Profile: Bruce Marino/ BMAR Flies

I first met Bruce Marino a number of years back at the Somerset New Jersey Fly Fishing Show. Bruce was one of the show’s featured fly tyers. I was at first struck by both the artfulness and originality of his signature BMAR Wounded Baitfish flies. Equally impressive were throngs of onlookers watching to see how he tied his creations. Since that first meeting I have come to know that the Wounded Baitfish series is a very effective collection of flies for an ever-expanding range of game fish species. These flies have garnered international acclaim and are widely used by fly anglers and guides alike.

Bruce has been at the game of fly fishing and fly tying for over thirty-five years and has traveled to many destinations to fish for both freshwater and saltwater species. Along the path of his travels some of Bruce’s flies have become staples in the arsenals of the local area guides –many consider the Wounded Baitfish as a “go-to” pattern. A number of places have adopted Bruce’s flies including Cooper's Minipi Camps in Labrador where they employ the BMAR Norway Rat, Hex and Stonefly patterns. Guides at Crocodile Bay Lodge in Costa Rica use several of the BMAR Wounded Baitfish patterns as well, where they are used to catch both offshore and inshore species.

Bruce is also an accomplished guide on the crown jewel of Connecticut, the Farmington River, and as a shore guide along the Connecticut coastline. He shares his knowledge and expertise as a writer and in the capacity of fly tying editor for Fly Fishing New England and Fly Fishing the Mid Atlantic States magazines. Bruce is also a March Brown travel fly rods endorsed pro. Among some of the of the projects that he has recently completed is one where he ties flies on circle fly hooks for a study being conducted by Left Kreh along with many working captains in the Northeast. In the past, Bruce was on the research and development team for D.H. Thompson Cobra Vise and he is one of the lead designers for Pacific Fly Group; they have mass-produced many of Bruce’s innovative patterns that are sold worldwide. Bruce will tell you that guiding on the crown jewel of Connecticut, the Farmington River and shore guiding the coastline of Connecticut are now his passions. He is also currently promoting his DVD, "Fly Fishing for Mako Sharks" and completing a second DVD on "Fly Fishing the Farmington River". I was so impressed initially with the BMAR WoundedBaitfish that I included the entire series in my recently fly pattern book, Saltwater Flies of the Northeast. If you would like more information about Bruce’s flies or his guiding operation you can contact him at BMARflies@aol.com

Casting the Whole Chicken

A couple years ago at an Eastern Flyrodders of Long Island meeting I watched world renowned fly casting expert Mark Sedotti toss a 20-inch, large bodied Slammer Fly – (the size of a full grown oven-roaster)one-hundred-twenty feet with a six weight fly rod. The audience didn’t believe what they had witnessed, so to convince them Mark did it again. This time the fly sailed the same distance and with pinpoint accuracy almost landed in the cup of a practice hole at Indian Island Country Club in Riverhead. I also witnessed Mark do the same thing at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset NJ, only that time he knocked down the backboard as the cast’s finale! My first thought was Annie Oakley, for this just had to be a trick cast. Mark is a very gifted and athletic caster and a topnotch angler as well. I equate his casting abilities to those of a baseball pitcher. A lot of folks can throw strikes but only a handful can do so at 95 miles an hour! To do so takes an extra special genetic makeup. I mentioned that to Mark and added that only he and a handful of other casters I know could do what he does with a fly rod and big flies. After all, his casting seemed to defy the rules of physics. Mark response to that, “Anyone can do it.” OK, I’ll bite - what’s the trick? “No trick,” Mark shot back. “The secret is a ‘weight-balanced’ fly. My first thought was, I don’t care how weight-balanced a fly is, throwing a chicken on a six-weight is just not possible, even though I had seen him do it.
After the Eastern exhibition the group withdrew to the clubhouse and Mark explained his fly tying and fly casting theories. Simply put, add enough balanced weight to a fly in the form of a keel, allowing the fly to overcome air resistance and drag, and casting really big flies is a breeze. Simple? Yes! Does it work? Yes! It still takes honed casting skills to toss a fly like Mark, but his approach teaches us an even more important fly-fishing lesson - think outside the fly box and don’t always subscribe to conventional wisdom or theory. That is how the sport of fly fishing advances and how we enhance out own abilities. By the way, if the opportunity ever presents itself, take a fly-cast lesson with Mark. Even if you are an accomplished caster, his tips and techniques will make you better.

Frequent Fly Fishing Fix

If you enjoy some of the postings on this forum please give my other blogs and sites a try as well. Each appeals to a different aspect of fly fishing and the outdoors in general. Thanks for stopping by. AP

wwww.apflyfishingjournal.blogspot.com
www.anglingexplorations.blogspot.com
www.angelopeluso.com
www.twitter.com/fishlongisland

Hosted Alaska Fly Fishing Trips

Alaska is one of the finest fly-fishing destinations on earth. I took my first trip in 1989 and have been on many annual trips since, fishing for king salmon, silver salmon, chums, sockeye and pinks, as well an indigenous species - char, graying, dollies and magnificent rainbow trout. I have a unique opportunity to host a small groups of fly anglers at several remote lodges during the 2010 season. Good fishing in Alaska requires advance preparation to ensure prime weeks for the targeted species. You would be surprised at how many anglers make the mistake of selecting the wrong times for the species they would like to catch and end up verky disapponted. My experiences can help you avoid those costly mistakes that can ruin the trip of a lifetime. If you are interested please reposnd to me at apdotcominfo@aol.com for further details. Thank you. AP