Archive for May, 2006

I had to drive to Toronto today – what a crappy experience that is! As soon as I get into the city, my eyes start to burn with the smog, and drivers in Toronto are just nuts. I had my fly rod along though; I was thinking I could maybe get in a few hours on the Credit River near Belfountain on my way back.

But nope – not the way the weather turned! Thunderstorms, rain and warnings of tornadoes kept me in my car and bypassing the road to Belfountain.  Maybe it will be a fly tying night – as well as some time spent on my homemade wines.

Sometimes, time flies by too quickly. Perhaps rather, it is that an activity, or activities, take much longer than originally thought.

I had planned to be at my “tying desk” the past couple of evenings, but on both nights, have had other things to do – when I started them, I thought I’d still have time for some fly tying before it was bedtime, but I was wrong on both nights.

But, I did update the All About Fly Fishing website.  Another interesting and personally reflective article by Randy Kadish, about his experiences trying the fly rod out on some piers in New York City.  Then, my own review of the Airflow “Platinum” series fly line.

And finally, a profile of our “Team Osprey” captain, Ernie Kalwa, for the upcoming Canadian Fly Fishing Championships on the Grand River in Ontario.

I was hoping to add some fly tying articles as well, but wasn’t able to at this point in time.  Hopefully two or three will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.. bearing in mind that during the preparation for the Championships, I’m not at liberty to discuss fly patterns that are successfully producing on the Grand River.  Perhaps after the competition, I can create an entire series of articles devoted to the most successful flies!

Mostly, I’m a “catch and release” guy.  But I don’t  buy into what C & R has become; almost a religion among some anglers.  Small stream brookies, small river brown trout and even smallmouth bass, I release.  However, there are times when eating what I catch – I have no guilt about.  Big ‘bows caught in Meaford Harbour, or fish running up from the Great Lakes – I’ll keep a fish once a while for my dinner plate.

As far as cooking my catch, I’m with Declan who writes, “…  barbeque fresh fish with no extras, just as is from the ocean. They keep it simple.”

I remember years ago, while fishing the Wilmot Creek, a tributary of Lake Ontario, with a friend of mine – and we both caught beautiful silver steelhead in the spring – right when the fiddleheads were coming up out of the ground, and at their tastiest.  We built a fire on shore, and after gutting the fish, roasted them along with some fiddleheads over the open fire.

Mmmmm… what a wonderful exquisite lunch that was – with a little bit of Bushmills Single Malt that I had a long as well.

When barbequeuing a big rainbow, steelhead or salmon, I like to cut slits down the flesh, and then put pieces of apple, onion and greenpepper in the slits.  Then, I mix up the remaining apple, onion and greenpepper and stuff the cavity of the fish with that, double wrap in tinfoil, and then cook for about 45 minutes on the bbq at a medium-low temperature.

Hey, I gotta admit – as much as I like to conserve and release most of my fish, I am indeed a meat eater – and eating that which I catch once in a while is something I very much enjoy.  As “The Meatriarchy” would say, “If God  didn’t want me to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?”