wrote in message
...
Received some very exciting news last Thursday evening. My Pulic
Management
professor, Dr. Dragan Stefanovic, (unfortunately: a very fine but
retiring
fly fishing professor) announced to the class that no one was obliged
to
take the final exam, as we were an exceptional class--all 5 of us.
However,
he did offer anyone who really wanted to take a final the opportunity
to do
so. I chose the former option.

So, he has freed up my weekend and all of next week for me; sadly,
though he
could not release me from my work duties. Saturday I performed my
first of
the season mowing and weed eating chores at mother's house and my
place.
SUNDAY, Bear, Larry, and I went fishin'!!!!!

Bear is a very experienced fly fisher, Larry not so much, before 9:30
or so.
Larry is one of my former classmates. He finished his MPA last year
and is
working to complete his Master of Science in Criminal Justice and
Criminology, by December of this year. He is a massive specimen of
human
flesh and bone, as well as being a very bright individual. He makes
them pro
westler types look like little girly men.

We met close by Greg's Optimistic RV and Campgrounds, drove the few
minutes
it takes to get to the stream, and hit the water around 7:30 this
morn. Bear
was beside himself, runnin' around in circles while hunting his
archenemies
and favorite breakfast snack--anything that buzzes: bees, wasps,
hornets....
Larry waited patiently for me to get my **** together. He brought his
ultralight spinnin' rig, but wanted to attempt to learn how to cast a
flyline. I brought along plenty of spare gear, even had a pair of felt-
soled
waders that sorta fit him. The only thing I didn't have was a extra
set of
hemostats, but really didn't expect they'd be needed. Boy was I ever
wrong!

Larry took to fly castin' like Fox newscasters take to lying. With
about 10
minutes of instruction on a wide open flat stretch of stream, Larry
was
cathin' rainbows. His cast was by no means artistic, but I have never
had
anyone learn to place a fly where they intended for it to go so
quickly or
so delicately. The show off even kept the line in his left hand, for
stripping and mending. That's right, he saw when he needed to mend his
line
and did so with only a couple of prompts from me. We fished for over 6
hours
and he cast a fly at least 4 1/2 of those hours. Actually, once he
picked up
the flyrod, he only used the spincaster on the last hole to try and
get a
lure down deep enough to get to some bigger trout. I happend to only
have
one sinkin' line with me and I wasn't about to give it up to the guy
who had
already out fished me on his very first fly fishin' excursion, ever!
Larry
caught around 7 or 8 trout--I quit counting at 6, as I only caught 1
trout
all day. You should have seen his face on his first catch, which he
made 3
or 4 fish before my 1st catch :~^ ( He even caught the last fish on
dry
fly, from a large deep pool--Mr. Miller knows this pool very well--
which is
on the way up to the take out trail, before the cable crossing at
Ravens
Cliff. Actually, Larry caught two trout out of that pool on dry fly
and in
the middle of the friggin ' pool to boot. I never catch trout, on dry
fly,
out of the middle of this pool. Usually, one has to cast all the way
across
the pool up against a large rockface, where the fly gets caught by
the
current and flows along the rock face to an eddy pool.

Unfortunately, between having to pay for his classes out of pocket
and
building a new home, Larry, a Captain (I believe) with the NC
Department of
Corrections, probably won't have the funds to purchase the gear
necessary to
get him really hook on fly fishin', though I have directed him toward
uncle
Wally's flyshop. Consequently, Bear will remain my bestest fishin'
buddy for
so time to come, unless I decide to outfit Larry myself :~ ^ )

Oh yeah, Dr. Stefanovic plans to do a great deal of fly fishin' in
his
retirement, so we are taking up a collection among MPA students to
purchase
him a gift certificate from uncle Wally's flyshop . I am hoping we can
raise
at least $700 to $800, then I will get on bended knee to beg uncle
Wally to
give the good Dr. a nominal discount on his purchases.

I'm sure Larry will hit the streams with me again, as he was like a
kid in a
candy store, once he began catchin' trout. I just love bringing joy
to very
large people, who could break me in half and squash me like a bug.
Unfortunately, Bear was so embarassed by my performance, he may never
be seen woth me again, much less go fishin' with me! All in
all, we had a blast and onle got rained on as we walked the trail out.
Bear
was a very tired hound, by the time he got back to mother's place and
headed
straight for his food bowl, after his obligatory end of the fishin'
day
hotdog and cheese slice.

Opie --if anyone wants to pressure Larry into buying the necessary
accoutrements to become my next to bestest fishin' buddy, I will
gladly send
them his personal cell#--


Now Mr. Bowen,

Surely you can rephrase your subject line to be just a little more
complimentary towards your manners on the stream and your guidance? After
all, I can attest to those facts . . .

Now if you wish me to call Mr. Larry I will gladly do so, and berate him
soundly...just tell me to do so after one or several beers!

....and I know it ain't much, but I've got an 8 1/2 foot, five weight, two
piece, Penns, Gold Medal fly rod I will toss into the mix. Not like some of
the rods you fellows fish but undeniably one of the most underpriced rods on
the market in it's time. Sorry, but I don't have a reel to offer....

I'd come down for the guide trip but the buddy from Germany does not fly
fish - I guess he couldn't pass the test.

I was thinking along the lines of fiddle contest and greased pig things or
maybe a cornhusker event to show my pal the 'real' America.'

john