I will be speaking at the SE Council FFF conclave in Helen GA June 4 and 5, 2010 along with my old friends Jim Casada and Oscar Feliu and Tom Travis.  Jim and I spent a week together in South Africa in 1990 along with Lee and Joan Wulff . We were there at the courtesy of the SA government to discuss the status of trout as an exotic species and its impact on tourism. And of course to rip a few trout lips in the process. Oscar and I go way back, too, not only in the fly tying arena but in guitar playing, as well. Tom and I go way back, too. There are hours spent floating the Yellowstone (a good story on this in my forthcoming book, Reading Waters). We’ve also spent some happy hours fishing and filming the video “Fishing the Midge.”  There are some other good speakers lined up as well. It will be a fun event. Come on out and enjoy the show. It will be at the Unicoi State Park & Resort in Helen, GA.  I hope to see my old pal Eddie Michales there, as well.

My friend, Jeff Currier, just sent along an email reporting on his trip to fish for Nile Perch. Wow. More photos and info on his blog: Jeff Currier. Here’s Jeff’s report.

Hey everyone, I’m just back from the latest adventure. I went to Egypt to be part of a film segment produced by Mikey Wier. Mikey has done several very successful fly fishing movies including the Fisheye series and his biggest hit, Soulfish. Mikey’s movies consist of two hours worth of 10-12 minute segments of various destinations. The new movie will be called Soulfish 2 and I’m part of a segment in Mongolia for taimen which we filmed in 2008 and now Egypt for Nile Perch. It should be extreme fly fishing at its best. Mikey hopes to have the new flick out next winter. Check out the photos, journal and stories from Egypt on my blog.

Mr. Nile Perch in all his finest regalia.

Jason and I near completion on Fishing the Film, the first book in our fly-fishing anthology. I sent a copy of Chapter One to my friend, John Beth, to read and asked him for his reaction. Chapter one is a series of short stories illustrating the expanse of fishing in the film—there’s plenty of how-to in the other nine chapters. Here’s what John had to say:

I read the first chapter of Fishing the Film you sent—I must say it is different—and in many ways more than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised how you wove the great stories and people and places of your life into your words. It puts the reader in a time, place and situation he or she can personally relate to, or can imagine. The names and places change for all of us, of course, but the feelings remain the same. A first fly, a relative we recall, a first fish, and on.

I really like it. It reads with the warmth of great experience and a wealth of observations – yours and others. It makes me realize how much we learn from each other in this sport. I think there is a new level of “something” in it that comes with the wisdom and vision of age. The ability to look back while looking forward is something few folks can do; fewer yet can do it in writing!

It quickly took me, as it will many others, through the journey of life as well as the journey of fly fishing; through the mysteries and metaphors that fill our hearts and memories, and the endless fascination of potentially learning something new every moment we fish and open ourselves to new friends and their offerings.

Thanks, John, those are very generous comments, but having shared many hours with you chasing browns, salmon, and steelhead, and sharing our common love of the guitar, I know your words are genuine.

Fishing the Film, book one in our fly-fishing anthology nears press readiness. Stay tuned.

My friend, Bill Wilson, sent me a photo of a nice striper on the fly. They’re around and nipping. If you’re near the salt, get the rods out and have at ’em.

Bill Wilson with a very nice striper on the fly

I am currently writing a column for the on-line magazine Streamside Canada. In this month’s issue, I discuss The Most Valuable Mend–the Reach. This is a nicely done magazine with good fishing information. Have a look at Streamside Canada.

Jason Borger executing a perfect Reach Mend

My friend Marcelo Malventano is continually creating new realistic imitations of the insects of his native Argentina. Here’s one that is really wonderfully designed and executed. You can see more at his site—see the link to the right under his name.

Marcelo's realistic Dragonfly Nymph—looks good enough to eat!

My friends Jim Hagar and Dan Gilliland made a trip the Clark’s Fork River in Montana last July and found it very welcoming. Dan says that, “by Hagar’s count 166 trout to the boat in 3 days between us.” That’s some mighty good fishing! Clark’s Fork is Gary LaFontaine’s old stompin’ grounds, and he always told me how great it was. Easy to see why. Jim and Dan really had a great time, and I know that they both caught more fish than they had anticipated; good on you two!

Jim Hagar with one of 166

Well, we know that Jim caught at least 2 of the 166—right Jim?

I know it seems a bit weird to post a recipe for no-knead bread on a fly fishing site, but we all need to eat and this is one of the really, really good things to eat. It’s super easy to make and it really is so good that you’ll wonder why you haven’t been making it all your life–sandwiches, French Toast, regular toast,  cut into cubes and tossed into soup, just straight up with butter on it, and every other way you like bread, you’ll like it more with this bread. Give it a try, and don’t blame me if you become a bread junkie.

Easier than Easy No-Knead Bread

3 cups bread flour

1 heaping tbs. gluten (available locally as Bob’s Red Mill, “Vital Wheat Gluten Flour”–this is not “flour” but gluten that is as fine as flour)

1 heaping tbs. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt (more if you like salty bread, on none if you prefer—I use none)

1/4 heaping tsp. rapid rise dry yeast

• Blend the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, by hand, using a mixing spoon.
• Add 1 ½ cups of warm water (pleasantly warm to the touch)
• Blend well, by hand, with a mixing spoon. The final mix should be sticky and look just a bit moist. If the mix is too dry, add a tiny bit of water (I add it one tbs. at a time and blend well before adding more). If the mix is too thin, add a tiny bit of flour (I add one tbs. at a time and blend well before adding more). One need not get upset about the precise look and feel of the mix; if it’s a too dry, it just takes longer to rise. Eyeball it—it should look just a bit moist and be just a bit sticky—that’s all you need to worry about.
• Cover the bowl with plastic or with a lid so that the mix doesn’t dry out.
• Allow mix to stand overnight or all day long. I mix my batches the night before I want to bake, or, if there’s an evening meal and I want nice fresh bread, I’ll mix the dough early in the day and bake it so that it’s ready at dinner time.
• The bread will be baked in a cast iron Dutch-oven (I use an enameled one so the bread is easy to get out after baking—make certain that any non-metallic handles can tolerate the heat), or use ceramic cookware (I use Corning, white French-style with glass lid). I use a 2.5 L (2.75 qt.) for the single recipe, and a 4 L (4.5 qt.) for a double recipe.
• You may put the baking pot in the oven while preheating the oven to 400 F., but I’ve found that the pot does not need to be preheated. I spray the cold pot with a little PAM baking variety and then wipe it out so just a thin film remains.
• When the oven has fully heated to 400 F,, turn the risen dough out onto a well-floured surface. I use a 20” x 20” plastic, pie-crust mixing sheet from Tupperware because it’s easy to clean. Use a wetted spatula to scrape the dough out of the mixing bowl. I use a rather stiff, plastic one that allows me to really scrape—this stuff is sticky! I keep a glass of water handy to dip the spatula as needed, so it won’t stick to the dough.
• Fold the edges of the dough up and over onto the top of the blob until the mass is about the same diameter as the interior of the baking pot.
• Wet your hands, pick up the dough, and flop it into the baking pot. If you want, you can make cut marks on the top with a knife. It isn’t necessary to form the dough ever so carefully. Get it in the pot, press it out just a bit, but don’t burn yourself if the pot is hot.
• Put the lid on the pot and bake 45 to 60 minutes, until the crust is a dark golden brown. I bake it 45 and then check it (usually adding 5 more minutes).

The bread will have a tough, but very tasty crust. This is a moist bread, so don’t expect it to be light and fluffy. It is chewy, tasty, and the way real bread should be. The slices are best called “bread steaks.” Warm, with a little butter or margarine and strawberry jam (or honey), it is fabulous. Makes great toast, wonderful with soup, makes a great sandwich, and does everything better than pasty, white American bread. I store it right on the counter top: cut it in half. I slice out pieces from each side, and shove the two haves back together. This works well for a day or two. If the crust gets too hard, store the bread in a zip lock bag.. The bread can be stored in the refrig; it can be warmed in the microwave.

To make a slightly larger loaf use 4 c. flour, 2 level tbs. gluten, 2 level tbs. sugar, ½ tsp. salt (or no salt, your preference), ½ tsp. yeast, and 2 c. water.

My friend Bill Wilson is a striper addict. He pounds the lower Susquehanna and manages his share of stripers–and mine, too, since I can’t get there right now. Not only that, he gets some good largemouths, too. Here’s his latest report.

We were fishing for stripers with when I caught the largemouth pictured – 6lbs.

The striper fishing has gotten much better.  I caught 20 or so last night and the biggest was 24 lbs.  It was very calm and difficult to get the big fish to strike.  When following and pushing water they made 3 or four 1″ waves that identified their presence behind the fly.  Lots of action, lots of fun!

Bill and his bigmouth, or is that largemouth?

Jason has me reading Fishing the Film in its final laid-out version. It’s our final proofing and opportunity to add some tid-bits of info here and there. It’s really shaping up to be a very fine look at Fishing the Film. We’re both excited to get it to the printer in the next week or so and see the final product in early June. We will keep you posted! Watch for a series of announcements on availability.