Breaking Bad....

  Hello all and thanks for checking in. It’s been a few weeks since my last write up and with people asking me why the break, the answer that keeps running through my mind is “Breaking Bad”. As most of our readers know, Cat and I have a tv schedule set out for most nights. With the fall season ending in early December we have a hard time finding much to watch. Now a few weeks ago and only the second time in the last 22 years, I actually needed and used a sick day from work. I didn’t know of any movies that looked like they would be interesting to watch so I started looking through my sons Netflix account. Nothing looked good and then I found a title that I had heard of but had never seen or knew anything about. I watched the pilot episode of Breaking Bad and was just intrigued enough to keep going. My original thought was “relativism in the real world”. The first episode gave me conflicting emotions about each character in the show, moments of “like” and moments of “slight annoyance”. Now the great thing, or bad thing depending on your perspective about Netflix is there are no commercials and you don’t have to wait a week or more between episodes. I was in and out of consciousness all day and by the time I began feeling better that evening I realized that I had seen 8 episodes. My emotions at this time had pretty much changed; I kept finding myself absolutely disgusted with every single character and wanted to jump into the show itself and strangle everyone in the show. It was a little like my first marriage; pulling out my hair I would be screaming “Why can’t you people pull your heads out of your collective tails. As the next week and a half went by my addictive personality was screaming  for another episode and it seemed that every free second found me at my computer or tv watching; and then it was over. A week and a half and I watched 57 episodes; I was left with only the emptiness of what could have been.

  So as our regular Spring tv shows began we found it a little difficult to watch, I had forgotten how many commercials they actually run on tv. The Mentalist is my fave and it seemed every few minutes I had to jump up and head into the other room in order to not watch another commercial. I don’t want a Papa John’s pizza, a new Toyota, and my "you know what" functions perfectly, I just want to watch the show! To top things off, as the show finished and we were anxiously waiting for previews for the next week, they said they would be back in two weeks. SAD FACE….

  So why am I talking about “Breaking Bad”, November and early December felt like Breaking Bad. The fishing was excellent and in your face exhilarating, not so much now. I look at January as a great time to rest my wrist and my ever aging body, even though my important parts still work fine...hehe. The shows are still good but the commercials are a little like the crowds on the river and the weeks between shows feel a little like the time between strikes. I’m still watching but I find myself longing for a lost episode or season of Breaking Bad.

 Over the last few weeks we have been out a few times with results being very Januaryish. And yes my spell check is telling me that is not a real word. Fish seem to be lying low for most of the day and sneaking in and out of feeding lanes quickly throughout the days. We have had a lot of frustrated anglers in the shop lately angry with the fact the fishing is so slow, shop talk translated for skunked. Guides trips have all caught fish, but even we professionals find ourselves frustrated. As a guide, when a client makes a good cast and an excellent presentation during November, more often than not it produces a strike, right now it may take several perfect drifts before the strike. Fish can be had, it just seems those darn commercials are getting in the way.

  As I look into the future I look to the past to see what the river and the “tele” have prepared for us. Fishing should continue to be spotty and at times good into mid February. Mid-February should see the bows stage and then begin moving to beds and fish will begin feeding a little stronger in between reproducing. Late March and April BWO’s should bring our fishing season to the ever popular cliffhanger climax. As for tv, whatevs…Get out and fish and enjoy every second of it, whether it’s on fire or just plain bad. A few pics from the weekend trips and our fish, As always thanks for reading, Connell, Cat, Winston, Walter White and The Drift Fly Shop…..