Welcome to the Castle Arms "What's New" page. As the proprietor of Castle Arms, I will be using this page to update customers on new arrivals, discontinued products, trade shows we will attend, and more. And don't miss my famous bad jokes. New email address: castlearms@COMCAST.NET
MAILING CHARGE CHANGES
Due to costs of mailing and UPS charges we are going to charge for all orders under $100.
NOW MAIL COST ARE UP. Despite my father telling Me "you might as well be broke as the way you are" I can't afford it at the new rates.
Priority mail will be $5.00-$12.00 . UPS depends on weight/distance. We'll pay for orders over $100..
JULY 21, 2008
I have a couple of those Cashmir goat skins coming in but due to a computer snafu the waiting list was erased. If you want one lrt us know. You snooze you lose.
Chris
Williams and Maria spent 10days on the Gaspe and Maria landed her first
salmon. Fishing was very good and dry flies were taking fish .
Pierre T. who we fished with at Camp Bonaventure a few years
ago
Just
back from the "Bonnie" He
writes."Fish all over the place. Both caught on your 9-0 7 wt Heritage.
Great rod." Looks like a banner year on the Gaspe.
Not such good news from Cape Breton. Little or no rain and rivers are real low with very few fish. Marc Madore and his wife went up and returned in 3 days to fish their home waters on the Mirimachi where there's plenty of both fish and water.
How's this for a deal! The people who own the great lodge we fished in Patagonia in January have acquired a second lodge which fishes for the large browns on the Rio Grande as well as bows on 3 other rivers. It's a 4 star lodge and they are giving a 25% discount for 2 weeks stay to pay for the airfare. Two weeks at two great lodges for $6000 . Can't beat that with a broomhandle. Times may be tough but passing up this kind of offer is foolish if you've got the time and $$$$.
Have some great cinnamon speckled turkey,will dress 6/0+ and some very nice white tipped turkey. Pics this weekend.
The leather bound deluxe editions of Vol.I & II of Schmookler's "Rare & Unusual". $2500.00
The
weather has heated up and so has the saltwater fishing on the Cape and in
the Sound. Take a look at what Steve Silverio is tying with the Polar Pony
for stripers and blues. They look so good I could chomp on them.
Doug McClelland reports from Montana that the rivers are high and cold which is a relief from the skinny water they have had in recent years. Predicts good fishing for summer and fall. Doug, an ardent fly fisher, books trips all over the world for his clients and has fished in almost everyone of his destinations.
Old friend, Ken Abrames has come out with a deluxe custom rod he designed for saltwater fishing. Understand it is an unusual rod which has received raves from those who have cast it. No competition for our Heritage rods cause they are in a much higher price range . Would like to hear from anyone who have used one. As the striper/bluefish are all over the place July should be a busy month for our shops on the coast. We can see a great season due to the amount of Polar Pony we are shipping to our saltwater shops where it has become the "MUST" material.
Lefty Kreh is still using one crutch but says he's coming along fine and hopes he can ditch the crutch in about a month. For an old so and so he's as tough as they come. He put a reel seat on the crutch and proved he can cast with anything. The shortest book ever published ,"What I Learned from Lefty Kreh". Only kidding Bernard.
It didn't take long for word to get out that we had made a junglecock harvest (out of season) 2 weeks ago and capes were ready. Mostly "B" grade. No "C" grade. Have a few "a" and Supers in stock. One buyer wanted to know how come a west coast," big shot" dealer was getting double our price for "B' capes. The reason? They are in business to make a profit we are in business to break even and have fun.
For those salmon tiers in Quebec. L'Ami du Moucheur in 3 Rivers has the most complete stock of material for classic salmon flies in all of Canada. Paulo is celebrating a birthday for this business in the fall with great prizes and lots of fun.
Should have a couple of those giant peacock skins in 2/3weeks. Beautiful! Also had a call on some rare skins from a collection. Will advise when I am sure.
"It's the best June salmon fishing in 10 years" This from Glenn LeGrand at Camp Bonaventure. Reports from all over eastern Canada report an increased run of salmon this year. THAT'S GREAT NEWS>
The
best and maybe the only shop in Maine that caters to the classic salmon fly
tier, CHANDLER POND OUTFITTERS in Winthrop will be moving this
fall to new and larger space in Brunswick. From Japanese silk to
exotic feathers
Terry Pratt has em all.
Mirimachi has good water and the fresh salmon are coming in so it looks like a great start for 2008 .
One
of our first users of Heritage fly rods was Paul Tetzlaff of theSeattle,WA
area. So enthused he began selling them and he's fished them, along with his
father in-law Jim Ware, all over the world. Between them they have caught
some awesome fish but none compare to the Golden Bonefish. There have only
been 11 of these fished recorded as being caught as the are very particular
as to what they eat and very easily scared. Besides this beauty Paul landed
some nice permit and "cudas" . He's sending more info which we
will pass on to those who are interested.
CAUGHT
AT TURNEFFE
LODGE,BELIEZE.
Paul used the Heritage 5 pc 8/9 wt. rod for all his fish. The permit weighed 23 lb caught on a green crab fly. He land about a dozen cudas up to 5' long and more bones then he could count. Fished Feb.28-March 9,2008.
Are
you a bamboo rod builder/fixer-upper. Found a Montague
"convertible" rod. It's a 2 section boat rod or a 3 section 8-2
fly rod. All sections full length Needs some guides but in very good shape
otherwise. $75.00
Just
found small lot dyed red pheasant tail clumps.$10.00
One
of the things that has kept us busy is order for our Japanese silk. Over 200
tubes sold in May alone. As one shop in the mid-west said last week,"I
don't know anyone but you who stocks 72 colors of silk and my customers
think I'm a whiz kid when I tell them I'll ship any color in less then a
week." Probably more fine salmon flies have been tied with the
silk we carry then all the rest combined. Buying directly from Japan has
kept the price very reasonable which is one reason why sales have been so
good . 
We may have another feather collection in 2 weeks. Can't tell you what's in it as it belonged to the fellows grandfather and he is not an expert in feathers.
We had a question about the shipping of waterfowl skins. USFW has said feathers, not skins, can be sold on a commercial basis for fly tying. Skins may be possessed/transported, etc. for personal use by anyone for non commercial purposes. If you are a hunter of ducks and geese you can have skins or swap them for other skins for personal use. This question on waterfowl pops up about 4-5 times a year and shops should be aware of the rules.
Marc
Madore loves his wife, fly fishing and teaching young people how to tie
flies
and how to fish them. Here's some pics of 12 year old Andy tying his first
fly then landing a salmon on it. We need more people like Marc.
A couple of brown ear pheas.and Elliots came in while we were closed. Birds are getting harder to find the longer the embargo continues.
We are out of the Pryce-Tannant salmon book. Doubt we will ever find anymore new copies. Did find a few copies of Ken Sawada's latest Tube Fly book, autographed. $70.00.
Rods and reels are moving fast from coast to coast so we are busy and Peter O'Reilly in Ireland reports good fishing and water with weather spring like. They start salmon fishing much earlier than we do and they give us an indication of what's happening with salmon in the UK. Reports from Denmark are awesome. Salmon and sea run Browns in great numbers.
.The KORKERS GUIDE BOOTS with the dial lacing getting raves from the guides in So.Amer. "Most comfortable easiest boots to wear we have ever seen. Should be on everyone's wish list". Panco Panza Alveraz.
Our new Heritage Pro Series Reels . 3 sizes:5/7:$125,7/9:$130 & 9/11:$135.00.
They are beautiful all machined 6061 aluminum, great drag and lh/rh easy switch. The price is the frosting on the cake. $125, $130,$135. We tested the prototype last year in Andros on bonefish and cudas and on the Gaspe on Atlantic Salmon with great results. Deep clear anodizing,perfect for salt or fresh water. See your dealer or give us a ring. See our new reel page on the web site when finished..
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