I'm watching Bourdains show on Liberia and a bit distracted - which frankly doesn't have anything really to do with the fact that despite my good intentions I haven't posted for a week - but what the hell, you can't do it all, and this isn't supposed to be punishment anyway- I've had enough of that since I last posted and the ramifications are ominous- because I fear for the future...
I went out the morning of the day before the BIG ASS HOLIDAY(TM), here in Utah, Pioneer Day- The anniversary of the entry of the Brethren into the Salt Lake valley and the founding of my hometown, is bigger than Independence day and Christmas combined..well not Christmas, perhaps- but you get the idea. And on this morning- bestowed by the Brothers on the faithful in the form of Legal Holiday upon Saint and Sinner(me) alike, I head up to my home creek for a little piscatorial repose.
On the way I make one of those split second decisions to do something different and make a hard right down the winding (barely) two lane that comes out below the dam of an underutilized river that's "Fly Only" regulated- and also has no road access, Its a hike in proposition- fine by me...
...Oh boy-breaking news, via my lovely wife, via Iphone grapevine: "Rioting in Arizona surrounding the State supreme court decision nullifying portions of the newly passed Illegal Immigration Bill"....When I was a young man and I was just hearing The Clash for the first time there was a Compelling Little Number the London based malcontents had drilled into my head called "White Riot":
..."White riot - I wanna riot,White riot - a riot of my own...
Black man gotta lot a problems, But they don't mind throwing a brick
White people go to school, Where they teach you how to be thick
An' everybody's doing, Just what they're told to
An' nobody wants, To go to jail!
All the power's in the hands, Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street, Too chicken to even try it
Everybody's doing, Just what they're told to
Nobody wants, To go to jail!
Are you taking over, or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards, Or are you going forwards?..."
(...Dear surviving members of The Clash, be careful what you wish for...)
...anyway, I fished below the dam, when I pulled up I saw a couple of cars, but It didn't look crowded and as I walked and fished I also talked with pretty much everyone I crossed paths with- and they all seemed nice and normal and not drug addled, creepy pseudo-redneck tweaker bastardheads....
When I got back to the truck it was about two pm and I talked to a couple of guys in swim trunks and no shirts who were going down the trail for the first time and asked me about it, I advised covering up due to the deer flies, I drove on to my home creek and at the bottom of its canyon where it crosses the highway there's a gas station and I gassed up, and as I did I happened to look into the camper shell through its window and saw truck bed where my rods and tackle duffel reside...
....Apparently there isn't any riot- just Joe Arpaio's boys in riot gear arresting protesters of the Arizona law- allegedly targeting the legal observers, and promising to have police and "volunteers" on the streets to keep order...whatever that means...
I won't bore with detail but in the end about seven hundred dollars in low dollar ghetto fly tackle ("cause dats how I roll , G...") was stolen-If I make an insurance claim the rates go up, and after factoring in the deductible, it isn't really worth it anyway... What I had after it was said and done was my 8 foot 5 weight, a decent reel and line, and 6 fly boxes that I had on my person- every other bit of fly tackle was taken...a float tube, some camp chairs....They left my coffee pot, camp stove, and water jug though so they weren't murderous- just materialistic...
After I talked to the nice young Wasatch County deputy( who was of Hispanic descent- which somehow seems to matter in light of what's happening in AZ right now- I guess...) I went to my creek and fished- I was off my Zen with what'd gone on but there was a blanket midge hatch a little before sunset, and some Green Drakes were still popping here and there so I caught some...right around dusk I got into proper headspace and while not exactly "forgetting" about the events of the day, I was fishing at near normal efficiency.
Just after the sun went down I hooked up- and as fishermen everywhere have experienced when hooking large trout- the fish didn't move- there was some head shaking, and for close to ten seconds nothing happened- which was good because it gave me time to get the damn slack line on the reel before the bruiser took off...and I still almost broke off because I'd dialed the drag up for convenience, and as the trout reached the literal end of his rope the rod tugged my arms like an elephant and I dropped the tip just in time to maintain control and thumbed the drag back ( thanks Okuma- a star drag on a trout weight rod? they scoffed...I ,for one, am thankful...)
I never got into the backing or any thing like that - but it was a long dramatic fight and the fish dragged me up and down stream a few times...
The final measure was nineteen inches- as measured against the rod and marked in mud for tape reference when I arrived home....
I bought a new vest last night- at Cabela's...as a card carrying elitist snob fisherman, I can tell you that buying a Cabela's branded vest in the Walmart of outdoor retailers stung...I could have gotten the Simms- which was pretty fuckin' tits( as the kids say- I don't talk like that...)but it was the mesh model, and I spend a lot of my life in deep willow and I don't need the hassle of a mesh vest in underbrush...and I also felt guilty because we aren't rolling in dough these days- I mean everything is taken care of, but it isn't exactly the same standard of living it was a year ago is it?...
What the hell though, I caught a damn nice fish in a small stream and I can get a patch with "THE CLASH" embroidered on it to cover that hideous logo on the new vest at our local HEAVY METAL SHOP, or Raunch Records....those thieves have nothing...
Leave Comments- I'd like to hear from you!
No comments:
Post a Comment