Open dates for guiding

It’s finally Spring, vaccines are in the air, and we’re excited to be on the water again in 2021! 

First lets talk fishing. There’s two open dates coming up and they’re right in prime hatch time: April 24th and May 15th. Send an email to info@kneedeepff.com And get on the calendar. 

Second, there’s been a lot of driving around and fishing for different “fish” lately. We may guide for trout but the family chases everything from catfish to strippers in the surf. Keep in touch by following us on Instagram and Facebook – click the links. Watch out for imitators, there’s only real Knee Deep Fly Fishing. As the hatches finally break open there will surely be a hint or two about what’s working.

Speaking of what’s working, I fished in the deluge last week and nothing (NOTHING) was working. I chuckled to myself at one point that “I should try Matt Grobert’s Pumpkin Head Midge” and was instantly getting hits. To say it’s a day-saver would be an understatement. As I mentioned to a fellow soggy angler, “Matt says it only works in size 18…so I only tie #18’s.”  If you don’t have a few in your box this time of year, make sure you get your hands on some. We know a guy! 

Keep your tip on the water! 

Micah 

The Stoneflies Are Coming

This time of year I become restless from the long winter and start dreaming of the fairer weather and fishing to come. The hours at my tying bench spent dreaming of the upcoming hatches drives me insane. I’ve been busy tying sulfurs and cicadas but the first real insect emergence I focus on is the winter stoneflies. Tying anything else is really just my own method of transcendental meditation to escape the cold short days.

My friend – and one of my fishing hero’s – Matt Grobert has made a great video of a little black stonefly I like to tie. Matt’s video is out on the Riversage Journal. I’ll admit that I’m late to the party on this on-line publication. It looks pretty cool and their contributors are top notch. I’ve saved the link into my favorites. 

Matt’s video can be found at Riversage Journal

I have to say that I’m extremely flattered that Matt has shared this pattern. I’ll also note that his fly is a beautiful tie! Mine are more “quick and dirty” but get the job done.  If you don’t follow Matt on his blog, The Caddis Chronicles,  and social media, you should. For those who aren’t familiar with Matt, he’s a phenomenal tier living in NJ and surrounded by streams where I learned to match hatches for trout myself. He’s got some patterns (the Pumpkin head midge has saved many days for me) and even has a fantastic book: Fly Fishing New Jersey Trout Streams. 

Tie up a half dozen of this great stonefly. While you’re at it, whip up some of Matt’s PumpkinHead Midge and my Fast Caddis, and you’ll be ready for spring.Thanks for making the video Matt!

2021 Is Here!

“Not much” and “a lot” happened in 2020 while staying safe and sane. There were certainly many curveballs thrown but I think it’s helped us focus on what’s important. One reliable escape – from staying at home,  trying to work, acting as classroom monitor – has been outdoor adventure. I was quickly fired from “distance learning” duties. Planning our time off outdoors has been something I’m especially equipped to handle. While isolating has felt endless,I look back at all of the things we’ve done and feel like we’re making the most of it.

From family bike trips on the C&O canal and swimming in the big river, to teaching the boys how to varnish drift boats (I learned along with them), we did all kinds of things out of the house. I missed guiding in the past year and how things will shake out in the coming summer remain to be seen. My boys have become my favorite clients to guide on the river. It turns out, they’re troopers when there’s snow on the banks of a trout stream or there’s water splashing over the sides of the boat. I think they “get” what a fishing trip is all about. It’s all the things I miss the most in this age of COVID. It’s the adventure, the quiet, and some days the excitement – even the mishaps. 

My two fishing buddies making the most of a snowy day on the Gunpowder Falls.

For years I’ve said, “you need three things for a good day on the water – to catch fish, to be warm and dry/comfortable, and a good lunch.” I always follow it up with “you can’t control the fish but you can be ready for the day and make a good lunch.” And so, we’ve taken to picking a day every week to get out to the woods and rivers and have lunch and fish and, of course, watch a movie in the truck on the drive home. Note: last week I forgot my wading socks and fleece pants. 

There’s always much more to be learned about catching fish. Sharing all that I don’t know, with two little kids has been the bright spot in these long days. They’re still working to teach me patience and they’re helping me remember that a day in the river is more than just throwing flies at fish. It’s about spending time with friends and relaxing; forgetting about everything else.

We’re working on our casting and we’ll be ready when the stoneflies start crawling out on the snow.

So what’s in store for Knee Deep this year? I don’t know yet if we’ll be running trips but I’m looking forward to fishing more and sharing stories about the adventures. I’m piling up licenses and beach buggy passes and perfecting tailgate hot chocolate for the kids. I’ve made so many great friends after 10 years of guiding (and many more years of fishing) and I have so many stories to share. I’m going to start putting my site to work posting as many as I can get down on paper as time permits. I may throw in a fishing report or two.  

Keep your tip on the water and stay positive but test negative!

It Was The Winter

So now the summer of 2018 is in the books. This sure was a wet one! Since Knee Deep’s beginnings in 2010 there hasn’t been a summer when it rained this much. It wasn’t all bad. Some summers I pray for rain. This year, I prayed for time to air out my gear in the back yard. The fish still took flies all summer and I had a great time sharing cover with lots of new and old friends. 

I’m looking forward to making some tying videos this winter. I can’t wait to share them with you. You can check out a few over at Youtube.com. My favorite “Fast Caddis” is a great one. All my videos are made while trying not to wake up the family. Those who know me well know that being quiet is hard for me unless I’m fishing. 

I hope you enjoy! 

Micah

I Cant Quit You, Fishing

All you have to do is say you’re “taking it easy this summer” and the next thing you know, you’ll be fishing like crazy. I’ve been lucky to spend the last few weekends on the Big Gunpowder Falls and down at the beach near Rehoboth. I’ve had a great time fishing with clients and even with my father and brother. It’s a great time to hit the river.

Follow KneeDeepFlyFish over at Instagram

With fall here, I’ll be posting a bit more on kneedeepff.com. I have been working to make some short videos showing the how-to on some of my favorite flies.

I made this one to share with the crew from Delaware-surf-fishing.com showing off Ken’s Crazy Ant. It’s a killer pattern by someone I consider a good friend (I can call him at 7:00am and he’ll actually answer), Ken Walrath of Ken’s Custom Flies. Don’t be fooled – Ken was working this fly years before anyone else! I showed him my video and he wasn’t offended by it so I’ll take that as a “job well done.”

Keep checking back this fall – it’s caddis and “tiny stuff” time. I’ll post more updates as the days get shorter. Watch our pals over at Delaware Surf Fishing for some more stuff as well. Oh yeah, and the fishing is getting good. Let’s get out there.

Keep your tip on the water!

Micah

We’re off to NJ

While we’re headed to visit old friends at the Fly Fishing Show in NJ this weekend we hope you’re following us on social media. Frankly it’s replaced our regular “blog” updates. We can’t wait to see you there but if you can’t attend follow along with us on your smart phone, computer, tablet, car, refrigerator…whatever has a screen!

Keep in touch with us on Facebook. Like the page to follow along with the latest shenanigans.

If you’re into tweet-er-ing over on Twitter you can get your tweet on by following us over there too!

How hip are you? We’re betting you’ve been on Instagram for a ling time. While we’re just getting warmed up on that one we’re snapping away with all things related to our day on the water and – often times – totally un-related content. Follow us over there too!

We’ll see you all in NJ.

Thanks Everyone!

No, I didn’t update my website before I left DC and headed to NJ for the International Fly Tying Symposium. YES, I caught a lot of grief for not doing so.

After a crazy summer where I managed to guide and be home enough that my children recognized me I didn’t update kneedeepff.com much. My log-ins were so infrequent that I had to reset my password. I promise to try to update more often so you have something to do this winter.

So, was the symposium good? No. It was GREAT! Seeing everyone after so long is like going back to camp for us adults; though I never went to camp.  “The Tying Show” is a unique opportunity to share some time watching the originators of the patterns you fish with actually tie them in front of you. If you came to my table, maybe you even got to tie one yourself. That was a riot and I appreciate everyone who took me up on the offer. Thanks to Peak for getting me a second vise on the shortest notice ever! I also couldn’t have done it without the help of Dr Slick who keeps my supply of sharp scissors going strong.

After such a great weekend tying with my heroes (do you guys feel old yet?) the high comes to quite a crash after I get into the truck and hit the road for a few hours by myself. Suddenly, I find myself alone and listening to Christmas music, somewhere on the Turnpike. After 4 hours I’m home unpacking and taking out the trash wile tripping over toys again. It only makes me appreciate the crowd that came out and the family that travels with the winter show circuit even more.

Thank you to everyone who came out, everyone that set it up and tore it down, and the family of tiers and exhibitors that makes the shows such a great time. The entire community (new friends included) makes up a great family that I look forward to catching up with every season.

I’ll see you all in February back in Somerset!

Micah

PS:

Did you know we’re on Facebook, Instagram, and even Twitter?  Check us out and friend/favorite/follow us!

Endless Summer

So, it’s been a wild summer. While doing this “fishing” thing I have the pleasure of sharing people’s weekends-off and being a part of their family time and time away from jobs/chores/routines. It’s when I start cashing in checks with my family for guiding days as we near the end of the season that I stop and reflect on some of the great people and stories I’ve been a part of as the seasons have passed.

IMG_2510E

While it seems like yesterday, back in the spring, I got to fish with a really cool couple who are documenting their fishing travels as they check-off the top 100 trout rivers in the US. I’ll note that Theaux from Backwater Angler set me up with these characters (and I mean that in the most affectionate manner possible) and I was honored to guide for him/his shop in what was one of our trickier spring seasons with crazy flows and air/water temps. I feel like we were wearing wool caps till June! Their web site is www.riverramble.com. Click over and check them out. While they’ve fished in a lot of beautiful places I enjoyed sharing the “back yard” of so many Baltimore/DC residents with them. It’s in sharing the resource that I’m reminded about how special it is to have a tailwater nearby. Check out their travels over on their website.

We’ll see you on the river!

The Knee Deep Crew

PS, did you know that Backwater Angler has moved? Check out the link above and stop in to say Hello!

It’s not you, it’s me!

It’s not that we don’t love talking about fishing it’s just that sitting down in front of the computer is hard when we could actually be fishing or tying flies or casting in the yard with the kids.

Now at this point I don’t even know where to begin to get you caught up. I do know that “Downtown Abby” has started again (or someone is getting caught up…I really don’t know) so I’ll be sure to get more updates in here this summer at night.

I had the pleasure of spending the 4th with my better-half’s family up in Erie, PA this past week. I’ve been fortunate enough to make a lot of friends doing this guiding thing and some of my pals up north are the most hospitable of all. My pals Mark and Steve broke me out of the house one night and we hit Presque Isle for an evening. This is one of the coolest parks I’ve ever been to…for Jersey people, think Island Beach State park but with better rock piles and fresh water. Bring a bicycle and canoe or surf board if you have one. Well, any time I get together with friends up there I just never know what to expect. I’ve managed to get my travel game tightened up to one plastic tub and a big rod case now that I’m married with kids. Fishing and family travel don’t generally mix but fishing is a religion in our house so we pack it everywhere. I seem to be able to pack the essentials into a tub – a dozen fly boxes, waders, an old rain jacket, cigars, fireworks – even a dry pair of boxers just in case. There I was standing in a bay on the peninsula with Steve and Mark and a group of guys from the Gem City Fly Tiers (check them out some time) and we were dragging up weeds by the pound. As the crew started to dwindle in number (each fishermen being replaced by a thousand additional mosquitoes) I noticed the weed line dropped out of sight at one point. The three of us made our way to what turned out to be a busy boat channel.

Each boat that passed us by was filled with bewildered pleasure-boat aficionados all questioning each other about what these 3 middle aged guys were doing out there hooting and hollering and waving around these fairy-sticks. It turns out there was magic in the blue outboard smoke wafting from the rear of each rum runner that bubbled past us and, as the wake would roll into the weeds in front of us, the bait fish would scatter and a couple schools of white bass would blow up on the surface. The best part was, if one of us could hook into a fish and hold it tight long enough another could cast a fly right in there and the school, following its companion, would turn its attention to the fresh fly. It was quite a sight to see for sure. A good night of fishing should involve a lot of laughing and there was no shortage of that – I only hope the folks on the other shore couldn’t hear the jokes.

I already miss my pals and can’t wait to see everyone again in the fall.

20160630_203249

So what’s going on back here at home? Well, to recharge after all that fishing, I needed to go fishing. I’ve spent a lot of time this summer NOT packing a camera and just fishing. Remember when it was just fishing? …me too! Turns out, it’s about the fishing.

I spent Tuesday afternoon with Gene from Backwater Angler up on the Big Gunpowder Falls stalking fish in the lower flows. I love it when the southern heat-machine fires up and wet wading in the 55 degree water finally seems sane. This was just what the doctor ordered as we found ourselves sight fishing midge larvae to some clear water tippet inspectors. I hadn’t had that much fun in a week – thanks for the company Gene! It was a great time but I had to go right about the time the sulfurs finally started coming off. I definitely had dreams about the spinner fall that I surely missed that night.

We’re focusing mainly on trout this summer with all the extra water this year it’s the logical place to be. If you’re looking to get out on the weekend, we’re booking about 4 to 5 weeks out at this point. Shoot in an email or call to get on the calendar and plan to stay till dark. We’ll bring coffee for your ride home!

May Flies! …and so do the bugs in June!

Most of you know we’re busy at home with our new intern, Jake, so the web updates have been few and far between. Hey, somebody’s got to get some sleep around here! Worse than that, we’ve been messing with our web design and we’re getting close to how we want Kneedeepff.com to look. Thanks for your patience while we screw it up here and there!

The fishing was slow to heat up but now that the summer temps have kicked in, so have the hatches. The sulfur’s are in full swing and we can’t get enough. It’s been so good lately, that with all the dries we’re throwing we had to order a bulk resupply of fly floatant.

This should keep our flies floating high no matter how much fish slime gets on them!
This should keep our flies floating high no matter how much fish slime gets on them!

Last week the weather was perfect and fishing in the evening even required a sweatshirt. I was lucky enough to stay late and had the river to myself as far as I could see (that’s a good feeling) and hiked out in the dark. I was treated to some aggressive fish who were happy to take my wet flies swung in and out of the eddies. A couple of them had the best colors I’d seen all season.

This is what I dream about when I'm not on the river.
This is what I dream about when I’m not on the river.

Make the most of your time this summer and give us a call. We’d love to show you how to cool off and how to get hooked up on the Gunpowder!

Keep your boots wet and keep in touch.

Micah and the Knee Deep Crew