Collector’s Purpose

Picked a crisp morning last week to head towards CA and throw a few drifts. Got in the water sans-waders and thought it felt awfully crisp.  Thermometer said 58º.  I felt a spark of hope and fished about two hours.  Was quite a party (15-18 fish to the hand), albeit from a feisty and juvenile crowd.  Checked the temps again…65º.  Spark snuffed.  I hiked out.

I should mention that the hot ticket that day was a shoddy looking fly from a big box store.  Whether you collect guns or antiques, you are typically hunting for your next addition based on what you don’t already have in your collection.  That’s how the right fly for that morning ended up in my box.  Don’t misunderstand, I’m not advocating adding flies only because they are unlike everything else you have, but I find myself pausing a few moments longer when perusing the fly shop and I stumble on something that in color or silhouette is unique from my current arsenal.

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Precision construction.

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Color wheel.

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Skipper stone barely escaped with his life.

Fingerling mykiss.

Dead fingerling mykiss that didn’t get cold enough fast enough.

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Weathered brown.

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Wandering spot.

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Split shot.

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Catch, snap, (rest), release.

A fall chill is starting to show in the evenings.  This means there is a light at the end of the watery tunnel but we’re not out of the woods yet.  Lows are in the 50s in town this next week, but I am hoping that moves even lower in the next few weeks.  Every year someone predicts the winter to end all winters.  Hope they are mostly right this time around.

In the mean time, share the road/Walmart aisle/airport terminal with all the burners that are stuck here in town due to weather.  The irony of this situation is seemingly obvious and yet I’m convinced after talking with some ticket-holding Playa patrons that it’s missed.

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