Professional Status

Some big changes in how we do things here at SPlatte Headquarters.  Instead of waiting around here for updates, jump over to Instagram and follow the Shea Gunkel account for all the super fly content you'll ever need in your life!

Pretty in Pink

I had the rare opportunity this last week to fish with my good friends Chuck Lockwood and Steve Gossage, two of my favorite people on the planet.  No real need to explain anything else, this was a huge fish. 

Enjoy

Free Flies. The Advice is Extra.

For whatever reason, most fly tiers tend to only fish 'their' flies or flies that they have tied themselves.  Whether it's a matter of pride, principal, or the fact that we have tied a shit ton of flies just a little bit different from the crowd to make them fishier than the normal flies in the bins, we all seem to favor our designs most of the time.  For the last seven or eight years, I would have to say, I am one of those guys.  Not that I won't bum a few dry flies off of whomever I'm fishing with (given that I see a fish rise), but that is rarely my situation.  In all of this, I have become a bit of a Rim Chung myself, and  seldom have reason to not fish a Shea Gunkel 'signature' Shotglass Baetis somewhere on my rig.  Not to say that other nymphs don't catch fish, they do, but I have the confidence in this fly to fish it everywhere I go. In doing so, I have them tied up in a variety of weights, colors, and sizes and fish them accordingly.  The first color I usually grab for is the dark brown version, but the Dunn, Olive, Black, Red, and Burnt Orange are always in the gameday lineup.  A few spring seasons ago I had the opportunity to fish a section of the SPlatte with a group of All Star anglers and was turned on to fishing purple flies.  Now granted, there is a time and place to fish purple, but at the time, I had zero confidence in the color.  Since that day I have been tying and fishing SPlattes and Shotglasses in purple if the conditions warrant with a ton of success on a lot of different waters.  If you tie flies, twist up a few and give them some playing time when you're out on the water.  If you're not a fly tier, or just like to win free stuff, go to my facebook page and like it to be entered into the 'Free Shit Giveaway' I'll be hosting at the end of the month.  Free flies, hats, stickers, etc will be given away to multiple winners,so don't miss out on the opportunity to to have something fishy waiting for you in the mailbox.

Enter now at your chance to get a few of these wet this summer!

A few 'Shotglass' Baetis in purple.

Dunn

Pink MFC Tungsten



The Reef

Ive had the opportunity this last month to spend some time with some of the greatest anglers to draw a breath, most of that time had been off topic so I'll just focus on what's really important.  A few weeks ago the trek to Wyoming was made to tangle with some of their trouts in celebration of an upcoming wedding.  Although the fishing was slow to our expectations, and the weather sucked, great times were had by all. Enjoy

Mornings started like this.

Scene from the movie 'Titanic'

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The 'Captain'

The 'Crew'



The 'Convert'

The 'Muscle'

The 'Target'

The 'Result'

Here's to the Bride and Groom



Gift Box

With spring approaching quicker than it has in all my days on earth, I've been frantically trying to catch up on my orders for the shops as well as put a few boxes together for friends, donations, and future family.  Below are a few shots I put together of a box I gave my future brother-in-law and his spring order of SPlatte PMD's, SPlatte Baetis's and SPlatte Rollers.  Although it pains me a bit to see all these flies land in other peoples flybox, a certain sense of grace is felt knowing they'll all be getting wet on the end of someone's line this spring.  Get yours

An assortment of Barr's Graphic Caddis, with and without a tungsten topper, these will make their way to the Arkansas headwater.

                                        SPlatte Rollers in #12 with a couple wraps of lead in the thorax to help take it down to the next level.  Drop a SPlatte Baetis off the back of this caddis nymph and hold on.  There's a reason there are 4thousand fish per mile in this river, they all have enough to eat.                                      

 A few of Charlie's Two Bit Hookers tied with flouro fibre wing buds, an instant tailwater clasic.  You'll also notice a few Pure Midges, again courtesy of Mr. Barr and a couple tungsten bead Rainbow Warriors. 

 More hookers in #16, I prefer the 2.0mm tungsten in this size.  4mm's of Tungsten on TMC 3769 have equiled a ton fish to the net, these flies just don't give up.

 Here is collection of a few different Pat Dorsey patterns rolled into one fly.  It makes for a killer tied on a #22, TMC 2488.  Anyone out there willing to donate their old, non used medalion sheeting?  Just put it in an envelope addressed to me and expect good karma coming back within 2-3 working days. 

15dozen SPlatte Rollers ready to hit the fly bin at the new and improved Royal Gorge Anglers fly shop just outside of Canon City.  If you missed the grand opening, you'll be needing to stop in to see what the industry buzz is all about.  

5dozen SPlatte PMD's should hold off the masses for now, I've already started tying for the post run-off PMD season this summer.  The Ark is a Hopper Dropper river and you can't go wrong with this combo in July and August.

Life is good, and even better when you're fishing.  Get out there.

Salt

My good friends Joe and Brandon headed out last week with their wives in seach for bones and permit in the Bahamas.  Joe had spoken with the his guide and after exchanging a few emails about what's hot down there right now, I had a material list and a game plan.  McKnight's 'Crimp' is an Umpqua pattern that shares the common charactoritics of a shrimp and a crab.  Working on this pattern this last week been an oportunity for me to upsize the hook size and work with some materials not normally in my wheelhouse.  The first half dozen 'attempts' have been discarded to spare the embarrassment associated with tying shitty looking flies.  I'm looking foreword to the pictures of some of these flies stuck in some faces.

                              
                             
                              



Shotglass Video

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My good friend Jon agreed to tape this video for me, thanks dude.   Dig it

The Shot Glass Baetis from coloradoflyfisher on Vimeo.