"That's a good take". I have a habit of saying this when I hook up on a trout. From the moment I started this blog I envisioned doing a series of interviews. I would call it "Good Takes". I started this tradition with my interview of Brian Kozminski, one of my favorite interviews of all time.
I've recently attended the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo and interviewed seven individuals, each with their own place in this world of fly fishing. I want to introduce them to you here. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing their interveiws- each have their own unique story to tell, please listen.
Cameron Mortenson putting it together
Lou Burhart, bamboo artist extraordinaire...
Cameron Mortenson will give us the inside scoop on The Fiberglass Manifesto
Lou Burhart let me cast his beautiful works of art, and filled me in on his artistry and love of bamboo.
Eric Stroup shows how it's done
Shane Gray puts one together
Eric Stroup may be the Grand Master of this world. His interview is brief, to the point, and exciting.
Shane Gray allowed me into the world of fiberglass rod building. His rods are a dream to cast. Stay tuned.
Mike Schmidt, tier extraordinaire
Mike Schmidt is perhaps my favorite tier out there. He gives some keen insights into what it takes to tie a great streamer.
April gives us some insight on her life
Ah, April. How do you not love April? Turns out, she really is the girl next door who loves to fly fish. She fills us in on what it means to go Ape.
Kelly Neuman dishes on the East Side
Finally, Au Sable river guide Kelly Neuman delivers a fascinating account of life and fishing success on one of Michigan's most heavily used and fished streams.
Chris Weston is an author from Northern Michigan. While he has been writing for nearly 20 years, his children's book "Hawgeye" is his first published book. Chris has won the Michigan Hemingway Society Short Story Contest with his story "The River's Best", and this book has been given a seal of approval by the Dove Foundation.
Hawgeye- A Book
Review
A young boy named Billy loves to fish. His father doesn’t have time to fish with him, so Billy rides his bike into
town whenever he can to fish the local reservoir. In the course of this short little book, a
dream comes true, he reconnects with his father, and gains a mentor.
Hawgeye was written by Michigan author Chris W. Weston. It is a delightful tale of childhood and
adventure, and the simple pleasures of growing up in a rural small town. While written primarily for kids 8-12, it
struck a chord with me for it mirrored so much of my own childhood- a busy
father who rarely took me fishing, riding my bike to town with my rod across my
handlebars after I had finished my chores, standing at the local sporting goods
shop lusting after gear and lures I couldn’t afford. My first walleye was about the same size as
Billy’s in the story. Billy finds a
fishing mentor in the end (I think that’s safe to say this without giving away
too much) and I too had a few older friends who took an interest in me and took
me fishing, showing me the ropes, and introducing me to new and exciting
angling adventures.
Parents- if your kids are interested in the outdoors, or
even just a summer adventure, this is an excellent book. In a world in which our kids are growing up
way too fast and spend too much time surrounded by electronica (if you can't peel them away to read, each book includes a code for a free download of the e-version), Hawgeye
captures that childhood sense of adventure and wonder in a simpler setting and
time- the summertime joys of a bicycle, a worm on a hook, and the freedom to be
a child.
Go to Chris' website for a biography, links to buy Hawgeye, read more reviews, or keep up with his latest: http://chriswweston.com/
Awwwwgggghhhhh wow. Yawn stretch scratch- what happened? What a weekend. Why am I covered in glitter? Oh yeah, the glitterati. Shane Gray, Cameron Mortenson, April Vokey, Brad Petzke, Tommy Lynch, Becca Schlaff, Kathy Scott, Mike Schmidt, Wayne Snyder, Lou Burhart, Mike Schultz, Eric Stroup and the list goes on and on, my apologies to those I've failed to mention. I got to talk to them all, meet more people than I can remember, cast a ton of rods, conduct interviews, and buy schwag, and I did it all for you my friends, all for you. I cast a ten foot two-handed glass rod by Shane Gray, a ten minute interview with April turned into a three hour heart to heart, I got invited by several people to fish some really cool waters, got invited to join an expedition or two, cast more rods, attended seminars galore and generally had a great time.
Tom Hazelton of Scientific Anglers casting a Gray Wolf
So let's have some coffee. The big news was the show, but there will be plenty of time for that later on. I did get out and fish Wednesday night, despite the need to prepare for the show. After the big storm last weekend and then heavy rains early in the week the rivers were high and dirty, but conditions were perfect and I hooked up on two fish that took me to the cleaners. The first was a yard long, chrome bright and unstoppable. Cool stuff. The weather took a turn for the nasty by Friday, and I had to leave for the Expo in a ground blizzard. It didn't take too long to drive out of it, but for awhile it was scary.
I got to meet Jeff Ryan of The Freshwater Fly. He is an OBN member, a great fisherman and fellow kayaker, and lives right here in Michigan- he's a great guy and was a lot of fun to talk to. We're going to fish together this year, I'm certain. Jeff is the man behind that hilarious wiener dog fishing video that made the rounds awhile back. I'm going to share it here again even though most of you have probably already seen it so that I won't have to search for it anymore.
Extra Extra!! Interviews, and Giveaways.....
Starting this week I'll have a series of interviews and several giveaways stemming from this show. I want to thank Lou Burhart, Cameron Mortenson, Mike Schmidt, Eric Stroup, April Vokey, Shane Gray, Joe Sprys, and Kelly Neuman for allowing me to intrude on their show time and for sharing something of themselves. Several interviewees have donated swag, books, flies, and a half-dozen streamers and a fly box to give away in conjunction with their interviews. These are fantastic interviews of good people. Two are rod builders, several are authors, several are fly tyers, and several are professional guides (there's some overlap in skill sets).
let's see you try to get April to hold still for the camera
My April Vokey interview will probably have to be broken up into two or more posts, as it went on for more than 3 hours. Before you cry foul, "equal time for your interviews", I only asked for 10-15 minutes from ALL of my interviewees, but for whatever reason April chose to spend the extra time. Half of the material will never see the light of day, but April has enough that is relevant to say in the other half that I think it should be shared, seeing how she took the time. I have a feeling that what little I don't know about her now I don't want to. Things got a little hazy toward the end- I know she made me play two hands of poker, and I think we may be blood brothers now, but I'm not sure. Look for my first interview to post Wednesday- It will be of Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto, and he's put up some T.F.M. swag to kick this off right. I had a great time with Cameron and can't thank him enough for his encouragement and shenanigans to make sure I attended.
To whom it may concern, I will post links with all the interviews I share, but this post was too target rich to do that. My apologies to the offended.
Well, I really screwed up this morning- Daylight Savings Time kicked in this weekend, but because I was gone, I forgot to reset my clocks at home and got up a glorious hour late- good for the body, bad for the career. I had more to say, but this will have to do. I'll be posting a children's book review this evening, so parents- look for that, then look for my interview with Cameron by Wednesday. I've got lots of cool stuff coming up. If you were at the show, I'm going to put together a "photo album" to share tomorrow or Thursday.
Okay- I absolutely have to run out the door this second, so stay tuned, have a great week, and spend some time on the water if you can.
It's 6 AM, and the sound of typing wakes me up. Cameron is working on T.F.M. posts. He works through them with skill and ease, an obvious pro. Cameron can whip out two blog posts in the time it takes the rest of us to tie our shoes. I'm resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. I got to the Expo Center around 6 PM last night, picked up my press pass, and managed to bump into the likes of Derek DeYoung, Matt Zudweg, and April Vokey. Jeff, from Brookhaven Lake gave me some info on the grayling and brook trout fishing they have, and I was pleased to see he had copies of the Cedar Sweeper magazine at his table. I was even more pleased to see that I have an article in the new issue- pleased and surprised. When did I write that?
For me, fly fishing has always been a solo pursuit, and the social aspect of it is fairly new. I attended this show last year and had a great time, but this year I'm here in official capacity and get to see it from the inside out. I've also been blogging, writing and networking for the last year, and more people know me. Tommy Lynch, The Fish Whisperer himself, comes wandering down an aisle and so I show him his picture in my article in Blood Knot. He had no idea. Lou Burhart has button-holed me to cast his bamboo rods and talk a little grass- I'll add him to the interview list.
We went to the hospitality dinner put on at the hotel and had a decent dinner. I'm sitting between two guys I don't know. One turns out to be a rod manufacturer from Rochester New York, the other guy, I'm not sure what he does. Mortenson know's two of the guys at the table, and a husky dark-haired fellow reaches across the table to shake my hand with his own great meaty paw- it's Shane Gray of Gray Wolf Rods. He likewise button-holes me to cast his rods, a request I am quick to accept.
This may be my favorite part of such a show. The room is poorly lit, the conversation a little subdued despite the room having at least 250 people in it. There is an undercurrent of excitement that is palpable. Everyone is friendly, congenial, everyone says this is their favorite show that they do.
Becca Schlaff. That brown behind her is from one of my photos. Just sayin'
I arrived as soon as the doors opened this morning. Becca Schlaff is carrying in paintings, and everywhere is the hustle and bustle of vendors putting the last polish on their booths. It's going to be a great show.
I had the chance to sit down Joe Sprys and ask him a few questions about the show. He's the show's coordinator and a member of the Michigan Fly Fishing Club, which puts on this Expo each year.
Joe Sprys, Midwest Fly Fishing Expo director
FR: How long have you been having the Expo?
Joe: This is the 34th year for the show. It started out as the Rod Makers Gathering.
FR: Excellent. How many vendors do you have this year, and how many people do you expect to attend?
Joe: We have 138 vendors this year. Attendance has steadily grown over the years, and we were just shy of 4000 last year, so we're hoping to top that.
FR: I've talked to quite a few vendors so far and everyone says this is their favorite show of the year. What do you think explains that excitement?
Joe: we have a great club, a tremendous volunteer force, 125-150 volunteers involved with the show. For a lot of the vendors, this is the last big show on the circuit, they're on the road for back to back shows all winter, and so they know they're going home after this and let their hair down and have a little fun.
FR: Can you tell me a little about the Michigan Fly Fishing Club?
Joe: Sure, it was started in 1975, we have about 350 members, and we are an independent club (not part of FFF or TU) dedicated to conservation issues and through this event we've been able to raise nearly $600,000 for conservation.
FR: Well, I know you're busy with this event so I'll let you get back to is.
I wrote a piece for Blood Knot magazine awhile back called "Night Hunter" about night fishing, and it has just come out in their Black Issue. Be sure and check it out at http://bloodknot.net/2012/03/the-black-issue/
It has been edited down quite a bit, so I'll post the complete text later, but it's still cool to see your own work in an e-zine, and the pictures are original as well.
Here's the closing shot of one of the beasts we've caught.
Pere Marquette river guide Tommy Lynch with a big one
Hack, sniffle, snort, wheeze, repeat. I came down with whatever has been going around last week and still have it. Coffee cures everything, so let's have a cup.
before you fish you have to at least get out of the driveway
Well, after an incredibly benign winter here in northern Michigan, March has reared its leonine head, with two back to back storms the first and second, dumping more snow in two days than we had all winter so far. I got 9 inches of slop on the first, then Friday we got 15 inches more. I had made plans with fellow writer, blogger and photographer Alex Cerveniak (alexkain.com) to go fish the Pere Marquette river Saturday for steelhead, and ended up crashing at his place Friday night so I didn't get stuck at home. When we woke up the power was out, we barely made it out of his driveway Saturday, the snow-blasted conditions made the three hour drive a white-knuckler to be sure, the water was cold, we didn't catch fish, and trees crashed down around us everywhere we went- in a word, perfect. I'll try to write a post about it soon.
this one is headed in...
As mentioned in my post Friday, I'll be attending the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo this weekend coming, conducting interviews, taking pictures and rubbing shoulders with some of fly fishing's glitterati. Maybe some glitter will rub off on me. I'll be staying with Cameron Mortenson- if anyone has any good prank suggestions please pass them along. You can find more information on the expo at http://www.midwestflyfishingexpo.com/
Have you ever thought to yourself "This Fontinalis guy seems cool enough, but what is he REALLY like?" I'm the latest victim of the "20 Questions" interviews over at Eat More Brook Trout by Chris Hunt. You can read the interview here (gulp)-
The fishing will be heating up fast here, and with Daylight Savings Time returning next weekend, longer evenings will mean more opportunities to fish. I have a lot of work now but I'm going to try to get at least a day off when the fish are in thick. This is always the most exciting time of year here. I've done really well on fish this winter, usually landing at least a couple per outing, unless, that is, I go fishing with someone else. This is why I bring a camera, otherwise I'm just your typical lying fisherman.
only slightly clearer than those sasquatch photos
Comments- It has come to my attention that not everyone could comment on my blog, that there were certain hurdles which discouraged some from engaging in fruitful discourse. I have fixed this. Please, leave a comment. It should be easy for anyone now. Go, type some gibberish, just let me know that it's working.
I want to send out a little Blog Love (Troutrageous! patent pending) to Brianonthefly. He has lots of fantastic pictures of huge brown trout and steelhead he's been catching in upstate New York. Not only that, but he has pictures of his kids holding huge browns and steelhead he helped them catch. They really do have an amazing fishery there, a different flavor of what we have here in Michigan. Word of advice to Brian- you've ruined your kids with those big fish. You need to start them out small and work their way up, don't start them off with two foot long brown trout. Make it a gradual progression. But seriously, I'm sure his kids are hooked for life, and Brian will never lack fishing buddies of the best kind- family. Check out his site at http://brianonthefly.blogspot.com/.
Well, it's going to be a busy week- I have a full work week, posts to write, interviews to prepare for and the Expo to attend. Suffice it to say, no fishing will get done. Have a great week, hopefully I'll see some of you at the show. Let's get after it.
This years Midwest Fly Fishing Expo is going to be held next week on March 10 and 11, and you guessed it, Fontinalis Rising will be there in official capacity. I'll be hanging with Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto fame, I have several very cool interviews lined up and will be attending seminars and clinics by the likes of British Columbia guide and casting instructor April Vokey, Brad Petzke of Rivers North Guide Service, guide and author Eric Stroup, Michigan author Wayne Snyder, Cameron Mortenson and more. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my show favorites from last year such as Mike Schmidt of Angler's Choice Flies, artist Becca Schlaff, Mike Davis of Life on the Fly Outfitters to name a few.
Mike Schmidt at last year's show
If you see me flag me down and say hi, if you want to meet me I'll be the guy with the press pass, a camera and a TFM hat. I'm really looking forward to seeing some old friends, making some new ones, but especially bringing the show to you my readers. If you're anywhere nearby or can make plans yet, make sure you come- I attended last year and it's a great show. Come and cast a rod in the casting pool, talk to guides and outfitters, look at (or buy) fly fishing art, buy flies, stickers, souvenirs or tying materials, and make sure you take in a seminar or two. Bring your kids for the kids trout pond, it's always a hit.
Brian O'keefe of Catch Magazine at last year's show
It's being held at the Macomb Community College Sports and Expo Center in Warren Michigan. Check out their website for a list of exhibitors, the seminar schedule, activities, maps and so on, the links are below. My thanks to the Michigan Fly Fishing Club for putting on such a great event.
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