fly fishing

Saturday :: 04 July 2009 :: 04:18 AM
174 days to Christmas!

There is nothing like the smell of the salt water. I grew up less than a mile from the Edmonds ferry dock on the Puget Sound. Summer mornings after I finished my paper route, I would grab my rod and tackle and head for the fishing dock on the waterfront. Sometimes there were as many as fifty fishermen casting from that perch. I think I went there more for the excitement than I did for the fish. So it did not disappoint me too badly when I went home day after day with no catch.

When I was older, my sister's father-in-law, Bill, taught me how to fly fish. We usually plied our talents on the Skykomish or the Green Rivers. As usually, Bill would toss the end of the rod back and forth a couple times and a fish would attach, just like a magnet. I could wave my rod all day and never catch anything.

There is a joke about a man who had a fishing friend named Bill, just like me. His friend always had fantastic catches and he had none. One day, he fished alone. After he had been casting for half a day, he noticed a fish circling and circling. Then the fish swam up to him, lifted his head out of the water and asked him where Bill was. Well, when I went fishing alone, I always expected that fish to come up to me!

There are a few articles posted to this site that you will find interesting to read - don't miss the story of the fish that got away. It is a true story.

And - you will want to read about the GuideRunner because it could make your next fly fishing expedition much easier.

If you have a story you would like posted to this site, feel free to send me an email. It is listed at the bottom of this page. Happy Reading!

ATV Mounting Truck Mirrors For Big View

©by Dean Isaacson

In the State of Idaho, it is legal to ride an ATV on the road in most towns. All you have to do is get street licensed (plates), install a mirror, use hand signals and check local laws. I found it a lot safer to install two mirrors, especially when traveling on five-lane roads.

The mirrors sold through the ATV dealers are worthless, unless you thrive on twisting your neck in five positions to get an accurate view. I prefer to take one look and see everything. So the mirrors of choice are truck mirrors, eight inches wide and ten inches tall. Large enough to stick a blind-spot mirror in the corner without robbing the view.

These mirrors are K-Source brand, model 3571. They cost about sixteen bucks apiece and come with a lot of hardware that you're just gonna turn around and sell at a garage sale for a buck and a quarter. You will notice the mirror will have a ninety-degree arm attached with a bolt on the bottom. Take the bolt out, buy one that is an inch longer. It won't do any good to tell you the size, because you are not likely to purchase the same make and model. Besides, I don't remember.

The brace arms and any other hardware you find in the box, take it out and sell it at the garage sale, like I said before. If you think you'll need it someday or might think of a use for it, put it on a shelf in your garage. Ten years from now, take it down, off the shelf and sell it at a garage sale. If inflation is in your favor, by then, you might get two bucks.

Look on your garage shelf, or in a box of stuff and find a bicycle seat clamp. That's what I did - I set them on the shelf ten years ago. If you didn't have the foresight to save the darn things, go to your nearest bicycle shop and buy one. Buy two if you're setting up two mirrors.

Place the seat clamp in a vice and drill the three-eighth inch square hole out to a half inch round hole. A half inch square hole will work as well if you have the proper drill bit for it. Make sure you have it securely seated in the vice. I use one of those big, iron bench vices. If the drill bit "bites," you will rip the clamp out of the vice and twist it up pretty bad. I learned that one the hard way -- and it hurt, too!

Next, take the clamp, open it up, and wrap it around the outside leg of the front cargo rack. Use a pair of wide-mouth adjustable pliers to snug the clamp around the metal tubing. If you are not sure what tool that is, some call it tongue-and-groove pliers and others call them Channel Loc, but that is the original brand name. Like saying Kleenex for facial tissue, or Formica for plastic laminate counter top material.

Now all you need to do is put the bolt through the two holes in the clamp, making sure to use the washers that came with the mirror, and through the bottom end of the ninety-degree arm holding the mirror. Snug the bolt tight but not too tight. Adjust your mirrors and you are ready to go.

Don't forget to install the small, round blind-spot mirrors in the lower, outside corner. These are really helpful so you don't have to move your head in five positions to see everything and so you don't have to turn your head. I always wear a helmet and a helmet is good at blocking a good portion of your peripheral vision when your head is turned. The blind-spot mirror will eliminate that problem.

Here is the finished product. If you wish to view this in greater detail, click on the image. These mirrors trim the ATV out very nicely and they are sturdy enough to hold up off-road; even in the woods. Even off-road, the mirrors come in handy because they make it much easier to see everyone behind you.

You might notice the helmet in the back. I believe in safety and that helmet is a full-wrap to give my face and head all the protection possible if something should go wrong. I have experienced great pain and I will do everything possible to avoid it. Another benefit of a full helmet, especially one with flamboyant colors, like this one, is that other drivers can see you much easier than they can your plain, bald head. Safety is important -- it will keep you on the road a lot longer.

Random Humor: Listen To Your Coach