Umpqua Bendback XS435 Hooks

Umpqua XS435 Bendback Hook Review

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
Bendbacks are such a great fly to have in your fly boxes. They're light and they're weedless! You can bang them up against mangroves for snook all day long. They'll ride through grass where redfish and seatrout are stalking, they'll bounce off lili pads where largemouth and peacock bass are hunting, they'll even help keep [...]
Loon Fly Tying Tools Cover

2020 Loon Tying Tools Overview

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
Loon Outdoors has laid out a nice new arsenal of tying tools to start 2020. The kind of tools that give your tying desk an air of credibility and a sense of uniformity. Tools that add style to function. The Hair Packer pushes deer hair nicely with its simple no-slip design that surrounds the hook [...]
Scott Sector Fly Rod in Backcountry

The Sectorization of the Backcountry

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
The Fishing Early Thursday we received our first shipment of Scott Sector fly rods. Later that afternoon I got a text saying "let's put the Sector to work!" and a screenshot of the weather for Friday. It was from Mike P. (our social media man and the guy responsible for the video above). The way [...]
MFC Barred Hackle and Schlappen Review

MFC Barred Saddle Hackle & Schlappen Review

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
Barred/grizzly hackles can not only be hard to find but they can also be on the expensive side. So we brought in MFC Barred Saddle Hackle and Schlappen. More modestly priced alternatives. Now nothing compares to the quality of the expensive stuff, but for the price these hackles are spectacular. The Schlappen is nice and [...]
Tying Kendrick's Bama Crab Fly

Tying Kendrick’s Bama Crab

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
Kendrick's Bama Crab is the bottom of the food chain for a redfish (that's a good thing). This larger Kwan variation has the impressionistic profile and movement to fool fish in clear and off-color water. Pay attention to how Cory splays the rubber legs as it's an easy way to keep your bug clean and [...]
Tying Kendrick's Wooly Mantis Shrimp Fly

Tying Kendrick’s Wooly Mantis

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
Kendrick's Wooly Mantis is a staple for clear water shrimp crushers. It was first tied up by our friend and shop tier Cory Kendrick. It's a very simple, intuitive shrimp that most seasoned flats anglers already tie in one form or another. That's because the equation works. It's got the right movement and it's the [...]
Bonefish bloodhound Jose Bravo

Inside the Mind of a Bonehound

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
I don't care how far I have to go, I don't care how long I have to sit on a plane, I don't care how many arguments I have to go through at airports for them to let me bring my fly rods with my carry-on luggage. Respect! That's what I feel for these fish. [...]

South Florida Fishing Report December 2018

Posted on by Mike Mastropasqua
Here's what's going on in the waters of South Florida at the end of November, beginning of December 2018. In these reports our guides address the most current state of their specific fisheries and make short-term predictions based on their own historical experiences. Remember that there are many variables that can affect the fishing from [...]