Monday Morning Follies: The Writer’s Strike Ain’t Gonna Stop Us

It’s Monday morning at the Underground, which means I’m getting depressed about the things I didn’t do over the weekend, the things I’ve gotta do this week, and the fishing that won’t get done because of both of them. Then there’s the little matter of our ongoing stream access battle, which I’ll address at the bottom of the post.

See — even in the face of the crippling Hollywood Writer’s Strike — I’m still typing away, bravely entertaining the Undergrounders without regard for my personal safety in the face of roving death squads of Hollywood screenwriters intent on stamping out every word of entertainment written in their absence.

Accordingly, I’m posting this from deep within the Trout Underground’s Hidden Man Cave Bunker, where I’m safe from the bloodthirsty mobs of bad reality show scriptwriters (and the people responsible for Saved by the Bell – cold blooded killers if ever there were any).

Fortunately, other fly fishing writers are also courageously scabbing standing tall in the face of lines of picketing writers, including our own Singlebarbed, who posted a couple more winners over the weekend.

First was his lengthy account of another brownlining trip to new water, complete with beaver ponds and roving bands of bass and pikeminnows. Sounds like fun.

Then there’s a “deep thought” piece on the future of Western fly fishing in the face of drought, global warming, privatization of the resource and more:

There’s little question we’re due for some fundamental change, as even my short life has seen consistent degradation of most of the traditional gamefish.

My question is simple, are we still thinking like settlers, possessed by some silly notion that we can pull up stakes and head West?

Fly fishing includes many more species today than it did when I was young; web sites expound on the thrill of common salt water species, warm water coarse fish, and strange venues like Mongolia or downtown Los Angeles. Those exploits largely fail to make the cover of our mainstream media, but those deeds are as worthy and heroic as any fellow paying $10,000 to catch two salmon.

This is what we’ve got, there isn’t anymore unexplored continents, do we adapt our archaic notion of “quality” or do we wait until someone does that for us?

I am often chided for the “Brownline” angle; fishing for nuisance fish in a contaminated creek. I recognize that I am fishing for “cockroaches” - there is little nobility, no posturing, few groupies, and fewer practitioners. It’s fishing, with the same mixture of victory and despair as a fancy fish clothed in an expensive venue.

I’ve asked this before; why are so many fly fishers hung on trout? Sure, the places you catch trout are gorgeous, but fishing poppers for smallmouth bass is like fishing a big dry fly for a fish that typically pulls back a lot harder than a trout.

So why do so many eyes glaze over when you mention smallies? Give Singlebarbed a read, and leave a comment.

Important Underground Stuff: Our Stream Access Rights Battle Continues

The Underground’s Man Cave Headquarters (located right next to the Man Cave Garage) is finally rounding into shape, but alas, the news isn’t all good — it looks like the Undergrounders are going to have to saddle up once again in our ongoing battle against Siskiyou County’s “no public comment accepted” Natural Resources Policy.

Look for an update later today. This time, I’ll make it easy; we’re going to focus on a single issue.

For now, I’ve gotta go. I think hear a BMW outside — maybe the screenwriters have foun

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