In anticipation of things to come

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote


Some smart-assed seniors spouting silly sentiments should
eschew snobbery.



yeah, I know, but

honestly I just can't take anybody in a truck with 3 feet of ground
clearance, that will NEVER be more than 10 feet off pavement seriously, as
outdoorsmen ... regardless of how much they spend on fly rods, or how well
they pose when they think they are being watched

and I can't take anybody in a Hummer seriously, period, I always just want
to giggle at them ... (unless it's a real military HumVee on real military
business )

If somebody gave me such a truck or a Hummer, I'd be embarassed driving it
to a dealer to trade it in on something useful, and worth the money.


I actually DO like the fact that people come here to fly fish, the local
river is "special regs" 0 limit, barbless, etc etc The regs, not the
quality of the fishing is the attraction ( special regs = crowds of FFers,
whether or not the fishery is decent ) ... but it's nice to have places
people can go and get away from the Bay Area ... and usually I only go to
the river to walk, ( or I float it away from normal accesses ) so they
don't really bother me


And don't worry, you're still roff's biggest snob .. but I'm gaining G

Larry L wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
Some smart-assed seniors spouting silly sentiments should
eschew snobbery.

yeah, I know, but ...
snip
And don't worry, you're still roff's biggest snob .. but I'm gaining G

That's what they say about #2.

They try harder. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

Larry L wrote:

Well, here Arnoldland,

Spring sprung, spurring significant seasonal sprouting of Sages, Simms, and
SUVs

It's a windy but otherwise beautiful Spring day here and I decided to drive
to the local river (Stanislaus) and take a walk to test my knee. I'm still
using a cane, a little, but figured I might even put a rod together, might
not.

Well, the parking lots are all full of Yuppiemobiles, several with their
owners gathered around rigging fly rods. One spot that has, maybe, 5
possible places to stand and pretend to fish, had 11 cars in the lot,
Hummers, Cadillac SUVs and pickups raised so much you need a ladder to get
in the cab. The season's first hatch of conspicuous spenders, blown in
from the Bay Area by the Spring winds.

I'm heading back to California tomorrow. So the Stanlislaus is hot, eh?
:-) Maybe I can ditch my aging F150 and rent a Hummer, if that's what it
takes to fit in. :-)

The Big Wood fished well on Saturday -- serious midge hatch -- but high
gusty winds blew the bugs off the water, seriously limiting dry-fly
opportunities. Nymphing (tiny ones!) was good, but I lost more than I
landed. March is prime time for the Big Wood, Larry. Second best is
June during the Green Drake hatch, but it's all timing because of the
runoff. This is a low-snowpack year. Watch the weather, call the
flyshops, and MAKE YOUR MOVE.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Larry L wrote:

and I can't take anybody in a Hummer seriously, period, I always just want
to giggle at them ... (unless it's a real military HumVee on real military
business )

Around here (Idaho at the moment), Hummer drivers are called "Ketchum
action figures." In California bright colored Hummers are nearly a job
requirement for high priced real estate agents. Or maybe that was last
year. I'm out of touch.

I actually DO like the fact that people come here to fly fish, the local
river is "special regs" 0 limit, barbless, etc etc The regs, not the
quality of the fishing is the attraction ( special regs = crowds of FFers,
whether or not the fishery is decent ) ... but it's nice to have places
people can go and get away from the Bay Area ... and usually I only go to
the river to walk, ( or I float it away from normal accesses ) so they
don't really bother me

Does the Stanislaus have any "trash" fish (like squawfish or shad or
whitefish, for example -- no offense to those underappreciated species
intended) that you can catch and kill in front of an appalled,
Land-Rover-driving, C&R Orvis dude?

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Larry L wrote:

Well, the parking lots are all full of Yuppiemobiles, several with their
owners gathered around rigging fly rods. One spot that has, maybe, 5
possible places to stand and pretend to fish, had 11 cars in the lot,
Hummers, Cadillac SUVs and pickups raised so much you need a ladder to get
in the cab. The season's first hatch of conspicuous spenders, blown in
from the Bay Area by the Spring winds.

Funny, up here we don't care what sort of cars are in the parking lot, so
long as they don't have California plates on 'em....

JR

Wayne Harrison wrote:


` nothin personal, of course, and in total awareness of the great
contributions the lone star state has made in so many ways, in the
war
between the states, and in music history over the last hundred years,
or so;
but i must say, i'll be damned if i could live happily in a place
that
subjects its inhabitants to such relentless hell, weatherwise.

yfitons
wayno

I believe the weather liars only twice a year...in August when they say
it is going to be hot and in March when they say the wind is going to
blow.

Big Dale

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote

Some smart-assed seniors spouting silly sentiments should
eschew snobbery.

should spurn snobbery?

Wayne Harrison wrote:

` nothin personal, of course, and in total awareness of the great
contributions the lone star state has made in so many ways, in the
war
between the states, and in music history over the last hundred years,
or so;
but i must say, i'll be damned if i could live happily in a place
that
subjects its inhabitants to such relentless hell, weatherwise.

I dunno ... I figure there's just different degrees of hell. Around
here, during November, December, January, February and March, we're as
likely to have a 70 degree day as not. April and May are almost always
nice, as are September and October.

It's in June, July and August that we pay the price. :-}

FWIW, I got some time on the water yesterday a.m. The rivers are
running high from recent rains, so I headed out to my favorite cove on
Lake Travis. It was chilly (about 48 when I got to the water) and the
wind was blowing hard (and from the N/NE). I tried ff'ing, but it was
pretty much as waste of time. When I switched over to my ultralight
spinning rig, I had excellent luck tossing wolly buggers and damselfly
nymphs tied on 1/16 oz. jig heads.

I caught close to a dozen bass, most in the 12" range, with one guy
who pushed 15". While I was fishing, a van pulled up, and out popped a
half-dozen kids all armed with fishing gear. They immediately headed
in my direction, and being the curmudgeon that I am, I was grumbling
under my breath about them invading my fishing space.

They turned out to be great kids; they respected my "space", and I
wound up helping them rig up and catch a few fish. (It didn't hurt
that I continued catching fish the whole time they were there. :-) It
reminded my of the first time I took my nephews fishing, and I have to
admit that my crusty, old-fart attitude softened considerably after
hanging out with them a while.


Chuck Vance

"JR" wrote


Funny, up here we don't care what sort of cars are in the parking lot, so
long as they don't have California plates on 'em....



That is a common sentiment throughout the West, and, frankly, one I can
understand ...... I'd look at the dealer license plate surround to try and
find what part of the 'Golden State' he's from ... ... the further south in
Calif. the more likely you really don't want to meet the guy :-)

Not a perfect system, (most people don't want to meet me, and I'm from
NorCal ), but one that works more often than not. Calif could use the Idaho
style plates with built-in county info ... G

Larry
( in full snob mode ...don't look back, Ken )

I actually have a friend that is a game warden based in Susanville ... he
went to Canada to hunt geese a couple years ago and tells me he found
himself explaining to the locals, "No, No, I'm from the OTHER California."
.... to good advantage, while obtaining permission to hunt private lands.

"rw" wrote

landed. March is prime time for the Big Wood, Larry.


My knee is still weak after surgery ( god I hope it really proves to be
worth it, it's no better than before, at this point ) and my wife is going
to London later this month, so this month is out. My kid graduates HS
and starts college this year, and I want to be around for that, so current
plans are to leave here late May after grad. come back mid-August ( my
anniversity is on the 14th, also ) to help him move to college, and then,
hopefully ( I worry about my wife freaking out over the cut cord and needing
me here to help her adjust ) go back to Idaho from mid-Sept until
gettingtoocold-Oct

I WAS thinking about going to Dillon, Mt ( or maybe to Bend, Oregon, if I
can find license plate covers :- ) in April for a couple weeks ... what's
the Big Wood like at that time? I really enjoyed the Big Wood last Fall, if
my knee gets to the point I can get around on river rocks decently well,
I'll return this year, for sure.