Spey Casting: Followup Homework

I spent the better part of the day on the Sandy River fishing for steelhead. No pulls, but I had a good day. I found a very nice drift. I fished reasonably well and had the luxury of no one pushing me downstream. I got to practice, visualize (remember the post re Mike Kinney and his excellent word pictures?) and correct. At the end of the day, maybe two thirds of the casts really laid out nicely, but my attitude was such that there was no pressure, just a relaxed time on the water with beautiful conditions.

Snap T, or was it a Snap C?

But, I decided to do some followup studying when I got home and try to figure out why my Snap T’s or Z’s..er C’s petered out and caused my fly to unerringly wrap around the end of my rod. I need visuals. I came across a site by Alastair Gowans @ LetsFlyFish. It has some nice basic visuals re some of the Skagit casts as well as other types of fly fishing casts. I also need to pull out Ed Wards Skagit Master DVD and review while today’s fishing is fresh on the mind. I am building the imprint. Got home for last half of the Super Bowl and then it started pouring outside. The day was perfect. (Ok, upon further review, I am not bringing my rod back down river after the snap, but rather stopping as shown in pic, which leaves it open to tangles)

Sneaker Waves….Be Careful & Not Shy

Angel of Grief

I am mindful, as two Oregon teens perish from a ‘sneaker wave’ that swept them off the rocks on the Oregon Coast, of two things: First, do not trust the seemingly routine ebb and flow of the waves on the Oregon Coast ………

“…the body of 18-year-old Connor Gregory Ausland was found and that authorities have yet to find 17-year-old…”

“Three men have drowned after being swept to sea by a rogue wave…”

“A romantic marriage proposal on the Oregon coast turned deadly for the bride-to-be when a wave swept her out to sea.”

“The waves were so high, they were crashing over the pole at the end of the pier,” said Bulawka, a schoolteacher. “I kept watching. I just thought they (a couple) would stop. They kept going. And then they were gone.”

“The State Police said two teenagers have drowned after waves swept them off a rocky outcropping on Oregon’s central coast and into the ocean….”

Secondly, ‘your kids’ (be they your blood children, nieces, nephews, students, friends of your kids). Spring is coming. Energy abounds. A heightened state comes particularly for Seniors. Don’t be shy to caution them re their driving (speeding, passing), texting and driving, drinking and driving, outdoor pursuits, swimming, celebrating. Each Spring the loss of young ones spikes as a result of that energy and beckoning freedom. The heartache is too much to bear for such a needless loss. You have nagged them this far, don’t stop now (even if you are trying to given them their space). Sobering I know. That’s ok, you have a party to go to and I am headed out fishing. Have a nice day.