I haven’t been posting much about what has been going on behind the scenes at FrankenFly, so I thought I would write a post to give you readers an update. Hopefully I won’t bore you to tears.
First and foremost, the fishing season is in full swing. I have to say, this season has been a little rough, but hopefully turning around. By rough I mean, tough conditions mainly, then there are broken oar anchors, and broke rods to add to that. But that’s how it goes sometimes in fishing.
The primary thing I have been doing is going to a local river often and learning this river much more than I have in the past. Let me tell you, it’s a fickle son of a gun! My buddy, Josh King and I have been lugging his old aluminum row boat around, that we call, “Old Iron Sides”, and getting quite the workout rowing her down the river. Not to mention dragging her up and down hills to get into sketchy access points.
Old Iron Sides
Besides fishing, I continue to make FrankenDUB dubbing. I am extremely happy with how well the dubbing is liked out there. I’ve received tons of great comments about the dubbing and that’s awesome! I just sent another shipment to J. Stockard Fly Fishing, so they can restock, yet again. Check out the tab at the top of this website for more about FrankenDUB or you can visit it at this link.
I’ve been tying flies as fast as I possibly can, but wish I could go faster. Thank you for all of the orders! Besides orders from right here on the website, I’ve recently been tying flies for Ken Tanaka at Wish4Fish. I’m sure you have seen his very cool fly fishing videos that I post here at FrankenFly. The two main flies I have been tying for him so far is his Tanaka Your Socks Off (TYSO for short) and his Pink Power Ranger nymph. If you watch Ken’s videos, you will see him catch a lot of great fish on these two flies.
Tanaka Your Socks Off articulated streamer
Pink Power Rangers
Also, Feathered Game Changer orders have been coming in like crazy! With good reason, these babies move like no other in the water. Strip and pause and watch this baby dance!
Ginger Feathered Game Changers
In between orders or just to end a day of tying, I’ve been working on some new fly designs. I’ve sent a new dry fly to a guide friend, Chris Lessway of North Branch Outing Club, in Michigan for testing. I have a streamer called the Thunder Mutt, that isn’t really new, but I’ve got the final tweaks made at last. I’ve worked on the Thunder Mutt for the past two years.
Thunder Mutt
Also, in the same amount of time, because of the inspiration of OPST, Jonathan Farmer and Greg Senyo, I’ve been diving into the world of Micro Intruders. You might say, “Intruders for bass?” Yes, all day long! That’s what I’ve been using them for, but they can also be thrown for trout. I love these things!
Intruders were initially designed for steelhead by a group of guys that included Ed Ward and Jerry French. Who then started the company, OPST. However, Olympic Pennisula Skagit Tactics, with Ben Paull, have been churning out the Micro Intruders. (By the way, the Intruder is a style of fly, not a specific fly pattern.) I’ve always been in love with Intruders and the design, movement, and look of them. But the nearest steelhead river is about 3 hours away. So, I’ve been going the Micro Intruder route and targeting smallmouth bass. I’ve been doing my homework, fishing, and tying them lately and I’m really excited about how they are performing. Needless to say, I’ll be working on new Intruder designs in the future. Check out some of mine that I’ve tied below.
So that about sums up things here at FrankenFly. I will continue to roll on and see what the future holds. Everyone keep fishing out there!
Thanks for reading!
-Paul
