The Force is Strong; Hassan Alpine Trout

FlyfishMagazine.com contributor and Colorado pal, Ali Hassan, taunted us with this photo of a nice trout he caught in one of his state's alpine lakes. We made him swear on his journalistic integrity to let us tag along next time.

Taunted

FlyfishMagazine's Colorado connection, Ali Hassan and Son, sent us these pictures as their subtle way of pointing out that they are fishing and we are not....

Colorado Reservoir Dogs

Big water


Big country



Big fish!

FlyfishMagazine.com's Western Correspondent, Ali Hassan and I spent a couple of days battling 30 MPH plus winds and tough conditions trying to catch some big Colorado reservoir trout. High winds and waves made the fishing tough but Ali managed to pick up a few nice trout using gear. I reverted to moving water in a canyon and got more than my share of fish mostly on dries. I wonder if people ever question why I always show up at business meetings tired, with wind/sunburn and a smile on my face?

Ali's Travelog: Pakistan

FlyfishMagazine's Westernmost correspondent, Ali Hassan, who has been AWOL for about a week now, finally grabbed some bandwidth and sent a few pics from his fishing trip to what is at the moment at least, one of the most dangerous places on Earth. So far he hasn't been fishing but he does know where you can get a cool bootleg copy of Avatar really cheap and is doing more than his part to revive the dances of the early 90's.

"Betullah mehsud (Taliban commander) has been killed in a drone attack. There will be a tit for tat response. However, I have not been spending much time home. The city of Peshawar is heavily fortified with police and military check posts. Some check posts have tanks and RPG personnel. I am shocked and happy to see that the city limits has been deweaponized. No one is carrying a gun however the tribal belt is a different story. Last night my cousin hosted a party in a suburb (hayat abad) which not too long ago had Taliban patrolling its streets. There was alcohol and dancing girls. My family and friends find it extremely amusing that being raised in a western environment I don’t drink however I did not reject offers to do the Macarena Dance with the girls."

The average Pakistani citizen is an extremely humble and probably one of the most hospitable individual on the planet. I did mange to squeeze in a partridge hunt in the country side and saw the great Pashtun (tribe) tradition of hospitality. We climbed a very large mountain in chase of partridge and was surprised to sea a delegation on locals awaiting our arrival with tea and sweets midway. We continued our climb, the mountains are intimidating, made of large boulders and the occasional fig tree.


The locals are of a different stock, many with blue eyes and sharp facial features illustrating their European bloodline. I was just as impressed on their ability to climb these mountain with plastic slippers. My $150 pair of Danner USA shoes could not keep up with our guide in flip flops. After a half day hunt we descended down to the village of Swaway and stopped at the local mosque for evening prayers. Next to the mosque, Village kids were playing cricket and just for fun my cousin told them that we are here to administer vaccinations for all kids under 15. There shy smiles immediately transformed into worried looks as they took backward steps resulting in every child running home and abandoning their game. Some kids were so terrified that they left their bats and balls on the field. Who says American kids don’t have anything in common with Pakistani kids.



The electricity and Internet connection is poor. Unfortunately, I need both to stay connected and not having electricity hinders my ability to do so. I cant log onto the blog due to poor Internet speed. So I cant update the blog or stay on line for long. However I have attached a few photos. The first is a vendor selling a DVD of Avatar (bootlegger). 2nd cow transport on camel back. See you folks next week

With the security issues he is facing it might be hard for Ali to wet a fly on this trip. After all he is in a place where that big bird you see flying overhead might well be watching you and capable of turning you in a watery vapor at the drop of a hat. Hopefully he will get a chance to do some fishing but if not his reports will still make for good reading. While other blogs bring you fish porn we may be the first to provide first hand pics of an cow riding a camel. I'm just saying.....

Where in the world is...

...FlyfishMagazine's Western correspondent Ali Hassan? Well IF he cleared airport security (he is not THAT Ali Hassan, although he often has to prove it,) he may well be fly fishing in one of the most dangerous places on earth. Ali is visiting family in Pakistan and while there, has agreed to send us reports on some of his favorite spots to fish for exotic species such as Masheer or even Brown Trout that may have not seen a fly since their ancestors were stocked by the English.

Right now Pakistan is going through some highly publicized internal strife but Ali assures us that he will keep his head down. Of course his ability to send us updates is subject to Internet connectivity and how well his Kevlar fly fishing vest holds up, but we should have some pretty unique content from across the globe in the very near future.

Take a Dad Fishing Day

FlyfishMagazine.com's Colorado correspondent, Ali Hassan recently spent some time roaming around the Southern part of his home state with the family and sent back some photos with which to taunt all of us still trapped at our desks. It appears from the photographic record that the younger Hassan is turning into quite the fisherman.

Hassan's 18 lb Wiper

Ali Hassan of the Denver, Colorado Hassans, taunts us with yet another picture of a massive white bass / striped bass hybrid (Wiper). This one was caught on a road trip to Nebraska during a time when he probably should have working and not fishing. Ali tells us that he had no luck until he took extreme measures to match the hatch by catching some of the local baitfish in his landing net.

On another note Ali is now FlyfishMagazine.com's official Survival Editor. He will soon be providing us with an article on lessons learned in the wild during his recent trip. Lesson one will be no matter how thirsty you might be, don't ever drink lake water even if Bear Grylls says its OK to do so if you squeeze it through your shirt first.

Bonus points for the offspring shooting the Victory sign. Based on the cuteness of the kids we can only say that Ali must have a very lovely wife.

Break Time Slab

FlyfishMagazine.com's Westernmost Representative, Ali Hassan taunts us with this beast of a "Wiper" (white bass / Striper hybrid). The monster was subdued not two miles from Ali's office in Denver, Colorado no doubt as he took an extended "restroom break". This slab was so big we didn't even give him a hard time about the spinning rod in the background.

The Sultan of Pike

Today's mail brings a diplomatic pouch containing photos. FlyFishMagazine.com Western correspondent, Ali Hassan, AKA "The Sultan of Stripe," has added yet another monster fish to his list of conquests. He is shown here with a massive Pike caught at an undisclosed location somewhere West of the Mississippi River.

We call him the Sultan of Stripe...

Our pal and co-worker from Denver, CO, Ali Hassan, keeps promising to take us fishing for these things he calls "Wipers." After seeing this photo it was all we could do to stay at work and not board the next plane headed West. Ali caught this striper / white bass hybrid fishing an unnamed Nebraska lake. The first fish he hooked spooled him and the one pictured took 10 minutes to land.

Obviously, Ali is not spending enough time in the office.