Norvise Team member Ethan Rakes was recently presented with the "Lefty Kreh award and Scolarship. This award, presented by the White Clay Fly Fishers is given to a youth who demonstrate interest in fly fishing and who are active in the White Clay Fly Fishers club. It is named in honor of Bernard V. "Lefty" Kreh, a man from nearby Maryland. Lefty was a noted author, teacher, speaker and ambassador for the sport of fly fishing. Lefty was particularly passionate about the introduction of young people to the sport. 
  

Ethan is a fine young man, mature beyond his years, and passionate about Fly Fishing and tying. We are proud to have him on the Team Norvise Staff. Ethan will be tying in the Norvise booth at several of the Fly Fishing Shows this year. Please stop by and meet this extraordinary young man, you will be glad you did. 

Congratulations Ethan, All of us here at Norvise are very proud of you! 

Our buddy and Team Norvise member Braden Miller attended ICAST a few weeks ago in Orlando, Florida. We kept seeing posts on Facebook and the pictures He and his mom Casey were texting us. I asked him to write a Blog post for Norvise about his experience. He just sent it to me today, so here id "ICAST / IFTD through the eyse of a 12 year old" By Braden Miller.  
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​ Hi, my name is Braden Miller and I was lucky to attend my very first ICAST/IFTD in Orlando, Florida this July with Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO).  In this post I want to talk about my three days at the show, my Facebook live interviews with TFO, what booths I visited and some of the famous fisherman and youtubers I meet.
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My mom and I arrived in Orlando Tuesday, July 10th and we stayed at the Hilton Orlando with everyone from TFO.  There were many people/companies that stayed here too.  As soon we walked in the doors the first people we ran into in the lobby was Mr. Duke Davis and Mr. David Folkerts with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (for those of you who are not familiar with PHWFF, they are a non-profit organization that has volunteers and partners that work with veterans to teach them classes in fly tying, rod building, casting and they have fishing trips/tournaments, with over 200 programs throughout the country).  You can check out all the exciting things PHWFF has going on by visiting their site at http://projecthealingwaters.org/   Tuesday was a very relaxed day, we checked in, mom unpacked, while I tied a Blake Chocklett feather game changer with a spawn fly head, and then we spent the rest of the day at the pool.

So, there are certain patterns that are timeless, The Adams, The Elk Hair Caddis, The Clouser Minnow, the Deceiver Etc. Certain patterns or designs just always seem to catch fish. In today's world of new and improved this, or bigger and better that, it is nice to see the old classics getting some love. Why is it that so often the simplest patterns are so effective? 
I was first introduced to this fly (or a version of this fly) while I was managing the fly shop a few years ago. We have a blue ribbon Smallmouth river 5 minutes from the shop and this pattern, through the summer was a go-to for big Smallies. I have used this for Smallmouth, Trout, Largemouth, Bluegill, Carp, the list goes on and on. Names and variations include the Girdle Bug, M's Rubber Legs, Turd Stone, and Legs for days. I saw this Step-By Step on Instagram posted by our friend Travis Toller @toller _208. Travis is affiliated with @jimmysflyshop as well as @clackacraftdriftboats. This is what I call an American Express pattern "Don't leave home without it" (if you are under 40 you won't understand that last reference). Great picture of a great pattern. Thanks Travis, appreciate allowing me to share. 

Our buddy and Norvise Team Member Ethan Rakes and his friend Christian have been tearing up Stripers at night under the lights the past few nights. Here is the recap in his words. 

Another night under the lights tonight.I caught 27 Striped Bass and 8 Hickory Shad! That’s a total of 35 Fish, 7 more than the previous night. Overall I caught 63 Fish a combination of 11 Shad and 52 Striped Bass over two nights, around a total of 4 hours. Between Christian and I for the two combined days we caught 98 Fish, 24 Shad and 74 Striped Bass. Our Biggest Striped Bass was 19 inches, and Christian ended up with a huge Shad for his second to last fish of the night. 

I asked Ethan what flies were working for him, his response...Clousers and Deceivers, Tied on my Norvise of course. 

Check out these pictures!  

As we approach Christmas and year-end, there are a few things I want to draw to your attention to in regards to Norvise. Be sure to check out the new Norvise website, nor-vise.com We’ve made some significant changes to make it easier to navigate, the addition of a blog, and created a new ordering system that not only is easier but allows purchasing with the major credit cards as well as PayPal. We hope you get a chance to try it out.

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Norm has been working off and on this past summer and fall on his new still water fly fishing boat. After completing the “half-scale” model, Norm has now moved on to cutting out parts for the full size “Mark IV”. Made from Okoume marine plywood and Alaska Yellow Cedar, this latest boat should weigh in under 100 lbs. and will fit nicely in the back of his real pickup truck.
Plans (sketches) will be made available after the full size boat is finished, as they tend to be a lot more accurate if drawn up after the project its done!