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Sponsors
| We now have lodging packages with the Cornwall Inn in town - we will list the details below - now you can stay over - fish - and have a great meal and cocktail to prepare for the next day. Just call the store for availability and reservations - we can be your one-stop shop. Fisherman's Sleep-n-Eat Package - $199 plus tax: Belly up to the bar at our cozy tavern and share your fish tales with the locals. This package includes overnight accomodations in our country lodge, a $50 dinner voucher and a hearty continental breakfast. Rooms have queen bed, private bath, tv and telephone. Free internet access available on site. Restaurant serves lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday. Certain weekends may require a two night stay. Look forward to seeing you! Fisherman's Overnight Package - $159 plus tax: Relax after a long, successful day fishing in a cozy country lodge room with queen bed, private bath, cable tv and telephone. Included is a hearty continenatl breakfast. Free internet access available on site. Certain weekend may require a two night stay. Look forward to seeing you! Lots of events to list this spring Lots and Lots of Books for your favorite person - we have one of the largest outdoor book selections in the state - new, used and collectable books - hundreds in stock. I have been attending auctions and estate to beef up our selection of cold weather reading materials. The store is completely stocked with the latest and greatest the fly fishing industry has to offer - in addition I am again re-vamping the entire website - so look for some big changes by the middle of April with the site, shopping cart and services. New Ebay Store Check out our new ebay store -http://stores.ebay.com/Somethings-Fishy-Gear-and-Tackle Ethan and I are creating a new type of fishing store on ebay - you will find both new and used equipment on this site and priced very-very well - with lots of extras usually included. Friends of the Housatonic We would like to thank the Rainbow Club for setting the precedent of stocking big rainbow trout in the Housatonic River - we hope to continue that legacy. Rainbows are more opportunistic to flies and are extremely athletic when hooked - please handle them with care and practice catch and release. In order to continue their tradition, I have founded a non-profit organization - that has been sponsored by the Open Space Institute, Inc. (OSI) - which is called OSI - Friends of the Housatonic. OSI will enable the project to act in the charitable public benefit manner of a non- proft organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and to ensure proper management of the project's activities in furtherance of OSI's charitable and educational goals. OSI - Friends of theHousatonic Project goals and proposed program strategies: The goals and strategies of the OSI - Friends of the Housatonic are as follows: To expand and enhance the trout fishing opportunities on the Housatonic River and its tributaries for the general public with private stockings and working with the DEP to implement proactive trout management programs. Increase awareness of present and future environmental or conservation issues that affect the Housatonic River and its tributaries. We will work closely with local organizations such as the Housatonic Valley Association, Housatonic Fly Fishermen’s Association and local Trout Unlimited Clubs. Support and initiate activities that improve the environment and health of the river. Support the Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) program of “No Child Left Inside.” This program allows children to access and experience the outdoors through activities such as fishing, camping and hiking. It is hoped that these activities will foster a greater understanding and appreciation for the outdoors in addition to educating them about conservation and environmental issues. Ten percent of all net proceeds after expenses will be donated to purchase equipment and services for this program. http://www.nochildleftinside.org List of individuals who will guide the project and activities: Harold McMillan Dr. David Dantzker Anthony May Nicholas Daifotis David Weiner Michael Kelly All donations made to "OSI - Friends of the Housatonic" will be tax deductable to the extent allowable by law. Thank you for your support. Please make checks payable to "OSI - Friends of the Housatonic" Checks can be left at or mailed to the store: Housatonic River Outfitters, Inc. P.O. Box 238 Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754 www.osiny.org We are stocking 1000 rainbow trout on April 2nd below the TMA - They should be well acclimated by Opening Day and ready for the Hendrickson Hatch. We have also sponsored a 3rd grade class in Patterson NJ to go fishing for the day. We are are paying for the bus to take the children on the fishing trip. Thanks to all of you who have donated and supported the organization. It is our vision to make this "again" the finest trout fishery in the east - thanks to all of you - we are beginning to make it happen. Upcoming Weekend Classes and Spring Classes - We have some excellent classes scheduled for this year with more to come - 2nd - Free River Orientation for the Housatonic River Bull's Bridge TMA & lower river, March 30th at 10AM- Response to the recent free orientation for the Upper TMA was fantastic, with many requests to do another one for the Lower TMA, so here it is. Torrey will show you the accesses for the lower TMA, as well as a few accesses between the upper & lower TMA's. Just show up at the shop, there is no sign up list or cost involved. We will all carpool together to the various spots. This will probably last about 2 1/2 hours, give or take. We will be doing a weekend clinic with Davy Wotton - -We will be doing a weekend clinic with Davy Wotton on "Wet Flies & Soft Hackles" this April 12 &13- cost will be $200 for 2 full days - almost full. It will be one full day of fishing and one full day of tying, and there will also be a "bonus" 2 hour evening session on the evening of the 12th for those who can make it. Other than tools & materials, the only tying stuff you need to bring is your vise, basic tools and some assorted threads. Davy is a famous fly tyer and fisherman originally from Wales, transplanted to Arkansas where he runs a guiding & lodging business on the White River (his website is davywotton.com), the land of giant & world record brown trout. He is the creator of the SLF ranges of dubbing (great stuff). In his lifetime, he has fished in 40 countries for a multitude of species, fished competitively, coached the US Youth Fly Fishing team, and is widely considered to be an expert's expert and a superb fly dresser. Some of you may have seen him on Fly Fish TV or maybe his "Wet Fly Ways" DVD, or his new "White River" or "Tying Wet Flies" DVD's. He is quite possibly the most knowledgeable wet fly fisherman alive- there is a 400 year tradition of fishing them for brown trout where he hails from, and he was taught by the old masters. The clinic, will be on wet fly, soft hackle & flymph fishing & tying- there is no better instructor on the subject, wets flies are his favorite method. April 19th - Opening Day Free Pancake Breakfast here at the Shop - Bring your appetite and your wallet to purchase raffle tickets. We are having Sage & Winston days at the shop in April & May, when the respective reps will come in with a bunch of their rods & let you cast them, as well as be available to answer any questions you may have. Sage Day will be Saturday, April 26th, 10AM 'till whenever. Brad Gage has donated a Saze Z-Axis 11 foot 5 weight for the Friends of the Housatonic Raffle - Thank you Brad . Winston Day will be Saturday, May 10th, 10AM 'till whenever. This will also give you a chance to cast some of the new Rio & Sci Angler lines, as well as get your hands on Waterworks/Lamson reels. Justin Sterner is donating a Winston 9 foot BIIx Fly Rod, Sci-angler Lines and Action Optic Sunglasses which will be raffled off to support Friends of the Housatonic - Thank you Justin - these items will be raffled off on May 10th. Nymph Clinic with Aaron on Saturday, May 3rd, 9AM-1PM. Guide Aaron Jasper (check out his website TroutPredator.com) will demistify this deadly method of fishing. Master this skill, and you can catch trout almost anywhere with consistency. Aaron fishes 200+ days a year, and he will share his hard-won nymph fishing knowledge with clinic attendees. Key points such as leader construction, choosing proper weight amounts, strike detection, choosing the right flies, where fish lay under different condtitions, choosing proper tackle (rods, lines, weights, flourocarbon, indicators, etc.) and many other important details will all be covered. This is our most popular clinic, we usually fill them. You will come away with the ability to go out and successfully catch trout on nymphs all by yourself. Cost is $75, paid in advance, nonrefundable- clinic happens rain or shine. It is part indoors, part outdoors. Bring a pad of paper to take notes, there will be a lot of information that you won't want to forget, including the "secret" nymph leader formula, one of the keys to success. We are in the process of scheduling a Spey Casting Clinic with Andre Scholz on May 24th, Andre is working with Winston now, and he is a top Speycaster and apparently one hell of a presenter, showman & teacher - the cost will be $100 per person for the day - payment must be taken in advance. If you can't come to us - sometimes we come to you Please email us with suggestions for future classes We are selling raffle tickets in the store to raise money for OSI - Friends of the Housatonic - in the Housy in '08. Most of our guides have generously donated their services to sell tickets- it will be $20 to purchase a chance for a guided fishing trip on the Housatonic with one of them. We are also selling tickets for a $1,000 HRO gift certificate, and another for the top-selling 9' 5 weight - Sage Z-Axis rod and Sage Rod Company has donated a Z-Axis Switch Rod for the Raffle - Thanks. Gift certificate tickets are $20, rod tickets are $10. Proceeds will go toward stocking trout in 2008 and the Connecticut DEP program of No Child Left Inside. River Conditions - The river is around 3,500cfs and dropping - we do not seen any precipitation for almost the next two weeks so the river should be in great condition for late March and Early April. This is the time of year when you can really catch some big trout in the river - they have not seen a fishermen for months - the river is beginning to warm and the fish will start to feed more aggressively. It is also the time of year when you hook some really big smallmouth that are trying to put on some weight before the spawning season. The driftboats are being set up next weekend and we are already booking lots of trips for the upcoming season - I can't wait. I am so ready for spring and the fishing season - it has been a very long winter and we deserve a nice spring. NYMPHS & WETS for fishing in March: -Golden/Yellow Stonefly #6-14 -Prince Nymph #6-14 -Pheasant Tail #12-14 -Olive BH Caddis #14 -Scud #12-16- grey, olive, tan -Egg fly #10-18- various colors -Hare's Ear #10-16 -Caddis Larva #12-16- olive, green -Black Nymphs #14-18- Copper John, Early Stonefly, A.P. Black, etc. -20 Incher #8-10 -Fox Squirrel Nymph #8-12 -HalfBack Nymph #8 Products and Books This is a must have for your collection AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT “THE BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN FLY FISHING” TROUT FISHING IN THE CATSKILLS by Ed Van Put “Ed Van Put succeeds at both fishing and history by keeping it simple, by sticking to basics. His back to basic research approach will reward fans of Catskill fishing and history with the long-awaited Trout Fishing in the Catskills.” -Kaatskill Life “There are few things as timeless as rivers, but Ed Van Put’s latest incarnation of Catskill angling history comes awfully close.” -John Merwin, Fishing Editor, Field & Stream Ed Van Put has compiled an astounding amount of fascinating information in his new book, Trout Fishing in the Catskills. It is an unprecedented chronicle of the famous mountain region’s angling history. To findings from innumerable sources—newspapers and magazines, public records, the writing of other fishermen past and present—Van Put adds his fifty-plus years of personal experience. With over five-hundred pages and photos throughout the book, Van Put tackles every possible area of interest. Here is just a taste of what Trout Fishing in the Catskills has to offer: • Information about prominent figures in the Catskill fishing community including John Burroughs, Edward R. Hewitt, and Louis Rhead. • Detailed maps of the Catskill Mountains. • A summary of contributions to the fishing world that came out of the Catskills. • A history of fly-fishing technology. • A genealogy of the various trout species and how they were introduced to the environment. • Information about fishing publications of the area. Trout Fishing in the Catskills has enough information to satisfy everyone with an interest in trout fishing or the Catskill Mountains in general, regardless of how much or how little they know. A must read for the serious trout fisherman, no other book on the region can offer Van Put’s insight, attention to detail, and encyclopedic knowledge. “Whether you fly fish for trout in Michigan, Wyoming, or beyond, chances are at least some of the tactics, flies, and tackle you use have their roots here [in the Catskills]. In that respect, Van Put’s work is a trout-fishing genealogy for all of us, a look back at where we as anglers came from and why we fish the way we do.” -John Merwin, from his introduction Ed Van Put lives in the heart of the Catskills and has been a fly fisherman for over fifty years. He has worked as a fisheries professional with the state of New York since 1969. Also the author of The Beaverkill, he has published articles in The Conservationist, Trout, Fly Fisherman, and Fly Rod & Reel, among other publications. Grab your gear; pack your bags and beat the developers to 101 of the greatest places left for living, visiting and playing—outdoor towns where you can still eat breakfast at a local diner; play all day in a gorgeous, natural setting; find microbrews and comfort food; and flop yourself into bed at a family-run lodge. Tuff and Melville look far and wide to identify these places that have fresh vitality without having been overrun with fourth– home buyers and resort developments. These are places where you'll want to visit and just maybe stay on. 101 Best Outdoor Towns includes information about the towns, their history and all the things there are to do—as well as lodging and dining information. You'll even find each town's “stay” factor for just how livable and affordable the place might be for the long-term. Introducing the new Lamson Konic reel A better $100+ reel Our goal is to bring the best technology in reels to any given price point. We’ve now addressed the important $100+ price point with Konic. Please read on to find out what makes Konic a better reel than any other comparably priced alternative. When designing the Konic, we started with one given: to incorporate the same fully sealed conical drag system and stainless steel roller clutch used in our high-end reels. The drag system in Konic uses the same fully machined parts, made of the same materials, and to the same specifications, as the drag used in the $400+ Waterworks reels or any of our other high-end reels. This is the principal benefit of the Konic versus competitive reels. What other $100+ reel can say that it shares proven drag technology with a $400+ reel? In order to deliver this expensive drag in a low-priced reel we are die casting the frame and spool. But this is no low-end die casting. This is Pressure Casting with molten ALDC12 aluminum alloy injected at 1,080 kgs pressure to ensure consistent, smooth and strong parts with lower porosity. Contrast this method with the Gravity Casting used by competitors. Our frame and spool are solid single-part pieces. Again, contrast this with 2-part cast spools that our competition uses. Once cast, the frame and spool are “skim cut” on CNC machines, a process in which a thin surface layer is cut away to provide a finish comparable to fully-machined reel. We use a 100% solid polyurethane coating to provide a finish that is very resistant to gouging and abrasion. Contrast this to the weaker electrostatic paints that competitive reels use. The Konic is a lightweight, true large arbor reel. It’s strong, good looking, well put-together and frugal. These are virtues in a fly reel, or a spouse. We can’t help you with the latter, but now we can ship you the former. Konic will be available beginning late August in a 5-6 weight; and followed in early September with a 3-4 weight. Larger sizes will be available in early ’08: Anticipated Questions Is die cast inferior to machined bar stock? There are really two issues here: strength and beauty. The question of strength is a complicated one, but let’s concede that a machined part is stronger, in general, than a die cast part. The better question is this: is a die cast part strong enough? Yes, if designed correctly. As evidence, just about every metal part in your car is die cast including your wheels. Are the highways littered with failed cast aluminum wheels? The other issue is beauty. It’s true that a machined part has more finish options than a die cast part. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and behold Konic: it looks goooooood. Why the name “Konic”? The conical drag system is an important point of superiority for this reel and we wanted a name that pointed to this feature. We started with “Conic” but since that word cannot be trademarked (it’s descriptive), we swapped the C with a K to get the trademark. Will Konic replace Radius? No. Radius is our least expensive fully machined reel, and will remain in the product line-up to fill this role. Can we get the larger sizes sooner? Maybe. Buy a lot of the K1.5 and K2 sizes now and then we’ll be able to afford the expensive tooling for larger sizes sooner. Is Konic saltwater safe? Yes, absolutely. Will Konic be available in a 0/1/2 weight or an 11/12 weight? No. We’ll offer these sizes only in machined reels. Die cast is a volume technology, and there is too little volume in these sizes to justify fixed costs. What color is Konic? It’s a metallic gray. Can I get Konic in gold/blue/green/my favorite color? No. You can get it in metallic gray. Will Konic steal volume from higher priced Lamson reels? It shouldn’t. Each of our reels has a solid reason for being more expensive than the model below it. Radius is fully machined from barstock, Konic is not. Velocity is large arbor and Hard Alox, Radius is not. Litespeed is lighter weight and a true large arbor versus Velocity. Waterworks is lighter still, uses titanium, has larger drag format versus Litespeed. Instead, Konic should trade up volume from inferior $89, $99 and $100 reels offered by competitors. What is the warranty for Konic? Underscoring our confidence in the durability of Konic, we’re offering the same conditional lifetime warranty for Konic that we offer for all our other reels. Where is Konic made? Some parts that go into this reel are made in the U.S., and some are made overseas; final manufacturing and quality control is in Boise, Idaho. New for 2008 The Ultimate Fly Line. A revolutionary taper design allows tremendous loop stability at distance and a unique weight distribution loads a rod at close range for easy casting. The front taper delivers perfect turnover and presentation of flies between sizes #22 and #2, making this the best general purpose, all round fly line on the market. The long back taper is excellent for mending and for roll and single handed spey casting and the color change between the head and the running line makes it easy to find the perfect load point for each cast. The lines features RIO's new Extreme Slickness Technology for an extraordinarily slick, dirt-repelling coating; in addition RIO's AgentX and Super Floatation Technologies ensure the line tip and running line remain floating high. As with all of RIO's premier trout lines a small, neat welded loop in the front end makes it easy to change leaders. Worldwide Fly Fishing Trips The best of international and domestic fly fishing. We take people to the funnest places:) Come with us and play Future Trips March 22nd - 29th 2008 - Crooked Island, Bahamas - Full Late July 2008 - Alaska - Going to Alaska - Most of the fishing out of Alaska Rainbow Point Lodge is done on the lodge's "home waters" - the Upper and Lower sections of the Copper River, and the Gibraltar River. With the use of the lodge's Cessna 206 float plane, you can also access rivers that include the New Halen, Talarik, Kvichak, Nushagak, Mulchatna, Moraine, Funnel, Battle, American, Kamishak, Amakadori, and the "Cone." Sunday, July 27 – Arrive Anchorage, AK – overnight Monday, July 28 – Depart Anchorage for Iliamna, AK on early morning flight, transfer to Alaska Rainbow Point Lodge – FULL day of fishing Tuesday, July 29 – FULL day of fishing Wednesday, July 30 – FULL day of fishing Thursday, July 31 – FULL day of fishing Friday, August 1 – FULL day of fishing Saturday, August – ½ day of fishing departure for Iliamna to Anchorage – overnight or late flight back to origination point. Price $6795.00 - Only a couple of spots left. Early September 2008 Sept 6th - thru Sept 12th - Back to Montana and Healing Waters Lodge- lots of private water - I have booked the lodge and we are ready to go. 7 Spots open - Torrey is leading a group there this Summer PROUDLY PRESENTS FISH PATAGONIA 1/31/09 - 2/7/09 FISHING PACKAGE $2800 PHOTOS: http://community.webshots.com/user/chipdro PATAGONIA FISHING PACKAGES : These packages include fishing, guide, license, local transportation, lodging, meals, beer/wine and overnight float trips if requested. SAN MARTIN de los ANDES / ALUMINE AREA: Fish all the storied waters of Argentina many with private access. Float, wade and sight fish big and small rivers, spring creeks, lakes and bocas for browns and rainbows. We customize a full one week’s fishing to your personal preferences. We can combine stays in the delightful town of San Martin with a unique experience on a estancia and also include an overnight float trip . This top notch package costs $2800 USD for the week. One of our specialties is a program for the non-fishing guest. It can consist of activities such as horseback riding, trekking, kayaking, biking, shopping, crafts and artisans, wine tasting, cooking classes, music, art and much more. These itineraries are fully guided. New Ebay Store Check out our new ebay store -http://stores.ebay.com/Somethings-Fishy-Gear-and-Tackle If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please email us at hflyshop@aol.com - however please reference the email we used to send the newsletter. Announcements and Events Please email us any events you would like us to put in the newsletter. Fish Longer - Live Longer Housatonic River Outfitters, Inc. 24 Kent Road Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754 www.dryflies.com 860-672-1010 |
