The Fly Fishing Life - Gifted Gear

It has never cease to amaze me.  I'm talking about all the fly fishing gear people have brought to the mercantile store, over the years, and simply give to me. 

Yesterday, a lady named Patty who recently came to work at the mercantile store learned of my addiction and love for fly fishing.  Today, she showed up carrying an olive drab canvas satchel of sorts.  It turned out to be a traveling fly fishing kit as you can see from the pictures below.

Patty shared with me that her husband was award this travel kit about twelve years ago by the company he works for.  She also said that for that twelve years this kit has stayed in a shed and had never been opened.  Up to today... the rod had never been assembled. 

There's little doubt as to the quality of this kit.  It is furthest from being a high end, high quality rod and reel outfit.  The reel is a rather noisy click pawl and will never take a lot of stress.  But, the rod was actually kind of sweet in a way.  This eight piece, eight foot 4/5 weight rod has a soft feel to it and will cast with a slower motion. 

Most likely I''ll never fish this outfit since it is in original condition.  I figure it will go in the spare bedroom, which is also known as the miniature fly fishing and tying museum.  If for some reason I do use the rod someday it will be for perch, small bass, or trout.  There's no way this rod will ever hold up to carp. 

Now, on the subject of carp, it was a couple of posts ago I reported that Charlie had come down with tick fever while trekking through the woods to get to the carp water.  In that post I made the statement that I know Charlie and commented there was little if anything, including tick fever, that would keep him from his beloved carp.  Well... I'll say it again.  Yesterday Charlie went to the carp creek even though he's not fully recovered and still yet to finish his round of antibiotics.  With his Creek Critter tied on he landed a nice carp early in the morning.  He apologized for not sending a picture and explains he can't find his camera because he can't remember where it is.  Most likely his memory lapse is part of the tick fever. 

This angler hasn't been out for carp-by-fly since Sunday, but hope to do so soon before things get too dry and too hot for both man and fish. 

Chapter 58 Day 43 - Trout Season

Oh, Those Old Cold Bones

In the moment the great creator decided to give my mother the only child she would ever have, there evidently was a shortage of construction materials.  This shortage I speak of surely explains why little material was used in the creation of yours truly. 

I'm skinny - there's no other way to say it. 

I don't know if I mind being skinny.  If I really try, I can see some advantages of being thin, skinny, skinrod built, sparse or whatever adjective one might come forth with. 

In being skinny, never have I had to worry about the scales, or going on a diet... watching the waist-line, or going to the gym and sweating my arse off several days a week in order to keep the current wardrobe owned. 

You won't catch me in a grocery store turning containers around looking at the calorie content of anything.  If it looks good... it if sounds good... if it smells good... I'm gonna eat it!  In being skinny, there has never been those moments when I'd pass on a slice of Key lime or coconut creme pie, or tell the ice cream scooper to hold back on the chocolate syrup - no, no, no,... drown it please. 

However, there are some disadvantages in being thin also. 

They make some kind of device that measures body fat.  I figure if they put that device on me the response would be, "Mister.... your nothing but bone, blood, and sinew!"  And, this is where being skinny becomes a great disadvantage. 

Skinny people get cold faster when fly fishing during the winter.  It's not hard to figure out why - there is no fat on our bodies to protect us from the darn cold weather. 

Look at creatures in nature.  Creatures like sea lions, polar bears, and some whales, that live in cold environments have deep layers of fat on their bodies.  This fat insulates them from the cold temperatures.  Have you ever seen a skinny sea lion? 

One disadvantage is clothes.  You ever try to find a pair of 28 X 32 pair of jeans?  Oh, there are plenty of 30 X 32 pair of jeans available, but 28 waist size?  Only on very lucky days do I strike gold in my clothing shopping. 

Clothing problems I can live with, but the larger problem for me in being skinny is freezing my bo-hind off fly fishing during the winter.

During winter, I tend to layer clothng each time I go fly fishing, whether it be at Blue River or anywhere else.  However, there are only so many layers a fellow can put on before he gets to feeling "stoved up". 

After three or four long sleeved pull-over shirts, a guy can beomce cinched, or stiff, bound-up, and the elbows become locked up.  The elbows, I dare to say, in fly fishing are somewhat important.  Plus, with all those layers of clothing on, if you go into the soup they are gong to absorb a lot of water rather quickly.

Then, consider this.  If you have three or four long sleeved pull-over's on, either you'll wear them outside the pants or inside and either way the waders are going over.  As sure as the sun rises in the east, the urge to de-water the bladder will come about and it's tough trying to wade through four layer of shirts in opening the barn door.  For some of us, when we wait too long, trying to get through all those layers to opening said barn door can result in... disaster.  Enough said, huh? 

So... I've been shopping here of late looking for some of the new-age technology in cold weather clothing that will keep my little butt warm. 

Today, I looked at Under Armour products and so far I like what I read.  Price point is usually a deciding factor, but, sometimes the comfort factor will far outweigh the price of any product.  And, such is the case in my case. 

I looked at a couple of other cold season undergarment products, but, they mentioned wool.  Wool is warm no doubt, however, some of us who are of northern european descent tend to have problems wearing wool.  People of northern europen descent have a high tendency to understand what eczema is and eczema and wool is kind of like fire and petro.  For a person with eczema wearing wool is like asking for an invitation to the doctor's office and a big and painful steroid shot in the buttock.  Been there, done that, it sucks.

I'm going to keep shopping and find some cold weather fly fishing gear because I'm tired of freezing my little arse off.  I know there's not much to "freeze off", but the little I do have... I'd really like to keep.