Somerset Fly Fishing Show Recap

The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ is one of the biggest around and attracts tons of visitors and all the big fly fishing companies.  I made the 7 hour trip up to help Scott Hunter in the Vedavoo booth.  I was looking forward to the trip and being able to see some exciting new products that were due out on the market shortly.  It's always an epic time hanging with the Vedavoo brothers Scott and Joel but I was prepared for several epic moments during the weekend.  The weekend started with a late night road trip and plenty of pepperoni rolls and mellow yellow to cover the miles.  First day in Somerset was crazy at times lots of traffic and people checking out new gear.  It's great to see so many people come together for a common passion in fly fishing.  It's always great to be in the Vedavoo booth and see the passion and giving from Scott Hunter, a man that sees a cub scout and rewards him with a new pack with the promise he will reach Eagle Scout or just the giving he constantly does for Project Healing Waters with his Reel Service Project just being completed.  One of the highlights to start day two was waking up and seeing a VT car parked a couple spaces away at the hotel with a WVAngler.com sticker on it a very cool thing to see!  Several products stand out over the weekend here is a recap of what stood out the most.

Vedavoo River Quiver - A storage pack for 4 piece rods.  The quiver will hold 4 9ft-10ft 4 piece rods.  With 4 rods and rolled up burrito style it makes it insanely hard to break.  Scott in a trip out west had one mailed back in nothing but a plastic bag with the rods suffering absolutely no issues.  It folds flat to easily fit into overhead storage compartments.

https://youtu.be/zv8H9GQWew4

Waterworks Lamson Force SL Series II - This reel takes lightweight to a whole new level.  

Ross Reels Colorado LT - Ross will relaunch a favorite come April the Colorado series.  A lightweight, click and pawl, and large arbour reel.

Cohen's Creatures - Pat keeps adding to his tails and creatures.  One of the new items a double split tail looks like it will be fun to try on Musky.

Blue Halo - One of the vendors I was super excited to check out after hearing so much about their rods!  There RetroFlex II-C 3wt is one sweet 3wt.  Offers a nice glass look, super sensitive feel, and one great casting stick that will bend like nothing else!

Chota Outdoor Gear - Chota has out a new Hybrid Felt Soled Wading Shoe.  Looks to be lightweight, with good drainability, and super comfortable.

Jeff Currier Art - I've been a fan of Currier for a while not many get the chance to catch 300 plus species on a fly rod.  Jeff uses a sharpie to create absolute art on a cliff box.  My brookie turned out sweet!!

Towee Skiffs - The absolute perfect musky rig loaded with tons of great features that makes a day on the water slinging big flies a breeze.

Abel Reels - DeYoung and Larko designs on fly reels give absolute artwork to a reel truly a masterpiece!

Vedavoo Sling - Including brookie print by AD Maddox it becomes not only functional but also extremely cool looking!

River Song Nets and Vedavoo Net Bag - River Song Nets provide a truly awesome piece of craftsmanship a truly awesome net it pairs excellent with the Vedavoo net bag.

Photo courtesy of Vedavoo

Cheeky Fishing - A branch off from them Wingo Belts provide a fish skin wading belt that looks awesome in a brook trout skin!

Photo Courtesy of Cheeky Fishing

Team Vedavoo

A Little Walk With God

View from top of WV

To quote Herbert Hoover: " Next to prayer, fishing is the most personal relationship of man."  Sometimes in life we need to immerse ourselves in the amazing creations that we so greatly have been blessed to share while we are on this earth.  Tony Blake said, "Some go to church and think about fishing, others go fishing and think about God."  Living in West Virginia we are blessed with so many great places where we can go and allow our souls to be renewed and refreshed.  Some people need a church to go to so they can pray and think about God but we are blessed with so many awe-inspiring places that you can not help but go to God in prayer.  For me the Seneca Creek back country is one of those places where when I go deep into those woods with no one around and the sound of the rushing waters allows me to go to such a spiritual place.  Things with our family has been a little chaotic lately with some major decisions we have had to make with our future unfortunately, so on this day my wife gave me a much needed day off to fish these extraordinary waters.  I started off taking the view in from the top of WV as the sun awakened another magnificent day.  I reached the trail head knowing a

long hike awaited me but full of excitement for what was ahead and what this great day had in store.  Being out of shape this year a 9 mile hike I wasn't sure about but I had hoped the fishing would make up for those aching legs after the hike.  After a long hike I finally reached the Upper Seneca Creek Falls and strung up my rod for action, which I was really eager to try out Redington's new Butter Stick in a 2wt version, the new fiberglass rod they offer.  The stream flow was a little low and clear but the falls was still flowing good and allowed for that first moment of prayer with God its amazing how a place like this can truly help a persons spirit.  Well the rod was strung up with a faithful stimulator as I seen a trout hovering just below the surface.  In no time a nice wild rainbow trout was the first fish for the day, it was amazing to see such great colors wild fish truly are special creatures and do not get enough praise at times and protection.  After a few casts on top at the falls with no real activity I figured I would try and dredge up something from the deep depths of the pool and what better place to go then a

good old olive woolybugger.  The butter stick doesn't seem to throw bigger or weighted flies with as good as accuracy as you would like but on a small stream you can get by with this at times.  And after a few casts I got by with it indeed as I hooked into a picturesque brookie in his full falls colors.  I hung around the pool for a while and soaked up all its pure beauty and charm.  I headed off up stream and the rainbows were eager to eat the stimulator as well as some brookies.  It seemed on this day the rainbows were a little more willing to take the fly for me as the brookies were a little more skiddish in those crystal clear waters, but when trout are this vibrant its hard to complain what type they are!  Sometimes the fish is truly a bonus on a trip on this trip in particular the fish were an extra special bonus as just being in some of God's great country was the true bonus.  The day allowed me to pray a lot about life and just reflect and know that no matter what he will always be there to help and a rising trout makes life always seem so much better!  Yes sometimes its about more than the fish and sometimes a walk with God is on a trout stream and sometimes those streams really do heal us!