FlyFishNewEngland.net 7th Annual Fly Swap

FFNE 7th Annual Fly Swap

We are in to our spring fishing season here in New England -- rivers and ponds are freshly stocked, the herring runs are going strong and sea lice laden schoolies are being caught in Rhode Island. And in true fashion of the "occasional blogger", the 7th Annual FlyFishingNewEngland.net fly swap, that happened in January this year, is finally being documented.
It's actually the dead of winter 2020 and one year has passed since the last fly swap. I started to write this post in the spring of 2019 (see lined out intro paragraph above) and am finally finishing just a few weeks before the FFNE 8th Annual Fly Swap.
Better late than never....

New England Fly Fishing, Red Sox and Podcasts

The occasional blogger wants to share some current thoughts about the subject topics. I listen to a lot of podcasts, I love fly fishing in New England (both fresh and salt) and I'm a huge Red Sox fan. When these topics converge, I have to share...

Rick Porcello, a Red Sox starter since 2015 and 2016 Cy Young Award winner, is an avid fly angler. Orvis posted a video featuring Rick recently, but I also just discovered a new podcast titled "Fly Fishing Journeys" where Rick provides some insights to his fly fishing passion and time with the Red Sox.

ORVIS Presents: Off Season

Rob Giannino hosts the "Fly Fishing Journeys" podcast and has many excellent interviews with New England centric guests. His interview style brings the best out of his guests. Rick's podcast was done during the 2018 season and we all know the results from that record setting year for the Sox. 

Unfortunately, Rick's future with the Red Sox is in question as his contract ended in 2019 and, to date, he has not been offered an extension by the team

Wherever he lands in 2020, I will still be a big fan and hope to meet him fishing for brookies in New England.

6th Annual FlyFishingNewEngland.net Fly Swap

-- 6th Annual FFNE Fly Swap --

It's hard to believe we've been doing this fly swap for 6 years now. I've posted about the 1st, 2nd and 3rd FlyFishingNewEngland.net fly swaps. With a record turnout and the high quality flies submitted, this 6th annual event warranted a post from the "occasional blogger".
This year was the biggest with 15 tiers and 18 total in attendance at our host's (Chris M.) house. We also had friends, wives and significant others join us for the festivities. Several tiers submitted multiple flies (Matt B. submitted 5!) so we had a total of 23 flies for each tier to take home.

Dock Talk 365 Interview

--Dock Talk 365 Interview--

I was a bit surprised to have a fellow angling blogger inquire about a Question and Answer interview for the Dock Talk 365 Blog. What could a "weekend warrior" fly angler say or offer that hasn't been discussed a million times before?

I took a look at Chris' blog, read some of the other interviews and thought it would be fun to give my perspective with some background of why I fish and love it so much. This sentence from the "About Us" helped seal the deal, "Our focus is on the recreational or local tournament anglers who love to spend time on the water and are willing to share their valuable knowledge of their local waters and techniques as well as their overall perspectives on our sport."

2015 Top Twelve Days on the Water

-- First fish of 2016 --

I'll open this long overdue post with the first fish of 2016. A sweet native Massachusetts brookie from a stream with no name. We are now three months into 2016, but I'd like to look back on a personally successful 2015 fly fishing New England waters.

I use the phrase "occasional blogger" in my Instagram profile for a reason. It's hard to provide relevant content to the blog on a regular basis. It's been 11 months since the last post and I hope you'll enjoy this one.

New England Spring Float with Harrison Anglers

-- Harrison Anglers --

To some, the 2014-2015 New England winter was brutal. For me, it was just another beautiful, snow filled wonderland that is rapidly changing into a glorious spring. This is the reason I love New England. Seasonal changes in New England are rapid and intense. Deep snow is morphed into blooming forsythia and the fish in both fresh and salt put on the feed bags.

Nine years ago, my son Matt, bought me a fly rod for Christmas. Six years ago, Matt convinced me to float a Western Massachusetts river with Harrison Anglers. Before that float, I had caught a few bass and bluegills on the fly, but salmonids continued to elude me. Tom Harrison, our guide on that float, put us on fish and I caught my first trout that day on an olive woolly bugger. I didn't know what I was doing then and probably forgot to tip (sorry Tom), but it was a memorable day. Thanks to Tom's patience and guidance, all aspects of my fly fishing game improved and I started having success with catching trout.

3rd Annual FlyFishingNewEngland.net Fly Swap

-- 3rd Annual FFNE Fly Swap --

The tradition continues. After finding Ryan's board three years ago, signing up for the 1st FFNE Fly Swap and meeting a bunch of great local fly anglers, I look forward to this winter event every year.

The highlight of the swap this year came from our host, Matt, who recently has ventured in to the world of tying classic salmon flies. Matt consistently produces killer, big meaty, pike and bass flies, but wanted to explore the deep and beautiful realm of the salmon fly. As one of the most creative tiers I know, Matt knocked out 11 unique patterns for each swap participant and himself based on stories shared on the FlyFishingNewEngland.net board.

Bonefish Dick's Betsy Fly

-- Tying "The Betsy" --

As the snowy New England winter wears on, we find ourselves enjoying some quiet time at the vise to prepare for the warmer months that are fast approaching. As much as I love fly fishing in the winter, the closest tailwater is about an hour and a half away that typically requires 7x tippet and a 32 midge just to fool a 12 inch stocked trout. I'd rather tie flies and wait for ice out and the schoolies to return to the tidal estuaries.

2014 was my best year chasing New England Striped Bass from the shore and it will be hard to only fish the freshwater going forward. My saltwater mentor, Mark, has shown me some great locations, techniques and flies that have led to this success. One fly, the Yellow Betsy, accounts for 1/2 of the stripers I've landed and has become the "go to" fly when nothing else is working.

One of several stripers fooled by the Betsy in 2014

Family Fall Fly Fishing Firsts

-- NY & MA Landlocked Salmon --

We all love fall fishing. Here in New England, not only do we have excellent fresh and salt water options, we also get a spectacular display of color as the leaves change. As my favorite time of year, fall is too short, but that's what makes it all the more precious.

With my son, Matt, being about 300 miles away attending school in the Adirondacks, our fall fishing outings together are usually limited to just one around the Columbus Day weekend. We had a great trip last year on the West Branch of the Ausable in the ADK with Matt putting me on my largest brown trout to date (Matt just posted a video "Golden Brown" which captures the beauty of this big brown).

Local Confidence Builder

-- Good Day on the Water --

Oh forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned! It's been 4 months since my last post and I have no excuses. Summer has flown by, again with no vacation, but a couple of fun outings chasing local bass & gills.

Yesterday was definitely one of the highlights of the summer.

With the trout streams at record low flows and recent salt skunkings, I needed a confidence builder outing and decided to hit a local pond yesterday. I've had both good and bad days on this pond, but that didn't matter -- its 10 minutes from the house and has some decent variety of fish (pickerel, bass, perch, cats, and gills).

Low Tide in the Salt Marsh

 - Early Season Schoolie Hunt - 

Got out with my striper buddy, Mark, on Saturday looking for the first striped bass "schoolies" of the season. It was a beautiful day exploring some old and new water in Rhode Island. Also met some new fly fishing friends as well.

Water temps were 50 degrees, but the schoolies were not interested. We started at place where I had luck last year with my first striper on the fly and fished the tide change from high to low.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos and a Fly Swap

 -- Fly Fish New England Fly Swap -- 

I joined the Fly Fishing New England board a little over a year ago and am really enjoying the great local knowledge and camaraderie. Right after joining, I was able to get into the board's first fly swap and wrote a post about it.

The best part about this fly swap is that it's local and our host, Matt, brews some excellent beer. Last year, in addition to swapping flies, drinking beers and getting to know everyone, I brought some bacon wrapped jalapenos (BWJs). The BWJs were a big hit. Well, as the December winter froze over all the local streams and cabin fever sets in, posts on the board started up about "When is the next fly swap?" When the date got set for 1 February and the theme of fly swap was "your most productive fly", discussions about the BWJs also surfaced. A tradition is born.