In what seems like another life, my wife and I went to school at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. I would not say it was by accident that we landed in a tropical climate at a university next to the beach, but I will say that I vastly underestimated the fishing opportunities in South Florida. From tuna and snook to snakeheads and peacock bass there was always something to try for the first time or a favorite fish that was on the bite. It can be quite problematic for a true fishing nerd to satisfy all their fishing urges whilst also trying to get an education, have a good time, and sleep now and again. Looking back… Not sure how I managed.
Honestly, it would be impossible for me to go into great detail about the different species that caused me strife during my several years in South Florida. I absolutely love fishing for snook on the beach. I have said many times that if I had one fishing day left, that I would want to be walking the sand in South Florida casting at beach cruising snook. They fight hard, they chase flies to the sand, they like to eat, and you can cast at them on foot from the beach. In my opinion, targeting snook on the fly gets top marks, but that wasn’t the fish that I spent the most time chasing.
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It's been a fraught week. A bad moon is rising, anxiety spiking. Other unpleasantness also showed up. Some from ignoring my mail for six weeks - a surprise tax bill and notice of lapsed parking permits were in the pile, Add oppressive heat and you have a party. An approaching wedding requires new clothes so I went shopping, which always leaves me with a feeling of loneliness and worry. I’m surrounded by loving people but when high anxiety takes hold it’s hard to shake - I become reactive and unskillful. Time to go fishing! - so I went to the beach looking for corbina. Always helps.
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I was talking to the man behind \\\\\/ when I was in Piteå about a lot of fly casting stuff. One of them was the roll cast. Lately I have been getting more and more into the roll cast and I think that is a cast that deserves more credit and attention. Sometimes seen as a beginners cast. It can be, it can help someone get going quite fast. Heavy line and a soft rod and things can get going quite fast to a fishable cast. But the same time I think that the roll cast can be the cast that really shows the casters skills. A long roll cast with a stiff rod, light line and tight vertical loop, that is a hard cast. Or roll casting into a head wind, not an easy cast.
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Three reindeer marking days in a row, Tuesday came as savior. Rainy day and we had masseur booked. Well it was not fully a rest day, as hay making is closer than behind the corner and all the machines are not maintained. You can't do that in rain as some parts need to be covered from water.
Wednesday we had once again some TV shooting, this time French TV. It was about fishing and local life. We had a session at our lake first.
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We've been getting terrible weather here. Apparently there's a nearly typhoon cruising around off the south coast. It's just not managed to coalesce into a proper cyclone and move on. So we've had high winds, hot temps and horrible humidity.
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Several records were won last weekend at the Cheshire BFCC event. Steve took the S55g record from James, so adding to his success from earlier in the year at the UK Champs where he took the S55g title. Then Nick beat Bart's #5 record, adding to his win at last year's Game Fair Champs. Also Stuart took the S55g S60 (senior aged 60+) record from Stewart.
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Nick sent me a video last week of his thoughts/review on the HT5. This rod was the most difficult rod for me to make in many ways. Certainly it took the longest amount of time, the greatest amount of effort and the most prototypes. With the HT6 being the Sexyloops flagship Holy Grail model and the HT4 being simply in a world of its own, the 5 had to be something really very special indeed!
And of great significance in my mind, was that in the US, the 9’ #5 is the top selling model. And since I have no intention of ever going through the process again, it really was important to me to make the absolute best 5WT I could, and not to finish the design process until I felt that we had accomplished this.
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I have been fortunate in my life to have met so many wonderful people. I can’t take much credit for the adventures I’ve been on, but I wouldn’t trade the road I am traveling for anyone else’s. Some of the people that I have met, due to my wife and her family, have been salty multi-generational captains of fishing vessels in the Florida Keys. Oh, how unlucky can I be?
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I passed up what looks, from the photos, like a joyous vacay with my dear Jackie and friends, sailing among the islands in the Aegean. Instead I'm seeing my son for the first time in a year-and-a-half. He and my daughter-in-law have been living in Vienna for 20 months or so and have come back to the west coast for a conference at Berkeley. I couldn’t pass that up, they’re great, but the lovely pics from Greece combined with the end of my five-week sojourn to the east coast has left me feeling deflated. I’m burdened by various obligations here at home and am way behind. Add to this the unnerving and unnaturally quiet streets in LA. The Latinos are hunkered down, buses are nearly empty. The sidewalks are whiter. I had breakfast this morning with a friend of many years who was born in Mexico, has been a US citizen for decades, but has taken to carrying his passport at all times. There are frequent ICE sightings near where I live. Masked groups of tough looking men are piling out of unmarked cars and sweeping people off the streets to God knows where. It’s happening across the country. It's a bad dream. And Trump is paving over the White House Rose Garden.
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So last weekend I took a little trip to Piteå. To meet-up with the fly casters in Piteå for a competition. This time I was the only outsider. Not sure about all the reasons but I guess one big thing was that there are no big competitions coming up this year, so no qualifying for the Swedish team going on.
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This week has been busy one. We started reindeer marking on Sunday and we were back home and bed 5 am on Monday morning. I had guiding day on Monday.
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It was a bit late in the year but I eventually made it out on the float tube this week. We almost didn't go with the weather changing about but by Sunday evening the forecast seemed to have decided what it was going to do. Chuck had already done a bit of tubing and been doing pretty well so we reinstated the plan.
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I’ll start Day 2 with me entering the bar at the end of my first days guided fishing to meet my fellow anglers at the Posada. They were a great bunch of people that took me under their wing, making me a fully paid up member of the sundowner club. As ever, the first question that you get asked when you get back is “how did you get on?”, “a dozen bonefish” I replied. They were aware that I was new to tropical saltwater fishing and thought this was a good result, prompting another round of drinks.
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I spent the best part of twenty years of my life travelling and living in “camper” cars, vans and trucks. New Zealand, Australia, US, Canada, Europe. How much more fun it would have been to have had the truck I have now. Still, the lesson in there, is to always go with what you have at the time. If you wait for everything to be perfect, then it will often be too late.
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Like any good professional, I’m going to attempt to convince you that the sport of MY choosing is not only the best sport ever, but it is also good for your mental health. Not only should everyone tie the fly, cast the fly, and fish the fly, but your mental health might be better if you did, or at least I think so. I’ve always had my struggles with stress and anxiety. When I was younger basketball and fishing always seemed to be my outlet. If I can mindlessly perfect my technique or mindfully try to trick fish into eating some feathers on a hook, then I can let go of everything else and really focus.
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I’m at the gate for my flight back to Los Angeles, recently liberated from the socialists and lunatics by puppy killer Kristi Noem. As is usual I was away from home for catastrophe whether it be fire or an invasion by my very own US Marine Corps brought into the city to back up the masked Feds picking up nannies and day laborers. Anne Applebaum, the Yale Historian and renowned writer on the mechanisms and trajectories of authoritarian movements wrote a chilling article in The Atlantic which set me spiraling yesterday morning. But the joyous turnout for the No Kings protests and DJT’s pause of migrant deportations of agricultural workers, hotel staff and restaurant workers. I have terrified migrant friends seeking asylum working in those industries. These are people who have “done everything right” but had the rug pulled out from under them, revoking their approved status and forcing impossible choices. As I drove to my Cozy In-Law after a day of fishing, The Tamiami Trail was lined by happy demonstrators with clever signs and American Flags waving at passing motorists. It brought me to tears (I’m a big baby).
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I’m thinking about the actual weight of the rod and not the number scribbled over the handle. The number above the handle we know is kind of recommendation/guideline to help us select a rod. If the weight of the rod was very important we could determine which rod is the best one just by putting it on the scale.
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Last weekend was more or less fishing weekend. Our friend came visit and I was fishing with him Friday and Saturday. Forecast was kind of gamble yet it turned better than expected. Weekend was filled good food, fishing, great company and few drinks.
Stefan arrived late Thursday. Friday I had really do some work as weather was good and dry and forecast promised heavy rains coming. So I spread fertilizer on our fields and then we took off.
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A mixed week for me. A bit fishing, a bit of tying and back at hospital stretching my Japanese ability with stuff I'm not even sure how to say in English.
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Last weekend's BFCC meeting went probably as well as I could have hoped for given my current predicament. I managed to enter all six of the distance disciplines and only ducked out of the accuracy event. Actually, just before packing away, I had a go casting at the targets – right handed but with just the tips of my fingers on the rod handle. This did induce some pain, however it may be possible for me to enter this one at the next BFCC meeting, so maybe I'll be back to entering all seven competitions hopefully (but still casting the #5, #7, ST27 and T38 left handed).
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I’ve been trying to catch a Gourami for a couple of weeks now. Evenings that weren’t blown out by thunderstorms I’d normally find one, two, rarely three gourami. With the occasional inspection. I’ve been trying different parts of the lake to try to get more shots.
On Sunday I saw seven gourami and had two refusals. Blew a couple up on the shot. This is the most gourami I have seen in years. To catch gourami, on this lake at least, is extremely difficult. Yesterday evening I finally got one to the boat. Not a big one but it is a result. Hopefully I’ll get one of the big fellas this week. A big gourami I think is anything over 4Kg.
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It is necessary for me to provide a little context to the story that follows. I guide and fish migratory Brown Trout, Coho, and Steelhead that come off of the Great Lakes, and into the tributaries to spawn. The places where I like to fish, and where I believe the fishing is the best, aren’t all exactly “scenic” rivers. Lets just say it wouldn’t be unusual to have a face to face interaction with what poverty looks like in a city when you are record chasing with me. There are certain sections of rivers in certain cities that are safer than others when you are making your way to the water at night. So, there is an underlying intensity that is as large as the anticipation of fishing and the browns. What went bump in the night?
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I’ve been fishing in Chesapeake Bay with Captain Zack Hoisington, a righteous fellow, and expert guide who operates out of Cape Charles, VA spring and summer, and Annapolis, MD the rest of the year. He has an extensive knowledge of the unique fishery in the Chesapeake Bay and its islands, flats and feeder creeks. He ties beautiful flies, and casts and fishes with admirable authority. And has a day job as Director of Education and Partnership for the Annapolis Maritime Museum and Park. Their mission is to engage the communities of Annapolis and Anne Arunduel County with the history and ecology of the Chesapeake Bay with specific outreach to underserved youth. Local kids are exposed to maritime skills with internship programs featuring on-the-water experiences. It’s pretty cool. Google him.
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I have a memory of some weightlifting article that mentioned a competition that was harder to win than the world championships. I think it was some competition that was used to pick the soviet weightlifting team. Next weekend I’m attending a small competition that feels like that. I’m going to Piteå to compete with the living legends there. I think that the sport of fly casting probably has that club quite a bit to thank for. At least here in Sweden that’s where it all started.
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Last Friday I went to our lake and had short session with success. Lost one from strike, other one I lost after fight few moments before landing. Then I found right one and there was no doubt about take, I landed nice rainbow trout.
Monday I went to fix fences, I had small accident as gas stapler slipped from pole and I shot 40 mm staple to my left hand. I notice the hit, yet it was not bleeding as 2 years ago when I hit my finger with similar stapler, so I thought that it was just a scratch. I continued working and then felt some bleeding. I went to car to clean wound and put some band-aid.
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I've been back on a real deer hair kick this week as I top up my boxes for the summer float tubing. I also went fishing, but we don't need any more mulberry chat.
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Well after saying in last weeks FP that there was no way I was going to even attempt to cast the T38 left handed I went straight out and gave it a go. I'm not sure what possessed me to get the heaviest single handed outfit out, especially given the trouble I had with carrying the ST27 shooting head when I tried, but cast it I did – and I have a new left handed PB of 145ft to try and beat in the coming weeks. Actually I found it easier than the ST27 even though the head lengths are similar. I guess the extra mass of the T38 line pulls straight some of my tracking errors meaning I can at least get a decent back cast. It still feels all wrong, but at least I can get a cast off so I will now be entering this discipline at the next BFCC meeting.
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A question that is always asked in my Zoom flycasting coaching is how long should the gap be between lessons. Typically I suggest 8-10 hrs of training between lessons. It can be more, it shouldn’t really be much less.
Initially when starting out with a new student, I want to see them around two weeks after the first lesson. This is very important because it’s not uncommon to find that the direction taken isn’t as intended! In fact it’s so unpredictable that I don’t think teaching actually starts until the second lesson. As someone who has given many one-off lessons in the past, it has been very interesting to learn this!
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This is how I have ended up writing on the Front Page:
Paul: “Apart from being extremely annoying sometimes, you are an excellent and interesting writer. Would you be interested in writing some front pages?”
Me: “I think I prefer to be described as provocative.
I’m pretty busy until I get back from Los Roques in April but I’ll be newly retired then and might have some spare time”
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My last visit to Casper was for business, I’m thinking maybe 2008. An independent oil producer was under a federal order to prevent migratory bird deaths in waste ponds and the outfit I was working with was proposing treatment solutions. Fracking operations dumped spent drilling fluids and polymer enhanced fracking fluids in small lined ponds. This soup was death to birds stopping for a floating rest or maybe drinking a bit before heading further North. The project didn’t go anywhere. I think they opted to tenting the ponds with netting instead of cleaning up the waste. Wyoming is a big, sparsely populated state and not very “green”, favoring ag and oil over squishier concerns. There’s plenty of room for evaporation ponds filled with nasty stuff. But they are, justifiably, pleased with their trouting culture. We saw only fly fishers.
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