March Brown

 

SIM Fly Fishing Festival 2024

Just returned from attending the SIM Fly Fishing Festival in a tiny and scenic town called Castel di Sangro, Italy. This festival being deeply impressive is an understatement. This year was the 21e edition of this festival. A festival to celebrate the art of fly fishing & tying but foremost celebration of camaraderie. Among many top Italian fly tiers a group of international fly tiers were invited, including yours truly.

SIM (Scuola Italiana di Pesca a Mosca), founded in 1978, is the Italian fly fishing school where knowledge & history of fly fishing is educated. They have many regional meetings with the yearly festival at their headquarters in the civic museum in Castel di Sangro being the main event.

It all started with the amazing diner Friday evening at the center square of the town with live music. The hospitality of Italians is heartwarming. It was a joy to see old friends and meet friends that I've known for many years but meeting for the first time. Saturday started with a nice walk from the hotel to the venue. Tying at 'center stage' in the wonderful auditorium was simply humbling. The weather was glorious making the weekend really special.

The venue is an abby just along the little Sangro river. Not sure how old this building is, but the central square inside is beautifully decorated with frescos. 

Thanks to all the friends, what a joy to see you (again)! Finally a huge thanks to Umberto Oreglini for the logistics and taking care of us. Grazie Umberto!

Here's a video of the SIM festival from the local TV station

Rise

Here's another golden oldie DVD by Confluence films that can be enjoyed for free!

Observing

Observing in a small spring creek in Spanish Pyrenees

Fly fishing Bhutan

Not the most obvious place to go fishing but after watching it certainly one of the most special. The scenery of the lower Himalayas, the history and culture of Bhutan and for sure the fish. The two species of the mahseer are really exotic for any angler.

Mr. & Mrs. March Brown

A little gig I did with one of the Norwegian fly tier, Jan Håvard Krohn, at the recent Nordic Fly Fair was to collaborate in tying a couple called Mr. & Mrs. March Brown.

I tied the dry fly and Jan tied the (wonderful) wet fly version of the March Brown.

Short tour of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum

Here's a nice video which takes you through the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum in Livingston Manor.

Hope to visit it one day myself.

Drift

I bought a fair amount of DVDs back in the years. My favorite ones were videos that had various types of fisheries or destinations that were spotlighted rather than one subject.

One of the great videos produced by the now gone company called Confluence Films. I enjoyed them a lot on DVD, now Drift is available on Youtube to enjoy for free!

This video was released in the late 2000's. DVDs were still the main way to enjoy movies as well as fly fishing videos. Now I'm feeling really old...

Nordic Fly Fair 2024

Wow, the fourth (previous shows in 2018, 2022 & 2023) time attending the Nordic Fly Fair in Elverum, Norway. This fly fishing show feels much more like a gathering of friends rather than a show.

As so often the case with this show the weather this weekend (May 4 & 5) was amazing. Probably too nice as the amount of visitors seems to be a bit lower than the previous ones. But time wasn't wasted as we got to enjoy more stories together and of course cast outside at the casting pond.

The dinner after the first day is as usually superb. Amazing food, wonderful comradery and because of the fantastic weather we ate outside at the terrace overlooking the majestic Glomma river.

I also got to cast the new Orvis Helios 4 (904-F and 905-F). There was so much hype around this new rod. To be honest I barely feel any difference with the previous Helios 3, which I really like... The price of the new Helios 4 is insane. Orvis probably needs to sell rods to keep up with their overhead costs.

Well anyway, I cast many different rods including a NAM (way too fast / stiff with very little feedback), a few Scotts (the 884 GS is so wonderful and the discontinued Radian 905 still rocks!), bamboo rods and a few vintage fiberglass rods as well.

I'm already looking forward to next spring!