Upcoming Saturday Fly Tying Demos
On Saturday, December 23rd there will be no fly tying demo. We will resume the demos on January 6th, 2024 with guest tier being Cade Moore.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Upcoming Events
No Fly Tying Demo is scheduled for Saturday, December 23rd.
That Saturday is too close to the Christmas holiday. The Saturday demos will resume in January, 2024.
Saturday, December 16th Fly Tying Demo Features Ken Bitton
That facial slice resulting from a Clearwater River client errant cast a few years back has healed, but Ken sports it as a mark of a “passionate steelheader”. Ken is our most renowned steelheader to the point that he has guided for these fabled fish on the Clearwater River via Clearwater River Company for years and has great experience on our Salmon River and other famed fisheries. He does all this during the Fall season but takes time to enjoy “steelies” on his own. In fact, after working for many fishing related businesses, he has retired to be able to fish when the urge beckons. During the off-season he returns to fly tying, not only for steelhead, but also for trout patterns. Having grown up in Swan Valley, the South Fork was on his doorstep. he began his fly fishing and fly ting there(Ken remembers fishing the South Fork before Palisades Dam was built). All this gives Ken a range of experience to be hired as a guide as well as a tier of patterns, including his own creations in demand for that river. Ken has demonstrated his fly tying skills at Jimmy’s, other area shops, the Eastern Idaho Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo, and other fly fishing shows around in the west. Generous, personable, and experienced to the extreme, Ken will be sharing his fly pattern ideas for steelhead and inland trout and how to present each during his demo.
Saturday, December 9th Fly Tying Demo Features Lance Egan
Lance Egan has had a passion for fly-fishing for nearly 30 years and has made a career of fly-fishing. Having worked for an all tackle store, 2 independent fly shops, and 12 years with Cabela’s he has worked with thousands of anglers and aided each in learning more about the fish they intend to catch, along with teaching them the benefits and advantages of various types of tackle and rigging. All the while, Lance has been a student of the sport and continues to learn about the intricacies of fishing. Currently, Lance works for Fly Fish Food, an online and storefront fly-fishing retailer in Orem, Utah, as the shop manager. In addition to his fly shop duties he is a Signature Fly Designer for Umpqua Feather Merchants, and, Lance, along with Devin Olsen, and Gilbert Rowley, created instructional fly-fishing videos available as digital downloads from Vimeo.com or as DVD’s (Modern Nymphing, Modern Nymphing Elevated, and Adaptive Fly Fishing). Lance is also the co-host of the Newb And The Knower fly fishing podcast. Lance lives in Lehi, Utah, with his wife, Autumn, and their two children.
Lance is a 3-time National Fly-Fishing Champion, 2-time ESPN Great Outdoor Games Fly-Fishing Champion, Fly-Fishing Masters Champion, Teva Mountain Games Fly-Fishing Champion, 3-time Utah Single Fly Champion and a current member of Fly-Fishing Team USA. With Team USA, Lance has represented America 15 times at the World Fly-Fishing Championships and is a 3-time World Fly-Fishing Championships medalist (1 Team Silver, 1 Team bronze, and 1 individual bronze).
Lance is a pro staff member of Scientific Anglers, Hyde Drift Boats, Flycraft USA, and often works with various fly-fishing companies to help design rods, lines, waders, boots etc. Social media channels for Lance include Facebook (Lance Egan), and Instagram (@lanceeganflyfishing).
During his Saturday demo at the shop, beginning at 10:30 AM, Lance will focus on tying patterns offered by Umpqua Feather Merchants, Fly Fish Food and in his DVDs, For certain he will offer” how to fish” information on each.
Upcoming Seasonal Closures Beginning December 1st.
Some fishing closures begin on December 1st in IDF&G’s Upper Snake and Southeast Idaho regions.
The Henry’s Fork in Harriman State Park, Sand Creek Ponds, Blackfoot River tributaries above Blackfoot River Reservoir, and Fish Haven Creek are included. Portions of Silver Creek also close to fishing on December 1st. Refer to to the 2022-2024 Seasons and Rules booklet to see these.
Fly Tying Demos Resume on Saturday, December 2nd
The Saturday tying demo will begin at 1030 AM featuring Keegan Berrett.
I was born and raised fishing the waters of East Idaho where I learned to fish, row a boat and tie flies. I did this until I joined the Marines right out of high school. After serving, I moved back home and picked up where I left off, fishing and tying with Dad and his friends. My Dad, Elden, is a fly fisher, guide and fly tier of wide renown.
I love tying flies and love creating an effective and successful pattern even more. Small dry fries are my favorite tying and fishing, but streamers are a close second. Our long cold winters help drive this passion, just to keep our minds right. I have a wife who supports my addiction, and I have 2 beautiful daughters that keep me on my toes. My younger daughter enjoys tying with me and enjoys a day on the river catching fish.
Being a Marine veteran, I share a special brotherhood with other vets. I have been the Assistant Program Lead for the East Idaho chapter of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing since it started. It is a special thing to introduce the serenity of fly tying and fly fishing with our disabled vets. Knowing the serenity that these activities brings to me drives my desire to pass this to someone that can use some peace of mind.
I have been guiding part time on the South Fork of the Snake and the Main Snake below the confluence with the Henry’s Fork. I am a signature tyer for Fulling Mill with several patterns available from them.
I will feature some of these during my Saturday, December 1st demo.
Saturday Fly Tying Demo’s
Because of being adjacent to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not offer fly tying demos on Saturday, November 18th and Saturday, November 25th. Our Saturday fly tying demos will resume on Saturday, December 1st and continue into December.
A. J. Jorgensen is Featured During Our Saturday, November 11th Fly Tying Demo.
A. J. Jorgenson
A.J. and Family at the 2023 EIFTE
A.J. Jorgensen is featured for the Saturday, November 11th Fly Fish Food-Jimmy’s fly tying demo. He is another Colorado transplant, although his roots are in eastern Idaho thanks to grandparents. A.J. got into the fly fishing world in a backwards kind of way. That is, he began as a youngster tying flies for his dad and his buddies while living in Colorado and yet to fly fish. On becoming of age to buy a truck, he began scoping out nearby streams. It was success while doing so that fly fishing became love at first sight. Seeing that east Idaho offered much more for an outdoor life, A.J. moved there and became acquainted with our wonderful array of waters. He entered the angling industry though employment at Rio about eight years ago, but soon graduated the guiding for The Lodge at Palisades Creek. In doing so, products from his fly tying vise became sought after, especially those patterns for the South Fork, the Henry’s Fork and their tributaries. He will tie these patterns as well as offer usage information on each during his demo
About five years ago A. J. demonstrated his tying skills during Jimmy’s Saturday demos, and more recently, he did the same during the 2023 EIFTE fly tying demos held in the Mountain America Events Center. A. J. is now the Fly Fish Food-Jimmy’s assistant manager as well as a sought-after commercial fly tier. A. J. and his Mrs., Claire, live in Lewisville with children Flint and Zola, all of whom can look forward to a great outdoor life in this area.
Saturday, November 4th Fly Tying Demo Features Fly Fish Food-Jimmy’s Clark (Cheech) Pierce
Clark (Cheech) is a creative fly tier and angler and a Fly Fish Food partner operating out of Orem, Utah. Cheech conducts the first of our Saturday winter time fly tying demos, free to the public.
Cheech ties custom flies to target all species and has contracted tiers line up to help with demand for his patterns. His patterns are offered commercially through Fullingmill.
His fly fishing passion is throwing big meaty streamers for trout, as well as chasing large and smallmouth bass. Having grown up in a household where art was strongly encouraged, Cheech first focused on feathers and fur as a primary medium beginning in 2001.
Clark is an innovator and has created popular patterns such as the Cheech Leech, the Grumpy Frumpy, and the Unsinkabeetle. Grumpy Frumpy is featured in “Flies for the Greater Yellowstone Area” by Bruce Staples and published through Stackpole Books. Cheech has been featured in This Is Fly magazine and has been published in Southwest Flyfishing. His flies have also been featured in Fly Tyer Magazine and American Angler magazine.
Co-founding Fly Fish Food with like-minded fly tier and creator Curtis Fry, they have introduced an array of synthetic materials to the fly fishing world. Doing so, has created a fly tying following second to none. Together they create video fly tutorials, review materials and tools and generally “rant” about fly tying and fishing.
When Cheech isn’t tying or fishing, he is usually pestering his wife and three kids and inadvertently booby-trapping the house with stray hooks, as well as a thin layer of marabou scraps, tinsel, and FOAM.
He has demonstrated his fly tying abilities at Jimmy’s All Seasons Angler twice in recent years. These events were not only informative and generous in all respects, but fun. Rest assured that this demo, beginning at 10:30 AM, will be the same.
Saturday Fly Tying Demos to Resume
For several years it has been a tradition at the shop to offer wintertime Saturday fly tying demonstrations (demo(s)), free to the public. True, these were suspended during the covid crisis, but on being revived during the winter of 2022-2023 an enthusiastic public attended.
Realizing that this event is in demand by the fly fishing public, Fly Fish Food Jimmy’s will continue this Saturday tradition with noted fly tiers demonstrating their abilities at the tying vise. Each of these tiers will also offer tying technique and “how, where and when“ information on fishing the patterns demonstrated.
For each Saturday, beginning November 4th this year, and offered into March, 2024, this web site will announce the scheduled tier, information on patterns they intend to tie, and an outline of materials to be used do so. Demos begin at 10 AM and extend to around Noon. Being adjacent to Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays respectively, demos will not be offered on Saturday, November 25th and Saturday, December 23rd.
Our November 4th demo features Clark (Cheech) Pierce. Cheech presented a worthy demo years ago at the shop, but since that event has accumulated vast knowledge on materials usage, much of which is original and new to the fly tying world. Look for Cheech to also give information on using each demonstrated pattern as well as answer questions on technique and pattern selection. Look for more information on Cheech’s demo later this month.