Well, I am sure I
will be ruffling a few feathers with this blog post but I wanted to talk about
what seems to be the only really important news stories of the last few months,
the NFL ref lockout. I find it humorous that most fans, including myself, over
the years have complained over and over about how bad the reffing of the games
are. Not just in football but in all sports. I have many times whined that I
will never watch another game because the outcome is always determined by
whoever the refs want to win. Any real Bronco fan will never forget the Dante
Hall punt returns and the two “non-clips”. The Cutler drop, what a gift(but we
will take it). How about the Brady rules (the tuck rule), was that rule made up
on the spot? Being a Life time Husker fan, I still think about the 1982 Penn
State game and the 1993 phantom clip and no fumble call against Florida State,
cost us two National Championships. It has been a little humorous watching any
sort of media the last few weeks, all I hear is how the Billion dollar business
of the NFL won’t give the poor ref’s a retirement plan. It has been interesting
that what we don’t hear is that one of the main sticking points of the
negotiations has been the NFL wants there to be an accountability clause that
replaces ref’s if they grade out poorly on consecutive weeks (Those Meanies).
One of the great
things about Fly fishing is the amount of immediate feedback we get while
fishing, even when those mean fish are holding us accountable for our actions.
Brandon had called yesterday and wanted me to fish a little in the afternoon.
When your kids grow up and move out, you jump at every chance they allow you to
hang out with them. I saw the river had dropped to 45 cfs and knew that the
fish would be super difficult to deceive. Crystal clear water and very slow
currents, any mistakes and the fish will let you know. I knew this was the case
and started thinking of my plan of attack long before I even got to the river.
A new 9 foot leader with an extra 5 foot of 5x fluoro carbon. A True Blood
first then 6x fluoro to an RS2 and the same to a Ninja, the second two were
treated with loon dust. I did not get to the water until 5:45 and Brandon didn’t
make it til a little later. I could see right away there were BWO’s on the
water and I got a little excited. I carefully crossed and moved into a casting
spot, but before casting, I already picked a direction to fight the fish. Second
drift through and he took it, I could feel immediately that he was in the 16 to
18 inch range and I began to steer him so not to break the 6x tippet. I seemed
to do everything perfect while moving him into slower water, I started moving
toward him to net him and DINK, he was off. I fished til dark and seemed to
hook up every third cast or so until they shut off, about twenty minutes before
total dark. I landed six and hooked twelve to fifteen, sooo much fun!
I got home last
night and started to write this blog and was thinking about how we have to constantly
sharpen our fly fishing skills if we want to do well in this sport. With what
this fishery has become, landing a pig takes the right rod and reel, the
correct tippet, the right flies, perfect drifts, and the ability to battle that
fish on its home turf. I know the replacement ref’s were a little out of there
league but in their defense, it was pretty short notice and they did not get
the time to polish off or sharpen their reffing skills. Put a beginner fly
fisherman on this river or the Taylor and see how he does, now check back in a
year, betcha he improves. I finished this blog this morning and have seen that
the NFL and the regular refs seem to have an agreement in place, now we can go
back to complaining about how bad the regular refs stink…
Now, the most
important thing I want our readers to get out of this blog is that it is now
time to totally sharpen your fly fishing skills. These fish are really smart
and have seen it all. If you are not doing well than maybe it is time to hire a
guide to help you with your skills. If you are doing well than it is time to
pat yourself on the back because you earned it (no cheap fish here). As always
thanks for reading and get out and fish!!! Connell
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