The Fly Fishing Show

We’re headed to Hacklebarney TU , Thursday!

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Just when I thought the show season was over, it’s time to pack up and head to my old stomping grounds at NJ’s Hacklebarney  Trout Unlimited meeting. This Thursday night, we’ll be there talking about fishing The Big Gunpowder Falls and telling all sorts of lies.  I hope you can make it if you’re in the area. I’m really looking forward to it!

I owe a big thanks to everyone who came out to Lefty’s Tie Fest last weekend and especially to everyone who came to hear my talk at the show. I couldn’t have asked for a better reception! It was great to see so many kids at Tie Fest. While it makes me feel old, I’m excited to see what the future holds for the world of fly tying. If you’ve got kids who are interested in tying, it’s a must attend event to put on the list for next year.

Hey, it’s still cold but the stoneflies are coming. we’ve got some new stuff in the works so keep checking in!

Keep your tip on the water,

Micah

 

 

Baby Steps

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Ok, so he’s not there yet but Luke is going to make a fine fly tier some day. I can spot ’em! Maybe I’ll ask the good folks over at Dr. Slick if they have any plans for a “Safety Scissor”. If you made it to the Fly Show up in Somerset, you may have seen me working with a new set of “Razor” scissors. I’ve been holding them hostage since the show and I love them. Honestly, they’re so sharp that I don’t have to close them to snip my 6/0 thread. Luke is definitely not ready for those. He’d be more like Luke Skywalker with those in his hands. The Dr. Slick team is helping me put together a new arsenal of tools for this spring and I’m looking forward to all the new ways to apply bandages to my fingers. I can’t wait.

Spring is coming. I swear. It happens every year. Just when you can’t take it any more, the sun shines again and it’s time to fish. After all these fishing expos and today’s run down to the Maryland DNR offices to renew my guide’s license just this morning, I’ve got cabin fever bad. I’m looking forward to some upcoming shows like the big Fly Fishing Show up in Lancaster, PA and Lefty’s Tie Fest. Both are great opportunities to keep spirits high and get your fishing fix. Both the “fly show” and CCA/Tie Fest have facebook pages where you can stay up to date of what’s going to be at the shows. While we’re at it, have you “liked” OUR PAGE? Tie fest is a hardcore tying event and packed with some of the best tiers and a few shops selling materials (even a few rod companies). I think it’s a great chance to get up close and personal with the tiers and really learn a few tricks. Get yourself to both shows and you won’t regret it.

Keep cranking them out. Longer days are coming!

-Micah

The Big Show is Here!

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The Fly Fishing Show is coming to Somerset, NJ January 24th, 25th and 26th. It’s the biggest thing in fly fishing and you need to go!

Not only will you have a chance to see the latest in fly fishing gear, you’ll get to sit in on free seminars and lectures by fly fishing’s greatest minds. Oh and don’t forget, rows and rows of the worlds best fly tiers showing you how it’s done and telling some of the biggest “fish stories” if you’re willing to listen. If you need a new rod, this is the place to cast them (go see our friend’s at Mystic) and if you need tying materials, this is the place to find it all (maybe you need a new vise from Peak?).

We’ll be there (maybe just me) and I can’t wait to see you all and hear how your season’s wrapped up and your plans for 2014. Be sure and stop by to say Hello.  If you’ve never been,  you should score a hotel room nearby and load up a car full of fishing buddies to make the trip with you. You won’t regret it; depending on your carpool buddies.

See you at The Show!

Micah

Get To The Tying Show!

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What are you doing next weekend? You’re loading up the car and heading to New Jersey for the International Fly Tying Symposium. Not a tier? You will be after the world’s best fly tiers show you what you can do with a little thread and a hook. It’s a chance to meet the celebritieslike Baltz, Popovics and Clouser as well as learn a few speed tricks from the commercial tiers like Ken Walrath, Anthony Giaquinto, and Mike Schmidt.

Every year the “Tying show”, as many folks call it, puts on the best expo devoted to fly tying. Knee Deep Fly Fishing will be in the house and I’ll be showing off flies that tease up tight lipped browns from the depths of the Gunpowder and telling big fish stories. For 20 years I’ve been attending but it’s the first time I’ll be tying at the show. Be sure to swing by and say hello! It sounds like I’ll be sharing a table with my friend and tying hero Matt Grobert (a hometown ‘Jersey boy). Hopefully he’s got his earplugs and can handle my noise; I’ll buy him some coffee for putting up with me.

From classic salmon flies and crazy bass bugs to the flies of hard working guides, there’s a hook to be wrapped for everyone. Get yourself to “the tying show”!

Keep your tip on the water,

Micah & The Knee Deep Team

Thank You!

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For us here at Knee Deep (it’s a group effort) the show and expo circuit is wrapping up and, while sitting in a pile of boxes, plastic tubs, and extension cords, it’s nice to know that the air is warming up outside. Traveling to the shows and meeting so many anglers has been rewarding. It’s especially refreshing to meet new anglers and see their enthusiasm. Nothing makes you want to hit the water like hearing someone talk about their first trout on the fly. For those who really get the fly fishing bug, that feeling is the same for every fish caught after that first one.  

For me the winter is a time to see old friends from near and far. As a kid, it was when family would come to town and we’d fish tiny streams for brook trout up in NJ. Nowadays, it’s a reminder of all the great fishermen (and women!) that I’ve been lucky enough to have fished with in the last 25 years and who’ve shaped who I’ve become. One pal I tied next to at the shows has known me since I was a 10 year old kid riding my bike to the river with a fly rod in hand.  Some of the guys who let me tag along on trips to NY state all those years ago came to see me in in NJ and there is no way to describe how fantastic that feels. They’re still letting me tag along on their fishing adventures all these years later. It’s all been a reminder that the fly fishing family is very large but has a great spirit and will continue on for many years down the road.

Last but not least, during this season’s show circuit I’ve met so many supportive spouses along the way. Some of us have wives who may or may not fish but are supportive enough to set us free from the house every once in a while to share angling with others. Maybe it’s easier to let us run than listen to grumble while painting the house or working on the car. I don’t know how they live with us sometimes. I know I couldn’t have done it without my wife and I’m sure there are many other fishermen out there who feel the same way. Thanks Dear!

Thank you to everyone who attended the shows and stopped by to say “Hello” this winter. Knee Deep Fly Fishing wouldn’t be here without you.

Keep your tip on the water!

Sincerely,

Micah

Hooks Up!

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For anglers, this is the time of the winter when cabin fever starts to take hold. Maybe it’s when we’re in the car in the mornings and we notice we now need sunglasses again rather than headlights. For the hardcore trout bums, perhaps they notice the dog is waiting for them to get up and get moving. Whatever it is, we know spring is coming. We just have to hold on!

If you didn’t make it to Somerset, NJ for The Fly Fishing Show, you’ve got another chance to get your fix. The crew is on their way to Lancaster, PA for the weekend of March 2nd/3rd. I’ll be there tying and telling even bigger fish stories (it’s been a long winter) and hope to see some of you there.

The next weekend, March 9th, is Lefty Kreh’s “Tie Fest” closer to home in Grasonville, MD with the gang from CCA Maryland. This one is going to be pretty cool. It’s the region’s best tiers and guides getting together to share what’s coming out the jaws of their vises. There’s even a bar so you can buy them a beer and try to get them to let go of a few secrets. I’ll be tying there too so be sure and stop in for an hour or two just to say hello.

Looking forward to these two events should help to ease the pain of winter. Last year the stoneflies were climbing out of the water by the second week of March so there’s an end in sight!

Tight lines,

Micah

Not Quite Spring….

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Warm weather this week has water temps hitting 43 on the Gunpowder Falls river gauges and the weekend looks great. We’re crossing our fingers for 45! Here at Knee Deep we are big fans of Foote’s forecast for Maryland. It’s spot on for the Baltimore/DC area. While they are calling for a warm weekend – maybe some stonefly action – there’s a cold blast out to the West that’ll bring winter right back to us. Thanks to the folks at Gentner Consutling for turning us on to that Foote’s!

So what’s that mean for the fishing? It means you’ll need to get back to dredging nymphs with a hat and gloves. Not your cup of tea? Don’t have a hat and gloves? Get yourself to one of the upcoming expos put on by the folks at The Fly Fishing Show!

As a youth, I made a trip every season to the Somerset, NJ show with my father and brothers. It was a great chance to catch up with old friends in the isles and meeting the folks rewriting the book on fly fishing was inspiring. I’d go home with bags of hackles and threads with a refreshed enthusiasm for tying flies and rod building and spend the following weeks of winter in the basement with my family tying flies and building up for the warm weather to come. I recall a few icy trips to the Ken Lockwood Gorge with newly built rods in hand and Korkers on our feet just to get close to the water’s edge. I also recall snapping at least one on a frozen maiden voyage!

As a young fly-tier, The Fly Fishing Show was a chance for me to spend a weekend asking every question under the sun and shake the tying tables of guys like Bob Clouser and Bob Popovics; heroes to a kid who grew up fishing the surf. I’d run into the gang from my local TU chapter and ask the advice of my older fishing and tying friends about which necks to buy and dig through mountains of materials just looking for the perfect new thing that would catch me more fish. It was a great opportunity for a kid like me and the trip to Somerset became a pilgrimage for my family.

This year will be a great chance to catch up with friends at Somerset, NJ (Jan 25-27th) and at Lancaster, PA (Mar 2-3rd). Yours truly will by tying flies at both shows and can’t wait.  I’m looking forward to seeing lots of old familiar faces at both shows. With any luck they’ll put me next to someone like NJ ‘s Matt Grobert and my table will get some overflow traffic.  

Get out there this weekend if you can and get planning now for the Fly Fishing shows coming to the area. Don’t miss the chance to fill your winter with fly fishing!

Keep your tip on the water,

 Micah

 

Getting Knee Deep At The Fly Fishing Show!

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With winter about to clench its fist down on this warm fall season it’s time to start planning ahead for that cabin fever. The best remedy I can think of is a trip to one of the upcoming consumer expos put on by the folks at The Fly Fishing Show. The Knee Deep gang is ready and I’ll be tying at the Lancaster, PA show February 18th & 19th not to mention stocking up in person while there’s a huge selection of fur and feathers to choose from.

If you’ve never been to The Fly Fishing show you’ve been missing out! You won’t find a bigger gathering of pros demonstrating their skills and offering up free seminars and lectures. On top of all that, there are isles of tackle companies showing of their latest and greatest gadgets and rods…all out for you to pick up and check out.

Spending my teenage years in New Jersey I was lucky enough to attend the Somerset show every year. I used to spend the whole day getting to know the tiers and asking every question I could. I loved it. Some years I’d go for all 3 days of the show just to get my fill of the seminars and classes. As the years went on, I looked forward to the show more as a way to connect with old fishing friends and to stock up on rare or hard to find tying materials. This year will be no exception as there’s nothing like picking your tying materials first hand and catching up with lots of old friends.

 Check out The Fly Fishing Show site, find a show near you if you can’t make it to Lancaster, and get your fly fishing fix for the winter. Plan to spend the whole day, or more, to take advantage of it all.