21
Mar 19

Sudan?

When I think of Sudan I don’t think of fly fishing… but… maybe I should. This video looks super intriguing and I have a newfound appreciation for triggers after fishing Christmas Island.

I mean… there is this from the US State Department…

” Reconsider travel to Sudan due to terrorism and civil unrest. Some areas have increased risk.”

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/sudan-travel-advisory.html

I doubt Sudan is going to be really high on my list, but I’m sure that’s just part my ignorance of what’s happening there.

Do love the triggers though.


01
Mar 19

The McCloud River via Orvis

I love this river. I tried to name my daughter Ahdina (there’s a spot called Ah Di Na just upstream from where these guys were). The Conservancy property, Ash Camp, Fowlers… it is one of the most beautiful rivers I’ve ever set foot in. I didn’t fish it last year, but this has made my mind up to make a trip up there this year for sure.

Not bonefishing. Not triggers or tarpon, but a special place. Hope you enjoy.


27
Dec 18

Well Wishes

Second Christmas is coming… about a month out. Some gear still left to acquire and about 100 flies left to tie.


11
Jan 18

Cliche

The Cliche of Gin

The water, most days, in most of the places I love being is gin clear.

It is as clear as water, but you just can’t say that, right? It’s like you aren’t even trying.

It is as clear as stale 7-Up.

It is as clear as simple arithmetic.

It is as clear as a bag of IV solution

which is usually saline, which makes sense.

It is as clear as the nose on my face.

It is at clear as the rumbling, booming Dolby hi-def deafening audio at the movie theatre.

It is as clear as a clear day.

It is as clear as a dive in the box.

It is clear as clear.

That’s how the water is in the places I love on a good day when the wind isn’t up too much and there’s no churn from a cold front.

It is only the part in the middle that is clear.

The surface has ripples and currents and is seldom still.

The bottom is a jumble of refracted light and swaying grasses which confuse and trick the eye.

But the medium in the middle, the domain of the fish, it is clear as gin.

That is a picture to put a smile on your face, isn’t it? (photo by Peter Viau, originally from this post about South Andros). 


02
Nov 17

Irma, the Keys, This is Fly and Dr. Adams

Here’s something for you to check out if you want to know what Irma did to the Keys.

A story by Dr. Aaron Adams in This is Fly about what impact Irma has on the Keys, which should give you a pretty good idea of the shape of things.

Now that is purdy

 


09
Mar 17

Fine words from Yvon

I like Yvon Chouinard. The business he founded, Patagonia, has an ethic I dig and gear I cherish (I better cherish because it is damn expensive, but you get what you pay for).

Here’s a link to his op-ed in the LA Times about the challenges facing our public lands.

Pirates Casting

 


20
Feb 17

More on Bill Curtis

The Jackson Hole News and Guide came out with a really great story about long-time/monumental guide Bill Curtis, who passed away last year. Good read.

I never met Bill Curtis. Wish I did. Sounds like he was a really interesting guy.

And… because Florida… someone stole Bill Curtis’s ashes from a pick-up truck.

Oh Florida… you work hard to earn your reputation.

 

 


03
Aug 16

Dammit Earl!

Some bad news for Belize, Mexico and Honduras… Earl is coming and he likely will become a hurricane some time tomorrow.

Earl

Not good.

Thoughts are with those in the path of Earl.


15
Jul 15

Again… what being helpful looks like

The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is an organization I hold in high regard. They are the stewards and watchers on the wall for the species we love and the places they live. They are, as the saying goes, “good people.”

Being that they are good people and they do a lot of work in the Bahamas and have developed many relationships there over the years, I was happy to see their more detailed recommendations for regulations to protect and preserve Bahamian sport-fishing in a sustainable way for the long haul.

In fact, it is so well reasoned and well crafted I am nearly 100% positive that these points of recommendation will be rejected, probably in whole.

Here are the recommendations from BTT. 

The fundamental reason these points will be rejected (or, more likely, just ignored) is that the move to regulate flats fishing has little to nothing to do with conserving the fisheries. Sure, there is a lot of talk about how these regulations are designed to ensure the fishery will be there for future generations, but this appears to mean “it will be here for future generations because we are going to get rid of all the anglers.”

The government has made noise about “consultation,” but they have selected the most radical people to take their advice from and have ignored the input of so many important stakeholders.

The government would do well to listen to this bit of advice from BTT if they want to find a sane way to regulate the industry and preserve the fishery for future generations, as they say they do.

I have no confidence Minister Gray or Prescott Smith will take any of BTT”s suggestions because their true motivations do not appear to align with passing sane regulations.

I’d love to be proven wrong.

 


12
Jul 15

The long running argument

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

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

I have friends who love to give me crap about fish feeling pain. They send me stories and pictures about poor fish in pain. I have long countered with my standard line “I can’t tell you fish don’t experience something, but they don’t experience pain like you and I do.”

They have not believed me. Actually, maybe they did, but they just like giving me crap (that sound more probable).

I was glad to see that the argument has been settled WITH SCIENCE! I like science.

“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

You can find the story about the science here.