Busy Time!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! You would think this would be the dead time of year for somebody obsessed with fly fishing, but man, I have been super busy! Leading up to January 1st I had a medium-sized fly order I needed to finish for Lund's Fly Shop in River Falls, Wisconsin. Lund's is one of the best fly shops I have ever been to, and I am not just saying that because they sell a bunch of my Scott Hanson designed flies. And I also am not just saying that because they advertise here on the ol' blog, although neither of those facts hurt...

Some of the flies I tied for Lund's Fly Shop. Go there and buy some!

In the days since I finished that order I have taken on a new task. I am working on the photographs that will be accompanying an article I am sending in to Fly Tyer magazine. I have sent Fly Tyer several articles in the past, and they have even published two of them, so hopefully they like this new one I have written. As always, writing the article turned out to be far easier for me than getting usable photographs. Cameras and all their technical what-have-you's tend to drive me a little crazy. I am almost done, though, and hopefully all of the photos I send in will work for them. Wish me luck!

This photo is just to prove that Fly Tyer has actually published some of my articles...

After I get the article done I will have to start in on another, much larger, order for Lund's, which will be due on March 1st. I also have a fairly substantial order for a private party who has hired me to tie several dozen dry flies in the 22 to 24 size range. I, myself , never fish with flies so small, so hopefully the finished flies turn out OK. I am of the mindset that small flies catch small fish, but I am also of the mindset that the customer is always right, so if he wants small flies, small flies he will get!

Along the way my Beginning Fly Tying classes start in St. Paul in February, (Click Here To Get More Info), and right after that I will be teaching the same classes in Forest Lake, MN (Click Here To Get More Info). After that the local Fly Fishing Expos start, and the Film Tour happens. Or is that vice versa? Oh, and don't let me forget I have a wife and 4 kids to tend to! Or is it 5 kids now...? I can't remember. Oh well, they're all asleep, so I better get back to tying flies.

Son of Rod Love: Steffen 7'6" 3-Weight

Have you heard of Steffen Fly Rods? No? I hadn't either, until I got deeper and deeper into the world of fiberglass rods. Steffen is a small company in Arizona that rolls their own glass blanks. They have the reputation of making some of the best casting rods in the business, so of course I made it a goal to try out some. The first Steffen rod I was lucky enough to acquire was this sweet 7'6" 2/3weight beauty.

It's listed as a 2 or a 3 weight, and I love it with a 3-weight Weight Forward line. In my opinion it is just about a perfect bluegill and brook trout rod. It can handle nymphs and small buggers easily, and it loves dry flies, poppers and foam bodied spiders. The rod loads terrifically in close, yet I can easily cast up to 50 feet with very good accuracy. As I say about most of the fly rods I own, this is one sweet rod!

 

Make sure you check out Steffen Fly Rods!

Happy Holidays

It's been a fun Holiday season here at The Riffle. A lot of time has been spent hanging out with both my family and the Wife's family.


We spent a lot of time out on the lake at the in-laws' house.

No big ticket fly fishing gifts were received, but I did get several small fishy things. In the "Dirty Santa" gift exchange we did with the Wife's family, I got a perfectly sized fishing shirt that will be a great addition to my wardrobe. It was perfectly sized because I was the one who brought it to the gift exchange, with every intention of grabbing it for myself! I also received two boxes of chocolates, which are also perfectly sized for me...


Hey, it fits perfectly! Who would have guessed...

I received a couple of other fishy things from my sister: a new thread spool rack that will house my rogue spools of thread, wire, floss, lead, and other stringy stuff. She also got me a gift card for Cabela's, which will allow me to get even more spools of stringy stuff. Or something else fishing or tying related. Or maybe I will decide to venture out into some other outdoor sport that I have never done before, like rock climbing or underwater basket weaving. More than likely I will just stick to fly tying and fishing, since it's hard to teach an old Scott new tricks.



I think this is made out of Burl Oak. Or maybe it was built by Burl Ives... I forget.

One fun thing that happened whilst hanging out with the Wife's family was an impromptu fly tying lesson given by yours truly. Two of my nephews and one brother-in-law were my students, and several other family members watched in amazement. All the students tied very passable white wooly buggers during the lesson, nobody impaled themselves too drastically on a hook or other pointy thing, and I think they all had fun. Oh, and they are still all speaking to me, too. So I would say it was a successful class. I planned on teaching them how to tie a Beadhead Rubber Leg Prince Nymph the next day, but other plans got in the way. The good thing is that I am pretty certain I will see all the students again, you know, because I am related to them. So there is a good chance the Prince Nymphs will get tied at some point.

Look at how attentive my students were. But who can blame them? They had the World's Greatest Teacher!

I hope your Holidays were as fun as mine! Happy belated Holidays!