40 Rivers To Freedom

I recently st up a 5 gallon aquarium for aquatic insects at my humble home and wanted to share my first hatchling.

I’ve gotta admit that watching the whole metamorphasis unfold was pretty cool; especially the pupa stage.  The power in which the pupa below swam around the tank was a true eye opener for me and will totally change the way I fish that stage of a caddis hatch- at least for the larger caddisflies.  This one was about an inch long not including the wing.   Here is a picture of the pupal stage.

I floated a local stream with Geoff Schaake, one of the founders of Spey Nation, this weekend. Check out the full report tomorrow.

American Angler Magazine is having a contest asking fly fishermen to submit their top two picks for the nation’s best fly shop.  The winning shop will receive an ad in American Angler, the ROY trophy, and a Merrimack canoe.
The first shop that comes to my mind is Gates Au Sable Lodge in Grayling, Michigan.  Hands down the best shop I’ve ever been in.  Not only does it have al the goodies, including one of the best fly selections I’ve seen; it’s also the home base for recent conservation battles against big oil regarding The Mason Tract, and Kolke Creek.

Who is your pick for the nation’s best fly shop?

An Adirondack Brown Trout

So last week I unveiled Ecofly, a fly fishing blog focused on environmental and conservation issues of concern to fly fishermen.  Now, I’m announcing another sister site to 40 Rivers To Freedom called The Meat Bucket.  The Meat Bucket is where you’ll find the best pictures I’ve shared on 40 Rivers, as well as many more that you haven’t seen here, or won’t see here.

That’s the last new website announcement I should have for a while, at least until I unveil the double secret project I’ve been working on sometime next week…

Last week, two passionate fly fishermen who also happen to be passionate about introducing kids to the outdoors launched FishyKid.org.

FishyKid’s first project/contest is nothing short of brilliant.

They’ve teamed up with an all star list of some of the most talented photographers and artists in the fly fishing industry, and turned their art into a 36 page coloring book which kids can download from the site after registering.  After they’ve colored the pages, they can upload them back onto the FishKid website where they’ll be eligible to win some sweet fly fishing gear.

So, if you’ve got kids, know kids, or want to be a kid(there’s a division for adults to enter as well!), then go check out FishyKid.org.   You can also follow them on Facebook, and/or Twitter.