Trickling in

Multiple reports of fish being caught yesterday on the Columbia river above the mud puking Willamette.  Hopefully it was the front of the run nosing in as opposed to a rogue pod moving through.  The river is being reported at 41-44 degrees depending on location which is starting to warm up from last week, but the snow wont help a dang thing in that aspect!

Rumor has it that 500 fish of the quota has been caught so far this season, and with the low catch rate we may be looking at an extended season.

Try and find the cleanest water you can, out of the current and you'll find the fish.  Hopefully this is the beginning of another great season!!

Swirling Colors

Can you have to many colors?  I've been pushing so hard lately trying to get stock built back up for the upcoming season and lately my mind has started wandering.... nothing bad, just wondering about new colors.  When does it become to many?  Is there ever enough colors?  I know the combinations I'm thinking of will work, and I feel very confident they will work very good.  Is the fishing industry ready for another innovation?

What would you say to a directional flasher, meaning you ran one design if the sun was moving East and West and another if its North and South?  Hmmm....  I'm seeing people roll there eyes!!  Wait a minute, the Shortbus is serious??

How about another flasher targeted at a specific species?  I've got prototypes built already so there will be some testing coming very soon....

It may be an illness of playing with colors but honestly its kind of fun.  Thinking up a pattern, running prototypes, field testing (my favorite) and hopefully success (also my favorite)  So I ask the question, is there ever to many colors?

I hope not because I ordered a custom color that will be AMAZING once it hits the water!! 

Shortbus Evolution

16 months ago I decided to dive into the tackle business and start up Shortbus Flashers,  I still have a few of the original blades that I made by hand and pieced together scraps of tape I had just laying around and they fished just fine. 

My close fishing buddies would set down the larger brand tackle flashers and run my goofy looking pieces and what do you know, they worked!  Now it was time to convince some guides to give them a shot and wouldnt you know a couple actually took the plunge and said yes they would run them on the guided trips.

Word of mouth spread and I had the pleasure of talking with a few small tackle shops in the area who moved a few pegs around and made the extra display space and low and behold we were official! 

New colors, innovative patterns Shortbus Flashers was evolving, people giggled and said they would never work but my friends fished them anyhow and again, we struck gold on a few lines.  Guides shared tips, friends gave feedback and fish were taken as the evolution kept on.

I received a couple of phone calls yesterday, restocking needs at a couple of the established stores, phone calls from new friends asking which colors they needed to look for, a guide with another innovation on colors we're working on this weekend and three calls and e-mails of new inquiries about carrying the Shortbus Line.

A post on Facebook toward the end of the day stating my excitement with the way the Bus was rolling really hit home for me....  This isnt about luck, this isn't about trends, this is about people believing in the product, this is friends taking the time out of their day to spread the word, this is about sharing years of knowledge to improve every day.  To all my friends "little people" as was stated in responses, I want to say Thank You for the knowledge, the suggestions but most of all, thank you for the support, I hope you know just how much your support has meant to me and my vision for Shortbus Flashers.

Thank you,
JT "Shortbus"