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!

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

How I spent my summer

As a fly fisherman, any type of travel always seems to have a day or two added in just for wetting a line. There are trips that are solely for the purpose of getting one’s feet wet and there are others where sneaking a rod in the luggage pays off. Most of our family traveling seems to include a day without dad as I sneak off to fish somewhere nearby.

As one travels, it’s nice to make new fishing friends along the way. With all of the technology surrounding us it’s easier to send out a late night note that says “hey, I’m headed your way. Let’s fish” to a long lost pal.

A few weeks ago  I was lucky enough to connect with my old friend Steve Wascher up on Lake Erie. You may know him as the world renowned fly tier. I know him as “that other big loud guy.”  I was visiting family and told him I was stranded with no vehicle but was free to fish; what a mooch!  He told me not to worry and we’d figure it out. After an all-night drive up to Erie, PA, I grabbed a few hours of sleep and was waiting in my in-laws driveway with 4 layers of clothes on. Hey, it’s a big change going from 100-degree days in Washington to 55-degee mornings up north!

After an education on trolling motors, (hey, I’m a trout guy, I know nothing) we were off to the lake. We didn’t get far before we started seeing fish on the surface. We cast and cast to a giant school of spotted gar (I insisted they were bass) for a while until Steve started hooking Sheepheads! Having cut my teeth fishing Midwest rivers with my father, I knew that this beautiful fish was in fact a prized sport fish. Many a fly angler has hunted the elusive Sheepsheads for hours on end, only to return home having brought none to their net.  Steve wasn’t so sure about their prize-worthy-ness and for the next couple of hours I hooked and lost a few while Steve continued to haul in slabs of zebra-muscle-encrusted-gold. I was pretty jealous but I eventually got mine when a school of white bass busted around us. I could still catch fish! Whew. Not to be outdone by some kid in the back of HIS boat, Steve put me to shame with a double on his dropper rig.20150724_111833 - Copy

It was a great morning spent telling jokes and burning my, normally wader covered, legs and feet out on the waters of Lake Erie. I returned home to receive the same lecture I get every time I hang out with Steve regarding the use of sunscreen. I can’t wait till my next trip up north to connect with my fishing buddies to hear about all the adventures they’ve had this summer. Hopefully it’ll be before steelhead season. Thanks for taking me fishing Steve!

What a Long Strange Trip!

It’s been busy over at Knee Deep Headquarters for the past few months. We’ve added a second intern here at the “office” and the buildup kept us pretty busy for a while. Now that there are two interns here, we’re having a ball cleaning up spills and changing diapers.

It was great to see everyone at the NJ Fly Fishing Show. Thanks to everyone who asked to see baby pictures and brought me coffee! I was lucky enough to sit with my old pal Matt Grobert. We rarely get to see each other outside of show season but it’s like it was last week every time we catch up. He’s been a good role model of mine since I was a kid (he’s not that old) and nobody enjoys sharing the art of fly tying and fishing more than Matt. I can’t wait to see everyone again at Lancaster!

 

Bromance
Bromance

 

Hey, you East coasters, there’s a new book out by Tom Gilmore just for us and I’m IN IT! I can’t believe it either. Tom must not have been thinking straight when he asked for some input on The Big Gunpowder; I’m grateful for his lapse in judgment. Call your local shop and ask them to get you a copy…then plan a road trip to some new water. It’s got all the info you need on the how and where andsome great extras like real maps! (imagine a guide book with usable maps!)

I'm in a book!
I’m in a book!

We’ll see you at Tie fest and Lancaster soon!

-Micah and the expanding crew

 

 

Lets talk streamers this year!
Lets talk streamers this year!

The International Fly Tying Symposium is this coming weekend and you need to get yourself there. If you’ve never tied a fly but want to learn, this is the place to see the world’s best tiers and talk to them about technique as well as pick up a few flies for your box along the way. If you’ve already got the bug and have been thinking about making the trip to ‘Jersey for the show, you owe it to yourself. There’s no better place to pick up hard to find materials and spend some time talking to the people who raise the birds and dye the fur.

I’ll be there, sharing a table with my good pal Ken Walrath. Stop by and say “Hi”.  If you don’t already follow Knee Deep on Facebook and Twitter, this is a good time to connect. We’ll let you know what isle we’re in and post some pics for the folks who can’t attend.

See you at the show!

Micah

 

What I Did Last Summer

 

Check out all that cold water!
Check out all that cold water!

 

Remember those school days writing essays about all the places your parents trucked you to as a child. I sure do. It was like a reminder that you didn’t kick back and enjoy summer enough and now you were going to be strapped to a desk until it came around again. Thankfully we’re almost grown up and don’t have to sit in the back of the family wagon anymore.

I’m happy to report that, while we’ve had great summer fishing on The Big Gunpowder Falls, there’s plenty of summer left! We’ve had lots of cold water all season with higher than normal flows coming from Prettyboy Reservoir. This means there have been some cold days on the river and a few where the trout have been tight lipped.  Midge fishing has saved the day more than a handful of times this year. Even in the coldest temps, they find a way to stay active. Of course, while we haven’t had tons of updates on the kneedeepff.com, you’ve been following us on Facebook and Twitter, so you know we’ve been lucky enough to travel a bit this summer….right?

Looking ahead, we’ve still got a few openings, so think about catching that cold you’ve been fighting. There’s plenty of terrestrial fishing to be had and the Tricos have started emerging. There’s even some fall caddis action to be had as we get into October. Give us a call and get a date on the books before summer passes you by. (202) 681-8765 or email us at info@kneedeepff.com

Special thanks to everyone who’s helped keep Knee Deep busy this season.

Tight lines,

Micah