The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

raved about flyfishing. he grew up in the midwest and learned to flyfish and tye flies as a kid. While in grad school in the early 80s, We bummed a few fishing trips off of his cousin, Wild Bill (who was working for a real living at the time). We fished mostly with spinning gear, but Tim would sometimes assemble his flyrod and take a few casts. A few years later, we were fishing up on the Upper Trinity, and Bill and Tim were using their flyfishing rods. Tim gave me a few pointers on casting, and "the rest is history." (Actually, the next year, Bill persuaded me to join him in a Piedmont adult school night class on flycasting.... AND THEN the rest is history.)

I was 16 years old and got a job at a little resort on Lake Pilsbury where our family had a summer home (still have it). It was my first time on my own so there were numerous memorable adventures that summe. (After all....this was the 60's) There was a college kid working at the same resort who was a fly fisher. My family fished, but it was all about hardware; this was new ground for me. I bought an outfit with one of my first paychecks. I will never forget the first fish. Down on the Ell River below the lake. A planter most likely. But when he took that royal coachman, I set the hook with so much enthusiasm that I launched that poor fish yards up into the brush behind me. The fish wasn't the only one hooked.

something tells me that there are more entertaining stories you could tell about that sumemr? My buddy and I were talking about when we had the free rein of the cabin at philbrook one summer when my parents were gone for a couple weeks (20 years later than your story, 1987). Mayhem, girls and booze were abundant.

pgw
Better be careful making that stuff, a neighbor may turn you in to homeland security! They shut down main street Woodland the other day because somebody left a coffee thermos on the street! I switched over to aboline(sp) back in the 70's, its not quite so messy.

George Gerke made a good living in the 70's repackaging Alboline Cream into them little red screw top canisters and selling it is Gerke's Gink...only problem was the seal on the canisters wouldn't hold the "Gink" when the air temp got high (like summer fishing conditions) and the stuff would run out of the canister...look at older (read: seasoned) fishing vests to find Gink stains.

Paul

Yes, I do remember! Those little red canisters were an abomination, so I bought a big can of the stuff and repackaged it myself. A little more work but a lot less messy. I use to keep a can by my flytying desk, and dipped my fingers in when dubbing dryflies. Even pretreated the hackle and wings so the fly was ready to when I hit the stream.

Really? How do you use it? I have a ton of that stuff and I use it to clean my rods and line.

Neal

Neal
Put a little on your fingers and let your body heat liqufy it. Then just rub it into/on your fly. Yup, I also use it to clean my line and put it on my leader to float that when I want to fish a nymph or pupa just under the surface at a predetermined depth.

Silent Reader wrote:
...(Actually, the next year, Bill persuaded me to join him in a Piedmont adult school night class on flycasting.... AND THEN the rest is history.)

Actually, it was a fly fishing class. And that's where we learned this great tip about Aboline as a line cleaner and then you and I went out and bought what has amounted to lifetime supplies! It's OK as a floatant but use sparingly. I bought a container of that Gerke stuff in Montana and here I had it all along!



Wild Bill

happened on a backpacking trip in '97 or so. I always carried a fly/spin rig, with a crappy fly reel and really thin tippets. Why would you need strong tippet for those little sierra trout?

But at one particular lake, I got snapped off at the strike two, three times before realizing I was undergunned. Patched together a thicker tippet, and succeeded only in fighting a solid 18+ incher to the shore, only to have him snap off at the last second -- aargh! I threw my whole rod and rig back into the bushes in a fury.

In fact, I spent a lot of time cursing out loud because I figured I was the only person there to hear it. A few hours later when I quieted down at last, I heard someone sneeze somewhere across the lake. My how sounds carry across a windless lake.

Anyway, I was so moved by this event that I hiked out, visited some friends in San Francisco as well as a fly shop that had spools of good, strong, tippet, and hiked the 20+ miles back in with one single purpose.

If I wasn't already hooked then, it may have been sight-catching a 22" rainbow that did it

Wild Bill
Just curious, who taught that class? Was it a guy named Bob Bellem?

I grew up a bait and spinner angler... but I remember fishing the Klamath for half-pounders and seeing the owner fishing with a fly rod... he ALWAYS out fished me and usually out fished my dad, as I recall. That was really my first experience... just watching that guy fish. Too bad I didn't meet Ted Fay, who was/is a legand and worked about 2 blocks from where I grew up. I didn't fly fish until the mid 90's and once I did, I was hooked.

B-