Flybinder, if you thought that Uncle Jesse was from Dracula, Ga, shouldn't you have thought, "What the NECK"?

Uncle Jesse, before I met people from FAOL, almost all of my fly fishing was done solo. Much of it still is because I really like the peace and quiet and time away from society and spent with whatever Nature sends my way. But I also fish with others quite a bit now. Jack Hise, who is retired and feels that a week without 3 day's fishing is wasted, is my most usual accomplice. WarrenP is also a regular companion, embarassikng us all by catching entirely too many fish. Now I'm looking forward to fishing with Ron and others from the board.

Then there are Fish-Ins. The MI Fish-In was such a hoot last year that I went back up to the Au Sable for another week. I have already scheduled vacation time and gotten a room for this year's Fish-In. There is a lot of scheduled fun, but there are things that you just cannot plan. For example, Joe Valencic, one of the nicest guys in the world, was standing on the micro-pier at Gate's Loges one evening fishing. He was getting no strikes. He turned to address somebody and instantly had a hit. That evening he got 4 strikes, all of them came within a second or two of him turning to speak to somebody. Joe was as good a sport about it as anyone could be. Now I think the world of him, even if he does prefer Spam to okra.

If you can make it to a Fish-In, then it is great fun to meet the people that you see posting. Just remember to bring White Cheddar Cheez-Its for Betty Hiner...

take care,
Ed

P.S. And aside, when I got in from work Sunday (after 14 hours of computer mayhem, er, maintenance) I read a great article written by RW on his attempts to become a bluegill fly-tying guru. I think that his side-kick, Self, got co-author's credit. I like the look of those patterns and I really am going to have to try one of those Fruit of the Looms...
(If that doesn't give the NBOF ammo, nothing will... )