Vagabond Fly Box Project

Earlier this year a couple guys via facebook created the Vagabond Fly Box Project.  It's a creative idea that I immediately took an interest to, essentially a couple high quality box of flies traveling around the world and getting fished.  The only requirement was to report on the box after you fished it with a few photos, sign it, replace any lost flies, and eventually send it away.

I was lucky enough to have a box land in my mailbox and it was a beauty.

The boxes origin was the western US and the flies were tied by Terry Edelmann, but I was getting it all the way from Germany!  The box was filled with swing flies for salmon and steelhead, however it's arrival was a bit early for our Great Lakes tributary season.  I had to swim these flies before I shipped them off, so I hung on to them for a couple weeks, and eventually the fish began to arrive.

Here's first light on the first confident morning of the season.

The fishing was slow as early season is expected to be, however the river was void of fisherman and popping with fall colors.

My friend started the day off hooking and landing a beautiful steelhead.

I tried a few of the flies in the Vagabond Box, but was particularly drawn to this purple tube fly.  Look at it swim!

After a long morning on the water, without a bump or tug of any kind, I finally hooked and landed my first steelhead of the season.  Unfortunately it was not on one of the flies in the box, however, it was a tube fly I tied the night before inspired by those incredible flies that showed up in my mailbox one day.