Guess Where?

While Hilary is out in Denver covering the IFTD show, no doubt drinking free and gathering up wheelbarrows of schwag, the Editorial Trophy Wife and I decided to take a fly fishing related trip of our own. Here are a few hints to help you figure out where we are hiding out:

1. It's in Vermont (That should narrow it down for you)

2. The town is home to an American Museum and a major retailer / mail order company's flagship store, outlet, & school all related to, "the quiet sport."

3. It's not far from that same Major retailer / mail order company's corporate office.

4. The sidewalks here are paved with Marble.

5. Tomorrow we will be sneaking into aforesaid major retailer / mail order company, and purveyor of fly fishing gear's corporate compound and will be bringing our readers some exclusive dirt content.

Bragging rights to whoever can guess our location...

Found in the Urban Wild: Smithsonian Edition

Some say it was medical quackery but I prefer to think of it as an artifact of bait fishing history?

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.....

This happens a lot lately

If I pack a travel rod then there is no water in sight. Leave the rod home and what amounts to a brownline spring creek shows up outside my hotel window. If by chance you are wondering where in the world I am today. I'm in the town where Wayne and Garth's public access cable show aired. Party On!

Of course this song deserves its own posting.

Flight Delays

Road Trip

This weekend finds me packing my gear for a week long road trip. Sunday and Monday finds the FlyfishMagazine.com road show visiting Knoxville, TN and then returning to North Carolina only to catch a plane to Denver, Colorado the next day. A rental car ride from the airport puts us meeting up with our Western correspondent and Sultan of Big Rainbow Trout, Ali Hassan, for an afternoon session that involves lake fishing at 9,000+ feet in belly boats for big bows. When I asked Ali what to bring fly-wise he suggested egg sucking leaches then followed the advice with "Of course I've never caught anything there with egg sucking leaches." Obviously Ali is a fly fisher who fits in well with the FlyfishMagazine.com crew.

Gear: Dissolving Shaving Paper

The TSA's rules limiting the carrying on of liquids and gels have been "front of jet lagged mind" lately as I have been traveling quite a bit on business. I, like many travelers, prefer not to check my luggage if at all possible. I have no issue trading off the lugging of a bag through the terminal for the satisfaction of getting off the plane and to my destination as quickly as possible.

One issue when packing for carry on, has always been getting a small shaving cream into that quart sandwich bag allowed by the TSA. Recently I came across these dissolving shaving papers in a travel store and have used them on recent trips.

Simply add a small amount of water to 1-2 sheets of shaving soap and work up lather in your palm with your fingertips. Massage onto your skin and enjoy your usual shave.

While you won't get the amount of lather you Barbasol users are accustomed to, a couple of sheets (be sure to pull them from the box with your dry hand) will generate enough soapy goodness to get the job done.

If you are a hiker or backwoods angler for whom both grooming and weight are an issue, these sheets which come in shampoo, body wash, and shaving varieties might just come in handy.

Fly Fishing Quote Of The Week

Our Fly Fishing Quote for this week comes from an article featured on Helanair.com about raising taxes for a sewer system

Goodman counters that taxing anglers is only fair, since they put so much pressure on the town’s infrastructure. “I tell them, ‘Look, you guys always complain about the fly fishing, here’s a way to extract a pound of flesh from them for the resources they’re using,’” he said. “It’s all out-of-state fishermen.”

And all this time we thought the townies liked us turistas with our dollars. This reminds me of a conversation I once overheard outside of a strip joint.

"If I didn't know better, I would swear that those drinks were watered down and those girls only wanted our money."

photo via Postthisinc.com

Avoid Fishing Pressure - Visit Minnesota

According to this article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune the trout streams in the South Central part of the state are virtually untapped.

"I'd be awfully surprised if we see another trout angler, especially now that walleye season is open," said Mickey Johnson of Brainerd as we walked with fly rods in hand along a faint woodland trail earlier this week.

The photo above if of the Davidson River here in North Carolina. As you can see it is quite "tapped".

Time for a National Fishing License?

With anglers traveling more and more in search of fishy pursuits has the time finally arrived for a national fishing license? We recently received an email from David Grace of NationalFishingLicense.org, a group dedicated to starting a grass roots movement for just that purpose.

Our proposal would offer a cost effective alternative. If you were licensed in your home state, you would be eligible to purchase the National License. For $110.50, you could fish any state in the Union so if, on your vacation to America’s west, you fished California (7 days), Oregon (4 days) Washington (6 days) Nevada (4 days) Idaho (7 days) Utah (7 days) and Colorado ( 6 days) you would save over $300.00 Now consider the old guy at work who just retired. He and his wife not only love to fish, but they are one of the 20,000,000 RV enthusiasts who live in the US and they plan to spend months each year, traveling and fishing. Would a National License be important to them? You bet it would.

In the past few years I have purchased my resident North Carolina license, Tennessee, Arkansas, Colorado, and Florida non-resident multi-day (SC salt from shore doesn't require one)permits so I would say a 110.50 national permit could make sense for me. Couple it with a travel rod and some of my business trips might just take a bit longer to complete. You don't know how many times I have scoped out a likely looking pond or ditch only to be rebuffed due to my lack of a handy license agent or Internet connection.

To read more about the movement for a National Fishing License visit the NationalFishingLicense.org website. Also check out their handy table of fishing license fees across the fruited plain.

Heave to and prepare to be boarded...

According to this article in the Windsor Star the United States Department of Homeland Security is denying rumors it is planning a stepped up campaign to interdict fishing boats on the Great Lakes.

Chief Ron Smith, spokesman for the Detroit Homeland Security office, said Tuesday that there has been misinformation circulating that U.S. authorities will launch a special campaign when the fishing season begins this month to stop all U.S. boats re-entering the U.S. from the Canadian side, sending them for inspection.

Don't get them wrong though you still should play by the extensive rules if you don't want a customs inspection:

He acknowledged that U.S. citizens fishing in Canadian waters will be expected to carry a passport or two other valid pieces of identification, according to laws governing all cross border travel. But only those craft that anchor in Canadian waters, dock on the Canadian side or hover alongside a second vessel in Canadian waters will be expected to pass through U.S. customs and immigration upon re-entry.

Read more comment about the regulations and why some charter Captains are saying it could hurt their business via the Crazy Fisherman's blog.

Photo via USCG.mil

Road Trip (s)

My day job, the one that keeps the wife up in the manner she has become accustomed to, is requiring that I fly up to White Plains, NY today where I will rent a car and drive to Danbury, CT for a business meeting tomorrow. After the meeting it is back to the home base for a quick suitcase grab before we head off to Tallahassee, FL to see the newest lawyer in the family pick up her sheepskin from FSU. The bad news is that there is no real time in the schedule for any fishing. The good news is that the frequent flier miles are starting to get close to the free first class ticket to Alaska level and I will have some time to read some of these books I am supposed to be reviewing.

If any of my fly fishing brethren (or sisteren) has any suggestions for things that one must see while in any of these locations, feel free leave me a note in the comments.

Do you need an "Mancation?"

Is the stress of work and family life getting to you? Then perhaps you are in need of a "Mancation."

Set to launch this month, Vancouver Mancations will offer a range of holiday packages designed specifically for men, from fly-fishing to microbrewery tours. The so called "mancation" is not exactly a new phenomenon -- remember Dad's fishing trip with his buddies at the lodge? -- but the idea took off again last year when Vince Vaughn used the term in The Break-Up. Hillson is confident the trend is gaining traction. "Guys want to get away and they want to have fun," he says.

Link via Canada.com