Triangle Sport recently did a video about All Points Fly Shop and the owner Josh Thelin. Triangle Sport is the company that makes the line/reel winder machine that we use daily at the shop to rig fly reels.
Check it out below!
There is no question that striped bass love crabs. It is an easy and protein packed meal that is also a viable food source. Crabs are easy picking for bass. Here in Maine we have a lot of (invasive) green crabs which the stripers love to forage on. This is a pattern that I developed which is essentially a combination of Del Brown's "Merkin" and Enrico Puglisi's "EP Crab."
Materials:
Check out the video blow:
For years, if I was trout fishing with multiple flies under a strike indicator, I used a Thingamabobber. Compared to other indicators they were more buoyant, visible, and sensitive. But they had their drawbacks. These important issues have been essentially all resolved with the advent of the Air-Lock Strike Indicators. Here are 3 ways they are an improvement...
When attached to any part of the leader the Air-Locks will not slide around. This was an issue with other indicators. If they were attached, especially to the thinner sections of the leader, they would move around quite often after casting. With the screw-on system the Air-Locks have, you can attach them to any part of the leader without worry of it sliding all over the place. No more needing to tie knots on either end of the indicator to prevent sliding and thus weakening the leader!
If you were fishing nymphs for a while and you wanted to change to dry flies, your leader had a very noticeable kink where the Thingamabobber was. Not only would this prevent your leader from laying out straight, but if you were changing placements of the indicator, you had multiple kinks. This rendered your leader basically useless. With the screw-top Air-Locks, your leader is attached with a straight placement over the top. This prevents your leader from becoming a zig-zagging slinky after nymphing.
One really cool additional feature is the ability to also setup your Air-Lock and leader to create a 90° connection. This allows the indicator to sit top-down on the water and facilitate a straight downward placement of the leader. This can help get your flies deep quicker and straighter.
Check out this great video with Tim Rajeff explaining the benefits of the Air-Locks!
Words + Photos By: Josh Thelin
We've had multiple snow storms here in New England with plenty of white stuff around. Unless we have a warm January or February, we will most likely be blanketed at least until trout season opens on April 1st. Although there is still plenty of trout fishing to be had around here in the winter, most of our saltwater gear for stripers, bluefish, and albies is slumbering until spring. After months of salty endeavors, our reels need some TLC. Saltwater is brutal on everything that it touches and a fishing reel that has been essentially swimming in the Atlantic ocean for months will need a refresh. Buying good quality gear is a big factor in how long it will last. But, taking care of this gear is the only thing proven to keep gear even longer...
Whether you have a trip booked in a month for bonefish and tropical flats or you are putting your saltwater gear away for the winter, here are some tips for keeping your fly reels ready for whatever you have planned next...
This is something that I think gets overlooked quite a bit by anglers. A lot of people treat and clean their fly lines, but ignore their backing. Dacron backing specifically breaks down much quicker than the higher-end gel spun, braided, or similar types of premier backing. The main reason for this is that dacron gets damaged by UV rays much easier and also absorbs and holds water much more than other backing materials. This causes saturated/salty backing to sit on your reel throughout the season and slowly degrade on itself and also potentially your reel. The only way to tell if dacron has gone bad is when you watch a fish swim away because your backing broke. Dacron is also inexpensive enough where it is very much worth changing it out every season. Plus it gives you a clean slate to clean your entire fly reel.
The above picture shows a very common issue. If you look in between the backing and the spool, you will see salty/mineral build-up. This happens all the time to almost every reel especially if fished in the salt regularly. This is piggy-backing on another reason to strip your backing off...if that were to sit like that for extended periods of time it will only cause degradation to the reel and problems in the future. Check all screw holes, corners, and any other small spots that would collect/trap salt.
After you have been able to take a good look over your reel, it's time to get it clean! Running some warm (not hot) water in the sink and applying additional scrubbing with a tooth brush can be a great way to fully clean off your fly reel. Get all the hard-to-reach areas and leave no spot left for corrosion.
After you have gone over the entire reel and done some cleaning with a brush - it's a good idea to let the reel sit in some warmer water for a little while. This will help to break down any additional salt/minerals that have built up which didn't come off already. After a short soak, make sure to give a thorough rinse! I do not advise people to leave their reels in the sink overnight as I believe reels sitting in (borderline) salty water doesn't help much nor has it provided any additional benefits.
It's important to make sure that your reel is completely dry before storing. Putting a damp reel back into a case/box/etc and allowing it to sit like that for months will certainly kickstart entropy!
I hope this helps! I will be posting up more "cleaning and maintenance" blog posts soon, so keep an eye out!
Words + Photos: Josh Thelin
Last night was the first Maine Bar Fly. It was held at Oxbow Blending & Bottling in Portland, Maine with Aaron Lockwood, of Casco Bay Flies, providing his simple but effective "Laser Bunny" streamer pattern. People gathered, with all various levels of tying experience, to spin up one of Aaron's great flies and enjoy some of the many tasty beers that Oxbow brews right here in Maine. HMH Vises was kind enough to provide all of the loaner vises for those in need and also circled around the room helping tyers out as well.
Thanks to everyone that came out and enjoyed themselves!
This will be a monthly event held at breweries around Maine, so keep an eye out for information on the next one via email.
Words + Photos by: Josh Thelin
(Bottom photo by: Will Schmitt)
