Monthly Archives: February 2011

Feb 23 2011
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Ding...Ding...I Have An Announcement To Make

Quick Hits Of Fish News To The Groin…I’m still working on the title of this feature

There are plenty of cute names for short fish news updates…I think mine is the most original.
  • The Tie-One-A-Thon is proud to announce the addition of Walker Parrott and Landon Lipke, both guides at Davidson River Outfitters, to the all-star lineup for this Sunday’s shenanigans. Get all the latest info here.
  • Cameron Mortenson, who writes The Fiberglass Manifesto blog, wrote a post about the Tie-One-A-Thon.  Check it out here, and do yourself a favor and add his blog to your regular internet (and bathroom  if you are so inclined) routine…it’s been a part of mine for a while now.
  • Six federal trout hatcheries in the South are on the chopping block including hatcheries in Arkansas and Tennessee…this isn’t gonna be good for anybody.  Get you hate mail stationary at the ready we will let you know who to direct the furor at once we figure it out. Full story here.

- dave

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Feb 22 2011
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Ding...Ding...I Have An Announcement To Make

The Tie-One-A-Thon Is Rolling Like A Run Away Freight Train

What started as one man’s drunken idea on the way back from a fishing trip has become the Altamont of WNC fly tying events…minus the Hell’s Angels, although Steve does look tough in his leathers. The Tie-One-A-Thon is right around the corner and all signs are pointing to this event being at least as fun as an eighth grade dance, if eighth grade dances had beer. All the sponsors have really stepped up and donated enough gear, booze, and swine to make me consider making a midnight foray to a non-extradition country with a Santa size bag of loot. We will be having door prize giveaways every hour throughout the day and we don’t have any prize packages worth less than thirty bucks all the way up to Dr Slick tool sets worth at least a hundred. We also added some tiers to the list including Thomas Harvey from Carolina Fly and Heath Cartee from Curtis Wright Outfitters. Tickets will be available at the door the day of the event and can be purchased at all Curtis Wright Outfitters locations. I also wanted to say thanks to our newest sponsor thefiberglassmanifesto.com. Cameron Mortenson donated a sweet t-shirt and some stickers to be given away and the rumor is with enough beer and fishing promises he might even show up to cover the event for his blog. See all the tiers, and our most up to date list of sponsors here. So until the next update I will leave you with a riddle. What has two thumbs and can’t wait for the Tie-One-On-A-Thon? That’s right…this guy.

- Dave

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Feb 21 2011
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Straight Trippin' Reports, Uncategorized

one fish, two fish, three fish, redfish

After sitting in a holding pattern for a couple of days, the winds on the coast finally died down enough for Steve and I to get down to Charleston and put together the Spring Redfish feature with SCOF contributor Tucker Blythe.  Fly fishing the Low Country is kind of like Mexican wrestling, there is a whole lot going on and most of it is way beyond your comprehension (also the whole flamboyant masks and banana hammock thing).  Tide, cloud cover, wind, bait chuckers, idiots with trolling motors, and trout sets are all a part of the equation. The equation only gets more complicated when you add in the fact that there are thousands of miles of coastline, creek, marsh, and oyster flats where a biomass of Reds can appear and disappear just as quickly.  In the end the whole thing comes down to getting shots and not completely crapping the bed when that shot comes. I wouldn’t say that our bed was spotless after two days, but it wasn’t like we had to throw away the sheets either…maybe just hide them at the bottom of the hamper. I really want to thank Tucker for working hard to put us on the schools, and I would also like thank myself for not completely letting myself down. Look out for the feature in the Spring preview issue but until then enjoy some shots that won 1st runner-up in the beauty pageant.

- Dave

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Feb 18 2011
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Straight Trippin' Reports

Live Dancing Indians

Fishing the Ravens Fork on the Cherokee reservation always seems a little too much like fishing in an amusement park for my taste.  A few years ago Bob Barker showed up and pulled a metaphorical Happy Gilmore on the folks who own the bear viewing establishment, and I use “establishment” in the loosest sense of the word, no more than a mile from the fly fish only section.  On your way to the river you can stop at Harrah’s and play the slots, buy a tomahawk and a real Indian head-dress, and catch the live dancing Indian do his thing (I shit you not).  By the time you actually get around to fishing, chances are that your wallet is lot lighter than when you got there, but at least you now look like one of the Village People, and have done your part to steal a little more of a once proud people’s dignity.  To keep up with the general Liberace like subtlety of the place, the Ravens Fork holds some of the largest rainbows on the east coast. These fish are not wild by any stretch of the imagination and are chosen specifically for their ability to reach party sub size before you can utter the word triploid.  I stopped guiding Cherokee during the summer because tubing is allowed in the trophy section and one too many obese Native Americans have ruined my day by porpoising in the middle of the hole I happened to be fishing.  I do try to make the trip over there a couple times a year when generation schedules don’t co-operate in E. TN and I can’t think of anywhere else I want to fish.  I fish amusement park triploids because there fat, there fat because I fish them. It’s all a vicious cycle.

- dave

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Feb 15 2011
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HIt It And Quit It, Straight Trippin' Reports

Here Redfish, Redfish

Got a dispatch from SCOF saltwater contributor, Tucker Blythe, the other day.  After a very convincing argument (involving venn diagrams, bar charts, and plenty of photographic Redfish evidence), Steve and I are heading down Charleston way at 3:30 am to be at the marina by 9 am and knock out the spring issue Redfish feature.  By this time tomorrow I expect to be elbow deep in a school…that doesn’t sound right, does it? Check out the report from Tucker’s friends over at Salty Shores:

I had the opportunity to ride down to Charleston yesterday and fish with friends Tucker Blythe (www.greyghostcharters.com )& Guitou Feuillebois. We fished an area Tucker had been scouting about an hour south of Charleston. The weather was finally beautiful after several days of wind/rain. I almost forgot what it was like to fish unpressured redfish. We hit a couple of Tuck’s go-to spots and some new areas where birds were working glass minnows. It seemed like every place we stopped we would spot a school of fish before somebody could even climb up on the platform. We ended the day with 15 nice redfish and watched every one of them scarf the fly (thanks to some great water clarity).  There’s a lot of people fishing the shallows these days and increased pressure will eventually shut a school of fish down. Don’t keep wearing-out the same school of fish – keep exploring and trying new areas. Once you find fish that haven’t been repeatedly blasted with cut bait, the pay-off will be totally worth the effort you put into it.

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You can find the full story here. All the photos are courtesy of J. Nelson.

- Dave


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Feb 13 2011
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Ding...Ding...I Have An Announcement To Make, Open Ended Appeals To The Masses, Tying Your Life Away

Tie-One-On-A-Thon Update

So the silence on the blog has been eerie hasn’t it?  I thought I saw a ghost on the about page, but it was just my reflection in the screen.  I do hope that it wasn’t to off-putting, but in our defense we have been kind of busy finalizing the details for what I think will turn out to be, the greatest fly tying event ever held in Steve’s Studio…I mean ever. Check out the webpage for the updated tiers and sponsor lists.  I will say that we have crafted an entertainment equation as such:

Expert Fly Tying + Local Microbrew Beer at PBR Prices + Charred Flesh Of Swine + The  Chance To Ask Your Favorite Tier Why He Makes Three Turns Instead of Two With His Wire Rib = One Rip Roaring Good Time

So tickets are going to be ten dollars and beer and BBQ will be depression era priced with every dollar going to Project  Healing Waters.  Tickets will be available at all Curtis Wright Outfitters locations, at the door, and will called by emailing me with all of you personal information (trust me I know what I am doing)…on second thought you should probably just go to CWO.  There will be an am session ticket and a pm session ticket with both sessions being topped out at fifty tickets…so get your tickets early and often folks.

Check back, as we will be updating the event info right up until the event with more giveaways, tiers, and sponsors.

- Dave

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