Sometimes you just gotta go fishing

Hey everyone!  I just got off the phone with my mom.  It’s not our regular day to talk but that’s fine - I think she somehow knew that I went fishing yesterday and wanted to check in.  She’s the one who I credit for my love of fishing. My grandma too, but there’s never been a more supportive mom out there when it comes to encouraging a kid’s love of fishing.  She’s pretty fantastic.

Dave texted me Wednesday night and said ‘let’s go fish for a few hours tomorrow’.  I debated and thought about the rods that I needed to finish up and get on the website.  

But then I remembered that I didn't have my aluminum rod tubes and guides for the bigger rods yet and then had a little panic attack thinking about the continued and severe lack of materials and about paying end of the month bills.  And then I thought to myself: "Self, catching some redbreast sunfish with Dave and Stella sounds like a good idea and might be what is needed."

I felt a little guilty because I fished with my friend Gordon on Monday.  Gordon is the source of my ‘woodpile cherry’ seated rods that I’ve built lately.  He’s always fun to fish with and even though we’ve only known each other for a few years it’s like picking up with an old childhood friend whenever we’re together.  Maybe because we’re still a little bit childish at times. 

Stella couldn’t go on that trip - she’s showing her age a little on the really long days lately.  She’ll be 10 on the 5th of June.  

Gordon and I met up near Asheville and fished a couple streams that I hadn’t been back to since the Carolina Conclave of ‘19. The fishing this year has been slow for me and it was that day too. We were skunked at the first place that used to be a great brookie stream.  Could have been an off day or maybe it was that hurricane a few years ago.  But we didn’t see a single fish (we didn't see any couples, throuples, or gangs of fish either) so we decided to hike out and find another place.  

We drove around a little on the forest service roads looking for water. Not on the roads themselves, but off to the side.

That’s part of the fun. Talking, catching up, looking at amazing old trees, telling jokes.  Slamming on the brakes thinking that we both just saw a bear. Backing up only to find that it was an old rotten stump that almost looked like a bear watching the road.  Laughing at the great bear we saw.  And remembering the bears that I’ve seen when at his land in West Virginia. I love seeing bears - they are some serious and special animals. Seriously special.

Also hitting the brakes for some kind of azalea looking plant.  It was amazing and not a plant I’ve ever noticed before.  And some of the most amazing mushrooms I’ve ever seen.

We wandered to a point I had marked on my map as a place to explore, getting there to find that the ‘stream’ I marked was more of a spring trickle and not what we expected. So we rerouted and I navigated us to another less remote stream and we finally caught a few wild rainbows.  It was cold and clear rushing water that looked amazing. I’d fished there a few years before with my friends Jacob and Jillian before they moved to CO.

We fished 2 different versions of a 6’4” 4wt that I’ve been messing with for a while.  We mostly used little Mr. Rapidan and Royal Wulff flies.  We caught a bunch of little wild rainbow trout and it was fantastic.

Guilty or not, fishing is my job and I've not been fishing nearly enough this year so I figured I’d take advantage of the opportunity to go again and fish a rod that I’ve not given enough time to.  

We also went to a warmwater river that is not very typical of the Piedmont region.  The rocks are big and slippery.  I always leave there more injured than how I arrive, so I don’t go very often.  But I finally felt prepared.  Yesterday was the first time I have ever stayed upright the whole time at this stream and I would like to publicly thank my 6am yoga classes for that.  (I never thought I’d say that out loud.)

We didn’t catch any huge bass like we hoped but Dave got a shot at a few carp and a gar and I caught all the redbreast sunfish I could handle. It was amazing and rejuvenating.  I even caught my first bullhead catfish.  That little fella sipped my fly like a trout and fought like a bass.  It was amazing.  It reminded me of how I enjoyed fishing as a kid and gave me a little glimpse into why I love building fly rods.  For joy and beauty.  To slow down and to see creation in a new light.

I fished  one of my new 8’2” 5wt parabolic rods.  I haven't been able to test this model out as thoroughly as I have wanted.  Yesterday was perfect for it.  Small #8 deer hair poppers from Brandon, a little Clouser/crawfish kind of fly I tied 10 years ago, small weighted baitfish patterns, a fat foam cicada.  I didn’t think of the rod while I was fishing it and that was nice. That confirms to me that it’s a winner.   I usually think about the rods too much and forget to enjoy myself.  It was wonderful.  I can't wait to catch some summertime cutthroat with it out west this summer. I hope. And some more of the locals too.  

Stella is hobbling a little today, but happier than I’ve seen her in a while so I didn’t bring her to the shop this morning. It’s hot and dirty today and she got a bath last night.  She’s not crazy about baths but afterwards she acts all proud and princess-ey so I think she secretly likes them.  She says hello.

I’m finishing up and will be listing 6 rods soon. A 7’9” 3wt parabolic with a beautiful light burled camphor seat, an 8’4wt with a piece of curly chestnut, another 7’9” 3wt parabolic with Cuban mahogany, an 8’ 6wt Synthesis eager to find some smallies (waiting on the guides for that one), another 8’ 4wt with a Cuban mahogany seat and the second of two 7’9” 3-4wt Progressive rods with a piece of ‘woodpile cherry’ from Gordon’s place for the seat.

One thing I’m trying out is to wrap some trim bands near the grip to denote the weight of the rod.  3 bands = 3wt, etc.  All those little wraps get a little tedious for the 5wt+ rods but so far I like it.  We’ll see if I continue that.

Thanks for coming along!  I hope y’all have been well and are able to get out and enjoy this beautiful time of year.  It's July hot here today but hopefully it’ll get back to springtime before too long.

Take care and good fishing,

Chris