Hope for the coming winter blues

Iron Blue Dun Sakasa Kebari

The smell of crisp autumn air and chilly nights are beginning to be felt more and more here on Long Island the last couple of weeks.  This is by far my favorite time of year.  It's hard to beat the sights and sounds of brightly colored leaves, pumpkin picking with the wife and kids, and other signs of the changing seasons such as migrating animals.  But I find this time to also brings a little of that "bummed out" feeling because I realize there are fewer days of good fishing in front of me than behind me for this fishing season.  Sure, around here, the NYS DEC has stocked a few ponds and tidal streams with trout to help ease some  who need their "fix" through the colder months, but many of the open seasons for sweet water fish will be ending soon.  I'll do my best to get out their as much as I can, much to the dismay of my wife, but the days are growing fewer.  However, there is a bright spot to all of this.  With less time spent outside that can only mean more time inside and that means FLY TYING! (again to the dismay of my wife).  I became "hooked" (lousy pun intended) on tying flies even before I purchased my tenkara rod this past march.  I was hoping to use some with a spin bubble on my ultralight spin outfit.  By the way,  who ever came up with that method of fly fishing certainly did not have the concept of delicate casting in mind.  I digress,  fly tying has become more than a way to save a few bucks on lost or overly used flies.  The history, stories, and intended use of many of the thousands of pattens is utterly fascinating.  I think I spend just as much time reading about flies as I do tying and creating them.  Learning about just a few patterns has led me to understand the beginnings and evolution of the sport and even a little about the history of the places where they were created along the way.  For example some of my favorite types of flies to tie are the north country flies of Scotland and England, the sakasa kebari of Japan, and flies tied by the late Fran Betters in the Adirondacks of my home state of New York.  There is literally a lifetime's worth information on fly tying and experimentation that could be done. So on those long dark nights in winter with no fishing to be had I probably won't even miss being outdoors in the pursuit of a brookie or largemouth........Yeah right! Who am I kidding I'll probably be going nuts and taking Claudia there with me.  But at least there will be something to help pass the time.