Blog

Here's the Sept. Catch magazine... pretty amazing this month.
Check it out HERE.

Here is a really cool new online fly fishing magazine called the Contemporary Sportsmen.  Here is the Summer 2010 edition.

 Here we go... we won the first round.  Tomorrow is important for the USA.  Here is a video of some national pride/passion that we often miss here in Montana for our footballers in South Africa this year.  

Every year around this time I experience a phenomenon that one would call a "learning" experience, but for some reason I haven't learned anything about this subject in the last 23 years; the sun can burn you.  Yesterday KK and I were on the river and it was one of those days where there wasn't a cloud in the sky and absolutely no wind whatsoever.  So what did we do?  We took our shirts off to soak in some rays and of course didn't put any sunscreen on.  You gotta burn it to earn it right?  Wrong.  This is a sloagan that I am no longer living by, saying, or even thinking.  Lets just say I learned my lesson about sunscreen and I think KK did too. 

Something a lot of people forget about when spending time on the water is that the sun's rays reflect off the water much like a mirror, which can insensify the rays' effects by 80%.  Currently, we carry two different brands of sunscreen, both of which work great.  Sol sunguard is our newest brand and my favorite.  Sol BlueWater is a sunguard developed for those like us who enjoy spending summers on the water.  It is a non-water soluble (water resistant) , low chemical active, unscented spf 36 UVA-UVB protectant.  Our second brand of sunscreen is Simms Angler Sunscreen Lotion by Dermatone.  This spf 30 UVA-UVB protectant is waterproof, sweatproof, non-greasy, and is enriched with aloe and vitamins A & E.  The main difference between these two products is the active ingredients used to block the sun.  Another item that has become a staple in my fish bag for a few years now is a buff.  Some people make fun of me for wearing one, but at the end of the day I am usually the one laughing at them when they're complaining about a sunburnt, mosquito biten neck and I think they're cool so whatever.  The UV buffs block up to 95% of the suns' harmful rays and comes in many cool colors.  Buffs also work well to cool yourself by dunking them in the water and putting them around your head and/or around your neck.

Another major nuisance we ran into where mosquitoes and man there were A LOT of them.  This breed of mosquitoes seems to be much worse than those of the past few years.  I mean these things eat the mosquitoes in Alaska.  Thankfully Sam had some old mosquito repellent stashed in the boat, otherwise we would've been burnt and itchin today.  We carry several products ranging from repellent to clothing with built in repellent in the fabric that will save you from these nuisances.  This year Simms had the great idea to make clothing with built in "no fly zones."  What they did was incorporated a scentless, inert chemical, Permethrin, into the fabric which repels mosquitoes, ants, ticks, chiggers, flies, and midges.  These shirts also utilize UPF 30 technology which goes with my sun rant from above.  Another cool product we carry is the mosquito annoyer from William Joseph.  This is a small electronic device repels mosquitoes without using chemicals.  It uses a frequency of sound that is undetectable to humans, but can be heard by mosquitoes and drives them nuts.  It works, trust me.  Then there's the old stand by mosquito spray repellents.  We have a few different brands including: OFF, Natrapel, and Ben's.  In my opinion, Ben's 100% DEET is the way to go to repel anything from bugs to your girlfriend, but you probably don't want to apply this to you growing children too often.  So I hope that you can learn from my lessons and be prepared for it all when you're on the water enjoying your summer.      

 Almost everywhere I've traveled for fly fishing (except here in the US) heated discussions about the game of soccer (football) have come up.  If you are fly fishing in Argentina I would strongly recommend not glorifying the Brazilian team, and identify with Maradona as the best player that ever lived (vise versa in Brazil).  Even though Australia will most likely smoke the Kiwi soccer team any day, don't rub it in.  Although the small countries in central america are never strong World Cup contenders don't ruin the dreams of the kids playing 24 hours a day on dirt fields.  If you are in Mexico, knowing their national team may help you find the better bonefish flats a bit quicker.

Last world cup I was sitting in a pub in Bariloche, Argentina when the German's beat out the Argentine team.  The country stopped operating.  Old people were crying in front of the cafe's and the youth were rioting in the streets.  The news reporter told travelers it wasn't safe in the town squares.  All the while we explained to our Argentine friends that back home, sadly, a majority isn't even aware when the US is playing and representing our country in such an esteemed event as the World Cup.

If you live in the US we are playing England this Saturday at 12:30pm.  England is a much more experienced team but US is getting stronger.  This is a great game that can help you relate to people across the world, and I can't count the times soccer discussions have resulted in local fishing knowledge and a free guide.

Something new to try between 1 and 3pm in August on the Mo.  Don't try this in wading boots.  I wonder if Korkers will come out with a new sole for this sport?

Here is a short video from the Carp Classic in Idaho.

 The Craig Caddis Festival and Annual BBQ Cook-off is to raise money for the craig fire dept.  All of us here in Great Falls know that Craig is one of our famous trout towns and they need our support.  Besides that, it'll be fun.  The event will be held Saturday May 15th in the streets and alleys of Craig (if you have been to Craig you understand the event will be hard to miss).  Events get started at high noon on Saturday.

The Big R Fly Shop team represented at the 2010 Simms Fishbowl.  Although we didn't come home with the trophy this year, we had a great time.  Simms put on a great event, the staff at Big R learned a lot about the engineering and materials used in Simms fishing products, and we walked away with more knowledge to bring to the shop and for our customers.  The ice is off... so let's get this season started.