Enjoyed a few good days fishing to celebrate the Opener of California’s General Trout Season. Working on stringing together some words and Photoshopping transferring photos to the computer for a post by Friday.
Wild Rainbow munching on a rubber-legged stimulator…
By now you know that the Older Son and I are likely having a heck of a time. We’re headquartered at the cabin, fishing a few rivers and small streams for trout. Maybe even tainting our lines to chase bluegill and bass in a nearby pond.
During the fishing there will be manly bonding that can only come over fierce friendly competition; competition that likely will be won by guile and cunning rather than youth and strength. In between fishing there will be a visit to our favorite hamburger place. Thankfully, forecasts portend fantastic spring weather. Yeah, a heck of a time.
I can feel your sympathy.
Without a decent laptop, much less a reliable connection to the interwebs, any updates will erratic or nonexistent. In the debate of fishing vs. blogging, well, you can guess the loser.
More words — and taunting — to come. Just can’t say when.
Stepping up to the plate to help educate novice fly fishers tomorrow morning in the basic skills needed to play and land a fish means shoving aside the desire to fling a fly at oh-dark-thirty on Opening Day of Trout Season 2010. (The offer of a free lunch had something nothing to do with volunteering.)
Unfortunately, there’s 125 miles between the classroom and suitable trout water, which means — without too much traffic — I won’t put a fly in or on the water until sometime after 4:00 p.m. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. That magical twilight hour can mean good times on a few of the rivers and streams on my list.
The plan’s a bit in flux until Saturday morning, when older son Sean will decide on his departure hour and whether he’ll stop at the Bass Pro Shops store in Manteca…and how much time and money he might spend there. (Thankfully, he doesn’t have to worry about a wife discovering that Bass Pro offers something for everyone.) His timing will determine on which water will begin his annual attempt to out fish the old man.
A portion of our arsenal.
It’s certain that we’ll mix it up a bit this year. Water flows will dictate whether of not we visit the Clark Fork of the Stanislaus River. The regular, local spots are also on our list. So is Brook Trout Stream X, a small trickle of a creek discovered last year thanks to two local retiree/fishermen, who gave specific instructions to ‘…go down that there road ten miles and you’ll find it.’ No mention that nine of the ten miles would be Forest Service road. We’re hoping that after a long winter that these wild brookies might be a tad hungry enough to be fooled by adequately presented dry flies.
We’ll have the new waterproof camera with us, hoping it’ll be baptized photographing some decent fish.
Our days are about to flash by at a more frenzied pace, but there are fish in our future and more than a few waters — a well-known lake in Northern California, a Washington river, and untold Sierra rivers and streams — in which we’ll wet our fly lines for the first time. We’ll reacquaint ourselves with familiar waters along the way. Then there’s the long-planned Tioga-to-Sonora Pass Motorcycle Fly Fishing Tour.
We’re packed and ready to go.
Yesterday The Wife nonchalantly observed that I haven’t been writing recently. I looked up and mumbled something related to lack of inspiration.
That’s not entirely true, but the truth is somewhere in a middle ground.
Right now the hustle is on in preparation for Opening Day, five days hence. At this time of year it seems like most everything requires marching double time. Stretching Opening Day weekend into a four-day trip means taking two days off at work. In turn, this requires a doubling up of the workload to avoid an inevitable avalanche of paperwork when I return; something guaranteed to quickly kill any post-fishing afterglow. It also cuts into time needed to regale co-workers with feats of fly fishing excellence.
Preparation requires the collection and inspection of gear more than once as I can’t won’t trust a mental checklist to ensure that all’s ready to go.
My overwhelmed mind hourly sorts through the various fishing options, trying to decide which river or stream to fish first or the order in which to fish them; an important decision that factors in variables such as likely catch rate, water flow, species, the payoff of trying an unfamiliar venue, and the desire for solitude.
Trips to the gym bring about physical agony and mental anguish. There’s an understanding of the long-term benefit — the ability to keep up on the river with the sons — but it takes time away from preparation. More energy’s wasted shoving aside thoughts of yard work.
All the while, anticipation slows time to a crawl.
This is the storm behind the calm.
Thank goodness I tied what I think will be enough flies last month.
An ASVAB score pointing to Army MOS Field 92 foretold of our penchant for long-range planning. That same long-range planning fuels fly tying and anticipation of the coming trout fishing season. What’s slowly becoming an annual effort of logistics planning and matériel acquisition is underway.
We’re warming up. Figuratively and literally. Spring’s officially around the corner.
Mid-March marks the beginning of the end of winter and sounds the four-week warning bell for The Club’s annual auction, where we’ll donate cold hard cash in exchange for not necessarily warm or soft flies.
And fishing plans are being hatched.
Long before the felt vs. rubber-soled wading shoe debate.
Heck, long before any environmental concerns.
It all begins the last weekend of April.
We’ll be out the gates Opening Weekend with a quick three days of fishing Sierra west-slope streams and rivers in the hope that they’ve suitably recuperated over the winter. The oldest son might join me, though it’s hard to tell if it’s the fishing he’s after or a buffalo burger at Diamondback Grill. Regardless, we’ll be going where the fish are and cell phones hopefully don’t work. And once the trout season opens, the rush will be on to squeeze in fishing weekends as we can.
Next stop: the Upper Sacramento. This late June trip with The Club will incorporate “bugology” and on-the-water education. This’ll be yours truly’s first visit to this much talked-about far nothern stretch of the “Nile of the West,” fulfilling the self-made promise to try at least one new trout water each year.
But wait. There’s more.
The visit to the Upper Sac will be immediately followed by two days of guided fishing on Eagle Lake. The excuse is that we’ll be in the neighborhood. Mostly. The truth is that Eagle Lake is on the all-too-long bucket list. Best to start early whittling down that list.
The midsummer plan is to hit up the folks who raised us for lodging and grub, then chase Puget Sound salmon with the bro’, pa and few of their friends. It’ll be a quick trip…one of a length that now appears too short since dad’s stepped up to join us for a float on the Yakima and there’s a possibility of getting onto some local water, backed by the local knowledge of fellow fly fisher who’s offered whatever tidbits he might grudgingly share in exchange for a pint or a lunch or a dinner.
The year’s shaping up to be a windfall of new waters. Four new venues in just as many months. The months that follow will offer the comfort of the familiar.
Nothing’s set in stone for the dog days of summer, but history hints at a few weekend stays at The Cabin, punctuated by high-speed runs leisurely drives over Sonora Pass to wet the line in one or more waters: the rivers Walker (East, West and Little), Lee Vining Creek, Saddlebag Creek, and the Lyell and/or Dana forks of the Tuolumne.
Favorite late fall target: High Sierra brook trout.
We’ll officially mark the start of fall with a three-day stay at Tom’s Place Resort with perhaps a dozen club members spreading out to their favorite (lower) Eastern Sierra Waters. From sunrise to sunset we’ll be educating trout and testing home-tied flies on Rock Creek and Crowley Lake, with stops at Hot Creek and the Upper Owens and East Walker rivers. Dusk to dawn will mean home-cooked meals, homemade beer and sleep, in that order.
That’s where specific plans end. Rest assured, the looming closure of the season will bring renewed and somewhat frenetic energy. Energy for quick weekend trips, again headquartered at The Cabin, with day trips here and there.
Trying to live the life of a gentleman fly fisherman is tough. But I’m trying my best.
Inherent in my nature is finding a deal. My dad describes it as scheming. Be that as it may, I’ll admit that the idea of free fly fishing gear in exchange for joining a fly fishing company’s pro staff offers a lot of allure.
But it’s also well established that I’m self described as an expert in everything and a specialist in nothing. Folks generously call someone like that a ‘generalist.’ For better or worse, that applies to my fly fishing as well.
Now, after reading Phil Monahan’s How Do I Get on a Company’s ‘Pro Staff’? on Midcurrent.com, there’s no doubt that the dream of fly fishing freebies will be far out of reach until there’s an inversion of my hours spent working and hours spent fishing. For some silly understandable reasons, fly fishing companies demand a modicum of expertise that I simply don’t have. This inner sincerity coincidentally knocks me out of any competitive fly fishing tournament.
The solution is beer. I’ve reserved multiple spots on my vest for the sponsorship of independent American craft brewers — makers of Fishing for Words’ post-fishing beverage of choice. Budweiser has the Bud Girls. Now craft breweries can have on-the-stream representation targeting a crowd that largely loves a locally brewed pint.
Just as they’re called microbrewies, my vision appropriately focuses on micromarketing. Sponsorship will hinge upon the water being fished. For the Eastern Sierra, a well-placed logo on my vest might be compensated with a case of Double Nut Brown from the Mammoth Brewing Co.
In the Sierra foothills, fishing Beaver Creek and the waters alongside Highway 4 or 108 might suggest a patch and a bottle or twenty-four from Snowshoe Brewing Co. Closer to home, the fast-growing but still irreverent Lagunitas Brewing Co. might be the free beer provider sponsor to choose for Putah Creek. While I’d lean toward Lagunitas’ PILS (Czech Style Pilsner), you have to love its other beers just because of their names: Hop Stoopid Ale, Brown Shugga (sweet ale), Wilco Tango Foxtrot (Imperial Brown Ale) and, of course, the seasonal Hairy Eyeball ‘Warmer’ aka bierwärmer (no actual eyeballs used in its brewing). This summer I’ll be drifting Central Washington’s Yakima River for the first time, opening up an opportunity for sponsorship by the nearby Iron Horse Brewery.
While I’ll call dibs on this idea, the untold number of local craft breweries across this country of ours will offer plenty of opportunity for fellow fly fishers to jump on this beer wagon.
Not all of us can cast further than an arms-length away, but most of us will proudly wear the colors of our favorite brew if it means having to drink demonstrate the product streamside.
I’m not the philosophical fly fisher. I fish to catch…despite knowing it’s called fishing, not catching.
I care for my gear, ensuring that loosing that bigger-than-expected trout can only be blamed on my lack of skill bad luck.
And I tie flies to replace those that have proven to be effective.
March has become the month of anticipation. The worst of winter is probably past, spring’s ahead with another season of trout fishing; either fishing alone, with my sons, with club members, or with a fellow fly fisherman just met on the stream. The Sierra Nevada streams in which the flies I tie will float or sink…and sometimes float when they should sink and sink when they should float…won’t be open to trout fishermen for another 58 days, 5 hours, and 42 minutes.
But fly tying isn’t a cure for the itch to fish. It’s merely a distraction.
I tend to use subsurface flies, or nymph, a lot. Last summer I discovered that a certain nymph designed by a certain guide produced quite a few fish for me on a certain river.
I’m not a great fly tier. Those who call fly tying an “art” haven’t seen some of my attempts. And by no means was I able to dissect a fly and end up tying a suitable duplicate.
Until now. The key: nail polish.
Any fly tier with more experience would appropriately laugh at my discovery, but for me it was the lost ingredient in this fly’s recipe. I’ve never dabbled with nail polish in fly tying ‘cause I never used any fly recipes that called for it.
But that thin, clear coating of polish that brings out the rainbow, almost opalescence, of the flash tied on the base of black thread. Cool stuff.
Now it’s only 58 days, 5 hours, and 41 minutes until Opening Day. But there are plenty more flies to tie. A few to lose in the bushes behind me, a few to share with family and friends, and at least one to tie for that bigger-than-expected rainbow.
With our Opening Day 72 days away, things are looking pretty good. The Sierra snowpack appears to be in fair shape, particularly on the Eastside. New flies have been tied. Gear’s ready.
But wait. It gets better.
One beverage of choice for the post-fly fishing adventure has been deemed to be a great source of stuff that’ll improve bone health.
Researchers at the nearby University of California, Davis (and now friends of fly fishermen everywhere), have published a study showing that beer contains a large amount of dietary silicon (Si). Thankfully, better-tasting many microbrews seem to be the best source of the mineral.
UCD researchers tested 100 commercial beers for silicon content and organized the results according to beer style and source. According to the study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, India Pale Ales (IPAs) offer the best bet at boosting bone mineral density (BMD) with a silicon content averaging 41.2 parts per million (ppm). Ales offer an average of 32.8 ppm. Lagers like Budweiser, PBR, Coors, and Molson aren’t worth drinking offer only half as much silicon as IPAs, at a relatively feeble 23.8 ppm. Since boosting BMD protects against osteoporosis, does more beer drinking equal more time on the water in retirement? We’d like to think so.
Note of Warning
It’s pretty obvious that except when bass fishing or brownlining it would be counterproductive to consume beer prior to stumbling around boulders in a favorite stream. Less obvious is that one should leave the beer behind during winter fly fishing. Beer freezes fairly easily. That’s where the whiskey comes in.
[Article: “Silicon in Beer and Brewing.” Troy R. Casey and Charles W. Bamforth. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Published Online: February 8, 2010 (DOI: 10.1002/JSFA.3884); Print Issue Date: February 2010]
Yes, each.
I’m a big fan of the thin green line that protects our natural resources so it’s to be expected that an appreciative smile crossed my face when a Google alert linked me to the following from KearneyHub.com:
VALENTINE (Nebraska) — A Nebraskan’s taste for trout has left him up a dry creek for a year and $6,523 poorer.
Timothy Bare, 53, of Valentine was caught possessing 249 trout. The legal possession limit is eight.
A Cherry County judge revoked Bare’s Nebraska fishing and hunting privileges for one year and assessed him $5,875 in damages, $600 in fines and $48 in court costs.
The investigation began Sept. 13 when Valentine police officers contacted Frank Miller, a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission conservation officer, about fish found in a large trash bin. The investigation led to Bare’s home.A search of a freezer in the garage revealed 249 trout, five undersized largemouth bass, two perch, a channel catfish, a bluegill, seven salmon steaks and a package of processed wild game, authorities said.
Bare’s fines included penalties for the undersized bass. He pleaded guilty Monday.
Nebraska fishing regulations generally allow anglers to catch four trout daily. Some state lakes and city ponds across Nebraska have an eight-trout daily bag limit under a special regulation.
Anglers, however, may not possess more than eight trout.
A Nebraska Resident Fishing License: $26.00
The Fine for 249 Trout in Possession: $6,523.00
This Bozo Getting Caught: Priceless
fishing for words 