Once upon a time in a fishery far far away a young man tied 136 dozen salmon flies for a Russian fishing camp. Although the money was good (£2 a fly, 1995) the young man quit fly tying for the next ten years or so because he just overdid the whole thing.
I've not been on here for a while for much the same reasons coupled with that bloody recession and having to stop my rock and roll lifestyle and get a real job. I say "real" but working at Aberdeen University is more surreal than real
I just felt that I had to back off from the fishing for a while knowing that I would eventually come back to it with a renewed vigour and still be as passionate as I used to be. It was never anything to do with anyone in particular, just me being me. Normally when I do that sort of thing I sell off whatever gear required but this time I didn't. So don't worry Sandy the Scott #4 is still going strong as is the #3 greys bamboo. More of that in a minute.
The trip up north was just the ticket to get things going again. Money, time, frame of mind and planetary alignment all came good and as I set sail in the Red Oktober for the first time in years it all came flooding back. (flooding as in my waders leak...) The first session on Loch Drumbeg saw me with three fish and a realisation that maybe I still knew how to do this. Cul Fraich slapped me back down, but one Pollock and a second outing on Drumbeg that saw a serious amount of fish caught and released had me grinning fro ear to ear. By the time I had done Loch Beannich I was back in the game. This is entirely due to Mr Young, with help from Messers Muir, Dixon etc. Hats off to you chaps.
The old Scott did it's magic. One slight moment when the bottom section popped loose and gave a crack. It turned out that the blank was ok but the thread had split. I repaired that when I got home with a slightly different colour of thread to remind me of when and where I was when it happened.
Anyhoo, be prepared for the old humour and rants although the rants will be kept to a minimum
Don't expect any help about fancy fly lines or nylon - I've only just gone over to a WF line and I still use Drennan sub surface green. As I get nearer the big five-oh I am getting grumpier
So there you have it. Some of you will be going "crap, that idiots back on the forum" and others will be going "WTF is this guy". Now all I have to do is get my ass up to Haddo. Apparently there are some nice browns in there now needing to be caught and the Red Oktober has just had her sea trials and is ready to go.
Be afraid, be very afraid............
