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#1855683 03/31/21 10:42 AM
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If you are a fisherman you will understand.

If you are not a fisherman it is meaningless.

The tug is the drug. Fisherman will go to great lengths to catch "the fish of a lifetime."

Go all over the world. Buy every piece of gear imaginable.
Boats, rods, reels, waders, boots and on and on.

Fly fisherman can be dedicated to the max. So, can any others who become addicted to fishing.

I started fishing at about five with my father in Pa.

I started my son on a fly rod at about ten. Took him to Alaska, BC, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho.

Now he is grown man and dedicated fly fisherman. He married a singer from Australia. She is half Maori from New Zealand. So, he has fish for trout in New Zealand which is a mecca location for trout.

He has also gone with guides in salt water.

He travels as a caterer for a band (Joe Bonamassa) and his wife Jade sings in the band. Sunday they had a show in Tampa. He did his job and after work booked a guide to go after tarpon.

He fished all day under windy poor conditions from early morning to night. The guide had a family and had to stop. He told my son he could hook him up with his partner for no charge and they could go that night. He went and got a slice of pizza and went back to the dock at 10 pm.

They fished all night. Close to 4 am and ready to give up.

He hooks a tarpon and a fly and it was on.

A 80lb tarpon on a fly is no easy thing to do. It is a catch of a lifetime.

Super happy for him. I have always wanted to do that. In fact he and I went after tarpon in March of 2020. No luck.

He has caught a bunch of big trout and steelhead. Caught some giants in New Zealand.

But this tarpon will be a forever memory.

bonefish #1855688 03/31/21 10:53 AM
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That is very impressive....sounds like you guys have made some great memories together when he was younger.. did he take pictures of his catch?

I have never been able to get onto fly fishing but I use to watch in awe of my grandfather and how easy it was for him to do it.

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Two pictures.

Stills from a video. It was night so they are not great pictures.

Next week him and his wife will go to Australia. Stay there and maybe go to New Zealand. They have to wait and see about a tour this year. They have been out of work for a year. So I am hopeful covid dies and they can work again.
They will soon finish a mini tour with limited seating.

There were times when he was 12 to 18 that were as good as it gets for a father and son fishing. Plus I coached him in baseball for ten years in the top youth baseball program in the US. We have had our times. All good. I am to old now to do the hardcore wader river fishing. But I can still do some kinds.

Learning to fly fish is as much fun as doing it. It is not that hard. Read, watch tape, practice. Maybe take a lesson.
It requires some coordination. But practice and anyone can learn. Once you have the basics down. Experience teaches the rest.

bonefish #1855721 03/31/21 01:22 PM
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I know just enough about fishing to be impressed and happy for him.. thumbsup


yebat' Putin
DCDAWGFAN #1855726 03/31/21 01:37 PM
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So much has to go right.

Typically it is a small flats boat. The caster is in front on a small flat area. You have to have sea legs. The boat is rolling most of the time.

You are sight fishing. So you are watching the water. If and when you see a tarpon. You have to put the fly in a precise window. Often you have wind and a rolling boat to contend with. Then you have to strip the fly to get the strike. You do not lift the rod. You do what is called a strip set. You have line at your feet. Once the hook is set you must free that line and make sure it does not get hung up on something and get to where the line is straight on the reel. Once there is all about playing the fish and applying pressure. When they jump you bow to the fish to create slack so the hook is not pulled out.

When fish goes right you go left with the rod to apply max pressure. Tarpon can get over 200 lbs. It is a war.

It can take a long time. Size and time is not important. Baby tarpon 20/30 pounders go nuts when hooked. They dance across the water. It is an extreme challenge.

bonefish #1855760 03/31/21 07:17 PM
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Cool story.

I have been fishing quite a bit, but can't say I really like it....more going with friends who did.

No real catch of a lifetime...a cat almost 20 lbs, and in college we would head to the Gulf to fish for red snapperin season. Pulled in many in the 6 lb range...perfect eaters.


If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.

GM Strong




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Ballpeen #1855764 03/31/21 07:40 PM
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I live with my daughter and my two grandsons. One is eight the other 14.

I have done a little bit with them. When my son was young I was younger. I could do more. So every year we went somewhere on a fishing vacation. Mostly out west. Usually a ten day trip.

It was the best of times. Beautiful places with lots of adventure. It formed him into who he is today.

He is a devout conservationist. Loves the outdoors.
He doesn't go anywhere without his equipment.

He has the life style to do it as well. He travels all over the world. Has two months or so off. He lives in central Oregon, Sidney and New Zealand. Eventually he has plans to make a living at fly fishing.


bonefish #1855830 04/01/21 10:14 AM
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My wife is from Idaho, so on trips out did some fly fishing with a friend of the family with some borrowed gear on a out of state temp license and stamp..

I wasn't very good at it. I would drop it in the bank behind me too often so a lot of my time on the river was spent with my fly out of the water. I managed to catch a few small trout...keepers, but not big by any means.

Plus, I found it hard to drink beer and fly fish. thumbsup Just stick me on a bank, pier, or boat. Cat fishing is the best if you are more in to lazy fishing. Just sun season some chicken livers or shrimp, sink them to the bottom and then just bounce them around a bit. Deep sea trolling is also pretty lazy. With both, it is pretty lazy until you hook one. Then you have to work.


If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.

GM Strong




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Ballpeen #1855844 04/01/21 10:56 AM
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Fly fishing in western rivers in boots and waders is physically difficult.

You are against current. The bottom is bolder strewn and slippery. You often have wind to deal with.

It will wear you out.

I went to Alaska with two friends. I have a friend who lives in Anchorage. He has a float plane and a cabin in a very remote place.

We went there on his invite. Stayed 2 weeks. 22 hours of daylight in August. Never really dark.

We fished some days for 15 plus hours. Sockeye salmon were migrating to spawn. Rainbow trout and Arctic Char follow the salmon to eat the eggs. They were the target fish.

Brown bears were all around. If you drifted a river and were quiet. You might see 20 brown bears (grizzly bears that are under 200 miles from the ocean).

Scat, bear beds, worn bear paths, rotten salmon, and half eaten salmon. Everywhere.

When you are walking around the hair on your neck is on high alert. It is a very unnerving environment. I have had bears appear from seemingly nowhere and be no more than 30/40 feet away.

You do not go anywhere without someone packing a gun.

Mostly they are only interested in eating salmon. Normally they stay clear of humans. You make a lot noise when walking and hope not to be surprised.

You need to be very cautious. But not necessarily fearful.

I love remote truly wild places. It makes you feel alive and human. It is very humbling.

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