Fly fishing without a fly!

[Thudpucker]

[cool] I was fishing on the River this morning. All by myself, luckily.

The first fly was a bright Purple Chenelle with a Red tail.
I worked it pretty hard. Over Rocks, behind the rocks, over the big flat rocks....finally I gave it up.

I believe in the fly though. So I went upriver a bit and started in again.
Finally I had to believe the thing just wasn't going to catch anything so I hauled in the line and sat down on a rock to swap the fly out.

No Fly!

I wonder when I lost it and why?
The line was broken of cleanly. No little curly tail so it was Lopped off quickly, as in catching a rock with my back cast.

In the past, I've noticed other guys fishing without a fly. I stopped them to let them know.
Now it's happend to me.

Am I getting old? As in too old to fish reliably by myself?

However I did not get any wind knots in my Rod. No cracking of the whip and never caught myself with the fly either.
I spent most of the day casting with the rod held parallel to the ground so I could cast out into the stream against the Gusty wind coming down river.
Mechanically I did good, but fishing without a fly. Cripes, what if somebody else had been there and seen me doing that?

Any day fishing is good though, no matter how embarrasing. You could say I was practicing fish conservation.
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[Dryrod]

[cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]That is funny Thudpucker - but I sure it has happened to most of us. But I don't think for that length of time. Now tell me something just between you and me. Did you send flygoddess an empty box for the recent fly swap session? [] LOL. Don't get mad now- I'm just having a little fun. [/size][/green][/font]
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[Thudpucker]

[] Yeah, I sure did.
I missed the intent of her instructions.
So I picked out several of my best flies and sent them off to her.
In the package I put my return envelope and some old plastic containers.

These little plastic containers were from Boeing, Western Electric and some other Mfg's to package some small sensative parts.
We grabbed them up as they were discarded and used them for fly boxes.
On some of the early PC's the Intel 8080 chips were pluggable, as well as some of the 2K Roms.
The chips came in little plastic boxes. I'd grab those boxes as well.
I thought Fly Goddess might use some of them to send out the flies to others.

Eventually I started buying Fly Boxes, and those little plastic boxes slipped into the past until I ran across them while I was rummaging around in my stuff looking for my Trout flies.

So that's the flat boring story of those old boxes. No amount of literary license could spruce that one up.
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[Scruffy_Fly]

Thudpucker I think you are abnormal. Get over it.

You must learn all of these tallents,
*getting "wind knots" on each outing. (You obviously are not trying hard enough.)
*Fish without a hook twice in one day.
*whack yourself in the back of the head with a clouser minnow.
*Drive an hour and hike 15 minutes down into a canyon only to realize you left your reel in the truck.
*Drive two hours to a stream you have been thinking about fishing all winter only to find that you have your reel but no rod.
*Tie your tippet onto your leader and then your flies only to find out you never threaded the line through the guides.
*Fish all day with a fly hook stuck in the back of your hand because you forgot to pinch the barb down. (Don't want to bleed excessively and have to quit fishing)
*wade so deep you flood your waders with water.
*Decide to take the water temperature in December without putting on your waders. Slide of a rock, stumble three steps down stream, and then do a face plant into the 33.1 degree water..... with three other fishermen standing near by.

Please let me know when you have learned all of these important tallents.
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[Dryrod]

[center][cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]You guys crack me up!![/size][/green][/font][/center]

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[Thudpucker]

[blush] LOL. Scruffy, You've had a good time on the water.

I have mastered some of those talents.
I made a victim of my Fly Fishing partner. We must have been a sight, him bent over and me behind him trying to pull my fly out of the seat of his pants[]

I did the 'swimming with the waders full' in the Kalifonski. struggled to keep my head up in that chilly water.
Finally crashed into a Gravel bar.
Sitting there, on those cold rocks, exhausted, suddenly I saw my Fly line going by. I sloshed out and caught it, but when I tried to retrieve my Rod/reel with that line, it all came off, one armful at a time, till all my line and backing was going down river and finally I was able to find my Rod[crazy]

Back when I smoked, I drownded my Cigarettes and lighter every time I got close to the water.
I've ruined at least three movie Camera's and one still Camera. I dont even take Camera's on fishing trips any more.[unsure]

I'll bet I'm the only one here that has struggeled in the bitter cold to tie on a fly, made the knot good after several tries with frozen fingers, then threw the fly overboard and suddenly realized I had tied the fly onto a piece of old leader material....not attatched to anything in the boat.[mad]

My Hiking down river came to an abrupt end one warm afternoon.
I Hiked up a canyon, then down the walls, to the small lake. Down the lake through clouds of Mosquitoes to the Creek and commenced to fish with all the abandon of a young guy who knows it's all gonna end up back at the River Boat at the foot of the stream.
HAH!.
As I fished downstream, the Hills along side of the Creek began to steepen. "What me worry"
Soon they were canyon walls.
Then the Creek abruptly went over a Waterfall at the top of a cliff.

By this time it's getting dark. I expected to be down at the river, back in the River boat for a good nights sleep.

Nope. I had to turn around and head back up to the little pond, then back up those steep canyon walls and over the hump and then back down to the boat.

It was getting so dark I couldn't see. I decided to take a shortcut.
I went up the Hill, clamoring and scrambling. By now it's pitch dark.
I cant see my hands. So many trees I cant even see the sky.

Finally I hit the sharp edge of a ridge top and had to walk up that, one foot on each side of the edge, till I finally came to a downd tree laying across the edge.
I'd had enough by then. I was exhausted.

I had no Axe or saw, so I went down to the bottom of the Tree trunk and set fire to the lower branches.
As the fire worked it's way up the trunk of that tree, I would move upward with the heat.
Laying on the ground along side of a burning tree.

When I slept too long, the fire went off without me and I'd wake up and crawl up the hill a little ways. The hill was almost vertical. It was like sleeping in a standing position.

The fire lasted until almost first light.
I had one bag of Airline Peanuts, an Apple, a Candy bar and some Sugar free cough drops to keep me going so I didn't starve.
What I really missed was Drinking Water.

About first light, it bagan to rain solfley. I finally made it back to the boat about Noon. One tired, scraggely looking fisherman.
I made myself a promise never to do anything like that again.
Now, if I dont know where I'm going, I dont go there![]
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[flygoddess]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Scruffy sparked a memory to me. I bought my old man a bamboo rod last year. We went up to the Provo for some wood fishing. We got there and he realized he forgot his reel.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]All good, I AM A GUIDE AFTER ALL! I gave him my reel and I got to experiment with some new patterns I had tied. I got to site out the fish and tell him how, and where to cast.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]This was good cause he got to see what I do. He has a whole new respect, plus I found some cool new patterns that worked.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]As far as fishing with no fly, I has happened to me. When guiding however, I am constantly checking the fly so my clients DON'T learn from my mistakes LOL[/size][/black][/font]
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[Thudpucker]

Ordinarily, the thought of winding up at the waters edge without a Reel would rain all over my campfire.
But then one day I watched a guy working out of a Stripping basket.

About the only improvment I might have made on that guy's action, was to make the Basket wider and deeper.

Knowledge is Power eh?
Now I know I can fish if I forget my Reel.

Uhhmmm, just who goes fishing with an extra line stuck in his vest?
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[Scruffy_Fly]

Rim Chung is famous around these parts, He is the guy that invented the RS2. What a good fly that is, eh. It seems that Rim is very friendly and goes out of his way to help people. I read a story about him getting to the parking lot for hiking into Cheesman Canyon on the South Platte. He stopped to help some others get organized and lead them down to the river. When he got there he realized he had left his pole leaning up against the car. So instead of blowing the whole day he tied a couple leaders together with some tippet. As an indicator and to get the right drift he used pine cones. It is said he still out fished the others.
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[Scruffy_Fly]

Thudpucker
I think your canyon experience indeed do qualify. My rod is tipped to you.
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[Thudpucker]

Well now, this Rim Chung is the guy who can catch fish in a Mud Puddle with a shoe string and a Safety pin.

Someone post a photo of the RS2. I'd like to see what it is, or is supposed to represent to the Fish.

If I was Fly Goddess' Hairy legged sinner, I dont think I'd let her watch me fish.
Can you imagine the pressure?

The shoe would definately be on the other foot. As in trying to teach your wife to drive.
Only Driving a Pickup is a pretty positive experience compared to knowing where to cast a fly in all that moving water.

When the guide told me where to cast, I immediatly wanted to know why!
Of course he said "Because there's fish right there!"

But with your wife, it'd be "Yes Dear"
Oooohhh I just couldnt hack that!

Fly Fishing is the only 'Bear's den' I have left.
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[flygoddess]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Not all that bad, we even laughed while I retreived a couple from the brush. [/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]He taught me everything I know, and now it is my turn.[/size][/black][/font] [cool]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I have my share of Ooops! and how the heck did that happens.[pirate][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Even the bitter taste of defete.[][/size][/black][/font]
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[flygoddess]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I like the idea of the foam wing. I just use wing material or para-post.[/size][/black][/font]
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[Scruffy_Fly]

Rim Chung's RS2 page

[url "http://home.att.net/~ferenc/"]http://home.att.net/~ferenc/[/url]
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[Thudpucker]

How interesting the difference between Dry Rod's and Rim's RS2.
I tried to drag n' drop the Photo from Scruffy's link (thank you Buddy) but no workee for mee!

It looks for all the world like a Damsel fly. Like the Damsel flies I saw gathered around the light on my Dock.

Well, thank you both. Scruffy made it sound so good I just had to see one.

Also in reading the article on Rim, I realized I knew a lot about Nymp fishing. More than I realized.

I just got back from Florida. It's 80 Degrees down there. They think it's winter. Long sleeves, and all.
Merry Christmas weather??? How about happy Easter Weather.
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