So, the ice-off is just around the corner, and I have my Christmas gifts all assembled. A 9′/5W St. Croix Elite rod, coupled with an Orvis Battenkill, mid-arbor reel. Hydros 5-wt line and a 9′, 5x tapered nylon leader. Some tippet material when the leader gets a little thick. A nice over-the-shoulder pack to replace my worn out vest.
The waders and boots will probably have to wait a few more paychecks. But in the short term I’ve been able to practice some casts on the creek in the back yard. Pretty good with the standard casting, and my roll casts are going pretty well also. But I’ve been struggling a bit with my double-haul casts.
Fortunately for me, people are giving free instruction on YouTube.
You know, if it weren’t for the crazies overseas, and loonies in Washington, this would have all the makings of a fine century.
“…if it weren’t…”
“Other than THAT, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?”
FISHING is a reason for drinking and DRINKING is the reason for why men fish…..a perfect circle.
Have fun CAP – Classic Car season begins in the spring and there’s nothing better than spending a Saturday afternoon admiring lots of old steel and chrome. The ladies think so too…I see a good number of them when I drive my 1963 Willys to the local shows.
How many good looking ladies do you see out there at the fishin’ hole?????
Car Shows – sigh – how I love them. Spent many years as a kid going to them with my dad as he displayed his hobby. He won many firsts and a few best of shows with a 1934 Ford Cabriolet with rumble seat.
Oh yeah and don’t get me started on the Shelby’s he had. It is to weep when we look at how much they are worth today and he sold them in the late 1970s after he had fun with them.
I’m partial to the muscle car shows but – if it’s shiny and revs – I’m there.
Roger that Kris….chrome, speed and the way that older autos & trucks are works of art as well as awesome transportation.
I get to walk around, enjoyable good cigar and admire others wheels while showing off my old Jeep….gotta get another 1968 Impala at some time….had 4 of them.
I also 1966 Beetle that is in pieces awaiting my time and attention…..lords fun and simple to rebuild.
I would be happy to have my 1973 Cougar Convertible again. With the custom 351 Cleveland engine it satisfied my need for speed, had that distinctive throaty growl at idle and oh yea – powder blue with a white top and white interior. Smoked anything on the road in its day.
I’m getting the impression that few of the, em… gentlemen. Are clicking though to that YouTube video. Which is a shame, that having been more or less the point.
Pity.
She seems to be doing fine without the waders.
Is she using dry flys or the other kind?
I clicked the “show more” button under the text but no joy.
Nothing sexier than a woman with a flyrod.
Upon request might be able to fix you up with a bamboo rod if so inclined.
Sorry kind sir, but I must disagree.
NOTHING sexier than a woman with a weapon…
Take a peek at the link to gain a greater perspective….ohhhhh yeah.
http://thechive.com/2012/02/16/girls-with-guns-go-together-like-milk-and-cookies-30-photos/
C’mon. Nothing sexier than your wife in bed with come hither eyes directed at you.
You guys are sick.
Bustier – check; negligee – check; .32 automatic ladies social purposes pistol in shoulder holster – check; fly rod in left hand – check; hair, makeup, depiliatory treatment – check; mmm, something doesn’t quite fit.
Worn nightie, messy house, hair a wreck, well scrubbed face and hands, kids at the in-laws for the weekend, husband with bed tray – OJ, toast, favorite flavor of jam, eggs like she likes them, hash browns, bacon, one red rose in vase, overslept 40 minutes and awakened by Husband’s voice: “wakeup, sleepy head, breakfast in bed…” AND WE HAVE LIFTOFF, LIFTOFF ON THE TRIP TO THE MOON!
Ladies…can I have an AMEN?
Just looked at that vid now – for about three frames, then CLICK. Glad I didn’t try earlier (like when more people were here at work).
Tight lines!
On this blog, I always click the links…
I used a set of Cabela’s Dry Plus chest waders for four seasons in the Pacific Northwest, while working as a fishery biologist.We were wading the creeks five days a week for about six months out of the year at 8 to 10 hours a day and they held up real well. The nice thing about these is that they are made of a Goretex type material, which is nice after you leave the water when it’s warm out
I wore the Vibram sole Guide boots with them and they were ok for hiking back to our vehicles once we were done with a given site..
I’m giving up golf and taking up fishing.
virgil dear …Lex is correct about “if it weren’t,” which, could also be “were it not the case”. Conditional tense, sweet virgil. I love it that at least some writers of note still use the conditional tense when the concept requires it. It might be a tad old-fashioned, since many so-called English teachers never learned about the conditional tense in the first place.
Marianne
Y’all are talkin’ ’bout fishin’, right?
Don’t see nuthin’ but a purty gal workin’ a buggy whip…
A Black or Brown Wooly bugger has caught me more rainbows than all other early season flies combined in lakes.
In upper New Hampshire, we used classic Carrie Stevens patterns, casting for landlocked Atlantic Salmon in the Winnepesaukie River or in open spaces of the ice at Alton Bay. Our season began on April Fool’s Day, and I never missed. Streamer patterns that come to mind are the Grey Ghost and the one named for Colonel Bates. Small streamers were #8 – 10. We trolled larger tandems.
Up on the magnificent Miramichi River in Doaktown, New Brunswick (season opens on our Tax Day), we tossed flies as large as 4/0 downward. Gaudy colors were in vogue for ice out season up there. The fish could run as large as 30 pounds.
Late in the season, much smaller Green Machines, Copper Killers and such creations work their magic.
Don’t miss it a bit. Nope. Nor the Single Malt Whisky afterwards. After dinner. Till we fell down.
I have never understood fly-fishing. I mean, you fish to get food, right? Why make it hard for yourself? Used to be, you could buy dynamite in any hardware store…
Maybe fly-fishing is some kind of socially-acceptable autistic perseveration for people who think they’re normal?
DuPont spinner works every time!
Chief Watson called it a 4 oz Dupont lure.
Besides, HE is more humane. It has been proven that fish do indeed feel pain. With explosives, it’s just one short sharp shock wave and it’s all over instantaneously.
After a backcast flipped a perfectly good Irish hat into the stream, I slipped on the rocks and busted my ass, and at the end of the day I was soaked, freezing, and had a trout the size of which an allycat would have walked by, I decided 1. There is no fish in the Trinity River 2. This sucks. 3. Lab pups love chewing the tips off of Pflueger bamboo rods. 4. SaveMart has a sale on Orange Roughy.
Up here in southern Michigan, the land of the usually white winter but not always, we’ve been having a warm and not snowy time the last few months. A few sunny 40+ degree days make thoughts of dragging the boat out of the garage and firing it up. The hardier souls have not put theirs away, pulling perch into their boats in spots where they normally would park the ice fishing shanty.
Me, I’m already thinking about the bass, and I don’t mean the guitar or giant violin-like thing. A calm evening with flat water, a fly rod, a small surface popper, and couple of pounds of bass make for a good time.
George V.
P.S. – Bucket list item is some trips up to northern areas of Michigan, to test the waters of the Au Sable and other trout streams.
Tenkara anyone? Reels? We dont need no stinking reels… small stream Sierras… killin’ it Tenkara style.