Fly Fishing: A couple distractions

Well, of course, the photograph is a distraction…right? Beautiful fish quickly brought in and released. The fish can be over taxed with long runs and thrashing about once netted or in the shallows. This Rainbow Trout was taken on a Green Cope’s Damsel. Below are two links: one is to Tony Bishop’s piece on how to play & land a fish and the other is to video by Jerry Criss re a Damsel pattern utilizing Arctic Fox. Both pieces have very useful information.

BISH FISH: HOW TO PLAY and LAND TROUT CORRECTLY

JERRY CRISS & THE DAMSEL FLY NYMPH AT THE WEEKLY FLY

Life Seeking Light by SwittersB

For the longest time, there was a pile, a very high pile of  ’stuff’ my Aunt accumulated that extended the long length of a fence line. Tarps, boards, garbage and hoarded stuff rose upward and crested the top of the eight foot high fence. That long pile of stuff is gone. Now light reaches the plank boards of the fence and beautiful bushes on the other side reach for the new found light.

Seeking The Light

Seeking The Light Too

Dogwood Flower & Dew (Hopeful Beauty)

A small Dogwood tree in my front yard is providing lovely colors right now. It is the third tree in this front yard. The first one, a Maple, became diseased. The second one, a Jacquemonti Birch, snapped in a heavy East wind while ice laden. This third, a Dogwood, is vital like the rest, at this point, and I hope weathers the elements over time.

Every Day in May: Lessons Learned…Basic Stuff

EVERY DAY IN MAY CHALLENGE TOPICS, DAY BY DAY

Lessons Learned. Potentially the biggest topic of the whole crazy May Write-A-Thon. But alas, many will be off doing the holiday weekend bit…Memorial Day. So, I will keep it short and sweet.

Patience, Patience, Patience, Patience, Patience, Patience

Whether fishing, camping, teaching, mentoring, sharing, encouraging, loving, waiting, talking, listening….patience. You know if this applies to you or if it doesn’t. You really don’t get too many chances, too many mistakes in this particular part of life. Don’t be a jerk.

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Checklists

At least yearly prepare a checklist of fishing gear, camping gear, survival gear, camera gear, first aid gear. If you fish for multiple species with different rods, reels, gear bags, fly boxes it is important to make sure gear you need for one trip (Steelhead) isn’t stowed away in another gear bag (Stillwater stuff) that isn’t making the trip. Even if you only fish for one species keep the list if you infrequently fish. Things I have forgotten: wading boots, fins, spare spools/lines, raincoat, stocking cap, gloves, camera, fishing license/tags, tippet material, my ass if it wasn’t attached.

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Fitness

Age, injuries, surgeries, dwindling health….take a toll over time. I recall not too many years ago wading against fast thigh high waters, carrying heavy gear uphill, kicking and rowing across a big lake. I have seen a chain reaction because of injuries and surgeries. Most of these are because of car accidents, falls and impacts. Maybe more of those could have been avoided. But, aside from injuries/surgeries/recovery-rehab, there is general fitness that must be maintained as one gets older….do it! 

Life Interruptus

Keep the faith. If you have life’s commitments, ‘bumism’ will end. I use to fish a minimum of one or two days a week for quite a few years. Responsibilities caught up. It became impossible to fish more than a dozen times a year and finally a half dozen times a year. How in the hell can a guy that writes a fly fishing blog fish so few times? I have remarked about it before: parent’s medical conditions, appointments, work, hospice, deaths, estate cleanup, prioritizing family needs…on and on. Time, energy, focus are diverted away. And then, if you have kept the faith small windows of opportunity open. Take a breath. Stand up. Find those old checklists. Reassemble the gear. Keep it simple. Go! My opportunities are finally reappearing. I’m ready. Heck, I’ve been tying enough flies to fill a shop.

See, simple truths…simple reminders. You already knew all this. A refresher of sorts.

A Glorious Trout: Olive & Red

You often see the photos of fish, the trophy fish. Impressive for sure. But some fish, less than trophy size, can momentarily make us gaze at their simple, yet  complex beauty. It is perfection when we can briefly glimpse all their beauty…a brief encounter. A trophy in a different way………………..

PHOTOGRAPHY: The Beautiful Efforts of Dmitrii Lezine

THE TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY OF DMITRII LEZINE

The Columbia River Gorge, the Women’s Forum Viewpoint and in the distance Crown Point. My backyard….less than a half hour from my driveway. Photo by Dmitrii Lezine.

“This blog is a labor of love. The photography hobby of mine is a labor of love. I try to post a new photo at least every other day, sometimes more, sometimes less. It requires a lot of time investment and unless I didn’t really liked to take photos and share them with everyone else, this blog would not be here.

So thanks for stopping by and taking a look at different places that I had a chance to visit. Every photo was taken because I thought it was cool and unique in its own way. You can look at different categories on the right side of the blog, pick your destination and see what I saw. I get a chance to travel only a few times per year, vacation is precious time, and I try to pick places where I have not been before or visit the same places during different season.”

Fly Fishing: Suspended Midge Pupa

I so rarely use a floating line on a lake. So, when the surface activity is there…out it comes. The fish were working in two to six feet of water, cruising about for emerging Chironomids. Big tails and dorsals swirled inches above the surface. A size 16 pupa pattern was suspended a few inches below the surface ( ‘greased’ the leader/tippet to within 6″ of the fly with floatant).

Canada’s Gov’t Run Legendary Lakes Labs to Shut Down

Further hard choices are being made in the austerity effort around the world…well not in France of course. Yesterday, I posted about Lighthouses in Canada being sold off. Now, I see a vast research project in Northern Ontario, the Experimental Lakes Area, will be shut down. Government run experiments have involved mercury, acid rain, chemical infiltration and more. 

“The ELA has attracted scientists from around the world to its shores since field research started there in 1968. It is possibly the only place where aquatic scientists can use lakes and their ecosystems as test tubes as well as having access to long-term environmental data…” 

Read About it Here

How long will it take for Nature to reclaim the region? What measures will be needed to protect the public in the more tainted waters? How safe are the waters? 

Heavy Rainfall Photograph

Heavy rainfall. Well, I live in the Pacific NW and sometimes you would swear it never stops raining for nine months of the year. We are noted for it. People shake their heads in sympathy for me. Of course, if you read my ‘Greenery’ piece the other day you know I like Green. So, I tolerate the rain, although the grey skies do close in.

But seriously this is not Queensland or India or the tropics. So this afternoon, I had to anchor my pickup down lest it wash away so heavy was the downpour.

Every Day in May Writer’s Challenge: ‘Bugs’

EVERY DAY IN MAY CHALLENGE TOPICS DAY BY DAY

BUGS? Once again, my short comings are brought forth in print. Entomology, Latin, Genus, Species, Orders and Families. I have enough trouble remembering everyone in my own family let alone memorizing fancy names. Colors, size, hatch time, hatch location and a little studying in advance is often as best as I can do. The common names: Mayfly (BWO, PMD, Callibaetis, Green Drakes)…Stoneflies (Goldens, Little Blacks, California Stones, Skwala)…Caddis (Long Horns, Traveling Sedge, Cinnamons) Midges/Chironomids…Dragon and Damsels…  

Nothing too fancy there. I turn a rock over in a stream and see dark mayfly nymphs scurrying for their lives. I saw the size and color but wouldn’t be able to tell you which mayfly it is. I can maybe tell it was a clinger/crawler or swimmer etc. The other morning, I started to put on my waders. Overnight, a Caddis hatch had taken place as my waders and the nearby railing had large adult Caddis sitting there. Over a half inch long and medium brown in color. Hmm? What Caddis is that? Would I fish it now, or did it hatch last night? At least I noticed the body of water definitely has large Caddis. Maybe that is what I saw skittering across the surface early one morning? 

Believe me I have tried. I study, I read and look at pictures, I study TroutNut and I certainly tie all Winter to match insects. Take away the hatch charts, books, blogs, outside advice, then I’m left  observing and trying this and that…it is the essence of observation and adapting and then, maybe, bringing to the table whatever else you learn from outside sources.

This beauty was clinging to the side of my car last year. I have a little spring in the back yard. I have seen the rare Caddis and then this large Mayfly. You’d think I would followup with some foraging in the spring to see what really lives out there. I haven’t….yet.

I do take satisfaction in turning over those rocks, looking into stream side vegetation, watching little sailboats float down the river or inspecting the Caddis fluttering on the inside of my sunglass lens. I look at the coloring of Stoneflies crawling ashore and sat in amazement as Waterboatman (Corixia…look at that!) dive bombed a lake one October afternoon. There you have it. I have bombed out at Bug Basics 200. I do believe that the more I can fish, I will add to my knowledge. Heck, I probably know more than I realize. Just don’t ask me any Latin Names…although I do like that Hexagenia Limbata name….sounds like some Cuban Dance or Caribbean VooDoo thing in New Orleans. 

 Tomorrow’s Every Day in May Challenge Topic: Runoff