All Points Fly Shop + Outfitter - News

Last night (Feb. 6th) was the third Maine Bar Fly. Hosted again inside Oxbow Blending & Bottling's great tasting room, we gathered to learn more about Nome Buckman's approach to tying her "Predator Flies." Well-outfitted with HMH's generous supply of vises and LIGHTS (!!!!) we all drank and listened to Nome's instruction. As for the beer, Oxbow always provides a great assortment. Many people had variety/tasters so that they could try them all. I personally enjoyed and had my share of their Town Line Porter. 

Before the tyers all arrived, we did the ritualistic assembling of vises and divvying out materials... 

After settling in, people chose their preferred beverage and tuned into the tying instructions. The great thing about these nights is that the teacher(s) try and not only give you specifics on tying, but also how those tying techniques translate into the fly's motion/behavior/appeal. 

The next Maine Bar Fly has been scheduled for March 14th at Bunker Brewing in Portland. The tyer will be Kevin Stone and we will be doing an "EP 101" night: an introduction to working with EP fibers for striped bass! It will be the last one for this season until we pick back up again in November. If you haven't made it to one yet, you are missing out! s

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At our last Maine Bar Fly held at Fore River Brewing, Shaun Baggitt brought us through three nymph patterns. Although these flies are uniquely effective during other times of the year, the winter is when these guys really get their shine! But why is that? Well, midges...During the winter when snow covers the ground and most of the still water is frozen over, insect life starts to slow down as well. The caddis and mayfly hatches that we see during the spring through fall are no longer - the air temperature has essentially halted their maturation process.  But don't fret, there is still life! Behold the midge! 

Even if you have never fished during the winter, you have probably seen a midge whether you knew it or not - especially along the tailwaters here in Maine. Further, you very well might have mistaken it for a mosquito. Midges are found in various arrays of sizes and types and are also high on a trout's grocery list. But, many anglers do not fish them. For some they are too small to tie or even knot on a leader (which is why we tied these on size 12s at the Maine Bar Fly)...for others they don't know how/where to fish them. It's possibly a combination of both. Well if you have never tied a small midge to the end of your leader, to extended tippet off of a dry fly, or at the end of a nymph rig, it's time to give it a try. 

As mentioned, we tied our nymphs at the Bar Fly on size 12s for ease of learning, but midges are seen generally in the 16-18 range with plenty in 22s and beyond. Although this is small, the good thing for the tyer is that there are not a lot of materials involved for most of these midges. For instance, the Zebra Midge (which we tied) is essentially a hook + a bead + thread + wire. That's it. Because many midge patterns are imitating the larval stage which are found along the bottom of the river, the Zebra Midge has found a place in most anglers pack for it's simplicity and effectiveness.  

For the reason that most midges are found along the bottom, and in slower moving sections, midge fishing in the winter tends to be done in slow drifts with the aid of an indicator. If you have ever seen a fish eat larval midges, they are usually sucking them off the bottom. So if you are not bumping your Zebra Midge off the rocks you are not in the strike zone. The river's currents usually funnel midges to these slower runs and holes so fish anxiously wait for the next midge delivery to arrive. If you are fishing in the winter look for these slower sections. 

I hope that helps! There is still plenty of fishing to be done in the winter and it can be just as enjoyable if you adjust your tactics a little to suit the season. Bundle up, grab a thermos, and try out some midge fishing! 

Words + Photo by: Josh Thelin 

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Wednesday January 10th was the second installment of the Maine Bar Fly. Held at Fore River Brewing in South Portland, we watched as Shaun Baggitt guided us through three deadly nymph patterns. The Zebra Midge, Brassie, and Higas SOS were the flies of choice. Sharing similar tying techniques and materials, these three patterns are highly effective in New England - especially in the winter (more on that with an upcoming blog post!). We tied these on size 12 Gamakatsu C12 Scud hooks so that the larger hook would be easier for demonstration purposes and also for those newer to tying.

The wood stove was roaring and the beer steadily flowed. The beer selection at Fore River was great with a lot of various stouts, IPAs, and pale ales that worked perfect for a cold winter night. HMH Vises was kind enough to bring a dolly full of their Spartan vises for everyone (that needed one). So, with ample beverages and fly tying materials people dived into the flies of the night... 

The next Maine Bar Fly is scheduled for February 6th at Oxbow Blending and Bottling on Washington Ave in Portland, Maine. Start thinking big flies, big fish.... Tickets will go up on the website for sale soon. Hope to see you there!

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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...

Taking The Backing Off

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. 

Take A Closer Look

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.

Rinse - Scrub - Repeat

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. 

Let Sit In Water

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. 

Dry + Store 

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

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