This Saturday, January 17, from 9 am – 12 pm, we’ll be hosting the first of our Free Fly Tying Saturdays! Bring your vise, your tools and your materials and we will help you tie some flies. If you don’t have a vise, or tools, or materials…we will provide them free of charge! The goal of this class is to help YOU tie the flies that YOU want to fish. It’s also a good time to drink coffee, eat a few donuts, peruse the shop, and maybe even get an afternoon of fishing in. Questions? Or, want to let me know that you’re coming? [email protected]. We have open rooms this weekend if you want to make an actual vacation out of it. There’s not much else going on — come on up!
It appears that the trout stream will be a tad cold for the next few weeks. We have turned our attention to fly tying. This is what is known as the depths of winter. Ski some, tie some, read some, work some. Fill the bird feeders. If you have a woodstove, put some wood on the fire. I’ve made arrangements to re-purchase my all-time favorite woodstove from two houses ago. That woodstove and I go way back. We heated the water the midwife used for both our boys’ births on that stove. Yes, I get attached to woodstoves. Winter feels less complete.
There has been a little bit of fishing. Lance and I snuck in a three-hour float and found some trout. They were sitting in areas of cobble, I don’t know why, and instead of chasing would simply eat the fly. Black/olive/copper were the best color. I fished white and gold primarily and though I landed less I did have three nice fish chase and eat and somehow I just didn’t land them. Each fish was the same: chase, eat, and when I set the hook…no resistance. My only thought was that the fish weren’t closing their mouths completely on the fly. I should have waited for them to turn away. I should have switched flies. I finally caught a nice one right before the take-out. Again, over cobble. Every day is different on the trout stream. I’ve since tied some new flies and will wait patiently for a warm-up to give them a swim.
I do love a good winter. But I’m starting to hanker for spring. I don’t need to daydream about hatches just yet. Instead, I think of the smell of March and April thaws. Of a high and stained river. Of streamer fishing and nymph fishing a river made different by the water levels of spring. It’s not too far away — perhaps a month or so — when, with the first hint of spring, the rainbows move up the Au Sable, the steelhead move into the steelhead rivers, and the resident trout begin to feed. That simple transition brings about some great fishing, and buoys the spirits.
In the meantime, it’s important to enjoy the part of the fly fishing season that doesn’t offer that much actual fly fishing. Little things mean a lot in the winter. My friend Al brought by an incredible collection of mint Hungarian partridge skins. If you need a great one, let me know at [email protected]. I like to use these for caddis wings, nymphs, soft hackles, floating nymphs, etc. We had our first fly tying Saturday last week and more to come this weekend. Fly-fishing uniquely offers a constant connection to itself. There is always something to be doing or fiddling with. That’s the part worth celebrating.
One June evening many years ago, Matt took a night off guiding and he and I floated the Manistee for some hex fishing. We were trying to hit the first good night of hex on that stretch. We were playing a hunch. So too was Glen Blackwood. Glen was in fact the only person we saw that night. He was standing at the head of an island, a shadowy and portly figure, fly rod in hand, not casting, just waiting. Below him was all the best water. It was as if he was guarding a bridge between us and nirvana. A few hex spinners were in the air but, more importantly, they were beginning to emerge from the muck on the edges of the stream. Glen, an auctioneer and incredible orator, said (with ample Glen bravado): “Gentlemen, we are all alone, not another soul here. There are hex in the air, and I’m not taking a single step downstream — the rest of the river is yours. It will be a wonderful night.”
It was a wonderful night. It was so wonderful, in fact, that I can’t remember all of it. I remember catching a large male brown trout from a side-channel less than three feet wide. I remember Matt plucking beautiful trout at the tail-out of a pool. Big, bright, brown trout — the kind that spend their time beneath the forever undercuts of that mysterious river. A night full of stars. Did we get one at 4 am? Maybe later. I don’t remember. It was magic.
Glen Blackwood passed away recently Glen was the owner of Great Lakes Fly Fishing Company, and a north star for the sport. His shop, full of new and collectible, has offered a treasure hunt through the soul of fly-fishing. It’s one of my favorite fly shops in the world — and I’ve been in a lot of them. I bought so many books from Glen. Sooo many. Jim Bashline’s Night Fishing for Trout? Glen had three of them, one signed. It’s a great book, by the way. And that book too offers a gentle reminder that spring, and the season, will come. That what we celebrate is near.
As mentioned at the head of the report, we will be eating donuts and tying flies this Saturday, for Free Fly Tying Saturday, from 9 am – 12 pm. Our fly shop is open every day from 9 am – 2 pm this winter, and have rooms to rent (though we are working on some of them) and stories to share. While we’ve sold a few, here are the rods that remain from the used rack. If interested, email [email protected]:
We have taken in a great collection of used fly rods from one of our esteemed tyers who decided he had too many (ha ha). Check these out:
Winston IM6 8’6″ 4 wt — “Anglers of the Au Sable” personalization. No cap on tube. $550
Winston WT 7’6″ 2 wt — A beauty. $550
Winston BIIX 8’6″ 5 wt — “RiverGod” personalization. $550
Winston BL5 9’6″ 8 wt — “RiverGod” personalization. Rare. GREAT steelhead rod. $400
Winston BIIX 8′ 4 wt — Super clean. $600
Winston BIIX 8’6″ 4 wt — RiverGod” personalization. $550
Orvis 7’9″ 2 wt Ultralight — $300
And some others…
Winston Air2 Max 9′ 7 wt — near mint condition. $600
Sage 8’6″ 4-weight 3-pc LL — Very good condition. $400
Nautilus XM Fly Reel — Mint condition, original box and reel case. $300
