First of the Year & A Lost Art

During one of our fleeting warm spells this past January I decided to hit a nearby stream to try my luck. It was then that I realized I had yet to purchase my new fishing license for the year. So after a slight detour to take care of that little matter I was off to cast a line.

The stream was in good shape flow wise and as I rigged up my fly rod at my vehicle, which happened to be within sight of a nice pool, I watched a good sized trout race up to the surface and then sink back down into the depths. After tying on a white wooly bugger, I carefully made my way into position to go after this fish. With my first cast  I hooked up with the beast and with a few shakes of his head he was gone. So much for a perfect start to the new year. A little further downstream I found a smaller brown that wasn't as skilled at escape and had my first trout of 2013 which also ended up being my only fish brought to hand for the day. In any event the year is off to a good start.

With winter actually making an appearance this year I've been doing more inside projects, and aside from tying flies I've gotten back into something I haven't done in almost twenty years. There was a time when I used to draw and paint quite a bit but over time I gave it up for one reason or another. This past week I sat down for the first time in a long time and put pencil to paper. For such a long hiatus the results weren't too awful bad and I've found new inspiration in things I've had the pleasure to behold and photograph.

 

 

This piece was inspired by the wild brown in this post and was done in colored pencil. At this point in my life I find it incredibly relaxing and have already completed another. That's the subject for another post perhaps.