Wow a fishing report, I bet you thought this would be all some dude whining about how lonely he is and how there are no fish for like 9 months. Well guess what you are wrong, I went fishing today, with a woman. Yea I’m a loser, yea I might think there are times that fishing is better than sex, and yea I want to find a woman who feels the same way. I haven’t talked to this one about it yet, if I had to venture a guess I’d say she would feel the differently, but then again she’s never caught a 15 pound steelhead or had a 25 inch rainbow take a dry fly. Here’s to hoping today might have helped change that. She’s stoked on the romance of fishing, like the process, she talks about some guide in Mona Lake that her family did a trip with who talked for a day without letting anyone touch the rods, that’s probably the best way to break in new folks, teach them some stuff. Of course I’ve guided folks who have gone to classes (by Orvis) and wow, they had a hard time believing that you could get away with 3x with a size 14 fly and a size 8 fly. But anyway, we had a good day, saw an eagle catch a salmon (I’ve never seen that before!) saw a bunch of really old cohos, I even saw one epically large cutty. I’m going back tomorrow with the tube. The fishing consisted of practice casting with my trout rod, of course I didn’t expect to see a bunch of salmon so I didn’t bring anything for them, its November for gods sake. She did ok for her 4th day out, fishing in the wind on lakes without backcast space is really hard. We mostly just hung out and talked or I watched her cast, she apologized for not letting me fish (her rod, line and reel were probably older than me, and that made casting tough)

but really I’ve caught enough fish, I’d rather just watch someone learning and remember what it was like when I was learning. The days in the t shirt in the little rubber raft, looking for risers, casting anything that had red on it (it had to have red), the day I realized how to double haul (nobody told me I just figured it out like a bird learning to fly), biking to the little culvert and finding wild rainbows that would eat anything. I loved those days, the thing I like about this woman is I see that in her, I see the joy that comes with trying to learn this amazing skill that becomes an art, and becomes a way of life. I can go anywhere in the world with a fly rod and have something to do. I’m not sure if she saw the fire in my eyes, the passion for the rivers and the fish, I’m not sure if I have that passion anymore, maybe I’ve lost it, but going fishing with her today helped me want to be like that, like a child again. Next time I see her, I’ll have to thank her for the fire, I hope she brings out the best in me, someone like that is worth a lot. No matter what happens, today was a good day and I’ll hopefully never forget it.

Today I ordered a new fly rod blank, a beulah 5/6 switch rod to be exact for all you gear freaks. Its gonna look pretty, and if its anything like the other beulahs I’ve casted its gonna be sweet. It’ll be nice to have a project, a new distraction, winter is coming very soon I can feel it, so I need a distraction. I also have a fiberglass Fenwick to restore, I was left my Grandfather’s Fenwick and I still love it, I’m just not about to bring it out where it can get beat to crap, yea I know grandpa is probably looking down and yelling at me to fish the shit out of it but I’ve got plenty of other rods, and this one I picked up at a gear swap for $20 is the same model and I won’t worry about breaking it on a king or something. The funny thing about fly rods is that you get attached to them, I don’t know why, they are just graphite or fiberglass, they can be bragging points, or tools, or treats, or connections to the past, or hope for the future, or reminders of a friend or a way to forget. Fly rods are special for sure, and when I’m done wrapping this one I’ll be happy because I’ll have a new friend and new reminder that life is a good idea because there is always something to look forward too.