. We still have a bit of long sleeves to contend with, but you learn as you go, right? The one thing that keeps it honest is that we're not "world beaters" and don't really intend to be. It's just a dinky blog from New Jersey, after all. We're certainly not telling anyone how to fish or the gear to use. Heck, it's wet wading season, so wear what you will. Also, it very important to keep a cooler in the ol' trunk. Nothing says friend more than having an ice cold barley pop for the fishing victory........well, of course, if you have room for it, some bottled water isn't such a bad idea. Remember: This is only if you can fit it in.

It doesn't make you a bad person, if you can't.

Along the way, it's really about helping our buds out, whether they're home grown in NJ, Kenosha, Lehighton, Brooklyn, Boise, Colorado Springs, Long Island, or where have you. It is about new fishing spots, at the end of the day. Over the cold barley pop ~~(or water)~~ is where the next adventures are discussed. This is also another reason why we did a shirt and sticker run right off the bat. You folks are taking us places where we have yet to be, if at all. This does keep things at a purely underground level. Yes, the Internet is of great help and gets things out to a wider group of folks, but it seems that the ones who "get it" have enthusiastically jumped in full tilt. That's very humbling and I owe you all a barley pop at some point.

Thanks for tuning in.

Cheers.

Fly Tying Video to check out and try it for yourself. JC's Electric Caddis (The Redux).

2011-05-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Good friend, great fishermen, & intense fly tyer John Collins has teamed up with Mike McAuliffe of Rise Form Studio to redux one of my favorite, not to mention that of many trout, steelhead, & salmon.....JC's Electric Caddis.

If you don't know it or have seen this for the 1st time.....TRY IT!! The beauty of this fly is in the versatility of being able to changing up the colors to give it a different look. With the availability of different wire & tube colors, nowadays, you can come up with some very nifty variations on the theme, like all the hot Steelhead Candy colors you can think of(hint-hint).

So, please take some time and check out this fly tyed by the man himself......or else the "Jungle Cat" will pounce on you, fool!!

Allow my to introduce to you.............JC's Electric Caddis in HD

If you are interested in any other flies John Collins ties and want to give them a whirl on your local streams, he has an array of flies available for purchase at MyFlies.com.

You won't be disappointed.

Cheers.

To photo, to phone, or to fish?

2011-05-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

One of the cooler things about fly fishing, I think, are the photographers out there who document trips and such. In this day and age of social networking, I think everyone has their own personal "fish porn" page. Only within the past year or so, have I been comfy with bringing my non waterproof point and shoot Canon out on the streams. The only device I leave behind is the digital leash of a cell phone. As much as it would be neat to upload the latest rainbow trout I've caught in Musconetcong in real time, I'd rather not. The closest I get to the water with a phone is usually post trip where I rile up my friend's thirst with a pic of myself, streamside, with an icy cold barley pop of some sorts.

Of course, some of us "have" to bring their digital leash into the stream because there may be lil' ones involved at the homefront and God forbid the little guy takes a handlebar to his grill piece because older sister wasn't paying attention while she was pedaling along with the latest Dora the Explorer song in her head and you, my friend, weren't there on the other end when it happened to get that MMS pic from wifey of your teary eyed toddler.

On the other hand, that cellphone of yours may provide you some luck as it did to my friend John Parise. In the middle of fishing the Big Flatbrook near Branchville, NJ he gets an MMS pic from his buddy who had just caught a huge ass striper a few moments before. While that exchange goes on with his right hand, the left hand is just holding the rod while the caddis pattern drifts very slowly into some very trouty water and then.............WOOOOOOSH!!!!

To get back on topic, I really like photography and it does seem to go hand in hand with fly fishing. The subject matter is quite limitless, but I really would be torn as to what I want to do when out on the stream, especially one where I've never have been, like the Loyalsock. Do I fish it hard?? Or do it photo it hard?? I find myself doing that on a much smaller scale doing things for this blog and taking pics for my album on Facebook. So, I have to give a lot of credit to my photographer friends who also fly fish. My head would explode at the decision of taking stellar pics of someone landing a brute brown during a hatch or jumping right into the hatch and possibly landing a similar brute of a brown.

As mentioned before, it's good to have a few professional photographers as friends. They not only make you look like you know what you're doing, the also can shed "new light" on things that you'd normally blow off or not notice at all. So, to have Tim Geist, whose work has been featured in The Drake, along on the Loyalsock trip was a complete thrill.

I could geek out and drool over every bit of camera gear he had (he wasn't joking when he told me he was bring 500lbs of camera gear) and get tips on shooting with my Canon 40D, which I have to mess around with more, before being comfy enough to bring it on a stream, which means I probably won't be fishing. The choices......arrrrgh! Tim has managed to capture the essence of Uncle Vin's cabin in such a way that I haven't seen. I knew he would have a field day taking photo of the contents within and out of the cabin, but the things he chose are very cool.

He has started an album about the Loyalsock on his dot.com website at T.C. Geist Photography. Please check it out.

Sock it to 'em.

2011-05-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Lately, things have been been a bit askew a far as planning trips & getting some footage in on the streams. April's theme was certainly the rain which put a damper.....no kidding on the "damp" part of it.....on things. Even the Loyalsock Trout Jam was a wash.

Tim Geist , Steve Fogel, Erik Schroeder, & Kyle Majikas were on hand for the weekend. It had rained a bunch a day or two before we arrived, but we decided to take a chance and see if by Saturday (April 30th) it would calm down enough to see some action. Most of the time beforehand was spent on the smaller tribs of the Loyalsock, such as the Hoagland Branch. A normally more calmer stream was also ripping along pretty well.

Photo: Tim Geist

Things did look promising on the tribs on Saturday afternoon after a morning spent cruising the state roads in the Loyalsock State Forest trying to get to another trib called Rock Run. We never made it there because the road had washed away, so we doubled back to try the Hoagland Branch, yet again. The warm springtime air above the stream was alive with small caddis, midges, olives, & the 1st signs of Hendricksons. It brightened the day as well as giving us some hopes of seeing some fish look up as documented by Tim's photos.

Photos: Tim Geist

As the evening approached, we headed out to our home pool and the Hendricksons were out en masse. The flow of the Loyalsock from Wednesday evening till the hatch had dropped from 6ft down to just below 4ft. As we watched the hatch roll down the "Sock", it seems that we were the only ones watching it on the stream. Not one trout was looking up. No boils. No sips. Not a stir anywhere. As the last of the hatch rose from the stream, we all looked at each other and I proclaimed that what we just saw was "Fly Fishing Blue Balls". A beautiful thick hatch, great temps, clearing water, and one big fat Нет / Nyet like they would say in Russia.

Photo: Tim Geist

With that observation we headed back to camp and proceeded to catch an epic barley pop hatch.

Cheers.

So here it is........

2011-04-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

This section of the Musky didn't get stocked. Shhhhhhhhh.

It's April and with this coming weekend we'll have completed the cycle of "opening days" with the rest of Pennsylvania waters being open. I had to work, so I couldn't make it out for the circus. Not so much that I wanted to be out there amongst the catch-n-kill crowd, but rather walk around the streams armed with a DSLR & a 50mm lens to take in this frenzy. I also wanted to know if folks were playing fair or not in a recently designated Year Round Conversation Area, that was known for getting picked over by the bait boys when it was a Seasonal Conservation Area. In the past there was an EasyUp tent camp setup complete with tables, chairs, cutting board, and a small portable propane powered grill awaiting the full stringers of Eau de Pellet Truite a la Pequest Hatchery to show. The gear that these folks use was always something to behold, too. We live in a "put & take" state, so what does one expect?? Others would say, "oh they're just stockies, who cares?". That is not the point, really.

It is a losing prospect to change attitudes about the trout we have in New Jersey when the number of CO's (Conservation Officers) are too little for the area that has to be covered. Also, when you have only two small sections of rivers that are designated "Conservation Areas" versus the rest of the fishable trout water this state has. Things like that just shows us that we will always be a "put & take" state. Even more basic than all of that is the fact that hatchery fish taste like SHIT! I really don't get that appeal of pellet trout, but this opening day hoopla is all for getting folks to buy their fishing licenses year in and year out. Nothing else.

Before I diverted to this, I mentioned I had to work, so I couldn't make the morning session, but I got to fish the TCA before the hordes showed up during the week. The Musky has been flowing around the +/- 400cfs range, as of late, which makes it a very gnarly wade for many, which may be it's only defense against opening day shennanigans. Outside of ramping up my fishing, I was also doing some recon work for getting my long time friend and ex-bandmate Erik on a fish or few. I got out last Monday on a quick solo trip which yielded the 1st signs of Caddis in the air and fun stocked brookie action. Also, got out on Friday with Mike Nutto & John Heaney.

The Ides of March

2011-03-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

On his way to the Theatre of Pompey in 44 BC, Caesar visited with a seer who had foretold that harm would come to him not later than the Ides of March. Caesar joked, "Well, the Ides of March have come", to which the seer replied "Ay, they have come, but they are not gone." Julius Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and 60 other co-conspirators.

It is now the last day of March and I'm glad that it's over, but is it?? We are looking at yet another rain/snow/winter mix of some sort. The Roman Senate here is being played by Mother Nature herself, with rain, snow, cold temps, ice, then warm temps, wind, fast stream flows, & etc. being all co-conspirators. It seems that everyone of my fishing pals have been scratching their heads of late. It's been a very rough winter/spring transition, indeed. One day you see Olives coming off of a calm Pennsy spring creek on a warmish day, but they aren't looking up. Then, of course, the unofficial "spring" or "better fishing is yet to come" bug seems to be the Stonefly.

As exciting as it is to see these living fossils taking flight, we're just not seeing these trout take them subsurface. All this food and no takers. Seems to be a midge game, but sometimes, that's not even the ticket. Just a frustrating month on the streams and I haven't gotten deep into the weather portion of it all.

For all the complaining we tend to do, as fishermen, we tend to forget that this wacky weather & rough conditions are necessary. Lest we forget how miserable last year was with the brutal summer which lasted deep into the fall with no rain. It, totally, messed with the trout and thus gave us a lack luster fall, unless you went and chased Steelhead up on the Salmon River. Plus, having been out as much as you could between January and now, we're better positioned to have really great days out on the water by the time the fair weather fishermen & 4 season openers (NY State, Early PA, NJ, & the rest of PA) hit us all. All of this epic winter, epic freeze, epic thaw, epic frustration should be worth it all soon. Sure, it would have been nice to have had a more productive winter/spring, but sometimes it just goes that way. It can make for a great story come the end of the year.

The 1st trout I got this year, fittingly, adorns this site. A great story, thus far. It really hasn't been bad, just not what most have been expecting for this time of year.

I am seeing many mutual friends picking up the phone and getting together to fish more, which is cool. Fishing, is for the most part a solitary thing, I know, but I've always liked getting a few friends out on the stream or meeting out at a spot just to get the line wet for a few hours. Trips like this are good intell on spots you may have overlooked.

Also, this year, I have been slowly getting my old tenor sax player out on the water more. Erik Schroeder has been to a few fly fishing shows and I have been showing him how to twist up a few simple patterns. So, I had to get him out on the stream and did so this past weekend. It all started as any other sort of near all day fishing excursion would start.

At least, I think, every good day out should start this way. Even if it is way to early to fish at 6:30am, I do believe, if you have the time, you take time out and start your day at a place like Gronsky's Milk House in High Bridge, NJ and sit for breakfast. This may just stem from all I have heard from old timers on down about their "opening day" experiences with the really early morning starts at the breakfast table. Other than the day out with uncles, dads, & grandpas, it seems the biggest memory was always the breakfast, itself.

Since, I'm still a newb, at 5 or so years with a fly rod in hand, I can say I come from zero fishing tradition. So, to hear the stories throughout the years, I have kind of taken that and applied it to my own experience. Why not treat every fishing day with the excitement of "opening day"?? Why is just reserved for one day?? You, sadly, tend to hear, in some folks, that this pretty much died off as a childhood memory. As a result, I guess a Uncle Hooli "tradition" is pretty much going to involve really early starts for breakfast and at the end the day, it will be capped off with a few barley pops.

So for Erik's innaugural day out on the stream, we started as such at Gronsky's and proceeded to the stream. The flows were high, but not totally unfishable. I was Erik's guide for the most part. It was pretty cool to put down the rod and try and get someone up to speed by teaching someone what I've been taught by, ironically, the 1st three pictured above. Ideally, it would've been great to have Erik on a fish on the 1st go, but with the flows and temps the way they were, it would be more beneficial to at least get him into the wheelhouse and get the cast placement right, the drift right (or close), to get him to set the hook on any indicator movement. The meat & potatoes of winter/spring fly fishing. The rest will fall into place as spring moves along and the more he joins us for breakfast, beers, and streamside wisdom. Fortunately enough, Erik, was a captive audience to one John Heaney.

It was good timing as the build up of frustration was building in Erik and myself. A new look and new perspective from someone more experienced than I was needed. Without really getting into it because it deserve it's own post John Heaney, as many will tell you around these parts, is very passionate about his trout, their environment, fly fishing, and sharing his stories & knowledge about the streams of the area to a friendly ear. I really enjoy running into Heaney on the streams. It's always a huge treat to see a bear of man get near giddy talking about these trout. I swear, he knows them on a 1st name basis. To watch him work a pool is also fun and a clinic, at the same time.

So I knew we were in good hands when we went back downstream to where I started Erik off. It's a piece of water that is called the "Holy Water", which is a Heaney story that I may have to pry out of him for the blog. Many potentially bad days on that stream were salvaged just by getting a drift or two in the Holy Water. We were in for a treat watching Heaney give us a lesson on how to fish the Holy Water. There were questions on whether or that section was even stocked at all and when Heaney proclaimed, "there's no way they stocked this" when from the bottom of the Holy Water surfaced a nice sized wild brown trout.

The natural reaction here is to shake your head and just laugh. I knew it would happen. If there are trout in a particular run, Heaney will flush 'em out. Of course, there's a lesson involved here. Mr. Heaney just exposed to me what I may have done wrong in that run, as he pulled out 4 total in a matter of a few minutes from that swift water. With that brief lesson Erik was newly inspired to hit the water again.

At the end of the day, we came back to the van and I apologized that I couldn't get him in to trout, but Erik didn't seem to mind that. I think those few moments on the stream with someone like John Heaney made the world of difference. Erik will be on the stream again, very soon.

Cheers.

Ramsey's Fly Fishing Day in pictures.

2011-03-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Seems like I'm a week behind, now, but you have to get in some fishing, too. Last week's Fly Fishing Day at Ramsey Outdoor was nice little affair. Double Haul Fly Fishing even had their own table, which was flanked on our right by John Collins & John Kavanaugh tying for the Catskills Fly Tyers Guild and on our left was Mike Nutto & Anthongy Giaquinto twisting up their patterns. So, we were in good company. The streams, at that time, were blown out, so what else was there to do?? It was also a chance to meet up with some of the online friends for the 1st time.

Michael McAuliffe of Rise Form Studio conducting his class.

Lance Wilt, lead guide at Spruce Creek Fly Co. steps in to teach a Central PA pattern or two.

George Douglas of Kype Magazine was in attendence. I found, out that, weekend that George is originally from New Jersey, as well. This may be material for another post at some other time, but I found it quite cool how one Kype issue has brought a few people together, recently.

Rob Yaskovic works his magic behind the lens a majority of the time, doing fantasic wedding shots & portraits, but he likes his fly fishing, as well.

Plus, Rob can make your Uncle Hooli look like he's been tying his ass off for the past 25 years, rather than for 2 years, and makes my Partridge concoction look stunning. It is nice to have three links to 3 photographers that fly fish. I get to pick their brains about cameras. I have yet to, seriously, use my DSLR with the 50mm prime lens, but when I do, I know all I have to do is get some time on the water with guys who use it everyday.

As I mentioned, early on, in this blog, you tend to discover some latent talents that you never quite knew existed. I don't think my pics are anything special, but then you hear otherwise. This is yet another thing about fly fishing I do enjoy. It really is not just the fishing, especially, when get some stream time in with someone. It is the exchange of ideas, whether fishing a particular stream, gear, fly tying tips, or photography tips that I do enjoy.

Cheers.

A special thank you goes out to......

2011-03-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Rich Strolis of Farmington River, CT based Catching Shadows for adding Double Haul to his home page.

Rich has been guiding for a solid nine seasons, now, as well as professionally tying and selling some of his unique fly patterns, which have appeared in several fly fishing publications. His patterns have, now, been regularly featured, in video form, on the Midcurrent fly fishing site and is now sponsored by Hatch Reels.

Lately, I've been on a Stonefly pattern kick, since many of my fly tying friends, like Rich, have a pattern of their own. So the variations on the theme are seemingly endless. Rich's Shimmer Stone Fly is quite cool and is seen in the pic above and below.

Please click here for this tie up on the Midcurrent site.

Thank you Rich for supporting Double Haul Fly Fishing.

Cheers.

Philly in photo form.

2011-03-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

I know, I'm a little bit late on the update, here, but these things happen. Pesky things like work get in the way and just derail things, like fly tying, blogging, & fishing (sometimes). At any rate, lets roll the Philly footage:

Kyle Majikas is sporting a handsome new shirt. He's a part of the "crucial three" in Double Haul Fly Fishing. Many of you out there who have ordered the large sized t-shirts got it from him.

Anthony Giaquinto showing Philly his talents.

I spy Mike Nutto wearing a Fiberglass Manifesto t-shirt.

Good friend, great tyer, and pretty much the "on the road general" for the Catskills Fly Tyers Guild , John Collins, twisting up some patterns for the public.

"Uncle Vin" Majikas, my mentor, made his way up and is sporting some new gear. The Loyalsock Creek may not be the same.

Erik, sporting the gear. Yes, shameless promotion. Erik & I used to be in a band together called Inspecter 7. We were one the pair of founding members. Erik grew up fishing the Raritan Canal until 2am, as a kid. He's come over to the darkside, that is fly fishing. The man has got his gear and licenses ready to go. He is at an advantage here because of all of the collective people we know. The bull & fluff will be all filtered out for him. So, throughout this year we'll see him on some videos and maybe he'll contribute a few writtings to this blog about his experiences as a newbie. The beginning of the end is near for you, Erik.

One of the biggest questions of show was not ~~"could that LCD panel on tyers row be any bigger"~~ but rather, how could you not have beer at a fishing show?? There was a bit of a dilema with obtaining a barley pop, but we did manage to find a bar in the complex. Next time we roll with.

All in all, for a 1st time show, it wasn't poorly attended. The true brunt of the traffic was certainly in the morning on Saturday. It's not without it's growing pains, either. Weird to also have a Baseball Card show the same weekend, too, but oh well. Also, the question of "show burn out" comes into play, too. Time will tell whether or not this will continue to be on the calendar.

Cheers.

From the vaults: Loyalsock Creek 2010

2011-03-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

All of this high water shennanigans has gotten to me. I would love to be out in the streams filming for future vids of our exploits, but I've had to resort to digging up footage of what kind of started this whole Double Haul Fly Fishing in the 1st place. In about a month, we'll be back on the Loyalsock, again, but this time we're bringing some more friends into the fray. Poor Hillsgrove won't know what hit 'em when we all belly up to the bar. In making this video, I've come to realize that this will have to be last video in this Windows Movie Maker format. It's a great lil' program to get started in it, but my ideas have gone beyond the capabilities of the program. So, once the flows normalize and the film starts rolling, the next vid out will be created with something else.

Until then, enjoy this.

Cheers

Fly Fishing Day 3/12/2011: The solution to potentially blown out streams.

2011-03-10T04:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mike McAuliffe of Rise Form Studio & Ramsey Outdoor of Ledgewood, NJ, the Double Haul team will have their own table at their annual Fly Fishing Day. As spring rolls in, the stage switches to these localized events. It seems the last of the big social events for fly fishing will be going dormant as the hatches start to occur on the streams. These smaller events are definitely like "pre-season" for all anglers, even for those who've fished since January 1st. With everything in the tri-state area being potentially blown out as they are calling for another 1-3 inches of rain, as I write this, a show like this may just be the best diversion.

I've been to a few of these Fly Fishing Days over the years and it seems to have grown larger and larger. There will be a great lineup of speakers & tyers at the event.

Some of the tyers that will be present:

Andy Brasko
John Collins
John Kavanaugh
Anthony Giaquinto
Lance Wilts
George Douglas from Kype Magazine
Mike Nutto
Joe Cebellos
Leslie Wrixen

and many others.

The lectures scheduled will be

10:00 AM - Brian Cowden - River Restoration in New Jersey
11:00 AM - Darren Rist - Fly Fishing the Upper Delaware River
12:00 PM - Lance Wilts - Central Pennsylvania Fly Fishing
1:00 PM - Mike McAuliffe - 12 Months of Fly Fishing in New Jersey

This all kicks off at 9am, so we hope to see many of you there. It should be a fun event to keep the mind off of the blown out streams.

Double Haul Fly Fishing/Scandalous Fly Fishing Brothers on The Fiberglass Manifesto

2011-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

It's funny how things work in this world. The adage, "one good turn deserves another" seems to have been at play this morning, when The Fiberglass Manifesto decided that my pic of Mike Nutto

was good enough to be entered into their T.F.M. Spotting contest for the year, which the grand prize is a Scott F2 Fiberglass rod.

Not too shabby for just taking some pics at a fly tying show. =)

Double Haul @ The Fly Fishing Show in Philly

2011-03-04T04:24:00.000-08:00

Saturday brings us the last of The Fly Flying Show series for the year in a brand new venue. With spring just getting ready to bust loose, this show puts us here a month out from all the opening days though, generally, we like fishing all year (if we have the temps to do so) for trout. I'm going to guess that it will be a well attended show. They've managed to get the legendary Joe Humphreys out of retirement to do special presentations.

It will surely be fun as we'll be there to open things off at the show tying for the Catskills Fly Tyers Guild.

The featured tyers for both days will be

9:00 AM to 12:00 : John Czifra and Kyle Majikas

12:00 PM to 3:00 pm : Jessica Lettich and Tim Morris

3:00 PM to 6:00 PM : Andy Brasko and Mike Nutto

Sunday

9:00 AM to 12:00 PM : John Bonsera and Allen Landheer

12:00 PM to Closing: Andy Brasko and Tim Mahoney.

It's a great guild to be in and it takes nothing to join it. A piece of fabric in your pocket that has Alexander Hamilton's face on it is all it takes for the year to join. Plus, there's quite a tradition and many tyers got their start through the guild. Most importantly, it is a great way to donate some time, by tying at these shows, to keep the traditions of fly tying alive and well.

Hope to see some of you at the show.

Cheers.

The "Chum Lord" Long Sleeve T-shirt

2011-03-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

As of today 3/3/2011, we here at Double Haul Fly Fishing have also decided to compliment everything else we do with shirts. Right now on the "Gear" page we have an offering of a long sleeve shirt at run of 100, right now. It is rightfully named the Chum Lord shirt because of the gnarly salmon carcass, which is flanked by stone flies, that adorns the back of our shirt.

The Chum Lord actually existed and was used from a pic that was taken of it on one of our trips, last fall. He was perched high atop a makeshift riverside monument, which was erected in the Upper Fly Zone of the Salmon River in upstate New York.

Offerings of flies, fly fishing line, tippet, & cans of beer were placed around him, while messages were scribbled in permanent maker in praise & hopes of good Juju for the fishing ahead.

The Chum Lord also appears, briefly, in our Fish & Destroy - Halloween Steelhead Jam video on YouTube.

As with most things, the Chum Lord has not been seen, since, just like the many salmon carcasses that draped the river in the fall. They have returned to the earth and sea as nature takes it's coarse, yet again. However, the Chum Lord of Altmar lives on in our shirts and I hope you will buy them and wear them proudly in reverence, rememberance, and out of respect to the many salmon that make the journeys upstream to continue their lineage.

Big thanks to Hannah Connors @ Dogwig Printing for her work on the shirts & anyone else that had a hand in it.

Cheers.

Sparse Grey Matter Fly Tying Event

2011-03-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

On Sunday (Feb. 27, 2011) there was a fly tying event held in Califon at the Fire House, which was co-sponsored by Dette Flies (Roscoe, NY) & Shannon's Fly Shop (Califon, NJ). I had caught wind of it about a week ago and decided to roll through. For a 1st time event the turn out was pretty solid. It was open to all levels of tyers and there was plenty of moral support & a wealth of information from the very experienced and well seasoned tyers that made everyone welcome, but more importantly inspired the next crop of future tyers. It was very cool to see the tables filled with tyers holding court to multiple people who had the tyers ears. Exchange of ideas were a plenty. Nice hall, nice ties, and a nice event. Would be a shame to not have it next year. It slots in nicely, before the last Fly Fishing Show in Philadelphia, which the Double Haul team will be at on Saturday tying for the Catskills Fly Tyers Guild to kick off the show.

Here's some pics taken of this cool event.

Rise Form Studios Bug Week 2010 Kype Companion Video

2011-02-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

As I wrote, previously, the weather here has been peaking in the 60s and is reawakening the visions of trout taking the fly presented to them. Mike McAuliffe has presented us with another vision to look forward to............that my friends......is BUG WEEK in the Catskills.

This footage is the companion video to the latest KYPE Magazine issue, out now. Great job, as always, friend.

Click it and drool.

The month of May will be here before you know it.

The build up continues.

2011-02-17T06:45:00.000-08:00

Been a while, since I've posted anything. It's been a wee bit hectic trying to come up with things that we'll be pushing on this site, as well as our Double Haul Facebook page and seeing how this will mesh up. Better do it now before things totally thaw out, but at this rate Ma Nature is rubbing up on Ol' Man Winter and getting him a little warmed up. As I write this out the temps should be near 60 today and the Little Black Stoneflies should be having a field day.

There's quite a bit going on as this page slowly grows. Most of us at DHFF will be at the close of The Fly Fishing Show that will be held in Philadelphia for the 1st time, this year on March 5th & 6th. It might be a really good show there, if Somerset, NJ was any gauge. We'll see. That puts us a month off from the fair weather fly fishermen invasion with all the opening days lined up in a row. This is what we are trying to mesh with and it's going ok. We have business cards at the ready, now (flies not included).

Thanks to Cameron Mortenson @ The Fiberglass Manifesto for the 411 on getting the cards. There has been quite a bit of support from many of you out there for this lil' nook we occupy amongst the big hitters. From ideas to suggestions and advice, it's made this all the better. The potential for more fun, as well, as documenting it all will be quite a joy.

There's been a lot of behind the scenes action here, plus, wedging in fly tying, and taking field trips out to our beloved Loyalsock Creek out in Sullivan County, PA to just get away from it all. Though I'm a garden fresh New Jersey kid, my 'home water' is in PA. I started my journey into trout fishing with an Ugly Stik there and knew what a Slate Drake was before I started using Isonychia patterns casting a fly rod.

While things here are starting to thaw out, the 'Sock', as many call it, is still on ice. Things run a little behind up that way, which is fine by me. Come late April, it is ON!! I try to fish it as much as possible and usually make it a group trip with a bunch of friends, who have never been up in that region of PA. "New water" is always good and it gives one, yet, another option. It gets the mind going and maybe will spawn a sense of adventure, if you will. As much as a "loner" or "solitary" sport/activity/dose of sanity fly fishing is, I've been one to look forward to these "group of friends" trips. The more and more of my friends who come out to fish where I started, the more joy I get out of it. What's not to like??

Stay tuned for more.........

Cheers.

Thanks to McAwful & Rise Form Studios

2011-02-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

The Double Haul Flyfishing Crew would like to extend very humble thanks out to Michael McAuliffe of Rise Form Studios for putting our blog link on his website. We look forward to a few segments with him. Until then, please check out his website for the latest in fishporn, tips, & super cool ties from some heavy hitters in fly tying. Watch a few of his vids and you, too, can "Go Get Some" on your own.

Thanks again.

Here's the latest with Eric Stroup.

Ramping up for spring.

2011-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

It’s been near a week and a half since the Fly Fishing Show circus pulled out of New Jersey. I managed to control myself and not drop cash left & right for things I “want”, but not necessarily need. At least on paper, or this blog, it’s a brave face to put on. I spent $16 on tying items and probably spent 3x more on barley pops. So, I kept it in control and, mainly, just wound up talking to bunch of my online fishing friends and tyers.

In recent years, I’ve called the Fly Fishing Show, The Last Big Social, before the game of Fly Fishing starts, unless you’re a die hard, like most of us, and will seek out those spring creeks in the dead of winter for rising trout or just a river that doesn’t ice over to dredge bottom. January was a bit rough in New Jersey and the Northeast, for that matter. Snowstorms and subfreezing temps have thwarted many die hard anglers and as a result pushed us to the tying bench.

The show attendance on Saturday was quite nuts. It was definitely a combination of cabin fever and Lefty Kreh (plus other heavy hitters) that got everyone fired up. For me, it was the “social” of it all that got me amped up for the early spring sessions on the stream. Being able to share stories, trade numbers, and come up with smaller fishing jaunts during the season, is fuel for the fire.

Should be a great early season once the melt happens…….but not all at once. Please??

Don't forget the struggle. Don't forget the streams.

2011-01-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

Most of you out there have been exposed to the "mantra", if you will, of Double Haul Productions. It adorns our collective mugs, mostly, at the close of our videos. It will more than likely be on most things, we may produce, such as the eventual t-shirt or decal. Those already in the know of where this phrase came from also know this is a nod to an earlier time we "kids" grew up in. In most cases, I would say without a fly rod in hand. More specifically, it is a nod to a NY hardcore "punk" (~~please, let's not get into the finer points of genre~~) band Warzone and their 1st full length LP in 1988 titled: "Don't forget the struggle, don't forget the streets". This LP was a just over 25min of raw power (great Iggy & The Stooges album, btw.) that talked about living in, then more dangerous and very less Disneyland-like, Lower East Side.

There is some correlation between "punk rock" and fly fishing that many of us who went to shows want to figure out, as well. That will be a separate post one day. It is quite funny how many "punk rockers" (aged 35+) fly fish. It comes out in the strangest ways, too. Anyhow......another discussion at another time. Those that know me personally, knows how much music plays a role in my life. So, in creating this blog, dabbling with photography more, some video production, it is a way to give back, if you will, to fly fishing and to keep it kind of "no frills", "raw", "from the streets, to the streams". There is a DIY ethos in all of this. There are a lot of folks who seized their lil' nook in fly fishing, whether it be a website that corrals very good fly tyers from across the country and give them top billing to expose their creations that otherwise gets overlooked or someone that has a hidden talent in making wooden fly boxes.

I would like to give exposure to folks like that because it is total grassroots and it does fit the "mantra" of this site:

"Don't forget the struggle. Don't forget the streams."

What is the "struggle", you may ask?? Is there one answer? Is there a right or wrong answer? Not really. It's pretty open ended. One may hearken back to their youth and recall the original Warzone song. To others, the struggle may be figuring out a way to fool that one trout that has ignored your fly, all day. Many of us struggle to find the time to get out on that piece of water to find themselves and to recharge those depleted batteries that the rat race has drained from us. It's many things to many people, but it seems that fly fishing is the common denominator, since those reading this dinky lil' blog are THAT obsessive about it.

"Don't forget the streams" pretty much speaks for itself. Most of may or may not be TU members, but have been to a few TU meetings, or did some rock rolling/tree planting/river clean-up arm an arm with them. As responsible fisherman, we're passionate about the conservation of streams and the fish populations that reside in them. Whether your favorite stream is in New Jersey (which is where this blog is based out of), Michigan, Oregon, Montana, Spain, or Slovenia, the stories of stream survival are similar.

So, those out there who are wondering what this lil' nook in fly fishing is about, I hope I shed some light on it. It may be something completely foreign (like the music thing) to you, but all in all the main thing we want to promote, if you will, is the grassroots fly fisherman out there of any skill level and as a nod to the friends who have helped us along the way whether it be guides, tyers, rod builders, fellow fisherman, and etc.

Stay tuned. Cheers.