gone fishin'

It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning. The sun is rising and will soon melt the light frost covering my deck and yard. It’s one of the few mornings we’ve had lately that wasn’t gloomy. The weatherman, however, tells us we may get more rain this afternoon. No surprise there. It seems like it’s been raining ever since it stopped snowing! I’m skipping work today and pretty soon I’ll go to town and have brunch with Dad, but for now the dogs are romping around the yard, the coffee is hot and strong and I’m thinking about the weekend coming. And fishing.

Gierach said, “I have to go fishing, it’s my job.” C’mon man, how does that make the rest of us feel? I, for one, am darned envious if not outright crazy jealous! It gets worse, too, when he goes on to explain how his travel costs, fishing gear, rods, vehicle, and about everything else he has or uses is a tax write-off. What?! So, I have to wonder, does all his fishing cost him anything? I’m a simple guy and I don’t really know how this write-off stuff works because I what I can write-off is basically, well… nothing. Still, the idea of travelling the country fly fishing the best of the best for a living is a fine and worthy fantasy.

Saturday I’m heading for Montana with good friends and we’ll be doing our best to catch some trout. I’m doing the usual procrastinating about packing, and when I get serious about it I’ll end up throwing stuff in my duffel and trying to figure out what I’m forgetting, i.e. find my polarized glasses and fishing hat in the clutter of my truck. And I know where I left my camera, I wonder if it’s still there? That’s how I do it. We’re taking plenty of food, plenty of gear (despite what I forget), and two drift boats. Last night I was checking out my reels and tonight I’m figuring to condense my fly boxes and take only what I’ll think I’ll need. I’ll likely be wrong and end up buying the right flies when we get there, but that’s part of the fun and I enjoy looking through a fly shop. The fly shop folks are friendly and helpful, even though they probably spot me as a clueless tourist, but it’s guys like me that keep them in business, so it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.

That’s it for now, and what’s that they say? Oh, yeah – Tight Lines!