CJ's Fly Box offers hand-tied fishing flies for sale. We tie flies for trout, panfish, and bass fishing. Find us at http://cjsflybox.com.
My name is CJ Klenske, and I have been fly fishing and fly tying since about 2000. Although most of my fishing is done on the trout streams of the Driftless Area of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, I also spend a lot of time chasing smallmouth bass and panfish. When my wife and I travel, I always try to find a little time to spend on the water in that area. So far I have been lucky enough to land f
ish on a fly rod in Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, Michigan, New York, and Maine. That still leaves a lot of places to try in the coming years. When I was still teaching, fly tying was my therapy. The more I did it, the more I enjoyed it. Now that I am retired, I have decided to expand my tying beyond just being a hobby. The flies that I tie are dependable patterns that can be successfully fished just about anywhere. If you don't see the pattern(s) that you are looking for on my website, just ask. I’m always willing to tie something new or different. In fact, one of my passions it to learn to tie patterns that are specific to an area I am traveling to.
Two of my flies earned red ribbons at this year's state fair fly tying competition: The Kamikaze Sculpin in the open class and the Red Neck Pheasant Tail in the nymph class. The Red Neck is a regular on my Etsy site, and the Kamikaze will probably be added soon.
Spent the morning fishing at Bankston Park with Doug. It was a successful outing for both of us, landing some nice fish and missing almost as many. Finished the day with lunch at Breitbach's in Balltown. Couldn't ask for a better day.
Got to spend a couple of hours at Bankston Park this morning. Things started out slow, but finally picked up on the last two holes I fished. Landed a baker's dozen nice trout, Rainbows and a couple of Browns. Unfortunately, #13 turned out to be a jinx. He left me with my flies badly tangled, which took almost 10 minutes to undo. Then first cast after that got caught in the brush on the other side of the creek. Ended up breaking off the whole rig. Rather than taking another 20 minutes to re-rig everything, decided to call it a day. Hot fly today was the Red Neck Pheasant Tail.
Spent some time at Swiss Valley on Tuesday, trying out a couple of new flies. The Boo Boo Baetis turned out to be a hot little fly again. Landed 6 trout for me.
Took the float tube out to Heritage Pond for a couple of hours on Wednesday. The guys that were fishing as I put it on the water were really interested in it, and had a lot of questions about it. (They weren't too excited about fishing because nothing had been biting.) Paddled all around the pond, but didn't find anything until I reached the far side. Cast a popper to some rising fish in the shade, and landed a couple of nice little fish. Nothing else besided them, though.
Got caught up on tying orders, the sun was shining, and the wind wasn't too bad this morning. What's a guy to do? Go fishing, what else. Spent a few hours at Bankston. Started slow, but picked up as the morning went on. Found some nice fish that were willing to take my flies. The Blowtorch was hot on one hole, and a new prototype fly I call the Boo Boo Baetis picked up a few as well. Don't have pictures of the Boo Boo yet, but will take some soon. Only saw one other fisherman on the water while I was there. Got a nice photo of him too.
Four new additions to CJ's Fly Box today. Just put up the Grave Digger Kebari, the Micro Bu**er Jig, a boxed set of Kebari flies, and a boxed set of Slumpbusters. Check them out when you get the chance.
In my "spare time", I've been playing with some more new fly patterns. Now I have to find enough time to try them out on the fish. Hopefully the weather will cooperate on the days I have time to get on the water. One is more for bass fishing, one for panfish, and one mostly for trout.
Another new fly pattern in the shop - the Rubber Leg Stimulator. I've been playing with this one for a while, and decided to finally offer it. Available in sizes 10, 12 and 14 and in Yellow, Orange and Black versions.
Finally had a day when the weather was good and I had enough time to get out on the water. Spent a couple of hours at Bankston trying out some of the new flies I have been working on. Managed to hook two small but fiesty Rainbows on the same new fly. Will have to polish it up a little before I put it in the shop.
First new fly for 2024 is now in the shop. The Puff Puff Midge is available in tan, gray or black in sizes 16, 18 and 20. Check it out at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CJsFlyBox.
Since the end of the year, I've been going through the shop offering, dropping some low performing patterns and some patterns that are just old and tired. I'll probably w**d out a few more before I'm done.
That way I'll have room for some new patterns this year. Here are a few of them that I have been playing with. See what you think of them, and give me some feedback. Thanks. CJ
2023 is in the books. It was another good year for the shop. Top 5 flies for the year were The Only, the Rainbow Perdigon, The Blowtorch, March Brown Soft Hackle and the Pink Squirrel. A mix of some of the new flies and some of the old regulars filled out the top 20. I'm trying out some new patterns that will be added to the shop in 2024, if the fish approve of them. Watch this space.
Finally getting around to this. Dan brought the kids up a couple of weeks ago to go fishing with Grandpa. Took them out to Bergfeld Pond to try our luck. Everett landed a nice little smallmouth and Lila caught a nice little sunfish.
First trip to Wisconsin today. Fished the Blue and the Big Green. Hooked up with at least a dozen Browns, all on the Lime-Aide Perdigon. That fly is a real keeper!
Three more new patterns are up and running at the Fly Box. Check out the Lime-Aide Perdigon, the Chubby Chamois Worm, and the Idaho Killer Kebari. You can find them at www.etsy.com/shop/CJsFlyBox.
Spent a few hours at Bankston this morning testing some new fly patterns. Happy to report that all of the flies tested caught fish. Tried two versions of a chamois worm, a soft hackle called the Red Ass Monkey, and a streamer called the Pimento Leech. The leech took a 16-inch Rainbow on the first cast.
Three more new flies in the shop that would be great in your fly box. They are the Candy Hopper, the Killer Kebari and the Pseudo Mint. Check them all out at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CJsFlyBox.
The shop is back open, and 3 new patterns are now available. First one is the Red Ass Monkey. Second is the Pimento Leech. Last but not least is the Red Neck Pheasant Tail Nymph. All three were created at customer requests. I've fished all three, and they do catch fish. https://www.etsy.com/shop/CJsFlyBox
Back from our trip to the Imperial Cities of Europe. Had a great time, but good to be home.
Time and weather finally cooperated. Spent a few hours at Bankston Park last Friday, trying out some new fly patterns. Landed several nice little Brown trout, lost a few others. The new flies worked well. Will try to get them up in the shop next month.
Annual "Stock Your Box Sale" February 21 - 28. Everything in the shop will be on sale for up to 20% off.
CJ's Fly Box Top 10 for 2022:
Thanks to all my loyal customers that helped make 2022 a great year in the shop! Looking back, these are the top 10 most popular flies in the shop.
New flies at etsy.com/shop/CJsFlyBox. Three colors of John Barr's Slumpbuster in sizes 6 and 8.
The seasons they are a changing. I really enjoy fishing in the Fall around here. Bankston on Friday.
From a recent trip to Backbone State Park. Spent 3 nights in a cabin, hiked, fished, canoed, and really enjoyed the time.
New addition to CJ's Fly Box offerings - the Blowtorch 2. Changed the tail and collar of the original Blowtorch from orange to Chartreuse. The trout have been going crazy over it. Check it out at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CJsFlyBox.
Spent a few hours at Bankston Park trying out a couple of new fly patterns - a lime green version of the Blowtorch and the Neon Caddis. Both proved quite popular with the local trout. A little more testing to be sure, then they will be added to the shop. Sorry, no photos of the flies yet.
This year's State Fair fly tying competition, sponsored by the Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association, were recently announced. CJ's Fly Box did pretty well. Two Blue Ribbons and 2 Red Ribbons.
A couple of more pictures from our stay in Deckers, CO. Jan got a nice shot of me fishing in a really nice hole, our cabin for our stay, and the hot flies on the water.
Dubuque, IA
52001
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The Highland House - Dubuque, IA
Highland Place
