October Caddis

The Columbia remains weedy and the water levels are very low. Carp fishing from the shore is a tall order, and with more saber-rattling at China over trade, I'll be surprised if my boat arrives in time for Christmas. Luckily for me, there are other fishing opportunities around. This week I decided to visit the … Continue reading October Caddis →

Memory Weeds

I remember this fish. I spotted it from the road, rooting on the bottom in a small bay. I clambered as quickly and quietly as I could down the rocks and managed to hook it without getting my feet wet. I also remember that the hook pulled and I lost the fish. What had me … Continue reading Memory Weeds →

Re-entry

It has been a bumpy return to the United States after finishing up our Peace Corps service. Here is the short version: The state of our home upon arrival 20 cubic yards of rubbish left by the squatters we had to evict The wildfire that almost burned down our house The new floor I had … Continue reading Re-entry →

Bagga Blackfish

About five miles south of our village is a town called Barrouallie (pronounced "bara-lee"). Of course, if you try to catch a bus to Barrouallie you will never get there because you instead need to go to Bagga, which is the local nickname for Barrouallie. Almost every person (Habla, Starry, Big Cheese), every store (Saca, … Continue reading Bagga Blackfish →

Last Fish, First Fish

Happy 2025 We walked to a nearby beach to watch the sunset on New Year's Eve. I did a bit of fishing and hooked some small jacks - my last fish of 2024. A few days later we returned for another sunset and I caught more of the same - my first fish of 2025. … Continue reading Last Fish, First Fish →

A Series of Poor Decisions

"YOU KNOW I HATE THE BEACH!" This is not a post about fishing. It is a post about not fishing. Or maybe it's about future fishing. About 17 months ago I made a poor decision to join the Peace Corps. I joked with people that even if things were terrible I was confident that I … Continue reading A Series of Poor Decisions →

The Drag and Drop

I watched some videos of presentations by carp anglers at a fly fishing event and one topic that all of the presenters raised was the drag and drop presentation. Basically, the drag and drop means casting your fly past the carp and then raising your rod tip to pull the fly back along the surface … Continue reading The Drag and Drop →

Across the Pond

I often read the front page post at sexyloops.com. They are an entertaining crew and are scattered around the world so you never know what interesting fishing you might learn about: Scandinavian salmon, Japanese maruta, or maybe Malaysian giant gourami. Recently, there was a series of posts made by two different contributors that resonated with … Continue reading Across the Pond →

Pointy Bits

Winter is the dry season in the Caribbean. Where we lived, that meant very little runoff from the streams and rivers, which meant that the ocean water clarity was superb for diving. We lived on a hill between two beaches. Our hill extended about a third of a mile into the ocean as a rather … Continue reading Pointy Bits →

Aloha Ed

My good friend and venerable Hawaii angler Ed died this week. I went through each of my fly boxes and carefully withdrew the flies he had given me. There were only five left. I will save them for some special fish. My earliest photo of Ed, stalking weke with Diamond Head in the distance Ed … Continue reading Aloha Ed →