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Is winter just a painful boring formality
between great fishing seasons? It sure feels like it. Wintertime
is sort of like watching a great action movie only to be interrupted by
a lengthy infomercial for blankets with sleeves right in the middle.
Pure misery. At Red's however that is not the case. In
addition to a few winter fishing trips, we think of winter as a crucial
planning phase. It is one of the most exciting times of the year.
Think about what it must be like for an NFL team the week before the
Superbowl. Right now is when critical plans are being made that
will determine levels of success. Same goes for the angler.
Maybe this is the year you learn how to double haul, spey cast, land
your first steelhead, catch a Bonefish, buy a pontoon boat, or learn how
to row a drift boat. Or maybe you want to purchase your very first
first fly rod?
Whatever your goals or skill level, make a
list and a plan so that you can get it done. Start by manifesting
your rods, waders, flies, etc. to make sure you have the right tools for
the job. Without the right gear the odds are not in your favor and
lets be honest... fly fishing can be hard! Don't set yourself up
for failure, set up for success. Start planning early this year
with Red's. Whether it is a
guided destination,
new waders,
a new textured fly
line, or just a few
flies. You can trust us to
put you on the right track!
We Like it Warm and
Sunny This is
not intended to provoke jealousy, but you must know that right now fly
fishermen are wading barefoot in 80 degree water, the Bonefish are
tailing, cervezas are on ice, and laughter is contagious. Don't
hate 'em for it... join them! Is this place called Red's?
Nope. Can you go there with Red's? Sure you can, we host 4-5 weeks
per year at a fly fishing lodge in
Ascension Bay Mexico
and this is "Week One" for us right now.
As we sit here shivering in the Pacific Northwest, our general manager Steve Joyce
is trading his flip flops for flats boots to begin stalking Bonefish,
Tarpon, and Permit. How is that for perfect timing? Snow
here, sun there.
Ascension
should be on your bucket list of worthwhile trips and it isn't expensive
which is why it originally appealed to us. It is the world's best and most diverse flats
fishing, it
is beautiful, the Mayan culture is awesome, the wildlife, scenery,
weather, and food are all incredible. To top it off, everyone visits the
Mayan Ruins on the last day to round out the perfect week.
We booked nearly full this year with 2 rods available from February 6th
- 12th and another 2 rods from February 26th - March 4th. You can
email
steve@redsflyshop.com or
jjoe@redsflyshop.com
with any questions. If you can't make it this year lets
plan for 2013. If you are curious as to what these fish eat,
check out our
Ascension Bay Fly Assortment.
See our Ascension Bay Flats Fishing Video
Free
Guided Trip and Lodge Stay Guided Fly Fishing Trip and Lodge Stay!
Next month we are giving away a free guided fly
fishing trip and lodge stay to some lucky winner that "likes"
Red's Fly Shop Guide Service, Lodge, and Outfitter.
Everyone that likes us will automatically be entered into the drawing
which will take place on March 1st. Good luck!
News
and Highlights
Cafe' and Fly Shop Under
Construction
Our new riverside fly shop and cafe' is under construction
and will be among the finest destination shops in the country.
The project was awarded to MF Williams, the same builder that built
Canyon River Ranch Lodge and several private cabins on site. There
will be a huge grand opening event this summer and in case you were
wondering, "yes" there will be a nice bar with great wine, beer, and
cocktails. See you there.
Red's
Rendezvous III
Its on! The third
annual Red's Rendezvous is scheduled
for March 24th and will be a big one. We anticipate many hundreds
of people and it should be an event to remember.
Catch Magazine will be
putting on a video production that will blow your mind. It will be
movie theatre style cinematography featuring the best films produced by
Brian O'keefe and Todd Moen. These guys are incredible. Just
like a traditional movie theatre, there will be various show times for
different films and "yes", there will be popcorn and refreshments.
Mia Sheppard will mainline our spey casting lessons at the Rendezvous.
For those of you that don't know Mia, she won the women's spey casting
championship at Spey-o-Rama in 2010 and was recently featured on the
cover of Drake Magazine. She is an absolutely incredible caster
and person. Mia and her husband Marty operate
Little Creek Outfitters in
Oregon guiding steelhead on a variety of rivers. Marty will also
be giving a lecture on Smallmouth Bass fishing on the John Day River.
Mia Sheppard on the
Cover of the Drake
Do you want to be the most
"pimped out" angler on the river with all the best stuff? There will be another Mega
Raffle at the Rendezvous with a value of $2000+ dollars worth of sweet
fishing attire! It will be a complete outfit again,
Simms Waders, Oakley Sunglasses,
Korker's Chrome Boots, a fly
rod, reel, vest, and all the extras! Last year we donated proceeds to the
Kittitas Environmental Education Network,
this year we have something in mind specifically for kids. More
info coming soon on the charity.
As always, the Rendezvous
will have lots of fly casting games, free spey casting lessons, fishing education, food,
beer, live music, and TONS of kids fly fishing activities. Make
sure to save the date, Red's Rendezvous III
is March 24th hosted at Canyon River Ranch.
Pheasant Hunting
Still Open,
Wild Bird Hunting Seasons are
Closed
Sign up for our Bird
Hunting Newsletters!
Chukar, Quail, and Duck
season is closed for the year but don't start crying yet.
Pheasant hunting
on our preserve is still open through March and we'll be doing
Cast 'n Blast
trips as soon as the weather warms up. We also just completed our
first season of working with a fantastic local guide and establishing a
stellar
waterfowl hunting operation. For 2012-2013 we'll be
offering extremely high quality guided duck hunts just minutes from our
lodge on private land with heated duck blinds.
New Member in the Red's Fly Shop
Family
Personal customer care and
service is what separates great
fly shops and outfitters from
average ones. We strive to provide the best possible experience
for our customers and as we grow, that means adding the right staff to
better serve the customer. Red's was very fortunate to recently
hire Roger Shearer, a semi-retired commercial fisherman that has spent
half of the last decade working at one of the biggest fly shops in the
west. He brings a friendly and wonderful passion for fly fishing,
customer satisfaction, spey casting, and seeing a job well done.
Roger will join Erin Smith to complete the in-store management team at
Red's. If you needed it yesterday, they will have it for you
tomorrow!
Fly Fishing Packs Versus Fly Fishing Vests - Buyer's Guide
Looking for a new fly fishing vest or pack this year?
Decisions... decisions. Hip packs, chest packs, vests, vest packs, and
full on back packs. Each have their advantages and disadvantages and
every angler will no doubt determine what works best for them.
Hopefully our
Fly Fishing Vest and Pack Buyer's Guide will help you narrow down your selection.
Sportsman's Show and Seminar Schedule
We'll be doing seminars at
every show so be sure to check the schedule and sit in for some hot
fishing tips. It will probably be raining for the next month
anyway so come see us indoors and stay dry.
Washington State
Sportsman's Show in Puyallup, WA - January 25th - 29th
Red's Fly Shop Seminar Schedule and Show Info
Pacific Northwest
Sportsman's Show in Portland, OR - February 8th - 12th
Red's Fly Shop Seminar Schedule and Show Info
Central Washington
Sportsman's Show in Yakima, WA - February 17th - 19th
Red's Fly Shop Seminar Schedule and Show Info
Fly
Fishing Video Tech Tip
One and Half Cast Technique for Wade Fishing
and Nymphs
Ever tangle a nymph setup?
Yea, we do too once in a while. See this video, it is a great way
to handle a fly setup with heavy nymphs and strike indicator. This
will help your cast be much stronger, tangle less, and get better drifts
in less time with less false casting. All this means more catching
and less untangling.
Red's
University of Fly Fishing 2012
Our initial
university
course
offerings for 2012
have been set, take a look and start readying your gear. We designed
some sweet new courses for
this year including one in particular we are very excited about, Pontoon Boat
Fishing on the Yakima River. This includes floating, fishing,
and learning the river in a one man boat. We also have a bunch of
Klickitat River Destination Outings and some great spey classes we are
going to host on the Klickitat as well.
Red's University of Fly Fishing
Calendar
Lovesick Skwalas
and Spring Fly Fishing
Yakima River Skwala Stonefly
The fishing out here is
about to go from zero to hero. In fact it was barely over zero
here earlier this week, 3 degrees to be exact so it can only get better.
The Skwala Stonefly hatch is composed of big tasty bugs about the size
of a grasshopper. The nymphs get very active by the second week of
February and begin to migrate from the fastest riffles towards the
shoreline and eventually, their six legged soulmates.
When it comes time to
breed they crawl out on the shore, endure a metamorphosis, and then fly
away to a romantic hideout in the trees somewhere with a member of the
opposite gender. Afterwards, the females will return to the
surface of the water on a near suicide mission amidst hungry trout to
deposit their eggs near their original stomping grounds. In this
process, the trout get fat and some get hooked. Hopefully by you.
Our guides can help with this part since these lovesick bugs are
bumbling around and pretty vulnerable. This all happens just prior
to the trout spawn so the mature fish are hungry and looking to build up
weight.
The nymph fishing and
streamer fishing is usually rockin' through most of February and the
chance of landing the Rainbow of a lifetime exists daily in early
spring. The dry fly fishing usually picks up around the first week
of March. We are also offering a stellar deal through February
29th (leap year!), on
Yakima River Guided
Trips so consider taking advantage of this
special offer.
NEW
- Echo Spey and
Switch Rods
Echo SR Switch Rod - $329
You know a product is good
when your own staff is sneaking around with products you don't sell in
your fly shop! The solution? Get these products in stock,
test them, compare them to competing products, and then connect the
customer with the best value. That is what we did here. Echo
spey and switch rods are on fire right now. This is due to founder
Tim Rajeff's ability to design, build, and produce extremely high
quality products at affordable prices. Our staff recommended two
models in particular, the
7130-4 TR Spey Rod and the
Echo SR Switch Rod. These
are the hottest sellers in the industry right now in the $300 price
range. To make things simple, we sell them in complete packages
that are River Ready!
Switch Rod Combo - Echo SR
Switch Rod and Lamson Konic -
This
is the hot new Switch Rod right now! Echo is doing some amazing stuff
and this rod is gobbling up the market share. It is affordable, high
performance, easy to cast, looks awesome, and we have it conveniently
packaged with a Lamson Konic Fly Reel and a Rio Scandi Short Versitip
Fly Line.
Affordable Spey Package
- Echo
7130-4 Rod, Lamson Konic #4, Airflo Skagit Compact Spey Line, Rio MOW
Sink Tip Kit, Lamson Konic #4 Reel, and Backing. This is a
complete setup
and we feel it is "the best spey rod for the money".
Affordable High Quality Lake Fishing Trips
Kamloops Rainbow at Rocky Ridge Ranch
If anyone is looking for a
great stillwater fly fishing getaway this spring, check out
Rocky Ridge Ranch in north
central Oregon. We have been hearing tons of great stuff about it
over the past couple of years. It has absolutely spectacular
scenery, big hearty Kamloops Trout, a cabin, and is a very affordable
group or family fly fishing getaway. One of our staff members has
fished there several times and said the overall quality of the fishery,
scenery, and cabin can't be touched for the price. Check it out,
you can schedule your trip directly with R.R.R. and simply list Red's as
your booking agent upon reservation. Email
roger@redsflyshop.com if you have any questions.
Spring
Spey Fishing Adventures
Unfortunately, the
Wenatchee and Methow Rivers don't look like they are going to be open
this February and March. Sometimes you don't realize how good
you've got it until its gone! Anyone looking for a great late
winter/early spring steelhead trip should consider trying the Sandy
River east of Portland, OR. Check out
Marty Sheppard's Blog Posts from
last March. If you are interested in a great spey trip, consider
booking a day or two with Marty. He can put you onto the best
swinging runs and hone your spey cast at the same time. You can go
whenever you like, just not March 24th or 25th! (Red's
Rendezvous III weekend:) We plan to see you there.
Thank
You
Lastly, thanks to everyone
that has supported us over the years and helped our business grow.
This might sound like a horrible cliché from some corny Hollywood
acceptance speech but here it goes anyway, "we couldn't have done it
without you man"! At Red's we bend over backwards for our
customers because we know they are doing the same for us. We
appreciate all the support and look forward to serving you this year.
Sincerely, thank you, and
fish on!
The entire Red's Fly Shop
staff
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Powerhour
Fishing Blog
