May 23, 2003 Newsletter
Greetings one and all! I received several comments from my last email letter in which I talked about attitude, and not to bore you with further comments, except for one I thought appropriate:
“MANY. . . . . .GO FISHING ALL THEIR LIVES WITHOUT KNOWING IT IS NOT THE FISH THEY ARE AFTER”.
-- Henry David Thoreau –
I had the pleasure of fishing this past Monday with Capt. Naiser (Naiser@dbstech.com) and a friend and customer Greg Pollock. Greg is brand new to Salt Water Fly fishing and I thought I would share with you what almost all of us experience on our first salt fly fishing expedition.
When I previously asked Greg about his comfort level at being able to cast, the response was, "Yes, I am experienced in freshwater fly fishing and am confident I will be able to cast a salt water fly in moderate winds and no, I haven’t had time to practice". Guides are expensive; the time it takes to practice or get lessons are not. When you enter the world of salt water fly fishing, you MUST be able to cast a fly quickly and accurately, otherwise the time spent by the guide in getting you into the fundamentals necessary to deliver a fly is time and monies wasted. I think most of us would rather the guide fine-tune our technique in line management, answer our questions about the type and size of the flies, and locate fishable targets.
Greg maintained the good ‘attitude’ I talk about but clearly wanted to land a redfish on his first outing. When we arrived at our spot, redfish were swarming around us and I think if you ask Greg, had he spent the time to practice some of the techniques prior to the trip, he surely would have been successful.
This scenario is repeated regularly by those entering salt water fly fishing and new entrants into our world need to be reminded – practice and prepare. You don’t need to be a Tiger Woods in fly fishing but you do want to lower your handicap to a respectable level by working at your game! On this recent outing, I was fortunate enough to catch and release several red’s on a 5 weight Sage RPLXi – what a kick! Come by the shop and test out the rod in my casting area out my back door. If I have the time, and if you request a little help in casting, just could be time well spent. . . . . . . .! A quick follow-up; Chuck just emailed me saying on Tuesday (May 20th) he had two fly fishermen that caught SIXTY FIVE redfish from 91/4 lbs. to 14lbs – none legal!!!! That set personal records for size and quantity for Chuck during the past 20 plus years of fishing 200 days a year! The fish are back – its just locating them on a regular basis that is difficult. . . . .
I will be closed on Memorial Day but I hope to see you soon after (rent is due! ha!). Gary Lehman will be looking after the shop on Saturday May 24th as I will be sitting by one of the pools at Port Royal holding one of those silly drinks with an umbrella in it while ogling the girls in skimpy bathing suits.
Dennis O. Freeman
Rodmaker’s
13457 Blanco Road
San Antonio, TX. 78216
210-479-3477