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NEWSLETTER
#36 - MAY 2005
If you have access to Microsoft Word, open the
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Leland Fly Fishing Travel Newsletter - May, 2005
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
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DESTINATION DAY AT BUSH SHOP, ALASKA
FEATURED - TUES , MAY 24
-
THE MOMENT I BECAME A FLY FISHER
-
TRIP REPORTS - A FANTASY TARPON
MORNING
-
SPRING STEELHEAD TRIP ON SKEENA
SYSTEM - MAY HAPPEN
-
LUGGAGE LOCKS THAT AIRPORT SECURITY
APPROVE
This
is the thirty-sixth edition of our monthly
newsletter with updates on great fly fishing venues
and insights for our traveling fly fishers. We want
to help you match the right location with your fly
fishing goals and objectives and properly prepare
you to fully enjoy the experience. We’ve been to
most locations and pride ourselves on our ability to
research new sites. One of our services is to
compare and contrast different lodges/outfitters.
Whatever unbiased information on timing and
locations we can provide comes at the same cost to
you as booking direct – i.e., no extra cost.
ALASKA DAY AT THE BUSH STREET
SHOP, TUESDAY, MAY 24
Alaska is the
featured presentation at the shop this Thursday for
our monthly Destination Day. Alaska is one of those
destinations that some people return to annually,
but every fly fisher has to visit at least once.
The life cycle of the salmon fuels a rich marine
environment that is unique in all the world. Our
focus for the presentation will be on the Bristol
Bay area, possibly the greatest fresh water variety
fishery on the planet with a special focus on the
trophy rainbows. The presentation will be at 12:30
ONLY at the shop.
We have space
reserved for a Leland shop trip at one of the
premier lodges in Alaska during the prime time for
the trophy rainbows and silver salmon. We'll also
be answering questions about this trip.
Additionally on
Tuesday, I'll be available by appointment for
discussion/slide presentations on other
destinations.
THE MOMENT I BECAME A FLY FISHER
My son, Scott, and I
are in the final stages of preparing a fly fishing
book to send to print. The title is Fly
FISHING'S GREATEST ADVENTURES; THE HUNT. It's
been several years in the coming and captures the
essence of stalking the world's great gamefish with
a fly rod. It includes over 300 photos of the great
experiences we have witnessed with fly rod in hand.
In preparing the introduction for the book, we
engaged in a conversation about the moment we were
captured by fly fishing. My story goes like this
(reprinted in part from the Introduction to THE
HUNT):
Puffs of dust
kicked up with each step as the 12 year-old boy
moved along the well-worn trail that encircled the
lake. In one hand he carried a spinning rod and the
other hand clutched a bottle of salmon eggs. He was
walking deliberately, heading for a spot he knew was
the "honey hole." This special spot was the place
he anticipated the orange salmon eggs would tempt
some of the thousands of rainbow trout that the Fish
and Game Department hatchery truck had released into
the lake that week.
He hesitated as
something caught his eye. Gentle ripples disturbed
the water's glass-like finish near the bank,
sheltered by the long boughs of a large redwood tree
that extended some fifteen feet out over the
surface.
Wanting a closer
look, the boy set his rod down as he dropped to his
knees and began crawling through the dry grass. As
he quietly approached the shoreline, he saw the
cause of the disturbance and froze. In the crystal
clear water, a few feet from the water’s edge, a
ten-inch rainbow trout was swimming in purposeful
half-circles with his lips occasionally breaking the
surface.
He appeared to be
eating something, but what was not clear. There
were several flies buzzing under the tree limb and
there appeared to be some insects wiggling on the
water’s surface. Entranced, the boy forgot about
his “honey hole” as he lay there, eyes riveted on
that rainbow.
That lake was one
of several on Mount Tamalpias operated by the Marin
County Water Company in Northern California. The
boy's father took him fishing there twice or three
times a season. On their next few trips to the
lake, the boy would rush to the spot under those
overhanging branches in hopes of witnessing the same
scene, only to be disappointed.
The boy was me
and it was that moment, lying under the redwood
tree, where the passion to become a fly fisherman
was born. Of course, I didn’t realize it at the
time, but there have been many times that I’ve
reflected on that experience and the impact it had.
If you have a vivid
recollection of the first moment you were captured
by fly fishing, hit reply and send it in. It would
be fun to share some of these great moments in the
newsletter.
TRIP REPORTS - FANTASY TARPON
MORNING
I don’t have all the
details in yet on this trip, but I know enough about
this particular morning in the early stage of a
Belize trip to relay it - it's too good to sit on
for a month.
Wayne Henry and Tom
Flood were sharing a skiff with guide/captain Martin
McCord using the mothership Meca as their base of
operations. Both Wayne and Tom were looking for
their first encounter with a large tarpon and this
morning would be the time. In the early fishing
session before breakfast, Wayne sight cast to a
rolling fish on the surface, the fish ate the fly,
and the race was on. One hour and forty-seven
minutes later, the 80 pound tarpon was at the boat.
The hook was removed and the fish released to fight
another day. I happened to be on a phone call with
the Meca when they came in for breakfast and spoke
with Wayne. He was wiped out - totally exhausted -
but thrilled with the experience and stated he
didn't need to fish anymore that day.
Wayne's boat
partner, Tom, would follow that experience after
breakfast with something special. Sight casting to
cruising fish, Tom hooked a monster, well over 100
pounds. The tarpon towed them for over two miles
during the 90 minute struggle. The fish then
attempted to move off the shallow flats, to the deep
blue waters offshore. To get to the deep, the fish
would have to cross the barrier reef (the second
longest barrier reef in the world runs down the
coast of Belize). Instead of looking for a cut in
the reef, the fish swam through the coral infested
shallows right up to the reef, but was to big to get
his massive body over the top. As the fish turned
away from the reef, slack formed in the line and
some elk horn coral helped release the fish before
Tom could get him to the boat.
Bet they both slept
well that night!
SPRING STEELHEAD ON THE SKEENA
SYSTEM
In the last
newsletter, we posted some information about spring
steelheading on the Skeena system in BC. It was
noted that we were looking to acquire some space
during the best time for trophy steelhead during the
spring period. It appears that this is going to
happen, either late March or early April of '06. We
already have several people on the candidate list -
if you'd like to get more information, hit "reply."
LUGGAGE LOCKS THAT AIRPORT
SECURITY APPROVE
My wife recently
brought to my attention that there are now
combination luggage locks approved by the airport
security people. They are made in a manner that
allows the security people to use a special key to
open them. They work fine for those that want to
lock their duffel bags or rod tubes. Ours were
manufactured by Austin House and have a special
6-sided oblong logo on them that signifies they are
approved for use with airline luggage. Any luggage
store will have them; probably also the major
department stores.
Either phone or drop
us an e-mail if you have questions or would like
more information about any of our destinations.
An enthusiastic traveling fly fisherman,
Don Muelrath
Leland Fly Fishing
Adventures
888-347-4896
flyfish@napanet.net
www.flyfishingoutfitters.com
e-mail Josh Frazier at
Josh@flyfishingoutfitters.com
If you want to be removed from our e-mail newsletter
list, just hit “reply” and let us know – you’ll be
removed immediately.
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