Fly fisherman all over the country may have hit pay dirt with a little lauded flick titled Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, a chic flick with a river running through it. Fly fishing philosophies and relationships on the rocks, fly tying and impossible love, good guys and bad guys and a testament to evidence of things hoped for but yet unseen and the tenacity in the lives of men and fish that can foster, this film has something for virtually everyone. So fly anglers grab your significant other and curl up with this movie. It could refine your passion for fly fishing and change your luck in love.
Every shaman angler needs a flint knife if for no other reason than to please the ancients should they be looking on. The stone I made this from, Georgetown flint, was a gift from a new friend I became acquainted with just this weekend. He tossed me a large flake he had dislodged from the spall he was working and said, "Here make something with that." To be honest my first thought wasn't knife blade. The first thought was about being embarassed in front of the donor when I turned his gift into lithic debitage, but as I began to work the stone it gave rise to a knife blade figment. The more I worked the more my mind became focused on bringing a shaman's knife to fruition. I dug out the deer antler shed I had been saving for an unknown reason until now and then leather and fur from my fly tying supplies. Some grinding and carving on the antler for a good fit, and finishing touches to the blade edges, the parts were assembled by the end of the day into my first shaman knife. This certainly wasn't my planned purpose for the day but sometimes good things happen if you allow them by staying out of the way. Yet one more example of lending an ear to those small voices that are there to guide you.
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| Dragon Dream |
On my last two trips fly fishing for bass I watched sizable bass leap a full body length or more from shoreline waters in an attempt to capture dragonflies hovering overhead. One would think there must be something very appealing about dragonflies for a fish to expend that much energy on a venture so unlikely to succeed. Actually their success rate may be higher than you imagine. I have caught bass whose stomachs were full of dragonflies. I've attempted to imitate the dragonfly with various forms of poppers but never with much success due mostly to the fact the summertime shallows frequented by the dragonflies almost always contain weeds and/or moss making a weedless fly an absolute necessity. Weedless poppers that are actually weedless are hard to come by. Necessity being the mother of invention the solution pictured came to me in a day dream. This simple pattern is made from craft foam, lays hook up in the water, is virtually weedless and the bass love them. The wings are made from crystal flash but other similar materials should work just as well. The downside, due to the wings, the fly tends to twist your leader during the cast so you have to keep your false casts to a minimum. The craft foam comes in numerous colors and is very inexpensive. If you fly fish for bass give it a try on your next summertime bass fishing adventure. I think you will be pleased. If your are not a fly fisherman perhaps you should be.
