Are we okay?

Days and nights on the river in a drift boat or raft are some of the best times I remember. The anticipation even the planning of a long trip or just day trip feed the soul with the optimism and a sense that anything could happen. "Therapy by nature" is how I've often described fly fishing and the sometimes needed breaks from everyday and the heart felt and needed conversational bond between friends allows us to dispose of any unwanted baggage our minds always seem to collect thanks to life and its never ending barrage of craziness.

But lately we've stumbled upon something else that happens in the middle of a float, something we cant quite put our finger on or wrap our heads around. Something that may only be able to be diagnosed by the brightest minds in the psychological world. MANIA!!

Mania, as described in the Tina, Eat dictionary as "A loss of known reality and sensibilities whereas the affected will break into song and dance with no provocation, sometimes followed by made up facts in regards to the affected individuals surroundings. Also crude nonsensical humor may be present when the fishing is slow"

This is definitely a laughing matter. Where our minds go in those down times is sure sign that sanity has went bye bye hours ago and we are at the mercy of our partner in the boat to bring us back to reality..In my case my partner normally slips into his mania around or before my symptoms start to reveal themselves. LOL

In addition to Mania..We also see a hunger that few could tame.. Candy bars and drinks and chips and sandwiches, donuts and cookies seem to be part of the diet and the feeding of the beast.

So please next time you're on the river and you feel one of these episodes coming on...Go with it..Its such a nice break from reality..LOL...

Or this is only in our boat and in that case if you hear "The Humpty Dance" or in my case 1970's AM radio hits, please stop us and check on us.. We are'nt well....

If these things hit close to home and you know these symptoms all too well...I implore you to share with me your tales...LOL  I actually beg you.

Jeff

USGS graph

USGS graph

USGS graph

USGS graph

What in the Hell?

This weather pattern is is really throwing a kink into the Spring norms. Water has been high and dirty, cold then colder and now in a warming trend that doesn't seem to be sparking any real hatches that we normally expect in early May. So of course with all of that being said we still act like and feel like we have lost our ability to figure out these fish and question everything from fly selection to the use of a streamer loop or not! LOL. 

I awoke this morning to my coffee and Facebook ritual and I read posts from the fly shops and other fishermen who are experiencing the same struggles and questions that I am.."What in the Hell?" I think and I can only speak for myself in that we take our fly fishing quite seriously and when we have to stop and ponder the whats and why's, our first reaction is to question ourselves and our abilities. That being said is it a bad thing to dissect our process? No... I think re tracing and re evaluating our tactics is a great tool.. it allows us to take that mental break and look to see what, if anything has been missed.

We take this shit pretty serious. It keeps us up at night and is a distraction when our minds should be somewhere else. We knew getting into this that it wasn't easy and that's why we did it, so when these monkey wrenches get thrown in as they always do we need to remember to relax regroup and re think but trust that your experience and dedication will generally prevail and not to forget we have a treasure chest of knowledge and answers all around us. Don't be afraid to ask, don't let your ego get in the way of your goal. Despite our current level of experience, none of us got here without asking and watching others that we respected and admired.. that still is a very useful resource. 

So get out there and fish and get out there and test yourself against Mother Nature and the other guy in your boat and trust that you'll never miss or catch a fish from the couch.

Jeff

18" Streamer eater

Little Ausable Brookie takes a streamer

Perfection

To quote, Author Norman Maclean,

 "My father believed that man by nature was a mess and had fallen from an original state of grace."

This is an excerpt of an excerpt, but the body is here and I agree with Mr Maclean. In a world where pace is set by the next best and the need to be seen and validated on social media. A world where friends are virtual and not literal, I look at myself.

I'm a husband, a father a friend and a fisherman and not particularly astounding in any of the aforementioned areas. I stumble, I fall and I will continue to do this because I am a man who is flawed and that's okay. I believe that perfection in a human is a laughable notion and there is little to no perfection in the world, but who of us haven't sat in the drift boat or on the bank or while wading in our favorite stretch of water and honestly breathed in our surroundings and said to ourselves "This is perfect".

It is in these moments that I believe we have true clarity, we see things in the light of what they are and who we are and it is our "Perfection". No clicks, no shares, no comments needed....it is also in these moments where our souls are refueled and minds refreshed and that give us that energy to move on in our daily life and face all of the daily imperfections that surrounds us.

If this resonates with you, I hope you'll stop now again and re-evaluate your "Perfection" and you'll define it by your meter and not by what Facebook or Instagram or the various other social platforms that have seemingly re-defined what and why we are. I am gonna sit in a drift boat this weekend with a forecast that is certainly not "Perfect" to say the least and I;m going to recount fish landed, fish missed and continue to ponder why we have never caught a fish in that spot.."It just looks so, Trouty" with my best friend and I am going to exist in my "Perfection".

Jeff

Tom's Top 7 Early-Season Streamers - Orvis News

Tom's Top 7 Early-Season Streamers - Orvis News: This springtime rainbow was holding in deep water below a highway bridge in western Massachusetts.
Photo by Joe Phillips
In Tuesday's post, 'How to Fish Streamers in the Early Season,' I explained that I prefer flies that have some movement of their own, like ones with marabou and rabbit fur, because they work . . .Read More  »

2018 8-Weight Fly Reel Shootout and Review: What's the best saltwater fly reel? | Trident Fly Fishing

2018 8-Weight Fly Reel Shootout and Review: What's the best saltwater fly reel? | Trident Fly Fishing

Ben and the guys over at tridentflyfishing.com sent me over the 2018 8 WT shootout results, take a look.