fishing in the cathedral again

drove up to the ferry again friday afternoon

arriving about an hour and a half before sunset

we forsook unpacking our shit and setting up camp

to gear up and hit the water..two quick fish 

(and two misses) had me convinced that saturday would be great

and it was - just not as many fish as I'd like

it got rather windy - not unmanageable, just inconvenient

I had some issues w/ my shit

trouble rigging up led to trouble casting

led to trouble rerigging due to trouble w/ knots etc

seemed as I spent more time getting my shit together than fishing

I just might have been hungover

if the dead soldiers littering camp and the half empty bottle of bourbon

are considered evidence

nevertheless, a fine time was had

company was good and I did end up sticking a couple fish

mudbug hooked up...

again...

nice 'bow

when we got to the parking lot we ran into a couple guys from tucson
'bug asked if they posted on a local board...

marvin ( azmandella) and (not so) fat guy alex of fatguyflyfishing
he's hooked up...

admiring a pretty little 'bow

throwing a beast mode...

fishing in the cathedral

my fishing buddy likens it to fishing in a phone booth

I disagree

granted the cathedral grows in grandeur upstream to the dam

(damned impressive)

and grows ever grander downstream over countless rapids

the walk in fished as fine as I've seen it

look at that beautiful wild rainbow

lovely colors healthy and strong fish

typical of the fish we saw yesterday

josh didn't take long getting started

(a pattern to be repeated throughout the course of the day - he was en fuego)

sticking a nice fish early on a custom tied egg pattern of his own design

this is my favorite of the numerous underwater shots he took

he gets photo credit on both bentrod shots below and several here

my weapon of  choice for the day
and the first ever bamboo rod I made
chile colorado
7ft2in 5wt driggs river special

I've gotta a lotta pics just like this one

again - look at that fi

sh!

this rock right here is the throne 

perfectly scooped and smoothed and pitched 

for yer work

a perfect place to sit and rest too

why would you wanna fish here?

beats me

back in the day

this book is a treasure assuming you can find a copy

there may be one at the library - the big one downtown

I could tell you a story (or two) about that building but won't

I wanna talk about bill valentine

bill valentine wrote a fishing column for the arizona republic and gazette

from 1962 - 1978

and this is a collection of those columns

he is witty and observant and man oh man does he like to fish

and he enjoys telling fish stories

of which it seems there are hundreds here

in the 630 pages of prose and packed w/ black and white fishing photos

from a bygone time...

plus - he was a pretty ding danged stylish dude...

valentine was also a skilled cartoonist/artist

following all the fish tales (full disclosure - some are rather similar)

are some maps he's drawn of the rocky point/cholla bay area he so loved

there are also several dozen nifty little illustrations for fishing derbies and the like

it sure seems a glorious time to be fishing the salt

apparently he had a love for mermaids as well

who doesn't?

love that he lists the species being 95 - 125 lb
she's a "merrymaid"

I guess that'd be a keeper

copyright info on this book merely lists

"Copyright C (circled) 1990 Jessie and Mike Valentine  All Rights Reserved"

the book appears to be self published by the family

living vicariously

because it's all we can do these daze...

sunday morning I had to back out of a fishing trip

potentially  apparently a great one

health issues and my wife's birthday forced my hand

and I stayed home maintaining the D. T.  I.

(domestic tranquility index)

for possible future trips

so anyways

we ganked a few pics from the website what doesn't exist...

 the backyard

I love this place

 beautiful brown

lovely rainbow and bamboo

fuck me - there goes the neighborhood

I usually pitch my tent where that table and fire ring now are

they call this "improvement?"

I cannot even tell ya how these pics make me feel...

homesick?

optimistic?

hopeful?

nostalgic?

stoked?

all of the above and more...

much thanks apologies and photo credits to my good great friend, jeepster

aka s. rath - sorry amigo

ganked (kinda)

I saw this series of posters on another fishing blog

and while I don't like doing this kinda thing

(poaching material - something I've been doing far too much of of late)

I just love this image and plan on purchasing the poster...

hey - I've been there

and will be back soon...

anyways I should provide a link...
get you posters here...

http://www.mgtu.org/2010/12/trout-fest-banquet-posters-available/ 

teaser

stuck

I should clarify - the fish is stuck

getting bent again

countdown

T minus thirty daze or so...

casting sequence

josh snapped a series of shots of me 

casting into a sweet slot 

while perched above oak creek canyon

whoa nellie that's a bit sloppy but efficient enough

producing beautiful drifts right down broadway

I was firing dries about 40-45ft on a 3wt line

w/ one backcast

I only like two things that I see in the shots above

the low line hand and the shot clearly showing the rod loaded 

as the forward cast is delivered

today we fished (again)

whoa nellie!  private water?

nope

sure looks like it

whoa nellie again

irony?  perhaps

I remember this deadly fire

the three trees right of the sign aren't doing well and should probably be replaced soon

fuck me to tears

my first ever flyrod casualty

fortunately it can be fixed

I know just the guy for the job

why aren't you using the orange clouser?

all day long I kept asking steve

thanks buddy for not listening to my advice 

and for shootting these nice pics

the last hurrah on the agua fria

thanks for the fun

bingo

bingo

see ya!

not again

unfortunately postponed due to cold rain and high water

and candyass anglers

just another bluebird day on the rim

too little water (6'8" 2 wt degere taper)

twas warm - I had to remove a layer

the hike in

looks like a tree fell over the trail

scary scenario?  yes

dumbass creek

beautiful water nice clarity

I did say it was a bluebird day

the rim is beautiful

blooded the easy way (6'8" 3 wt thomas taper)

josh said while casting, "whoa, it's like a slingshot, just fires the line"

yup

thought I missed the fish but I see his back there

nice rainbow

the hike out