Winter on the East Branch

I got a chance to head down to the Mid-Hudson region this weekend to hang out with my boys, the long time crew at the Angler's Den Fly Shop in Pawling. I had a great time hanging in the shop, had a lot of laughs, talked a lot of shop, and tied a lot of flies. I even had a chance to do a fly tying lesson for a very talented young man. The rivers were pretty much all blown out but we did sneak out on Sunday for a few hours when the water came down enough to let us in.
I got to learn how out of sync I am as I lost two fish that i don't think I would have before I went to Afghanistan but Tom got two nice fish even in the less than ideal conditions.
The Angler's Den is a great shop that everyone should check out if they are in the area. Its a short drive from NYC, Poughkeepsie, and Danbury, CT. They also have a HUGE amount of fly tying materials much of which you can't find in a lot places and they do mail orders. There is my plug. Here is a few pictures from the weekend.

A tying lesson with a very talented young man and his father.

awesome Beulah Platinum matched with a Hardy Cascapedia

The Angler's Den boys are big on the Hatch reels and for good reason

Tom and Hendrickson picking out their spots

Tom slinging nymphs on his 2WT Mystic rod

Tom hooked up! At least we got some action today!

Tom with a nice winter rainbow

Tom's 2nd Rainbow of the day