Winter is fly tying time, and we're gearing up with a greatly expanded materials selection. Among the new items are Peak vises and accessories, Terra vises, and Dr. Slick Microtip scissors. New materials include UTC Ultra Thread, Arizona Synthetic Peacock and Crystal Rabbit dubbing, a much bigger bead selection, and new colors of Ultra Wire. There's much more to come.

In the past few months we have received new rod lines from Sage and Winston. Sage's new rod, the ZXL, is significantly lighter, stronger and easier to cast for those who enjoy a smooth progressive taper. It is a little softer in the tip than the Z-Axis, but with lots of power; it is a dream to cast. Winston's new line, the BIIt, is an extremely light medium action rod that is especially suited to delicate dry fly presentations. The BIIt is another casting dream for those who like a traditional feel, but with enough backbone for longer casts. As is typical with Winston, the fittings really enhance the look of the rods.

Our line of Laughing Grizzly logo apparel is growing. Check out the blaze orange logo caps, and the embroidered logo Simms shirts. Buy one of each, put on your shirt, put some Hat Eyes on the cap, and sit down to read one of the great selections from our bookrack or tie a few flies. As a side note, we supplied our embroidered logo shirts to the members of Rocky Mountain Team 2 in the National Fly Fishing Championships. The team made a great showing, and we are proud of them. Team members were Sandy Wright, John Knight, David Pehle, Tanner Tenbrink and Bernard Ramanauskas.

Beginning November 1, our new hours will be Tuesday through Saturday 9:00-6:00, and 9:00 -1:00 on Sunday. We will continue to be closed on Monday.

We will include some photos that we haveve received from friends in each newsletter. If you would like to submit some pix, send digital images as e-mail attachments or drop off a disk at the shop. Include some notes about where and when the pix were taken so we can include that information. This month's photos are from Tom and Mike Maydew's recent trip to the Bighorn River in Montana. Those are some mighty purty fish.