It's Friday morning, and for some reason I'm already done for the week. There's work to do and clients to call, but I'm ready to unplug the phone, turn off the e-mail, and curl up in the fetal position. Wake me when Friday's over.
Some fishing would be a nice change, and with the Upper Sac falling to 4,000 cfs, I'm sure there are places on this river where it's possible. It would also be nice if we were over the runoff hump, but I'm afraid the cold weather has just slowed the snowmelt. Cross your battered, fly tying fingers and we'll see what happens as it warms a little this weekend.
Salmonflies on the Upper Rogue...
Sunday will find me floating the Upper Rogue with Dave Roberts and a mysterious, bamboo-fishing reader we will identify only as "K." I'm hoping for massive flocks of stoneflies, but will take pretty much anything I can get. It'll be a chance to break out the 8.5' Canadian Canoe taper (a powerful 6/7 weight) that I bought pretty much for the express purpose of fishing stonefly dries, though I'm bringing along a 5wt in case the mayflies have other ideas.
I also toyed with the idea of rowing my pontoon alongside Dave's boat to get in a little practice, but Roberts made a lot of snarky comments about "interrupting his float to save my miserable butt," which I took to mean he finds my company compelling, and wanted me in the boat so we could discuss cultural issues and the arts. Expect pictures next week.
The Puppet Conspiracy...
And speaking of chilling coincidences, the ever-interesting Moldy Chum site posted a link to a fly fishing puppet which frankly scared the bejeezus out of me. Why? Clearly the fly fishing puppet is a close cousin to Dave Roberts, calling the man's very humanity into question. The evidence below:
Oregon guide Dave Roberts (left) and fly fishing puppet (right). Is Roberts a human being or a large, ambulatory puppet? The expose continues.
Are we to believe this is simply coincidence? Or is Dave Roberts (assuming that is his real name) one of a race of huge, bearded, fly fishing Twilight Zone-ish puppets living among us?? Are we at the center of a puppet conspiracy to rule the world? To get to the bottom of this, I'll light him on fire this Sunday. That should net some answers.
Today's Underground Entertainment
is topical; in keeping with all the recent comments about non-trout species, here's a link from MidCurrent about sniffing out good bream fishing. And yet another link to Ian Rutter's fishing report from the land of the slaw dog, where he once again taunts the runoff-shackled among us with stories of dry fly fishing and two-foot long brown trout on streamers. Also another site (Collateral Damage) that isn't about fishing, but whose take on the business world is always good for a laugh.
Finally, Alert Reader Mitch White noticed our recent carp fixation, and forwarded us a picture from one of the hottest carp holes in China. Here at the Underground, our grasp of fishing's potential extends around the globe. You can't run, and you can't hide. See you everywhere, TC.
Chinese bonefish? [Mitch White photo]