Members' Bio: Where'd you come from?

[lucfish]

Welcome.

[Sasha]

Welcome!!!!!!

[midger]

Welcome to both ya's--Rielly and Tom. Great group of folks here. Link up with a couple of them and share memories and you can learn a lot quickly, plus I've not fished with anyone on this forum that wasn't a lot of fun.

[L. Ben Doe]

Greetings!

Here's my first post and a summary of the evolution of my addiction...

1985: Dad takes me to Happy Jack's fish pond where I catch my first fish at the age of 5. All I can really remember was that my rod was red and the bait was brown.

1985 - 2002: Gained 100 lbs and took multiple trips with dad to places like Lake Gregory and Santa Ana River Lakes using power bait and various spinning lures. I remember that old tackle box having a small pack of 6 flies. I asked him if we could use them, and he said, "we're not fly fishing, use this black Mepps lure instead."

2003: Caught my first backcountry trout on spin gear with a silver/blue Kastmaster while backpacking with friends in Yosemite.

2005: While taking my girlfriend (now wife) backpacking in Sequoia, I saw a man fly fishing. He was kind enough to let me try casting. I didn't catch anything, but I knew it was something I wanted to pursue.

2006: Went to Sport Chalet a few days before a backpacking trip to buy the $60 Pflueger combo. On the Lyell fork of the Tuolumne, I tied on this ridiculous silver and orange dry fly from dad's old tackle box. If that brookie hadn't taken that funky fly, I don't know if I would be typing this post right now.

2007 - 2011: Purchased 2 more rods and switched to 100% fly catching rainbow, brook, and brown trout. I even got the chance to help my dad catch his first fish on the fly.

July 16, 2011: Tied my first fly (#12 elk hair caddis)... can't wait to use it!

That's it for now.

[stanbery]

Very nice intro and welcome aboard.

Jon

[1mocast]

Welcome LBD! That story sure sounds familiar...

[flybob]

EL Bendo.....I love it!

Yup, that about sizes it up!

Great bio! You will fit in just fine here!

Welcome to the family!

[mike.s]

el bendo, Welcome and YES you will definitely fit in here

[beachbum]

Welcome to the board! Good intro!

[Waterborne]

LBD is the one responsible for repeatedly reviving my interest in fishing. He's taken me out for my first deep sea fishing session and my first fly rod session.

Fishing runs in his blood. The guy was recently on a deep sea charter boat off SoCal waters then casting flies on Hot Creek within the same 24 hour period!

[WanderingBlues]

LBD is the one responsible for repeatedly reviving my interest in fishing. He's taken me out for my first deep sea fishing session and my first fly rod session.

Fishing runs in his blood. The guy was recently on a deep sea charter boat off SoCal waters then casting flies on Hot Creek within the same 24 hour period!

Sounds like my kinda guy. I've been know to hit the island for WSB in the early AM, then catch 4" monsters on the afternoon bite.

[hpskiff]

Wow, I almost forgot about Happy Jacks!!! Welcome!

[Benny]

Fantastic summary LBD, welcome to FFA.

[TroutGrylls]

Hello everybody,

My name is Travis and I am 18 years old and am from north Orange County. I am brand new to fly fishing, and will talk more about that later on in this post, but I will give you some background on my fishing life and about myself beforehand.

I caught my first fish, a 10" rainbow trout, at the age of 4 on a spinning rod and reel in the creek below Taioga Lake many years ago. From that point on, I was hooked on trout fishing, and counted the days every year until I could get up into the Eastern Sierras again. Like most kids, my early days of fishing were filled with the awful phrase, "Can we keep him?" Luckily, my father and grandfather set me straight about preserving our sport, and since then I have done my best to C&R every fish I've caught. Around the time I was 12, I began to refuse to use bait (it's boring to just sit there!), and got interested in strictly lure fishing for trout, and furthermore into begging my dad and grandpa to let me take a turn with their fly rods!

Around the time high school started, however, I began to get into saltwater fishing and lose the focus on trout, as I live 10 minutes from the ocean as opposed to the 6 hour drive it took to get up to the mountains.

Since I caught my first Barred Surf Perch, I have become hooked, and fish the surf or the bay about 3 times a week in the summer and even work at a sushi place, as I love to eat fish but don't like to kill my worthy adversaries myself! I can be found stalking Corbina before sun-up or launching my kayak to do battle with Spotted Bay Bass. Still, I had always envied those who lived to get up in the ice cold streams miles away to make that perfect cast and see their fly get swallowed by whatever was dwelling in behind that rock. Now, after I graduated, I finally got my chance! My grandpa bought me my first fly rod (Redington Crosswater 5WT), and my dad set me up with a guide on Lake Crowley just this past week (the best graduation gift ever!), and while the fishing was not that great, I am officially hooked on fly fishing.

The sad thing is that at my college, Harvey Mudd, there won't be much time for fishing, and there is not much fishing close by, however I will do my best to be a student of the sport and post my learnings and outings here. Once I get the pictures I will try to put a report up of my guided trip and of a few other outings I had in this past week. Thanks!

Travis

P.S. I am a bookworm, so if anyone can suggest books to help me learn how to be a better fly fisherman, whether it discusses technique, entomology, etc, it would be greatly appreciated!

[stanbery]

Travis

Welcome aboard.

Jon