We are excited to announce this next giveaway. We have teamed up with Indigo Guide Service & Third Coast Fly to bring you a GREAT giveaway with three winners. The 1st place prize is a good one… a FULL day guided trip for WILD steelhead on the Pere Marquette River. I have fished with these guys and they are top notch. There is no one that we would recommend more for Michigan steelhead, salmon or carp.

This giveaway is a little different, so be sure to pay attention to the directions.

Step 1: Go here: http://www.facebook.com/thirdcoastfly

That’s Third Coast Fly’s Facebook page, go ahead and click the ‘Like’ button.

Step 2: Then go to the following page to make a quick comment:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/third-coast-fly/fly-fishing-giveaway/276976492354298

That’s it. All who can handle the above steps are entered to win one of three sweet prizes.

1st Place: Full Day Guided Trip for WILD Pere Marquette Steelhead with Indigo Guide Service

2nd Place: 1 Dozen steelhead flies in custom fly box + SA Steelhead Taper Fly Line

3rd Place: Feather-Craft’s Bob’s Favorite Tech Shirt

Not bad eh? So head on over to Facebook and get yourself entered.

Not on Facebook? Not a problem, we will have more giveaways to come. The drawing for this giveaway is the first of January.

Thanks!

Evan

Arnold Markowitz: “I’m lucky to live in southern Florida, where we have great year-around fishing in both fresh and salt waters– Gulf, Atlantic and in between–and I try to make the most of all that.

When I was a child in New Jersey my uncle Bob Abelew took me fishing in Newark’s Branch Brook Park. I caught a little crappie with a worm and never got over it. I can’t look at water without wondering what’s swimming around there.

My first rod was a metal thing that telescoped from bait casting to fly length until the ferrules rusted tight.  With the first money I earned, delivering newspapers, I bought a solid fiberglass H-I casting rod and a Shakespeare Wonderreel.

Fly fishing caught my interest in 1959, when I bought a Ted Williams/Sears fly rod in an Army PX.  I did fly fishing occasionally until 2002 when I joined a fly club so I could learn to do it right. The fly’s now my first choice but I still use spinning and baitcasting tackle.

I spent my working years reporting news, retiring in ’01 from the Miami Herald. Since ’02, I’ve been free-lancing, mostly as regular fishing writer for Waterfront Times, a waterfront lifestyles monthly that’s published in Fort Lauderdale.

It requires  a lot of fishing, but don’t cry for me. Somebody has to do that and I accept the burden cheerfully. The fish in the photo is a hefty butterfly peacock (they are not bass), probably a 5-plus-pounder, caught with a 4-weight rod and a gaudy little fly I call the pea cocker.”

John Leonard:  “I’ve been fishing since I was 4 and fly fishing for more than 32 years. I don’t get out as often as I would like, but who does. Most of my fishing is fly fishing for trout in the Sierra’s. I love big river nymphing and have a special fondness for small creek fishing with my 3 weight.

I tie my own flies and have been for over 25 years. Nothing like getting a finicky trout to rise to that size 22 BWO emerger that you tied yourself.

I am lucky to have a wonderful wife who is getting started fly fishing, but is really just content to be with me in the beautiful places that trout live. She participated in Casting for Recovery’s program for breast cancer survivors and since then I have been volunteering for the CFR a couple of times a year.

I’m a jeweler by trade and even have created jewelry inspired by my days on the stream. http://johnleonardstudio.com/images/Image030.jpg

Congrats to Steve E. from Indiana for winning one of two SUMO’s!

“Here is my pic, it is my biggest largemouth caught on a flyrod to date!….I mostly flyfish for panfish and largemouth bass on a private lake where I have owned  property for twenty eight years. I am 56 years old and have been flyfishing for probably 36 years. I just got into tying flies for myself this year and really enjoy it! I also bass fish in tournaments but my passion is catch 10 to 12 inch bluegill with my flyrod!”

Nice fish Steven and congrats! SUMO is on the way!

“I have always loved to fish since my grandparents taught us how when we were children.  However, my love of fly fishing began after I bought my husband a fly tying kit from Bass Pro for Valentine’s Day about 6 years ago and he got “hooked” on tying.  We have fished Belize (our 25th anniversary at El Pescador), Naples and the Keys of Florida, the Madison in Montana, as well as many rivers of North Carolina and Tennessee. This picture is from an excursion while on an Alaskan Cruise where we fished the White River in Ketchikan.  I landed 11 pink salmon in 2 hours.  It was amazing to experience this while Bald Eagles were flying overhead.  Our vacations always center around some fly fishing opportunity. Just this past June, we fished The Frying Pan in Colorado. Then of course we fly fish here at home in the local lakes and rivers for crappie, bass, perch and those fun little bream.  This year with the monster cicadas hatch, my husband tied some up and we caught catfish and bream like crazy. As a Breast Cancer Survivor, I have had the pleasure of attending a “Casting For Recovery” retreat in our region.  Now, this retired school teacher is looking forward to more fun and exciting trips to cast a line.  Can’t wait to put those Sumos to good use when I head to the North Carolina mountains for my favorite…the smallie!!”

Congrats Dawn!

After a little break, we are back with some great giveaways!

If your weather is anything like St. Louis… it is HOT, like really HOT! So for all of you out there braving the scorching heat, we want to make sure you do it in style (and stay safe) so we want to give out some UV BUFFS.

But we aren’t forgetting those who dig the A/C more than a sunburn, so we have some great DVD’s and autographed books to keep you busy until things cool off.

Each winner (***THREE WINNERS!***) will walk away with the UV Buff of their choice and get to pick out a book and a two DVD’s from the list below:

UV Buff choices: click here!

Here are the book choices we have for you, check out each link for more info on the books:

• Charlie Craven’s: Charlies Fly Box (autographed copy!)

• Pat Dorsey’s: Tying & Fishing Tailwater Flies (autographed copy!)

Here are the DVD choices we have, check out each link for more info on the DVD’s:

• Musky Country: Zero 2 Hero
• Night of the Hex
• Soulfish 2
• Black Tailed Devils

So to enter… here’s what we need, just scroll to the bottom of the page and let us know how your Summer fishing has been so far. Where have you been? What are you catching? Any good fishing stories?

Here in a couple weeks, we will randomly select (www.random.org) THREE comments from the list and send off the Buff’s, Books and DVD’s!

Thats it, good luck and keep cool!

PS… our good buddy Will is hosting a contest that you may be interested in. Great prizes for a great cause and it is just getting started. Click here to check it out.

Congrats to Bart Lombardo! Bart was one of four $100 gift certificate winners. Here’s a little on Bart: “I am an avid fly fisherman and fly tier who hails from New Jersey.  I am 47 years old and have been fly fishing for over 35 of those years. I am also heavily involved in the conservation of our cold water resources. I currently serve as the chapter president of Central Jersey Trout Unlimited. I am also a fellow blogger who started the blog entitled The Jersey Angler.  I started this blog to share information about fly fishing,  fly tying, conservation and other outdoor interests.”

Here’s David Oliver, another winner. “Amazing!  I have had my eye on a Fishpond wader/duffle bag and this will make it happen.  I am a Biology professor at a big Midwestern university where I teach freshman biology and do research on plants.  Fly fishing has been my passion for nearly 50 years since first catching bluegills and trout in upstate NY.  While I try to fish Idaho or Montana (or New Mexico or Washington or Oregon or South Dakota) at least once each year, most of my time is spent in the Driftless region of Iowa and Minnesota.  These tiny spring creeks have suffered badly from environmental degradation, mismanagement, and now climate change, but they can still produce wonderful browns and colorful native brookies.  The Iowa streams are open year around with trout rising to tiny flies in streams banked with snow drifts.

The trout in the picture one of the few caught that day.  My buddy and I arrived late at the stream and found it running high and muddy.   There was really only time for a few casts.  This brown came to a Foxee Redd Clouser – not your usual trout fly.”

We are still waiting on word from the other two winners… so if your name is Dwayne or Al… email me at evan at feather-craft.com you may have won!

These things have been flying out the door around here and the feedback has been great.

If you ever find yourself heading to some local water a few miles away, or even hopping back in the car to switch spots, you will love this thing. Rods already set up and rigged = more time fishing!

So there it is… take a look at the video, then let us know how you would use a SUMO and you are entered. It’s that easy. We are giving away two of these bad boys!

Here’s the link to the SUMO on our website if you want to check it out more:

http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?store=feacraft&action=searchadvanced&advancedsearch_words=sumo&x=0&y=0

PS… if you just cant wait and want to grab one of these, give us a call at the shop (ask for Evan or Justin) and we will cover the cost of UPS Ground shipping.

Good luck!

*NOTE: This promotion absolutely ends Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at midnight Central Time. No exceptions or extensions for any reason. Cannot be used in conjunction with any of our other promotions. Excludes clearance, sale, and closeout items. Prior sales are absolutely excluded. This offer may be used only once. Feather-Craft reserves the right to exclude certain products from this promotion due to manufacturers request.

Time for a new giveaway! Since the holidays are just around the corner, we are giving 4 people the shot at a $100 gift certificate valid for ANYTHING in our CHRISTMAS catalog!

If you do not have a catalog, not to worry. We have an e-catalog that you can check out.

Here’s the link: 2010 Feather-Craft Christmas Catalog

So there it is.

To enter, just scroll to the bottom of this page and let us know what fly fishing gift would make your holiday season- that’s it!

We’re back with another giveaway- this time an environmental theme.

Here’s what we’ve got for you this month:

• Dan Bailey Eco Grip boots
• Fishpond Piopod
• Monomaster
• Red Gold DVD

These are great products that were created to help keep our waters clean and raise awareness of important issues- something that we all can use. Two lucky winners are going to take home the above!

Speaking of environmental awareness, Brian Wise, host of our Fly Tying Contest is participating is a 24 Hour Fish-a-thon to help raise money and awareness for Recycled Fish and draw attention to issues facing the North Fork–a river that needs clean water to sustain the wild rainbow trout, monster brown trout, lunker smallmouth bass and endangered Ozark Hellbender salamanders that reside in the river.

If you would like to help, take a moment to check our their page:

http://www.recycledfish.org/our-programs/fish-a-thon-2010/team-longboat.htm

Their team goal is to raise $1,200. If they get to that goal, Brian is going to donate a guided trip on the North Fork to our giveaway (Thanks Brian!), so stay tuned! If you feel the need to support them click the link above. If not, no hard feelings!

OK, back to the giveaway.

I think the 24 hour fish-a-thon is a great way to raise awareness of environmental issues- but its not the only organization doing it.

To enter this month’s giveaway, we want to know:

What are some creative things you are seeing locally to help raise awareness and protect our waters?

Hopefully we can get some good ideas flowing here in the comments that others can pick up on and use in their backyards.

Thanks!

Evan

Congrats to Ryan Lee of Mississippi. Ryan was one of two winners of the CPX waders!

“Above is a pic of a sheephead caught with a Clouser that I tied. This was on Cat Island in the Mississippi Gulf Coast- a bittersweet memory now of course with the oil spill. I was born and raised in Columbus, MS which is about 4 hours north of the coast so before the oil spill we went 8-10 times a year to fish speckled trout, redfish, spanish mackerel, lady fish, pompano, and bluefish. We go to Cocodrie, Louisiana a good bit to fish the big bull reds. My wife and I also enjoy trout fishing at the Little Red River and the White River in Arkansas. And of course we have lots of bass/bream/crappie opportunities here in Columbus. I’m a big fan of fly fishing from my kayak and only use my own hand tied flies.”

Our second winner was John Tillotson from Colorado.

I was taught to love the outdoors, hunt and fly fish as a boy by my father in the mountains of Colorado and have taught his 3 sons to love fly fishing since. I build custom fly rods as a hobby for my own use, as well as for friends and family and I’ve built over 100 custom rods in the past 12 years. I am a county 4-H fishing project leader, teaching fly-tying and rod-building classes to kids and adults. I love seeing people new to the sport get a chance to experience the fun and excitement of fly fishing and catching fish on flies and rods created by themselves. Thank you Feather-Craft Fly Fishing for your great products and services and I look forward to spending time this fall in the high-country in my new Redington CPX waders.

Congrats John!

Thanks for everyone’s feedback on this one. Look for a new giveaway here soon!