Happy Friday

After 35 years of marriage, a husband and wife came for counseling.

When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the years they had been married.

On and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured.

Finally, after allowing this for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and after asking the wife to stand, he embraced and kissed her long and passionately as her husband watched - with a raised eyebrow.

The woman shut up and quietly sat down in a daze.

The therapist turned to the husband and said, "This is what your wife needs at least 3 times a week. Can you do this?"

"Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays,

But on Fridays, I fish."



Stolen from a forum but it made me laugh. TGIF.

Two of my favorite things....

There are two things I love about warm weather; dry fly fishing, and wearing flip flops. Saturday was in the low 60s and beautiful, but I couldn't get to the stream because of my nephew's birthday party. (which was a worthwhile excuse. Happy Birthday Bass!)

Sunday, was a little cooler, but still gorgeous. I knew the bugs would be out and after getting spousal permission, I donned my Reef sandals and headed to the stream for an hour (I think most of my posts mention asking the wife, don't they?)

I got on the boards quick with three fish on size 18 CDC comparaduns, BWO style. Nothing huge, but my feet were exposed to the breeze, and the fish were looking up. I couldn't complain.

Once the Baetis calmed down, I decided to test out a new shiner streamer pattern I've been messing with that has some huge eyes. I tied it for Pickerel, but wanted to get a sense for it's motion in a stream. A fat bow inhaled it on the swing during cast #6, but I wound up having to do surgery to get it out, and I didn't wanna stress the fish while fumbling for the camera. Here's a pic of the fly though.

Not a bad afternoon. Before I go, I received a few questions on where to get some DTT stickers. As a reminder, they are available in the Fly Shop section. I'm starting to run low and I probably won't be printing more so If you want some, jump on them soon.

I love seeing the kids twisting up bugs

I hope he doesn't mind me posting this, but I saw my bro-in-law's Instagram feed last night and he had some awesome pictures of my niece and nephew with the flies they tied. These are too cute not to share. Watch out for Ruby and Sebastian. They are gonna be badass fly tiers someday.

Hoppin' and Poppin'

Spring is right around the corner (even if we are supposed to get 4 damn inches of snow today), and with daylight savings time this weekend, later evenings means quick afternoon bass trips on the way home from work. I've been working on filling a bass box off and on for the past few months. I painted some popper heads a few weeks back and finally got the time to finish them last night.

I also knocked out a couple AZ Mini-Hoppers with the racing stripe foam.

It won't be long now......

It's so close that I can feel it....and the toothy critters are alive

This is the worst few weeks of the year. Everything is deader than dead. The ground is beginning the thaw and it is spongy with mud. It's still cold and damp, but we know winter is just about to head on out to make away for spring. It might hit 45 degrees, but the wind cuts right through you. Clouds seem to permanently stick around as if to let you know that we're still in the 7th inning stretch of winter.

 The only signs of life are the return of a few songbirds, and a few overly-eager tulips beginning to push up through the muddy popsicle we call Earth.

I'm ready for the trees to bud, the green grass, the hatches. It's so close I can just feel it. Just a few weeks away now.

My spring fever today brought me to an iced-out local pond/small lake on my way home for  5 minutes. I tied on a huge articulated streamer, roughly 8 inches, hoping I might find a toothy critter trolling the shallows for food. I stood sinking into the mud on top of dead brown grass, with the wind pelting my back with a touch of snow flurries, making it difficult to cast such a big fly with a 5 weight.

I knew I wouldn't have to cast far. They love to patrol the banks and structure this time of year. I know this water well and there should be a pickerel right around here.....YEP. There's a follower. I strip my fly in, faster now that I know he's in pursuit, and watch as he erupts on it about a foot from the bank, right in front of me.

It was not much of a fight since these fish are still pretty lethargic from winter, but it gave me hope that it won't be long now until I can fish in a t-tshirt and jeans again.

Some new foam - just in time for Terrestrial tying

I have new colors of the racing stripe foam available in the fly shop for a limited time. Head on over to check it out.

I also have custom cut Hopper/Chernobyl bodies available!

When in Altmar...

So, the trip to the Salmon River wasn't great for fish, but it was pretty damn fun. We spent 3 days hiking through 2-3 feet of snow, spey casting our asses off, drinking 8% IPAs, tying flies, fighting off colds, not sleeping, and doing a lot of laughing. We had a few hookups, and fights, but in the end, Bob landed the only fish of the weekend on a fly he tied using a new switch rod he just built. I was pretty damn happy for him. In the end, it's all about the memories you make getting up there. If you don't follow our crew on Instagram, here's a recap in photos. I also have some GoPro footage that I'll hopefully edit and post this week. Enjoy.

Resting with a beer in hand at Pineville
 

Bob, hiking in the water to avoid the waist-high snow


Boxes were filled, at least when we started...

Beer pyramid was forming


Impromptu tying session in the car on the way up


Probably my favorite picture of the weekend. Jack working below the Wires


Battle fishing at Altmar. This is where I came the closest to landing a fish. They were podded up, and so were the anglers.


No trip would be complete without a stop or two at Malinda's. Best fly shop ever. She even repaired Bob's rod for free.


Me, doing some boring indicator fishing in the lower fly stretch


The little man was excited to see me when I got back. He also got a souvenir.


Nick running a sink tip and streamer through Frazier


Sly Fox Odyssey, you are evil


You could say they got some snow..


John Ryan, swinging Ellis Cove


Lunch


Little black stones were all over the place


Late night tying sesh


Success! Bob with the only fish landed.


Thanks to the Lutz family for the hospitality and putting up with our late night antics, bad gas, and beer cans. It was great to see you all again.

F*ckin' IPAs..