The FAS website has been upgraded recently with a new look and feel. In the coming weeks there will be even more upgrades focused on providing quality tutorials in both manuscript and video formats. With this in mind, I would like to briefly describe the importance of RSS readers in the fly fishing community. For anyone who’s a little timid and unsure how to approach RSS, check out this fun, and casual three minute video by Lee LeFever describing RSS in plain English. It could change the way you stay updated with online content. This weekend I plan on doing a screen capture video tutorial on how to use a RSS reader to keep up with all the latest online fly fishing news from around the world. Until then, enjoy the YouTube video – it is a good primer for what’s to come.

Edit: I have decided not to do a tutorial on RSS for fly fishing. Honestly, I recorded the tutorial but in watching the final video I decided it was way to complicated and showed preference to sites I frequent the most. However, if you go to reader.google.com and follow the tutorials you will certainly get the hang of the RSS reader.

Happy New Year everyone. It has been rather slow-posting here on Fly Art Studio for the past month or so. Well, the truth is I have spending nearly all my free time learning to edit video. And let me tell you, it is one steep learning curve, aaggghh. Circumstances arose that required me to move in the direction of HD video tutorials and it has been rather hectic ever since I agreed to the project. However, this new media has great potential for showcasing and teaching the wonderful aspects of the art of fly tying. Be on the lookout for a surprise HD video tutorial here of FAS in the near future.

I did manage to get away for a few days of fishing in Boca Grande with Captain Austin Lowder. Unfortunately, the weather Gods were not on our side this trip. It rained the entire 3 days we were on the flats. As many of you know, there was also a severe cold front (just a few days before I arrived) and many Snook were killed in addition to countless other fish species. It was a less than ideal fishing trip centered mainly around looking in sand holes for redfish. We hooked a few but couldn’t get the camera out because of the rain, so it’s all a fish story really. Anyway, it is always good to get out on the flats and clear the mind of work.

Here are a few images I managed to get the first day, before the rain really started to pour.

Cheers

Pike Fly Fishing Articles is a wonderful blog authored by Simon Graham.  In his own words, Simon is “A SOUTH AFRICAN LIVING ON REPLOT ISLAND, KORSHOLM, FINLAND”.

He goes on to say, “Pike on the fly is an addiction which has slowly consumed my life to an extent that I’m never truly happy until Ive caught my next one especially if its with a new fly I’ve tied.This blog is dedicated to pike on the fly in the northern hemisphere.”

I recently corresponded with Simon and must say that his work is excellent.  His tube fly creations are some of the best baitfish patterns you will ever see.  Not to mention the fly art photography he is doing with an 8 year old Sony DSSC 707.  One of my favorite quotes from Simon is how he describes his camera setup, “Its been to the bottom of a lake due to a drunken canoe fishing trip one morning,Served me well 2 weeks after that out in the Serengeti for 6 months and still taking images although it has some water marks on the inside of the Carl Zeiss lens and its held together with Duct tape at the front after leaving it on the roof of the Landrover in Ikorongo in the Gremeti reserve….Oooops”!  That goes to show that it’s the photographer, not the equipment, that gets the shots.

Check out Pike Fly Fishing Articles at http://pikeflyfishingarticles.blogspot.com (or click the image above).  You will be impressed by the wealth of photography, fly patterns, and articles devoted to Pike fly fishing.

It was a pleasure to hit the North Georgia mountains this Thanksgiving holiday. The fall weather was brilliant.

I had a chance to meet up with Bob Riggins on Friday and we fished the Soque river. The fishing was surprisingly good but unfortunately neither of us landed a fish when I had the DSLR out. Oh well, Bob will surely post some of the point-and-shoot grip-and-grins from his Pentax waterproof. Some respectable rainbows were caught that day. What a blast. Also, for those interested, we caught a few small wild trout, including a beautiful rainbow fingerling, which proves that there is natural reproduction in that river.

Here are a few shots of the Soque River (tripod mounted in the water with the full DSLR flash setup, whew that takes guts let me tell you). Typical North Georgia river with heavy brush/cover and tight fishing with short rods.

I would like to thank everyone at North Georgia Trout Online (NGTO) for a wonderful fall fling event yesterday. The photography workshop was a success amongst a great lineup of fishing related activities. In the near future I will post the video tutorial slideshow with audio for everyone to review. This will be chopped up in parts to keep the length at a minimum and will include the basics of composition and exposure as well as a host of tips and technique for getting better fishing photographs. Examples will include landscape, grips and grins, fish in hand, perspective, lighting, portraits, and macro fly tying techniques.

Here are a few shots from the Bufford Damn Hatchery. These were taken after the workshop and they highlight some of the photography principles we discussed.

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