In this week’s interview segment, Derek Bird chats with one of fly-fishing’s most recognizable artists, AD Maddox. Her art has appeared in over 30 different publications, on Patagonia t-shirts, on Montana Fly Company fly boxes, and on fly anglers’ den walls worldwide.
In this 15 minute podcast, Maddox discusses maturing as a fly-fishing artist and also reveals her surprising thoughts about tattoos. admaddox.com
In the area of fly lines, fly fishing has obviously progressed. We’ve come a long ways since the days of the encased glass display providing meager choices between floating and full-sink lines in a few different weights. Now there are literally hundreds of line choices for the consumer to fit unique angling needs. Enter the Big Nasty by RIO. It’s a floating line designed with a specific purpose in mind: to turn over large flies, whether they be large streamers, dries or nymphs. The Big Nasty is front loaded so there’s a better energy transfer when turning over big flies, and the long handling section at the back of the head makes it easy to cast long distances and mend the line once it’s on the water. If you’re like members of Fly Fusion’s team and you swing large streamers on sink tips through the spring, or you’ve got an early summer love affair with oversized foam stoneflies, you’ll want to check out the Big Nasty. rioproducts.com
RIO’s “Behind The Brand” series is a beautiful collection of short videos exploring the life, work and fly-fishing love of some of the key employees at RIO. Each film follows a RIO employee around their favorite local Idaho water, talks about what they do at RIO, and showcases their favorite set up for their fishery. This film follows Marlin Roush, RIO’s director of R&D and chief line designer, to Warm Spring in pursuit of beautiful brook trout.
Marc Crapo is a filmmaker, an IF4 ambassador, and an Internet sensation. This week Fly Fusion’s editor Derek Bird caught up with Marc to chat about his newest film, The Legend of Neckbeard, which is a 2017 International Fly Fishing Film Festival official selection. click to check out the trailer
Marc also talks about the origins of his own beard, his run-ins with the law, and the taste difference between male and female stoneflies.
Because you can never tie too many nymphs, here’s one more consideration for your spring nymph collection.
Griz’s “The Dude” recipe:
Looking to beef up your spring nymph collection? Check out this delicious piece of trout candy by custom tier Todd Schotts.
Griz’s Naked Nymph Recipe:
There are a lot of new fly rods on the market this year and many of them have price tags that place them in the high-end category. Possibly one of the most remarkable aspects about the Flex is that it has a high-end feel without the high-end price tag. Aside from the price point ($475US), the American built rod is impressive to cast and has a number of features characteristic of high-end rods. The Flex has a smooth feel and is a moderate fast action rod that matches well with true to weight lines. It’s a good all around rod that functions well at a variety of casting distances. More than that, the rod looks good. It’s got a dark textured finish, and has a sharp looking recessed reel seat with the Scott logo opposite the reel positioning. The Flex comes in 3wt through 8wt. check it out
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the latest issue of Fly Fusion’s Mobi Magazine. It’s full of stunning images from some of fly-fishing’s best photographers. This edition provides photo essays displaying oversized Icelandic browns and New Zealand rainbows, to name a few. Oh right…you may also want to check out the photo essay featuring April Vokey’s trip deep into the Bolivian Jungle in search of golden dorado. click here
Fly Fisherman Magazine editor, Ross Purnell, spent a few days last summer up in British Columbia’s Cariboo region working on a film project with Derek Bird of Fly Fusion Magazine. The project was unique in that it brought together the editors from two of North America’s largest fly-fishing publications onto one river. The film, Surface, can be viewed exclusively at the International Fly Fishing Film Festival. view trailer here
In this week’s interview segment, Bird catches up with Purnell and asks him about his best fly-fishing characteristic and about the one that got away. Oddly enough, Purnell also shares how to successfully instill a fear of flying into your angling partners.
Our friends at Patagonia today announced the release of the feature-length downloadable version of Finding Fontinalis. A 70-minute feature film by Travis Lowe, Finding Fontinalis explores how the search for a new world record brook trout in Argentina ultimately leads the anglers involved on a mission to conserve and protect much more than just the fish itself. The film is available to be screened in local markets globally to fly fishing dealers, grassroots conservation groups and individuals. www.findingfontinalis.com
