Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Coffee
By mid-morning his fingers were stiff and changing a fly was becoming a chore. They were stiff because they were cold. There was no snow or ice anywhere in view, but neither were there any shrubs flowering along the banks. Green was beginning to replace the dead brown vegetation, but the frost line hadn’t completely disappeared. When it did, the river would get high and dark from the runoff and seepage. 
There was a small thermos in his jacket pocket under his vest and he could almost smell the coffee. He knew it would still be hot and the thought of the rich black coffee was taking over.
Climbing out of the river between two overhanging cedars, he took care not to catch his rod on branches as his stiff legs got their footing on the bank. With a short sigh, he arched his back then straightened. He followed the bank farther upstream to a small clearing with a downed tree and picked a spot where he could keep an eye on the creek that fed the river below the riffles.
There is nothing like a cup of hot, black, rich coffee to warm the body on a cool day as you sit looking over the river, he thought to himself. He unscrewed the cup and cork, poured a cup and after the first sip his attention turned to sounds that seemed to get louder as he kept silent and deliberately listened. He hadn’t been making noise, other than the crunching of what was beneath his feet as he walked to the trunk and picked a spot, but he wasn’t hearing what was around him either.
Birds began to make themselves known and seen as well as two mallards flying at treetop level heading downstream. By the time he poured the second cup he saw the ripple of a muskrat on the opposite side that disappeared into a swampy bank. It might have been an otter, he wasn’t sure, he just caught a glimpse.
There was a time when he would have lit a cigar, but that was a while back and unless he smelled one, he really didn’t miss not smoking.
The coffee was gone; just a swig or two remained in the thermos and he would save it for when he got back to the Jeep and climbed out of his waders. It would be a toast to the river and the morning’s fishing; and a way of saying …life was good; he’d be back!
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Lessons learned
You can’t live in a vacuum, and of course no one does. What matters most is how you live, not why …I’ll leave that to the “deep thinkers” to figure out. What’s important is whether or not you get it right.
The important things I have learned over the last 66 years, I learned first when I was a kid watching my parents and others that were in my life; how they dealt with what affected their lives and times formed my opinions and attitudes; what time did, was give me a different perspective.
Whether through a kids eyes or an adults, the end result has always been the same; if a principle is sound, it will carry the day …despite hype to the contrary.
It’s not the size of the fish you catch, it’s how you go about it that counts most.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Nippers!
Nippers! Where are those damned nippers?
This is what happens when you stop listening to your instincts and get caught up in the hype of “new and improved” stuff: First you dismiss the claims of what you can do better with the “new” as opposed to the “old.” Then, after it eats at your mind for a while, you begin to believe the hype and eventually go out and buy one. So, fifty dollars later, you’re looking for the “new and improved” and realize they’re just as likely to get lost as the five dollar ones you bought a few years ago.
Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Fish Cakes, eh!
Going fishing is more than just a process that keeps my mind occupied, there are consequences that taste good if all falls into place. Take for example fishcakes. I first tasted a fishcake while fishing at Kwagama Lake Lodge owned by Pat and Ann Marie Henry. Ann Marie made fishcakes from left over brook trout (they were 18 inchers from the glacial lake) we had for dinner one day and I’ve been hooked on fishcakes ever since though I haven’t had them since.
I ran into the Henry’s at the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo a couple of years ago and reminded Ann Marie how much I liked her fishcakes. Being French Canadian, eh, and living on the island lodge every summer, fishcakes are a common place fare to her. But to me, well, let’s just say, the morning we had them, they tasted better than Sicilian cream steak covered in Dijon mustard sauce …and for me, that’s quite a comparison.
She shared her recipe and my hope is that there will be enough brookies in the creel to make up some fishcakes on the opener. Recipe.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Dumb luck!
Preparation is the key to being successful. That’s a true statement that probably covers our every situation or endeavor. Of course, there is such a thing as dumb-luck, something most of us benefit from on occasion, usually when we least expect it.
If it wasn’t for dumb luck most of us would have given up fishing years ago. I mean, who really knows what’s swimming beneath the bobber holding up a hook with a worm on it? We’ll take anything that grabs it and holds on.
Fly fishing is a little more specific: though the same dumb luck steps in on occasion, by matching the hatch or seasonal sub-surface activity, we can mitigate the “by chance” part and increase the chance of success for catching a specific species.
When it comes right down to it, unless you’re in a tournament you don’t really care what you pull in …I don’t care if it’s a brookie, brown or rainbow, I just want it to be a trout; big or small.
My friend Rich Merlino taught me how to fish for big browns on the big water of the Au Sable downstream from Mio. Rich knew I was a dry fly enthusiast and also knew if you catch a big brown there on a dry fly, well, it was dumb luck. But we did catch big browns there, mostly by fishing weighted streamers and casting them almost onto the bank, then stripping, stripping, stripping, until you’re wrist hurt.
Rich had a cooler he kept next to the rowing chair on the Bi-Yak that contained all he needed for any circumstance he encountered on the float. That’s preparation. My insisting on fishing dries and hooking a sizeable brown, well, that’s dumb luck.
I’m O.K. with that.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Let’s tie some flies!
The snow and ice is on the way out; the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo is over; it’s time to get ready for the trout opener, April 25th. And what better way to get ready than to tie your own flies? 
Beginning Tue, April 14th at 7:00 at the Royal Oak Senior Center, I will be teaching fly tying. Emphasis will be on early season dry flies – Hendricksons (emergers, duns and spinners) Caddis, Hare’s Ear nymphs and other May Flies that make an appearance in early spring.
All equipment is supplied for classroom work.
To sign up for the 5 week course you must register with the Royal Oak Recreation Department at: www.royaloakrec.com. Class size is restricted to 8 students.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
And another Midwest Fly Fishing Expo has come and gone.
For over 30 years, the Michigan Fly Fishing Club has brought together fly tiers, authors on fly fishing and related topics, manufacturers and reps and of course, had activities for kids designed to give them a peek into a world that is sure to enrich their lives, should they follow in their parents or grandparents footsteps.
More than 3,000 people – adults and children – attended the show this year and from the comments I personally received at he MFFC Booth from attendees and vendors alike, it was another successful year.
Now it’s time to put to use what was learned or purchased at the show. In just a few weeks, the general trout season will open and piscators all, will head to a stream with new rods, line or reel and of course, flies. From local streams and rivers like the Clinton, Huron and Paint, to the fabled Au Sable, Manistee and of course, the Jordan, all will see activity from the faithful. This weekend was the pep rally.
Good luck to all …see you on the water.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Finally, a place to buy feathers!
Over the past few months I’ve been asked where good quality dry-fly capes can be bought without mortgaging the kids. It seems the southeast corner of the state has few fly shops and fewer that have a good selection of capes. Of course, there are plenty of on-line sites that offer capes …some really good ones too, but buying feathers for size and quality is a hands-on necessity; at least for me.
This Saturday and Sunday, the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo will have over 100 venders that deal exclusively in fly fishing “stuff.” Aside from the usual name brands, there will be venders that offer hundreds of capes of all sizes and quality at prices you won’t find in a chain store fly shop.
The event is held at Macomb Community College located at 12 Mile and Hayes in the Sports Arena. Check it out and stock up.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Why spoil the beauty of the thing?
Several years ago on a fly-in fishing trip to Kellow Lake in Canada – a place so remote it had only one cabin on the Lake and was only accessible by water or air – I learned that despite its remoteness, some visitors before us needed to leave their mark by writing on the cliffs surrounding the lake. 
It must have been a chore to climb up on the ledges of those glacier carved rocks, but through ingenuity and probably after several beers, they did and wrote their names and where they were from for all to see until the next glacier comes through and scrapes off the graffiti.
The marring of the cliffs didn’t spoil the fishing, but it did take away from the natural beauty of the place, making it just a little less wild. And it’s not that I’m totally immune from such vanity (I did carve my son’s and my initials and date on a two by four in the cabin) but damn it, I know we leave footprints, but must we leave the shoe size and brand too?
What brought on this bout of grousing was photos of guide boats (drift boats) floating on a trout stream, painted like Indy 500 race cars covered with sponsor names and logos over every square inch. And while it doesn’t take away from the fishing, for me, it takes away from the ambience of the experience.
I know guiding is a business; and the more a guide gets the word out, the more business comes his way. But I sure hope no one ever gets the great idea of putting anything other than the boat’s name on an Au Sable Long Boat.
Just me being a dinosaur again.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
It gets better and better!
A recent stop at the Old Au Sable Fly Shop found the Grayling staple in a construction mode. Besides enlarging the shop area and putting offices in the building across from the shop, there are plans for a restaurant on the back of the property with a deck on the river.
I’m in!
TD