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.

First Fish of 2017

-- First 2017 Fish --

I'm shocked, yes shocked, to find stripers in January! First fish of 2017 and it seemed like the "fish on every cast" action from November continued. The expectations where very low heading out, but I fished with a very "fishy" guy who figured it out and got us all into some.

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

Every Picture Tells a Story

 -- Every Picture Tells a Story-- 

Of all the social networks, I waste most of my time with Instagram. I keep two accounts -- @ginclear for fly fishing & tying and @deanwo for family, work & other random stuff. My affection for the Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins bleeds into both feeds from time to time.

If you are on Instagram, you've noticed everyone posting "Year in Review" videos that flash by the most memorable or liked posts. Both Statigram and Flipagram are two of the more popular sites/apps that provide this service for free.

I thought it would be fun to tell a little story for some of the most memorable pics this year from the @ginclear Instagram account. The year was full of fly fishing firsts in many ways. First fish, first hatches and first time fishing with new friends.

Instagram Fly Swap III

- Instagram Fly Swap III -

Finally finding time to put up this post about the 3rd Semi-Annual Instagram Fly Swap hosted again by Morgan Kupfer of Tight Line Tales of a Fly Fisherman. Also check out the 1st and 2nd Instagram Fly Swaps.

The call from Morgan went out on the @tltff Instagram feed back in March this year and flies were mailed to the 10 tiers the first week of May.

The popularity of this swap is way up from the first time. It took about 5 minutes to fill up after Morgan's initial post!

As with the previous two swaps, we had a great, well rounded group of excellent tiers including some celebrities. The theme of the swap was streamers - one salt and one fresh pattern.

For each set of flies below, there is a link to the tier's Instagram profile, pics of the flies and names/recipes if they were provided (for those who didn't send in names/recipes - it's never too late. Comment below and I'll add it to the post).

All the flies are "Bad Ass" and those with no names have that name for now. On to the flies...

New England Fly Swap

-- flyfishingnewengland.net Fly Swap --

There are so many great aspects of the sport of fly fishing. Time on the water and landing fish is what we all strive to achieve, but the time spent preparing, gathering information about your destination, deciding what rod and flies to use, how you want to hunt and present your fly to the fish, all are part of bringing a fish to hand.


Fly tying has become an integral part of my preparation. Learning what works from others is not only an educational process, but a great way to share our experiences with fellow anglers. Fly swaps become the channel to both learning and making new, like-minded, friends from which we share our love of the sport.