All Points Fly Shop + Outfitter - News

By now you have likely seen or heard about the Original Crouser fly that Joe Webster ties here at All Points. As this is a pattern that is most commonly fished along the bottom to imitate crab, shrimp, flounder, etc. here in Maine for striped bass, it quickly was morphed into a (smaller) version for bonefish & permit. Its productivity in tropical flats world was quick and we started to receive messages and photos from customers who had brought some great bonefish & permit to hand with the Crouser. Although the original color of olive/light olive worked well, variations of tan/sand, pink, or rootbeer (for redfish!) seemed to really gain popularity. 

In the following video, Joe demonstrates his Crouser pattern in a smaller bonefish & permit variation. You can also watch the video of the Original Crouser HERE

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW!

Material List: (click on item for full product info)

• Large Northern Bucktail
• Painted Lead Eyes
• Gamakatsu SL45 Bonefish Hook
• Krystal Flash
• Rabbit Dubbing
• Veeus 140 Power Thread
• Zap a Gap
• Solarez UV Resin (Thin)

Read more

Flat wing style flies are renowned for their great movement and castability. These flies are a modern twist on a classic style featuring an almost indestructible UV resin head and body as well as a keel weight to ensure these flies will ride correctly under even the heaviest current. Additional steps are taken in the tying process to prevent the feathers and bucktail from fouling which can be an issue with this style of fly.

CHECK OUT THE MATERIAL LIST BELOW THE VIDEO!

Material List: (click on each item for product page)

• Thread: Veevus power thread 140 denier (white)
• Hook: Gamakatsu SL12S (2/0)
• Tail: Bucktail (white)
• Tail: Hareline Flat Wing Saddle (white and pastel olive), Ewing Half Saddle (light olive)
• Body: Flashabou Mirage Blends (opal/silver)
• Wing: Bucktail (light olive)
• Wing: Peacock Herl
• Throat: Bucktail (white)
• Eyes: Holographic Living Eyes (7mm ice)
• UV Resin: Solarez (thick and thin)

Read more

The crouser has fast become one of the most popular flies for targeting striped bass here on the New England coast. This pattern was developed by local fly angler and current shop employee Joe Webster. The crouser is a crab + clouser hybrid and produces great results in a variety of scenarios.

What makes this such a great fly is its versatility in that it will work in scenarios where fish are selective towards crab, shrimp or small baitfish. In any of these situations the crouser will produce results. Originally this fly was designed to fish directly on the bottom with a sink tip fly line but also works well on a floating or intermediate line, especially when the bass are more interested in shrimp and baitfish vs. crabs. The olive/light olive color was the original and to this day still the most popular and all around productive color scheme, however darker colors have been found to work especially well in stained water or low light hours and the lighter tones have become extremely popular on some of the bigger flats south of us here in Maine. On top of being an extremely productive fly pattern for striped bass, tropical flats fisherman have taken a liking to this pattern in smaller sizes for bonefish and permit. This is a must have for any fly angler targeting striped bass on the New England coast.

Materials List: (click for product page)

• Large Northern Bucktail
• Painted Lead Eyes
• Gamakatsu SL12S Saltwater Hook
• Krystal Flash
• Rabbit Dubbing
• Veeus 140 Power Thread
• Zap a Gap
• Solarez UV Resin (Thin)

Check out one of our Crouser fly tying videos:

Read more

Sunday July 9th was the 2017 Southern Maine Striper Derby. In the third year running, it attracted teams from all over including New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and almost every corner of Maine. Divided into teams of two, anglers had the entire coast of southern Maine as their playground. WhyKnot fishing has been the driving force behind this event since it's inception and along with Ben Whitehead (yup, the guy that ties our saltwater flies here at All Points Fly Shop + Outfitter) and gracious support from Cheeky, Costa, Yeti, Beulah, Mud Dog Flies, XTRATUF, Cortland, East Coast Flies, Brackish Flies, Coastbusters, Kismet Outfitters, and Early Rise Outfitters, it is now a thriving event.

The rules are simple: it's a catch-and-release format (like all WhyKnot tournaments) and the winning team will have the best 4 fish (measured in inches accumulatively). Each team received a unique tag and measuring tape at the beginning of the event and pictures of the fish needed to include these tags with accurate measurements shown in the photograph. 

Check-in for the derby was at 3:30am at Pine Point in Scarborough. Teams gathered, drank coffee and Redbull, received their unique team tag, and finalized their strategies for the day. At 4:00am over 30 teams were released and quickly got into their vehicles to head out along the rocky coast. 

The derby ran from 4am-2pm so a total of about 10 hrs for fishermen to work the diverse coastline. This included about 2 hours of an outgoing tide and a full incoming tide. So, this presented the opportunity to fish different areas and also utilize the tide range to try numerous game plans. Some headed to the beaches, some to the rivers, some to the ledges and rocks, with all theories producing fish.

The afternoon progressed and the sunny warm weather didn't seem to slow the action down much. Anglers were catching fish in almost every spot they went to and teams were on average catching fish in the 24-27" range! The biggest fish of the day was a nice 31" landed by Gary Kearns of the winning team "Into The Backing." 

The day wrapped up with a 2:00pm check in at Oxbow Brewing in Portland. Teams raced into town to make the cutoff and submit their fish/total lengths. People ate, drank, dried off, and exchanged fish tales. It was a perfect way to end a great day of fishing! The sponsors involved all had top notch awards and raffle prizes. The winning team received a rod from Beulah, line from Cortland, and a Cheeky Reel. The 2nd place team won Redington Predator fly rods from us at All Points, and the 3rd place group were given $100 toward XTRATUF and many coupons and accessories for their accomplishment!  

Thanks to everyone who participated and was involved in this years derby! It was the biggest to date and not only shows how good the fishing can be here in Maine, but also is true reflection of how great of a community we have here. Teams ranged from a father and (young) son team, to a husband and wife combo. The derby is open to anyone and we can only hope to continue with what's been established well into the future! 

Here are some additional photos from throughout the day...

Words + Photos: Josh Thelin

Read more