Le Slouch

After one summer day (87 degrees) and one spring day (75) we slipped back into April. Lined LL Bean chinos, which are the only LL chinos that don't have the Teflon; lined LLB shirt, old Lacoste, and beat-up Quoddys.

Yesterday at about 4:30 p.m. I caught an absolute hog in the Housatonic River — a rainbow about 28 inches long and at least six inches wide. Took a while to get him in. Size 14 olive soft-hackle wet on 4x tippet, 3 weight line. Of course this was the day I forgot to bring the camera.

The Man in the Boat

The Hendrickson hatch is in full swing on the Housatonic River. I had a couple of tugs today on the wet fly version, but the woman in the forward of this guide boat latched into something decent, to judge from the whoops.

I have yet to meet a fly-fisherwomen who isn't an upstanding light heavyweight. I know comely ones exist — I've seen the calendars.

Gosh. You think those are just models?

Never mind. Last time I tried to interest a girl in fishing it didn't work out very well. Not an experience I am anxious to repeat.

Shaggs and Stains

So I finally got around to watching Lou Adler's "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains," a semi-coherent flick abut three teenage gals who form a punk band and hit it big.

It's mostly interesting because Paul Simonon from The Clash, Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols,
and Fee Waybill and Vince Welnick from The Tubes play major roles that don't involve much acting.

And you get to see an incredibly young Laura Dern pretending to play the bass.

What I noticed most, though, is when The Stains start to play — a sound which could be kindly described as "rudimentary" — they sounded like...

The Shaggs! A real group of teenage girls with existential questions, who actually made records, and were better than The Beatles, according to Lester Bangs.

Mild nuditity, lots of "wankers" and "tossers," one good song and not much plot. Worth a look if you're interested in — or, God forbid, nostalgic for — 1981. Three coils.

Early Start

Wet-wading on March 23. Very unusual. If we don't get about two straight weeks of nice steady rain we're going to be looking at drought conditions by the end of June. No snow pack at all. Nothing.

Wachocastinook (aka Riga) Brook, using a L'il Streamer 5 1/2 foot, 5 weight rod designed for squirrelly streams.

Note bow-and-arrow casting technique. It's a great way to get a fly stuck in your thumb.

Shot by Mark Niedhammer from the Selleck Hill bridge.

The Cordials

An inside look at the now-famous purveyors of terrific bow ties.

Back Down South

Spring Training

Lunch was the most productive part of the first fishing trip of 2012. That and being miles away from any people.

The Internet is Bad and Evil

A guy told me once, after maybe one too many cocktails, that he believed "the Internet hasn't made anybody's life better."

The remark stuck with me.

So, middle school teacher's porn past, and Konspiracy King.

In the first instance, how is it that the junior high students are looking at porn? Any porn? I mean, it's not like they are 50 year old bachelors, stuck in the boonies, bored out of their minds, and...

Never mind.

The conspiracy guy posts nutty comments on political websites. If you click his user name this blog appears. Is he insane? Is it a clever sendup? If so, a sendup of what?

And why am I even asking these questions? I could be exercising, or reading Thackeray. (I don't know why I picked Thackeray. He is on my list of Important Authors I Will Never Read.)

Anyway, the Internet is bad and evil. There — I said it.