Last Cast of the Week, 7/1/2016

Most Fridays on Casting Across are  devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on  The Last Cast of the Week.

Today, I’m sharing items from  Flymen, Orvis, and Casting Across (?).

If you’d like to be featured in the Last Cast of the Week, or have seen something that others might be interested in, use my contact form or shoot me an email (matthew[at]castingacross[dot]com).

Thanks again for reading, and please take a moment to subscribe by plugging your email address in the field on the right sidebar.

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Who Would Win in a Fight?

Who would win in a fight? It is the ubiquitous question of college dorm rooms, bars, and long car trips. Variations have found their way into sports (who can throw farther?), politics (who would govern better?), and historical debate (who would conquer more?).

Anglers haven’t spared fishing from being part of these hypothetical exercises. Between night time around the camp fire, long winters between seasons, and the inherent argumentative nature of the internet, the quarry and culture of fly fishing are pitted against each other.

I’ve picked out three arguments that I’ve seen and heard that fall into the “who would win in a fight” category. There are many more squabbles (particularly online) that take place, but these have the requisite quantitative/qualitative comparisons that fit in to this discussion.

What kind of flies are best?

Dries vs. nymphs. Nymphs vs. streamers. Egg flies vs. san juan worms. This conversation has a whole lot of tradition and sentimentality wrapped up in it. Dry fly elitists are called out by technical nymphers who are, in turn, looked down upon by streamer “bros.” And then there are bead fishers. Everyone has something to say about them.

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Heading Downstream

Over seven months ago I finalized plans to move. It will be back to Virginia, back to the Mid Atlantic where so much of my life has already taken place.

I won’t lie: I’m very excited to go fly fishing. To get back to the streams I love, revisit rivers I only fished a few times, and explore new waters.

I’m also not delusional. This move isn’t a license to fish unabated. I’m a father and a husband with a new job. I’m going back to grad school. Again. And going back someplace also necessitates leaving another.

Which means saying goodbye.

Honestly, there are so many angles that I want to explore in this post. But between these hectic days of packing, coordinating logistics, and managing two little through all of it, what is most poignant is the goodbyes.

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Last Cast of the Week, 6/24/2016

Most Fridays on Casting Across are  devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on  The Last Cast of the Week.

Today, I’m sharing items from  Outside, Trout Unlimited, and Risen Fly.

If you’d like to be featured in the Last Cast of the Week, or have seen something that others might be interested in, use my contact form or shoot me an email (matthew[at]castingacross[dot]com).

Thanks again for reading, and please take a moment to subscribe by plugging your email address in the field on the right sidebar.

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In the Sight Line

“I can’t say that I know much about the whole man-jewelry market,” I said.

Edgar Diaz laughed at my hesitance. “I get that a lot,” he said. “But some really manly men have picked up a cuff or two and wear it all the time.”

And here I am, about a month later, wearing mine all the time.

You can’t help but be drawn in to the style of a piece from Sight Line Provisions. The cuffs (that is the gender-neutral, acceptable to manly men term for bracelet) feature rugged leather, industrial rivets, and metallic outdoor images. The word artisanal comes to mind. More than that, the cuffs immediately take your mind to thoughts about fish, fishing, and nature.

Diaz, the artist and entrepreneur behind Sight Line, sees that as the purpose of his cuffs. “Sight Line is all about what you are looking at, or maybe even just what you are thinking about,” he says. The name for the company came about when he was taking a trip out west with his family. “Like so many of us, my kids were looking down at their screens when there was just so much amazing scenery going by. I started asking them ‘what is in your sight line’ incessantly; just to get them thinking about what they could be seeing. It became kind of a running joke, but it stuck. I like the idea of really focusing on what you’re thinking about or actually looking at.”

Where does a bracelet come in?

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Fatherhood & Slowly Changing

I don’t fish nearly as much as I did five years ago.

On Father’s Day, 2011, my wife gave me a card revealing that she was pregnant with our first child. Obviously, what followed has changed my life significantly. That little boy, the other one that followed, and the baby (gender unknown to us at the moment) on the way have altered both the day-to-day and the big picture.

More diapers, more being around for 7:00pm bedtimes, and less fly fishing.

But I wouldn’t change it for the world. If it came down to it, fishing would be the thing I’d change. It has been the thing I’ve changed. I’ve never looked at one of my boys and remorsefully thought, “this is why I’m not on the river right now.”

While there are quick fly fishing outings and intermittent weekend trips, I haven’t been out as much as I did before fatherhood. And as cliché as it sounds, the times when I’m out on my own I can’t help but think about what it will be like when they are old enough to join me. Only a few years, months maybe, until the oldest can wade in gentler waters and hop on the boulders of mountain streams. And, as any parent knows, the next child in line will be propelled by the desire to keep up with his older brother.

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Shifting Access: Fly Fishing & Crowd Funding

Every year, hundreds of new pieces of fly fishing gear and accessories enter the market. Consequently, for many brands there is a significant chance that their latest and greatest will get overlooked. The days and dollars of research and development don’t pay off as expected. Marketing campaigns might not resonate with consumers. And an item that carried the hope of being revolutionary or groundbreaking gets phased out after a few seasons.

That reality is true for the long established players in the fly fishing game. It is that much harder for new companies to penetrate a saturated market. But in an age where an advertisement doesn’t need to be on a physical magazine page or even a television commercial, potential customers have unprecedented access to marketing.

Arising out of the photography accessory company ThinkTank, MindShift Gear has been making camera bags and packs for outdoor photographers for years. Their storage solutions combine the latest in outdoor innovation with specific features that cater to those carrying cameras and the associated peripherals in all environments. “MindShift, and ThinkTank as well, is a company that studies how people use things,” says Gene Sutton. As an account executive for the California business, Sutton believes they are addressing one of the biggest issues for people using backpacks: “We’re solving the access problem.”

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Pause: The Shorter Moments of Fly Fishing

Writing about fly fishing can often focus on the seemingly insignificant. The intricacies of gear, the eccentricities of fish, and the common paces that anglers go through are fairly quaint. But in that commonality there is something special, something remarkable.

Particularly on the stream, where we can get lost in our thoughts, the mundane can be focused on for an inordinate length of time. Facets of the day that seem inconsequential get dissected and analyzed for hours. It happens when we’re catching fish, and it happens when we’re not catching fish. Like the line to a song that just replays over and over in your mind until you can’t help but sing it softly to yourself, the routine of the fly fisher is endlessly scrutinized. And then written about.

One part of that routine is the moment before I begin.

The photograph above captures the moment pretty well. I was walking downstream on a large river in Maine. I’d never fished it before, and the rapids and swells were somewhat intimidating. Fully aware that these are the kinds of mental and physical obstacles I encounter anytime I fish a new piece of water, I somehow ushered those doubts to the back of my mind in favor of a utopian experience. The trout would come easy this time, I thought.

Although my perception of paradise is lost, the reality of the paradise before me was evident. I just had to do a little psychological recalibration.

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Cabin Fever

Wood smoke. Mothballs. Dust. Wet waders.

These are the scents that won’t be making Yankee Candle’s list of new releases, but that doesn’t mean that they are completely repulsive. Perhaps on their own, they don’t have much to offer. In fact, they can be downright off-putting. No one wants to come away from a hug smelling like mothballs.

But when they are all combined together in some bizarre olfactory cocktail, the situation changes. Particularly because the context of that specific blend is primarily found in the cabin. More specifically, the fishing cabin.

I do not own a fishing cabin. In fact, unless some acquaintance of mine is holding out on me, I don’t think I know anyone with a fishing cabin. But I’ve rented quite a few of them over the years. I’ve seen a lot of photos both vintage and new, and there are some universal features. Including the smells.

Let me start off by commenting on upholstered furniture. So anything that gets “shut down” over the winter, lacks air conditioning over the summer, and isn’t tight enough to keep out insects/rodents/etc. might not be the best place for a plush couch. But they can be comfy after a long day afield. Never mind the nests and fuzzy spots. Just nestle on in and become one with the cabin.

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Last Cast of the Week, 6/10/2016

Fridays on Casting Across are  devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on  The Last Cast of the Week.

Today, I’m sharing items from The New Fly Fisher, Scadding Court Community Centre, and The Venturing Angler.

If you’d like to be featured in the Last Cast of the Week, or have seen something that others might be interested in, use my contact form or shoot me an email (matthew[at]castingacross[dot]com).

Thanks again for reading, and please take a moment to subscribe by plugging your email address in the field on the right sidebar.

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