This Sunday February 24th, Shannon's is hosting our annual Sparse Grey Matter Fly Tying Fest at the Califon Firehouse. The building is a stone's throw from the shop, just up Main Street. The event is open from 10 am until 4pm. Tyers from around the region will be showing off their skills. For those who would like to tie, there is no fee just show up and a space will be made for you. Set up begins at 9am. Food and Beverages will be available and those proceeds will benefit the Califon Volunteer Fire Department. For those interested, James Jindal of Winston Rods and Bauer Reels will be on hand to answer questions and show off the latest Green Stick models "The Pure" and the "Air" . The weather forecast is free from snow come and join us for a great event!
While there will be some rain overnight Saturday into early Sunday morning, the overall temperatures should favor fishing over the next 5-7 days. Both nymphing and streamer fishing have been productive this week. As we move into late winter, early season mayfly nymphs and caddis larva begin to be more active. The secret is to downsize those nymph and caddis larva patterns by a hook size or two. The Chimarra caddis should start to show themselves. Tim Flagler gave another great presentation at the Raritan Inn this past Thursday and part of the program included some freshly seined macroinvertebrates including numerous Hendrickson and Baetis nymphs along with several species of caddis and cranefly larva and scuds. White Suckers are gathering appearing to be making ready to spawn as well.