Getting Ready

Fishing, especially fly fishing, in southcentral Alaska is rough this time of year.  There's often open water, but up until today things have been especially cold and the local prospects just haven't been that appealing.  Dodging icebergs in waste-deep water while casting to a near fishless river when it's five below just doesn't sound like much fun to me.

. . . which is part of the reason why we're packing up the kiddo, joining a couple good friends, and going to Belize.

I've never fished the flats, and except for chasing salmon in tidewater have never really cast a fly into the salt.  Needless to say, this will be an experience.  Hell, I'm half temped to bail on the return flight and I'm not even there yet.

So, in the absence of appealing local fishing options, I've been working on the saltwater boxes.

Someone should have told me how easy flats flies are to tie.

Our gear list is a work in progress.  The reels all have new line--with Rio's Tarpon F/I Short on the 10-weight and Redfish Floating (The Wife likes the blue color, for those concerned with that sort of thing) on the 8-weights.*  I didn't own a single pair of serviceable shorts, so I had to buy two pairs (I hear it's warm in Belize).  I scored a pair of cheap flats boots.  And I now own decent polarized sunglasses that actually fit my big ole melon, which is a significant upgrade from my last pair that I had to modify to fit properly and ultimately succumbed to Karta's puppy chewing habits.  Oh, and the fly boxes are filling up...

. . . let's just hope something in there can catch a fish.

* Really though, as I said at the beginning, it's all new to me so take everything with a grain of salt.

A new Fishing Partner

I've never been much of a planner.  Back when The Wife and I were just married, my inability to consider "the future" was a regular annoyance--and the source of nearly any squabble we ever had.  It was, and sometimes still is, inconceivable to her that I could be so utterly unconcerned with the details to come.  One illustration of this is in our approach to kids:

The Wife: "When do you want to start trying to have kids?"

Me: "I don't know.  Someday."

The Wife: "I think in a few years, once we finish school and have decent jobs, it'd be nice to start trying.  Don't you?"

My: "I don't know.  I always figured I'd just wake up someday ready to be a father."

Needless to say, my nonchalant attitude toward such life-altering events didn't always go over so well.  However, in my defense, it's not that I don't care about what might be, it's that I'd rather focus on the big picture and take the details as they come.  Kids?  Yes.  When?  Details, shmetails.

So, true to form, about nine months ago I woke up ready to be a dad and, because I have an incredibly understanding and patient wife, a week ago today The Wife gave birth to our loving son.

Mason, our new fishing partner.

While I could wax poetic about the miracle of birth and how amazing it is to be a father, which it most certainly is, I'm most excited about all the fun adventures and life experiences we have yet to see.

So, without a moment to spare, The Wife and I took advantage of yesterday's nice weather and took our little munchkin out for his first fishing trip.

The Wife and Mason.

Grandma Jan, aunt Ash and cousin Grace also came along for the ride.  With Mason only six days old and Grace celebrating her six-month birthday, we were quite the sight on the river.

Drift boat or nursery?

Karta usually sticks by whoever is catching the most . . .

My first rainbow on the new Winston BIIIx and Bauer MacKenzie CFX.

Bringing in a nice Dolly.

Grace, showing her excitement for the fish.

Black bears always seem small compared to their brown kin.

One thing about taking kiddos out in the boat is that you can't just pack up and head home if things aren't going too well.  Sure, you can push on down the river, but once you launch you're committed through to the pull-out.  However, the calm, rocking motion of the boat and lapping sounds of the river helped Mason snooze through most of the trip and Grace seemed happy to spend her day laughing at the funny looking guy on the oars.

This day wasn't as much about fishing as it was about being on the river with family.  Of course, that doesn't mean we didn't catch a few nice fish.

Grandma Jan, roped into a lunker on her first day fly fishing.

Mr. Mason too busy snoozing to be disturbed.

A nice Dolly and Karta with the assist.

A successful catch and release.

And here's to many more adventures with Mason!

The Wife is coming around

The Wife has always tolerated my fly fishing and skiing addictions, but I never really believed she would fall victim to my same afflictions.  Then, over the past year, she's started to show many of the very same symptoms I've exhibited for most of my life. 

It all started a couple years ago when not long after moving to Alaska she couldn't stop rubbing in the fact that she got out on the water before me.  Things got even more serious this past summer when work kept her on the river and she started showing up on other's fishing blogs. 

Skiing has followed a similar trend, culminating with The Wife ditching me for a day on the slopes after a fresh eight-inch dump a couple months ago.  Things were getting dire.

Then her ailments went to new heights when, after making a low-ball offer on a drift boat on something of a whim, The Wife was legitimately disappointed we drove home without the boat.  If my concern for her well being wasn't so overshadowed by my own desires for a boat I'd have sought serious help for her.

And now, this happened:

Some solid customer service

A few weeks ago I wrote about how my 6- and 8-weight reels were on the fritz and had been returned to Ross for warranty work.  In case you don't recall, I had fallen and broke the reel foot on my 6-weight Ross Vexsis, a brake that I can't entirely blame on the reel.  As for my 8-weight Ross Momentum LT, it was taking on water.  That is, anytime the reel was submerged the drag would fill with water and become unreliable.  This is totally unacceptable in my book.  What good is a reel that can't get wet?

Well, I'm happy to report that during my recent travels the reels arrived back home safe and sound.  

Ross replaced the entire reel frame on the 6-weight--instead of 2 screws holding the reel foot to the frame, the replacement frame and foot have 4.  Obviously, I played a role in breaking the reel by falling on it, but Ross must have recognized the reel's weakness since they slightly redesigned how the foot attaches to the frame.

Ross replaced the drag mechanism on the 8-weight, and the newly serviced reel feels much better.  Despite these recent problems, I have to say that Ross' customer service is great. 

Probably time to get back out on the water and test things out, just to make sure...

Kelly and Russ come to visit, Part 2 (and some gear wonkery)

After floating for a couple days, we decided to give the boat a break and fish another nearby stream from shore for an afternoon.  The river was full of sockeye and fishing with egg imitations was effective for rainbows.  An impressive stonefly hatch also had the fish looking up so those of us who put away the beads were treated to some decent dry fly fishing, which is nice.

One of the downsides of the day, however, was the increasingly sad state of my fly reel collection.  As of late, I primarily fish with either my six- or eight-weight fly rod.  My eight is an older St. Croix Legend Ultra 908.3 that I've had at least ten years mated to a Ross Momentum LT 4 that I bought last year.  I occasionally consider replacing the rod with a newer model but can never find a replacement I consider markedly improved over my old standby.  The rod is every bit as good today as it was back when I bought it.  The Momentum LT on the other hand has been giving me troubles.  About two months ago I noticed water leaking into the drag system--or so it seems since every time it's dunked the drag becomes less reliable and the clicking noise becomes erratic.  As far as I'm concerned this should never happen to a reel that lists for $445.  It works, so long as you don't get it wet. . .

My six is a Sage SP 690-3 that I've had roughly 8 years with a Ross Vexsis 3 that I've had for two.  The rod is a little slow for what I consider a heavier trout weight, but was the first high-end rod I purchased and has caught tons of good fish--including a respectable number of coho after being called up to the big leagues when I broke my eight a few years ago in southeast.  It does its job.  The Vexis, however, is not a favorite reel of mine.  It's largest problems are that it has a ton of play in the spool before the drag engages, which is a pet peeve of mine, and the mechanism for changing from right- to left-hand drag is weak and can cause the drag to act irregularly.  The right-to-left mechanism isn't as big a problem as it might sound once you recognize the deficiency and check it from time to time, but still. . .  Despite these design flaws, it's most pressing issue is that it's currently held together with a nylon strap:

Not two hours into the day I slipped on the wet rocks and fell only to catch myself with the hand that was holding the rod and reel, which stripped the screws that hold the reel foot from the reel frame.  It's not the reel's fault I fell, and the reel managed to catch fish even post-MacGyver, but it's still a bummer to have two reels on the fritz and not be able to lean on the six while I send the eight in for warranty, or vice versa.  I guess it's time to dust off the old reliable Scientific Anglers System 2.

Part 3 will be big, I promise, but might not get posted for a day or two.  Here's a teaser in the meantime: