In The Shadows

     Act Thrice

   My own personal Teddy Roosevelt will be the next in this series. Studying the history of this president made it easy to pick out my own personal Teddy, not necessarily because I learned so much about fly fishing from him but because they are both so confused, politically speaking, as to what they believe. My friend is always telling me about getting so flustered at work because of political arguments he gets into. What is so funny is that when he talks about what he believes in, it is the exact opposite of what his political affiliation believes in, just like Teddy. Teddy was considered to be a great conservative and yet started the whole National park system. Teddy worked hard to push for the completion of the Panama Canal and even started his own political party when the conservative part distanced themselves from him. On the domestic front, he was the instigator of the “square deal “program and spent his entire adult life in politics.

   The first time I met Scott or better known as Scooter was in the shop several years ago. It was a short introduction as he was heading out but Cat had told me that we had a lot in common. A couple weeks later I was getting out of my vehicle at Monarch ski area and he was right in front of me. I said hello Scooter and he looked at me and had no idea who I was. I told him I was Cat’s husband and he lit up like a Christmas tree and invited me to join him on the slopes. We had an absolute blast that day as I got to ski with him and his two friends. Skiing, like fly fishing is best enjoyed when doing it with others that have similar abilities. Spending a whole day untangling your friend’s lines or waiting at the bottom of the hill for your friend to get through the bumps is not very fun. Scott, Tom and Leroy were not that way at all, they could get it done!!! We hit it off immediately and began skiing and fishing together regularly.

   Before I get into what I have learned from Scooter, I want to tell you a little about my idea of fly fishing up to this point.  I first learned to fly fish on the upper Arkansas and some of the smaller streams that drain into the Ark. It did not matter if it was a 4inch brookie or a 13inch brown, I was completely hooked. Now, if you know anything about me, I am very competitive and could only measure the success of the day by the numbers I had caught. I remember one time, Cat and I were fishing Grape and we were both pushing 150 fish. I though the best way to measure the success was to see how full of **** people thought I was. I would try some of the catch and release areas but did not have the patience because we were not hooking fish on every cast and then we would almost always end up back at easy waters.

   After fishing with Scooter a few times I remember asking him how many fish he had caught that afternoon, that way I could tell him I had caught one more, just kidding. He looked over and said “you are not one of those counters, are you?” As quick as a whip I came back with you are not one of those picture takers, are you? I can tell you this, over the next several years, I have been blessed with the ability to fish with Scooter on a regular basis. Watching Scott fish is like looking at a beautiful mountain sunset oil painting. At first you are like that’s cool, and then as you stair, you lose yourself in the way the colors have been blended into a totally mesmerizing masterpiece. Scott is quiet, smooth, and observant and almost seems to melt into his surroundings. Scott can catch a 13 inch bow and he sees how the belly is swollen or the light markings on its jaws, and with browns, like a finger print, he points out the masterpiece marking on its sides. Scott takes the time to collect bugs and study them for future tying and he seems to notice everything around him. One of my best secrets in tying came from an observation Scott had made.

   I would like to say that I am a little more at peace with my surrounding because of my friendship with Scott. I know I have become much more observant of what is going on around me. I think I am a little less competitive and trying to enjoy everything about fishing, Cat may disagree on that one. It has been years since anyone has out fished me so I can’t know for sure (hehe). The greatest thing I have learned from Scott is to try to enjoy everything about fishing. Picking up rocks and seeing the bugs, watching for birds, seeing all the perfection that God has set out for us to enjoy. So even though Scooter is a little confused politically, I would have to say, I am glad I have had the opportunity to call him a friend.

  We here at The Drift Fly shop are passionate about fly fishing and everything that goes with it. The next several weeks should be the best of the year for fishing the tailwater. Thursday will be the end of the winter storage at the reservoir so we will be experiencing some fluctuations in the flows. The water will go up and down till runoff and fishing will be exceptional on the right days. If you are not getting the results you would like than I would suggest that you make an investment in your future fishing fun and book a trip now. We love to teach and watch clients hook into that first monster, makes me smile just thinking about it. Thanks for reading, Connell

The Drift Fly Shop 719-543-3900