Tuesday Evening Musings

First, a big shout out to Ray Colesso (my apologies, I’ve probably spelled the surname incorrectly) and Brian Primeau at The First Cast/Hook, Line & Sinker.  And to Purolator too.   To make a long story short, I had an idea for a birthday present.  Over the past week, I’ve been calling in on and calling on the phone different places that I would be near to see if they had a fly box that was metal and could be engraved with a “special” enscription. Just about everywhere only had fly boxes made of plastic which can be laser engraved, but I don’t know anyone that can do that nearby.

So today, Brian called me to tell me he had what I wanted, and he had an engraver as well.  So off I drove to Guelph, was very happy with the work that Brian did, and then picked out a nice net.  Another problem was shipping the net and box, and Brian came to my rescue there as well, unpacking a new shipment in a box that the net fit in perfectly.

Now, this gift “just had to get there” tomorrow.  A call to Purolator discovered that they had a drop off depot that was open until 8PM in Mississauga.  Got back to Orangeville, where I was able to wrap the gift, add a couple more items to the box, and then crossed my fingers there’d be no major traffic delays between here and Mississauga.  And I made it in time! Which means a very special person should receive her birthday gift on her birthday.

David is also away for two and a half weeks, which means of course I won’t have him around to go fishing with.  So I think that I shall try out some of the streams and rivers that I’ve neglected for awhile.  It’s been handy to have the ponds nearby while fishing with David as there is so much wide open space if David gets impatient with the fishing.  He can go sit at a picnic table and read, or kick a soccer ball around while I fish. There are no worries about him having a hard time wading some water or crawling through overgrown bush.

I’m also going to take this opportunity to try to get together with Neil Houlding for some two-handed casting instruction.  Neil is a great spey/two handed caster and a very good instructor.  It’s something I’ve not done, and I’ve got this switch rod from Meiser Fly Rods that I need to learn how to put to its full potential.

Fly tying is something I’ve not done enough of in the past couple of years, so I’ve got that on my agenda as well.  I’ve been tying up some flies that call for Seals fur.  I was speaking with Arron Varga earlier and mentioned to him that the Seals fur I have is tough to dub with.  He gave me a great tip:  Put the Seals fur in a coffee grinder and push the button.  I did that, and hey.. it works! Makes the material a bit softer and much easier to dub.

So that’s it for Tuesday.