HMH welcomes new Signature Tiers

HMH Vises is very pleased to announce the addition of Michael Decoteau and Levern Burm (Vern-O) to our HMH Signature Tier Staff. Look for much more about these two and other Signature Tiers on the HMH web page, our Fly Tiers Forum and this blog. In the mean time, please check out the links below to learn more about these tiers and their fine work...

http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2011/10/flies-of-michael-decoteau.html

http://vern-o.blogspot.com/

Marty Howard Fly Tying Tutorials

HMH is pleased to announce that the Marty Howard Fly Tying Tutorial Page is now up on the HMH Website.

http://www.hmhvises.com/tutorials.htm

GREAT BIG thanks to Marty!

Enjoy...

Craig

Why Rich Strolis ties on an HMH Standard

Rich writes in his Catching Shadows blog about why he ties on an HMH Stadard Vise.

http://northeasternflyfishingperspective.blogspot.com/2012/02/hmh-standard-vise-why-i-tie-on-one.html

If you haven't seen Rich's tying tutorials, you need to...

Craig

It's Back!

The HMH Exhibition Vise is back.


You asked for it, we listened. The Exhibition Vise has all the same great features as the HMH Standard - infinite head angle adjustment, ultra smooth 360º rotary action, hand polished stainless steel chassis, smooth disc drag rotary tension adjustment, quick change jaw feature and pure good looks. We've dressed the Exhibition out with a finely polished, solid brass base and our large nickel plated cam lever.

We certainly don't stop there with this package. The Exhibition Vise comes complete with all three HMH jaws (Micro, Omni, and Magnum), our tube conversion tool (converts your vise into the best in-line rotary tube vise available), bobbin rest, profile plate, c-clamp and HMH tyer's tool bag. In other words, everything you need to tie any size, type and style of fly. The rest is up to you..

Hollow Flies from Tyer's Night

Hollow Flies...


Hey - these are are really fun to tie. I'm still perfecting and learning the subtleties of tying good hollow flies, however. Bob Popovics will be at the L.L.Bean Fsihing Expo in Freeport, Maine this month. I'll have to swing by and watch the master tie a few of these. That will surely help...HMH will be at the expo too. Please be sure to stop by and say hello.



Can't wait to fish these on the flats of Caso Bay.

Hollow flies on tubes is next. I'll be sure to post a few of these as well.

Tight Wraps,

Craig Uecker

Tying Night - Hollow flies

Even though the weather man is calling for several inches of snow tonight in Freeport Maine, our local fly tying night at Buck's Naked BBQ is still on. After all, we do live in Maine and know how to get around in the snow.

Tonight I'll be tying my first Bob Popovics Hollow Flies. Local guides love these things on the flats for stripers! Once I learn the in and outs of tying Hollow Flies I'll be tying a few on tubes as well.

I'll be posting pictures of finished flies here and on the HMH Fly Tyers Forum at www.hmhvises/board/index.php

Tight Wraps!

Craig
http://www.hmhvises.com/

Steelhead trips

John and I are recently back from our steelhead trips but pining for more. How could one ever get enough though? Our two trips were entirely different. Both were wonderful fishing trips with great memories of beutiful rivers, classic steelhead runs and good company. And as we all know, you don't need to catch fish to make for a great trip - that's steelheading...


Part of the fun of any fishing trip is the pre-trip preparation and one of the most enjoyable is getting together with your buddies and tying flies. John and I tied a verity of tube flies for our trips and we both fished these tube flies eagerly over good steelhead holding water - John in the Pacific Northwest and I in New York.


Pacific Northwest
Weather is always a wildcard...For weeks we had heard the Pacific Northwest Rivers were enjoying great numbers of returning steelhead - "the best run in years". We've all learned over the years to take these reports with a grain of salt and not get too overly optimistic. However, when I wished John safe travels for his trip I was somewhat jealous and bummed about missing out on the great return of steel in the northwest. While the weather back home was perfect, the weather in Washington State was frigid! Water temps dropped 10 degrees prior to John's arrival and while there were good numbers of fish in the river, they responded to these sudden drops in air and water temperature by doing little more than just hanging at the bottom of the river.

John reported that he tried everything from floating lines and large flies to sinking tips with very small flies and even dead drift nymphing. Steelhead definitely saw his offering but not willing to take - even when the fly would scrape across their noses! Did I mention weather is always a wild card?


Great Lakes
We had heard that the steelhead fishing was also good in upstate New York. I had never fished for Great Lakes steelhead but always wanted to fish Cattaraugus Creek and I looked forward to swinging tubes flies on two-handers like I had always done out west. The Buffalo, NY Rivers were only a ten hour drive from home and I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised by what they had to offer...

I had been talking to both Nick Pionessa and Rick Kustich about river conditions and where we might want to fish. As it turned out the Cat was not fishing due to high water from recent rains and never did clear during our stay. Eighteen Mile Creek was high and off color but dropping nicely so Mike, Curtis and I would start there. To make a long story short, we had one day of fantastic steelheading during our four day trip. Water conditions were high and muddy the other three days and we couldn't fish at all on the third day of our trip due to inches of rain that fell the night before. Weather - always a wildcard!

I was surprised by the steelheading in the Great Lakes and I'll certainly be back for more...For more pictures of the New York trip please visit the HMH forum and go to "fish pics". I'll also be posting some of the tube flies we were using soon...

Craig Uecker