Okay, I hate to do this....

"W. D. Grey" wrote in message
...

aA I write I'm looking at a baseball cap issued for the '99 ROFF Fall Ball
ans I see Jeff Miller's signature on it !

I treasure this cap !

The other signatories we-Daytripper, I.J (Indian Joe) Wayne Knight,
Louis LaPlac (the rev Dave laCourse) Charlie Choc, Waldo (where is he?),
Tom Brown, Steve Zimmerman and Bill Crowe.....and NO Wayno !!!......
.... I nearly forgot - Ken Fortenberry.

I have one of those up in the closet. It wasn't till the next year that I
got to meet some of those signatories face to face.

...the *******s caught all the fish, leaving me and my bum
left hind flipper to lurch along, whimpering pitifully (though, evidently,
not pitifully enough), in their wake.

I hope they shared their fish :-)

Well, Chuck let me photograph one.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang wrote:

...the *******s caught all the fish, leaving me and my bum
left hind flipper to lurch along, whimpering pitifully (though, evidently,
not pitifully enough), in their wake.

Despite his protestations to the contrary, Wolfgang got around quite
well despite a truly awful blister on his "flipper". He scrambled over
rocks, waded through water I wouldn't even attempt, and in general
handled himself like a man who is immediately at home as long as the
water is wet and has the promise of fish in it. :-)

He did finally have enough of it after 5-6 hours (?) on the stream,
and turned back. Jeff and I fished for a while longer before heading
back ourselves, and what did we find when nearing the trailhead, but
Wolf back in the stream catching fish. :-) (I think he said he got
tired of waiting for us.)

I hope they shared their fish :-)

Well, Chuck let me photograph one.

Hey, that's right. Whatever happened to that photo, anyway? :-)

Again, to be fair, this was shortly after Wolfgang arrived at my
campsite. We were sitting around chatting when some bug activity
started on the river right below the site. He insisted *I* fish the
mini-hatch, and not only coached me on a long-leader technique, but
re-rigged his rod and handed it to me with one of his flies tied on, and
proceeded to direct my casts to willing fish.

I figured the least I could do was try to catch one. :-)


Chuck Vance (or two ... or three)

"W. D. Grey" wrote

The other signatories we-Daytripper, I.J (Indian Joe) Wayne Knight,
Louis LaPlac (the rev Dave laCourse) Charlie Choc, Waldo (where is he?),
Tom Brown, Steve Zimmerman and Bill Crowe.....and NO Wayno !!!......
.... I nearly forgot - Ken Fortenberry.

well, um, that signature event just might have taken place when i was,
ah, ...resting...

yfitons
wayno(nothing i'd rather do than sign it for you some day.)

Wayne Harrison wrote:
"W. D. Grey" wrote
The other signatories we-Daytripper, I.J (Indian Joe) Wayne Knight,
Louis LaPlac (the rev Dave laCourse) Charlie Choc, Waldo (where is he?),
Tom Brown, Steve Zimmerman and Bill Crowe.....and NO Wayno !!!......
.... I nearly forgot - Ken Fortenberry.

well, um, that signature event just might have taken place when i was,
ah, ...resting...

I remember you being outside trying to jumpstart a dead battery
on your old Mercedes.

--
Ken Fortenberry

In article , Wayne Harrison
writes

"W. D. Grey" wrote

The other signatories we-Daytripper, I.J (Indian Joe) Wayne Knight,
Louis LaPlac (the rev Dave laCourse) Charlie Choc, Waldo (where is he?),
Tom Brown, Steve Zimmerman and Bill Crowe.....and NO Wayno !!!......
.... I nearly forgot - Ken Fortenberry.

well, um, that signature event just might have taken place when i was,
ah, ...resting...

yfitons
wayno(nothing i'd rather do than sign it for you some day.)



I may take you up on that Wayne - nothing I'd like better :-)
--
Bill Grey

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...
...and what did we find when nearing the trailhead, but Wolf back in the
stream catching fish. :-)

Well, not so much catching as fishing. Um.....truth to tell, not so much
fishing as casting. I DO love fly casting!

(I think he said he got tired of waiting for us.)

Nah, I wasn't waiting at all. I was taking it easy and had stopped a couple
of times to photgraph bugs and flowers....and an awesome three inch long
pencil thick megalegged crawly thingy....but my foot was bothering me
despite the glacial pace I'd been keeping. It was time to cool my heels and
reflect on the rare beauty of a suddenly pellucidly clear etymology.

I hope they shared their fish :-)
Well, Chuck let me photograph one.

Hey, that's right. Whatever happened to that photo, anyway? :-)

I'm checking over my list of lame excuses. I'll get back to you on that
pretty soon now.

Again, to be fair, this was shortly after Wolfgang arrived at my
campsite. We were sitting around chatting when some bug activity started
on the river right below the site. He insisted *I* fish the mini-hatch,
and not only coached me on a long-leader technique, but re-rigged his rod
and handed it to me with one of his flies tied on, and proceeded to direct
my casts to willing fish.

It's astonishing how easy fly fishing becomes when one assumes the role of
sage advisor and stands on the bank pontificating while the fish are
actively rising during a substantial hatch.

I figured the least I could do was try to catch one. :-)

Why every sniper has a spotter.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang wrote:

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...

...and what did we find when nearing the trailhead, but Wolf back in the
stream catching fish. :-)

Well, not so much catching as fishing. Um.....truth to tell, not so much
fishing as casting. I DO love fly casting!

And it shows. :-) I hope to one day reach that point myself. And
actually, I did somewhat on the evening when you were "coaching" me.
Working with that long leader and casting across my body forced me to
abandon my preconceived notions (mostly gained from casting oversized
"flies" for bass), and "go with the flow". And of course it didn't hurt
that there were cooperative fish in the area. :-)

Hey, that's right. Whatever happened to that photo, anyway? :-)

I'm checking over my list of lame excuses. I'll get back to you on that
pretty soon now.

No worries. It's just that I told Carol that there was *some*
evidence that my whole time there wasn't spent drinking beer around the
campfire. :-)

Again, to be fair, this was shortly after Wolfgang arrived at my
campsite. We were sitting around chatting when some bug activity started
on the river right below the site. He insisted *I* fish the mini-hatch,
and not only coached me on a long-leader technique, but re-rigged his rod
and handed it to me with one of his flies tied on, and proceeded to direct
my casts to willing fish.

It's astonishing how easy fly fishing becomes when one assumes the role of
sage advisor and stands on the bank pontificating while the fish are
actively rising during a substantial hatch.

IIRC, you were actually stretched out on a boulder the size of a
large sofa, but that doesn't affect your point in the slightest. :-)

Anyway, the irony wasn't lost on me that after four solid days of
fishing, I caught the most and biggest fish of the trip within 40' of my
campsite, while being given casting advice and using a borrowed rod and
fly. :-)

I figured the least I could do was try to catch one. :-)

Why every sniper has a spotter.

My only problem was I felt like I needed a semi-automatic to keep up
with the rises of the fish. :-)


Chuck Vance (of course that would have made C&R a bit more difficult)

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...
Wolfgang wrote:

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...

...and what did we find when nearing the trailhead, but Wolf back in the
stream catching fish. :-)
Well, not so much catching as fishing. Um.....truth to tell, not so
much fishing as casting. I DO love fly casting!

And it shows. :-) I hope to one day reach that point myself. And
actually, I did somewhat on the evening when you were "coaching" me.
Working with that long leader and casting across my body forced me to
abandon my preconceived notions (mostly gained from casting oversized
"flies" for bass), and "go with the flow". And of course it didn't hurt
that there were cooperative fish in the area. :-)

Catching fish is the ostensible raison d'etre of the whole exercise, to be
sure, and even I would have to raise a bemused eyebrow at a fly fisher who
claimed that he didn't like it when the fish bite because it interferes with
his fishing, but there is a great deal more to what Mr. Miller so incisively
refers to as "the mystery" than outwitting and outfighting a six inch brook
trout. But the attempt to outwit and outfight a six inch brook trout can,
done properly (well, for some of us anyway), encompass and even justify all
that is explicit and implicit in that mystery.....and, yeah, cooperative
fish are indeed a boon to the riparian philosopher.


Hey, that's right. Whatever happened to that photo, anyway? :-)
I'm checking over my list of lame excuses. I'll get back to you on that
pretty soon now.

No worries. It's just that I told Carol that there was *some* evidence
that my whole time there wasn't spent drinking beer around the campfire.
:-)

I believe I only have the one photo in which a fish is clearly and
indisputably identifiable. I'll send it, but I strongly advise saving it
for one of those times.....you know.

It's astonishing how easy fly fishing becomes when one assumes the role
of sage advisor and stands on the bank pontificating while the fish are
actively rising during a substantial hatch.

IIRC, you were actually stretched out on a boulder the size of a large
sofa....

And more comfortable than some sofas to which I've been subjected, although
I got a good night's sleep on one last night.

Anyway, the irony wasn't lost on me that after four solid days of
fishing, I caught the most and biggest fish of the trip within 40' of my
campsite, while being given casting advice and using a borrowed rod and
fly. :-)

Timing is the key element in casting with a fly rod. Cast when the fish are
indisputably hungry and actively doing something about it.

I figured the least I could do was try to catch one. :-)
Why every sniper has a spotter.

My only problem was I felt like I needed a semi-automatic to keep up
with the rises of the fish. :-)


Chuck Vance (of course that would have made C&R a bit more
difficult)

I'm pretty sure I had as much fun in the watching and jumping up and down as
you did in the catching.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang wrote:

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...

And it shows. :-) I hope to one day reach that point myself. And
actually, I did somewhat on the evening when you were "coaching" me.
Working with that long leader and casting across my body forced me to
abandon my preconceived notions (mostly gained from casting oversized
"flies" for bass), and "go with the flow". And of course it didn't hurt
that there were cooperative fish in the area. :-)

Catching fish is the ostensible raison d'etre of the whole exercise, to be
sure, and even I would have to raise a bemused eyebrow at a fly fisher who
claimed that he didn't like it when the fish bite because it interferes with
his fishing, but there is a great deal more to what Mr. Miller so incisively
refers to as "the mystery" than outwitting and outfighting a six inch brook
trout. But the attempt to outwit and outfight a six inch brook trout can,
done properly (well, for some of us anyway), encompass and even justify all
that is explicit and implicit in that mystery.....and, yeah, cooperative
fish are indeed a boon to the riparian philosopher.

In my (much too limited) experience, the *search* for those
cooperative fish seems to be enough justification. That's what lead me
3 or 4 miles up various trails in the GSMNP, when as I later found out,
I could have found just as many fish (and possibly larger ones at
that) within a few feet from my campsite.

No worries. It's just that I told Carol that there was *some* evidence
that my whole time there wasn't spent drinking beer around the campfire.
:-)

I believe I only have the one photo in which a fish is clearly and
indisputably identifiable. I'll send it, but I strongly advise saving it
for one of those times.....you know.

Oh dear ... yes, I *do* know.

IIRC, you were actually stretched out on a boulder the size of a large
sofa....

And more comfortable than some sofas to which I've been subjected, although
I got a good night's sleep on one last night.

I assume that's related to your comment above? :-|

Anyway, the irony wasn't lost on me that after four solid days of
fishing, I caught the most and biggest fish of the trip within 40' of my
campsite, while being given casting advice and using a borrowed rod and
fly. :-)

Timing is the key element in casting with a fly rod. Cast when the fish are
indisputably hungry and actively doing something about it.

And we return to your statement about cooperative fish. :-) And of
course there was that discussion we had about how we so often approach
the whole thing wrong. The next trip I take I think I'll try the "fish
in the morning, return to camp mid-afternoon for some eating/drinking,
get back on the water near dusk" approach.

My only problem was I felt like I needed a semi-automatic to keep up
with the rises of the fish. :-)

Chuck Vance (of course that would have made C&R a bit more
difficult)

I'm pretty sure I had as much fun in the watching and jumping up and down as
you did in the catching.

And that sums up a lot of what was so enjoyable about the time I
spent with you and Jeff. You both encouraged me to cast to prime lies
first. At the same time, I was having fun watching how you two
approached the water, and I was just as happy to see one of you catch a
fish as I was to get one myself.


Chuck Vance (well, *almost* as happy :-)

Conan The Librarian wrote:

And of
course there was that discussion we had about how we so often approach
the whole thing wrong. The next trip I take I think I'll try the "fish
in the morning, return to camp mid-afternoon for some eating/drinking,
get back on the water near dusk" approach.

....and here's where i differ with most about the whole deal. that
mid-day break/return to camp stuff interrupts a fine day's activity.
i've no problem with taking breaks by the stream, but damned if i want
to backtrack to camp or cabin or cafe when i'm in such pretty places. i
always want to keep going, to see what's around the next bend, what
might be in the next run, what the landscape offers, wildlife, quiet,
....away...

jeff