Riding High

The Fly Fishing Show 2013

This weekend signaled the arrival of the annual Fly Fishing Show in Denver, and while it went by far too fast, it was a great time! As always, it was great to hang out with some old friends, as well as meet new people that were either interested in the sport, or veterans in the craft. I have a few pictures from the show, but most of my time was spent behind the tying bench. For more pictures of the show check out the Hopper Juan!

April Vokey made an appearance at this year's show... 

Workin' the Fly Fusion Booth with Gary and April... Great magazine and even better people!

April and I messing around in the Booth

Doing alright

Hey guys. I have received a tremendous amount of support from all of you in fighting the district on their decision to cancel the fly fishing club. I have been busy working back and forth with them, thus the sparse amount of updates on the situation. Thanks to countless letters from all of you and a little bit of fighting spirit, we were able to convince the district to let us continue meeting as of now. While we don't have as much freedom as before, the solution will work for the time being. 

I did talk to 9 News, but as we all know, the news can damage your cause just as much as it can help it. I made it clear that I wanted to work on the issue a little more by myself and at least try to figure out a solution before jumping right into a national television rant. 

For now, we are doing well. To those of you who wrote letters to help the cause; I very much appreciate your kind actions in doing so. Those letters were an immense help in gaining back our club. I appreciate all of the support, as do all of the other members of our club, but as of now, the situation is under control.Thank you for your time and support.

Best Regards,

Jake Ruthven

In need of some help

As most of you know, I am a high school student in Fort Collins. Ever since my freshman year, I have been fortunate enough to be involved with the Fly Fishing Club at the school. Through the club I have formed valuable friendships with students and teachers alike.

So, as of yesterday, the school district informed me that it has cancelled the fly fishing club, and has prohibited any meetings from commencing due to the "Inherent danger associated with the sport". Now, I don't know about you guys, but that is a load of crap. We can have football but not a fly fishing club? 

That is where you guys come in. It would be amazing if at least one of you was able to find the time to write a short essay regarding the benefits of the sport of fly fishing, reasons behind keeping the club, etc. In short, just try to write a paper that would help build my case as to why the Fly Fishing Club should not be shut down.

I know how much he sport means to me, as well as how much it means to all of you. Having a school prohibit its students from having a club that many student's love is absolutely ludicrous. Please feel free to eMail me at jake_ruthven@hotmail.com for more information.

Thank you, your help is much appreciated!

The Reaper

This week's pattern comes from the creative mind of Mike Schmidt over at Angler's Choice Flies. The pattern presents a large profile in the water, and draws highly aggressive grabs from big fish. Dig out some hooks and get tying!

The Mufasa

As most have probably noticed, streamers are pretty common on this site. This week highlights the Mufasa, a pattern created by none other than Mike Schmidt. This is an excellent pattern for slightly deeper water, and it has tremendous movement in the current. I'll be tying lots of streamers at each of the fly fishing shows this year, so keep an eye open for any upcoming demos and shows!

It's been awhile

It's interesting how things can consume one's life. For myself, school has been the consumer of my life as of late. As those that actually pay attention to my site have probably noticed, my posting activity has been minimal since August. Oddly enough, August marks the first month of school. At any rate, I have just enough time to post a few pictures from the last few months of fishing before my next class starts. 

I managed to do some guiding this summer too, the above pictures are of a particularly special trip. It was my first ever trip out with paying clients... One could say it was a good day.

Forrest, a good friend and mentor of mine, asked me to help him out with getting his first carp. So... we did exactly that. Forrest, I can't thank you enough for putting up with my annoying questions, and teaching me all that you know about both fishing, and hunting.

Of course, I had to catch a few myself...

Grayling got checked off of my to-do list finally...

Most beautiful fish of the summer

My good friend Quinn with an eager mouse/gigantic caddis eating brown.

High country hiking and fishing were a must...

And of course what would pictures be without a fish of the summer. This beast of a common wins the award for big fish of the summer by far.

So, to those that enjoy reading/viewing my site, I apologize for the lack of activity, just know that if school wasn't consuming my life, I would be posting every single day. "Like" Fins on the Fly on Facebook, and keep reading!