Recap: Maine Bar Fly - Fore River Brewing (Jan. 14th 2020)
This past Tuesday we gathered at Fore River Brewing in South Portland for the third Maine Bar Fly of the season. Joined by a light snowfall outside, we were poured some fantastic beers and sat down to learn about the Tarpon Bunny fly pattern. Shaun Baggitt was the featured fly tyer of the night and he was able to successfully guide us through two different versions of this classic fly. An added bonus to the night was that Shaun geared the fly tying and pattern towards a striped bass variation of this famous tarpon streamer. This created an equal amount of interest for those looking to learn the Tarpon Bunny in its original form, and also for those local Maine saltwater anglers wanting to add a new pattern to their assortment of flies for the upcoming season.
(photo by: Will Pearce)
(photo by: Will Pearce)
What we always try and achieve through these Maine Bar Flys is a foundation or technique that tyers can then apply to their own tying or other patterns. This helps to establish fundamentals, but also the ability to grow your skill levels in many areas of fly tying. Specifically for this night, the unique technique that Shaun taught was the use of mono/fluorocarbon loop as a way of creating a foul-free tail. This was something that was started in the 60s/70s for tarpon anglers and it's highly applicable in many patterns today. Combining older techniques with new materials was sort of the underlying theme of the night as well. We tied an older pattern with classic materials and also newer materials such as the EP Foxy Brushes. We ended up tying two difference colored versions of the fly. One was an olive/white and the other a solid black.
(above photo by: Will Pearce)
As to be expected, Fore River Brewing provided a great assortment of beers for us to try. Seeing as it was a classic Maine winter evening, I believe a lot of the John Henry Stout was drank as well as the Timberhitch and Lygonia IPA. As a side note, I am usually not much of a sour beer fan, but I was lucky enough years ago to get a sneak peak to their award winning Raspberry Preble which I enjoyed. Last night, however, I was introduced to the Cranberry Preble that they have been doing since Thanksgiving and was pleasantly surprised! All in all, Fore River has a great assortment of beers for any taste.
A big THANK YOU goes out to Jon Larrabee from HMH vises, Shaun Baggitt, Nate Wight, and Will Pearce for their help. These nights would not even happen, or run as smoothly without your help and support!
The next Maine Bar Fly will be on February 20th at Sebago Brewing in Gorham, Maine. Hope to see you there!
Check out the rest of the photos below!
(above photo by: Will Pearce)
(above photo by: Will Pearce)
(above photo by: Will Pearce)
(above photo by: Will Pearce)
(above photo by: Will Pearce)
Words and Photos by: Josh Thelin
Additional Photos by: Will Pearce (where noted)