Five (More) Fly-Fishing Gift Ideas for the Special Angler in Your Life

I've gotten some nice stats on my first article about "The Top Five Gift Ideas for a Fly-Fisherman (That My Wife Has Already Gotten Me)" so I figured I might as well write the sequel before Mother's Day and Father's Day this year. Thanks again to my wife Emily whose brilliant freelance marketing mind came up with the idea in the first place. So, without further adieu, here's Five (More) Fly-Fishing Gift Ideas for the Special Angler in Your Life.

5. Retractable Lanyard

This is by no means a large gift, but damned if it isn't one of the more useful little gadgets on my vest and has saved me countless times from dropping my nail-knot tool into a river. You might think I'm exaggerating, but I am not. I am currently on my third nail-knot tool, with my first two lying on the bottom of Maramec Spring and the Current River, respectively.

A retractable lanyard simply keeps a tool clipped to your vest and prevents it from plunging into the depths below. Some are better than others, depending on if the string is made from fiber or metal wire, and I have had some break and the spring fail, but these are not expensive and hardly meant to last forever. Perfect gift to include with a card or a stocking-stuffer if you're closer to Christmas.

Available at: T. Hargrove's, Feather-Craft, Your Local Fly Shop

Tying the Smoke Jumper Midge with Special Guest Tier, Willie Voss

JV: Welcome. Today on VossFish, we've got a special treat. My 21-month-old son Willie will be demonstrating how to tie the Smoke Jumper Midge, the latest in my subscription from PostFly. Take it away, Willie.

WV: Thanks Dad. Alright folks, welcome and I hope you enjoy this pattern. It's not too complex, but you will have to be careful not to overcrowd the eye of the hook. But that's true with most patterns. It's a midge pattern and meant to imitate an underwater insect hatching from the stream bed and making its way to the surface of the water. I think with a good amount of motion in some clear moving water, this fly has the potential to catch a large number of fish. You'll notice below that it is not a weighted fly, and I believe that's due to the fact that you don't necessarily want to fish this on the bottom, or even near the bottom of the water column. Rather, you want it to have vertical motion to attract trout.

Rainy Days at Montauk Never Get Me Down

There is a fine line when bad weather turns from "this might actually help me catch more fish" into "there's no way I'm catching anything in this." This past weekend at Montauk, I carefully toed that line and luckily was able to stay on the better side of it. Salem, Missouri was a balmy 50 degrees this weekend, which felt pretty fantastic considered how long, cold, dark, and wet this entire winter has been.

I don't know how its tail got in my jacket.

It was the first time I've been able to hit the water since November of last year, when I took a day-trip to Montauk for a morning and afternoon of catch & release fly-fishing. That was a gorgeous, bright and crisp November day. It was one of those dark mornings where the sun was only just beginning to peak over the horizon as I drove the 25 miles between St. James and Salem. In one surreal moment, I damned near crashed my truck trying to avoid hitting a billy-goat that was standing in the middle of the road. The goat ran along side my truck for a few yards as I drove past, jumping beneath a high fence line and back into its barnyard. You can see some weird stuff that time of the morning.