Summer time News

Summer Time and the fishing is easy.. Unless you are chasing Stripers in Jersey.. The fresh water streams are also a bit warm and that stresses any trout that you can coax into to co-operating with your flies.  Better to just leave both of these species alone until Fall arrives.. The fish are bigger then and the crowds are smaller.. So what is there to do between now and then?  It's Tuna Time in the Canyons  and the Yellowfin are biting..  Plus if you are wacky enough (like me) to try and drag a big hookless teaser for a couple of hours (maybe days) you might just get to tangle with a White Marlin on the fly.. Better pack a 15plus weight with a Billy Pate and a lot of backing for that task if you do happen to hit a hot billfish.. So what else is available that's a little bit easier to do?  Well you can join us for our Trout Bum Road Trip to upstate PA., N.Y. and VT.. Some of us are heading that way the first week of August to sample the colder waters and cooler weather.. We will also be exhibiting our A.F.F.S. Organization at the CATSKILL FLY FISHING MUSEUM FESTIVAL in Livingston Manor, N.Y.on the 6 -7th and the AMERICAN FLY FISHING MUSEUM'S SUMMERFEST in Manchester Ctr. Vermont on the 13th.. We will be fishing all the big name streams and some of the lesser known ones. If you want to participate in filming some epic fly fishing laughs then give me a call and come join us for this trip.. The fees are low and it should be a memorable excursion.. You will be sure to have a good time if you love fly fishing and have a sense of humor..  Hope to see you on the water or the road..
Capt. Mike

April Shows

In between Shows with a weekend off to regroup and catch up on the website, calendar, videos and  this Blog. We had the A.F.F.S. Rolling Fly Shop & Museum on display last week at the SALTWATER FISHING EXPO in Somerset, N.J. We certainly had a good time at this first for us event.

I want to express our sincere appreciation to the Show promoter Jonathan Sauers and Sales Manager Michael Archambault for giving us the opportunity to demonstrate to them and their show patrons what we have to offer. Jonathan obviously liked what he saw as we have reached an agreement to provide the primary fly casting entertainment and educational seminars for all their 2012 events.
A big thank you to the A.F.F.S. Pros and office staff that participated at the Show.. Paul Healy, Capt. Al Zalata, Alan Johnson, Dino Cedeira and my wife Rita.   

Next week we are on the road to the Pequest Hatchery Show and Open House spring event to concentrate on freshwater fly fishing. Several A.F.F.S. members are scheduled to be on hand including Mike McCauliffe, John Collins, Paul Healy, Dino Cerdeira, Allan Johnson, Bart Lombardo and maybe a few more.  I hope the weather will be co-operative for this mostly outdoor event but at least we won't be stuck in our leaky little Show tent any more.

Then next up will be a ride to the other end of Jersey and our annual Spring visit to Cape May and the Fishermen's Flea Market on Sunday April 10th
I look forward to seeing some of you at these upcoming shows..   

Got back up to Jersey after quite a road trip to Florida to retrieve our "Poetry and Prose" Outhouse trailer that has our Fly Castng Pond in it.. Still had moocho snow surrounding the Rolling Fly Shop Trailer when I got back home.. My next door neighbors had to pile up all the not so white stuff from the last storm in the field btween my house and their wharehose.  They really had no place else to put it.. So me and my friend John used his snowblower yesterday to clear an "Ice Road Truckers" path to reach it.. What fun and games trying to get my tractor hooked up to it last night on the ice.. But I made it.. Now load and reload stuff and head to the Show in Edison early to beat the next incoming storm .. It should be a good time this year if the NEW snowstorm that's coming tonight isn't too bad.. Lots of AFFS members will be in attendance to perform seminars and help out at our AFFS display and  Pond.. Check out the Show website link to see our Seminar Room, Fly Tying Theatre and Casting / Kayaking Pond schedules.. http://www.gsoss.com/

I hope to see a lot of you there..  Capt. Mike

Captain Mike's "Notes on the Fly" 11/21/10..

I am writing early this morning from my office at the Jersey Shore. I stayed at home for the month of November and taught a couple of students at IBSP. I did a little striper fishing and worked on some video filming and editing for our 2011 shows. I'm enjoying working on a first seminar program for guide Paul Healy filming it on some of our trout waters in North Jersey. You know it's funny, we rarely get any students for saltwater classes in Jersey during November and almost never in December. I know that it's a little more uncomfortable to learn to cast and tie your knots in the cooler weather. Yes, you need more clothes on and all that but the truth is, it is simply the best time of the year to catch a striper or a big bluefish from the surf in this state. Nothing seems better if you happen to actually catch a fish or two while you are learning how to do it. Oh well, we are still available if you want to give it a shot like the guy in the picture below..

I'm still working on completing the interior of the trailer. I didn't like the first fireplace, it turned out to be a big piece of junk I bought for $299 through a supply house catalog. I tried to modify it a little to try and get some thing from it to look OK and still ended up throwing it all out with the garbage. I should have simply went to Home Depot, much nicer ones there. So in goes a new one and we still have the finished floor to install and some other odds and ends to add. We might take it to a couple of upcoming Fishermen's Flea Markets this month and next including Freehold, Rahway and Barnegat. We have some good things planned for the future working with our rolling Shop and it's little "Outhouse brother". It's a lot of fun to work out of the trailer at the Shows (Jack Montague and I did a couple of Shows with it in Florida this summer with only half of it finished then). It's also an easy way for me to have another Fly Shop at the Jersey Shore. I really enjoy having some of you show up on the weekends to tie flys and swap lies like we used to do at my old Brick Town Shop. Stop by my house in Island Heights (when ever I'm not in Florida or some place else on the road. You can try out the latest fly fishing gear plus "tie and lie" with some of the craziest and most interesting guys in the sport. You never know who you will run into at our place. Just look over our AFFS Calendar to see when the Shop will be parked at the house in Jersey and give me a call to make sure I didn't hang the Gone Fishing Sign on the door again. But not to worry !!!.. If you have an idea of what you want or need an "emergency purchase" my wife Rita, son Matt or daughter Annie should be able to help you out if I'm not around. The "Stuff" usually has a price tag on it. In line with that, I have also  been working a lot on getting our online sales up and running on the website. I hope to have it ready before Christmas but there is still a lot to do to get it all set up. You can give the FLY SHOP box on the website HOME Page a click now and then and one day soon (I hope) you will see it all there.. Capt. Mike 
http://www.americanflyfishingschools.com/

Captain Chris Goldmark back in Culebra..

Angler - Bruce Oldenburg

With his first ever bonefish.. Photo by Capt. Chris Goldmark - Culebra Island

10/2010 

Captain Chris sent us his latest and first report of the 2010/11 from Culebra Island, P.R. Get yourself a    cheap seat or two on a bird and go join him is my advice..  Meanwhile back in Jersey we soldier on with just stripers, blues and trout..  Work continues on the AFFS trailer and more Shows are dead ahead..

                                                                   Capt. Mike Corblies

October/2010...Rusty but back in the Groove......


"Too much time away put me off my game for a day or so. My apologies to Bruce and Sharon Olden burg . A combination of strong winds, super spring tides, poor viz and asshole guide with who still had Striper scales in his beard made Bonefishing Really tough. Bruce and Sharon did have several good shots at Permit. Saw more this week than I've seen in Culebra in a while. Bonefish stocks look to be slim compared to last fall. Bruce did end up 1 for 3 on Bones but not with out a struggle. That's Bruce on the right. Middle of the week the three of us fished some cuts on the East End and had non stop Jack Blitzes. Nothing big but numbers and good pullage. This was Bruce and Sharon's first Fly experience in Salt. Hope I've made some converts. Great people,great fun, which is really what its all about. Lots of free time next week. I'll be exploring and trying different things before the Season gets rolling... Check it out here" .. 
Capt Chris Goldberg



10/12/10..  Capt. Al's latest posting..- "On Monday my pals Larry and Dave underway looking for some bass on the fly, due to the holiday it was a little busy at the rocks, we had one bass on - we blasted north - we found acres of bait, covering the bottom were small weakfish, croaker, and kingfish and Larry's first albie on the fly, this fish dove to the bottom and then took off and tore off close to two hundred feet of line and backing-- Larry did a great job of stopping and turning the speedster back to and in the boat- the ocean was flat calm and we had a great time -- Thanks -- CATCHEMUP"...

http://www.a2zfish.com/index.htm

10/11/10.. A.F.F.S. student Arty Carr (featured in our N.Y. COMBAT FLY FISHING video) reports a good run of big browns and steelhead plus some Kings this weekend at the Salmon River in Pulaski.. The water level was fast and deep but it is inside it's banks again.. Head north NOW ..

10/1 - Todays  report is from A.F.F.S. member guide Al Zalata.. Greetings!! I only fished 1 day so far this past week..  A couple of coastal storms, a bunch of rain and  lot's of wind. The temps are falling a bit, which means things should be picking up, that's at least what I'm thinking. There i s a lot of bait in the bay, and some of the guys are loading up on the spots (small fish) for bait for the fall striper run..  I did find a few keeper sized weakfish, maybe they will stack up before they leave..  - I'll  pass on the "spots" and stick to the flies-- CATCHEMUP,  Al..http://www.a2zfish.com/reports.html