Can't Stop Her

No doubt Mother Nature rules. Different moods and all, I really dig her. You have to learn to work with her moods, her seasons. Arguing with her is the definition of a one sided conversation.

So winter is on it's way... Ho ho ho.

The traditional trout season has ended and soon too the striper season will come to a halt. Sure the closing can be softened by finding a nice day here and there to poke around a Catch + Release area or by grabbing your custom G. Loomis rod and following the fall migration of 50 lb. stripers or using up some credit card points to fly down to chase bonefish in the warmth of the Bahamas... all legitimate activities, all help in dealing with the dark claustrophobic cabin fever days to come.

There is one more useful activity ... The Fly Fishing Show.

Here in the North East we have shows in Marlborough MA, Somerset NJ and then Lancaster PA. The biggest and most bestest being Somerset with it's multitude of 200 ft. aisles chock full of product, lodges and tiers... and Cuisine Corner.

Ordering gadgets online is ok, I guess. Flipping through catalogues while lying in bed certainly brings on sleep. At some point though I need to go touch product, gaze upon what the marketing + technology elves have been whittling. The shows have classes, seminars and demos by figure-heads, the connected, and some not so.

Who among us wouldn't find happiness watching another fly caster throw picture perfect tailing loops at a green curtain... " poetry in motion" (sorry Mel).  If you're not into publicly displaying your casting skills you could walk up to one of the rod manufacturers and just do the wiggle test on one of their 13th generation high-tech glue sticks.

So while many have baby powdered and hung up their rubber pants in hopes to have them sweet smelling and ready to go for the coming spring I say grab a pal and head to a show. Come on over to the FFF Learning Center say hello, tie your first fly or get a quick casting lesson.

East Went West

Xmas will soon be upon us.
My list is short.
Here it is :

1.  A Casting Club.

the grounds

welcome

room with a view

After years of dreaming about it, this summer I flew Jet Blue to Long Beach, CA to compete in the ACA Nationals hosted by The Long Beach Casting Club. What pushed me over the edge westward was an event a few months prior sponsored by the ACA and Cabela's in East Hartford, CT where Chris Korich, Steve Rajeff, Beth Statt, Andy Statt and John Field (ACA Prez') put on a weekend's worth of Casting Games Show 'n Tell. 

I flew out to Cali thinking I would try just one or two of the fly accuracy games, but mostly do some fact finding... get the low-down and compete at a later date, at another meet.

The friendliness + generosity of the members was astonishing. Me thinking I would cast in just one game wasn't going to be allowed. While the club itself has an inventory of gear for use by any interested caster(s) I was pressed by the other casters to use their personal gear... yes, really! Results wise,  I didn't get any kisses from the podium girls but I didn't embarrass myself either.

readying the targets

the board

I urge any of you guys with an inkling of interest to give it a try. 

With any luck Cajun' Bill Clements will cook ya'll dinner !

Train to The Trout

a now oft-used term that pal Dale Hardman (then the NYC-TU prez) and myself came up with in the mid-80s. the term for taking Metro North from Grand Central to Brewster NY and then walking down the street to fish the Tricos of Trestle Pool on the East Branch of the Croton.

the marker pictured is from the main stem of the Delaware. years ago when walking my dog Pike around the back alleys and dead ends of Jersey City the two of us would pause to witness the hulk of a freight train lumbering by on it's way upstate. it's route would take it along side the river, next to my favorite water, right past where the first rainbows were introduced to the big river.

enjoy your day,
Rainbow Hobo.

your water, your fish

enjoy your stewardship

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/9924.html