NRX vs ONE...Who rules the flats!

Margaritaville

Recap Trip

2013’s Mexico trip came to an end on May 3rd. The gang packed it up and headed out of the little town of Punta Allen on our way to catch a flight in Cancun. The long bumpy gravel road from the lodge to Tulum seems twice as long on the way out. We had a great time at the Palometa Club. Good food, good drink and lots of good company swapping stories back and forth. The Permit were elusive to us this week but we had some good times with the Bonefish, watched Tarpon tail dance while spitting flies and the occasional Barracuda rip towards our fly at lightning speeds. A warm thank you goes out to Dick and Kaye, Host of the Palometa Club, for providing plenty of entertainment and Margaritas. Watch out for the third Margarita!

Sports Injury Part 2

I tried to finish up this epic tale months ago, but fishing got in the way.
Read the first episode: I'm Calling it a Sports Injury.

Sunset view from camp

My New Quest

Black was the color of the sky as we pushed our way back towards Hood River. An extremely long day capped off with a lengthy four hour drive through the night had turned into a challenge just to keep the eyes open. Our neck of the woods was still ninety minutes away when we were both forced to pull over our rigs for a power nap, caution won out over the thoughts of sleeping in our own bed.

Getting home at four AM, was it worth it I wondered as Mike’s rig turned off towards his street and I finished the drive back to my house. A cooler with a seven pounder and two five plus pounders, battled on a fly rod, sitting on a bed of crushed ice was the answer to that question.   I counted the days; no make it the hours until I could point my truck south to be out on the waters of Davis Lake again. It was my new quest...

Skeena Meadows, British Columbia

Skeena Meadows

Combining the appeal of sleeping in the outdoors with the creature comforts of a fine hotel stay, the lodging at Skeena Meadows re-defines the notion of “camping”. Each of the four 864 sq.ft. “tents” are insulated, smoke-free, and feature hardwood floors, leather furniture, three bedrooms, fine linens, propane heaters, remote start generators, showers and full kitchen facilities. Situated in secluded and private settings, each spacious tent also features two outdoor decks and a wood-fired hot tub.

"To Fish is to Hope" Abel Casting for Recovery Reel

Abel Super 5N Large Arbor Reel:  Casting for Recovery 

Abel has teamed up with non-profit organization Casting for Recovery to help promote breast cancer awareness and breast cancer therapy and rehabilitation.  These reels are build to order and can be purchased online.

The reel with custom options would normally retail for $875, however the Casting for Recovery version is $700 of which $100 is tax deductible. Buy your's today.

Casting for Recovery “provides an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a natural setting and learn the sport of fly-fishing. Just as importantly, the retreats offer an opportunity to meet new friends, network, exchange information, and have fun." Abel reels are precision machined from 6061-T651 cold finished aerospace grade aluminum with Teflon® sealed bearings and utilize a cork drag system made entirely in the California factory. The Super 5N Large Arbor will handle both 5 and 6-weight lines. The Abel Super Series 5N Large Arbor fly reel will feature the following:

• Abel decked out this reel with custom CFR purple with matching CFR pink handle, drag knob, and foot.
• Drag knob appropriately engraved "To Fish is to Hope".
• CFR logo and pink ribbon fish on the spool.

The reel with custom options would normally retail for $875, however the Casting for Recovery version is $700 of which $100 is tax deductible. 

www.gorgeflyshop.com/PINK   |   www.castingforrecovery.org

Back from the Palometa Club

Fly Fishing at the Palometa Club

Travis and Greg are back from their Mexico trip and getting back into the rhythm of things again. Be sure to be signed up to our newsletter for our May 21st Magazine Edition for a recap and to catch the G. Loomis NRX vs Sage ONE showdown. As always, its FREE.

Check out our latest product showdown. G. Loomis NRX vs. Sage ONE

To Catch a bud...

This really is a fishing story, but first a brief introduction.

I married a great guy. He’s smart, kind, and patient with me (most of the time). He can fix almost anything and he’s athletically gifted (too much praise? Well, suck it up.) We love all of the same things – skiing, windsurfing, river trips, and even our nutso dog, Kash. Oh, and fishing, especially swinging for steelhead. Rich got us addicted to that, but let’s get back to him - he is also analytical and deliberate. Nothing is done without forethought, a plan, a map into the future. We couldn’t be more alike; and we couldn’t be more different. I’m the kind of person who is still alive by sheer tenacity and a certain amount of luck. I was not blessed with a speck of “situational awareness”. In fact, I could be the driving force behind the development of “Personal Body-Bubble-Wrap”.

For example: On one of our early spey excursions to the Klickitat, I managed to fling a weighted, leechy fly into the seat of my waders. In an attempt to free myself, I took off my waist belt and the attached wading staff. I promptly dropped those into the river, and when it dawned on me that I was beltless and staffless, I stumbled frantically after them, spey rod in hand, butt still trapped by the fly. OK, the rest is obvious. I took a late evening swim in the Klick and never came near a fish. In fact, I think I scared them all away. I can just imagine Rich upstream scratching his smart head wondering what the hell I was doing. Luckily for me, the day had just about completed its fade into dark. We hauled my soggy ass home.

I have other examples, but that should suffice. Now onto the fishing story.

After a particularly successful and totally enjoyable camp trip on The Deschutes in September, I decided I needed (well, actually wanted) a new spey rod. I plotted a way to stash pieces of money here and there so that when the right stick showed up, I’d be able to buy it. I sort of let Rich know my thoughts, but I didn’t reveal the entirety of my plan. Then the planets aligned and Rich and I borrowed some demos from our pals at The Gorge Fly Shop. And just to set the record straight, this is not an advertisement for the rod I eventually purchased.

Down to the mouth of the Hood we went. We strung up our demo Sage One (7116) Switch, the Sage One (7126) Spey, and Rich’s very own and favorite rod (a 7 weight Sage TCX) for the sake of comparison. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon. Rich was seriously fishing, and I was mostly casting. The magic hour arrived – we all recognize it – that time of day when shadows lengthen and the sun turns an easy gold.

Mt. Hood

The mouth of the Hood is not a serene place. Vehicles thunder across the highway bridge, dogs bark on their way to the Spit, fishermen jockey for position. For sanity’s sake, I plugged myself into my ear buds and my MP3 player. Then it was cast and re-cast, and occasionally swing. This is where life gets interesting.

Wired to my headphones I couldn’t hear much of anything, but I looked upriver and noticed Rich sending me some type of signal, so I pulled the plugs out of my ears. He was trying to tell me that the guy on the far bank was fighting a fish and to make myself small, as in invisible, until the fish was landed. I stopped casting so I wouldn’t ruin his fight. When things quieted down, I decided to take one last cast and make a final swing through the run with the Sage One Switch. I was already in love with the rod, but my casts come and go, so I wanted to make sure it was me that was making them go away and not the rod. Finishing off the swing, I turned to wade upstream to Rich (I was done, and I wanted to trade rods one last time) when WHAM! SLAM! Yank to the bank (that was one lesson I learned and relearned a lot of times). Off like a laser, air borne on the far side, with me reeling in for all I was worth, and then he screamed back out again. Rich slowly “raced” down to me fully confident that I could handle this wild buck on my own. I had it in, and Rich grabbed the leader, but then let it go. My reel stopped turning, the line lost pressure. I looked down. My left earphone was backstroking to the Columbia, the other was jammed deep into the running line of my reel. The fish was 5 feet away from us, then 50 feet away, then deep into its hidey hole (or wherever steelhead go to recover from an adrenaline surge). So much for the soothing effects of music. I had found yet another way to NOT land a fish.

At the 10, the 20 oh the 50 and it's... gone.

These are the kinds of things that happen to me. This would never happen to Rich. Only me. I’ve never been a gentle learner. But I did make our local (and favorite) fly shop really happy. The very next day I plunked down my credit card and left the store with a brand spanking new Sage One Switch.

I didn’t choose the rod. It chose me. It’s the ONE. It really is.

Fly fish wisdom

The One

A little Fly Fishing Wisdom

The only story is that these wild fish have some extra horsepower!!!!!!!!  And that, after you choose a fly and a presentation stick to it.  Right before this fish railroaded my fly I was thinking to myself "should I have put on something smaller, darker, brighter, bigger, etc, etc..........."  Just pick the fly and do your best to present your swing in a way that it always feels like it should be "the one"!!!!!!

Palometa Club: Never Ready...

My Tropical Fly fishing adventure trip is booked...Now what do I need to make this a great trip!

Greg Darling: Photo taken on 2009 Trip

While this may sound strange to some but for me getting ready for a fishing trip is fun in itself. The planning, anticipation and gear preparation is exciting. Its the years of learning the sport, learning the species and collecting gear that now it comes down to using the knowledge to put together all the stuff that will make a great trip without hauling a truck load of gear to the airport and spending all your fun money on luggage fees.

This Trip is taking me to sunny tropics on the northeastern edge of Ascension Bay to the Palometa Club in Punta Allen, Mexico where the Permit are big, Bonefish are plentiful and Margaritas are waiting for you when you arrive back at base after a day of adventurous fishing.

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