Original Gangsta

Fly fishing author, Pete McDonald (pictured here holding a very expensive Hardy reel) recently posted about the lengths a city dwelling angler will go to get his fix.

On the slack tide there is no better way to see New York City than by boat. Up the East River past the hospitals and Gracie Mansion and into the Harlem River past the fishing pier and under the draw bridges and up to catch a glance of baseball’s Cathedral in the Bronx. Then running back down and hooking under the Triboro and through Hell’s Gate past the DEP boats and between the Two Brothers to watch the planes land at Laguardia or wave to the prisoners shooting hoops on the Rikers overflow barge.

Read the rest here at Fishing Jones and keep an eye to the shelves for his book coming out soon.

Fly fishing show NJ Edition

I met up with angler, author, and fly fishing blogger Pete McDonald of FishingJones.com at the Somerset, NJ fly fishing show. In this picture he is holding a House of Hardy fly reel worth about 8K. I can't spill the beans but let's just say that Pete has some "splainin'" to do when he gets back home to Mrs. FishingJones..

Before Brownlining Was (as) Cool....

there was Pete McDonald and ditch fishing. Pete has been turning out great content both professionally and at his Fishing Jones blog. His latest offering is a "A Brief History of Ditch Fishing."

Before brownlining there was ditch fishing. The concept of casting flies in less than pristine settings goes back decades. In Florida, many well known fly fishing luminaries and pioneers cut their teeth fishing the Everglades and the vast network of man-made backwater canals that carve up the southern tier of the state.

Be sure to check out his other articles from Fishing Jones.

Fishing Jones: Sign, Save Redfish, Get Gear

Pete McDonald over at Fishing Jones is giving away an extremely sweet Redington Titanium CDL Reel for 7/8 Wt line. It only takes two simple steps to get your name in the running for this primo item of fly fishing gear.

First take a moment and sign our pal Captain Gordon Churchill's Petition to stop unattended gill net practices in North Carolina.

Second, once you've signed the petition, slide over to the Fishing Jones website and leave a comment on his Help Redfish and Get a Reel post using your name and typing the word "Signed" in the body. A commenter will be picked at random and get this great fly reel.

The completed petition is going to be presented to the Governor of North Carolina as a way to protect the state saltwater fish. Unattended gill nets are taking a major toll on Redfish stocks on Carolina inshore waters. Guys like Captain Gordon Churchill, Pete McDonald and others are doing this to make a real difference for both anglers and fish populations.

McDonald Interviews Carp Master John Montana

You may or may not know that Pete McDonald of Fishing Jones infamy is probably the one person we would point to as the inspiration for our penchant to fling flies for odd targets living in odd places. Pete put us on Peacock Bass in Florida ditches and enticed us to attempt a bowfin on the fly on our latest striper trip.

In what can only go a long way towards proving an unseen collective fly fishing consciousness driving the efforts of anglers across the world, while we were hopelessly trying for carp on the fly, Pete was interviewing John Montana from the Carp on the Fly blog (sidebar links added) about tips and techniques for catching carp on the long rod. Read Pete's excellent interview via this link.

photo: Fishing Jones

Fly Fishing People: Pete - Going ugly early

Pete McDonald of the Fishing Jones Blog is giving us lots of ideas for our next business trip to Florida (hopefully later this month). He keeps hooking up with Snakehead and Peacock Bass.

The fishporn above makes for a great picture, but it is another photo that gets Pete our award for the best photo on a fishing blog thus far in 2007. Click to view this great shot in his post about fishing his home water. We hope he has this one framed over his desk at Boating Magazine.