Dryfly Art

I've never ever considered myself to have any artistic talent. Most of my "drawings" feature stick figures. I do enjoy art. One of my favorite art forms is block printing. My favorite block prints come from Greg Jaris at Trick Dog in Elberta, MI, and Bad Axe designs. 

After wrapping up a tie session the other night I looked up at a Jaris print that I picked up last summer. It's a flamboyant trout-like fish flailing in the air. Knowing that Chelsea had some printing materials in her art pile for www.thebiglake.etsy.com I asked her for them. 

With speedball carver in hand I sat down and created the first of hopefully many stamps that represent the things that I do. It's far from being a piece of art, but I think it's very cool in a raw way. That's what I appreciate about block printing; it can be extremely detailed and clean or a little more emotive and raw. Tell me what you think:

It's the silhouette of a wingless Adams fly, or as I call them: gnats. 

More will follow. I just need to get outside and get some inspiration. 

Big news coming down the pipeline soon. Don't want to say anything until we are 100% ready. 

- 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.