26 years ago...

Here’s the cover of a Korean fishing magazine from 26 years ago. This man looks really happy. Captain's hat - nice.

Back in the bluegill state.

I’ve returned home after a long summer trip and it’s Saturday morning so I took a stroll at the Independence Grove Park. Like foods, there is joy fishing for different species of fish with each season. Summer bass is so much fun. I love their eyes, they function like natural sunglasses. Bass were hanging out mostly in the deep waters, next to weed beds. A nice welcome home.

a familiar object

I was on a business trip to Beijing with Jonathan today and when his luggage rolled out, it brought a smile to see a familiar item attached to it. He attached a yarn strike indicator so he can identify his bag. A nice sight to see in the giant Beijing airport.

Fishing and Friendship

My east coast fishing buddies came up to our cabin to fish for the weekend. Since I was responsible to find fishing ground, I spent good amount of time prior to the trip to figure out where to go. Since the water level is all time low in Catskills and Adirondack areas, I tried to find a river with plenty of tributaries for added water and cooler temperature so we decided to give the Bouquet River a try. The river is a trubutary river to the Lake Champlain which offers the best landlocked salmon run int the region and trout are heavily stocked by the state.



We started to fish the lower section near the lake and decided to work our way up to upper section which has plenty of tributary waters and also known for it's wild brookies. The lower section was surprisingly low and clear. We tried every spots we can find but only spotted one trout and could not catch anything.

I felt horrible as none of us were catching. I brought all these people up here and we were about to get skunked. Even though my friends were enjoying the whole experience, I really wanted them to have something to show for at the end of the day.

With determination to catch, we decided to bypass all other access and head straight to the upper section where known to have brookie habitats. With a little of hike from where we parked, and Boom! We hit the jackpot. We found a section where all of us start catching brookies and some wild browns mixed in. Seeing my friend smile with those fish really made my day.

To finish off the trip, we went out on Kayaking at the Garnet Lake the next day. As much as I appreciate solitude fishing, it was good to be with people who have the love for the sport.

hardcore rod fishing

might have been better...

I visited the National War Museum in central Seoul and browsed through a historic timeline of war history. War sucks, but humans will be humans and war will be there. We have to remember that freedom is not free, and for whatever state of freedom you have (or think you may not have), I am thankful for those that gave their life to protect it. I walked through the section that goes back several hundred years and looked closely at the uniforms and equipment they used. And in my own personal spirit of peace, I thought – that would have been better as fishing gear…

this would have been a great lanyard, hat combo.














these arrow carrying cases could also carry a nice bamboo rod.

inspirations 2

Appreciation Day:

Today is 65th Korea Independence Day, and I am appreciating that there is a land called my country. And I am appreciating to my friend who introduced me to fly fishing.

Seeing Other Things…

As we travel down this road called fishing, we come across all kinds of things, beings, and thoughts we would have not otherwise come across, at least not intentionally. I was inspired by Lee’s recent entry about taking the hike with his father, reading about father & son walking the same path, and while there probably is a large overlap, each observing intensely at different things. I should spend more time to look closer at the beautiful things around me when I fish, beautiful other than fish. A local forest preserve park or some far away creek that hasn’t been touched by people in a long while – there is always something to appreciate in nature and the creatures that live in it. I will make it a point to look up more from the water, next time I fish.

RJF out West.

It seems Captain Klewein of Reel Job Fishing (http://kent-klewein.com/) is travelling through the West. Check out his photos from West & other exciting photos on: http://kent-klewein.com/georgia-fly-fishing-blog/

Always amazing photos and great stories from the Captain. Have fun Kent!

inspirations

I went out to Insa-dong in downtown Seoul yesterday to buy some traditional paper and bunch of bamboo paper fans. Upon return, I was inspired to draw this cherry trout.