Posts tagged: Fly Tying Classes

Recap: Maine Bar Fly - Fore River Brewing (Sept. 28, 2022)

Recap: Maine Bar Fly - Fore River Brewing (Sept. 28, 2022)
Words + Photos By: Josh Thelin

We are back! This marks the first in-person Maine Bar Fly in two years. It was great to get back to one of our favorite events that we do here at All Points. We saw lots of familiar and new faces and had a great time tying some classic freshwater patterns.

The two flies that we covered for the night were the Black Ghost and Gartside Soft Hackle Streamer. Both very productive here in Maine for trout and landlocked salmon. By tying the marabou version of the Black Ghost, we were able to use similar materials to achieve two very different flies by simply adjusting techniques.

Maine Bar Fly - Fore River Brewing

It was pretty clear that the hot beer for the night was Fore River's "Fore Five Six" pale ale. I saw a lot of pints of those at the tables. Speaking to Flynn Wilsea who is an employee at Fore River (and a future Maine Bar Fly instructor!) he said it has been their most popular beer recently. 

The Black Ghost was the first pattern that we tied and I took some time at the beginning to go over a little bit of its history. I brought in some images from books which had great old photos of Herb's flies. Deeply rooted in Maine fly fishing, the Black Ghost came from the western mountains on Mooselookmeguntic Lake here in Maine, and including others of Herb Welch's patterns, changed the way featherwing streamers were tied and fished for trout and salmon. His influence was wide spread including with Carrie Stevens and her well known Gray Ghost.

Maine Bar Fly - Black Ghost Fly History

Maine Bar Fly - Black Ghost Fly History

 We finished out the night tying the Gartside Soft Hackle Streamer. This is another one of my favorite streamers. It has certainly influenced me with my trout and salmon streamer tying. Most of the patterns that I tie for myself or clients are based around this fly. Jack Gartside had many patterns under his belt including ones for saltwater. Although more of a modern influence, you can see many of his ideas in new patterns today.

Maine Bar Fly - Gartside Soft Hackle Streamer
Thanks to all of you that came out! I had a great time and look forward to the next one on October 25th at Oxbow Blending and Bottling in Portland. More info soon!
 
Cheers and see you at the next one!Maine Bar Fly - Black Ghost Fly

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Recap: Maine Bar Fly - Lone Pine Brewing (Dec. 19th 2019)

Recap: Maine Bar Fly - Lone Pine Brewing (Dec. 19th 2019)

Last night we made our way out to Gorham for the second Maine Bar Fly of this winter's season. The location was Lone Pine's newest and was a great spot for tying. We circled the barrel-tables around a large projector screen and tied some steelhead flies. Joe Webster was our featured tyer and did a great job of explaining step-by-step the White Death and Blood Dot patterns. These are two flies that are not only deadly for steelhead in the Great Lakes area and Pacific Northwest, but can be translated to trout flies as well for Maine and beyond.

Maine Fly Tying Classes - Maine Bar Fly

Maine Fly Tying Classes - Maine Bar Fly

Maine Fly Tying Classes - Maine Bar Fly

It was great to see the amount of people who came to simply watch and socialize. I counted a lot of Maine Guides there last night! We all enjoyed Lone Pines beers as well. The Pillow Fight, Bee Bot, and Portland Pale were the popular beers of the night. I personally tried the Holy Donut beer as well which is a stout with chocolate and coconut - great for the holidays/winter.

Maine Fly Tying Classes - Maine Bar Fly

Maine Fly Tying Classes - Maine Bar Fly

As per usual, all of our vises were supplied by Jon Larrabee of HMH vises. These vises prove to be perfect for our fly tying classes. They are built so that year after year we never have any issues. 

The next Maine Bar Fly will be January 14th at Fore River Brewing. Hope you can join us!

 

Maine Fly Tying Classes - Maine Bar FlyWords + Photos By: Josh Thelin

 

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