Hello all. I had a good day fishing yesterday and thought that I would share the experience.
Originally Dean Endress and I were going to get together to do a little saltwater fishing around Ventura, California...unfortunately he was called in to work at the last minute - so I hooked up with another friend for a session around Santa Barbara (right at the pier, for those of you who are familiar with the area). Walked into the water at about 8:00 am - no waders (the water was nice and "warm"). I was fishing with a friend...I'll just call him "Russell" for now (that's his name). I introduced Russell to fly fishing much to the dismay of his wife...and much to the joy of fly fishing retailers up and down the west coast. We started casting...I immediately hooked up with a barred surfperch. Now - some of you may think, "Wow - get in the "warm" Pacific Ocean at 8:00 am in Santa Barbara, California with good friend "Russell" first thing on a Sunday and IMMEDIATELY hook up...what a life!" But - I have much personal experience in this arena. Somehow when I spun the Wheel of Fishing Karma it landed on the section labeled "If this guy catches a fish within the first five minutes of a session it will be the ONLY fish he catches that day." Now - I am not prone to exaggeration. This must have happened to me THOUSANDS of times before...maybe hundreds...well...more like a dozen, but still.... So I am thinking, "FISH ON!!!.....wait....AWWWW CRAP - NOT THIS EARLY" and I'm praying for a long distance release. I don't think that it would have even been possible to lose this fish even if I cut my line...it still would've swam right up and jumped into my hands. The Wheel spineth...and thus speaketh The Wheel. It is now 8:07(ish) and I am seriously thinking about putting my rod away as soon as I stop crying. But - a mixture of good ol' fashioned determination combined with a little down-home faith and sprinkled with a fair portion of "I-drove-two-hours-to-fish-here-and-I'm-NOT-leaving-now" kicked in and I made another cast. Big Wheel Keep on Turnin....Proud Chris Keep on Catchin Fish on...and fish on...and fish on. All in all, caught several fish throughout the morning. Four species (perch, guitar fish, and halibut)...all on a fly that I had tied up at the last minute the night before. A pattern that I had come up with myself...really! I swear...this thing rivals the Clouser Minnow...well...maybe it WAS a Clouser minnow...but I tied it myself...REALLY!!! So - Has Chris experienced a true shift in Fishing Karma? Or could the Wheel not recognize me in my sunglasses? Stay tuned to find out...... Chris
