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Sunday May 5th 2013 (3 weeks ago)
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We're chained to our computers, thinking about fly fishing.
This blog is our outlet to keep our heads from exploding

Teaching and tying in the US

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Published: Sunday May 5th 2013 (3 weeks ago)
Updated: Sunday May 5th 2013, 10:36AM
by Martin Joergensen

I will be both teaching and tying with the GFF team at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum May 18th. Drop by if you're in the area.

In a couple of weeks I will go to the US. I will visit friends, fish a bit and do the tourist thing, all in the New York area for a couple of weeks.
The idea for the trip originally came from Mike Hogue owner of Badger Creek Fly Tying. He suggested that I could come over to fish a bit and also coined the idea the we could do something in the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum while I was there.
So two arrangements have been set up on Saturday May the 18th: a crash course in fly photography and a “Global Get Together” where I will be tying with GFF partners Bob Petti and Steve Schweitzer as well as Richard Ross and Mike Hogue himself. Between us we should be able to demonstrate a very wide variety of flies, and as Jim Krul's

Below you can see the announcements, and you can see more on the museum's web site.

Macro Fly Photography With Martin Joergensen
Come join us for an exciting class and seminar with Martin Joergensen of founder of the Global FlyFisher web site. Martin is from Copenhagen Denmark and is a seasoned photographer. His photos have appeared in books, magazines as well as his web site, The Global FlyFisher. For the first time, Martin will be offering a unique seminar showing his techniques to photograph flies. Martin will demonstrate how to set up lights, set the camera and how to get fantastic pictures every time.
As a bonus, students can bring their own fly, have a photograph taken and published on The Global FlyFisher Web Site.
Martin’s unique abilities will show people of any skill how to set up lights, photograph and edit fly photos. Fee for this class is $50 with a limit of 20 students. A portion of the fees will be contributed to the Center’s Wulff addition building fund. The class will be at the CFFCM Saturday May 18th from 10AM to 12PM. Contact the CFFCM by phone 845-439-4810 or email flyfish@catskill.net to make your reservation. Students should bring a fly they would like photographed and a digital camera.

Global Get Together
Join the CFFCM for our first ever Global Get Together! The Founding Members of the Global Fly Fisher web site and friends, are coming to visit the Center for a fly tying demonstration. Global Fly Fisher Site founders, Martin Joergensen, Bob Petti and Steve Schweitzer, will be joining Mike Hogue and Richard Ross. Martin will be showing many of his favorite Danish sea trout flies, while Steve will be demonstrating Colorado’s flyfishing guide favorite flies and Bob will by tying many classic Northeastern Flies. Richard will be showing how to tie many on his Pennsylvania snowshoe favorites and Mike will be showing some of his latest flies for fishing New York Finger Lakes and Catskill Streams. This is a special event May 18th from 1PM to 4PM.


Almost Gone Fishin'

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Published: Friday April 12th 2013 (6 weeks ago)
Updated: Friday April 12th 2013, 2:30AM
by Martin Joergensen

The coming week I will be off fishing a bit. This year's first trip for me. My fishing sure isn`t what it used to be.

There was a time where I'd be out fishing 70, 80 and 90 days a year – not counting my traveling to places like BC, Mexico, Norway, Sweden and whatnot.
It's not like that any more!
Due to unfortunate health circumstances, the first 100 days or so of 2013 have passed, and I haven't been out once! Not a single day or even hour, and my waders are dry, my boots are as stiff as logs and my flies are buried deep in a box somewhere... I think... I hope...
I the old days I might have skipped January and some of February – especially a year like this where it's been really cold. But March and the beginning of April? No chance! Any day with good wind and a bit of sunshine would have stirred me and there would have been a very short distance from thought to action.

It does look attractive
Martin Joergensen

Things are different when short walks require a cane, longer ones a wheelchair, wading is impossible and even standing upright for more than 10-20 minutes is hard work - and impossible if the ground is uneven.
I invested in a pontoon boat some years ago, but even though it seemed promising being able to get out where the big ones are, I must admit that my fishing has never been worse, and that I downright detest the boat and long for the days where I could walk and wade as I pleased.
The pontoon boat might be a nice alternative to wading if you can use it when you want to, but a true curse when there's no alternative. It's cumbersome to bring and to assemble and inflate, it's a pest to fish from, drifting in the mercy of wind and current and it has an amazing ability to grab the fly line when I cast or in the unlikely situation of hooking a fish.
I rarely complain over my situation. I'm a lot better off than many other MS-patients not to mention people with serious diseases like cancer, but sometimes I admit that I can turn slightly bitter over my situation.

Well, enough complaining!

Great conditions
Paul Kalbrenner - Ken Bonde Larsen

It seems that spring is coming to Denmark next week, and luck has it that I will be off fishing exactly in the coming week!
Come Monday I'll be outta here. Whaddayasay?
Our annual spring trip for sea run browns will be to the southern part of Denmark by Haderslev Fjord, a place that I never fished before. I have no big expectations, but certainly look forward to the trip.
Not even the worst fishing or the most rusty pontoon boat in Denmark can take the joy out of being away, together with good friends, close to the water, fishing every day if you want to, indulging in good food, wine, beer and whiskey, tying flies and taking pictures and just goofing around.

I have no idea whether I will have an Internet-connection. Most houses have one nowadays, but if not, well then GFF will have to sail its own sea while I'm gone. I will bring a computer and might be able to connect, but if not the machines will have to take care of business while I'm gone.

I will make sure to shoot some pictures and do a little writeup when I get back home.

Until then...

6000% profit!

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Published: Wednesday April 10th 2013 (6 weeks ago)
Updated: Thursday April 11th 2013, 4:32AMMore about: Books |
by Martin Joergensen

I have been writing about expensive books before, and still maintain a list of ridiculously priced books. Now I bought one of them – at a “normal” price.

I have written about this subject before.
Books. Expensive books.
As you might know I'm a bit of a fly-fishing and fly-tying book buff, and follow the market quite closely, buy quite a few books and wish for even more.
Back in the good times review copies would willingly find their way to us at GFF – even without us asking for them - but currently the flow has dried out to a trickle, and as the crises has hit all industries, it has hit the “old fashioned” publishing industry even harder. Printing and selling books on paper simply isn't what it used to be.

But as I said: I still support the publishers and buy books. And I maintain a wish list – both in my mind, on my computer and on Amazon.
On this list has been a few odd books. Not that the books are odd, but the prices are. Let's take the really crazy ones. These prices are from Amazon:

Presentation by Gary Borger. Priced at 1,269.13 UKŁ or almost 2,000 US$ or 1,500 Euros.

Borger
Martin Joergensen


Fly Patterns by Randall and Mary Kaufmann. Priced at 1,003.87 UKŁ or more than 1,500 US$ or close to 1,200 Euros. Used!

Kaufmann
Martin Joergensen


The River Behind the Hill by Philip Weigall. That one is 1,170.57 UKŁ which is almost 1,800 US$ or 1,400 Euros.

Weigall
Martin Joergensen


In other words books priced as (cheap) used cars!
These aren't books from the 1800's craved by collectors and connoisseurs, but absolutely normal books, published within the last decade or so and at one point quite commonly available at normal prices. They are all large format and many pages, and today they are not quite as common, but I'm sure a lot of the people who read this will have one of these titles on their shelves, and my guess is that they didn't cost thousands of dollars.

What I paid
Martin Joergensen

I just got a package from Amazon today, and Phillip Weigall's beautiful book about Australian stream fishing is now off my wish list. And no, I did not pay 1,800 US$ for it! It cost just over 20 US$ and cost me less than 30 including postage. Sold by Amazon and brand new!

I have followed this title for a while, and one day it was there at a “normal” price. I ordered and it was mine. It's still available used at prices varying from just under 100 US$ to the above mentioned 1,800 dollars. Used!

I have no idea what mechanism keeps these books at such crazy prices, but it can't be the buyer's willingness to pay that kind of money. It's also very typical that the books are priced very closely from different sellers. They obviously look at each other to set the price, and price the books very similarly. Borger's presentation is 1,269.13 UKŁ from one seller in the US and 1,269.19 UKŁ from another in Japan. Coincidence...? I think not.
I have no idea what mechanism keeps these books at such crazy prices

Well, I'm just observing and wondering and not buying – unless the price is right. My Weigall book is priced at almost 1,200 UKŁ new, so selling my brand new copy should give me a nice profit of about 1,180 UKŁ or a good 6000%. I sincerely doubt that anyone want to buy at that price, but should that be the case, I'm selling!

Part of the blog chain "Books"