Long Weekend Without A Signal

As has become tradition for the past five or six years, we spend the last long weekend of the summer down in Isle of Palms on the South Carolina coast.


This is a weekend of playing on the beach, family, good food, and since there is no internet signal and barely a phone signal, T.F.M. will be more or less unconnected.

Living without a signal for the next couple days will be nice since next week I board a plane for Denver to attend IFTD and the Fiberglass Flyrodders "CO Clave" on the Arkansas River. No doubt a busy few days away from Mrs. Manifesto and the children.


Look for regular updates again next week. In the meantime I am going to take advantage of this lack of signal and enjoy Thomas McGuane's Ninety-Two In The Shade. Cheers...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Three Online Diversions For Your Day

Until your boss realizes how much time is spent by you perusing blogs, websites, and online magazines that are linked on T.F.M. and permanently blocks access I'm going to keep tossing up new places to go online.

Yesterday I found three notifications in my email inbox that there were new issues of three T.F.M. favorite office time diversions and thought I'd share... 

CATCH MAGAZINE - ISSUE #13

THIS IS FLY - VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 3

FLY FISHERS INC. - ISSUE 2 - SEPTEMBER 2010

ENJOY!

VOTE AUGUST'S FINALIST!

For August we have six worthy finalists for the T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest.  Please take a minute to look over the finalists and place your vote on the right side of the page.   

If you need a larger view of the photos and would like to read each of the T.F.M. Spotting posts then they can each be viewed by clicking these links...

Spencer Ballard
Todd Moen
Bruce Nuss
Leigh Smith
Sam Snyder
Riki Rahman

You might have noticed seeing the same faces more than once this year and I'd like to remind everything that you can submit a T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest submission once a month to get in the mix.  Remember we're playing for some excellent gear from Hardy Greys! 

T.F.M. Spotting July Finalist

Well...it was a month long voting battle which Alan Tomich topped out of to become the T.F.M. Spotting Finalist for July with this very cool photograph from Henry's Lake.

Remember that all the monthly T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest finalists will be placed in an end of the year poll to determine the top three who will win some great gear from Hardy Greys. 

"T.F.M. Turns Two" Gear Giveaway

It hardly seems possible that T.F.M. turns two years old this month.  Where has the time gone and is it really possible that there are over 400 posts on this blog?  Without a doubt writing T.F.M. has been a process and honestly I'm still figuring it all out.  I really appreciate everyone that checks in daily, links the site elsewhere, and participates on the T.F.M. Facebook and Twitter pages.  I enjoy the interaction and it really fuels me to keep the site updated and to search out original content to post.     

(T.F.M.'s birthday pie 'cause it's way better than cake)

Over the past two years I've been able to establish relationships with a growing number of rod shops and gear companies, so when I sent out an email a couple weeks ago asking for a few items of gear to give away I was overwhelmed by the response.  I've got to think that this is nothing less than a thank you to each of you that read T.F.M. and then spend your fly fishing dollar with many of the same companies that I promote for the excellent gear they produce.

I was so impressed with the well thought out emails that were sent last month for the "Gear Brainstorm" that I thought I would organize September's giveaway around asking the T.F.M. readership to send an email telling what you like about T.F.M., what type of posts really interest you, people that you would like to see interviewed, what you could see less of, and any other constructive thoughts that might make T.F.M. a better fly fishing blog.  I have my own ideas but would like to know what you think as well.     

Up for grabs in the gear giveaway this month are some really excellent prizes from the following companies...

Boneyard Fly Gear
Bug Slinger
Carolina Fly
Costa
Goertzen Adventure Equipment
Mountain Khakis
No Sports Allowed
Renewable Resources Coalition
Rollcast Productions
South Fork Rod Company
Trufflepig Films
William Joseph

All you need to do is send along an email to thefiberglassmanifesto@gmail.com and let me know why you read The Fiberglass Manifesto.

T.F.M. Spotting - Riki Sultan Hunting

 Riki Rahman is not surprisingly back again with another well done T.F.M. Spotting Photo Contest entry with a Sultan caught on his McFarland Spruce Creek which as he writes it's taken him some time to understand the "semi-parabolic" feel.  It ooks like it's worked itself out with practice, a few fly line changes, and time on the water.

When I first introduced to the eight foot "Semi-Parabolic" five weight Spruce Creek by Mike McFarland two years back I really didn't have any idea what it was. All I wanted was simply a rod that can cast like my seven foot Phillipson Master but built by Mike.  I am a huge fan of his rods and work.  Being the religiously thrill-seeking person I am, I opted for it and told Mike to work on it.  I just wanna see whats this "semi-parabolic" is all about.

Fast forward two years and I was still whining over this one.  It was a "moody" rod and I aptly named it "The Widow".  Casting it was not a breeze and the leader would never open up like a dream.  I had tried lines from all premium makes and models and I even went to the extent of matching up several reels with it but to no avail. This rod was superior in accuracy in close-counter presentation but sucked at further ones.  I was never able to properly cast a fly further than fifty feet.  If I forced it I'll be rewarded with a bundled up leader or a string of irreversible wind knots.  As far as I'm concerned, this "semi-para" was a catastrophe and I've yet to reach a proper level of a casting prowess.  Any other way, this rod has become my least favorite - hence the insignificant catch list under its belt.

But in other ways it is a magnificent rod.  Anyone who has ever seen Mike's work wouldn't disagree with me. And despite all the issues, I do love the rod. A lite-red blank with a color-matched agate stripper, plus the birdseye reel seat and this is one beautiful girl.  So I need to work harder to make it work on my hands.  I redid the grip making it tad smaller.  Then changed the originally matched Tibor Tailwater reel to Abel Super 3N.  Next, I installed the only line I hadn't tried on it, a five weight Aquanova High Floating Series 99.  Why? Because many friends said this was the most friendliest of all fly lines and once everything was setup off we went to a familiar pond.

True to the words, the rod somehow reformed.  I'm sure the reel and grip selection contributed to the success but what I do know, the line made it all happen.  It performs exceptionally well with the 'semi-para' and it is really a "friendly" line.  It really does help the rod and my casting quite a lot.  Now I can present a dry as far as ninety feet without any effort at all.  The casting is much easier and more fun.  The bigger Sultans who prowl eighty feet away and right under the tree branches is not an impossible task anymore.  The day ended with me cuddling a six pound beast who almost spooled me and stole twenty minutes of my lifetime.

Given the time-frame it is an epic discovery and a great one at that.  True love does come in a package of a cheaper fly line.  Now the "semi-para" is in my Top Three Stillwater Rods for dry fly fishing.  So far it has never disappointed.  Now I have a bunch of friends saying that there is another line that is even more "friendly" than the Aquanova.  Well...next up is the Scientific Anglers Headstart weight forward five weight line.  Wish me luck guys.  Cheers...

Mark's Vintage Gear Adventure In Alaska

Mark Baker, a.k.a turtledoc, is a fiend for vintage Bogdan reels and Hardy sticks. He recently posted up a thread on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum of his yearly Alaska trip and I figured that the T.F.M. readership would enjoy this stellar journey as well.

The photos of the silver, chum, and pink (humpy) salmon were all taken on creeks within the Susitna Valley in South Central Alaska. The rod used was an early Pre-JET Hardy 8 1/2 foot six weight that still had the plastic on the grip. It rained a lot during the trip and you’ll notice in the photos that you can almost tell what order they were taken by how much area of the cork has water under the plastic.

The reels in those photos are all mid 1960's to early 1970's single action Bogdan Model 00 and a special Hermann Sea Trout that is #1 of five reels that Paul made of this model as the last five salmon reels he finished before retiring from reel making.

The photo of the Rainbow and the shot of me with the Dolly Varden was with the Bogdan 00 SA and a 1960's vintage Hardy nine foot three inch Richard Walker Superlite which is rated as a 7/8 weight.

These photos were taken on a stream within the Kenai Peninsula. I had hoped to use an Experimental/Prototype Bogdan Steelhead reel that I have from the early 1960's on this water but that reels is “dragless” with just a fixed click drag. The water was so high and fast that after using it for a half day I concluded I wasn’t being responsible and I switched back to the 00 with the double brake shoe drag so I could land and release the fish quickly before they were exhausted. There were countless Dollies caught in the 18 to 20 inch range with a handful going up to 23 inches and enough nice Rainbows scattered in to keep things interesting.

I really like vintage Hardy glass for salmon and big trout and though this vein, I like how they look with the Bogdan and Hermann reels I enjoy using.

Check out Mark's profile to view an amazing written history and photos of the Bodgan reels that he's collected over the years.   Truly impressive.