May 2012

Birthday Brown

by Rebecca on May 21, 2012

in Fly Fishing

Brown Trout

A Birthday Brown

Whenever a Birthday comes along I find myself faced with the same questions. And no, the questions aren’t pondering the meaning of life as the time clock ticks another one off on me.

I’m saving the meaning of life questions for a more pressing time, like if I find myself drowning after taking a step too far into a river. Less time for regrets that way…

The birthday questions come from others and they usually fall along the lines of — what do you want and what do you want to do — and I’ll shrug my shoulders and vaguely say, “Surprise Me.”

Doing that leaves a lot of things up to chance, but I have to say, this year the family did good. Really good. First off, I got a new fly rod. A 12 wt fly rod that should eliminate my recent fears of fly rod snap when pursuing big salmon. With this birthday present I feel like I’ve upgraded from a willow stick to a tire iron.

In other words, bring it on salmon…I’ll no longer be snapping off on purpose to save a fly rod. (Anyone have some reel suggestions?)

~ Thank You Family ~

rainbow troutSince my birthday was Sunday, they also strategically planned the gathering early in the morning and when we had finished up, they sent me off fly fishing for the afternoon.

A birthday spent fly fishing (with family approval)…does it get much better than that?

My first fish was a dinky little rainbow trout, not exactly the Birthday Brown I was hoping for, but I had a picture taken anyway, just in case that was my big catch.

The day went exactly as I had hoped (and I imagine my family hoped) — I caught fish. Big fish, little fish, birthday fish.

I never fell into the water and was forced to ponder the meaning of life. I always consider that a bonus to a day of fishing.

All in all…a great day even if it means I now have to be another year older.

Bandon Approved

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Blogger Tour 2012: A Writing Contest

by Rebecca on May 14, 2012

in Fly Fishing

Outdoor Blogger Tour 2012When I was a freshly hatched fly fisher, my first destination fly fishing trip was Yellowstone National Park.

I figured I had 2 months of self taught fly fishing under my rod, I had caught 3 or 4 wee little trout (mostly by accident) and clearly I was ready for the big leagues.

As far as my fly fishing went when I got there, I probably looked like an idiot. I was painfully shy about my casting and it was impossible to find a nice ‘private location’ to froth water.

I couldn’t cast worth a damn which made the Yellowstone River seem as wide as the ocean with all the fish rising way out of my range. I waded into the Yellowstone River just enough to know I was not up to the challenge without the risk of taking a trip over the Yellowstone Falls down river.

I never caught a fish, not even by accident.

I fell in love while in Yellowstone. Open my chest, drop my heart on it’s banks, fell in love with everything Yellowstone. 15 years later, nothing has changed.

Every time I’ve been back over the years, it’s like coming home. If I wasn’t worried about my arse being chewed off by a Grizzly Bear, I’d probably try to sneak into Yellowstone and become an elusive Mountain Hermit.

Yellowstone is magical. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m writing about…if you haven’t been there, you need to experience it for yourself.

Which is why I hope if you are reading this, you take a minute and check out
The Blogger Tour 2012 Writing Contest.

Write. Win. Go to Yellowstone this Summer.

See you there…

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