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DrakeBob		#41	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1626 11/19/2009 20:16 Formerly Drake	I know Martin. I've fished with Martin. Martin is no bumbler. He is, however, too modest. Piscator Non Solum Piscatur
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BlackHillsBill		#42	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3149 11/19/2009 20:31	Now, Bob, I bet if told you I meant myself as the fellow remaining a bumbler, you'd say I was being too modest. So I won't tell you. Anyway I couldn't find one of those rods which cast themselves. I think you made that up.
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DrakeBob		#43	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1627 11/19/2009 20:36 Formerly Drake	BlackHillsBill wrote: I think you made that up. I prefer to call it "license," Bill. Not a senior license though, heaven forbid. Piscator Non Solum Piscatur
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Catch 22		#44	[url]	[-]
Posts: 511 11/19/2009 21:37	I was fishing out in Long Island Sound for stripers with a friend on his 18' center console. My "new fly" was a 12' long heavily weighted eel imitation (nope, you're wrong, it doesn't whack me upside the head). I was fishing it on a 400 grain sink tip, and having a tough time dredging it up for the next cast, even with a 10 weight. As I pulled the line up, I gave it an extra bit of "pull". When I did that, I lost my balance, but was able to regain it. Unfortunately, as I did this, my "fly" sank like a rock behind me, as it was supposed to. When I tried to pull the fly out of the water, it was so far down that my effort came up short. The fly came out of the water, just missed my head (see, I told you so), and grabbed my Croakies, which were attached to my $100+ pair of Action Optics sunglasses, ripping them off my head, and throwing them into the water. I watched in horror as the most expensive pair of sunglasses I had ever owned (or will ever own) flew into LIS. I screamed to Rob as I pointed, "Grab my glasses!". Somehow, he managed to get a hand on them before they retreated into the depths. It was nothing other than pure luck that they fell in directly in front of him. We proceeded to catch a bunch of stripers and blues, so all's well that ends well. But that cast really did suck. Jeff **Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!**
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BlackHillsBill	It's always better if you're fishing partner has played shortstop.	#45	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3151 11/19/2009 23:17	Thanks for the post, Jeff. Losing glasses may be the classic panic moment for a fly fisher. The worst I did in that vein owed to an awkward snagged cast on the Firehole, which led a mother elk to decide my backcast might pose a threat to her calf and therefore to send me abruptly on my way across the stream. It was June and the Firehole--which others claim is never muddy, although it sometimes runs the color of rich dark tea--resembled a four-bag pot of Irish Breakfast. When I slipped wading backwards, I became suddenly not only very wet but also half-blind sans sunken bifocals. The cow elk walked placidly away, concluding I was just as abject a failure as a threat as I was as a caster. Tea-colored though it may be, the Firehole runs cold in June. More like iced tea. Unless you're lucky enough to fall in near a geyser, where the pot is constantly steaming. I wasn't. Last Edited By: BlackHillsBill 11/20/2009 09:17. Edited 2 times.
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Horace Benbow		#46	[url]	[-]
Posts: 59 11/20/2009 05:50	DrakeBob wrote: I know Martin. I've fished with Martin. Martin is no bumbler. Oh yeah? Ask him about his netless fish-landing technique.
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Ed Pirie		#47	[url]	[-]
Posts: 131 11/20/2009 11:29	This is a story that belongs on this thread. A couple of years ago my brother-in-law and I were fishing a favorite beaver pond. We were both standing on the dam and casting. Closer to where I was standing was an old dead hemlock that had given up its life due to the flooding from dam. This old hemlock was almost in back of me and I had lost other good flies to its branches. This time I lost a much appreciated Hornberg that the brookies were hitting. I told my brother-in-law, Roger, that I was going to climb this tree and get some of my flies back including this Hornberg. Roger said I was too big for this and it would not be a good idea. Well, this was all the encouragement I needed. I am kind of a big fella as my avitar shows. I started climbing this hemlock and branches were breaking as I climbed. I did think that I was going to have a problem coming back down with so many of the branches now gone. My Hornberg was up near the top of the tree. This old hemlock was probably about 40 feet tall. Up near the top my foot got stuck between two branches and as I reached for my Hornberg, I heard the trunk making a bad sound. I toldRoger that I was stuck and I was not sure how I was coming down. He said, " I think you have cracked the trunk down lower. Why don't you try to get the tree swaying and it will fall down with you in it. But, he said, I would like you to stay there a while so I can go get a camera and get some pictures of this." He said, "You look like a big bear with waders on up in that tree." I told Rog not to bother with the camera. I was going to give his idea of getting the tree swaying a try. Well, I started to move back and forth and then there was a loud crack. The whole tree was coming down with me in it. I rode it down and would have had a good landing but the tree decided to fall into the brook below the dam. I rolled out of the top of the tree into a big pool and got wet, and worst of all, I lost my Hornberg during the landing. This is not on film so you will have to verify this story with my brother-in-law, Roger Allbee, Vermont Commissioner of Agriculture, Montpelier, Vermont. He still laughs about this, my worst cast of many, really. Ed Pirie West Topsham, Vermont
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nwdlj	Blast from the past	#48	[url]	[-]
Posts: 132 11/20/2009 12:37	Archy and Mehitabel!!!! that was worth the pain of the incident...I grew up reading my dad's books of their comics from the 30's and have several of them myself...great reference to Archie...dj edit: for those who would like to see what all the obtuse references are about...and spend a long winter night enjoying some last century writings and comics...my favorite is of course the love besotted poet cockroach- Archy check it out at http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/ Last Edited By: nwdlj 11/20/2009 13:43. Edited 2 times.
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BlackHillsBill		#49	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3154 11/20/2009 16:31	Ed, it's also a perfect illustration of one of life's great truths: nothing else is quite so annoying as a "helpful" brother-in-law. And dj, if nothing else, this thread could establish a base for an archy & mehitabel fan club. We could consider that a worthy restoration.
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lstshkr		#50	[url]	[-]
Posts: 359 11/21/2009 02:30	One of the best similes/metaphors I have ever seen: that stern and rockbound coast felt like an amateur when it saw how grim the puritans that landed on it were archy I feel fortunate that I was able to teach this stuff during the years I had real employment. Dean D "I used to be clueless, but I've turned that situation around 360 degrees."
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BlackHillsBill	Classic, classic, my mistake. My meds have reached the donut hole.	#51	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3156 11/21/2009 11:14	DrakeBob wrote: BlackHillsBill wrote: I think you made that up. I prefer to call it "license," Bill. Not a senior license though, heaven forbid. I've been giving this lots of thought, Bob. You know how confused I get what with the years weighing so heavily and that blasted winged chariot constantly bearing down. Could it be I've got things screwed up again? You mean this isn't The Jurassic Fly Rod Forum? Hoboy, am I glad you pulled me back to reality before I did something I'd regret. Maybe I shouldn't be trusted with any more senior license.
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BlackHillsBill	Back to the real stuff.	#52	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3157 11/21/2009 11:39	lstshkr wrote: One of the best similes/metaphors I have ever seen: that stern and rockbound coast felt like an amateur when it saw how grim the puritans that landed on it were archy I feel fortunate that I was able to teach this stuff during the years I had real employment. Dean D Dean was just reminding us archy the cockroach knew the new guests had brought something with them before they received the turkey and corn. Today we call it "attitude." It's still the custom of some guests. That and sometimes staying longer than expected. Flowers would probably be better.
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gofish60		#53	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2118 11/21/2009 13:05 Registered User	Hard to say which was the worst when in a lifetime of fly fishing so many are in play. However, losing my last size 20 Adams while solidly hooking a curious Holstein Bull's ear during a Brookie feeding frenzy ranks right up there. Being well aware of the temperament of a Holstein Bull from bad childhood experiences, I could only thank the Good Lord that there was a substantial electric fence between me and that 1500 pounds of pissed off cow. The 6X leader held pretty well. I really had to yank to get it to break, which didn't please the bull much either. Clark Davis was fishing with me that day, and couldn't stop laughing for a long, long time. gofish Last Edited By: gofish60 11/21/2009 14:14. Edited 1 time.
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BlackHillsBill		#54	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3159 11/21/2009 15:03	Yeah, Ed, you might have been able to reason with a horse or maybe even a Hereford, but a Holstein bull can have a flat out mean and unmollifiable nature. Too bad you had to break him off though. You and Clark could have been in steaks for a long time.
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gofish60		#55	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2119 11/21/2009 15:46 Registered User	Bill You're right about that. We had a small herd of Herefords, including a bull, for about 20 years. They are real pussycats, not a bit mean, easy to keep, don't push fences, etc. I also bought newborn Angus/Holstein cross bull calves from my dairy farming neighbors. The old superstition/practice was to breed a first calf Holstein heifer to an Angus to get a smaller calf, thus making it easier for the cow to deliver. Those crosses were almost all meaner than snakes, (maybe because they knew it was me who castrated them soon after arrival), but gained weight well, after being turned into steers. I have to admit my wife and I miss having the bunch of them around, not the work, mind you, but just watching them out in the pasture. Those Holstein Bull steaks you mentioned would have been pretty tough, though. We never even took hamburger meat from Bulls,even the Herefords. Just sold them for "Bologna Bulls" at the local packing house. gofish Last Edited By: gofish60 11/21/2009 15:50. Edited 1 time.
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Ken M 44		#56	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3300 11/21/2009 16:17 Immoderatus Britannicus	Herefords, including a bull, for about 20 years. They are real pussycats, not a bit mean, easy to keep, don't push fences, etc. It is rough time around here for Herefordians - threats of almost local Morris Men descending on me and now 'our' Bulls being accused of being pussycats ... But describing a Holstein Bull as '1500 pounds of pissed off cow' - I am really not surprised that he was pissed with you. And Bill - glad to see you back to your eloquent (and monopostic but prolific) self, Hell I might find a way of including 'specious'© again in a post before long just for old times sake. Am still working on the 'One Fly Henry's Fork' trip just to demonstrate a wors(e/t) cast, but knowing my timing you will be holed up at the SD conclave.
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BlackHillsBill	Bull.	#57	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3160 11/21/2009 16:37	"Bologna Bull." Now there is a bad retirement. I know a guy who should take "Bologna Bull" as an avatar, but naturally I'm too diplomatic to suggest it. Here I lived ten years in Bear Butte Valley cattle country at Sturgis in the Black Hills and knew nothing about bull milking or bologna bulls until this thread. Another missed opportunity. But it goes to show a person could learn enough bull around here to start up in a second vocation if the economic recovery slows. Or maybe it just shows some, me for example, are regular magnets for bull. But, lo!, even as I monopost, Sir Kenneth Ken of Old Hereford, the moderator whose waders do not squeak or leak, has sneaked up behind reminding me of a foolish bet I made. Ken, the bulls run to a pretty good size on Harriman Ranch at Henry's Fork, but they've been taught to be on best manners with fly fishermen. Except for our own casts, then, we should be safe. Last Edited By: BlackHillsBill 11/21/2009 16:48. Edited 2 times.
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gofish60		#58	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2120 11/21/2009 18:37 Registered User	I thought long and hard about calling the bull a generic cow, but thought since he represented the entire group of animals, male and female, called "cows" in the US, it would be acceptable to our grammarians. Apparently not, and I apologize for my transgressian. gofish
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Southbranch		#59	[url]	[-]
Posts: 517 11/21/2009 20:12	Those Holstein lady cows can be pretty mean too. Once I was fishing a little southwestern Wisconsin brook that ran through a friend's pasture. The only stock in the field were an old Holstein cow and a half-grown Angus calf that she had come to think of as her own. I had my German Shepherd Rufus along. Being a city dog, he was intimidated by cattle despite his herding heritage, and the cow, sensing his cowardice, took to chasing him around the pasture a little. Later, when I was standing beside my car talking to my friend, Rufus came running toward me and hid behind my legs. The cow was in hot pursuit, with the calf bringing up the rear. I was now in the path of the beef train with my back against the car. My friend started laughing, but I didn't see the humor in the situation. At the last second, he stepped between me and the cow and stopped her in her tracks just by waving his arms and hollering. Her hooves actually plowed furrows in the gravel driveway when she put on the brakes. Meanwhile, Rufus had realized I wasn't much protection and ran around to the far side of the car to hide. Now I stay out of fields if there are cattle there, no matter how good the fishing.
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BlackHillsBill	And not bull.	#60	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3161 11/21/2009 20:51	It's rare here for us to acknowledge the persuasiveness and authority of the "distaff side" as clubby gentleman once referred to females of the species. Even more rare when it's done as well as Pete does it in his narrative, which I can't help but read as an allegory. Watch the behavior modification whenever Pink shows up to post.
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