Thursday, November 10, 2005

GBF Meeting Speaker

Mike Mercer

The Fly Shop, Redding, CA

Mike Mercer was born and raised amidst the blue ribbon trout streams of Northern California, learning stream craft on the lesser-known fisheries surrounding Chico and Oroville, then graduating to the more renowned waters outside of Redding, where he still lives, and works for The Fly Shop.  During his nearly 3-decade tenure with the Shop, he has been fortunate to ply some of the finest and most famous of the world's fly fishing destinations, including Alaska, Canada, Russia, Christmas Island, Venezuela, Mexico, Belize, the Bahamas, Argentina and Chile.

In addition, Mike Mercer is one of Umpqua Feather Merchants' top fly designers, His innovative patterns are well regarded around the world. In response to that, Mike authored the book Creative Fly Tying, published by Wild River Press (July 15, 2005). This is the book serious fly tiers across the country have been waiting for.  Mike, whose highly original trout patterns have made him one of Umpqua Feather Merchants' top fly designers, offers fresh and thought-provoking insights to the art of fly tying in Creative Fly Tying, his first book. These concepts are drawn from a lifetime spent on the water fishing and guiding, studying the prey and feeding habits of fish. Mercer shows how to think differently about trout flies; he explains which materials to use and why. He reveals the evolutions and epiphanies that went into the creation of 12 of his favorite innovative patterns:

Gold Bead Poxyback Green Drake Nymph

Copper Bead Micro Z-Wing Caddis

Profile Spinner

Rag Sculpin

Micro Mayfly Nymph

Alaska Lemming

PMD Trigger Nymph

Gold Bead Biot Epoxy Golden Stone Nymph

Sac Fry

Rag Hex Nymph

Zebra Midgeling

Glasstail Caddis Pupa

Very little is left to chance in these deadly flies--they are truly designed, head to tail. Tying sequences are elaborately and exquisitely photographed in super-sharp detail by Ted Fauceglia, America's foremost macro-photographer of aquatic insects.

His show tonight will encompass some of the highlights of Patagonia Chile - the fishing, people and remarkable beauty of the country, as well as details on the specific lodge programs. In addition, Mike will cover 3 or 4 of the fly patterns detailed in his book.

Mike has offered to bring several books with him to the meeting.