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.

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."

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

Why Knot Fishing

-- Why Knot Fishing Team --

I had the privilege of connecting with a new group of New England anglers through social media earlier this year. One of the founders of the group, Joe G. (@j_googe on Instagram), started a conversation with me about the group and I offered to help spread the good word.

Joe sent me this info to share about their mission.

"Why Knot Fishing is a community fishing company based on the North Shore of Massachusetts, but with team of anglers located around the state.  We will be focusing on providing fishing reports, fishing reviews and fun fishing stories.  We will also be running events over the summer including a surf fishing event on Plum Island on June 14th and a kayak fishing even later in the summer.

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.

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.

First Striper on the Fly

-- First Stripah on the Fly --

Four times a charm, or something like that. Last weekend, a good buddy, Mark, took me to his "spot" in Rhode Island to chase some pre-dawn schoolies on the fly. This was my 4th outing ever to chase stripers.

We went to this same spot last year with no luck, but this time the tides were right and the week leading up to our outing had ideal temps and weather conditions.