Fly Fishing

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 }

I went all the way to Montana to be Nice…

by Rebecca on October 26, 2010

in Fly Fishing

~Say Hello To My Little Lips Friend~

…To Whitefish

Last year, on December 30th I made my one and only New Years Resolution for the year 2010. It was a risky pledge, one I thought might tumble into disgrace at one point or another, so for public accountability, I wrote my resolution…here~~> I Resolve, To be Nicer to Whitefish in 2010 or, for the quick refresher I wrote the following:

I, Rebecca Anne, lady who wields a fly rod, hereby swears not to cuss, kick water, roll my eyes, yank in or otherwise throw an un-lady-like fit when she discovers a whitefish has ruthlessly grabbed one of her flies in the year 2010.

And then, remarkably, I didn’t catch a single whitefish all spring…all summer…when usually the little buggers torment all my fly fishing trips. The absence of whitefish became a great mystery to me, almost like reverse karma. The more I got angry with them last year, the more they enjoyed toying with me. This year I pledged to be nice and suddenly I was off the catch rotation. I got lulled into a false sense of fly fishing security…I forgot about Whitefish. Completely.

And then I drove to Montana last Wednesday. And Thursday morning I hit the Madison River. When I felt the first tug of a fish on my line, a smile as wide a Montana broke out on my face and a minute later my smile turned into a grimace when I hauled in a Whitefish.

They found me! There was no escaping them on this trip and I hereby swear, I was nice to them. I even took a picture, so that’s a first and should count for bonus nice points.

So, basically, I drove 500 miles to catch Whitefish……..oh, ‘scuse me, Mountain Bonefish.
(ok, I caught other fish, but I’ll write about them later. Whitefish handling deserved it’s own entry)

Rebecca

{ 20 comments }

Dropping The (Fish) Ball

October 6, 2010

A common problem in life:  Sometimes we focus in on one thing and something else suffers in the process. Conventional wisdom would define this as “Dropping the Ball” and lately, I seem to be dropping my blogging ball. It comes down to a simple math equation revolving around the hours in a week. Work (blah) [...]

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Riverside Conversations

September 21, 2010

Before I took off on my Elk hunting trip I slipped out of town for an afternoon of Fly Fishing with Stephen Vance of Scandalous Sticks Flyrods. I knew I wouldn’t be fly fishing for a couple of weeks so like a squirrel stocks up for winter, I inhaled as much Fly Fishing mojo as [...]

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The Joy and Curse of the Magic Fly

August 27, 2010

Yesterday I felt the world pressing in on me from all angles and the intense feeling of  claustrophobia became so severe that the only thing I could think to do as an antidote was head immediately to the nearest fishery. No? Not buying an overly dramatic excuse? Ok fine. I just wanted to go Fly [...]

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Bloodknot Magazine ~ The No Trout Issue

August 27, 2010

Today the second issue of Bloodknot Magazine was released for publication. They went with a no trout allowed theme and believe it or not, this trout loving gal has an article in there about—-are you ready—-BASS. (Pause for effect) I know, I know.  I’m the one that’s been grappling with my Bass relationships that hover [...]

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Just call me “Fly Fishing Tour Guide-ess”

August 23, 2010

I’m happy to report that Wolfy aka Joe, came to my stomping grounds here in Idaho, spent a few days fishing with me and I sent him back East not only ALIVE, but without snake bite nor bear attack wounds. I consider those facts an enormous bonus to the grading curve of my tour guide skills. We got the snake [...]

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When Internet and Rivers Converge

August 17, 2010

When I started 2010, I listed two goals in my Fly Fishing category of life. The first goal was to be nicer, or sweet, or at least cordial to any White Fish I might discover at the end of my fly line.  So far, I’m still rockin’  a 100% success rate of accomplishment in that [...]

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