Michael Gracie

We all know that fly fishing industry is but a tiny portion of the trillions in annual GDP. But it’s about to become a much bigger piece of the pie:

Bamboo has come into vogue as a green, sustainable resource that’s used for everything from cutting boards to clothing to wood floors. But until now, almost all of the bamboo in products sold here has come from overseas. That could change soon, as new planting techniques may lead to millions of new acres of bamboo shoots in the American South.

Cloning homegrown structural building components that are stronger than steel? In America’s deep south? Sounds like cotton ginning turned casting competitions. A revolution built on the power and precision elegance of bamboo fly rods is just what America needs to kickstart the ailing economy.

If you think it’ll be an impossible task to get the 290 million people in the US who don’t fly fish out on the water with a $1,400 rod, think again. This intrepid reporter just found out that the government is prepared to distribute  kinda, sorta thinking about giving  might, in the far distant future, debate the concept of coughing up carbon credits to anyone who invests in some feelgood fly casting equipment. You’ll be able to sell those credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, and under cap and trade legislation presently before Congress credits are limited, as rock solid a guarantee if there ever was one that they’re sure to appreciate in value.

Save the world and line your pockets with big cap gains. Act now!

MG signing off (to plant, harvest, cast, and be rich)

And when I say backcountry, I don’t mean anywhere near the Rocky Mountains…

Adiós muchachos y muchachas.

Editor’s note: the bright yellow box is full of…uh…sunscreen.

Orvis’s TLS line has been around quite a few years, and has certainly been the target of its fair share of reviews. But we fly fish in a world where four piece rods are the norm, and when I found this Orvis TLS Power Matrix 908-2 Tip-Flex 9.5 I figured it would be an oddity in my gear closet too. Yea, it’s a two piece, but my arm was twisted into giving it a go. The intended use – tromping around Denver looking for big smelly carp, a purpose for which assembly convenience trumps inability to stuff it into a commercial airliner’s overhead storage bin.

Since it’s an older model, I’ll be brief. This will be a single part review too (lucky you) since I’ve already fished the rod several times.

Fit and finish

The rod came in a nice burgundy colored cordura covered tube, complete with a zip away cap and a black cordura carry handle. There was no rod sock included – a simple divider is built into the tube. More ‘less parts’ is fine by me, and the tube is durable enough that a person could re-purpose it for a friendly came of stick-ball if so desired.

The rod finish is glossy forest green, and just slightly darker around the wraps. If nothing else, green feels good – I now have less green in my pocket but I can probably spin it as part of some environmental cause. There are two black anodized stripping guides – the rest of the [snake] guides are nickel – and the reel seat is gloss black. The finish on the reel seat looks and feels tough – identical to that on several premium saltwater rods I’ve owned for years that still don’t have a scratch on them.

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Fly fishing plunger Craig Berg came to America seeking the good life. And outside of a grand career and a happy, healthy family it’s been a unmitigated disaster. If you have to ask why, you obviously have never fly fished with my crew and I.

First and foremost, I’m a drill sergeant. You lob a weak cast, I scream. You snag your flies and try pulling them loose without walking up first, I scream. You allow your line to drag on the surface, I scream. Tangle your leader…scream! Asked me to retie your knots…scream! You get the picture – I’d fail guide school because I’m a terrible babysitter. But over the last few years Mr. Berg has figured out trout, and I take full responsibility.

Alas, it was time to move on to bigger and better things, and today was the breakthrough day. Tough love works…

Gracie rig and fly choice (and a little yelling)

I’m still figuring out this carp thing myself, but it’s always good to have a whipping boy quick study around to test my theories for me.

Editor’s note: special thanks to James Snyder of Primal Fly Fishing for piping his own version of the Comedy Channel into our outing, making for an even finer day. And, no…neither James nor I netted jack. Class dismissed!

Dave Coulson of Fish Explorer talks carp, in the Fort Collins Coloradan:

Carp get big, frequently exceeding 2 feet and 10 pounds. Much bigger fish are not uncommon. They are such strong and determined fighters that I use them as a warm-up for my redfish trips. These Colorado redfish have trashed more of my tackle than any other fish.

I’m glad Dave noted that he uses carp fishing as a warm-up for trips after our fine spotted tail friends. It’s a good idea, but I’ve got one better…how about using your upcoming redfish trip as a warm-up for the South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam?!

What the hell is a carp slam?

Glad you asked. The South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam is a fly fishing tournament held each year right here in Denver. This year the contest is August 22nd, and the target is the Colorado redfish, or common carp. The tournament takes place on various portions of the South Platte River, in and around the downtown area.

There’s a good purpose too – proceeds from the Carp Slam go to rehabilitating the South Platte River directly below Chatfield Reservoir as what else…a trout fishery. Hosted by Denver Trout Unlimited, the Carp Slam is now in it’s third year. And now that the South Platte River is a famous brownlining haunt (thanks to the Wall Street Journal) the folks putting on the event are expecting quite a show. In competitions past, big carp have been had, but there have been a few surprises too, including this piggy trout bagged by Dzifa Glymin right near REI. It’s proof positive Denver Trout Unlimited is on the right track with this effort.

If you’re a fly fisher itching for some tough fights against tough fish, as well as a shot at shutting loudmouths such as myself up for eternity  until next year’s Teva Mountain Games  for at least ten seconds, I suggest you get signed up now.

Hans from Utah generously offered $55 for the Gracie Bodak edition fly fishing lanyard. The lanyard is now his, and Amanda is closer to getting the medical attention she needs. Thank you Hans.

I’d also like to thank the following folks for their support: Rick Mang of Water Walker Lanyards, the Moldy Chum gang, Alex Landeen of Fat Guy Fly Fishing, @anglerwannabe, @rachhillis, @fishingjones, and @MaineFlyBoi. If I missed anyone, thank you too.

You are all good peeps.

If you’re going to hit the upper South Platte, might I suggest getting up early. Notoriously windy afternoons aside, it’s been clear in South Park the last few days. The water is running around 200cfs, and just as spotless as the afternoon sky. The fish are spookier than a Steven King flick, but there is still plenty of opportunity…particularly for the early bird.

On last visit, main man [Tim] Marek and I picked up measly half-dozen fish. And we missed probably twice that, which was particularly ugly since we were sight fishing a good portion of the time. When you make three casts to a rainbow that’s hopping between feeding lanes like a stock car making up ten places in a crowded pack, only to look away the very moment it actually eats the fly, you deserve every denigrating comment your spotter throws your way thereafter. I spent the majority of my day on the receiving end of what we’ll hereinafter categorize as blunt criticism.

Meanwhile, lieutenants Greg Drapeau and Nate Taylor, who we expected to bump into there, were wading in shorts and beach sandals. They had their flies weighted down like a mob accountant’s feet after turning state’s evidence. And while they didn’t fare any better than us from noon to dark, their description of the morning made us think that breakfast isn’t necessarily for champions. Greg reminded us (with fervor) that he had picked up ten fish between 7am and 9am, and before Nate even got on the scoreboard, but conceded his partner in crime caught up quick. Any twenty fish day on the South Platte is a damn good one, particular since anything under fourteen inches is considered a dink in this section (and usually gets eaten by their cousin the predator unless it hides six inches below the stream bed for the first two years of its life).

Flies of the day for our South Platte jaunt could be summed up in one word, caddis. While Tim did get one trout to sip a stimulator, up or down the key to success was everyone’s favorite early summer bug. Hatches occurred throughout the day, but winged sightings were sporadic so we fished a lot of pupa and larvae patterns. And while we did pick up some stonefly larvae in the grass, the fish just weren’t interested in bonafide meat – even a dusk time jaunt down river with big rods and even bigger flies didn’t produce a single strike.

Hindsight is sometimes 20/20, but in the case of fly fishing half the battle is just plain luck of the draw. The aging (or should we say realistic about their age) half the crowd got lucky at our traditional pit stop the Silverheels – there was a wide selection of lunch fave, the gourmet Millonzi’s sandwich, to choose from. Our meal kicked butt as a result, while I imagine the younger crowd snacked on crackers and Cheez Wiz. Knowing the lay of the land always makes for a fine day, and is a definitive product of experience.

Or at least that’s what we told ourselves repeatedly during the drive home, drowning out the reality that we got plain out-fished because we’re old it takes a dozen cups of $10/pound coffee to get us started in the morning.

Whether it’s a road trip for big water Montana trout or a jaunt across town for carp, hauling rods can be a hassle. If you have a truck, problem solved – you drop them in the bed – but if you’re in a car or SUV it’s a hassle. And if you live near the water or can otherwise afford to fish eight days a week, you might even keep several rigs in your vehicle ready to go. You’ve seen the occasional glam shot of Alaskan guides with a dozen rods on a homemade, hood mounted rack – they’ll work fine as long as you’re an Alaskan guide. Another choice is to spend a hundred dollars or more for interior rod racks from a named brand.

Not keen on whipping out the benjamins, for a while I had large bungee cords strung between between the factory coat hanger hooks. They worked fairly well in the front, but in the rear where the reels were located they sagged, and otherwise bounced around on rough roads. It wasn’t until I found myself doing double time down a gravel washboard while running from a tornado did I realize I needed another solution – during that wild ride the bungees came loose and a pile of rigs went flying.

Soon after that run I found myself in AutoZone, picking up windshield wiper fluid, and that’s when I found the Ultra Clothes Bar from Bell Automotive.

These are the the type of bars you see loaded with pressed shirts inside the cars of traveling salemen’s Ford Tauruses. When I saw them in the store, I immediately thought if they can hold two weeks worth of business attire, there’s no doubt they could hold a half-dozen or more rods and reels. And my roughly $32 bet turned out correct.

For an SUV-based redeployment, two of these clothes bars (that’s correct…$16 a piece) are needed – one in the rear and one in the passenger compartment. They are adjustable for vehicle width, and have hooks on the ends that are designed to work with both standard automotive coat hooks and interior “oh shit” handles. They are made of sturdy metal (exact composition unknown) – at least strong enough to hang hands on (which many of my passengers do now that the “oh shit” handles are in use). The perforated rubber wrapping on the bars, included to keep clothes from sliding back and forth, are a bonus – they protect rod finishes, and I’ve found it makes for a pretty good streamer drying rack too (just slip the hooks into the perforations for the drive home).

For the nine-foot crowd the system works perfectly. Rods are aligned from rear driver’s side to front passenger side, and by wrapped the loose line once around the rod and guides the line won’t hassle anyone but NBA players. I use a very short bungee cord to keep reel end snug, and I’ve carried as many as seven rods this way with ease. And probably saved seventy bucks in the process.

Happy hauling.

A couple of weeks back a dear friend of mine, Amanda Bodak, was involved in a terrible household accident. While she is going to live, that life is not going to be normal – she suffered severe lacerations to her face and is going to need reconstructive surgery. We all know that insurance never comes close to covering all the cost for such issues, and Amanda is by no means loaded. In fact, she’s the single mother of twin boys, and pretty much spends every dime she has on those two rascals. They deserve it, and now she deserves some help.

I’ve set up a donation site on Amanda’s behalf at Help Amanda dot org, but also wanted to do something a little more special. An auction crossed my mind, but then became the “what to auction” question. It had to be unique, that way someone who bought the item would remember the cause. Besides not being particularly sentimental, I’m not much for “owning” – I view most material goods as liabilities. But I do “own” two things I’m certain are unique. The first is my collie dog – he’s the only mammal that dares live with me and he generates a few extra BTUs around the house in the winter, so there’s no way he’s going. The second is my fly fishing lanyard.

During the winter I asked Rick Mang of Water Walker Lanyards to do some custom work for me, and the result was the Gracie Model lanyard. When Rick isn’t creating fantastic fly fishing tools he’s a church minister, and while he was working on my lanyard he was also helping several of his parishioners during times of crisis. The lanyard took quite a while to complete because of this, and Rick was very apologetic even though he really didn’t need to be. Anyway, remembering that, all of a sudden it made sense – who wouldn’t want a fly fishing lanyard made by a Texas preacher (and help someone in need by getting it)?!

So, the lanyard is up for sale. Sure it’s been used a couple of times, but it is mint (and you obviously know where to find me if you thought I was bullshitting you). It’s the first of it’s kind, and has become a popular model from Rick as well as a template for additional Water Walker models for other clients. It’s a great lanyard, and you’d be helping a great person in the process. If you are interested, leave a bid in the comments – don’t use your real name if you don’t want to, but please leave a real email address so I can contact you later. If you’d like complete and utter anonymity, you can also contact me directly here, and I’ll simple post your bid in the comments myself. Payment will be done via Paypal, directly to the account set up on Amanda’s behalf here. I’ll leave the ‘auction’ open for a week.

Thank you in advance for your support.

UPDATE: The lanyard has been sold.

I’ve got a new neighbor, Luke Bever. He’s a former fly fishing guide, and friend of a friend. A week ago a bunch of us hit the local watering hole for his welcome party – much of the chatter was fishing related, and we drank the place dry. So far, so good.

Then this last weekend, while I was getting talked into a wiper/pike/bass expedition that wound up going awry anyway, he took off to one of my favorite waters. And brought back the evidence you see before you.

If miserable failure a disappointing (but fun) performance at the Teva Mountain Games wasn’t enough, I’ve now got the new guy to contend with. I held the Trout Fishing King title in my own self-aggrandized mind a couple of mile radius, and I’ve now been swiftly kicked off the pedestal. I may wind up sipping lattes and casting 3-weight bamboo if this keeps up.

MG signing off (to find a rock to hide..uh..behind)

PS: Congratulations LB – it’s a beaut! You are [officially] the man.