Friday, December 12, 2014

Just Some Pictures From Life's Other Side......Part 1

While there are certainly a number of things going on in the Pre-Christmas craze to keep us all a little busy, to say the least, this time of year usually sees me sitting at my fly tying vise.  It's time to fill the fly boxes back up with all the ol' regular patterns, plus, a few new ones that you came across that uses that new fly tying material just introduced down at the fly shop.

Yes, we can jump over to Cameron Mortenson at The Fiberglass Manifesto and play along with his terrific Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaways that he has so masterfully put together for all of us fly fishing folk.
There are a number of other fly fishing related companies who are having snazzy Christmas Giveaways also of their own kind.  

What I am really trying to say here is that fly fishing opportunities will be slim and none for awhile in Northern Colorado for me.  So, with that in mind, I have decided to take on another task that I have been meaning to get too for awhile now.  I am taking the time over a period of several weeks to browse back through my old picture library (before digital and computers became so common), and, will be scanning some of these old pictures into the new format.  With that said, I figured I could put together a short series of posts over the next few months talking about my fly fishing journey and some pictures from life's other side.  I hope you will enjoy my posts and some of the pictures that I will share with you during these winter weeks.  So here are a few shots from some time ago.  Please remember this was primarily from the years 1975-1995 or so.

First off, let me start with something that was very close too me during that time.  No, not a fly rod or reel, but, my well worn ol' fishing hat.

Now, this western style straw hat was what I wore for many, many years.  Please note the fleece lined head band on the hat filled with Wooly Buggers, Mohair Leeches, Stayner Ducktails, and a few smaller nymph patterns.  I kept it loaded and ready to fish with.  I was even known to give away a few that I had stuck in my hat if I had the "hot" pattern of the day.  Usually, in my fishing at the time, I could pretty much fish one of the patterns on this hat and could count on being successful for the day.



  The old round float tube.  This one was one of the early dinosaur models back in the day made by a fellow angler out of Nampa, Idaho, Wayne "Tex" Meeks.   One always wondered if we tipped the tube back too far, would it tip over.  You probably could, but, it would have to be a violent jerk backwards for that too happen.  I caught many, many fish over a number of years out of this tube with no problem at all.  It was almost too comfortable on a hot day (taking a nap) once in awhile would be interrupted by the electrifying jerk of a trout on the other end of the line.  Also, please note the hat in place.  I was kind of a Merle Haggard look alike back in the day.............




Here is a picture of yours truly with my fish-mobile of that day and age.  That old Dodge pickup and me put 350,000 miles on each other traveling all over the States of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, etc. etc. chasing stillwater trout.  Oh, the stories I could tell you all.

But, alas, those days are gone and faded pictures is all I have for memories.  I hope to have recaptured some of the moments with this post and a few future posts like this as I get the time.

If I don't get another chance, may you all have a wonderful upcoming Holiday season.......

P.S.  - My friend and long time BlogBuddy, Michael Agneta at Troutrageous, gets a pat on the back and a Colorado handshake for helping me out with some editing on these ol' pictures. 

Thanks, Mike, could not have done it without your support....

16 comments:

  1. Mel, looking forward to reading your stories, and seeing some more of those pictures.
    (I sent you a message on FB).

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    1. Sure appreciate you checking in, Michael. I caught your message on Facebook and got right on it. As I edited the post, I realized how great is to have so many fly fishing friends in the blogosphere who are always willing to help a fellow blogger out. As I work through a few of these pictures and get ready for posting I may call on you again my friend.

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  2. I like the new look and I like your idea Mel. I've got a ton of pictures from back in the day that are on slides. I guess I'll have to get them transferred. In case you missed it, I would like to invite you to be my guest at the Fly Fishing Show in January. All you need to do is get to my house and I'll drive from there. We'll find some whippersnapper and get him to buy us old guys lunch!

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    1. Howard, thanks for the kind words on the new look. I feel really comfortable with it and that says a lot if you know what I mean. I will do my best to make myself available to be your guest in early January at the show. I really appreciate that gesture. Let's both hope there are no conflicts to mess up both up at this point. Stay in touch.

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  3. That's fun looking at the "old" Mel. Waiting for more......

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    1. Mark, glad you had some fun poking around in my memories. I will get too more as soon as I can find the time to scan some more in and put words too them. Speaking of the past, I just started re-reading again your book. Thanks for being my friend.

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  4. Loved that you included some old pictures and glad to hear Michael helped. He is a class act and helped me a time or two. Would love to see some more pictures of you in your travels. Great post.

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    1. Bryan, happy to hear that you liked looking at a few of the old pictures. There is more where they came from and I hope that you will check back as I get too them. Winter is a great time to do stuff like that. Gives me a break away from the vise and Facebook. Michael is one of the longest tenured BlogBuddies I have and has been an inspiration too me on many occasions.

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  5. Nice post Mel.
    It's nice to recall those old times.

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    1. Thanks, Alan. Appreciate as always your support and comments. The whole idea here is to not only have some ideas for a few posts during the winter, but, to also help me recall some of the old times for sure. Us Geezers have a lot of old times to talk about.................

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  6. Great read. Speaking of T.F.M., I can't wait for my click and pawl stickers.

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    1. Hi, Josh. Sure appreciate you taking the time to drop by and read my blog. Always welcome.......................
      Glad you liked my post.

      Yea, I have been giving those new T.F.M. stickers a close look................................
      Cameron always has some good stuff to tempt us,

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  7. Very nice post, Mel! I really enjoy looking at old pictures, and I am really looking forward to your future posts of past pictures. If you're like me, not only do these old photos make for a good post and subject matter, they bring back lots of good 'ole memories. I love looking back through old photo albums. It can be great for your mind to jog up those times.

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    1. Thank you, Justin, for the kind words about this post. It makes me happy to know that my blogging friends enjoy looking at some of the old stuff that filled up photo albums before everything went technological with computers, camera's etc. Somehow, we all have to preserve our memories the best way we can. I look forward to sharing more with you all as I have time to pursue updating my ol' worn out memories.

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  8. Those are some fantastic pictures of younger fishing days! Thanks so much for sharing!!

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    1. Juan, happy to see you checked in and checked out some of my ol' memories before I forgot them. Hope to get around to more as the Winter season rolls on.

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