The Good Old Days

Working in a fly shop is a pretty cool job. We gwt all kinds of folks ranging from the occassional transient bent on selling me a TV to the more frequent Hollywood celeb looking for 20% off a $4 spool of tippett! True stories I swear.
Today we had one on those guys selling the "good old days" by minimizing the might fine day of today. These are the guys and gals that insist on making sure that you know that they have been here over 20 years. You never hear a native making a point of letting you know how long they've been here! It gets irritating because for one thing...I don't care how long you've been here...for another...the fishing was always better yesterday...and finally...does anyone really fondly recall trying to cast a 7' fiberglass or bamboo noodle with a weighted fly into the wind on the Madison? No, at the time they were the person driving rod and line manufatcurers to give them something that would make this seemingly impossible feat a realtiy!
These are the ones that complain about the crowds on the river, the 10 minute morning commutte, and local government being moronic (which may or may not be true). I think there are some spots in Alaska, Nevada, and Wyoming that are still pretty void of humans and maybe their departure from the masses here would be an altruistic start on their part!
I understand the point, but good God man...get over it. Go sit on the Frying Pan or San Juan in mid-July. Maybe that's what the good old day guys should do just to remember that these are the good old days! With countless streams and lakes, not to mention the literally hundredS of mileS of famous rivers to fish, it's not too hard to find some solitude and fish around here...even in mid-July.
It reminds me of that old saying about the guy with one foot in yesterday and one in tomorrow...today just gets pissed and crapped all over!

It's Time to Get Serious

Well, the season is fast-approaching...finally. I've been fishing a bit on the Madison as of late, looking forward to the longer days of Spring just around the corner. This is the time of year when the attitude shifts from that of anticipation to action! Flies are being tied, deposits are being taken, trips planned and scheduled, expectations are building...you get the point.
I head to Arkansas this coming week for much long awaited debut on the world famous tailwaters scattered around the southern end of the Ozarks. The region is home to the waters that have produced the last several world-record brown trouts, albeit that they were taken on corn and marshmallows! I wonder if I'm above fishing corn or maggots if there is a real chance at 20-30 lbs trout? The last few weeks have found me dipping to lows never before...pink grub tails Zap-A-Gapped to bait hooks, Giant red Gamakatsu Bait Hooks dressed with glitterring red worms (plastic that is). Oh well, the one thing I know about flyfisherman today is that everyone's a snob until they hear that other guy's reel zinging!
It's good to fish and to fish is good.

Perfect Day

The weather was a bit chilly, but the crowds were at a minimum, the company good, and the weather was as good as it gets. We floated Warm Springs to Cherry Creek at a leisurley pace that invloved little back-rowing and lots of bullshitting. The attitude was one of complacency when it came to the techniques of the day. Nevertheless, we managed to luck into a few trout...with exagerrated consistency. Good numbers of midges are starting to get active, but we got most of the fish on San Juans and Crayfish. It was a nice day and fishing was good.