Nov 7, 2005

NonConformist and the Nice Guy



After spending 3 days camping in spurts of 45 degree rain and 30 mile-an-hour wind, it is not hard to understand how the the two of us can get along. There is no one else I know of that will endure these kind of elements without whining even if there are double digit steelhead being brought to hand in less than 72 hours. Yeah, the splash in the blurry picture is a steelhead about to be released. Maybe if the wind weren't blowing so hard the camera wouldn't have been so shaky (even without the wind I was shivering from the hat-floater I did earlier in the day, so it still wouldn't have turned out perfect).

I just got back from a 3 day trip with a guide buddy of mine. Other guides twice our age say he is the best Steelhead fisherman in the state. My fishing career is real blessed to have reconnected with Rob. It took us a few hours to figure each other out again. We
havent hung out in 10 years, but, mix in a few fish, some politics and religion and we realized how the core ideals were still turning over better than my sink-tip. However, he is nice and even keeled, and in contrast i have a constant dribble of dry humor that is difficult to read, so some of our first conversations got stacked up
like my spey cast.

He called me out a few times for the bits of unnecessary non-conformity I try too hard to exhibit with the all too elitist act of fishing with a fly rod, and in return I call him out for ... well.. being so gall-darn nice and conformiing. Man he is a good guy and it is unfortunate that he has to hang with a bunch of guys (clients every weekend) who expect him to dress and act a certain way. I am sure he is looking forward to the day when he can just be on theriver only entertaining himself and his family.

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