Orvis had this tale on their website for years, but I discovered that it's been taken down. Just glad I had the foresight to save it, because it's a wonderful little story that deserves to be told.

The Story of One Perfect Fly Rod ( Read more... )

I wanted to post this here because apparently it can no longer be found on the Internet. It's what really got me into fly fishing because it made me realize I could do it locally rather than having to drive three-plus hours to the nearest trout waters. I would add that I'd recommend a 5wt graphite rod rather than an 7wt fiberglass as a starter rod ( Read more... )

...is still better than the best day in the office. And even though my office days are behind me, I recently had one of the worst days on the river EVER and it was still great!

Wednesday, Oct 29

One more trip to Bennett Spring before trout season ends. The drive down was uneventful, save that Huggy Bear did get a chance to drive for a bit...

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For the past few years we’ve celebrated our anniversary at Bennett Spring State Park and this year we continued that tradition at our favorite cabin, #16.

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On Tuesday morning we were getting organized and packed for a couple more days at Bennett Spring State Park when a knock came at the door. Last week I had arranged to have AC put in next door and the electrical had to be done separately. The electrician showed up without calling first and I was tempted to tell him to shove off, but instead told him ( Read more... )

For our anniversary we like to go to Bennett Spring State Park: sketching for Kate, trout fishing for me, and a nice getaway from business for both of us. This year, it was rather serendipitous that the reunion of my first submarine, the USS Nathan Hale, was in Branson the weekend immediately before. So I booked a room in a hotel where Kate has ( Read more... )

Heavy rain all night, though it had cleared off by the time we got up. We slept in a bit and since I’m a rank novice fisherman I had no idea what the fish would be doing after such a rain. So at Kate’s suggestion I checked the Trout Cam: there was one guy fishing where there are usually at least half a dozen.

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To my own surprise, I was up early and at the river ready to fish before the 0730 morning siren. (I’m usually up early, but moving is another matter.) Kate thought it was cute that I was making her a “fisherman’s widow” but at least I started the coffee before I left ( Read more... )

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On Wednesday we went down our (mostly) annual pilgrimage to Bennett Spring. (We missed it last year, as you may recall.) On the way down we passed a place that had firewood for sale so we stopped. There was an old dog sleeping on the porch, so I didn’t feel inclined to ring the bell but there was a truck in the yard with a number on the side, so I ( Read more... )