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.

Scream Time: Woolly Buggers…The Fish Can’t Help It

I know, I know. So original right? I have written about this so many times, I understand. But, with the stillwater fly fishing effort a float, I have to come back to two patterns that have phenomenal success. On a recent outing these two patterns accounted for 80% of all the fish caught and that was quite a few. And, one pattern in particular, Gaviglio’s Minnow Bugger racked up well over half of the 80% takers. 

This was my wife’s Minnow Bugger, minus the hackle, after releasing another fish. Several times the hits were so jarring, her tippet came away minus the Minnow Bugger. NO! I don’t have any financial~commercial interest in this pattern.

The Little Fort Leech (LFL) and the Minnow Bugger (MB) are straight up Woolly Bugger patterns with a few exceptions: The tails are either stacked with a hot spot of red (LFL) or stacked with two colors of equal length marabou (MB). Sparkle chenilles for the bodies and the rest is standard fare. That’s all I can say. Just so profoundly successful over all the other WB’s I concocted from basic drab colors to the provocative foozies…the Little Fort and Minnow Bugger patterns kicked some tail.

 The Gaviglio Minnow Bugger was placed in my palm just five years ago by Bob Gaviglio at the Sunriver Fly Shop. The Little Fort Leech was first found inside the Little Fort (B.C.) Fly Shop twenty + years ago. I have gone straight, basic black WB’s and they don’t match the LFL. The Minnow Bugger seems to outshine all shades of basic green and more. Ok, I promise I will never mention these two patterns again.

Another Dine and Dash Attempt after consuming the Minnow Bugger. What more can I say?

Every Day in May Challenge: More Fish Not For the Dish

EVERY DAY IN MAY WRITING CHALLENGE: TODAY’S TOPIC…’MORE FISH’

‘More Fish’: Whether a ‘trophy’ fish or a little 5″ gem from a small stream pocket, I enjoy the beauty of fish that I catch or those that others around me catch. I haven’t killed a trout in years. I don’t particularly enjoy eating them. I do enjoy a bit of halibut, salmon, sturgeon or sea bass. But, for the most part, I stick with catch and release….careful release. I know some abhor the grip and grin pose. I confess I will hoist the fish here and there when it is a special gift. Over playing a big fish on too light of rod will put the fish at risk upon release. Getting the fish in for release in a timely manner gives far better odds the fish will survive.

I recently fished with my wife. As you can see, she already has mastered a key element in relaying fishing lore…..exaggeration.

Oh my….my wife hasn’t learned that her left forearm is blocking over half the length of the fish! Of course, she doesn’t care about such things and is just happy to bring the trout to hand.

TOMORROW’S EVERY DAY IN MAY WRITING CHALLENGE TOPIC: GREENERY

 

Fly Tying Materials: Penny Sorts My Capes

In the mornings, when the birds first start their chirping, Penny the Cat can be found sitting in a window listening, making this little chortling/chirping sound of her own. Her head turns and cants in all directions as she watches the temptations flitting about outside. Because she is a house cat her instincts are perhaps a bit rusty. Remember it was almost a year ago (early June) when Penny the Cat was rescued from atop a tree in my back yard. But, perhaps her instincts aren’t that rusty.

As I came through the door last night, I was met by a feathery sight. Penny ran to me and circled around my legs, rubbing up against my shins as cats do. She walked over amidst the disaster and rolled about in apparent cat bliss.

I really can’t blame anyone but me. This is about the fourth time this has happened. I have gone form capes in gallon freezer bags atop my fly tying station, to inside boxes to under a heavy object. Penny the Cat was successful at extricating two large bags of six capes and assorted loose feathers and spreading her attack not just in the living room, but into the family room and upstairs. I suspect that Harley the Maltipoo had a hand in this two, while Emma the Lab probably snored through it all. 

Every Day in May Writing Challenge: The Fly, The Creator

The Fly…hmmm? I tie flies. I tie lots and lots of flies for every imagined possibility. Here is where my mind obsesses, plans, is compulsive (note I avoided putting OC with D). I enjoy it and I have enough flies + boxes to supply a youth group, but I won’t. Nope those little gems are my creations and I share them on the water, but not otherwise. They are the Hope & Change (the real shit, not the BS) of my fly fishing experience. I love tying, creating, imagining and finally seeing it all come together as the fish comes to hand.

A few lake patterns by SwittersB

Tomorrow’s Every Day in May Challenge Topic is Fish!!!

Every Day in May Challenge: Leader Construction

Oh my, these topics really bring out my weaknesses don’t they? The leader, the skinny little ‘tapered’ link to the fly and hopefully the fish. I do care about that nail knot securing the mono butt section to the end of the line. I do try for a taper toward the fly. Sometimes I invest in a pack of 3 tapered leaders, either 7′ or 9′ to a 4# end. I rebuild from there with the tippet piece. I try, I really do, for a 50, 25 25 (%) or 60, 20, 20 (%) ratio of materials.

But it isn’t until the fish trail off, that I notice I’m fishing with a 7′ leader with 10# married to 3.5# by a gnarly surgeons knot. Do you notice I never use the 5x or 6x designations. I flunked math for a reason: part memory, part befuddlement. I stay in the #’s like my old gear days. I do try to pay attention to length, but as you read, I am sometimes behind on that standard.

All of it (precise leader construction) doesn’t make much of a difference for me/to me. Of course, maybe it would if I always fished gin clear spring creeks, but short of the Metolius River or Fall River…I don’t.

The best addition of leader material for me has been fluorocarbon leader. No, I don’t have trouble with knots or joining mono to fluoro. I’ve use it far and wide and it has improved the takes…just my impression. See how non-techno I am? Such randomness would never fly in certain circles, but I’m not building a rocket or a bridge. I am simply fishing. 

Tomorrow’s Every Day in May Challenge Topic: Fly

Your Rig & Wet, Muddy Boots

I noticed my Tundra’s floor mats are always askew and as a result all those in and out in muddy, wet boots have taken a toll that no vacuuming, cleaning are going to remove at this point. I am not an overly fastidious vehicle owner, but maybe a little preventive maintenance wouldn’t hurt. Getting in the rig with muddy boots and wet waders do eventually take the edge off the interior. The exterior has enough character blemishes too. So, perhaps the floor mats with upraised edges might catch more snow, water, mud, dust and gravel? Here is a comparison of the two leading, collect the crap, floor mats (I don’t have either one, so no dog in the fight): Husky v. Weather Tech 

Eye on the Weather Now….

Current Conditions at a Glance U.S./Canada 

Post Op Rehab for the Older Fly Fisher

“Having just had surgery to repair a testicular torsion, I convinced my wife that standing waist deep in the salt would be good therapy. Washington FF Board

“Surgery, then a long rehab with lots of physical therapy. Had to cancel a planned salmon/fly fishing trip to Alaska.” The Fly Fishing Forum

“Appropriate fly fishing technique obviously requires tremendous use of the shoulder and … of shoulder pain after they graduate from their physical therapy regimens…”

Over the years, as an adult, I have weathered a broken heel, a torn achilles tendon, a broken hand, a fully fused right wrist, a reconstructed left shoulder, a broken elbow, a broken thumb, several spinal biopsies and now neck surgery. Car accidents, sports injuries, falls and wear & tear and arthritis have taken their toll on my bones, muscles and nerve pathways. 

At least in my case, I have come to see that the remedies of medicine are not perfect fixes. You make do. You get by. The perfect physical machine lets you down little by little.

What took a month or two to heal before now takes upwards of a year to pretty much heal and there are residual hitches in my giddy up. Maybe it is just me, but I would advise to not rush rehab. Do those piddly little exercises that you look past and follow the advice of that bored physical therapist (most of them assume you will not follow their advice away from the rehab appointment)….that rehab, as tedious as it seems, will make a difference many years later. 

You will miss those trips, those bites, those hatches, those yearly pilgrimages. In the end, you want to enjoy fly fishing, hiking, photography, fly tying, all the aspects of a vital, physical life. Take your time. 

‘Adopt The Pace of Nature: Her Secret is Patience’

~Raplph Waldo Emerson~

ODFW Considering Ranch Purchase…Hearings

“The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is considering the purchase of a 1,075-acre cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon to add to their 3,798-acre Riverside Wildlife Area.  In a statement to the press, ODFW said the McDaniel Ranch, which lies 15 miles from Juntura, would be open to the public for hunting, fishing (Malheur River), trapping, and wildlife viewing.”   More….   

Malheur River, near Juntura, Oregon (Oregon State Archives)