Looking back to look forward.

I learned how to fly fish from my father and learned how to tie flies from him, he also taught me respect for nature and the nature of fishing. We use to go out in the mornings during the weekend; then we started going out a few times during the week before school. I remember waking up in our lake house by the sound of his fly rod slicing through the air. It was a comforting sound to me, yet if you didn’t know the sound I would imagine it to be quit haunting. Since my father’s passing I have not been fishing. Maybe it’s the memory of him, maybe it’s lack of time, but either way I want to correct this. My wife said that she would like to learn how to fly fish and thought that this would be an amazing way to spend time together, away from the city life and in the woods, lakes, and streams that I use to fish with my father. To be fully honest I think that it would be a great way to respect his memory. I never was as good at fishing as he was, nor do I think that I am even half the man that he was, but I feel that this would be a way to become closer to that, at least at fishing. Winter turns to spring and then to summer, fall, and back to winter. It seems that most of us tend to forget the simple times and things in life, caught up in the day to day. This is one thing that I want to change in my life and what would be a better way then spending time with a loved one away from a cellphone.

Karl P. Slingluff in Korea early 50’s.

One thing that I have always wanted to do was make my own bamboo rod. While looking up information about how to do so I came across this amazing video bellow. Bob Clay reminded me of my father, hence the words above. Though I do not think I will be attempting a bamboo fly rod anytime soon I did want to share this video of Bob and some thoughts of my own. Thanks for reading.

What if fishing was so important that you would change your life to pursue it? You would focus your entire life around it and raise your family to appreciate every aspects of the sport for themselves. “A Steelhead Family” walks you through a few days in the lives of the Clay family (Bob, Jed, Kaili, Kathy & Kateri), who have done just that. Headed by bamboo rod builder Bob Clay, this accomplished steelheading family makes the sport of spey casting look easy while illustrating the importance of the survival of these great fish in BC, Canada. A true fishing family in one of the last wild Steelheading strongholds left on earth. Created, edit, directed and produced by: Andrew Hardingham – Ubiquitous water Media