fishing for words

It seems to me that we fishermen can be quite the contradictory crowd. Many of us might agree wholeheartedly with W.D. Wetherell, who in his book “One River More” wrote,

[…] So, my fellow fly fishers, the time has come to bring secrecy back into our gentle pastime — the tight lips, the polite shrug, the knowing wink. […]when it comes to your favorite spots, cherish them in secret, keep your mouth shut — and leave the godamn electronics at home.

Yet in an age when technological proficiency often goes hand-in-hand with the knowledge of knots that may have originated in “The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle”, who among us doesn’t rely on at least one marvel of modern times in the pursuit of those fish in the genus Oncorhynchus. For those of us willing to acknowledge this truth, I would propose that a more pertinent question might be how one might reconcile the traditional secrecy lends a mystery to the sport of fishing (especially fly fishing) with the use of “godamn electronics?”

My own philosophy is that what matters most is not the secrecy of one’s favorite spot or strategy, but the tangible act of fishing. Isn’t that why we tolerate getting up before God and a four-hour drive just to challenge our abilities and skills in a cold stream? And why we will repeat this ritual two weeks later, even though a previous trip left us tired and cold and fishless? You bet it is. The combination of the scenery through which a river flows, the sound of the water, the occasional conversation with a passing angler, and many other facets that lead up to fishing, and of course, the fishing itself, add up to an experience that is only sweetened by hooking and hopefully landing a fish.

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There’s been plenty of talk about the heavy winter this year in the Sierras. Below is a picture that speaks volumes.  This picture, of Mt. Dana and Tioga Lake, was taken by Steven from SierraVisions.com on June 10th. 

On those days that you can’t get out to the water — at least those of us who aren’t yet leading the life of retirement — you might find some enjoyment in reading Fishing on the Edge by Mike Iaconelli. For those who’ve never inadvertently accidentally found themselves watching a bass tournament on ESPN during the early morning or late evening hours, the Philadelphia-born and New Jersey-raised Mr. Iaconelli (aka “Ike”) is one of the pro fisherman “blamed” for stealing the spotlight from BASS’ traditionally southern anglers. He weaves a whopper of a story about a college-educated kid with tattoos and a hip-hop soundtrack climbing through the ranks to take first place at the 2003 CITGO Bassmaster Classic. He has attracted both fan and foes for his antics, but one can’t slight his enthusiasm for fishing. While “attacking” bass is very different from stalking trout, Fishing on the Edge is a passionate, informative and often hilarious tale of a truly amazing personality.

I’ve finally taken my first big step on the way to learning about and/or how to fly fish. A big envelope arrived over the weekend, which I opened to reveal my very own and first fly rod. While the idea of fly fishing bring to my mind the possibility of great adventures and big trout, the size of this thing is a bit intimidating…it’s nine-feet long. To be more specific, it’s a nine-foot 5-weight rod; the type recommended for beginners who might drop a fly in the steams of the Sierra Nevada. Though I am sure that I’ll try using it a few times during the early summer, now I’m truly looking forward to our basic fly fishing class in August!

After resigning myself to having a pro install the power line for my Icom IC-2720 radio (VHF/UHF amateur radio) in my 2003 Honda Accord, I spent Saturday pondering the position of the head unit and speaker. I knew where I wanted them to go, but it took a bit of pulling and prying to get some of the trim out of the way so I could pull the CD container at the base of the center console. Here’s how it ended up…

The rest was pretty simple, though time consuming. I used a block of wood cut to fit the bottom the CD container, then mounted, via some bent brass straps, the radio control head, with the speaker behind it. Though it might not give me the best sound, I can throw the mic into the compartment and close the door and every thing is out of sight. I ended up running the control cable and speaker wire through the back of the compartment, then underneath it, and since I had the trim removed both wires run underneath the coin pockt/power outlet cover and the shifter cover and emerge alongside the passenger seat, where the main body of the radio will reside. Below is a close up of the radio control head and the speaker.

The mic holder is, of course, made of bent coat hanger and is attached inside the glove compartment door. (Why do we call them “glove compartments” when rarely will on find actual gloves inside?) The mic holder took all of about 30 minutes to fabricate and install. 

Though it didn’t turn out exactly as I had envisioned, I thnk it will work well. Particularly since I now have the control head angled towards the driver’s seat, so it should be quite visible. (The LCD on this unit doesn’t have a wide range of visibility to the side.) During the next week or so I’ll have the power line in and have to decide on an antenna mount. 

Oh, also finished re-screening all the screens this weekend!