The Underground Gets Help, Vegetables Get Answers, Trout Spawn in Toilets, and More…

Work is being done, boxes are being packed, and the BWOs are hatching without me, a heart-rending thought that plagues every fly fisher at one point or another.

I mean, the nerve of those bugs and fish — hatching and feeding – while I’m trapped in the alternate reality that is “civilized” life.

Civilized, my ass.

You know they’re hatching without you. Ouch.

Still, I’m not alone; other bloggers are writing instead of fishing (proof that misery loves company?), and I’m exploring a few here.

First, a Helping Hand

Murdock of Flyfishmagazine.com jumps into the river access fight we’re conducting in Siskiyou County, and believe me, the bare-knuckles help is definitely appreciated.

What we’ve accomplished so far has been noticed, with our supervisors receiving many emails, and some national organizations taking note. Expect more on this fight to protect our legal stream access rights. And soon too.

Second, More Indoor Suffering

Hawgdaddy at the Tennessee Valley Angler bemoans his lack of fishing time, and given my statistically driven nature, I had to reprint the scientifically derived portion of his post:

I?ve discovered that I need approximately 32.4 hours of fishing per week to feel healthy and keep an active mind. Lately I?ve been averaging approximately 0.2 hours/week. That?s not going to cut it. I?m losing motor and verbal skills, and, if not for coffee, I?m sure I?d already be in some sort of sub-human vegetative state.

We’d like to point out that he’s a blogger, a label which might already place him in the sub-human category. But that’s the Underground — we call ‘em like we see ‘em.

Obsessive Fly Tying 101

Mike at Tamanawis remains one of our favorite online writers, and he fires off yet another winner with a post about his obsessive compulsion to… organize his fly tying materials. Huh?

I’m becoming the kind of fly tier that spends more time, a lot more time, sorting out fly tying paraphernalia than actually tying flies. Perhaps the worst thing of all though, the real bottom clencher, is that I rather suspect that I spend even more time just thinking about sorting out fly tying gear than even sorting the damn stuff out.

One glance at my fly tying table should reassure anyone that I don’t have compulsive organization disorder, but clearly, it takes all types.

Then Came Bronson

There’s always Singlebarbed, who pushes the boundaries of…well… just the boundaries, ya know?

First there’s this post about toilet paper (the unsung hero or villan of many fishing trips). And then he lionizes a fisherman whose last wish is to have his body ground into chum so his buddies can enjoy better fishing.

And here I’m wasting my time writing “FFR Stuff that Rocks” posts.

Toilet Humor

The Daytripper continues to post a ferocious pace, only now he’s spending his time finding Internet videos of trout toilets, where the fish swim and spawn with every flush. (No, I’m not making this up. How could I?)

Our only question is this: given the drought conditions in many parts of the country, are these toilets low-flow?

More Coming

Stay tuned. The Underground’s packing instead of fishing, but that won’t last forever.

See you in the moving van, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, bwo, hatches[/tags]