We’re proud to share that a pro using our blanks is leading the US Open Bass tournament at Lake Meade.  Bink Desaro is on top of the board with one day left to go. Bink’s weapons of choice are built by Fetha Styx on North Fork blanks.

We’re rooting for you Bink! Good luck tomorrow!

Click here to follow the leaders.

As I mentioned, G.Loomis sued us again.

Yesterday Gary and I made the journey to the Federal Courthouse in Tacoma. As with most Federal Courthouses, the Tacoma building is a beautiful place. It is the remodeled Union Train Station. It’s full of Dale Chihuly glass. He’s a famous guy with an eye patch. The patch is pretty cool.

G.Loomis had dragged us to court for a temporary restraining order. A TRO is used to get someone to stop doing something. Rather than go through the arguments, I’ll just say that we are pleased to share that the Hon. Benjamin Settle denied what G.Loomis wanted yesterday.

While I’d like to say that this will allow me to get back to work on making blanks, this is just Round I. We line up again on August 10th for Round II and there will be a Round III sometime later this year.

I keep trying to leave law practice, but the only way for us to afford the legal fees is for me to be a lawyer for a little while longer. Please don’t hold it against me and rest assured that my heart remains here:

and nothing will stop us from providing you the best blanks in the world.

Jon

We apologize, but it’s going to be difficult for us to update this blog as often as we would like. We like to use this blog to tell you about what we are working on and what has been happening at NFC.

Right now, what we are working on is responding to another lawsuit from G.Loomis. We find it flattering that a corporation as large as Shimano is so concerned about our little operation.

I don’t want to say much about the lawsuit now, but I will probably post our court documents online for you to read.

So rest assured, while we would rather be here:

we’re working as hard as we can for the ability to bring you the best blanks on the market.

We love to blow things up and tip a couple of beers as much as the next guy. But before we try to lose a finger or two, we thought we’d take a minute to recognize those who started our country a couple hundred years ago.

Today is the anniversary of our succession, for on July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence from Britain. They knew that war was likely, as their vote was treason against England. It remains the ultimate “all in”.

One of America’s forefathers, and the second president of the United States, wrote to his wife the importance of what happened 234 years ago to this date.

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”   -John Adams

John Adams was mostly right, but it took two days to sharpen the quill and pen the Declaration of Independence.

We don’t take our freedom lightly, as we recognize how much sacrifice has been made in order for us to be free. So as you spend the time off with your family and friends, take a moment to think about why we get to enjoy this holiday weekend.

Introducing our newest addition to the team, Kristin. Kristin just polished off her Junior year and is working towards a degree in Mechanic Engineering. She has a special interest in composites.

She has already proved her worth in the office, but we decided to see if she could bring her skills to our local creek.

How about those sweet neoprenes!

We are thrilled to have her here until she has to return to school.

And we wonder why our salmon runs are declining…

The commercial guys’ definition of “selective fishing.”

On the bright side, they did cut the gills immediately.

<insert appropriate swear word here________>

So you can see by the look on my face that I’m not so sure about this boat.

But apparently you can catch some nice fish out of it.  Our Pro Bass Angler Ed Chin puts us on the board with a nice smallie caught on a crankbait.

Our distinguished guest got in on the action as well.  Also on a crankbait.  Notice that I don’t even stop to look, I need to get on the board!

And here it is.  I’ll let you all decide who caught the biggest fish.

Much thanks to our host, Ed Chin, we learned tons and caught a few dozen smallies.

Our guest is a fly guy, and we couldn’t send him out alone. So I moved my office outside for the day.

Takeshi turns out to be a pretty good stick.  He caught a lot of these little guys.

Turns out, in Japan, most of what they catch are 10 inchers, so he was pretty happy to be consistently catching these guys.

Because I want to enlighten our guests with our culture here in Woodland, Washington, we taught Takeshi an invaluable American phrase, “I need to talk to a man about a horse.”

Sorry to have been so out of touch on the blog. There have been a number of things happening.

Recently, we had a guest come to our little operation in Woodland, Washington. Takeshi Horiguchi took a 12 hour flight from Nagano, Japan to see us. We’ll post some photos of the fishing we did over the next three days, but the highlight of his trip?

I know it should not be ranked but the most exciting moment I had in this trip was, 1st conversation with the legend Gary…

Glad you enjoyed the trip Takeshi.

Hopefully in the near future he will be the one supplying Japan with America’s best rod blanks!

North Fork would like you to remember that Memorial Day is about thanking all those who have put their lives on the line, and who have lost their lives, to protect America’s freedom.  So while you are enjoying your day off, we hope that you are giving thanks to all those that have served our country.

Quick note: The latest blanks stats as of May 21, 2010 have been posted on the NFC Available Blank Stats page in the right-hand side-bar. Fly blank stats are not yet included, but can be seen in the previous post.

You were wondering what the first fly blanks are like? Here you go…

Classic Trout Fly (CTF)

CTF 803-2: ERN3.9/AA62. 1.05oz; Tip dia: .05; Butt dia: .288

CTF 864-2: ERN4.5/AA62. 1.3oz; Tip dia: .058; Butt dia: .316

CTF 905-2: ERN5.7/AA62. 1.60z; Tip dia: .058; Butt dia: .365

CTF 906-2: ERN6.5/AA62. 1.65oz; Tip dia: .058; Butt dia .370

Trout Fly (TF)

TF 967-2: ERN 7.5/AA66. 2.05oz; Tip dia: .062; Butt dia: .370

Salmon Steeelhead Fly (SSF)

SSF 967-2: ERN 7.5/AA66. 2.05oz; Tip dia: .062; Butt dia: .370

SSF 968-2:ERN 8.5/AA66. Unfortunately someone (we won’t mention any names) had the lone approved blank built to fish with prior to getting the diameters and weight. If you don’t mind being slightly imprecise, we can tell that the 968 is “a bit” larger in diameter and “somewhat” heavier than the 967. If you can’t live with that, don’t worry, the production blanks are coming through and we’ll measure another one for you all shortly.

Please keep in mind that production tolerances may vary slightly and thus blanks may vary slightly. The numbers above were generated from the last batch of “approved,” pre-production blanks.

Here is Jesse Sampson of Small Stream Outfitters with our new St 1002-2(IM). You can see the bend up to the handle. Notice he doesn’t grab above the cork.

Umm... Jesse... That rod is only rated to 10 lbs...

We made it for steelhead, but Jesse is an overachiever.

BBQ Bound!

KING ME!

16 lb Chinook Salmon

Pictured below is Brig. Gen. Charles Yeager. I was lucky enough to sit at his table at the Fish First Banquet.

General Yeager is a living American hero.  How often do you get to shake the hand of a man with these decorations?

Distinguished Service Medal (2) Silver Star (2) Distinguished Flying Cross (3) Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star Purple Heart Presidential Medal of Freedom Congressional Silver Medal

I couldn’t afford to buy the signed print he had generously donated, but I did score an American flag that was flown over the White House on March 5, 2010. I’ll post a picture once it’s framed.

Also up for grabs were 10 brand new North Fork salmon sticks that were tied up into rods by Brian Timm with help from Anglers’ Workshop. Beautiful work guys.

One of the highlights of the evening was the thanks giving to Jack Kaeding and Dan Balch. You can see Jack’s comments here.

All in all, it was an event we were thrilled to be a part of with people we are proud to call friends.