Sage Fly Fishing School

Fly fishing gear manufacturer Sage announces that it has partnered with our friend Steve Parrott at The Blue Quill Angler in Evergreen, CO to offer The Sage Fly Fishing School - Rocky Mountain Region. From their press release:

Through multiple class options, Sage hopes to share with the public its passion for fly fishing while helping to increase participation in the sport. This partnership will offer new and seasoned anglers the opportunity to learn from experts.

“We want to share our committed passion for fly fishing with the public and part of that passion includes creating excitement about the sport,” comments Chris Andersen, Sales Manager for Sage. “Offering world class fishing schools is a great way to share our excitement for fly fishing with new and experienced anglers. Sage has selected The Blue Quill Angler as the site of our flagship fly fishing school because of the experience and talent they offer.”

The classes will have something for new and experienced fly anglers alike:

Sage Fly Fishing School courses include:

Fly Fishing 101: Students will spend two weekday evenings in the classroom and one full day on the water. Class size will be limited to six students with one instructor. Classes will be held weekly starting mid-April through September.

Fly Fishing 201: Students will spend one full day in the classroom and one full day on the water. Class size will be limited to eight students with two instructors. Classes begin May 14th and run through September 18th.

Advanced Casting School: Experienced anglers will spend one day with a Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF)-certified fly casting instructor to focus on their technique. This is a full day class with 8 students.

Classes begin April 17th and are held through September 4th.For more information on any of these classes or to schedule a date, call 800-435-5353 or send an email to sageschools@bluequillangler.com You can also visit their website at www.bluequillangler.com

Steve is a fellow North Carolina Expat and an excellent fly fisher so if you find yourself heading to Colorado and need to know what flies are working be sure to stop by The Blue Quill and say hello.

Guidebeard of the Month: Kevin Lowe

Our latest award for Guidebeard of the Month goes to Kevin Lowe of Hatch Hunters Guide Service. It makes its appearance at the 19 second mark in this video. The Hatch Hunters have recently relaunched their website and can hook you up if you want to try for big brown trout on Tennessee's South Holston River.

Do you know a fly fishing guide who would be a candidate for Guidebeard of the month? Send your photos to us via editoratflyfishmagazine.com (replace at with@). Guides selected for this woolly award will receive a some free publicity and may be entered into some sort of yet to be determined facial hair "face off."

Pebble Mine Developers Fined for Improper Water Use

The developers behind the Pebble Mine Project in Alaska, will be paying a $45,000 fine for improper use of water at their drilling sites. Permits have been suspended. However, it probably won't last very long. The Anchorage Daily News reports:

The settlement followed a state-led investigation that began after the Pebble Partnership last fall reported using water from unauthorized locations. The settlement required the companies to pay $1,000 for each of 45 violations over the past three years.

The Department of Natural Resources wrote to the mining companies on Jan. 14 that the violations were "at a minimum, a trespass against the state's property and resource interests." While the violations didn't appear to cause environmental damage, the partnership breached state rules and its land-use permit.

Found in the Urban Wild: Orvis Sighting

Sighted on Google Street View and rumored to be Orvis' PR Guru, James Hathaway unleashing his inner Easy Rider in Manchester VT. Since we are using him for blog post fodder we should probably include a link to the excellent Orvis Fly Fishing Guide Podcast.

Blue line Lunch

NC MFC can't see the forest...

... due to all the trees wearing rubber boots that keep jumping up in their faces. The Marine Fisheries Commision voted 5-2 AGAINST the gill net ban proposal that the Director of DMF, Dr Louis Daniel, had put out there. This will open up a whole can of whoop ass on NC commercial fishing. The gill netters have been catching turtles for years and not reporting, the state faces a lawsuit from turtle protection people, the Endangered Species Act mandates that the state do something about it. Dr Daniels proposes closing gill net fishing from May to December as something to placate the federal regulators. The commission votes it down. Can you see where this is headed? Don't be surprised if the National Marine Fisheries Service comes in to NC, takes over management of our fisheries and SHUTS DOWN all flounder and/or gill net fishing entirely. Way to be short sighted people. You've made your bed, now go cut down the trees...or something like that.

Capt. Gordon

http://captgordon.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/nc-mfc-messes-up-again/

Fly Fishing with Darth Vader

Check out the review via the DC Register.

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

This week's quote comes from a Robert Streeter / Timesunion.com article about the yearly onslaught of gear catalogs.

"I was scanning through the pages of a 2010 fly-fishing catalog when I realized that there really are not a whole lot of things that leapt off of the page and grabbed me by the wallet. There were some innovative new items, but the question that kept coming to mind was how much of this stuff is a really great improvement, and how much is pure hype?"

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=899551&category=STREETER#ixzz0fHuiV0UR

Fly Shop Bandit Arrested

9News.com is reporting that the alleged fly shop bandito who was ripping off fly shops has been arrested largely in part to the power of the intertubes.

Long used the blog on his fly fishing shop Web site to alert others of the thefts. The tight knit fly fishing community quickly responded.

"We got a lot. I think to date we've probably received over a dozen and a half tips," Long said.
That awareness may have paid off.

Police in Lakewood arrested a man believed to be the suspect in the case when he walked into a pawn shop and tried to sell several of the reels. Police are not releasing the man's name or details on his arrest at this time. Lakewood Police are working with police from four other jurisdictions where the thefts took place to put together a case.

Ali's Travelog: Pakistan

FlyfishMagazine's Westernmost correspondent, Ali Hassan, who has been AWOL for about a week now, finally grabbed some bandwidth and sent a few pics from his fishing trip to what is at the moment at least, one of the most dangerous places on Earth. So far he hasn't been fishing but he does know where you can get a cool bootleg copy of Avatar really cheap and is doing more than his part to revive the dances of the early 90's.

"Betullah mehsud (Taliban commander) has been killed in a drone attack. There will be a tit for tat response. However, I have not been spending much time home. The city of Peshawar is heavily fortified with police and military check posts. Some check posts have tanks and RPG personnel. I am shocked and happy to see that the city limits has been deweaponized. No one is carrying a gun however the tribal belt is a different story. Last night my cousin hosted a party in a suburb (hayat abad) which not too long ago had Taliban patrolling its streets. There was alcohol and dancing girls. My family and friends find it extremely amusing that being raised in a western environment I don’t drink however I did not reject offers to do the Macarena Dance with the girls."

The average Pakistani citizen is an extremely humble and probably one of the most hospitable individual on the planet. I did mange to squeeze in a partridge hunt in the country side and saw the great Pashtun (tribe) tradition of hospitality. We climbed a very large mountain in chase of partridge and was surprised to sea a delegation on locals awaiting our arrival with tea and sweets midway. We continued our climb, the mountains are intimidating, made of large boulders and the occasional fig tree.


The locals are of a different stock, many with blue eyes and sharp facial features illustrating their European bloodline. I was just as impressed on their ability to climb these mountain with plastic slippers. My $150 pair of Danner USA shoes could not keep up with our guide in flip flops. After a half day hunt we descended down to the village of Swaway and stopped at the local mosque for evening prayers. Next to the mosque, Village kids were playing cricket and just for fun my cousin told them that we are here to administer vaccinations for all kids under 15. There shy smiles immediately transformed into worried looks as they took backward steps resulting in every child running home and abandoning their game. Some kids were so terrified that they left their bats and balls on the field. Who says American kids don’t have anything in common with Pakistani kids.



The electricity and Internet connection is poor. Unfortunately, I need both to stay connected and not having electricity hinders my ability to do so. I cant log onto the blog due to poor Internet speed. So I cant update the blog or stay on line for long. However I have attached a few photos. The first is a vendor selling a DVD of Avatar (bootlegger). 2nd cow transport on camel back. See you folks next week

With the security issues he is facing it might be hard for Ali to wet a fly on this trip. After all he is in a place where that big bird you see flying overhead might well be watching you and capable of turning you in a watery vapor at the drop of a hat. Hopefully he will get a chance to do some fishing but if not his reports will still make for good reading. While other blogs bring you fish porn we may be the first to provide first hand pics of an cow riding a camel. I'm just saying.....

Surrounded

It seems that for the moment my pre-emptive purchase of a snow blower is creating a protective cone of calm above the FlyfishMagazine Corporate Compound. How long can it last?

BOLO: Denver Fly Shops Robbed

Via the Hook Fly Fishing Blog comes this report of an alleged roving fly shop rip-off artist. Several Denver, CO fly shops have been hit in the past few weeks. Be sure to watch the video link.

Blogs: On The Road & In A River

I recently ran across a new blog via our comments section. Tate Cunningham is the author of On the Road & In A River and a fly angler from Nashville, TN who has a unique perspective on fly fishing due to his job. Like my day job, Tate's job allows him to fish some of the country's best waters. Unlike my day job, Tate's job involves playing drums in front of thousands of screaming fans.

My name is Tate and I'm a drummer in a rock band called SafetySuit. When I'm out on the road, I like to split time with my family, friends and my love for fly fishing. I've been fortunate to meet a lot of wonderful people along my travels and fly fish some of the most pristine rivers in the world. Almost every day is an adventure. Small towns, big cities and different people; new rivers that hold the beautiful creatures that fascinate me. These are my chronicles...

I am looking forward to following his exploits on the stage and in the river.

Jonny Bones Tackle

We ran into this pirate at The Fly Fishing Show and picked up a sweet deal on some Mustad hooks. Jonny Bone's logo and tag line that reads "Catch it. Kill it. Eat it." caught our eye almost as much as the prices. His website isn't Ecommerce active but you can contact him via email to make a purchase.

Where in the world is...

...FlyfishMagazine's Western correspondent Ali Hassan? Well IF he cleared airport security (he is not THAT Ali Hassan, although he often has to prove it,) he may well be fly fishing in one of the most dangerous places on earth. Ali is visiting family in Pakistan and while there, has agreed to send us reports on some of his favorite spots to fish for exotic species such as Masheer or even Brown Trout that may have not seen a fly since their ancestors were stocked by the English.

Right now Pakistan is going through some highly publicized internal strife but Ali assures us that he will keep his head down. Of course his ability to send us updates is subject to Internet connectivity and how well his Kevlar fly fishing vest holds up, but we should have some pretty unique content from across the globe in the very near future.

Events: Kanuga Fly-fishing Retreat

We got a this notice from friends down South in the Tarheel State about the Kanuga Episcopal Center's annual fly fishing retreat. The host, Kevin Howell of Davidson River Outfitters, is an excellent angler.

Snow is covering the ground in Western North Carolina, but it won’t be long before winter melts away and it becomes time to wade into the water once again for theKanuga Fly-fishing Retreat.

As with previous Fly-fishing Retreats at Kanuga, 2007 Fly-fishing Masters National Champion Kevin Howell will share his expertise in fly tying with the group before taking everyone out to the Davidson River to test their new skills.

The Rev. Mark Wilson of St. James Episcopal Church in Fairhope, Ala., is serving as both chaplain and coordinator of this event and says he hopes participants will again learn a greater understanding of this popular pastime and its spiritual aspects during their time at Kanuga.

A flier and registration form is available at http://www.kanuga.org/conferences/pdf/flyfishing_flyer.pdf.
Anyone interested in saving a place for their tackle box and gear this spring should visit www.kanuga.org or contact registrar Jon Causey at 828-692-0077, ext. 228, today.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Rich
Communications Project Manager
Kanuga Conferences Inc.An Episcopal CenterPost Office Box 250Hendersonville, NC 28793jonathan.rich@kanuga.org
828-692-0077, ext. 224