Representing T.F.M.

Last Thursday I received a little gift from Cameron of The Fiberglass Manifesto blog.  Within 5 minutes of opening the package it had found a new home.  I love the new logo and I think it looks pretty damn cool on the back of my ride!

The Fly Tying Manual...

It's been quiet around here lately because I started a project a few weeks back that has morphed into something quite unexpected.  Our TU chapter runs a six week fly tying course every year.  As one of the instructors I thought I would put together a little pamphlet reviewing some of the patterns that would be covered in the beginners course.  

That "pamphlet" has turned into a 100+ page Ebook containing detailed tying sequence photos, and tons of information that would be useful to the beginner tier.  I have enjoyed the process of writing it and I am pleased on how it is turning out. 

I am on the tail end of this endeavor so please bear with me, things should get back to normal in a week or two.

I also want to apoligize for all the missing photos on the blog.  Apparently there is some sort of bug with the iPad Blogger app.  I lost all of the photos associated with blogs posted from the iPad.  Hopefully I can get the issue resolved.

Thank You

Thank you to all of our Veterans out there.  For all that serve and have served, your service and sacrifice to protect our freedoms goes unnoticed by many, but not by me...THANK YOU

The Jersey Angler's First Year

The Jersey Angler is one year old today.  This blog started out as an experiment.  The motivation was driven by friends of mine from other parts of the country that wanted to keep in touch with the fly fishing scene here in New Jersey.  As it turned out I enjoyed the blogging experience and the process of recording my various adventures on the water and sessions at the tying bench.

What really amazes me is the readership.  At the time of this writing, the blog is being read by folks in all fifty states and over eighty countries. If I can believe google analytics over ten thousand unique individuals have checked in at least one time to read what I have posted and I have scores of folks that check in on a regular basis.  I never dreamed that my words would reach so many people in such a short time.  That's not to bad for a blog that was designed to keep a couple of friends up to date on the goings on here in New Jersey.

Looking back there were a couple bumps in the road.  Dry spells that were created when life or work got in the way.  For the future I will try to avoid that by having material prepared in a advance so I can keep posts coming on a regular basis.

So what's in store for the Jersey Angler in the future?  I have learned a lot in the past twelve months.  And hopefully that knowledge will enrich the content on this blog. I may be transitioning from my present career to one more inline with this blog's content in the near future.  I am unsure exactly how that will pan out but I am excited about the prospect.

I've met a lot of great folks in the last year and have made some new friends along the way.   I'm looking forward to many more years of sharing information on the pursuit of fish with hook and feather.

Gearing up for Fall Fishing and Fly Tying

This summer has been a long one. While most people lament the end of summer I can't wait for it! The return of the cooler weather means I can get back to chasing my favorite gamefish TROUT.

This weekend I was out camping with my son and the night time low reached 39 degrees. Things are starting to cool down so I plan on heading out this week to see how well the fish survived the summer.

It also time to get back into cranking out some flies. I need to inventory the tattered remains of this season's fly boxes and figure out what worked and what didn't. I will come up with a tying list of patterns to be restocked and send the unproductive experiments off to the bluegill box. But before I do any tying I have to clean off the bench. I took a look at it this evening and it is covered with debris ranging from the kid's legos to the dog's collar and leash.  First flies on my list are my fall soft hackles, more on that in the next post...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back on-line!

I am back from my self imposed siesta. Unfortunately my carp trip to Michigan did not work out as planned. I was heading up to Michigan spend time with some good friends and was planning to extend my stay and fish Traverse Bay. But I had to cut my trip short, so my Lake Michigan carp trip may have to wait until next year...I'm now gearing up to fish Montana in a few weeks but should have plenty to post about before leaving.

Been Offline...

You may have noticed things have been quiet around here.  Should get back to normal in a week or so, bear with me...

Running low on black hackle

My black, dry fly neck is picked over pretty good, I need to start looking for another!

So much for fishing...

... BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING...

A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING.

HEAVY SNOW WAS OCCURRING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF TODAY. THE SNOW WILL FALL HEAVILY AT TIMES... WITH RATES UP TO 1 TO 3 INCHES AN HOUR. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR THROUGH ABOUT MIDDAY TODAY. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH SLEET AT TIMES EARLY THIS MORNING MAINLY ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN DELAWARE... AND MAY BE INTERMITTENT THERE AS WELL.

STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 17 TO 27 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE BULK OF THE AREA. AN INCREASING NORTHEAST TO NORTH WIND WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WILL CREATE EXTENSIVE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW... ALONG WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. THE WIND COMBINED WITH THE FALLING SNOW WILL CREATE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS INCLUDING GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE AT TIMES.

Looks like a good day to ties some flies!

New Blog

The Fly and Fin...

A friend of mine just started a fly tying blog. I look forward reading his posts.

Tenkara Debate

Last night at a board meeting for Central Jersey Trout Unlimited a friend and I were explaining the Tenkara method of fly fishing and showing off the equipment (rods, lines, flies, etc) to our fellow board members.  A debate quickly surfaced... is Tenkara considered fly fishing.  Obviously my friend and I were on the yes side of the debate but there were a surprising number of people who did not consider it fly fishing.  Was it the lack of a reel, the method of presentation, the unorthodox (to them) equipment?  Many arguments were made both for and against but in the end no one changed their opinion.  Some of us considered it fly fishing at its roots, fly fishing simplified...just rod line and flies.  The others did not know what to call it, but they would not call it fly fishing.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a great day whether you celebrate the day or not. After this year I am convinced that Santa is a fly fisherman. Plenty of fly fishing goodies in the ole stocking this year.

Merry Christmas!

One hell of a fisher...dog

Change in plans...

I was planning on wetting a line tomorrow morning but the forcast is calling for over a foot of snow.  I may chance it and give it a shot for a few hours before it gets too sloppy, but maybe a better option would be to stay home,  start a fire and tie some flies.

Tis the season...

Been busy...

Things have been pretty busy so the posts have slowed down a bit.  I've been doing a bit of tying lately but have not taken pictures.  Most of the work has been filling up the Czech nymph box so I'll put up some patterns and photos in a few days.