Blog Archives

Fishpond's new Westwater collection

12/27/2012

Recently Fishpond has launched a new line of waterproof packs and bags called the Westwater Collection. We have brought a full line of the Westwater series into the shop for the holiday season. Simple yet functional in design these bags will surely give you a lifetime of service. Here are the pieces we have in the shop. Stop in and check them out for your self, I know you will be as impressed as we are.

Westwater Roll Top Duffel

The perfect sized bag for a days worth of gear guiding on the water, with the added security of a roll-top design.

Westwater Roll Top Dry Bag

Durable, yet lightweight with a convenient see-through window to quickly get what you need.

Westwater Pouch

Perfectly sided to protect your necessities.

Westwater Sling

This sling is the best of both worlds with the support of a backpack, and the functionality of a sling.

* This is a Marblehead personal favorite*

Westwater Guide Lumbar Pack

All of the features that fishpond is known for, but with the added benefits of a welded design.

Westwater Backpack

Perfect for hiking to your favorite spot, or just storing your spare gear in a place where you know it will be safe.

Westwater Chest Pack

When pure functionality is what you are looking for, look no further.

All of these bags are on display in the shop now. Fishpond quality in a waterproof design, what more could you ask for?

Holiday hours

12/22/2012

Due to the up coming holiday we will be open extra hours for all of your last minute shopping needs.
the following will be our hours for the days leading up to Christmas.

Sunday 12-23 11:00 to 5:00
Monday 12-24 10:00 to 5:00

We will be closed Christmas day and the shop will re open for regular business on 4:00 on Wednesday 12-26

From all of here at A Marblehead Flyfisher inc we would like to say thank you for your support during the past year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all

White Clay Flyfishers "Holiday Stocking"

12/20/2012

The White Clay Fly Fishers had their holiday dinner last Tuesday December 11th. In talking with Rick Daring the response was great and a fun filled evening was had by all. Darryl Hurd won the custom built rod and Jack Hines won the Hardy reel. Congratulations to both of you for your luck of the draw.

According to Rick the raffle and private donations bested last years mark and he was happy to say that "MANY " fish will be stocked in the White Clay Creek. We know how much work goes into putting on an event like this and how much work goes into the stocking of the fish after the event. We at A Marblehead Flyfisher would like thank all of those who put in the hours to make these things happen. Lets all try to get out and support the WCFF in all of their endeavors. For more information about the club check out their web site here.

For more information on the holiday stocking stop in the shop or contact the club. Good luck and tight lines to everyone this holiday season.

Thank you for you support

12/16/2012

Well, the "Holiday Open House went off yesterday and to say we had a good turn out would be a huge understatement! The shop was packed from the time we opened the door until the time we shut down at around 6:15 pm. It was great to see all of the familiar faces as well as many new faces. Terry and I would like to apologize for not being able to spend as much time with all of you as we wanted to, there were so many people to get to. Hopefully everybody had as much fun attending as we did hosting. Here are some of the pictures taken throughout the day.

The first thing we did was to unveil the new shop logo. As I hung the new "shingle" I was very proud of my son Tyler who made the sign for us. What a great job he did cutting, routing, and finishing it. I Feel it is more a work of art rather than a shop logo. Thanks buddy, you did a great job and should be proud of your work.

Phase two of the new logo unveil was the "wear your Marblehead with pride" package. We had the new shop hat in several colors available at the show. We bundled it with our new window decal, a custom machined key chain, and a shop fly box. Response to this was strong as several of these packages went out. I am really looking forward to the first time I see a window decal or a hat on one of out local rivers.

Speaking of works of art, local artist Bart Gelesh laid out a showing of his work that was unbelievable. I truly admire the artistic abilities of others as I literally cant draw a stick figure. The fish in his paintings look like they are going to swim right off of the page. I really like the "Forest Brookie" and his renderings of the American shad. Check out www.bartgelesh.com to see more.

Bart working a sale to Ed Collins

Good choice, the Stonefly nymph in this picture is awesome!

You need to see the colors on the head of this American Shad

What Bart is to the brush and canvas Andrew Neithe is to the vise and thread. Andrew spent the day tying and talking flies with everybody. It is a pleasure watching him tie and teach as he really takes the time to explain in detail the patterns he is tying and the techchniques he is using. I was bummed as I only got a limited amount of time to watch him tie. Hopefully you got to spend more time with Andrew than I did.

Here Andrew is talking over a pattern with Dave Schaffer

A late, yet welcome edition to the open house was author Beau Beasley. Beau spent the day signing books and magazine articles and talking conservation. Anybody who has spent more that a few seconds talking with Beau can tell he is a very passionate individual. We should all take a page from his book (no pun intended) and get involved in some of these environmental issues. To see and read more check out Beau's site here.

Here is Beau working the crowd.

Our new drift boat was on display and we think it was received well. You can check out more information about our float trips here. We are looking forward to a fun and fish-filled summer on the Brandywine. Book now as we think these spots will fill quickly. Congratulations to the grand prize winner!

Even Santa and his helper think the PAC 13 is cool

On top of all of this we had our shop raffle with may great prizes, a ton of great food prepared by Mary Ann, casting demonstrations by Terry, impromptu casting lessons by Tim, and all in all a great day at the shop.

Congratulations to the winners. We will contact you on Tuesday.

AWESOME!!!!!!!

Terry and Robbie throwing the TCX two hander.

A Marblehead Flyfisher would like to thank Andrew, Bart, and Beau for their involvement in the event, Mary Ann for all of the wonderful food, and the members of the "Rat Squad" who helped out working the crowd. Most of all we would like to thank you the customers. Without you events like this don't happen. We really appreciate all of your support and want to extend our sincere gratitude.

From all of here at A Marblehead Flyfisher INC.

Thank you!

Last Minute Edition to the "Holiday Open House"

12/13/2012

Last Minute Edition to the "Holiday Open House"
Beau Beasley
check out Beau's bio below

Beau Beasley has fished the waters of Virginia for over 30 years with his travels taking him from the briny waters of the Chesapeake Bay seeking stripers, to the cold water trout streams of the Shenandoah National Park in search of native brookies. His writing career began in the mid 1990s with a small article in Virginia Outdoor Weekly and has since been published in American Angler, Mid-Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide, Virginia Sportsman, Richmond Magazine, Virginia Living and Fly Tyer. He is a Contributing Editor for Fly Fish America and is currently the mid-Atlantic Field Editor for Eastern Fly Fishing. Beau is the Director of Programs for the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival and is a career Captain with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department assigned to Engine Company 427. His first book Fly Fishing Virginia: A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters was released in May of 2007 and was quickly followed by Fly Fishing the Mid-Atlantic: A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters. Stop by the A Marblehead Flyfisher and get your own autographed copy of his latest book this weekend. For more information on Beau or his book, go to his web-site www.beaubeasley.com.

Beau is an accomplished author, a great fisherman, and an all around great guy. We are proud to call him a friend and even more proud that he will be at our event. We hope you can make it out on Saturday to meet him. We look forward to seeing you there.

A Marblehead Flyfisher

Outcast boat build

12/9/2012

Well, Noah has nothing on the crew at A Marblehaed Flyfisher. Terry, Rick, my son Tyler and I took on the task of assembling the shop's Outcast PAC 13 drift boat. We spent a fun Sunday afternoon assembling the NRS frame and attaching it to the boat. A very smart and user friendly design. I am confident now that we have done it once the next one would take half the time.

Here we are inflating the raft section. We got this cool little pump that hooks up the the car battery. It only took 7 minutes to
inflate all 4 bladders on the boat.

Here is the bladder full of air and ready for the frame.

Shop friend and Rat Squad member Lee Powers found the perfect trailer for sale in lower Delaware. Terry and Lee rode down a week prior to the build to pick it up. We had a concern about weather the boat would fit between the rack system on the side of the trailer, but as you can see it looks like they were made for each other.

We pre-assembled the frame in the shop. At first the directions were a little vague, but a quick check of the NRS web site and we were back in business.

As Rick and I were finishing up the frame and getting ready to strap it down on the boat I made the comment that it was really just like a large Erector Set. We all got a laugh when my son, who is 18, said what is that? I then realized he has never seen one before.

After securing the frame to the boat it was time for the seats, oar locks, and anchor system. Mary Ann showed up at the perfect time with lunch as we were just finishing up when she came in. Thanks for the food MA, it really hit the spot!

Well, here she is. The Marblehead Flyfisher / Outcast PAC 13 Drift boat. Please stop up during our open house on Saturday, December 15th as we un-veil the boat to the public. We will have all of the details about the float trips available then. The grand prize raffle during the open house is a 6 hour float trip for you and a friend in the new boat this summer. Who knows, you might be the first to catch a fish on the new drift boat...see you on the 15th.

White Clay Fly Fishers Holiday / Christmas party

12/6/2012

Here is the information from the WCFF newsletter. Remember there is only a few more days to purchase tickets for the Rod raffle. The winner will be drawn at the Holiday dinner. Stop in the shop to get your tickets, 100% of the raffle proceeds will go the the winter stocking. Last year enough money was raised to put almost 1200 fish in the middle branch of the White Clay on December 27th.

Annual Holiday/Christmas Party - Pot Luck Dinner - 12-11-12 @6:30 PM
Where: Stroud Water Research Ctr, 512 Spencer Rd, Avondale, PA 19311
Bring & share a favorite food, friendships, and maybe spin a fish tale or two
while wishing each other Holiday Happiness.
Don’t miss out on the FUN as we celebrate the holidays together!
Members - spouses - guests, all welcome!
Bring a wrapped gift of $15 or less to participate in the Chinese gift swap! (Optional)

A Marblehead Flyfisher inc. would like to thank all of those whose effort makes this possible.

Fishing Report 12-1-12

12/3/2012

It has been quite a busy few weeks since the last report. We Hope everybody had a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Hopefully you were able to get out on one of our local streams during the extended holiday weekend. Local Trouting remains strong and we have had good reports from the White Clay, West branch of the Octoraro, and the East Branch of the Brandywine. Realize we are getting very close to full blown winter fishing conditions. Water temps have been hovering at or around 40 degrees and the water is thin and gin clear. Now is the time to get real friendly with your micro nymph box. Zebra midges in black or red will carry most of my winter fishing duty. The deadly tandem of a KF Flasher (a Zebra midge with a Krystal flash wing) and a tungsten Zebra, black with a silver bead and rib will always produce underneath. On top CDC puffs are one of my favorite Midge drys (thanks Rick for teaching me this pattern) or a Griffiths Gnat should get the job done. Remember all of these flies are a size 20 or smaller, told ya it was winter time! Prime times to be on the water are from 10:00 am till about 2:00 pm. That is what Rick did last week. He said he had solid action on top for over 2 hours. In that time several fish came to hand including these 2 beauties. all on a CDC puff.

Terry guided Dr John last Monday for the first guide trip of the winter season. They met at the shop at 11:00 and were on the water by 11:45. They fished till dark and had a wonderful afternoon. Bug action on top was minimal so they started off drifting 2 nymphs under an indicator. They spent the day working up river switching between a tandem indicator rig and a dry and dropper. It is kind of ironic that on a day with minimal bug activity that the biggest fish of the day would come on the attractor dry they were using as an indicator...a stout, 18" brown. Several fish were landed that day including a 5" rainbow with par marks on the sides. "Definitely a wild fish" Terry says, a great sign. We haven't seen a wild fish on that particular river in over 10 years. A great day on the river was capped off by a mature Bald Eagle flying overhead at dusk. Sounds like an awesome day, I wish I had been there with you.

If you have ever met Doc you know he is one of the nicest, most genuine people you will ever meet. He was in the shop recounting his day on the river with me and you could tell he had a blast. He told me he actually went home that night and tried to write down as many of the things that Terry taught him that day as he could remember. I have the feeling this is not the last time Doc and the boss will spend a day on the river.

For more information on our guided trips check out the "Guiding" tab on the home page. Give us a call and book a day on the water, like Dr John, you will be glad you did.

WCFF Holiday Stocking

As we approach Christmas we all should be thinking about the Holiday Stocking program that the White Clay Fly Fishers do every year. Please stop by the shop and take a look at the beautiful rod that is up for raffle. Rick Daring built an awesome Gatti 5 weight and then donated it to the club to raffle off to raise money for the Holiday Stocking. 100% of the money raised will go the the purchase of fish to be stocked in the middle branch of the White Clay. Last year enough money was raised to put almost 1200 fish in the river. They were stocked right after Christmas and we had good fishing through the winter months. We have the rod on display at the shop, stop by, take a look, and get a few tickets. WCFF and A Marblehaed Flyfisher inc thank you for your support of a great cause.

Martha's Vineyard picture montage #4

12/2/2012