All the other stuff

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27
Nov 13

Defamation Shmefamation

Some good news for folks who like blogs and/or Constitutional Rights (specifically, here, I’m talking about the 1st).

An odd scene has been playing out here in California where an outdoor writer (Tom Stienstra) sued a blogger (The Trout Underground) for inconveniently reporting about his arrest, years ago. He claimed defamation and wanted the court to make the Underground pay him $10K.

Well… it didn’t work. The court ruled against him. It wasn’t the clear cut victory for Free Speech one might hope for since the court basically said Stienstra had overlooked the statute of limitations and so didn’t have standing.

Go to the Underground to see all the details.

I’ve long been a fan of the Trout Underground. He writes about my home waters and the people I know and respect.

Thanks Tom Chandler (The Trout Underground) for fighting the good fight.

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14
Nov 13

Eric Estrada Has Skillz

I met Eric on that trip to the Keys earlier this year. He’s one fishy dude and he’s also a very talented artist. I felt really fortunate to get to meet him and hear his story. Sorry I didn’t get out fishing with him though.

You can get a piece of his art through his website. One lucky guy just got this piece for his wife. Awesome.

Nice… very nice.

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09
Nov 13

Bonefish Bjorn – Working Man

Some big things have broken loose over here at the bonefishless bonefish blog headquarters.

I’m still going to be doing some work for Angling Destinations on the margins and have grandfathered in my two hosted trips already on the books (Water Cay on Feb. 15-22 is the one I need to get some more folks on… let’s go fishing).

Life saving science done here.

My new job is Director of Business Development for a medical lab specializing in coagulation testing (Machaon Diagnostics, for inquiring minds). It is a fantastic opportunity, a great company, a group of good people and the kind of job that helps support my growing family in a substantial way.

So, if I miss a day or two of updating it is just because I’m getting after it.

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01
Nov 13

Thoughts from Flatswalker

Flatswalker wrote a great little bit about casting, about the cast being the heart and soul of fly fishing and about how casting is not about strength, but about finesse.

Of course, I now realize that it was exactly my own effort that defeated me. Casting is about finesse and control, not strength, and certainly not anger.

I pretty much agree with all of that. I think about how little energy it takes a casting master to lay out their line and then contrast that with the effort less accomplished anglers put into their casting strokes and you can see a clear distinction.

Davin, in FL

However, I have a different view about where the heart and soul of our quiet sport can be found.

For me, it is the fly that sets us apart. When we catch a fish we have fooled it with the fly… something that is, on its own, scentless and lifeless. It might be easier to attach a shrimp to a hook, or a crab, the actual food these fish are seeking. It might be easier to put some scent on the fly to light up the olfactory senses of our target species. But we don’t do those things. We throw bits of metal with feather and fur and we inject life into them.

It’s like robbing a bank with a picture of a gun drawn on a post-it-note. It is artistry, both in the fly and in the presentation of the fly.

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31
Oct 13

Happy Halloween!

Hope you have a good one.

Shark Pumpkin

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29
Oct 13

The good news and the other good news

You may, or may not, know I’m going to be having a boy here in a little less than 2 months. You may, or may not, know I’ve been largely unemployed for the past 70 days.

Twinsies

Do you see the problem there with the whole “baby on the way” and “no steady paycheck” thing?

Well, that problem no longer exists. Happy to say I’m back in the world of the fully-employed. Even better, it isn’t training Orcas.

Fun, right?

This is good news.

I’m also doing some work with Angling Destinations and the good news is that I got both of my hosted trips for 2014 cleared ahead of time (Water Cay on Feb. 15-22 and Ragged Island on March 15-22). So, glad to be back among the fully employed and very excited to maybe fish with some of you folks in 2014.

Let’s go.

Let the good times roll.

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28
Oct 13

Why so serious?

Life. Death. And Fly Fishing.

Thanks for the pull. Sorry it didn’t work out.

We tend to take ourselves really seriously. I don’t know why, but we do. It feels serious. It all feels so important. I have to think this is some throwback to hunter-gatherer days when it really was that serious. There is some hold-over, some evolutionary current running from the planes of Africa up through your feet and your arm and out your fly line as you cast toward a fish you aren’t even going to eat.

I think of The River Why and A River Runs Through It, the two big works of fiction I think of when I think of fly fishing. They both are concerned, to one degree or another, with either death or the existential questions of life.

I think of my story in the first Pulp Fly and I’ll tell you, I had an impulse to send the character’s car into head-on collision at the end of it.

I don’t know why we place such life and death import to casting fur and feathers around at fish. I can also say, fully understanding the contradiction there, that it feels well placed despite the obvious ridiculousness of it.

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25
Oct 13

Plan a trip, be happy.

You ever notice how when you are planning a trip you seem to be just a tiny bit (OK, a lot) happier?

Turns out planning trips actually has a demonstrable impact on your mood.

In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks.

I got this from a story on 10 things you can do to make yourself happier, backed by science.

There is some less happy news, in that the happiness bump seems to go away pretty much after you return… but we won’t talk about that part… forget I mentioned it.

The Danes are, according to a recent study, the happiest people on earth. They are second on the list of most vacation days (25 paid, plus 9 holidays). With that much time off, they must always have a vacation they are planning and so must be able to keep their vacation planning high stoked for longer. As soon as they get back, they are just a few weeks away from their next.

I think this is something to invest in.

Pretty happy in this picture.

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22
Oct 13

The Shark Girl Chronicles

My daughter is off school the next two days and that could only mean one thing… we were going to go fish the pier.

Love this girl

As always, I’m amazed at her stamina out there. We got there just shy of 10:00 AM and left just a bit after 3:00 PM. We didn’t touch a fish until about 2:00 PM. That’s a whole lot of waiting.

Today was interesting in that we got there as the tide was coming in and we found the end of the pier full of rods and fishermen. We took a corner I knew wasn’t in prime position and we waited. While we wanted the guys down in the far corner, where I wanted to be, crushed. They had a fish on about every 15 minutes. We were doing nothing but watching one guy catch fish after fish after fish. It was humbling.

When the tide turned, hours later, we immediately hooked up and then hooked up again 2 minutes later, and then 5 minutes after that and then we missed a few fish in the next 20 minutes.

Amazing how much the tide can influence the fishing even when you are only measuring spots 60 feet apart.

A day well spent, even if no flies were used in the creation of these memories.

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19
Oct 13

Kryptonite Reservoir

Twice I managed to head to this reservoir and catch the elusive carp. The last one was to hand at least two years ago. Since then, I’ve been back here six or seven times and I have only hooked one. Today I wasn’t even lucky enough to hook one. i did catch some tiny bass though.

All I got.

I know the spot isn’t ideal. The clarity is most often measured in inches… usually under six. I don’t know of many other options. Maybe there are other spots I could try, maybe there aren’t. The SF Bay Area is not a fish-drenched destination. We mostly travel to our fish, we don’t find too many in our back yard.

This reservoir is kicking my butt so badly. It’s making me wonder how I ever pulled a fish out of here. I know it wasn’t a fluke, because I repeated the performance. Since then though, it has had my number. Yesterday was no different.

I saw a few breaching carp, large fish, jumping out of the water and crashing back in a display I’ve seen often here. You just have to be lucky. If one breaches in range and you get a fly to the ring within 5 seconds, you have a shot. Otherwise, the fish disappears as soon as it enters the murk and you can’t find it, cast to it or catch it.

Maybe next time I’ll just go somewhere else… anywhere else. This clearly isn’t working.

Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).