|
I hate complaining, especially when I
really don't know in what direction to
aim my malcontent. Maybe one of you folks
has an idea? Here's the problem, or should
I say...problems.
I love to fish as much as anyone, fly-fish,
that is. But seems like here lately, there
have been extenuating circumstances that are
puttin' the whoa on my piscatorial pursuit
with my trusty nine-weight, or seven-weight,
or five-weight for that matter (even the lake
behind the house is ticked off about something)!
It's freakin' April, for Pete's sake! Cold fronts
in Florida!? Unheard of! And, if the cold fronts
aren't bad enough, they come on the weekends.
Their timing is just dandy. Then it clears up,
the sun comes shinin' happily through just in
time for Monday morning...fine, just fine!
Consider this. If the cold front comes in on
Friday, then everything should be nice and
fishable the next day, right? Not! Then the
nice, little isobars the blabbering weatherman
indicates on the map behind him are as tight
as coils of fly-line lying on a boat deck! The
dad-burned wind will blow your clothes off on
Saturday morning if you get close to the water.
The lake rears up, whitecaps beat the fool out
of the western shoreline, the ducks park their
butts up in the yard, and then it gets really
windy! Fly-rod...HA! Let me remind you folks
from the northern states that April cold fronts
in Florida...never mind, I said that already.
Okay, next problem. This one is self-induced,
but still a situation that is hampering my
fishing.
Linda and I are having a swimming pool put in.
Okay, raise your hands. How many of you have
had one built? Is it me; am I the only one? Where
do they get these subcontractors, Neptune, Pluto,
or somewhere around Uranus? Most of 'em would do
well starring on Mr. Springer's show. They show
up on Friday, then do an hour's work. They leave
and we don't see them for two more weeks. In the
meantime, we're bustin' our humps planting palm
trees, and other essentials, getting ready for
the big day they fill this confounded cement pond.
I figure at the rate they're goin', it might be a
nice Christmas present for 2005! Oh yeah, they
don't work on the weekends when the wind is howlin'.
They're probably somewhere fishin'. All the while,
as this thing is being constructed, our backyard
looks like a 500 kg J-Dam bomb went off in the
lawn, well, what used to be a lawn.
Speaking of lawns, the sprinkler system's
piping has been cut off during construction,
so the front and side yards aren't getting
watered, so here I am on those "special"
watering days dragging hundreds of feet of
hose around trying to keep the grass happy
and my neighbors from callin' the cops on
me for having a crappy looking yard...or
waterin' on the wrong day!
So, here I am. The best days of April's
fishing are passing me by. Another cold
front just went through last night; there
are several thirty-gallon pots of palms
smiling at me, waiting for Saturday morning
installment. The wind is picking up. I have
a wooden planter to build Sunday, oh yeah,
and hoses to drag around (it's a legal
watering day). The dogs need baths. Ain't
nobody gonna work on the cement pond. And
I ain't fishin'!
ALRIGHT, ALREADY!!!
See y'all next week. ~ Capt. Gary
About Gary:
Gary grew up in central Florida and spent much
of his youth fishing the lakes that dot the area.
After moving a little closer to the coast, his
interests changed from fresh to salt. Gary still
visits his "roots" in the "lake behind the house."
He obtained his captain's license in the early '90's
and fished the blue waters of the Atlantic for a little
over twelve years. His interests in the beautiful shallow
water flats in and around the famous Mosquito Lagoon came
around twenty-five years ago. Even though Captain Gary
doesn't professionally guide anymore, his respect of the
waters will ever be present.
Gary began fly fishing and tying mostly saltwater
patterns in the early '90's and has participated as
a demo fly tier for the Federation of Fly Fishers
on numerous occasions. He is a private fly casting
and tying instructor and stained glass artist,
creating mostly saltwater game fish in glass.
|
