Back in 1984 a close friend of mine, by the name of Tim Corbin, invited me to go trout fishing at his cabin on the Au Sable River in Grayling, Michigan. I had already fished Michigan waters for over 20 years having fished for everything in the state accept for sturgeon and trout, so I decided to give it a try. Knowing nothing about trout fishing Tim suggested that I purchase a 'starter' outfit from L.L. Bean. So, for about $100 I got  an outfit which included an 8', 5 wt., medium action rod with a reel, double taper floating line, a couple of leaders and the L.L. Bean Fly-Fishing Handbook, written by Dave Whitlock. How could I go wrong!

In sorting through several boxes of various and sundry cookbooks I came across this one which has many pleasant memories attached. The people shown in the photo are actual local 'folks' who take pride in their heritage - proven by the fact the Sons of Norway Lodge building is the largest building in downtown Poulsbo, WA. It is also probably the busiest with all sorts of events going on including hosting the King and Queen of Norway a few years ago. At Christmas the Viking Dragon boat sails across Liberty Bay with the current Lucia to preside over the Julfest bonfire which officially starts the holiday season.

Last week the fish took every fly that hit the water so I headed out to another pond to see what I could do. On this day I had four different rods with me. I'm trying to change rods every time that I go out. I did have a bamboo with me.

When I arrived at the pond the water looked pretty good. The visibility was about four feet, and there was no rain and just a breeze that lets things settle nicely. I tried from the shore, but no fish were interested. I hoped in the canoe and got out on the water.

The 2011 gathering of like-minded folks on the banks of the Lochsa, Clearwater, and Selway Rivers started a bit different. Rain! Really, we had rain for a couple of days and evenings. No big gully washers or anything, but heavy enough, with a bit of thunder, to give pause when standing in a body of water holding a graphite lightning rod. The remainder of the week we enjoyed, as Jack Hise put it, Chamber of Commerce weather.

"An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely and my people love it so" Jeremiah 5:30-31 [Holy Bible Paraphrase]

While the Prophet Jeremiah was writing about what was happening in the Nation of Israel before the invasion of the King of Babylon his words could easily be applied to many situations that exist in our days. Unfortunately, like mankind from the beginning of time, we love fables and half-truths more than we really love truth.

The stream is one that I had paralleled along the highway for years while travelling between my home and the place in which I was raised. Each time I look at it and think, "There has got to be trout in there". But up until now I've left it as just that, a curious thought brought on by a passing glance. This summer however, my curiosity got the best of me. So, I was at the computer looking at maps and trying to figure out the name of the stream.

You don't need to read this. You know how to tie a wooly bugger. It was one of the first flies you learned to tie, right? You tie in a tail of marabou, a saddle hackle and a length of chenille at the rear of the hook. Bring the thread and then the chenille to the head. Palmer the hackle forward and tie off. Finish the head and cut the thread. Head cement, tinsel and wire ribs are all options but that's the basic wooly bugger.

"What say we go up to Peaks Creek for the day and see what we can dredge up?"

How can you turn down an invite like that - you can't; so, the plan is made to go off in search of some trout. Or, most likely a limits worth of the "tree trout" I usually catch all along this little mountain jewel high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

There is nothing in my prior experience as a fly fisher which prepared me for the situation I now find myself in. Although I suspect the sentence I just wrote doesn't fall into proper English, something about prepositional phrases maybe. At any rate, we are packing up and getting everything in order to make the trip back to Tucson Arizona for the winter.