Chandler’s Back. Is Fly Fishing Really Ready?

Yes Undergrounders, I’ve returned from my oh-so-torturous stay in Maine, where I was held captive in a gorgeous camp, forced to fly fish gorgeous waters from gorgeous wooden canoes for gorgeous fish (pickerel excepted), and - in direct violation of the Geneva Convention - forced to spend lots of stress-free time with the Gorgeous L&T Nancy.

I can see my readers getting all misty over the inhumanity of it, but I want to say this: Don’t cry for me, Undergrounders.

Sadly, Tommy doesn’t fish here anymore….

Fortunately, I survived my cruel confinement, but am now back in Northern California, ready to call my fly fishing friends, pump them for everything they know about the current state of the Upper Sac, and then terrorize the local trout population.

Helpful Travel Hint: Don’t.

Of course, I didn’t get here by magic - I have to congratulate my close, personal friends at Continental Airlines who stranded us in Newark for several hours by pushing our flight to S.F. away from the gate two minutes early. Ha! Good one.

That’s because the L&T Nancy and I - after being made late by another Continental flight - arrived from our terminal-long sprint only one minute early.

Fortunately, we both always wanted to spend an evening in the Newark Airport.

I’m sure you can see the humor in it, and in hopefully nicer terms than the L&T Nancy did when “questioning” the Continental ticket agent. Look for more in an upcoming rant about travel, which will probably lead to getting my front door kicked in by TSA security agents brandishing rubber gloves and an attitude.

We’re Home. And Ready to Fish.

Still, it’s always nice to be home, especially when “home” is at the base of a 14,000′ mountain surrounded by great fly fishing.

There’s lots of catching up to do (and we wonder what’s happened to Ian Rutter, who hasn’t yet reported in from Montana), but I’m always happy to report events like the 17 pound North Umpqua steelhead caught by Trout Underground Redneck Coordinator Dave Roberts - all on a dry fly and a 9′ FE Thomas bamboo rod.

The October Caddis hatch looms on the horizon, and it looks like I’ll be taking a weekend backpacking trip to Lassen with Alert Underground Brother Scott Chandler, who recently circumnavigated Lassen using only his two feet and several thousand dollars of high-tech backpacking equipment.

As you can see below, I’ve also taken to posting some Underground Entertainment items in single posts. Let’s try that for a while.

More to come, and soon. I’ve got a few pieces in the hopper, including the very, very rare “Underground How-To” article. See you on the river, Tom Chandler

Technorati Tags: Maine, Grand Lake Stream, steelhead, North Umpqua