Oh, despair!!!! I saw the drawing for the ladies rod and reel combo here on FAOL and I looked on with longing at the offering. But, if I won, would I attempt to give it to my wife or would I sneakily hord the offering for myself. I have made and used a pink and grey furled leader, would not a pink rod and reel fit with that package? ::::I don't think me wife wants to take up fly fishing anyway::::

Now this brings to mind my High School years in the late 80's. We wore the pink polo shirts with levis, I still do not know why, but we did. It wasn't a bad bad combination right? Was it? . The Idaho twist on that ensamble was the worn out cowboy boots.

I do not know what fly fishers are like in your areas, but in Idaho there seem to be two types. The rich who dress from the pages of fly fishing magazines and the fly fishers who look like they came from the pages of the sopranos, or from a local woodsman shack. These are manly men doing manly things!!!!

I fallow the woodsman dress motiff and darn it!!!! I am afraid if I won the rod package I would keep it for myself. It would not end up like the baby blue suspenders with my name on them my mother gave me for my 16th birthday. Those suspenders found a safe home in the corner of my bedroom closet away from prying eyes. The suspenders later had a useful life in the form of a water balloon launcher... but I digress.

If big burly bikers can have tiny chihuahuas for pet dogs, I can and will fish with a pink rod outfit if the action is right. Pink is not just for girls!!!!!!

Now another problem, if I won the rod, my 7 year old daughter would love the color. She would tell me, "Girls scouts fly fish too. I love it. Daddy, can I have it?" The reason I know this is I tied up some chartreuse and pink marabou steel head flies and they have found a nice and safe home in her barbie tackle box.

It would be awful, I would have to sneak into her room and barrow her stuff to go fly fishing. Even worse I would have to ask her to use the stuff. "She got upset at me the last time I barrowed her fly box without asking." My, what a tangled web this would be. She even told me, "Daddy, that is a girls fishing box!!!!"

Would I dare sneak the rod into the house away from the eyes of my daughter until the day I am caught. Would it hurt my ego to ask my daughter if I can go fly fishing with her stuff when I am forced by lack of will to relenquish it into her grasp? Would I be able to barrow her stuff without taking her along fishing?

(Not that I don't love her to pieces, but... she gets bored after the first thirty minutes and cold.....most of my fishing is in the fall and winter two hours away from the house.) Why is it so hard to tell her no?

What to do? I don't even have a pink rod and I am in a panic.

In the end, I will put in my tickets for the drawing and if I win.....present the outfit to my daughter (Just imagine the brownie points I would score!!!!). She still thinks I am cool and loves to fish with me. I am afraid it will break my heart when the day comes this is no longer the case. Then I will take her fishing every time I go. I just can not tell her no.

I still see the little four year old, with long blond tangled hair, and bright blue eyes who looked up at me from watching cartoons and said, "Daddy, I am hungry, lets go catch a fish."

(She won't eat em.)

I hope I win. Then when she gets cold maybe I can barrow it.

ps: Do they make pink waders with barbie on them?