Demo Days at Schultz

I biked into Ypsi to check out Demo Days at Schultz Outfitters on Saturday. I had the chance to meet Cam Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto . He put on a great presentation about glass rods. I am definitely in the market for a new piece of glass now. Very amped up after seeing his presentation.

After meeting Cam I went to the Temple Fork Outfitters tent to catch up with Ray Schmidt who is now at TFO rep. Ray rigged up a TFO Pro Series II and sent me out to toss some glo yarn around in the grass. The Pro Series II had been on my radar for a while. I was looking for a medium-fast 5 wt fly rod with enough backbone to launch big dries as well as medium streamers, but enough finesse to lay small dries with precision.

I think I found just what I was looking for in the Pro II. I played with it for 10 or 15 minutes before heading back into the shop to snag one at the KILLER DEMO PRICE!

The entire bike ride back to the apartment I was like a kid on Christmas morning dreaming of chucking fur and feathers with my new toy. I showed Chelsea (she was stoked as all get out because this means she gets my St. Croix) and headed to one of my favorite spots. After not being able to get any interest from dries or topwater of any sort I switched to a clouser bunny streamer and hooked up on the second cast.

My new toy did great job bringing this guy in. He was no monster, about 13 inches, but he still put a decent bend in the rod. I have no doubt that the 5wt Pro II could take a much larger fish. I can't wait. Rod profile/overview coming soon.

If you have some time to kill today Schultz' Demo Days are still going on. They have a great line up of presenters and gear reps too. Check them out... and bring your wallet.

-J

Filling the Boxes

I am currently working on filling my fly boxes for the upcoming season. If I were in the northern part of the state I might be doing some midge fishing or looking for stealhead in some other way, but that is not the case.

If you don't know this about me, I am currently studying for the Michigan Bar Exam (February 25th and 26th) and I really needed some stoke to keep my sails full. That stoke came in the form of some FlyFishing Film Tour Tix (F3T). Two days after the bar exam I will be sitting in the Michigan Theater with a clear head and the excitement of a kid on Christmas. Go check out the trailers and head over the Schultz Outfitters in Ypsilanti to get some tickets; it is going to be a good time.

Anyhow, the boxes are getting filled with patterns that seem sort of odd to me: big meaty streamers. It is not how I normally flyfish, but I am told that it is one of the more productive approaches to take with warm water fish in southeast Michigan. We will see.

Check them out.

-J

Clouser Minnows

A couple Hex tied as a break from streamers.

My copy of Morlock's CrawBunny

CrawBunny up close.