It’s Winter But Longer Days Are Coming

January and February are hard times for mid-Atlantic fly fishermen. We’re so close to the bounty of Spring but the weather is harsh and the days are short. For me, cabin fever hits hard. Sometimes getting motivated to tie the flies I need for spring is hard. With the new year ahead, I’m looking forward to getting out on the water again, even if it’s after-work sessions and battling the family calendar for some selfish time. I’ll share open guiding dates as we get into late March so keep in touch.

The Knee Deep Interns are getting bigger and we’ve got a few surf fishing sessions under our belts. I don’t think they’re ready for the 10-weight rods yet but I see some bait soaking ahead this spring. Santa delivered some new toys and I can’t wait to get them out for some road-tripping and a bit of nymph dredging. It’s 5wt time for sure.

With winter here, the little black stoneflies will be moving around and getting ready to crawl out and do their thing on sunny days. One of my favorite flies for this time of year is a quick-to-tie stonefly nymph. Check out the video below and get creative with the materials. Everything about this fly is straight out of the hand-drawn books from 40 years ago but with some newer materials substituted in for biots and quills. Tie up a half dozen and go dredge up some trout!

Tight Lines,

Micah

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!

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 

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

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.

Let The Show Begin!

We’re hitting the road for the show season again this year. While we skipped The Fly Fishing Show’s stop in NJ last year we’ll be back in the Garden State this year.

The need for an NJ fix is a strong one. There will be a lot of pizza and bagels consumed while staying there. Best of all we’re looking forward to catching up with everyone and seeing a lot of old familiar faces.

Next up is the Lancaster Fly Fishing Show  March 4th and 5th and my favorite all tying event Lefty’s Tie Fest right down here in Maryland. I’ll have more on that one as we get closer.

Hope to see you at the shows this winter!

Micah

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!