Rebecca

Dear Fly Fishing Santa

by Rebecca on December 12, 2011

in Fly Fishing

I'll take 1 Stream Tech Drift Boat and 1 Derek Young --- Pretty Please with Candy Canes on Top

Dear Fly Fishing Santa,

Obviously you didn’t get my letter last year requesting a Drift Boat and one bonus Elf to row it for me. I am still Drift Boat-Elf-less.

However, you should know straight up. I forgive you for this oversight.

We are good. No hard feelings or grudges are being held on my part. As for that tangent I may have had after last Christmas, it’s water under the bridge. The past is the past. Embrace forgiveness. A Santa fisherman knows peace in his heart, not anger and all that jazz. So really, there’s no reason to hold back on me this year.

Spare Elf?

Besides, I don’t think it’s fair to start ticking check marks in the ‘bad column’ on the 26th of December for the NEXT Christmas.

There should be a grace period. A truce zone. A set of days that people around the globe can wave the white flag and let it all out without worrying about the repercussions of their next Christmas standings with you.

I’d suggest re-setting the check mark system to zero on January 1st. Just being helpful here.

Anyway…It’s come to my attention that the hold up over my drift boat may not be about erroneous check marks, but rather with my request that you toss an Elf in with the package.

I’ve seen your Christmas shows and it sure seems like there are A LOT of Elves running around your Northern Compound and you could spare one, but perhaps I was wrong.

No worries, I’ve found a PERFECT substitution to the Elf hang up.

This Derek Young Please

Keep your Elves and instead include Derek Young for my bonus.

Now, in case you have a choice of Derek Young’s up there, I would like to be clear about the make and model I need.

Please make sure he’s the 2011 Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide of the Year Derek Young. Specifically the one that runs Emerging Rivers Guide Services in the off Christmas season.

See Santa…Elf problem solved!

As a Fly Fishing Santa, I have no doubt you will recognize the wisdom in my Christmas Wish List, but the necessity of it as well.

To Recap, Reiterate and make this Official: 

Dear Fly Fishing Santa,

I would like 1 StreamTech ”Salmonfly” or “Green Drake” drift boat.
Either one would be just fine and dandy with me.

Please toss 1 Derek Young in for rowing and guiding.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Anne

P.S. You are welcome on the “SalmonFly” or is it gonna be the “Green Drake” ? —anytime

{ 15 comments }

CPR: Catch Photo Release

by Rebecca on December 8, 2011

in Fly Fishing

Bonefish Release

Catch - Photo - Release | Andros Island 2011

When I was a wee fishergirl and I’d catch a small fish, I can remember having this conversation with my Dad, often.

He’d praise my catch and then say, “Becca, let’s let that one go so he can grow up a bit more and then someday you can catch him again.”

When we would return to the same body of water and I’d catch a decent sized fish I would ask him, ” Dad, do you think this is the one I caught last time and he’s all grown up?”

My Dad would look hard at my catch, smile, and say, “I think it is and if you let him go again, just think how big he’ll be the next time you catch him!”

It was like magic…

“This is my photo submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Contest“

Photo Credit and Thank You Goes to:
Tom Larimer (blog) a.k.a. Larimer Outfitters (guide service)

{ 7 comments }

Fly Fishing: The Confectioness

by Rebecca on November 30, 2011

in Fly Fishing

Outdooress Bonefishing in Andros

See that grin. Totally Andrews fault...

I blame Andrew Bennett of course.

Him and his Deneki Lodge in the Bahamas. Since the March FIBFEST, all I’ve had is bonefish on the brain.

Lesson learned: If you start your fin follower season off on an extremely high note, the rest of the year is bound to make you feel like an unaccomplished angler.

I spent the whole of the summer chucking line and chasing tail while driving several thousand miles looking for mystic waters that weren’t flooded or blown out. I was on the hunt for flowing waters that were gin clear.

Mostly I just saw a lot of un-fishable waters and beat up road signs.

Word of advice: If you take the time to visit the Campbell River on Vancouver Island...bring a boat. That sh*t isn't wade-able...

I’ll be honest here and admit, for awhile this summer I wasn’t feeling exactly fly fishilicious. As a rainbow chaser, I was having trouble locating the bigerrfish and more often then I’d like to admit, I was battling  windknots & tangled lines. I had a bad backcast and an empty net. It was one of those kinds of summers…

Frustrations made it difficult to put fly to water and my thoughts started drifting to new locations, like fishing the rockies or heading south for some Arizona wanderings.

The radical idea of switching pursuits surfaced from time to time, things like,  ‘ Fly-Carpin! I should try carp on the fly because Michael Gracie likes it and if Mikey likes it everyone will like it”…

Of course, other not so compleat thoughts would surface. The mind is a mysteries internal after all and nothing brings forth the good stuff faster then a slow day on the river.

For example:

Fish Not Present: Well this gives a whole new meaning to The Trout Underground

Questions: I wonder if there is an actual  fiberglass manifesto  that one could read.

Agreement: I hear you mike’s gone fishin’…again, me too.

Possibilities: If I could send my own dispatches from the middle river, it would be a form of S.O.S

Wonder:: Owl Jones is in Montana today. I wonder if he’s going to sing for all the guys around the campfire.

Career Choices: I could be a Fishing Poet:  There once was a fish named trout. He filled my mind with doubt…

Deals: I hereby swear, if I catch a fish in the next hour, I pledge to Eat More Brook Trout.

After thoughts: If only I could find a salvelinus fontinalis rising that is…

Thinking of....Trout? Confectioness Candy Canes?

I know, you don’t even have to say it…the above makes me one of those slightly functioning fishaholics with a good dose of fly fishing crazy.

Anyway, some good things have happened this year. For one, I finally replaced my leaky waders with new ones.

So I’ve been dry while frothing around in the water. A legit upgrade if I may so say myself.

And then late August finally came and I went back home to toss a few dream cast Idaho flies. They say home is where the heart is and I finally found my groove. There’s nothing like finding fish leisurely sipping emergers or seeing a river damsel fly floating by and the fish grabbing the fly patterns you’ve picked.

Fly Fishing for Trout

Troutrageous!

By the way: I think there should be a new mantra that replaces the old saying, Fish On!

I tested out the shouting of troutrageous!  a couple of times and let me tell you. It totally works on an excitement level.

I’ve got lots of fodder for the catching chronicles of my personal blogging here. I just need to work on my time management.

You have to admit, floggin’ water and participating in the lunker hunt takes the priority when one has a few spare moments. I guess I could also put a little blame on the OBN. You know, that other site I blog 5 times a week in ~

Outdooress Brown Trout

A good day on the river...

P.S. I forgive Andrew, of course

P.P.S. For the two poetic confectioners, this ball of cotton candy is dedicated to YOU.

{ 23 comments }

Where Art Thee Fly Fishing Blogger…

by Rebecca on October 5, 2011

in Outdooress News

First off, lack of blog posts over the last 3 months should not imply that I haven’t been busy busy…

Ummm....I'm officially frightened

For example, at the beginning of the summer the Outdooress persona got her own LOGO.

One might think getting their own logo is an easy process.

However, when you work with someone who has a vision of what you could represent and a wicked sense of humor things can get scary pink — quick.

Respectable!

Thankfully, the graphic designer and myself were able to meet in the middle and the result is something I’m proud to toss around the Internet.

Kirk of Itchy Dogs Productions gets credit for giving me a sparkly pink lipped fright and the final product which I love.

I have no doubt he did the pink version first (as a joke) so that anything else he came up with I’d sign off on immediately and not put him through 20 revisions. That’s smart time management if I say so myself.

10 lashes with an 8 weight line to anyone who suggests I should have stuck with the Pink version…fair warning (grin)

Over the summer I put more that 10,000 miles on my vehicle which means I was all over the place in search of good fly fishing and fantastic views of the world I live in.

I visited Canada.

I visited Washington.

I explored Idaho.

I lived in Oregon.

I also stopped off and modeled for a contest Owl Jones had on his blog and word has it, my likeness won the contest so congrats goes out to the Unaccomplished Angler for his wicked sense of humor skills again….

The fish I was holding for the portrait was MUCH BIGGER KIRK

I had the opportunity to put a couple of days on a river with Matt Smythe of FishingPoet and Grant Taylor of Grant Taylor Images. You can read about the trip via Matt’s version here ~ The Idaho Trip: River X and Grants posts Idaho on the Fly – The River of Secrets – River X the second day. I had a blast!

Matt ~ Rebecca ~ Grant

I also paused during my escapades to do an interview for Chris Hunt of the blog Eat More Brook Trout~ so for the inside info, go read 20 Questions: Rebecca Garlock

When it comes down to it, I’ve just been off doing what I love to do…fly fish. The time in between has been spent on the Outdoor Blogger Network and washing clothes for the next adventure.

I’ll find my blog writing groove soon. The weather turned this week and the slower pace of Fall and Winter is coming…

Photo By Grant Taylor

{ 29 comments }

Chinook Festivities have begun…

June 16, 2011

It’s that time of the year when I put my Fly Rod down and become a gear chucker for a few weeks. Why would I do such a thing you (fly fisherman) may ask? Well, because it’s Chinook Salmon and a raging river (see photo below) that is not kind to fly rods and barely [...]

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Outdoor Action Shot ~ Fly Fishing Style

June 15, 2011

For the Outdoor Photo Prompt “Show us the Action” on the Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Analysis: Reel Spinning ~ Check Fingers pulled back out of harms way ~ Check (yes, I learned that lesson the hard *WHACK* way) (Ok…a couple of times) Line into the backing ~ Check = Bonefish On! Or perhaps another view [...]

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I meant to do that (and other fly fishing flubs)

June 10, 2011

Flub #1 ~ I caught this fish when technically I was trying for a different one that I missed. Flub #2 ~ My pronunciation of Tom Larimers last name. Flub #3 ~ Try to act all smart and cool-mo-dee when trying to hold a slippery (little suckers) bonefish. As you’ll see in the video, the fish taught [...]

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Sea Shells By The Sea Bunny…

April 22, 2011

Until last month, my beach combing experiences have been limited to the Oregon and California coast. That means for the whole of my life, finding a non-broken seashell was considered a major treasure score. If it was a non-broken seashell bigger than my thumbnail…well, stop the presses and behold the most amazing seashell..ever. So imagine [...]

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MNRiverdageous Lunkerdooress Scavenger Hunt

April 21, 2011

So this fishing blog of mine is going to expand it’s horizons today and participate in some community fun, scavenger hunt style. We are mostly fisherman, right? Which means we enjoy a challenge, thrive on the seek and net aspect of life. So this should be right up everyones river, especially since this river has [...]

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And Sometimes, A Fly Fisher Must Self Time Out..while Bonefishing

April 20, 2011

Day 1: Deneki FIBFest, Guide Ellie– fishing partner Bjorn of Bonefish on the Brain… When my red toenails stepped up to the deck of the boat for the first time, Bjorn said, “Watch, you’ll catch a bonefish on your first try. Beginners luck is on your side..“ One single cast, a few panicked strips of my line, [...]

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