Members' Bio: Where'd you come from?

[darrin terry]

Welcome fellers! Always good seeing new faces (names) around here.

[DSFlyman]

I grew up about 10 minutes from Malibu. When I was a kid I used to fish the pier with my father and brother. Frankly, I never got into it too much. My brother became a saltwater fanatic. He started building his own rods, taking extended fishing trips out of Baja searching for monster Tuna, etc. Well, nearly 10 years ago at the age of 29 he was diagnosed with cancer. We were able to spend another year and a half with him until he passed away. While the focus of my life turned primarily to grief, one of my closest friends grabbed me on a Friday and said he was taking me somewhere beautiful.

We ended up fishing the Lower O and further North. I remember learning about C&R and wondering what the point of fishing was if you didn't keep your fish. Well, over the next few months he took me up there a few more times and I fell in love with everything about it; the amazing scenery and the serenity, the spiritual connection I get from it, and I have yet to find anything close that fills my soul and clears my head.

That's the short but sweet version. I owe my buddy a debt of gratitude.

[keebranch]

My name is Les and I am "addicted to fly fishing"!
I'm in Texas and was introduced to this site via Sasha who's a member here.
I fish primarily warmwaters and salt whe I get the chance. In fact I grew up in Houston, Texas fishing for saltwater species on conventional tackle. Now since i've gone whole hog for throwing flies I've had a new learing curve dealing with high winds and fly placement for tailing reds. This style of it's not easy.

Now that I live in north Texas, I primarily fish local creeks for sunfish and large mouth bass. Some firends have been surprised to discover that I can catch bass ranging from 1.5 -3 pounds on a in these creeks. Most fish caught are under a pound which is why I gravitated to ultralight fly gear.

Also when I get a change I like to go to Arkansas and fish for trout up there. This summer or fall I'll try to fish some of the creeks for Neosho smallmouth bass.

I look forward to posting here, and rerading more of what you folks have to say.

[Benny]

Welcome to the forum Les, looking forward to reading reports from your part of the country.
Enjoy and have fun with this great group of guys on FLFISHINGADDICTS

[Justin]

Hey Les,
Great to see you over here!!
welcome to Additive 'Ville!!

Justin

[Sasha]

Les glad you decided to join this site. I look forward to reading your reports.

[stanbery]

Les

Welcome aboard.

Jon

[BirdDog]

I grew up in Redondo Ca surfing most mornings and playing volleyball all summer. My family used to camp alot, Silverwood Lake, Buena Vista, pretty much any place you could waterski. Near the end of HS a friends Dad took a group of us on a retreat called Sierra Challenge (through catholic church) out of Mineral King. This was my first trip to the Sierras and I fell in love. The next year we talked our parents into letting a group of us HS kids to go to Yosemite and do a five day backpacking trip, looking back we were so young!!! I spent the next several years failing out of college and backpacking, surfing, snowboarding, and playing volleyball like I should have been studying. As I began looking for new mtn ranges to explore I decided to plan a trip to Yellowstone in the Summer of 96'. As I was doing research I kept seeing pictures of people flyfishing, and decided to take a rod with me on the trip. I went to an area of Yellowstone called the Thorofare, rich in park history and wildlife for 15 days!!! We caught 40-50 fish a day, all 14-20 inch cutts, with huge flies we bought in jackson Hole. At this point in time I could cast +/- 20 ft of my intended target, had no idea what a drag free drift was, and thought every fish would eat a size 10 chernobyl ant. I figured I was an excellent angler. The next summer I decided to fish the Madison River and got skunked for 3 straight days....and realized that not all fish are as easy catch. Since then I have been improving my cast, drifts, and knowledge of stream entemology daily. I am hooked!

I still live in the South Bay. Snowboard all winter (mammoth pass baby!!) and spend as many bag nights as I can each summer. I have been through most of the Sierras, but as you know, there are always hidden gems waiting to get done. I am a trauma nurse and only work 3 days a week... so I am always game to go on long road trips. I have spent at least a month in SW Montana every summer since my first trip to Yellowstone, it is truly a special place for anglers. I have some SWEET trips planned for this summer and cant wait to share them with you guys.

[Benny]

Cool bio BirdDog. Sounds like you've put in lots of time in the backcountry for sure.
Welcome to the forum

[flybob]

Les, BirdDog, Welcome to the fray!
You are at home here with the rest of us addicts!
Bob

[tomsakai]

Hi, I'm a relatively new addict. I grew up in the desert (Indio) where it was tough to find good fishing. We used to fish the local canals as teenagers; once we got cars we fished the Salton Sea (wading or fishing from the jetty at the North Shore). During High School I got addicted to salt water fishing and used to go to Oceanside fishing the day boats. After I graduated from college (University of Redlands) I started working for an accounting firm in Orange County, where I've lived ever since.

Once I started earning $ I went nuts over salt water fishing, especially albacore. I used to frequent the party boats from Mission Bay and San Diego and started fishing the San Diego long range boats on 5-16 day trips in the 70's. I even bought a boat (which I still have but will be selling) equipped for tuna fishing; twin diesel and complete electronics.

When I got married and we had our two kids, I cut down on the salt water fishing some but started taking the family to Mammoth and June Lake in the Spring and Summer. We were strictly worm and powerbait fisher people! But, my son got bored with it and started experimenting with lure fishing and eventually wanted to learn to fly fish.

So, we took lessons at Marriott's and fly fished intermittently for the last 4-5 years, with trips to Montana, Colorado, and Mammoth. But, in the last year, I've gotten much more serious about fly fishing and am finding that I love it with the same passion that I used to have for salt water fishing.

Tom.

[stanbery]

Tom

Welcome aboard.

Jon

[FishingHiker]

I was born and raised in Southern California. My dad had a rod in my hand before I could walk. I have fished from Catalina to the Colorado river and San Diego up past Sacramento. Most of this area was covered before I was out of high school. I was taught to be friendly to my fellow anglers, like saying hello when you pass on the trail or sit down by them at the lake etc. I never got a friendly response from a fly fisherman ever! If they were to look down on me and speak (down) to me they would lecture me on how I was wrong and how the were right. By the time I was in high school I had given up bait for artificial lures, they were easier to remove from the fish than bait. When I was just out of high school I had converted my panther martins and castmasters from treble hooks to single siwash hooks. I was getting good at flipping the fish back into the water without touching it. This even got boring and I stopped fishing on a regular basis for about a year. My dad and I were at a fishing show in Long Beach and met a group of concerned fisherman called the FRVC (Fisherman's Resource Volunteer Corps) They work with the US Forest Service to educate the public about the local fisheries. I hung out at the booth for over an hour that night, went to the training and went on a couple of patrols with them before I ever fished with them. When we finally went fishing the two guys I went with were fly fishing. I thought to myself huh these guys aren't blowhard pricks why are they fly fishing????? Well I was sure I was going to get a lecture about my spin gear but nothing was said. I fished my spin gear for about a year and then the yearly BBQ came around. After a little asking around I found out they were all fly fisherman BASTARDS!!!!!!! How dare they sucker me into there club with caring and kindness. They didn't care if I fly fished or not, and I let them know I would never sissy fish! I was born with a spinning rod and I'll die with...... Well about 6 months later I decided to see what this fly fishing was all about. I was sure I was going to hate it and return the rod, but after the first night out I was hooked DANG IT! I fished a heavy rod my first year, 7'6" 3wt. then I fished a 00wt. the next year and bounced around between a 2-4wt. after that. Last year I picked up a 1wt. TXL and really haven't fished anything else. I even go my dad into fly fishing and now he fly fishes about 80% of the time.

[darrin terry]

Fishinghiker, first things first, WELCOME!

Sorry about the snobbery thing. You see, it's a front some of us put on. For a few reasons, but mainly because we can't have the rest of the fishing world know we are really a bunch of sensitive, caring, fish conscious mofos. Also, fishing is somewhat antisocial to begin with, so it helps us maintain that aspect of things.

Now that you know, you will have to find your own way of maintaining appearances.

[anacrime]

good stuff fishinghiker, welcome.