Getting back to my roots - Stuart Florida

Shaky, Shaky,Shaky.........

In the beginning of April I started a two week journey back down to Stuart Florida for some R&R and to do some fishing.  I packed up my Explorer with all my fishing gear, tying stuff, my bike and a few changes of cloths and headed south about 1,200 miles.   This trip was something I wanted to do for a few years and brought back a lot of memories.  In the late 80's I was fortunate to attend Florida Institute of Technology located in Melbourne that is only a hour drive from Stuart.  Stuart is were my love for fishing developed and has been strong since then.  I was also fortunate that my parents had a place in Stuart that I could stay.

In the late 80's through most of the 90's I fished a lot and started what is now a life long journey to have that perfect day or evan minutes on the water doing what I love so much.  In Florida I would have been tossing a new plastic bait from D.O.A. or the latest Mirror Lure MR52 or Red Tailed Haws at anything that moved.  I would spend hours talking with Henry at the Snook Nook in Jensen Beach and also throwing some Jumbo Shrimp that he sold in hope of getting that monster Snook.  I was at times the typical tourist making 1,000 casts at every mullet splash thinking it was a big Snook or Trout or  Redfish.  It was slow learning because communication as we know it was just in its infancy.  You relied on a tied chart and talking to people face to face or reading a paper plotter and mapping out you LORAN position on a chart.  Depth, bearing, water temperature, swell direction, wind and distance were all we knew.  Frequent visits to the beach or the sea wall and observing what was happening was key.  We used the Internet in the late 80's to send text messages to other Computer Science Students in Germany and the Netherlands and BBS's were still being accessed with 300 baud modems if you were lucky to get a free phone line.  We did not have the ability to send pictures and a realtime response was measured in hours or days not seconds like it is now.  Cell phones were starting to gain popularity and the Motorola Start-TAC Flip phone would not be released until the mid 90's.  Now, give me an iPhone and Cellular service and I can do anything from getting tides, current flows, water temperatures, realtime weather direction, satellite images of where I am fishing, Doppler Radar.  Everything we need to know to go fishing now.  Now you can stream live video of a fish you a fighting to your friends instead of catching up with them at the local bar and sharing a drink and tell them about it.

During this trip I was able to spend three days on a flats boat with a longtime friend and fantastic person Captan Ed Zyac.  Ed grew up in the Stuart area and has fished the waters for many years.  Ed spends over 200 days on the water either guiding, working with various manufactures and people in the industry or fishing and scouting out new areas to fish.    I met Ed almost 15 years ago and I have been having the pleasure of sharing his boat a few times a year.  When we first met it was all about numbers, spending all the time on the front of the boat and casting for hours on end.  I would have an agenda of what I wanted to do and he would try to make it happen.  As long as it had a gills I was happy.  Over the years it is now more about talking about our families and catching up with each other.  The discussions about fishing are more in depth and encompass things like conservations and the stability of the the fishing grounds.  We also get to fish places we fished a long time ago and tell stories about catching this or that and laughing about.  The agenda now is being set by the wind, water and tied.  

Brad

BuzFly Products 
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Teach your kids to fish, so they can teach you when you are old and gray.

New Web Site In The Works

Well I just finished inking a deal with a developer to revamp my site. I have been woking on this for a few years and finally found a great group that will give me what I need. I am hoping to have it up and running in April sometime around Tax Day. The biggest improvement will be the addition of an online store. Now you will be able to get all of my materials and others when you want them and not just at the shows. I will also be putting up my flies that I tie. So if you are looking for some killer Crease Flies, Gooey's or Spun Flies you can get them online.

Here is a short list of some of the items I am work on:

• Bucktail: The Bucktails that I process and dye will be a big part of the site. Since Bucktails are such a touchy thing I am going to try to sort them based on type of hair and then hair length. The only problem is that they might cost a little more because of all the extra handling and I many not have all the types and lengths in every color available. I may be selling bulk tails that are just spilt and salted for the people who might want to put up their own and might be selling some of the dye that I use.
• Hooks: I will also be trying of get some good prices on specific hooks that I tie on. Getting hook by the dozen is not that echonomical but betting they by the 100 may be to much for the average tier. I am working on getting them in bulk and then repackaging into either 25's or 50's.
• Discounts For Multiple Items: Since I get most of my items in bulk and get discounts for that I am trying to figure a way to pass that savings on to you. It may not be a lot, but a little is better than nothing.
• New Dubbing Brush Machine:  I have been working a on new machine to make larger and longer brushes.  Everyone can make a short and thin (less than 1" in diameter), but this one will be able to do 6"+ diameter ones.

Hope to give you and show you the site in a few months and thanks for all of your support at the shows and  interest in my products and flies.

Brad
BuzFly Products
Support your local clubs
Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders
Teach your kids to fish, so they can teach you when you get old and gray.

Earthquake In Japan

I just watched this video of the Earthquake in Japan.  Nothing I say, think or do can help all of the people.  This is the worst and most horable thing I have ever seen.  Pray for them.

Brad

BuzFly Products 
Support your local clubs Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders 
Teach your kids to fish, so they can teach you when you get old and gray.

The Squid Bomb Hit My Desk

Time to clear the decks........

Well, this is how it started.  Two days ago I finally convinced myself it is time to finalize one of my Squid Patterns that I have been play around with for about a year.  I went back and looked at the design and was somewhat pleased with it, with the exception of the eye attachment (tab eyes secured to shank with larger 3D eyes CA glued over them).  Anyway, after a dozen or two of them through the vise the desk looked like this.

  A few bags of feathers, some flash, hooks, both vices out (don't ask me why) and a bunch of more crap that you don't see.

  The tie is somewhat simple.  Feathers and flash for the tails covered with some fine Angle Hair.  Attach the eyes just forward of the bend.  Wrap some two tone rabbit up the shank.  Reverse tie some bucktail and then finish off the head with a few feathers wrapped around the hook shank.

  This fly may not be as elegant or complex as other squids, but that is by design.  I wanted a simple and fast fly to tie that can be tied between 4" to 9" long with basic materials.  The only thing that some tiers would not have is the two tone rabbit that creates a very nice shadow affect over the eye that you can not see in these pictures.

I will post some better pictures when I shoot the finished fly.

Brad

BuzFly Products
Support your local clubs
Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders
Teach your kids to fish, so they can teach you when you get old and gray.

Got Bunker

Well toady is one of the days that gloomy only describes.  The sky is gray, it is raining and it is cold and damp.  I will take a long time to get the chill out of these bones today.  Soon the spring run will start.  I know the Herring will be on the move and then eventually some Bunker.  Here are a few Bunker Shots to get you going and get the creative juices flowing at the vise.  Hope it helps.

Thoughts on The Show Season

  Well the show season is in full swing now.  I just finished up 5 shows in 6 weekends.  All the way from Marlboro MA to Raleigh NC and a few points in between.  I do not know how some of the shops do it.  I know I only have a 8' x 18" table top and that fills my Explorer.  I am getting better at managing my Square Inches as opposed to the Square Feet the shops do.  Being on the road tends to get boring and cumbersome but it is a fun time seeing all the people and your friends.
  It is amazing on what you learn and what things we take for granted.  When I demonstrate what I do people will get all excited when I do something very simple to me, like tie with my scissors in my hands all the time or hand whip finish using the Peace Sign Method with out putting down my scissors.  Theses are two simple things I do every day.  I am somewhat disappointed in the large number of people that can not whip finish.  To me it is just like breathing.  I think it holds some people back because they are more worried about finishing off the fly instead of the construction and proportion.   To me the most important thing in tying a fly is the design.  Also, tying in materials by folding them in half around the thread is another thing.  It is a basic technique and not only saves time but it gives you more control on where to place the material and it forces you concentrate on the amount of material that you use.  I will have to post some how to on these.
  Overall the buzz at the shows was great.  The crowds were great and the people even better.  A lot of people asking some great questions.  I have leaned so much from them.  I also noticed that people are being very careful with what they are spending, but they are spending and are willing to put the money back into the economy.  That is not only good for me but for everyone.  The price for most materials have stayed somewhat the same with a few exceptions like some of the necks.  If you are looking for a nice off shoot to fly tying - look at feather hair extensions and beading.  These women are completely nuts when it comes to this.   I do think we are going to see a steady increase in long hair Bucktail.  Every year they are getting harder to find and the quality is starting to slip.  You still can get all the Norther Tails you want, but they are also starting to change.  Who would have thought that I am still chasing good tail and having a hard time finding it.
Brad
BuzFly Products
Support your local clubs
Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders
Teach your kids to fish, so they can teach you when you get old and gray.......

Blogging - I am a COMPLETE IDIOT when it comes to this

  Well as the tile states, I am a complete idiot when it comes to blogging.  So I figured I would start one and see where we end up.  It is like when I site down at the vise with a new material or new concept, I never know what will come out of the jaws when I am done.  It will take some time to get this going and learning how to do it and do it well.  Like my tying, repetition, refinement and more repetition is what it will take.  If you have suggestions, please let me know.  

  Some of the things I will be blogging about will be the flies I tie, materials and other things I pick up as the weeks go by.  I will post information about the events I attend and some pictures.  I am also going to see how to integrate this into my new website that I am developing that will show all of what I do and let you purchase the flies and materials I produce.  I hope you will be interested in what I do and like what I have to say and post.

Brad
BuzFly Products

Support your local clubs
Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders
Teach your kids to fish, so they can teach you when you get old and gray.......