Feb 26, 2006

EndLight


Fishing yesterday turned out to be the start of a whole new world for me. I can't explain it now. The river was an old friend, the fishing scene was the same as it was in years past. Water was perfect. Fish were hunted. But I learned something new this season... it just isn't a numbers game. This place is meant to be quietly explored.

Feb 25, 2006

I Killed My Last Bear

So it's Friday night and I am gearing up for fishing tomorrow. We leave at 4:45am and blogging is the last thing I really should be doing right now. In a way it is my new approach, I am trying to slow myself down and relax everything about me more, starting with something like this so it will eventually slow down my casting. Anymore I am frantically trying to cover water in an effort to make up for lost time. I used to fish 300+ days a year during college. Now I have a wonderful family and beautiful mortgage. I'll admit, I don't fish as much as I used to.

Anyway, my Beulah demo rod broke two weeks ago on a fish at the Berry. I paid a little in an upgrade fee with it's "lifetime warranty" for replacement. They said that rod had a particular flaw in the wrap on the lowest piece at the male ferrule, and that is exactly where it broke . It was effortless to cast... until those first fateful seconds of hook-up with a real fish. Today, I received a remarkable set-up in return from them. We'll see how it fishes tomorrow but it sure looks amazing.

As I was gearing up I ran across an older can of smokeless tobacco with just a pinch left. I spent over a decade being heavily addicted and now in my later years I want to quit. With the help of the patch (and a secret weapon) I have been getting better. This last old can was thrown away empty tonight. Tomorrow is a new day, but tonight I have killed my last bear for quite awhile.

It's 15 minutes later and I just went through every bag, small medium and large- from Alice pak in OD Geen to my fancy fishing sling dealio (I removed myself from the fly-fishing vest of our grandfather's long ago). I found another can. I scraped it and threw it away empty. I think I have gathered every big leechy and roe-esque thing I have in my arsenal. The older flies are soaking in garlic... (ahem, just to remove any rusty hook smell).

The handheld CB's are charging. I grabbed the power inverter for charging waterproof digital camera's battery. The charger is at Todd's and my battery is dead. Although I have so much crap I think I am only fishing with a small Columbia chestpack, the
mini and a flask. And, of course I'll take my secret weapon.

I tend to recall that gearing up was simpler back in the day when I fished more. It was a combination of being more ready (because I just went days, or even hours, before) as well as having a lot less gear- I just had the basics back then. And, it definitely seems like I caught more fish back then- but maybe my fish tales have just come to life in the present. I'll let you know how the secret weapon fares for me. I am always
excited about experimenting. That is the true joy I find in Winter Steelhead.

Feb 15, 2006

Moe's Quote (he owns a bar in Springfield)

They think they're so high and mighty, just because they never got caught driving without pants.

Feb 7, 2006

Thoreau

One piece of good sense would be more memorable than a monument as high as the moon.

Reader's Digest

I bought a book last week at a farmhouse that I pass on the way to work. She has this little business out of her barn where she resells odd items. Books are always a dollar. I am a sucker for books. And I crack about all of them that I purchase.

Even so-called geniuses are largely geniuses because they are willing to use the time that others throw away. It was Michelangelo who said: "if people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." And Alexander Dumas confessed: "Infatuated, half through conceit, half through love of my art, I achieve the impossible working as none else ever works..."

Write Better, Speak Better The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
This book originally caught my eye because it was about 3 inches thick and bound really well in a canvased hardcover. It is actually kind of a home text book with little tests and word power worksheets and stuff. I have oly glanced cursorily through some sections, (i.e. writing complaint letters). Fortunately I snagged the little quip above. What a jewel of thoughts. But it only allows my nights to become more sleeplessly insane while I continue working on pipe-dreams well into the dark morning of each following day.