Father’s Day Fishing

So far 2019 is shaping up to be quite a year for fishing. The Gunpowder falls has had great flows all spring and there has even been some sunshine this year on the weekends. 

Father’s Day weekend was a great start to the season and I was lucky enough to spend Saturday with a father and son team that I guided many years ago. It’s inspiring to catch up with families over the years and see how everyone has grown. Mark and his son Greg hit the weather and conditions lottery. Everything lined up for us and we had some great fishing. There were caddis and sulphurs in enough quantity to get the fish looking up all day. 

The icing on the cake was heading back to the river for Father’s Day with my own family. While fishing was only a portion of our day, it was a dream come true seeing my own kids casting to rising fish. I’m a lucky guy and I’ll admit fully that I Mom made the day a success. It’s a lot of work keeping a 4 and 6 year old upright in moving water! 

If you’re on the fence about getting out, conditions are perfect. The water is in the 50’s and there are plenty of caddis during the day (find the riffles). Afternoons should produce sulphurs and, if you stay late, you should see a spinner fall at dusk. We’d love to get you out there and show you how to put the pieces together. Contact us (see the links in the header!) and get on the calendar!

Keep your tip on the water,

Micah 

A fly you can use

Winter is a hard time for fly fishermen. For me it’s more about finding daylight hours to hit the river. With all these holiday obligations it’ll be Christmas before I get out again if I’m lucky!  

So, to keep out of trouble I use transcendental meditation – aka: fly tying. I’ve made a short video with a simple white bugger that I use for both trout and steelhead. You don’t need 3 shanks or wire or trailer hooks or anything crazy.  I’m looking forward to getting out in the snow soon!

Enjoy,

Micah

Materials:

  • Hook: 2x long nymph hook size 4 or 6
  • Thread: white 6/0
  • Eyes: dumbbell eyes 
  • Tail:  white marabou, flash, fine rubber legs
  • Body: white “kracken enhanced” dubbing 

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.

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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.

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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!

Old Man Winter

We saw the groundhog on TV but we’re not so sure winter is over. Cabin fever has taken hold and we’re itching to get out and fish. We’ve made a few tweaks to KneeDeepff.com and we’re going to be sending out updates this season with availability for guide trips this season so be sure to sign up for the mailing list!

We had a great time seeing everyone at the International Fly Tying Symposium this fall and excited to see everyone at the upcoming shows. Maryland CCA’s “Tie Fest” is right around the corner (February 20th) and the Lancaster “Fly Fishing Show” is the weekend of March 5th. Start putting together the carpool now.

If you’ve never attended Tie Fest, you should beg, borrow, and steal to free up your calendar. It’s a great event that’s been showcasing some of the best tiers in the world and this year it’s combined with Light Tackle Fest; maybe you only want to get your feet a little wet in the fly fishing arena! Whatever your pleasure, we hope to see you there.

The Fly Fishing Show in Lancaster is a great venue. Many of the areas guides and shops will be present (look for Micah!) and the opportunity to sit in on a great list of seminars is not to be missed. The crowds are a little lighter than the NJ show in January so it’s a great time to interact with the pros and ask questions. The local restaurants are great and there’s plenty to do in Lancaster so think about bringing family along for the ride and making a weekend out of it.

 

We hope to see you at the shows and on the water!

Who want’s “real” bagels?

Any time I talk about taking a trip to NJ  I ask “Who want’s real bagels?” If you’re not from up north you just don’t get it. You may even think the bagels at the grocery store are just fine. I get it. You just don’t know.

This weekend is your chance to take a road trip to NJ and get hip to the best of the best in the world of fly tying AND get a big bag of bagels form the Garden State! If you’re headed up, look for yours truly and say hello!

We can’t wait to see everyone!

Keep in touch for updated on the winter’s “show travel” coming up.

-Micah

Hot Wet and Late in the Summer

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Shorter days and cooler temps are starting to make it feel like summer may be coming to an end. You won’t hear many anglers complaining about an end to the heat. Warm weather and waders are anything but a match made in heaven.

Just this week The Big Gunpowder saw a bump up in flows and the fishing is changing too. This is the time of year when the big bugs like the fall caddis and hoppers are in play and a great way to catch fish that’ve been eating small snacks all summer. If you’re still into those long, slow, pools we can find you a fish or two that are keyed in on midges!

There’s no better way to spend a fall day than on the river. With October right around the corner we’ve got a few openings set aside. Give us a call or email and we’ll get you on the water while the weather is great!

Tight lines,

Micah